pastorjohnb

Thoughts and musings on faith and our mighty God!

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Wouldn’t We?

Reading: John 13: 21-33

“One of you will betray me”.  That must have been quite the bombshell.  These twelve men have  invested three years of their lives in following Jesus.  They have stuck with Him, certainly at a personal cost to their families and other relationships.  It has been a sacrifice in other ways as well.  Yet at twelve have remained with Jesus to this point.

In our hearts and minds, we each think we are devout to Jesus.  Until we are not.  How often our faith life is moving along solidly and in an instant we have said or thought something that brought instant conviction?  Surely not I, Lord.  As life is cruising along well and we feel connected to the Son, we do something and the remorse and guilt come flooding in.  Surely not I, Jesus.

In most cases when we have been tempted or stumble into sin, we recognize it quickly.  When we are sensitive to the leading of the Holy Spirit, we realize our sin quickly and repent and seek forgiveness and restoration.  Then and there we are brought back into a right relationship with God.

We all are never really far from, “One of you will…”. And like the disciples we can also get lost in our own worlds.  When we ourselves are wrestling with temptation or sin or when we have sinned and are struggling with the guilt or our own inability to forgive ourselves, we can be like the eleven – so lost in the ” Is it I?” question that we do not notice the evil around us.  The eleven were so inwardly focused that they did not notice Judas leaving.

If we were there we would have noticed and gone after him.  Wouldn’t have we?  Wouldn’t we?  Maybe.  It is too easy to think of someone who used to come to church.  In our own struggles may we realize that all struggle.  In this realization, may we become more aware of our brothers and sisters in Christ, being vigilant to love and care for one another.  May we each seek out and help the lost or wandering sheep back into the flock.


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Wrestling Towards Perfection

When we question things, sometimes the answers we find surprise us.  Sometimes the answer forces us to wrestle with something and perhaps this, in turn, causes us to grow.  The question that the scribe asks Jesus is a genuine and deep question.  Jesus’ answer is direct and forces the scribe to wrestle a bit.  In the end, he at least considers a new reality and that is good.

At times we too must wrestle with our faith.  It is essential at times to reflect on how our walk with God is, on how sin is affecting our life, and on our dedication and service to God.  Questions about how closely we are following and if we are giving enough of ourselves are great questions to wrestle with.

Jesus’ answer to the scribe made him question his definition of loving neighbors, and, in particular, about not exploiting them.  It would not have been very hard for the scribe to see all the ways exploitation was occurring.  The big question is did it bring about change in behavior.

The same is generally true for us.  If we really spend time wrestling with where we are in our faith and with being the hands and feet of Christ, then we often see how we could be or do more.  In living a faith that follows Jesus Christ, we are ever on a road towards perfection.  Like Paul, may we too press on toward the goal to win the prize of eternal life.

Scripture reference: Mark 12: 28-34


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Questions

The teacher of the law was given a great opportunity.  He was able to ask Jesus a question directly.  And Jesus answered him directly!  This is uncommon as Jesus usually responded with another question, with a parable, or with a story or illustration that indirectly answers the question.

Think for a moment if you were this teacher.  What other question would you ask – this one goes right to the heart of his profession.  If you were a doctor, for example, you might ask about the cure to a disease.

I think the question we would ask would depend on where we are in our faith journey or on what has been occurring recently in our life.  If there has been a tragic event or if we or a loved one are drawing close to the end of our time on earth, then the question will center on this.  Many of our questions in these cases center on the “why” question.

If one is in a ‘normal’ stage of life and all is relatively good in life, the questions would be different.  Maybe our question would center on the how and what type of questions.  But in all cases, I think our questions would center on wanting to understand something better.

So if you could ask anything of Jesus, what would it be?  It is important to wrestle with our questions because they lead to conversations with Jesus.  Our questions reveal a lot about our inner being, the state of our faith, the things that are unsettled within us, and the things we long for deeply.

While we usually do not get as direct of an answer as the teacher of the law received, our questions are great to consider anyway.  Ask Him your question!  Allow the ongoing conversation between you two to roll around in your heart and mind and to build your faith in and understanding of Jesus and who He calls you to be.

Scripture reference: Mark 12: 28-34


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On Our Side

Job’s journey of faith parallels ours in some ways.  In his interactions with his friends and even with God, he is stubborn, defiant, and even borders on obnoxious early on in the book.  Although overall Job is steadfast in his faith, maybe at this point it is a little immature.  At times our faith is too.  At times we are questioning or angry or defiant about something that is occurring in our life; we too question and ask why.  We openly ask where God is even though a part of us senses He is always there.

At the end of the book we see a different faith in Job.  He is humble, truthful, grateful.  Although he would never want to experience a trial like that again, he knows he is a better follower because of his experience.  He sees the foolishness of questioning God and doubting His constant presence.  Job has felt an intimacy with God that both yields and comes with a mature faith.  As life weathers and shapes us, we too become more mature in our faith and in our relationship with God.  Like Job, our experiences, both good and bad, shape who we are as a follower of God.

From Job we learn a valuable lesson: God is on our side.  At times, and particularly in hard times, we may want to question, to doubt, or may even want to curse.  In these times we must trust that God is good and above all else, He loves us.  In these times may we trust in and live into the words of Christ: not my will, but Your will.  God of love, be with us this day.

Scripture reference: Job 42: 1-6


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His Promise

Job wrestles with the question many people wrestle with: why did this happen to me?  In general, we view the world as good and God as loving and caring.  Most people believe these things to be true.  Yet for most, believers included, we almost always ask the ‘why  question when unexplained or unjust suffering and trials come our way.  It is a natural question to ask.  We wrestle with this question, because at least a little, in our minds, we think that if we are faithful that no bad should come our way.  We track right along with Job’s thinking.  This too is a natural thought process.

In Job’s day the common understanding was that if evil or bad befell someone, it was because of sin.  For example, if one were blind it was because of sin in their life or in their parent’s life.  This idea is backed up by the experience of the nation of Israel.  Sin causes separation from God, then they experience trial, exile, or some other calamity.  The view that God blessed Israel with peace, victory… when they were faithful was also a dominant belief.  We mostly hold these beliefs today as well.  Good brings good and evil brings evil is still a common thought process.  It also holds generally true in life: if you are nice to someone, usually they are nice in return.  The reverse is also true.

Job was seen as righteous and good in his pre-trial life.  Once the bad befell him, his wife and friends assumed he had sinned.  They thought, Why else would God do this?  But Job knew he was still faithful, upright, blameless.  So he asked God the ‘why?’ question.  God’s response was big questions that did not really answers Job’s question.  God asked Job is he could bring floods or lightning or even rain.  He asked if he could provide prey for the lion or food for the raven.  He asked if Job was there at the creation of the earth.  The questions do not provide an answer but turn Job back inward.

God created a world that is good and has order and logic.  There is both good and evil.  Both must exist if we are to have free will.  God does not force us to obey Him or to be faithful to Him.  We do so out of love.  We love because He first loved us.  Love is our grateful response to the love God poured out in Jesus Christ.  In life there is free will and logical consequences.  The world was created as good, not as perfect.  Perfect will be the new heaven when Christ returns.  So some rains waters the crops and some rains flood the fields.  Illness and death are part of life.  So is birth and good health.  Like Job, in the midst of our pain and suffering we ask ‘why?’  But the answer is elusive.  It does not come in many cases.  But the promise we receive in Christ is not elusive: Jesus saves all who call on His name and through His saving grace we will all one day enter that perfect world.  Hold onto the promise.  Live the promise.  Share the promise.

Scripture reference: Job 38: 34-41


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Job’s Great Example

The story of Job fascinates me.  A devout and faithful man suffers unjust persecution.  He loses all of his family and all of his possessions and is afflicted with illness.  His wife and friends badger him and go so far as to advise him to just curse God and die.  But Job does not turn from God.  He questions why he is suffering but he remains faithful.

Almost daily we see examples of unjust suffering in our world.  It can come from a natural disaster or from one’s fellow man.  It can affect one person or dozens or the masses.  In all people’s lives there are times of unjust suffering.  For many, our response is not like Job’s.  We wonder why God is punishing us or we get angry at God or we walk away from our faith.

The story of Job reveals to us in great detail that unjust suffering does occur in our world.  It also reveals that God does not cause it and that God remains present to us in the midst of our suffering.  It is up to us if we continue to draw upon God in the midst of our suffering or if we get angry or if we walk away or …

Job sets us a great example.  He was blameless yet suffered.  He was put to a severe test and he came through it.  He relied on God, listened to God’s voice, and drew upon His strength.  We too will suffer at times.  May we also realize that we are not alone and may we draw upon God’s strength, love, and presence as we journey through our hardship.

Scripture reference: Job 1:1 and 2:1-3


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The Question

Herod is a man who lived by manipulation, force, coercion.  He desperately wanted to be loved.  He worked at rebuilding the temple to curry favor from the Jews.  He went to great lengths to please his wife.  Guilt and self-doubt filled Herod.  When he hears stories of Jesus, he feared that John the Baptist had returned to judge him again.

Herod did not understand the world that John, and later Jesus, was trying to bring about.  Both John and Jesus experienced rejection and death because the rulers of the day would not hear their message of justice, peace, and love.  Both men willingly died to challenge the way the world was operating.  Both sought to bring the world shalom – the well-being of all, justice for all, equality for all people in all situations, and the blessings of God’s love, mercy, and grace.

In the world today I see people like Herod – driven by self-interests and greed.  Their priorities are far from those Jesus taught and died for.  In the world today I see many people who lack peace, justice, the basic necessities of life – things Jesus strove to bring to all people.  In the world today I see people who are suffering injustices and oppression – both in my hometown and throughout the world.

The question I must ask – the question all Christians must ask – is: what I am willing to do to bring this shalom to others?  It is a hard question.  But it is a question all Christians must not only wrestle with but one we must answer with how we live our lives.

Scripture reference: Mark 6: 14-16


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Answering the Question

Most of us do not have a vision experience like Isaiah – winged creatures, smoke filling the room, trembles that shake the foundations.  For most of us, our encounters with God tend to be on the quieter side.  We do not hear an audible voice asking the question: “Whom shall I send?”  But we do often hear the question.

For many of us though, we are adept at acting like we do not hear the question.  Like a phone ringing that we choose not to answer or a text message that we choose to ignore, it can be easy to avoid responding to the question.  We certainly could not avoid the question if our call experience was like Isaiah’s.  And for some, God’s call approaches this scale.  But for most it does not.

God continues to actively call each of us.  It could be through something we see on TV or read in the paper or observe out in the world.  It could be through the words of another who encourage us or ask us to join them.  It could be through an encounter with someone that somehow strikes a passion within us.  God speaks to us in many ways.  He calls for us to minister to His people over and  over and over.

The voice never goes away.  He never ceases to ask the question.  The call never ends.  But the more we hear it, the more we have the opportunity to tune in and to hear God.  Funny thing though, saying ‘yes’ does not make the call go away.  It makes the next call clearer.  It helps us say ‘yes’ quicker next time.  When God asks “Whom shall I send?”, the answer is clear.  In each case, God already knows the answer to the question.  May we respond with the answer He longs for: “Here I am.  Send me.”  For where He leads we are to go.  And where we go, He will be there too.

Scripture reference: Isaiah 6: 1-8


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Trust and Being Faithful

Trust is an interesting concept.  Trust is something we build up over time and we base it upon our experiences with that person.  It is not universal – I may trust a common friend more than a mutual friend does. Once a trust is broken between friends, it is hard to get it fully back.  In our humanity, we struggle with fully giving our trust back to someone who violated it.

How much do you trust God?  How much do I?  Three years ago I entered full-time ministry.  I left teaching after 23 years.  I felt a call to ministry that had gradually built over many years and I finally surrendered to those whispers of God that I felt in my heart.  There was some trust involved – a lot.  But there were also some things that made the decision feel safe – same town and church we had been in for 20 years, tons of family and close friend support…

In Genesis 17 God comes to Abram and Sarai when they were 99 years old.  As they are ready to slide into retirement, God comes along and tells them they are going to start having babies.  He tells them to move to an unknown foreign land.  He tells them that they will be the father and mother of many nations and to change their names, accordingly, to Abraham and Sarah.  And they did.  Trust.  They trusted God completely.

I often wonder where my trust level is.  It is high?  Do I trust God completely?  Or is it low?  One doesn’t really know until put to the test.  God’s call to me was many nudges over a period of time, with a few human voices sprinkled in for good measure.  I never heard God’s voice.  But if a nudge came to move far away, to a distant place, to minister – how much would I trust?  If a nudge came to leave all I know to enter the mission field – where would my trust level be?

I think that if I had a real conversation with God, even if only one-sided, that I would go without question.  But then I wonder…  I hope I am found faithful.  We all do.  Lord God, make me faithful.

Scripture reference: Genesis 17: 1-7 and 15-16


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He IS for Us!

“If God is for us, who can be against us?”  This question is really more of a statement, isn’t it?  Although Paul does not write it, it is almost implied that nothing else matters if God is on our side.  In eternal terms it is so true.  To God it is absolutely true.  But in our human terms, it is so hard to believe this absolutely and to live it out continually.

As we are all imperfect, we all fall short of the glory of God at times.  OK, often.  At times we all knowingly sin.  OK, often.  In times of hardship, fear, loss, stress, illness, pain… we can lost sight of our foundation and relationship with God or even question Him.  We can even become angry or resentful toward God.  In our human hearts and minds, we can fail to draw upon the only one who truly matters, our Lord and King.

But then He nudges us.  His Spirit stirs in our hearts or His still, small voice whispers in our ear.  We remember the words etched in our hearts – “in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loves us”.  And we remember that these things are just things – small in comparison to God.  He draws near to us as we draw near to Him.  And again we know that He is for us!

Scripture reference: Romans 8: 31-37