pastorjohnb

Thoughts and musings on faith and our mighty God!

Tag Archives: Jesus


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Trust in HOPE

2nd Peter 3:12b-15a – “But according to his promise we are waiting for a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness is at home. Therefore, dear friends, while you are waiting for these things to happen, make every effort to be found by him in peace—pure and faultless. Consider the patience of our Lord to be salvation.”

As we continue in the week’s Epistle reading, Peter draws us to the big picture, to the promise and hope that one day Jesus will return. The community of faith has given up their old ways of life and have taken on Christ. This decision for Christ has not always been easy to live out. There is persecution in many places and there is the constant pull of the world. All of this remains true for those seeking to walk faithfully today.

In verse 13 Peter offers these words: “But according to his promise we are waiting for a new heaven and a new earth.” Jesus himself said that he would return. That is the promise. But within this promise, it can still be a challenge to live faithfully in the here and now. There are times when our faith is challenged by things outside of our control and there are times when we create the difficulty all on our own. Both are often rooted in sin.

Today is the last day for a local institution that cares for those struggling with the issues of poverty and homelessness. They have long lived and ministered to those that Jesus would call “the least of these.” The forces of this world have once again conspired. The closure is not just or right or holy. Last night a few of us gathered outside the building to remember and share stories and to pray for the future. There was a heaviness that remains on my heart today.

Yet even in grief I can choose to trust in hope. In hope for the salvation that Peter writes of today. In hope for those who will be without come Monday. In hope for those who have failed the vulnerable and powerless. In hope for what God might have in store for our community. I choose to trust in hope because in and through Jesus, one day we will all experience a new heaven and a new earth. There will be no more tears, no more hunger, no more hate. There will be a banquet table where all have a place. Thanks be to God.

Prayer: Lord God, walk with us who grieve today. Whisper your words of love and hope into our hearts again and again today and again in the hard days to come. Wrap your arms of love around us and keep us in your care. Amen.


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Work to Be Done

Reading: 2nd Peter 3:8-12

Verses 11-12: “What sort of persons ought you to be in leading lives of holiness and godliness, waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God.”

Photo credit: Clay Banks

As Peter closes his second letter, he addresses their concerns about the delay of Jesus’ return. He first reminds them of the difference between God’s time and their time. It has been about 30 years since Jesus was raised from the tomb. In the present moment, 30 years of waiting does feel like a really long time for us. Yet from God’s perspective, 30 years isn’t even a miniscule blip on the eternal timeline. Yet Peter does understand the believers desire for Jesus to return. I love Peter’s words and thoughts that address this longing: “God is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.”

I love the fact that Peter sees beyond just the believers. It’s not all about them (or us in today’s context.) It is partly about the other. As the day will come “like a thief’s – unexpected and suddenly – the followers of Jesus need to always “live holy and godly lives.” Day by day they must live always ready for Christ to come. Peter is echoing Jesus’ words from last week: stay alert, be ready, keep awake. The second emphasis in this part of the passage is on the other. They are why God is patient. They are why the second coming has not yet occurred. God wants “everyone to come to repentance.” Everyone.

Peter’s encouragement to live holy and godly lives is both for their own salvation and for the non-believers salvation. The believers must live this way to be able to witness to the other. Always loving and caring for others reveals Jesus’ love and care for the other. This is how they and we work “to speed its coming.” Yes, there is still work to be done. Let’s get busy!

Prayer: Lord God, what great love you have for all of humanity. Your patience is waiting on us to make disciples of all peoples. This feels like an “all” – not just some, not just most. This requires us to have a love as deep and wide as your love. Make it so within us, O God. Amen.


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Change IS Necessary

Reading: Mark 1:1-8

Verse 3: “Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.”

Returning to Mark 1 today we delve a little deeper into the “repent” part of John’s message. Although we tend to place the practices of introspection, confession, and repentance in the season of Lent, these practices also have a place in Advent. They are the focus of our Lenten preparation. They are part of our Advent preparation.

By our nature we are prone to sin. We are naturally selfish and this leads us to be greedy or controlling or lustful or prideful or… These emotions are enablers on our path to sin. So we need to hear the call to repent, even now in this season of hope and peace and love and joy. The call to repent makes us a bit uncomfortable. First, no one likes change, especially when it is forced. And that is what repentance is really about – forcing our naturally selfish nature to be unselfish. And, second, no one likes to hear that they are living wrong, that they are living unfaithfully. To hear this implies a need for a change. And change is necessary.

In Advent we prepare the way in our hearts for the coming of Jesus. In his birth we celebrate the light coming into the world. It is the light of Christ that shines into the darkness of injustice and inequality, poverty and want, isolation and loneliness, grief and anger, violence and war, and so much more. It is the light that beckons us into these places and spaces. This too is part of the call to repent – to help our world and one another to repent of these maladies. In these places and spaces change is also necessary. As we allow the light of Christ to shine brighter in our own hearts, may we also take that light out into the world, bringing healing and wholeness to our broken and dark world.

Prayer: Lord God, may our journey be both inward and outward. As we grow in our love for you, may that love overflow out into the world. As we seek to change within, may we also seek change in our world. In and through us may your light shine brightly, bringing healing within and without. Amen.


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Responding to the Call

Reading: Mark 1:1-8

Verse 4: “John the baptizer appeared in the wilderness, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.”

Photo credit: Savvas Kalimeris

We begin the week in Mark’s gospel. It was the first gospel written. It is short and concise. Mark mostly focuses on the three years of Jesus’ active ministry. Matthew’s and Luke’s gospels were built upon Mark’s and add much more detail to Jesus’ life, particularly to his birth. John’s gospel is similar to Mark’s in its focus. After a short Genesis-ish “birth story,” John jumps right to where Mark begins, with John the Baptist. Just think – if we only had Mark’s and John’s gospels we’d likely not have nativity sets and childrens’ Christmas programs and…

Verse 1 states that Mark’s gospel is “about Jesus Christ, the son of God.” And then Mark leads us out into the Judean wilderness. Quoting from Isaiah as a means to quickly set the stage, Mark reminds his readers of the prophecy that foretold of one “calling in the desert.” The call was to prepare oneself for the coming of the Lord, to straighten out one’s life so that one was ready to receive the Messiah into one’s heart.

Responding to this call from God, we read, “John the baptizer appeared in the wilderness, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.” John called people to repent of their sins – to clean up their lives. This was the first step in readying people for Jesus’ coming. Laying their sins before God and repenting of them – committing to holy living – people were then baptized in the Jordan River. In this season of Advent may we too make ourselves right with God and, remembering our baptism, may we commit our lives once again to holy living.

Prayer: Lord God, may we hear the call of John the Baptist as a call upon our lives and hearts too. Help us to realize the full weight of the call to repent, to turn away from our sin and disobedience, and to walk closely with you again. And may we also remember that the burden is light and that the way is easy because you walk with us. Amen.


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Be Ready

Reading: Mark 13:24-37

Verse 33: “Beware, keep alert; for you do not know when the time will come.”

Photo credit: Nathan Dumlao

In this week’s gospel text Jesus calls us to a constant state of preparedness. He is talking about being ready for the time when we will be judged. Being “ready” would lead to being found worthy of entry into the kingdom of heaven. Trouble is, we do not know when his return (or our final breath) will be. Even so, we are told, “Beware, keep alert; for you do not know when the time will come.” In verse 36 Jesus reiterates our need to be prepared as he warns, “do not let him find you sleeping.” To be asleep would be to live with a dormant faith.

Time feels like a key element in our passage. The passage is set in God’s time and we tend to live in our understanding of time. Jesus is calling us to live in the intersection of these two ways to see time. The calls to being on guard and alert and awake are calls to live out our faith in the here and now, every day. We are to guard our hearts from the lies and temptations of the evil one and the world. We are to be alert to both God’s work in our lives and to the places and ways that God is calling us to bring love, compassion, justice… to bear in the world. We are to be awake to God’s presence, guidance, conviction, direction… in our lives.

Overall the call is to be faithful and obedient to God all of the time. Then, no matter when that day comes, whether for our lives or for our world, we will be ready to meet Jesus. May it be so.

Prayer: Lord God, it is easy to become lazy, to become complacent, to become self-absorbed. It is hard to always walk the walk, to always live out our faith. Help us to do the hard things. Help us to walk the narrow way that leads to life abundant and everlasting. Amen.


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Revelations of Christ

Reading: 1st Corinthians 1:3-9

Verse 7: “You are not lacking in any spiritual gift as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

As we return to 1st Corinthians today we look at how God’s grace is worked out in our lives. God’s grace guides us into relationships. The first relationship is with God. This comes as God’s graces woos us and draws us towards God’s love. As this prevenient grace brings us into a personal relationship, God’s grace then justifies us, making us right with God. This justifying grace enables imperfect us to continue to be in a relationship with our perfect God. Our relationship with God is then reflected outward by Christ’s Spirit, which resides in us, giving us grace and strength and guidance. It is the Holy Spirit that gives us these “spiritual gifts” and that prompts us to use these gifts to live in community with one another.

As we “eagerly wait” for Jesus to be revealed, we do so in a two-fold manner. In Paul’s context he is expressing the common hope and belief of his day that Jesus’ return (or revelation) was imminent. This is true for us too. So we also seek to live “blameless” lives before our God. While we wait, however, we are also the revelation of Christ in the world. As we live into and respond to God’s love we begin to sense a call to “live in fellowship” with Jesus and with those Jesus loves. Our response is to share and to witness to Christ’s love, grace, forgiveness, and hope in the world, making Jesus real to that world. Trusting that God “will keep you strong to the end,” may we live daily as Christ’s hands, feet, heart, and words.

Prayer: Lord God, you call us into a deep, personal, intimate relationship with you. It is so close and so important that you send the Holy Spirit to live within each of our hearts. Lead and guide us, use us each day as we seek to live out all that you are for the world. Amen.


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The Presence of Grace

Reading: 1st Corinthians 1:3-5 and 8

Verse 5: “For in every way you have been enriched in God, in speech and knowledge of every kind.”

In this week’s Epistle text Paul writes about grace. Most simply put, grace is God’s presence in our lives. Paul begins by asking for God’s grace and peace to be with the Corinthian church. These two things often go hand in hand. God’s presence often brings a sense of peace to our lives. This peace is one of the marks of a Christian.

Paul then offers words of thanksgiving. He begins by offering thanks for the grace that is clearly evident in the lives of the people who make up this community of faith. This presence of God is what makes them stand out. It is that “there’s something different about you” that people notice when they’re around a person of faith.

As the church lives out its witness in Corinth, filled by and guided by the Holy Spirit (that’s God’s constant, indwelling presence), their lives are “enriched.” Paul notes that this enrichment is “in every way.” That’s the thing about grace – it doesn’t come and go. It is with us all of the time. This grace is evident in the ways that the church members speak and think. It is in their words and in the ways that they live out these words. It is in the strength that they exhibit in their lives. People around them notice this presence of God that permeates their lives.

If we too open ourselves up to the grace of God that is always present and is always available to us, we too will be blessed as we are filled with grace. It will fill us with strength and with guidance, empowering us to witness to our faith in Jesus Christ. Filled we too will live in such a way that others notice the grace and peace in us. May it be so today and every day.

Prayer: Lord God, pour out your presence into my heart and into my mind. Fill me with a grace and peace that overflows into the lives of all that I meet today. Equip me to witness well to your love today. Use me to be a connection point to you. Amen.


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Criteria

Reading: Matthew 25:31-46

Verse 45: “Whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.”

Today’s passage takes us to the end of this world as we know it. Jesus is sitting on the throne or on the judgment seat. In the opening verses we read that “all nations” will be gathered before him. Jesus will then separate those destined for heaven from those destined for hell. Even if we die before this day, we will still be judged worthy or unworthy of heaven.

It is interesting to me that both the sheep and the goats address Jesus as “Lord.” To me it feels like more than a polite title. It feels like even the goats thought they were worthy of inclusion in heaven. So what then is used to separate one from another?

In verses 35 and 36 Jesus lays out the criteria. In his own words it is whether or not one fed the hungry, gave drink to the thirsty, invited the stranger in, clothed the naked, cared for the sick, and visited the imprisoned. Both groups want to know when they saw Jesus hungry, thirsty… The answer is pretty much the same to both the sheep and the goats. They each saw Jesus in “the least of these” – the outcast, the leper, the Samaritan, the tax collector, the woman at the well… Some chose to have compassion and to act to meet needs. Others did not.

The challenge of this passage is to ask where we fit. To which herd do we belong? Maybe we’d like to tell ourselves that this is just one of the many criteria that Jesus will use to judge us worthy or not. But what if it is the only criteria that he uses?

Prayer: Lord God, change my heart, O God. Raise up a compassion in me that sees and responds to needs consistently, not just when convenient or easy. Yes, change my heart, O God. Amen.


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More and More

Reading: Ephesians 1:15-23

Verses 22-23: “God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body.”

Photo credit: Shane Rounce

After opening his letter to the church in Ephasus with a reminder of their spiritual blessings, Paul offers words of prayer that they would live into these blessings. He has heard of their faith and love and he has prayed each day for them. This is not just a prayer of thanksgiving but it is also for growth and greater understanding. Paul wants to see their faith mature and deepen.

To this end, Paul prays for “the Spirit of wisdom and revelation.” These abilities, enhanced by the Holy Spirit, will enable them to “know him better.” The “him” and the “he” that Paul keeps referring to is Jesus. Adding to head knowledge, Paul prays that “the eyes of your heart may be enlightened.” Here Paul connects to the spiritual blessings that he wrote about in verses 3-14. With hearts open to fully receive, Paul prays for them to know the hope of their salvation, the glorious inheritance that is guaranteed by their adoption into the family of God, and the power that is theirs through Jesus Christ – the one who came to “bring all things in heaven and in earth together.”

Paul then reminds the Ephesians and us that God raised Jesus up and placed him “at his right hand,” giving Jesus full authority over all things. In verses 22-23 we read, “God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body.” There is a totality to Jesus’ reign. While this has not yet been fully realized, it will be a complete reality one day. In the interim, for the church in Ephasus and for the church today, our task is to live in such a way that makes this more and more of a reality day by day. May it be so for us all.

Prayer: Lord God, your desire is to be in all and over all and through all. You want to sit squarely on the throne of our hearts. You want us to give ourselves to you and to this world more and more each day. Yes, may it be so, O Lord. Amen.


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Generously and Graciously

Reading: 2nd Corinthians 9:6-15

Verse 13: “Men will praise God for the obedience that accompanies your confession of the gospel of Christ.”

On this Thanksgiving Day we read Paul’s words about sharing the good news of Jesus Christ “generously.” I wonder, is that how others would describe the way you and I live out the great commission to make disciples of all peoples?

Paul used a farming analogy to encourage how we answer that question about how we share the good news. He begins by telling us that if we sow sparingly, we will reap sparingly. A seed here and a seed there may produce a few plants. But we’re looking for a crop. A seedling here and there soon withers and dies. A crop grows to produce a harvest. Half-hearted or lukewarm or reluctant sharing of the good news will not result in a bumper crop. Non-believers must feel the intensity of our Jesus relationship. They must come to know that Jesus is the source of the love and grace and hope and peace and… that they feel and see when they encounter you and me.

We’re also reminded that we do not work alone. God supplies all that we need to sow seeds of faith generously in the world. Equipped by God, our task is to “abound in every good work.” When we live out our faith in this way, then “Men will praise God for the obedience that accompanies your confession of the gospel of Christ.” This can be our truth every day.

May we generously and graciously share the gospel of Jesus Christ with all that we meet. Doing so we will draw others to Christ. May it be so.

Prayer: Lord God, as we respond to your call to be sharers of the gospel, may your hand nurture the seeds we plant. As we bear witness to your love and grace with our lives, may your power produce an abundant crop for the transformation of the world. Amen.