pastorjohnb

Thoughts and musings on faith and our mighty God!

Tag Archives: neighbor


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He Is Calling

The message of the gospel is for all people.  In His role as the Good Shepherd, Jesus cares for all of the ‘sheep’ in the world.  In today’s reading Jesus says there are sheep in the ‘other flock’ as well.  They too must become part of our flock.

Society has changed over the last fifty years.  For the most part we have lost the neighborhood church or parish.  Most people drive in to the church from their homes in neighborhoods spread out all over town.  In our community people drive past several other churches on their way to their church.  Often people are drawn to a church by denominational ties or because of a friend or family member who already attends that church.

One of the negatives to the community churches that dominate today is the reality that most churches have lost touch with their actual neighbors.  Churches in general minister to the flock that is already inside the walls but struggle to connect with the ‘other flock.’  Those outside the walls of the church physically and spiritually are the ones Jesus seeks too.

As followers of Jesus we are called to a mission and purpose.  We are called to share the love and light of Christ with the lost sheep, many of whom are our neighbors.  The message of the cross is too powerful to keep to ourselves.  As the sheep already in the flock, we know the voice of the Good Shepherd.  Can you hear His voice calling us to reach the least and the lost?  Can you hear His voice calling us outside the walls of our churches and into the lives of the ‘other flock’?  Can you hear the call to share the good news?  He is calling.  Will you follow?

Scripture reference: John 10: 15b-18


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Becoming Less

Could you eat today on just $4?  How about eating for a week on just $28?  I cannot imagine having only $28 to spend at the grocery store and being able to survive for a week, nevermind for weeks on end.  Yet this is roughly the amount people living at the poverty level has to eat on.  It is tough down there at the lowest economic end of society.  And it is hard to relate to from where most of us sit.  For the most part, those who live like this are not in our churches.

In the faith community described in Acts 4, it is a radical vision by today’s norms.  People gathered together daily, shared what they had, no one was in need.  Today, within some faith communities, there is help offered to one another.  Perhaps we bring meals over to a family during a difficult time or we help a single, older person move into a new apartment.  But when the need is a little greater, do we look around at our abundance and ask “what can I sell?” so that we can give some financial assistance to one in need?

Our society is titled so that the well-off gain more and more while those without continue to struggle.  As a universal church, could we together make a difference in society?  Could our voices united speak to correcting some of these issues on a systemic level?  Could our individual churches reach out into disadvantaged areas and partner with those who are struggling?  Can we mentor, teach, support, assist, and meet basic needs of life?

The answer to all of these questions is the same: yes.  If we follow Jesus we love all of creation, including all of our neighbors.  If we truly hear His call, we too are willing to become a little less so another can become more.

Scripture reference: Acts 4: 32-35


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Go Forth

When asked, Jesus said the greatest commandment was to love God with all our heart, soul, mind,  and strength.  He quickly added a second that was like the first: love neighbor as self.  These two are alike in two ways.  First, they both involve love, arguably the highest human emotion.  Second, they both involve a two-way relationship.  God’s love for us is unfathomable yet Jesus calls us to love Him back as close to this as we can.  In essence, with every fiber of our being.  In the second, our neighbor are also called to love us back.

Jeremiah 31 speaks of a time when God’s ways and laws do not need to be taught anymore because they will be written on all of our hearts. In our church communities we start to see what this looks like.  In these microcosms people know God and strive to obey His teachings.  People who gather together for worship, fellowship, and so on are known by God and are connected together through this relationship.  Once each is in a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, then their relationship with each other is changed.  All are loved equally by God.  Loving each other in the same way is the basis for this new community.

But… clearly not all are part of these loving communities.  In fact, the majority of people live their lives outside of a church family, outside of a relationship with Jesus.  I believe that if asked, Jesus’ third greatest commandment would be the great commission: go forth and make disciples (Matthew 28:19).  Jesus didn’t say to always stay in our churches.  He didn’t say to closely guard our little communities.  He said go forth.  Into the world.  The great love of and for God compels us to share it with others.  Is not the highest form of loving neighbor to share what is most important to us?  Go forth.

Scripture reference: Jeremiah 31: 33-34


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Relationship

God’s law is perfect and trustworthy.  It gives wisdom and strength.  The law offers a way to right relationship with God.  For the Israelites the centerpiece of the law was the Ten Commandments.  The ten form a covenant.  They cover how to relate to God, to each other, and give the basics on how to live in community.  True, the ten commandments are a little general, especially on the last part.  There is a lot they do not cover, but they do provide a basic framework.

Over the year a lot was added to the original ten.  By the time Jesus arrived the ‘law’ had grown to over 600 rules.  It was not only cumbersome, it was really hard to know all of them, never mind follow them all.  Religion for the Jews had become more about following the rules than about following God and Jesus was more than happy to speak out about this fact.

In an attempt to trap Him, the Pharisees asked Jesus what the most important command was.  In typical Jesus fashion, He gave them more than what was asked of Him – He gave them the two most important.  He said the first was to love the Lord God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength.  Jesus added that the second was like it – love your neighbor as self.  And for emphasis, Jesus also noted for them that all the other laws hung upon these two.

In these two commands, Jesus draws them and us back to what truly matters: relationship.  To truly believe and follow we must be in a right relationship with both God and with our fellow man.  This day may we all seek to live in right relationship with both.

Scripture references: Psalm 19: 7-14 and Exodus 20: 1-17


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All Who Come

Jesus taught with authority. People could recognize there was something special about Him. The disciples dropped all the were doing at a simple call to come and follow. People brought the sick and afflicted to Jesus – simply for a touch of His hand.

This phenomena was occurring at the beginning of the Gospel of Mark. Jesus was teaching in the temple and all who heard were amazed. Even a man with an evil spirit in him recognized Jesus and his authority. After Jesus cast out the demon people were even more amazed at His authority.

He was one with authority. Jesus often used this authority to question the religious establishment. He questioned their treatment of those on the edges of society. Or maybe it was their lack of treatment. Either way, if Jesus were to look around our sanctuaries tomorrow, would he see a very homogenous crowd? A lack of a segment of our community or neighborhood would indicate what Jesus often critiqued about the establish religion.

In the example Jesus set for us, He loved all who came to Him. How open are we to sitting next to the lost and marginalized in worship or by us at the potluck? Jesus took all who came. This is or call too – to love neighbor as self, to reach out to those who are alone, to share His light for all to see.

Scripture reference: Mark 1: 21-28


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What Greater Gift?

The stories of the Bible are our stories of faith.    In them we come to understand past relationships with God, to see His mighty actions in the world, and to see what it looks like to walk the faith in the flesh, as Jesus did.  As we come to love God, we feel the need to pass on the story of faith to our children and other family, to our friends and coworkers, and to the stranger we meet on the street.

The faith experiences we each go through personally and those read and hear about are also a part of the faith story we each have.  God continues to be active in our world.  The personal side of our faith is the part others can most often see and also the part they can initially best relate to as well.  When we share our faith from the heart, we can deeply touch another’s life because here they can see the power of Christ in action in the real world.

We should be drawn to share what we love, desiring for all to come to know God and His amazing love.  Whether through Biblical stories or through the stories of our life, we are called to make disciples of all people.  What greater gift could we offer our neighbors that we are supped to love?

Scripture reference: Psalm 78: 1-4


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Hand in Hand

Joshua asks the people twice if they will indeed serve God alone.  He wants to be sure they understand the importance of their decision and that they are sure about it.  After two positive affirmations, Joshua tells them to “throw away foreign gods that are among you and yield your hearts to God and obey him” (verse 24).  He knows that if they hang onto those idols, eventually they will turn back to them.  Joshua knows the importance of relying on God alone in the pursuit of a life of love, mercy, justice, and compassion.

We too face the same choice.  While we sometimes have physical idols like that new car or the latest fashion, most of our idols are things like pride, judging, envy, gossip, and control. We too must work at ‘throwing’ them out.  But we cannot do it alone.  Only with God’s help do we begin to stand a chance against these idols.

As we choose God alone to serve, we are choosing to enter into a covenant relationship with God.  In this relationship we choose to serve God alone and to love God above all else.  For His part, God strengthens, encourages, and enables us to grow closer to Him through prayer, study, worship, fellowship, and other encounters with Him.  God also leads us to serve, give to, care for, and love others as an extension of that loving, covenant relationship that we have with Him.  Loving God and loving neighbor just go hand in hand.  Loving God and loving neighbor are two greatest calls upon our lives.

Scripture reference: Joshua 24: 19-25


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To Judge or Not to Judge?

Paul cautions us not to judge others but to accept where they are in their faith journey.  When we do not judge we are more open to two important things.  First, we can more fully love then and, consequently, hold nothing back.  Second, we are open to both learning from them and to sharing what we know of faith to help them learn and grow as well.  Too often when we judge another we put up barriers in our heart and mind.

Yet in our human nature we seem to judge, to rank, to compare all too easily.  Although society is a place where tolerance increasingly reign, as a culture we still place a premium on our ‘position’ in life, on how much stuff or money we have, and so on.  This makes Paul’s caution all the harder to adhere to.  But with faith and trust in God we can work towards this ideal.

Judging is personally essential as long as it remains something we do for ourselves and not to ourselves.  We must judge the decisions and choices we face and make.  We must judge if we are growing in the faith and take steps to do so if we are not growing.  With others, love must reign, not judgement.  For love is the most excellent way!

Scripture reference: Romans 14: 1-12


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God’s Extravagant Love

Do you believe that God loves you?  Do you believe it right down to the bottom of your heart?  He does love you.  God is passionate about us all.  In the book, The Shack, the God character had a saying that she said often – “I am especially fond of that one”.  It was said about everybody!  It is true too.

It is essential that we root our love in God’s divine love for us.  God’s love is pure, honest, and unending.  This is how we are called to love others and ourselves.  Jesus tells us that all of the commandments can be summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself”.  Jesus lived a life that exemplified this new command and we are called to follow His example.

When we truly live out and follow this simple commandment, we do not steal, cheat, covet, murder, …  Yet it extends far beyond this list of things not to do.  Because of this divine love within us, we seek to ‘do no harm’ and to ‘do all the good we can, any time we can’ (Reuben Job and John Wesley).  As we live into God’s love for us, we begin to share His love with those we meet and live with every day.  Through His extravagant love we begin to make a difference in our worlds.

Scripture reference: Romans 13: 8-10


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The Law and Our Life

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus strives to teach us how to live out our faith. Moses had brought the Law to the Israelites as a means to show them how to live out their love for God. But as time rolled along, they became bound to the letter of the law and not the intent of the law. Sometimes we do the same. Sometimes we get stuck on the principal of the matter instead of understanding what is really going on.

Beginning in verse 21, Jesus explains some basics of how to live. He reminds us that we can’t come to God seeking forgiveness if we are withholding forgiveness or not seeking forgiveness from our brothers. He reminds us that even lustful thoughts constitute adultery and that if our eye or hand causes us to sin, that we should gouge it out or cut it off. Jesus cautions us not to swear by anything but simply to let our yes be yes and our no be no. He is getting not at the literal letter of the law but at the ‘living it out’ concepts.

In the living it out, we can struggle. We are called to be right with our brothers and sisters, to live in correct relationship with them. How could we expect to be in a right or righteous relationship with God if we struggle with our earthly relationships? We are called to love our spouse like Jesus loves the church. How could we truly love our spouse while pining after another? We are called to be without sin. As humans we all sin, but here Jesus is calling us to come wholly before God. If we have sin in one part of our life, how can we come before the perfect Father and expect to be in His presence? We cannot be honest and have integrity some of the time – it has to be all of the time and with all of our being!

Jesus came to fulfill the law – to return the people to the intent of the law. This same challenge exists for us today as Christians – to love God and neighbor with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength. And what a challenge it is!! But we must remember that in Christ we have the greatest role model ever. Be a copycat today!!