pastorjohnb

Thoughts and musings on faith and our mighty God!

Tag Archives: mercy


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Walking Closer

Reading: Psalm 51:1-13

Psalm 51:12 – “Return the joy of your salvation to me and sustain me with a willing spirit.”

In this Psalm David circles his need for forgiveness and cleansing. This need has been brought on by Nathan’s confrontation around David’s sins with Bathsheba. Many were his sins: lust, deceit, adultery, conspiracy, murder… It is the realization of and the weight of these sins that are driving the depth of David’s pleas for mercy…

We also circle our need for forgiveness and cleansing – often. Our sin is like David’s in that it separates us from God. Whether lust or gossip, deceit or a little white lie, adultery or pornography… all sin separates us from God. No matter the sin, to be made right with God, we too must seek mercy, compassion, cleansing, and forgiveness.

To receive these graces of God we must begin where David began: confession. He admits his sin and acknowledges that God is justified in seeing him as guilty, as unclean. David then longs to be cleansed and purified, to be made whole again. Then he can rejoice in God’s presence. David knows, as we do, that God alone is capable of this restoration and redemption.

David also pledges repentance. This is the necessary second step if being made right with God. Confession is not worth much at all if not accompanied by a commitment to walking in a new way. David longs to know God’s truth and wisdom. He wants to have a willing heart. In verse 12 David asks this if God: “Return the joy of your salvation to me and sustain me with a willing spirit.” From this place of contrition and commitment, David will help others to walk closer with God. May this be the path that we seek to walk daily.

Prayer: Lord God, lead us to a time each day when we can reflect on our lives and the heart within. By the power of your Holy Spirit reveal our sins and failures. Guide us to a place of humble confession and genuine repentance. In that place, cleanse us and restore us, equip and encourage us to walk closer with you. Amen.


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The Moment of Connection

Reading: Matthew 19:29-34

Matthew 19:32 – “What do you want me to do for you?”

The scene is Jericho. This is the place that the walls came tumbling down almost 400 years ago. It was Israel’s entry point into and first victory in the Promised Land. The presence of the Lord was there as Joshua led the army around the city and the Lord’s presence is there as two blind men cry out.

As our passage opens, Jesus, the disciples, and a large crowd are leaving Jericho. From here Jesus will turn towards Jerusalem, entering the city for the final week leading up to the cross. In Matthew’s gospel this healing is followed by Jesus’ triumphal entry we celebrate as Palm Sunday. Is this Jericho crowd the same crowd that will cheer and shout “Hosanna…” as Jesus rides into Jerusalem?

Knowing all that lay ahead Jesus must’ve had a lot on his mind and heart. Imagine how you would be if you knew you had one week to live and you had much to accomplish in that week. As Jesus… is passing by, two blind men shout out, “Show us mercy, Lord, Son of David!” The crowd tries to hush them, but they just shout louder. Jesus hears them. He “stopped in his tracks.” We cannot miss this detail. All else becomes totally unimportant to Jesus. Focusing on these two blind men, Jesus asks them, “What do you want me to do for you?” They want to see. Jesus restores their sight. They follow Jesus.

May we do as Jesus did. May we notice the cry of the one in need, ignoring the noise of the crowd. May we stop and turn our whole focus to the one God places in our path. May we clarify what they say they need. And then may we work to meet their need, either personally or through connecting them to those who can meet their need.

Prayer: Lord God, thank you for this example of empathy, presence, and compassion. Enable and empower us to do as Jesus did. Lord, stop us in our tracks when we hear the cry for help. Guide us to be Christ’s presence in the moment of connection. Use us then to meet the need, however we can. In all things, may you be glorified and lifted up. Amen.


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A Faith Witness

Reading: Psalm 116:1-2 and 12-19

Psalm 116:13 – “I’ll lift up the cup of thanksgiving. I’ll call on the Lord’s name.”

Psalm 116 is part of a collection of Psalms known as the Hallel. These songs were used in the Passover celebration. Psalms 113 and 114 were sung going up to Jerusalem. These two songs celebrate God’s power, might, rescue, and protection. Psalms 115-118 would be sung after the Passover meal. In the Christian tradition, this meal would occur on Maundy or Holy Thursday. These songs celebrate who and what God was and is and they witness to the peoples’ faith and commitment to God.

Psalm 116 begins with the psalmist declaring his or her love for God. This love is founded on God hearing their prayers for mercy. Because God hears, they will always call out to God. We can relate. When we feel like God is answering our prayers and is close to us, our faith soars and our love for God grows.

Verses 12-19 offer the psalmist’s response. Gratitude and acts of thanksgiving dominate these verses. In verse 13 the author writes, “I’ll lift up the cup of thanksgiving. I’ll call on the Lord’s name.” This cup overflows with God’s blessings. Lifting it and calling on God’s name are acts of worship. Keeping the promises made to God, done so publicly, reveals the psalmist’s strong commitment to God. This public witness encourages others in their faith. As we walk through Holy Week may all that we say and do “Praise the Lord!”

Prayer: Lord God, we join the psalmist in gratitude for your presence in our lives. We are so grateful that you hear our prayers. We celebrate the fact that you are on our side. Your love for us calls us to respond with acts of love towards you. May we witness well to our love of you this day and every day. Amen.


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A Clean Heart, A Faithful Spirit

Reading: Psalm 51:1-17

Psalm 51:10 – “Create a clean heart for me, God; put a new, faithful spirit deep inside me!”

Today’s Psalm is believed to be David’s response to Nathan confronting him about his great sins around Bathsheba. When he realized the depth of his sin, David became deeply remorseful. While adultery and murder are serious sins, we must keep in mind that any and all sin separates us from God. There are no levels or degrees of separation from God’s view.

David seeks God’s mercy and cleansing. Only God can offer these means of grace and newness. David longs to be made clean so that he can “hear joy and celebration again.” He wants to be restored. And he wants to be able to teach others – so they can return to God as well.

In the Psalm we see an acknowledgement of our human condition. David admits “my sin is always right in front of me.” Sin is ever knocking at the door of our heart. While our sins can certainly affect others, sin primarily affects our relationship with God. It is God alone that has the power to change our hearts and, in turn, to create the praise that comes from a heart tuned to God.

Because God desires truth and wisdom in “the most hidden places” (in our hearts,) David invites God to “create a clean heart for me, God; put a new, faithful spirit deep inside me!” God alone empowers us in our battle with sin. Only through the power of the Holy Spirit can our “broken spirit” become a “faithful spirit,” the sacrifice that God desires. Dying to our old self, breaking that worldly pull, we open ourselves to living as a child of the light. May it be so for you and for me.

Prayer: Lord God, bring us again and again to the place where David is at in this Psalm. Bring us to the place of honesty with ourselves and with you, to the space where we can lay all of our sin before you, begging to be made new again. Walk forward from there with us, O God, encouraging and empowering us to be Spirit-filled creations, living joy, bringing you glory and praise. Amen.


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The Narrow Road

Reading: Luke 10:25-37

Luke 10:36 – “What do you think? Which one of the three was a neighbor to the man?”

Photo credit: Jan Huber

Today we turn to the parable of the Good Samaritan. This is very familiar ground. The lessons Jesus taught remain as relevant today as they were the day that he told the story. The religious continue to try and limit who is acceptable and worthy. We continue to see and define others by arbitrary things like ethnicity, race, gender, religion, education…

As the passage opens, a legal expert tests Jesus. The opening question is just to set up the second question. Any 5-year-old Jew could’ve answered the opening question. It’d be like asking a 5-year-old in one of our churches, ‘Who died on the cross for our sins?’ The second question has the meat on the bone. Jesus has been preaching that God’s kingdom and the salvation that he brings is for all people. He’s been eating with tax collectors and touching lepers. Clearly Jesus’ understanding of who a good Jew’s neighbor is needs some correcting.

The story unfolds and Jesus picks a most unlikely hero. A Samaritan would be about as far from a Jew’s neighbor as anyone could be. And he does not just stop and help. Maybe the legal expert could’ve tolerated that. Like, it might’ve been okay to stop and talk to Zacchaeus, but to go to his house and to eat with him? The Good Samaritan goes way above and beyond too. He shows mercy to the one in need. He is the one who sets for us an example.

Of this story, John Wesley writes, “Let us renounce that bigotry and party zeal which could contract our hearts into an insensitivity for all the human race, but for a small number whose sentiments and practices are so much our own.” From about 31 AD to the late 1700s to today. May it be so.

Prayer: Lord God, encourage and empower us to walk the narrow road. It is narrow. Our faith is assaulted on both sides – culture on the one side, “religion” on the other. The path of Jesus, the way of love, is a narrow lane. As you held back the waters of the Jordan, hold back these evils, O Lord. Be with us each moment as we seek to build your upside-down kingdom of love in this thin space. Amen.


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Conform to Christ

Reading: Romans 8:26-29

Romans 8:28 – “We know that God works all things together for good for the ones who love God, for those who are called according to his purpose.”

Photo credit: Robert Linder

As our passage today begins, Paul speaks again of God’s presence in our lives. The Spirit – God’s constant, indwelling presence – helps us in our moments of weakness. In those times when our trial or hardship or suffering is so great that we cannot even form the words to pray, it is then that the Holy Spirit takes up our case. The Spirit “please” for us before God, lifting us up before God. We too can pray in this way. When we hear of the time of great suffering of a friend, we can lift their case before God.

Because God is three-in-one, the Spirit prays for us “consistent with God’s will.” In this way we and our need(s) are brought before God in the best possible way. There is no selfishness, no fear or worry or doubt, no greed or envy in the Holy Spirit’s prayers. This idea connects to verse 28, where we read, “We know that God works all things together for good for the ones who love God, for those who are called according to his purpose.” God is good and loving and kind and caring and compassionate and merciful and… God desires that our lives be filled with these things too. Yes, the world and this life will bring death and illness and sin and tragedy into our lives, but God works even these difficult and hard things towards good and into alignment with God’s plans for our lives.

The Spirit and God do all of this in order to “conform” us more and more into the image of Jesus. God conforms – and forms and reforms – us into the image of Christ so that we can be goodness, love, kindness, care, compassion, mercy… to one another. In this way we bring Christ to the world. Thanks be to God.

Prayer: Lord God, thank you for the example that Jesus set for us. He revealed what it means to be fully present to one another, to love without condition, to give selflessly to the other. That is not always easy for us. So thank you also for the Spirit, that constant presence that points us towards and forms us into Jesus’ witnesses. Lead us to be people of presence, people who pray, people who show up, people who give of ourselves. Amen.


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For All People

Reading: 1st Timothy 2:1-4

1st Timothy 2:1 – “First of all, then, I ask that requests, prayers, petitions, and thanksgiving be made for all people.”

As we begin 1st Timothy 2, Paul encourages Timothy (and us) to offer prayers for everyone – “for all people.” Paul assumes that Timothy will pray for the regulars: family, friends, people he knows who need specific prayers. This is likely familiar territory. Maybe you, like me, have a standard list of people and situations that you pray for every day plus a few that are in your prayer list for a time or a season.

Paul next singles out praying for “kings and everyone who is in authority.” Why would Paul do this? Well, look no further than our current reality. In Timothy’s day it was the Roman authorities and the Jewish religious leaders who were persecuting the church. What prayers might Timothy lift for those in authority? What prayers might help lift that are in alignment with God’s will and heart? May our godly thoughts on these questions guide our prayers for our leaders.

In verses 3 and 4 Paul gives Timothy (and us) the “why.” Paul reminds us that it is “right” and that it “pleases” God when we offer prayers for all people, especially for those that are hard for us to pray for. It is our charge. First and foremost, it should be so because God desires for “all people to be saved” and to come to “a knowledge of the truth” – to understand and know God’s will and heart for themselves. Second, to pray hard prayers, that changes and empowers our hearts too. As our prayers become better aligned with God’s desires, our world will better reflect God’s kingdom here on earth. May our prayers work towards this goal and hope.

Prayer: Lord God, open our hearts wide, enabling us to pray as you call us to pray. And, Lord, open wide the hearts of our leaders, filling them with what fills your heart: mercy, grace, compassion, love. Guide all of our leaders to be leaders for and of all people, working for the good of all people. Amen.


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The Will to Choose

Readings: John 3:16-16 and 34-36, and John 14:1-7

John 3:17 – “God didn’t send his son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through him.”

Photo credit: Kelly Sikkema

John 3:16 is about as well-known as any verse in the Bible. God sent his one and only son into this world, taking on flesh, becoming one of us, so that he could die on our behalf, removing our sins, opening the way for us to enter eternal life. This is a beautiful picture of sacrificial love.

The next verse reminds us of God’s unconditional love: “God didn’t send his son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through him.” God’s first choice is not to be a God of judgment but a God of love, mercy, grace, and salvation. This is what God desires for all humanity, not judgment. God also created humanity with free will or the will to choose. So we can choose to not choose Jesus as our Savior. We can choose to live for self. We can choose to be judged. We can choose to ignore the words of life that Jesus speaks, to ignore the prompting and guidance of the Holy Spirit. In doing so, we invite “the angry judgment of God” upon ourselves.

Jumping forward to John 14, it is a heavy moment. Sandwiched around the command to love one another “as I have loved you” is the news of Judas’ betrayal and of Peter’s denial of knowing Christ. Jesus tells the disciples to not be troubled but to trust in God and in him. He then promises that he will come back for them so that they can be with him in heaven. In response to Thomas’ confusion, Jesus says, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” Jesus’ life and example are the way to know God and God’s truths. They are the way to live the life that God intended for us to live, the life here and now that leads one day to life eternal. May it be so for you and for me.

Prayer: Lord God, you sent your son to save and redeem us. You desire this for each and every one of us. It must break your heart to see the one you wove together in the womb, the one you created for relationship with you, choose the ways of the world. Lord, break our heart for what breaks yours. Amen.


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A Heart for All People

Reading: 1st Timothy 2:1-6a

1st Timothy 2:2 – “Pray… so that we can live quiet and peaceful lives in complete godliness and dignity.”

This past week we read passages that spoke of the timeless and eternal truths of God and our faith. We also read some challenging passages that were written for a time and place different from our own. Hopefully both added to our understanding of the Bible, strengthening our relationship with God as well. Today Paul writes to Timothy about another essential practice of our faith.

Paul begins by asking Timothy to pray for all people. Paul understands that God’s call is to all people – so that they can be saved. Understanding that Jesus died to bring eternal life to all people is key to understanding who and what God is. God is generous in love, wide in mercy, deep in grace. Paul encourages Timothy and us to pray for those in authority. In his day, these would be the ones persecuting and harassing the church. This aligns with Jesus’ call to pray for our enemies.

We read the “why” concerning prayer in the last part of verse 2: “So that we can live quiet and peaceful lives in complete godliness and dignity.” Praying brings a peace and a calm to us. It changes our hearts, not just the hearts we’re praying for or about. This changed hearts is reflected in our lives and in our interactions with those we’re praying for and about. We better reflect the godliness and dignity Paul speaks of. These things, in turn, reveal God and Jesus to others – again, those God wants to be saved. May we be people of deep and sincere prayers, changing hearts, beginning with ours.

Prayer: Lord God, open our hearts to your great love, mercy, and grace. May these be the foundation of our prayers and, therefore, our lives. Help us to have your heart for all people. Amen.


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Timeless and Eternal

Readings: Psalm 145:8-9, Joshua 6:17-21, Micah 6:6-8, Isaiah 2:4-5

Psalm 145:8 – “The Lord is merciful and compassionate, very patient, and full of faithful love.”

Today we wrestle with the violence of the Bible. It is fairly common in the Old Testament. But the brutality and totality shock us today. While this violence has no place today, the timeless character of God is the lasting truth that we can stand upon today, tomorrow, and forever.

In Psalm 145 we read, “The Lord is merciful and compassionate, very patient, and full of faithful love.” These are traits we associate with God, words enfleshed by Jesus: merciful, compassionate, patient, loving. In the next verse we’re reminded that these good qualities extend to “everyone and everything.” This is the God we know and experience personally.

Then we turn to Joshua 6. These verses are part of the conquest of Jericho, just as Israel is beginning to take possession of the Promised Land. As the walls are about to come down, these are the instructions: “The city and everything in it is to be utterly wiped out as something reserved for the Lord.” That is what happens. All humanity and all livestock – all slaughtered. This atrocity turns out stomachs and rightly so. And it also reflects a common practice in the world at that time. Other people groups also practiced this, known as “the ban.” It was a way of eliminating outside influence and of giving the first fruits of battle to God (or to gods) as a holy and pleasing sacrifice.

In Micah 6 we see God’s timeless desire for humanity. Instead of offering God huge or voluminous offerings, the prophet reminds us that God requires justice, faithful love, and a humble walk. These traits reflect the divine call to love God and neighbor. Turning to Isaiah 2 we get an end game picture. One day war, still a present reality in our world, will be no more. Swords and spears will be turned into tools used to care for one another. All will then walk in the light of the Lord. One day.

Prayer: Lord God, walk with us and guide us as we read and process what happened at Jericho and at other times in the ancient world. Lead us to understand that these events were specific to that time and culture. Draw us to your timeless and eternal: good, justice, love, mercy, peace, grace. Keep these arching over our understanding of you and your word. Amen.