pastorjohnb

Thoughts and musings on faith and our mighty God!

Tag Archives: mercy


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The Two “Greats”

Reading: Matthew 28:18-20

Verse 19: “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”

Today’s text contains what is known as the “Great Commission.” It is Jesus’ charge to the disciples to continue the work that he started. As we read or hear these words, the same charge applies to us today. Jesus says to all who believe in him as Lord and Savior: “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”

These powerful words call us to action, to movement, to going out into the world to witness to and to share the good news of Jesus Christ. At times, as Christians, as we have sought to live out these words, we have forgotten the intent and we have set aside the model that Jesus gave us for living out these words. At times we have sidestepped the Great Commandment – to live God with all that we are and to love neighbor as self – as we have sought to “make disciples.” In many cases we have sought to transform them into our expected image or standard instead of into Jesus’.

When Jesus says, “teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you” he is calling the disciples and us to live first and foremost. Love does not coerce or manipulate; it does not force or overpower. Love changes hearts and lives through relationship and connection. It changes people into disciples by teaching them kindness, grace, forgiveness, mercy, compassion… As we seek to live out both the great commandment and the great commission, may we hold tightly to both.

Prayer: Lord God, help me to cling to both “greats” each day and with each person I meet. Use me to reflect Christ’s love into the world and into people’s lives. Use me to make disciples even if I do not speak a word. Amen.


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In Spirit, Faith, and Truth

Reading: Acts 7:59-60

Verses 59-60: “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit… Lord, do not hold this sin against them.”

Photo credit: Simon Schmitt

After Jesus, Stephen is the first person to die for their faith. Just as the early church is finding itself and its voice, this tragedy occurs. Stephen was bold and lived his faith out loud. He was led by the Holy Spirit. He was drawing people to Jesus Christ. The stoning of Stephen must’ve felt like a massive gut punch to the early church. Until you heard the words he said even as death came. Stephen’s last words were a powerful witness to the faith that he had in the Lord.

As the stoning began Stephen prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” He was committing his soul to the one in whom he put all his hope and trust. He was declaring his faith in the one who rose from death. Even now he remained bold for his faith. With his last breath Stephen offers these words that echo Jesus’ words from the cross: “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” Like his master, even in death Stephen offers forgiveness. He models grace. This too is a great testimony to the power of the Spirit of Christ within Stephen, leading and guiding him right to the very end.

This martyrdom and the intense persecution that will follow forces the church out into the world. Led by Saul, the Jewish religious leaders will try to eradicate this new faith in Jesus Christ. This too will lead to bold witnessing for their faith. In Spirit, truth, and faith the church will grow and thrive. It is God’s plan. May it continue to be so with you and with me.

Prayer: Lord God, thank you for the witness of Stephen. Lead and guide me by the same power of the Holy Spirit. Empower in me a bold and courageous faith that stands tall for you. Amen.


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Blessed Are…

Reading: John 20:24-29

Verse 29: “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

Act 2 unfolds today. We learn that Thomas was absent from the risen one’s first visit. It seems odd that Jesus would first visit when one disciple was missing but the reason why becomes clear as we read on. Thomas refuses to believe. He insists on his own physical proof. How many times have you said or thought “I’ll believe that when I see it with my own eyes”?

Usually when I’ve said that, the person’s response has been something along the “Well then, I’ll show you!” lines. It is not said with grace or humility or compassion. Contrast this human norm with how Jesus speaks to Thomas. In act 2 Jesus once again appears and greets them. Then, turning to Thomas alone, Jesus offers what he needs: “Put your finger here…” I picture a kindness in Jesus’ eyes and I sense a mercy and compassion in his voice. I think this is because it’s what I’ve felt when Jesus has met me where I was at and has given me what I needed. Thomas immediately professes faith in “my Lord and my God.”

And then to Thomas, but certainly loud enough for all to hear, Jesus says, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” All there have now seen him. By seeing the risen Lord they have come to believe. Yet when Mary Magdalene came from the tomb with her good news… They all had doubt. They all needed more. So not only with Thomas but with all the disciples, he gave them what they needed to really believe. Jesus met them where they were at and helped them to step forward in faith. In Spirit, Christ continues to do this.

You and I fall into this “Blessed are…” statement. We have come to believe without physically seeing Jesus. How? Through the words of scripture, through the witness of others, and through our own experiences with Christ, we have come to believe in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. This day may our lives lay the groundwork for the Spirit to move the heart of another, drawing them towards faith in Jesus Christ. In whatever way we can, may we be part of other’s “how.”

Prayer: Lord God, use me today as you will. In and through me may others come to see and know Jesus in their hearts. Lead and guide me to help others toward the Lord and Savior of us all. Amen.


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A Quiet Death

Readings: John 18 and John 19

Ch. 19, verse 30: “Jesus said, ‘It is finished.’ With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.”

Today’s long Good Friday reading takes us from the arrest of Jesus to the burial of Jesus. Along the way, Jesus is questioned and abused by the religious leaders, is questioned and found innocent by Pilate, and is crucified by Roman soldiers. Jesus acknowledges that he is a king, extends care for his mother, and dies a quiet death. False accusations and lies and intimidation fuel what happens to Jesus. Several times John reminds us that what happened to Jesus was to fulfill the scriptures.

Jesus claims that his kingdom is not of this world in John 18:36. He is speaking to one whose kingdom is of this world. In the flesh, Jesus bridges these two kingdoms. In the incarnation the kingdom of heaven came to earth. During his ministry and life Jesus revealed the core elements of the kingdom of God: love, healing, compassion, forgiveness, grace, welcome, mercy, peace, restoration, joy, hope. All of these are wrapped up in today’s 2 chapters. Some appear again and again.

Towards the end of chapter 19, in verse 30 we read: “Jesus said, ‘It is finished.’ With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.” As all is completed just as the scriptures had detailed this event, Jesus dies a quiet death. On this day, it feels so appropriate. All that was to be accomplished by the human one was finished. With grace the spirit of Christ returned to God.

Prayer: Lord God, there is so much sadness this day. We feel it as those who loved Jesus then must’ve felt it. Yet Jesus did not. There was a steadiness and a peace about him. There was an assurance and a deep trust. Help us to remember that this was exactly as you planned it to be. Amen.


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Hear Our Cry, O God!

Reading: Psalm 130

Verses 1-2: “Out of the depths I cry to you, Lord; Lord, hear my voice.”

Photo credit: Stormseeker

The psalmist cries out to God. From “the depths” the psalmist goes to God full of emotion and from a place of discontent. If you’ve walked with God for a while then you, like me, have found yourself in a place very similar to the place the psalmist finds himself or herself. Sometimes we place ourselves there. Our sins or other poor choices have led us to a place in our relationship with God and/or with others that is discomforting and charged with emotions. At other times we find ourselves needing to cry out to God because of something someone else has done or because life simply happens. From these depths we too cry out to God.

In the rest of verse 2 we read, “Let your ears be attentive to my cry for mercy.” The psalmist is asking God to not just hear the words of his or her lips. He or she is asking God to really listen, to receive these words, to pay attention to this cry of the heart. This is an invitation to God to receive us into a deeper relationship, into a more personal connection. To cry out in such a way is an expression of trust and faith. One would not pour out one’s heart unless there was a foundational trust and faith in a response. We are invited to go to God in such a way.

What are the cries of your heart? Are you angry or hurt? Are you lost or filled with questions? Are you lonely or experiencing unwanted change? Are you drowning in grief or wrestling with a big decision? Are you in a tight place financially or are you bone tired? There is no place that we cannot cry out from. There is no cry that God will not hear. So in faith and in trust and with hope, may we cry out to God.

Prayer: Lord God, hear my cry from the depths of my heart to the depths of yours. Through your son, feel what I am feeling, know what pulls at my heart and soul. Attune your ear to my cry, O God. Amen.


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Eyes on Christ

Reading: Romans 5:1-11

Verse 1: “Since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Photo credit: Josh Calabrese

Today in Romans 5 Paul writes of the peace and joy that we come to know as we walk with Jesus Christ. This journey begins as God goes to work in our hearts. As we accept Jesus as Lord and Savior, we are justified or made right with God. This, however, is not a once-and-done process. We need to be made right again and again because by nature we are sinful. But we are justified by grace – the unending, undeserved free gift of God that loves us back into right relationship again and again. As God pours out love through the Holy Spirit, filling our hearts, we receive joy upon joy. Being loved so deeply and unconditionally, we experience reconciliation with God every time we repent and turn back to God. What a merciful and loving and graceful God we serve!

Now, if only we lived with this joy and hope and confidence all of the time. If we could only set our eyes on Christ and walk steadily and without falter each moment of each day. We can and do at times. But I find myself glancing sideways now and then as a bright shiny object or a scary dangerous threat nears me. If it draws enough of my attention, my gaze can linger. Maybe you too take a glance now and then. Maybe once in a while your gaze lingers. And sometimes I look back over my shoulder, looking to see who is catching up or sneaking up. I do this when I fall into the doing or achieving mode. Maybe you fall to these temptations once in a while too. If only we could fix our eyes…

When we falter, when our gaze is drawn off the path that leads to life abundant, may we always remember that while we were in that sinful state, Christ died for us. He died so that we can always be reconciled. Thanks be to God.

Prayer: Lord God, my life is so much better when my eyes and heart are focused on you. Even in the trials, there is hope and joy and peace in you. Train me more and more to focus on your love and grace and mercy – day by day helping me to walk more and more with Christ. Amen.


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Patience, Love, Mercy

Reading: Exodus 17:3-7

Verse 6: “I will stand there before you… Strike the rock, and water will come out of it for the people to drink.”

Continuing in Exodus 17 today, the people are thirsty – parched. They grumble at Moses who grumbles to God. At this point, God demonstrates patience, love, and mercy. I imagine God first drawing a deep breath and then counting to 10. As God exhales slowly, I imagine God looking down in love upon this quarrelsome, doubting lot. As God looks upon these children panicking in the desert, God’s heart is once again moved to mercy. We don’t have to imagine this part. In verses 6 God tells Moses, “I will stand there before you… Strike the rock, and water will come out of it for the people to drink.” God goes before Moses, leading the way to water, to life, to joy.

First, a lesson from Moses: lead using the example you want others to follow. After receiving the peoples’ complaint, Moses should’ve gone to God in prayer. Moses should’ve first sought God’s direction, strength, guidance – and patience, love, and mercy. This is how God led. That’s our second lesson, this one from God. When seeking to help or care for someone in distress, practice patience, love, and mercy. See the person as they are, try to understand where they are, feel what it is like to be in their shoes. Then allow first love and then mercy to guide your efforts and your response.

We are now in our own season in the wilderness. We are journeying towards the cross during Lent. This season of introspection invites us to look within, to honestly see ourselves as we are. Maybe we’ll find some grumbling and a bit of quarreling. Maybe we’ll find anger or lust or pride or doubt or something else that needs to go. As we seek to root out these sinful behaviors as we prepare ourselves to stand at the foot of the cross in the presence of the one who surrendered all for us, may we too practice patience, love, and mercy with ourselves. The roots of our sin are deep and the journey is long and difficult. May God be with us.

Prayer: Lord God, today I ask that you pour out your patience, love, and mercy. Fill me with these so that I too can be generous with them – both with myself and with others. Lead me to look deeply within this day; guide me to that which I need to surrender to your will and way. Amen.


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Thirsty

Reading: Exodus 17:1-3

Verses 1-2: “There was no water for the people to drink. So they quarreled with Moses and said, ‘Give us water to drink.'”

As we begin two days in Exodus 17 let’s recall the Israelites’ recent past. They’d been slaves in Egypt for more generations than anyone could count. God, through Moses, freed them from slavery. Shortly into their wilderness trek, Pharaoh’s army is closing in, bent on returning them to slavery. God, through Moses, leads them through the sea, rescuing the people. After three days in the desert they are without water. Again, God through Moses provides. Soon thereafter, as they wander the desert, their food provisions run out and they become hungry. As with the first two incidents, the people again complain or grumble. God again provides, bringing manna in the morning and quail in the evening. Lead out into the desert by God (and Moses), the Israelites were dependent upon God. How else would a vast nation survive in the desert?

As the Israelites once again travel, they come to a place without water. They were in a desert. In our opening verse the people quarrel with Moses and say to him, “Give us water to drink.” They had a real need. They are dependent on God. Could’ve they asked or prayed instead of quarreling and demanding? Yes. Moses asks why they quarrel with him, why they test God.

The Israelites are demonstrating an immature faith. Even though God has provided again and again, they still turn to human reactions instead of faith responses. They are not yet what God is shaping them to be. They’ll spend 40 years wandering in the wilderness. I too can show an immature faith. Last week, when I got sick, my first thought was, ‘God, not COVID again.’ It was not said in the form of a prayer. Should’ve it been? Yes. I too am a work in progress. I too wander in the wilderness now and then. Lord, have mercy.

Prayer: Lord God, when I thirst or hunger, when I face a trial or even a temptation, lead me to turn to you first. Again and again you have provided, you have shown the way, you have rescued. Guide me to again and again turn to you in faith as my first response. Build up my faith, O Lord. Amen.


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Two Choices

Reading: Romans 4:1-5 and 13-17

Verse 13: “It was not through the law that Abraham and his offspring received the promise… but through the righteousness that comes by faith.”

Photo credit: Einar Storsul

Paul was born into the Jewish faith. He studied the scriptures, especially the Law, and rose to prominence in the Pharisees, a religious order that focused on strict adherence to the Law. As a Jew, he was thoroughly versed in the life of Abraham. Paul writes this letter to the church in Rome – many of the people likely without any of this background, yet some very connected to Judaism. So why does Paul choose to go all the way back to Abraham as the point to connect non-Jewish Christians to Christian Jews into one faith in Jesus Christ?

There is a 2-part answer, although the two are very connected. First, the one who held the Law above all else in his religion has come to know the saving power of Jesus Christ through faith alone. Paul now knows that faith is all about having a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. He himself experienced the power of unconditional love, undeserved grace, and unlimited mercy. Second, Abraham was credited as being righteous – of living in right relationship with God – because of his faith and trust in God in a time when the Law did not yet exist. Like Paul, Abraham did nothing to receive the blessing of faith – it was by God’s grace alone.

This simple concept of grace invites anyone and everyone into a relationship with Jesus Christ. It is freely and generously available to all people. Some people struggle to accept it or to believe it because the idea of receiving something free and undeserved runs counter to our cultural norms. We measure success in our culture by what we do and by how much we accumulate. By contrast, in God’s kingdom “success” is measured by whose we are and by how we reflect that and by what we give to others. If we are focused on keeping a set of rules and on achieving certain expectations, then we are tied to this world. If we are focused on being a disciple of Jesus Christ and on living out his example of love, mercy, grace, compassion, forgiveness, and generosity, then we are tied to the kingdom of God. As you reflect on these two choices, where are you this day?

Prayer: Lord God, your grace, love – well, everything really – is a free gift to me. All are undeserved yet you give all freely and abundantly. May my grateful response be to do the same. May it be so. Amen.


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Washed Clean

Reading: Psalm 32

Verse 5: “I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity… you forgave the guilt of my sin.”

In our Psalm today we find a pattern that we all know intimately and we find the truth that breaks or redeems this pattern. Like David, the author of the Psalm, we are familiar with sin. Some may think that as our faith matures, we sin less. We do, I believe, get a handle on many things that caused us to sin when we were less mature in the faith. However, as our faith matures, we come to understand more as sin. Things that we did not see before as sinful, suddenly it is sinful. For me, for example, gossip was one of those things. At a point I realized that this was sinful and that I needed to control my tongue. And physical age, which tends to parallel our “faith age,” brings with it challenges that often require greater faith – health issues, emotional changes…

No matter our age or the maturity of our faith, David names something that we all struggle with. Strangely it is not the sin itself. If one is truly repentant and seeks God’s help, then God will provide all that we need to overcome that sin. It is the guilt that we can struggle with. I may be able, with lots of help from God, to get a judgmental attitude turned around. The guilt for damage done remains though. This too I need to surrender to God. In verses 5 we find the promise: “I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity… you forgave the guilt of my sin.” When we are honest with God and seek God’s power, then God not only forgives but also takes away our guilt. Now we may have work to do to restore or reconcile that relationship, but the stain or the guilt is washed clean by God’s love.

Fully forgiven, we get to the place that David is at at the end of the Psalm. The guilt and the weight of the sin removed, we know that God’s unfailing love surrounds us. We can rejoice in the Lord. We can experience joy and gladness as we lift our praises to God. What a wonderful Savior. Thanks be to God!

Prayer: Lord God, you seek to walk with us daily. Beside us, you give us strength and courage. Beside us, you welcome our honest conversations and confessions. Through the life given by your son, you cleanse us and free us from the sun and guilt that we bear. Thank you for your mercy, for your grace, and for your great love. All my days may I praise your holy name. Amen.