pastorjohnb

Thoughts and musings on faith and our mighty God!

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Righteous Love

Reading: Psalm 50: 1-6

Verse Three: “Our God comes and will not be silent”.

The Psalm begins with God summoning all people – “from the rising of the sun to the place where it sets”. The purpose of the summons is made evident in verse six: “for God himself is judge”. All peoples, from one end of the earth to the other, will one day be summoned for judgment. While this does sound a little ominous and apocalyptic (one day it will be both), there is also glimpses of beauty and relationship and love in our Psalm.

First, the psalmist reminds us that God shines forth, “perfect in beauty”. The light of God goes out into all the world. It is through the light if God’s love that we can see how to live more holy and righteous lives. The light guides the way and it also exposes the temptations and sins in our lives, allowing us to repent and walk with God. Second, we are told that “Our God comes and will not be silent”. Through the refining fire, God makes us to be more and more of who He created us to be. For Christians, the voice and nudge of the Holy Spirit continues to help us hear God speak.

In verse five the psalmist speaks of covenant made by sacrifice. For the Israelites, the sacrifices were made on their part for God. In our New Testament understanding, we know that Jesus was the final sacrifice, made by God for us. Through this, God established the new covenant based upon love and grace. And lastly, we are reminded that God is righteous. It is not a condemning righteousness, but a righteousness also built upon love. God’s righteousness wants what is right for all of His beloved children: a saving relationship through Jesus Christ. So God’s righteousness gives us one more chance after one more chance, so that one more can be saved. God is patient. He waits to judge.

Whether we meet God at the end of our earthly life or when Jesus returns, one day we will all be judged. Between now and then I rejoice in God’s light, love, presence, and righteousness, all of which allows me, a sinner saved by grace, to live in relationship with a holy and loving God. It is a love and mercy that I do not fully comprehend, yet I am profoundly grateful for. Thanks be to God for His righteous love. Amen.


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Patience

Reading: 2 Peter 3: 8-15a

Verse Eleven: “What kind of people ought you to be?  You ought to live holy and godly lives.”

The followers of Jesus that lived in His lifetime thought that He would return very soon – in weeks or maybe in months.  But as the months turned into years and the years into decades, it became harder and harder to wait.  Not only did Jesus not return, but the Jews and other non-Christians were more than willing to remind them.  Over time the faithful began to wait with a patient and enduring hope.  Peter writes of this, saying, “He is patient… not wanting anyone to perish”.  Maybe God has not allowed Jesus to return just yet because there are still more souls to be saved.

I read a story in my devotional this morning about a woman who also held onto hope.  The militia had arrested her husband and son three years before, yet she continued to come every Monday, to the local police station, to hold a prayer vigil for her husband and son.  One day a guard mocked her and she replied with faith: “God’s justice will never fail.  It may come today or it may come in a 1,000 years, but it is coming”.  Her rock-solid faith allowed her to stand in the face of beatings and other persecutions to continue to pray for her family.  She stood on God’s promise to one day return and make all things new.

While all this is to say that God is patient, Peter also reminds us that the return will come like “a thief in the night”.  It will be quick and unexpected.  This idea makes me think of the Berlin Wall and the 9/11 attacks.  The Wall had seemed to stand forever – as long as anyone could remember.  Then one day, it was suddenly torn down.  The twin towers had always seemed to be in the skyline view, then one day they suddenly were not.  In light of this unknown time, Peter asks us, “”What kind of people ought you to be?”  Without pause he continues to answer the question, saying, “You ought to live holy and godly lives.”  He calls us to live as Jesus lived, holy and godly.

Yes, we will fall short at times.  Yes, we lose our grip on the promise now and then.  In our last verse, Peter adds a word of encouragement that we need to hold fast to: “Bear in mind that the Lord’s patience means salvation”.  It is a love that never ends and a mercy that washes over sin after sin.  Thanks be to God for your steadfast love and your patient mercy.


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Faithful

Reading: Micah 6: 1-5

Micah opens this section by letting the people know that they have sinned against God.  In their hearts it is something they surely already know.  Just as at times we have sinned and quickly felt the conviction of the Holy Spirit, so too must the people living in Micah’s time.  God calls all of creation to hear the case He has against Israel.  The grand audience would indicate that this is a pretty serious charge that God is going to level against His chosen people.

Then there is a shift.  It begins in verse three, where God asks, “My people, what have I done to you”?  It is like asking, ‘How could you’?  God then asks how He has burdened the people.  In this question God is preparing them for what comes next.  In the next few verses, God explains things that are just the opposite of burdens.  God reminds the people of the many ways in which He has blessed them and cared for them and protected them.  Perhaps the ‘How could you’ question begins to ring in their minds.  By helping them to remember the ways in which God has been there for them, God is reminding them of the relationship they have and of the covenant on which that relationship is founded.

We too have had many times in our lives where God has looked in and wondered, “How could you”?  And God treats us the same as He did the Israelites.  Through the power of the Holy Spirit, God reaches out to us, shines light on our sin, calls us to repent and return to our covenant relationship with God.  God remains true and faithful to His part of the covenant – always loving and caring for us, always calling us back to a righteous relationship.  God faithfully and patiently calls us back over and over, calling us to walk faithfully with our God.

May we recall the many ways that God has blessed, cared for, protected, and loved us to this day.  Then may we go forth to walk this day and all days as a faithful servant of the Lord our God.


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Calling, Waiting, Redeeming

Reading: Hosea 1:10

The Israelites of Hosea’s day have broken the covenant relationship they once had with God.  Their choices have led them far from God.  Like any parent, He is surely disappointed and maybe even a little mad, but the love for them is as strong as ever.  As parents we too have been in this situation with our own children, loving them in spite of their actions, words, or behaviors.  And like our heavenly Father, we long for them to repent of their poor choices and to return to the ways they were taught.  We so long for this because this is where our relationship is at its best, both for us and for our children.  God is no different.

With the Israelites and with us today, God continues to ever call us back into a right relationship with Him.  His promise to them is to make them a mighty nation – as numerous as the grains of sand on the seashore.  His promise to us is somehow more personal.  God’s promises to love us, to care for us, to watch over us, to bless us all still remain.  As His children, we are still God’s covenant people.  Yet through Jesus the relationship became more personal and intimate.  We can relate to Jesus’ human nature as a friend yet His divine nature is also present, revealing His power and majesty.  Through His resurrection Jesus imparts the Holy Spirit, a living presence of Jesus that comes to dwell in us once we accept Him as Lord and Savior.

It is through the voice and movement of the Holy Spirit that God continues to call us, His children, back to Him over and over again.  No matter what our choices, God still seeks to keep us in a righteous relationship with Him.  When we stumble, He calls out.  When we sin, He redeems.  When we wander away, He waits patiently, continuing to seek us out.  For God’s amazing and wonderful far-reaching, never-ending, life-changing love, we are ever grateful.  For all of His love, mercy, and grace we say thanks be to God.


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Our Promises Too

The story of Jeremiah’s call is the call story many of us receive as well.  Like Jeremiah, God knew each of us before He formed us in the womb.  Like Jeremiah, God has a plan and a role for each of us to play in building His kingdom.  Like Jeremiah, God gives us the gifts, talents, and skills needed for the task.  And like Jeremiah, for most of us, our first response is, “Who, me?”

Who could blame God if He got angry when we respond this way?  It is kind of insulting that we question the omnipotent and omnipresent Creator of the universe and all that is in it.  But God is patient.  The only things that exceed His patience, in my opinion, are His grace and His love.  But He is patient.  When we ignore or deny the call or when we refuse to recognize or acknowledge the gifts and talents He had blessed us with, God just continues to nudge and prod and whisper and to bring before us people and opportunities until we choose to begin walking the path He has laid out for our lives.

We are not the first to question, deny, or run from our call.  Before Jeremiah there were people like Noah, Sarah and Abraham, and Moses – just to name a few.  There have been people like Esther, David, and a slew of others just like us who have taken their turn asking, “Who, me?”. Just as He was with all who have come before and required more than one ask, God was patient and used each one according to His plan.

If you are hesitant to answer God’s call, remember the promises He gave Jeremiah.  They are our promises too.  The first is: do not be afraid.  The second is: I am with you.  The third is: I will rescue you.  His promises are true.  As we live into God’s call upon our lives and as we boldly step out in faith, may we remember and hold onto these promises.  They are our promises too.  As we do so, He will bless us on our faith journey.

Scripture reference: Jeremiah 1: 4-10


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God Calls Out Too

As Christians, at times we act counter to the larger culture’s norms.  Christmas is all that most people are aware of as we walk through the season of Advent.  Instant gratification and being super busy seem to be a natural part of the secular side of Christmas.  At times we can get caught up in that too.  It is hard to live in the world and to not get caught up in it once in a while.

Oddly enough, Advent is a season where we are called to slow down, to be patient, to be in touch with the things of God.  As we decorate the tree, we should enjoy each other’s company and share stories.  As we shop, it is not volume we seek but to find just that right  gift for the ones we love.  As we wait in line or walk through a crowded store, we should be peace and love to those around us.

And God calls out too.  He seeks for us to be in connection with Him and with each other.  We are called to spend a little extra tie thinking about His promises – promises that are both in the future and now.  We are called to reflect on the gift of His Son.  We are called to offer the gift of His light to those walking in the dark.  We are called to be thankful for the many gifts He blesses us with.  And we are called to share those blessings with others in need.

Scripture reference: Psalm 85: 1-2


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It’s All God’s Plan

Mary and Martha had to wait for God’s answer to their request to heal their sick brother Lazarus.  In their waiting, he died.  Sadness arrived.  But as Jesus appears and the story unfolds, God’s true answer is revealed.  Lazarus is raised up from the dead – God’s glory is revealed in and through Jesus.

I wonder how often we think the answer we get from God is our answer, when it is really not.  The answer to our prayer or the reason we went through a particular experience is only later realized or revealed.  Sometimes we maybe even wait for an answer and eventually give up instead of trusting fully and being patient in our waiting.

And then BAM!  God’s plan is revealed and it all becomes plain to see.  (Sometimes it is not a bam but it is a quiet ah-ha moment.)  We come to see that God had it handled all along.  It is then that we realize that God is the one in control, not us.  We are simply part of His creation and part of His plan.  We are a deeply loved and important part, but it is still God’s plan.


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To Wait or not to Wait… That is the Question!

In the story in Exodus 24 there is lots of waiting.  The expression “Hurry up and wait” comes to mind!!  Moses tells the people to wait here, Joshua waits part way up the mountain,  Moses waits for 6 days in the cloud, and then the people wait for 40 more days.  If I were there I’d have been expecting a quick up and back down the mountain trip.  I’m sure Joshua didn’t think he’d be there waiting for almost 7 weeks!  But they waited.  Often times we wait too.

Often times we will pray and then wait for an answer.  And we wait.  Despite our waiting, sometimes we miss the answer.  Maybe it is not the answer we were looking for so we don’t see that God has answered.  Maybe it is an answer we do not want so we fail to see the answer.  But God is faithful and He always answers our prayers.

At other times we are willing to wait.  Sometimes we wait well.  Songs like “Waiting Here For You” speak of the anticipation we have as we await the presence of our Lord.  In our prayer time we can enter into a period of silence and expectantly wait for God.  As we go through Advent we look forward to the coming of the Christ child much like a young child anticipates opening that big box under the Christmas tree.  At times we wait well.

Other times we choose to wait when we shouldn’t.  And in some cases we are patient.  Very patient.  We can see something that needs done, but we are willing to wait for someone else to do it.  We can see it needs done, but…  In other situations we can feel a nudge to do something, but we hold back.  In these cases we must challenge our fears, our lack of faith, our whatever to step into whatever God is calling us to do.  Whether it is someone hungry standing before us or a task that need done at work, at home, or at church, we are being called to be servants.  We are told in scriptures not to wish someone to be well-fed… when we have food… to spare.

May we be willing to wait when seeking the Lord as we grow in or faith.  And may we also be willing not to wait when God has placed before us a situation where He is calling us to take action and live as His hands and feet in our worlds.  In either case, we rest upon the fact that God is faithful.