pastorjohnb

Thoughts and musings on faith and our mighty God!

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Steadfast, Persistent, Faithful God

Reading: Psalm 139:1-6

Psalm 139:3 – “You are thoroughly familiar with all my ways.”

Psalm 139 is a celebration of God’s presence in our lives and in our world. In today’s reading and in Friday’s reading we focus in on God’s intimately personal connection to and knowledge of us. It is both awesome and terrifying that our ever-present, all-knowing God knows us even better than we know ourselves.

In verse 1 the psalmist states, “Lord, you have examined me. You know me.” David adds, “You are thoroughly familiar with all my ways” in verse 5. It is awesome and wonderful that the God of all creation knows every one of us in this detail. It’s like that best friend that can finish your sentences – except God can do that before we even speak the first word. Because God knows us this well, this deeply, then God has an insight or two about us, about our faith, about our lives, about our plans and schemes.

On my best days, I welcome all of this. As the Holy Spirit speaks into my life, offering both encouragement and direction and critique and correction, the whispers draw me closer to walking as Jesus calls me to walk. But on those other days, I do not have ears to hear or a heart to receive. I bristle at or deny or ignore or reject the words and nudges of the Spirit. But here’s the best thing about God: on those harder days, God doesn’t give up. Because God knows me thoroughly and loves me unconditionally, God is steadfast and persistent. God knows me and has a great plan for me. The same is true for you!

In verse 6 the psalmist writes, “This kind of knowledge is too much for me. It’s so high above me that I can’t reach it.” Yes, all true. Much of God is mystery, far beyond us. But also true: God in Spirit comes to us, seeks us, walks with us, shows us the way. Thanks be to God.

Prayer: Lord God, open our ears and hearts to your voice, to your guidance and direction. Remind us of how much you love us. From there, may we receive all that you offer. Thank you for your faithfulness. Amen.


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Be Faithful

Reading: Luke 18:1-8

Luke 18:7 – “Won’t God provide justice to his chosen people who cry out to him day and night?”

In today’s passage Jesus teaches about persistent prayer and staying encouraged. He uses the story of a widow who has suffered an injustice as the teaching tool. The widow has only herself. She is alone in her quest for justice. We too can feel this way at times.

The other character in the story is the unjust judge. This judge “neither feared God nor respected people.” Likely justice in his court came only after a nice bribe. The widow would be without this resource. Instead, she comes to him relentlessly, asking for justice. This is how we are to lift our needs and petitions to God.

Jesus then contrasts the unjust judge with our just God. The unjust judge finally decided to give the widow her justice because she keeps “bothering” him and is “embarrassing” him. Her persistence is the driving force. God is much different. In verse 7 Jesus points out, “Won’t God provide justice to his chosen people who cry out to him day and night?” God will not be slow to respond. God will grant justice quickly. (Word of caution: Jesus understands God’s time. It is not the same as our ‘slow’ and ‘quick.’ The lesson, after all, is about persistent prayer.)

Jesus closes with a question about finding faithfulness when he returns one day in glory. Will we be faithful to fighting for and persistently praying for justice? Or will we surrender to the unrelenting injustices of this world? You and I are the answers to these questions.

Prayer: Lord God, first, empower and strengthen our prayer life. Bring us always to our knees in your presence, persistently offering our petitions. Second, Lord, fill us with compassion and empathy for the marginalized, the oppressed, the abused, the downtrodden, and all others suffering injustice. May we ever pray for and stand in solidarity with such as these. Amen.


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Ask, Seek, Knock

Reading: Luke 11:5-13

Verse 9: “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.”

Today’s second portion of this week’s passage from Luke 11 begins with an illustration. A man has an unexpected guest. He has no bread so he goes to a neighbor, asking for bread. At first he is denied – “I can’t get up and give you anything” – but the neighbor relents because the friend at the door was so persistent. He was bold in his asking.

Continuing on, Jesus says, “So I say to you, ‘Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.‘” Jesus is encouraging us to be bold and persistent. Begin with prayer. Ask God. Tell God the desires of your heart and the needs of your life. Ask God where you can be used today. Then turn to scripture. Seek encouragement if that’s what is needed. Maybe it’s assurance or direction or guidance that you need. They’re all in God’s word. Seek holy input. Lastly, take action. Knock on a door, send a note or a text, serve at a local organization, mow a neighbor’s lawn. Allow the asking and seeking to guide your doing. Be bold and live out what you’ve prayer for and found scriptural support for. Be persistent and trust in God. God is faithful.

This pattern applies to this week’s theme of reconciliation. Whether it is the hard work of personal transformation (reconciling oneself to God) or the challenging work of forgiveness (reconciling ourselves to another or to God) or the difficult work of social reconciliation (fixing or creating new and just systems), we begin with prayer, turn to scripture, and then take action. Rooting and founding our efforts in our relationship with God is essential to building the kingdom here on earth. Day by day, may we work to make it so.

Prayer: Lord God, I ask that you would daily guide my life. As I turn to your word and particularly to Jesus Christ, the living word, show me the way to live and be your light and love in the world. Then put me to doing. Use me as you desire as we seek to build your kingdom here on earth. Amen.


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Remaining Faithful and Diligent

Reading: Luke 18: 1-8

Verse 8: “I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly”.

Our God is full of love and mercy and compassion. Our God is righteous and holy and good. Our God stands for justice and equality and truth. Our God works for restoration and reconciliation and redemption. As we continue to work out our faith journeys, we should seek to grow in all of these things, becoming more and more like our Lord.

Today Jesus focuses on being persistent in our prayers as we seek justice. Justice, like all of the other qualities or characteristics listed above, are intertwined and interconnected with the others. For example, love, mercy, and compassion lead us to seek a justice that applies universally to all people. These qualities lead us to stand up and even to sacrifice so that the oppressed and marginalized experience the same justice as we and others experience. As we do this, we are a bit like John the Baptist, seeking to become less so that Jesus becomes more.

In our parable today Jesus acknowledges that there is some injustice in the world. This is not pleasing to God. It should not sit well with us either. In verse eight we read, “I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly”. God will see that justice prevails – at some point. A good example of this is found in the story of Lazarus that comes in Luke 16. Lazarus had a very hard life but receives his comfort in heaven. God’s timing is a mystery to us. This leads us back to the other focus of the parable: be persistent in prayer. We do not fully understand all the ways of God. But we are called to place our trust and hope in God alone.

As we come to God in prayer, may we remain faithful and diligent, assured that God will hear and bring justice… at just the right time – at God’s time.

Prayer: Lord, listen to your children crying. Lord, hear the voices of the oppressed and the marginalized. Raise up the cries to the ears of your people. Lead us to be your heart and voice, to be your hands and feet, O God. Amen.


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Merciful and Just

Reading: Luke 18:1-8

Verse 3: “There was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, ‘Grant me justice against my adversary'”.

Today Jesus teaches us to pray and not to give up. The scene in the parable begins with the one able to answer the request. The judge has the power but is not concerned with God or with men. He feels that his power has placed him above and out of the reach of anyone or anything. Any courtroom decision comes with a price – justice had very little to do with his courtroom proceedings.

Next we meet a woman who is about the exact opposite of the judge. She is powerless. She has no husband to speak for her and she lives in a society that does not value women. She operates on justice. In verse three they meet. Here we read, “There was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, ‘Grant me justice against my adversary'”. Right is right. That does not change tomorrow or any day to come. So she keeps coming at the judge day after day. Not right away, but after a while the judge gives in. The widow cannot pay him off yet he grants her justice. Why? So she will not wear him out.

The woman perseveres because she is right. She seeks justice. Even the corrupt judge recognizes this. Instead of barring her from court or refusing to acknowledge someone without means, he does what is right. Here we find our model of God – the one who always does what is right, the one who is on the side of justice and the weak and powerless. When our prayers are right and just and when we bring them to God over and over, our God hears and answers. God is merciful and just and loving. In our times of need, God draws near and is present to us. In our persistence we grow stronger and our faith grows deeper. As we bring holy and just prayers to our God, know that God hears and answers.

Prayer: Lord God, when my prayers align with your will and your way, they are just and right. When I cry out for your mercy and grace with a repentant heart, you are pleased. Thank you for being a God of both justice and mercy, of grace and love. You are an awesome God! Amen.


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How Long?

Reading: Isaiah 6: 9-13

Verse 10: “Make the hearts of this people caloused; make their ears dull and close their eyes”.

Isaiah hears God’s call upon his life and responds enthusiastically, “Here I am. Send me”! He is eager to serve God. When I think back to my call to ministry, I was not quite so responsive. It took much longer to say “yes” to the call. But God was persistent and step by step He worked me around to saying yes. I think the process that I went through is generally true for most folks. God calls each of us to service; the response is up to us.

Right out of the gate, the eager Isaiah hears that his call will be an uphill battle. God sends Isaiah to tell the people to hear but not understand, to see but not to perceive. The message to repent and turn back to God’s ways will go in one ear and out the other. In verse 10 we read, “Make the hearts of this people caloused; make their ears dull and close their eyes”. Hard hearts, dull ears, closed eyes. Does not sound like a great audience to work with. The eager Isaiah must wonder why he is being called. If his ministry will make no difference, why go?

At times we can feel this way too. We can reach out to people and share the good news with them, but we experience what Isaiah experienced – hard hearts, closed minds. At times we will question why we are sent to such people. At times we too will ask, “For how long, O Lord”? How long should we keep inviting so and so to church? How long should I keep talking about my faith with him or her?

God answers Isaiah with something that reflects God’s timing and the fact that God is in control. God says, “the holy seed will be a stump in the land”. In other words, there is something there, not quite dead as it may appear, but dormant. When God decides the timing is right, God will bring forth a shoot – new life.

When we share our faith with others, through our words or actions, it may feel as if nothing is changing or that we are not making a difference. Yet, even then we are planting seeds. They may seem to lie in infertile ground or on hard soil, but they are seeds nonetheless. We plant faithfully, trusting God to one day bring those seeds to life as faith springs up in that new believer.

The same question can also be asked of us – how long? How long will we serve the Lord? May our answer be the same as Isaiah’s – all the days of our lives.

Prayer: Lord, give me the perseverance to always plant seeds of faith. Show me the words or actions that I need to say or take today to plant a few seeds in someone’s heart. Amen.


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A Wider Circle

Reading: Matthew 15: 10-28

Verse 27: Even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table.

A woman whose daughter is demon-possessed comes to Jesus seeking healing for her daughter.  She must have heard of the miracles that Jesus was performing and she comes seeking a miracle for her daughter.  But she does not fit into the mold.  She does not check off the boxes of belonging.  She is not of the chosen people.  She is a Gentile.  The man we know as love rejects her.  In our mind’s eye we see a Jesus who always leads with love and who welcomes everyone, even sinners.  Suddenly our vision is a bit blurry.

After ignoring her for a while, she becomes annoying and the disciples ask Jesus to send her away.  His response: “I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel”.  But she does not give up.  She comes and kneels before Jesus, saying, “Lord, help me”!  It is a desperate mother’s cry for healing.  Surely Jesus will show her love and cast out the demon from her daughter.  Nope.  He tells her He will not take the children’s bread and give it to the “dogs”.  Not only ‘no’ but an insult to boot!

In the first half of the passage, we recall Jesus trying to correct the Pharisees for a law that was a barrier keeping people from God.  And now Jesus himself uses a ‘rule’ to keep a woman at a distance, certainly outside of God’s love.  It is a game we are good at too.  If you are not dressed right or if you don’t have membership or if you are of another culture or if…  We also easily erect barriers that keep people out or at least at bay.  In a similar way, we allow differences to become reasons for why we do not go out and engage the lost.  But she does not give up.  She is persistent.

“Even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table”.  She says, ok, you can try and reject me and you can insult me, but I still want your help.  It’s hard to say what affected Jesus more – her deep love for her daughter or the faith she had that He could heal her.  He heals her daughter.  And she leaves Jesus changed.  The human Jesus now loves more.  He sees a wider circle.  God’s love is for all people.  Today, may we too look beyond the barriers in our own hearts and may we begin to love a wider circle.


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Positive Results

Reading: Luke 18: 1-8

When we learn to stick to something, we find we get better at it.  A player who shoots free throw after free throw improves their percentage.  An aspiring writer who writes and rewrites and edits and rewrites again becomes a better writer.  A chef who nuances a dish over and over and over eventually comes to the exact balance of flavors desired for the dish.  If we are willing to invest our time and energy in a concentrated and focused manner, we will see positive results.

The widow in our story is willing to stick up for herself.  She is willing to go against social norms.  Above all else is a sense of being wronged and her driving need for justice.  As the widow went to the unjust judge day after day, I imagine she tried a variety of approaches.  I cannot imagine her showing up day after day issuing the same request.  She worked a variety of angles and applied a variety of reasons to show that she deserved justice from the judge.

Our prayer life is something like these two scenarios.  We latch onto something we desire from God and we begin to pray for it.  Early on we are like the player or writer or chef, seeking to craft just the prayer that will draw the response we desire.  As our prayer is offered up day after day we refine and shape it.  Eventually we fall into the widow’s pattern as we apply various reasons why God should answer our prayer.  Sometimes we even get to the “if, then” praying.  If you will ___ God, then I will ___.  

Through our begging, our pleading, our bartering, God is at work.  If we remain persistent in our prayers, we will often find that it is us or our faith that changes.  For example, in praying for “that” person or situation, our approach or view or understanding is often changed so we become more loving, more compassionate, more accepting.  If we are willing to invest time and energy in our prayers, we will experience God at work in our lives.  The results will be positive.  We may not always receive the answer we began praying for, but God will always be present, always working, always shaping us through our prayers to be the Christian we need to be.


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Persistence

Reading: Luke 18: 1-8

Persistence is almost a lost art.  Society is so fast-paced and we desire instant gratification.  We have information at our fingertips that comes as soon as we type into our smart phone’s search engine.  We can watch the television show or movie of our choice practically anywhere at any time.  We can call or text or message someone whenever no matter where they are around the world.  Now, now, now.

Yet at times we do demonstrate perseverance and persistence.  If it is something we really want.  When I was in high school and wanted a guitar, I saved and saved, persistently, until I had enough to buy that guitar.  I did the same thing, sacrificing along the way, so I could buy that engagement ring.  People will still persevere today if it is for something they really want.

These things are true in our prayer life as well. We can be as persistent as the widow if it is something very important to us.  We can pray and pray and pray for that new job or that acceptance to that college or for the healing for ourselves or someone near and dear to us.  We can pray like the widow when we find ourselves or someone we love in an ‘unjust’ situation.  Yet in all of these things, we still want God to act quickly.  But we will persevere in some of our prayers.

When we are persistent in our prayers, it builds up our faith.  Persistent prayer reminds us of our reliance and dependence on God.  It reminds us of God’s sovereignty over all of creation.  But our persistent prayer should not be just for the really big things.  Yes, we should pray fervently for the desires of our hearts and for justice, nut we should persistently lift all thing, big and small, to God.  There is nothing too small and nothing too big for God!  May we pray all things into God’s presence.