pastorjohnb

Thoughts and musings on faith and our mighty God!

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God on Display

Reading: John 9: 1-23

Verse 11: So I went and washed, and then I could see.

Today’s story makes us think.  It is a story that wrestles with the ‘why’ questions.  Why does the world work the way it does?  Why does God?  God created us with intelligence and curiosity.  We want to know how and why things work.  We want to understand things.  Life and death and what happens in between have long been mysteries that mankind has sought to explain, understand, …  Yes, we certainly know much more than we did even twenty years ago.  Yet there is still much we cannot explain or understand or begin to answer the ‘why’ questions that we have.

The cycle often repeated in the Old Testament is: following God, becoming disobedient, receiving punishment, returning to God.  So when the people considered why someone was born blind or deaf or why someone had leprosy, the natural conclusion was that it must have been punishment for something.  It was a short leap from stories such as Miriam’s disease for disobedience to applying this logic to all cases of affliction.  What caused this affliction?  Sin!  So when the man was born blind, all assumed someone in the family had sinned and this man’s blindness was the eventual consequence.

Today we know that this is not the case.  But we are still often left with the ‘why’ questions.  Why did he die so young?  Why did my spouse leave me?  Why did my position have to be the job that was eliminated?  All of these types of questions can eventually lead to the bigger one: why did God…?  It is a difficult question.  It is a question that may not be answered for years.  It is a question that is sometimes never answered.

God created our world and set it in motion.  God created the weather systems, for example.  The system was designed and set into motion.  We experience hot and cold, snow and rain, sun and clouds.  No one would argue that God individually and personally forms each of the zillions of rain drops that fall each day.  Our world operated much the same way.  Our bodies grow and they decay.  We get colds and the flu.  We lose our site or our hearing.  We get cancer and Alzheimer’s.  People make decisions that affect others – sometimes for the good, sometimes for the bad.  The lightning strikes and causes a forest fire.  Much we cannot explain.

But in and through it all, God seeks to be present.  In and through it all we can trust God, we can cling to Him, we can walk with Him.  We know that God will give us just what we need for the day or situation at hand.

The blind man needed to see.  He believed what Jesus said and he received what he needed.  Through him, the glory of God was displayed.  No, he didn’t really know ‘why’ Jesus touched him and he couldn’t explain ‘why’ he could now see, but He did and  he could.  When we trust, when we have faith, when we are faithful, God is true.  Then God will be displayed in our lives as well.  May it be so.


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God’s Ways

Reading: Psalm 119: 1-8

When we were little we learned our ABCs.  It was the first step in learning how to read.  Without knowing our letters, we could not decode words that were new to us as we learned to read.  Throughout life, much of what we learn, we read.  The ability to read and understand and learn is essential to doing well in life.  This skill is also important in our faith.  In our journey of faith, much of our growth comes in quiet moments reading and meditating on the Bible or a devotional or some other book relating to our faith.

Psalm 119 is written using the ABCs.  It is an acrostic.  Each line of the first stanza begins with aleph,the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet.  Each line of the second stanza begins with beth, the second letter.  This pattern continues throughout the longest chapter in the Bible.  Unfortunately, we lose this unique feature in the translation.  Yet the idea and thought behind it remain a great tool to learn God’s Word.  The author was writing in an acrostic format to help the original readers remember better.  In this Psalm, the focus was on God’s ways or on the Law.  The pattern employed would help the readers to recall the Law, a very important part of life for all Jews.

At youth events where we have groups together for the first time, we often play the name game.  It is played in a circle and we go around and around saying “John jackalope” and “Lisa lizard” and so on until we all know each other’s names.  This is the concept in the Psalm.  Learning is so often a pattern or something that captures your attention so you can retain it better.

Verse two reads, “Blessed are they who keep His statutes and seek Him with all their hearts”.  I fully believe this is true.  But to keep God’s statutes and to seek Him fully, we must first know God.  To know God, we turn to the words we find in the Bible.  We begin by knowing the words of scripture.  There are many ways to come to know the words.  For some, it is writing out a verse to come back to over and over; for others it is reading the same few verses for a few days in a row, taking time to really consider their meaning.  One way does not fit everyone.  We each need to find our ‘best’ way to learn God’s ways and then use that ‘tool’ daily to grow in our understanding of God and to deepen our faith.  May we each take time daily to be in the Word and to learn His ways, so that we may be blessed as we follow God’s ways.


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Come and See

Reading: John 1: 35-42

Andrew was alerted to Jesus by the one he followed: John the Baptist.  John saw Jesus and declared, “Look, the Lamb of God”.  Andrew and a friend follow this Jesus, seeking to discover just who He is.  Jesus notices them tagging along and asks, “What do you want”?  They reply with a question, “Where are you staying”?  In other words, they were asking if they could go there and spend some time with Jesus.  They wanted to know who this “Lamb of God” really was.  Jesus invites them, saying, “Come and you will see”.

To spend time with Jesus, Andrew had to be aware of the opportunity.  He could have simply nodded in acknowledgement, and maybe glanced up, when John stated who was passing by.  In our day to day lives we often do this.  We give someone or something a tip of the head or a wave of the hand, but too often we do not really give that person or situation our full attention.  I wonder how many opportunities are missed each day.  But Andrew does not miss this one.  They tag along and spend some time with Jesus.  After spending the day with Jesus, Andrew is convinced of who He is and goes to find his brother, Simon Peter.  Andrew declares, “We have found the Messiah!” and brings his brother to meet Jesus.

Andrew’s actions are great models for us to follow.  His first action was to be mindful of God’s presence in his life.  Andrew latched onto the chance to spend some time with Jesus and it was a transformative experience for him.  Spending time with Jesus will do the same for us.  His second action was to share Jesus, to bring others to Christ.  In this case, he brought his brother.  Once Andrew spent time with and knew who Jesus was, he sought to introduce others to Jesus.  This too is our call: to make new disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.

May we each be aware of God’s presence in our lives – both within us personally and also in the world and people around us – so that we can know Jesus and can seek to help others to ‘come and see’ Jesus as well.


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One Day

Reading: Psalm 98

The psalmist solemnly reminds us that the Lord “will judge the world in righteousness and the people with equity”.  It is a truth we know: one day we will all stand before the judgment seat to be deemed worthy of heaven or to be condemned to hell.  We do not know the when or the how, but we know that the who and what we are now is not forever.

God will first judge in righteousness.  There will be truth in how we are judged.  The simple question that is illustrated in the parable of the sheep and the goats will be the one Jesus asks us: “Do you know me”?  It is the hope and prayer of every Christian that when Jesus looks back over the course of our lives, that He will see we knew Him.  It will be revealed in how we lived out our daily life.  It will be revealed in how we treated our neighbor and the stranger in our midst.  It will be revealed in how we used the gifts and talents and blessings God gave us to help build the kingdom here.

God will also judge with equity.  Loving God and loving neighbor can look like and be a lot of different things.  There is not just one way to love.  By judging with equity God will look at each of us uniquely.  If I was given the gift of teaching, did I teach others about God and faith?  If I was placed in a situation to help the person on the street, did I?  If I was feeling the call or nudge to go to a friend in need, did I respond?  We will each be judged by our own lives, not against some set standard.

When Jesus asks, “Did you know me?” may our answer be a joyous “Yes”!  And may our Lord and Savior say, “Yes indeed – welcome home”!  May we live each day so that one day this will be.


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Living, Not Just Knowing

Reading: Luke 21: 5-9

The disciples are looking at the beauty and wealth of the temple.  People go to the great cathedrals of the world and marvel at the stone work and stained glass.  Visitors to museums stand in amazement before the painting of the Last Supper or some other religious portrait.  We go to our churches and think, “What a great place this is”!

Jesus says to just hold on a minute.  He says that one day the temple will be no more.  One day those cathedrals will be gone too.  One day that artwork will fade.  One day…  Jesus goes on to warn them that one day false prophets will come, trying to charm us into believing other stories.  Jesus warns us not to be deceived.  If all our faith is is in the things – the buildings, the artwork, the campus – then we will be lost when our faith is shaken or tested.  Instead, our faith must be in Jesus.

There can be danger here too.  If we read all the stories of Jesus and appreciate all He said and are amazed at what He did, but do not go any deeper than knowing the stories, then we have simply created another empty building.  The words must travel the short distance from our heads to our hearts.  The words must take on understanding and application.  It is at this level the they begin to transform our lives.  When we allow Jesus to come alive in our hearts, we begin to be transformed and to live out our faith instead of simply knowing our faith.

If our faith is built upon a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, then we do not need a building to visit Jesus in.  Jesus is not a building.  He lives in us.  If Jesus lives in us, we will not be deceived by false prophets or drawn in by the lies of the world.  He will guide us from within our hearts.  Lord Jesus, reign in me today!  Jesus, be alive in my heart!


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True Life

Reading: Psalm 119: 97-104

What voice is your guide?  What voice directs your decisions and informs your choices?  These are hard questions to answer honestly.  These are questions whose answers might shift from time to time – or often.  Oh to be like the psalmist in today’s passage and to only listen to God!

There are many voices that compete for our attention and our allegiance.  Primary among them is our own voice.  The voice of self is powerful.  How will it affect me and what’s in it for me are two of the loudest voices of self that I wrestle with.  Other voices out there do not help.  Society’s voices tell us to ‘just do it’ and ‘watch out for #1’.  We hear whispers from Satan that bring doubt and fear, jealousy and want, just to name a couple of the great Temper’s common lies.

In our Psalm we see the better choice.  In God’s words we find that one voice that matters.  In God’s Word we find the words that are not only ‘sweeter than honey’ but the words that lead to peace and contentment in this life and hope in the life to come.  The psalmist writes of meditating on God’s ways ‘all day Long’s and that is what it takes to keep focused on God in our day and age.  For us today it goes back to the famous slogan and bracelets: WWJD.  If we lived with this question as our constant filter and guide, we would indeed be following Jesus and living as faithful disciples.

The voices are many.  Ultimate truth is found in the Word of God.  Read His Word.  Study the Bible.  Come to know the Lord our God and find life that is really true life, life lived as a follower of Jesus Christ.


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Focus

Reading: 2 Timothy 2: 8-15

At times in life things can get ahold of out attention or focus and can dominate our thoughts.  Sometimes they are good things like that new baby a young couple just had.  Their mind drifts to the new baby when they are at work and when they are with the baby they cannot think of anything else.  Sometimes things like whether or not we will get the job we just interviewed for or the failing health of a loved one can dominate our focus and our thoughts.

For Paul, his singular focus was Jesus Christ.  Nothing else really mattered to him.  After Paul encountered Jesus on that road to Damascus, Jesus was his all in all.  Whether Paul was in plenty or in want, Jesus was his focus.  Whether Paul was in chains or freely wandering the city, Jesus was his focus.  Whether Paul was preaching to the crowd or talking quietly with Timothy, Jesus was his focus.  Paul understood the promise of salvation through Jesus Christ alone and he firmly held onto this promise.  It became the main focus of what he wanted to share with all he met.  Paul wanted all people to have a personal relationship with Jesus.  He saw no barriers to this for anyone except the person’s individual refusal so Paul worked tirelessly to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ.

We too are called to have this same focus – to always have Jesus Christ as our focus.  In the way we live our life, in the words we speak, in the actions we take, in the things we refrain from, in the times we reach out to the needy and the lost – in all things we must share Jesus with others.  Through us others must see and feel and come to know Jesus’ love and the promise of salvation found in Jesus alone.  May we be all in for Jesus each day so that all may be in one day.


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Beautiful and Useful

Reading: Jeremiah 18: 1-11

When working with clay, the potter molds the clay into what he or she intended it to be.  At times it became marred or flawed or not exactly what the potter had planned.  So the potter reshapes the clay so that it becomes something beautiful and useful.

Imagine if the clay had a mind of its own.  What would happen if the potter was trying to form a serving platter and the clay wanted to be a vase?  As the potter tried to smooth and flatten out the clay, the clay kept rising up.  Soon enough the potter would give up or would allow the clay to become a vase.  But the clay is not becoming what the potter intended.  To the potter the creation will never be as beautiful or useful as it could have been.  Although it may function as a base and hold water, the potter will not see it as beautiful.

Growing up God often shapes us through the hands of parents, teachers, Sunday school leaders, youth group leaders…  We are molded and shaped as young Christians.  Before we move on to becoming mature Christians, we often seek our own way.  Whether in high school or college or young adulthood, we start to see ourselves as the center of all things.  We think we know do much and decide we will be the ones calling the shots.  We are like the clay that wanted to become a vase.  Over the course of a few years or maybe decades, we wander far from God.

Yet the Creator’s love for us never wains.  God continues to bring us back to the purposes that were laid out for our lives before we were born.  God does not give up.  It is a love so great.  In time, the seeds of faith begin to sprout again for most of us.  We come to know God again and we begin to walk in God’s ways again.  We begin to become the beautiful and useful creation we were meant to be.  Life just seems better again because we are in the palm of God’s hands.  For your faithfulness, O God, we say thank you.


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Go and Do Likewise 

Reading: Luke 10: 29-37

God, who is my neighbor?  This question has a different connotation today than it had in Jesus’ day.  In Jesus’ day, the community was close knit.  One knew a lot about one’s neighbors.  But today many people do no even know the person across the street.  We may have hundreds of friends on social media flung far across the world, but we are too often isolated in our own homes.

In today’s parable Jesus sees neighbor as not just the people living around us, but also as anyone we might come into contact with.  This definition really changes the ball game.  We might be willing to take a meal to the family next door if we know they are struggling, but the family across town that we do not even know?  In Jesus’ world, yes we would.  Neighbor is everyone.

We can take a meal to the family next door even if we are really not friends.  We can do it even if we do not really get along.  It is a quick, limited interaction type of engagement.  It is a safe foray with little commitment.  In our story today, the Samaritan goes beyond this – way beyond.  He stopped, got his hands dirty, actually cared for the wounded man, took him to a place to recover, and paid for it.  He even told the innkeeper he would pay for any additional expenses when he returned.  And I bet he stopped in and checked on the wounded man.  They probably became friends!

Jesus saw all people as His neighbor.  In the parable we clearly see our call ad Christians to love all people that we encounter.  It is the example set by the Samaritan and by Jesus.  As Jesus said to the lawyer, may we too go and do likewise.


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Bold as Peter

Reading: Acts 5: 27-32

In life we often face decision points.  One choice leads to this outcome and the other choice leads to that outcome.  This choice may anger or alienate or negatively impact this person or group and that choice will do the same for that person or group.  Even though in our heart and mind we come to what we think or feel is the ‘right’ choice, not everyone will necessarily agree.

Often these choices are not big and impactful, but at times they are.  In these situations, the pressure to make the ‘right’ decision can be huge.  This is especially true when both choices have a number of positives and negatives.  But in some cases there is a clear correct choice.  Yet even these are not always free of possible consequences.  Such was the case when the apostles were again called before the Sanhedrin.

The apostles had been instructed to stop teaching in the name of Jesus.  What they were teaching did not please the Jewish religious authorities because it was a way different from their way.  The apostles were drawing people to Christ instead of to Judaism.  Peter’s response is awesome: “we must obey God rather than men”. What a tough statement to argue against!  Who could know more than or argue against God?!

The obvious answer to this question is one we must remind ourselves of when the voice of the world or the voice of self competes with the voice of God.  In these times that will surely happen, we must trust in the voice of the Holy Spirit, in what we read in the Bible, and in the promises of God to love and protect and bless us.  May we be as bold as Peter.  May we obey God.