pastorjohnb

Thoughts and musings on faith and our mighty God!

Tag Archives: relationship


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A New Covenant

Reading: Jeremiah 31:27-34

Jeremiah 31:33 – “I will put my instructions within them and engrave them on their hearts. I will be there God and they will be my people.”

The prophet’s words that we read today brought great hope to a people living in exile. Just as God had watched over a time of digging up, pulling down, and overthrowing, soon God will watch over a time of planting and growth. The season of experiencing the consequences of the previous generation’s collective sin is coming to a close. The proverbial taste of “sour grapes” will no longer be in their mouths. There is a personalization, an individualization, that will soon occur. Each person will be responsible for their own sins. While there can be great power – for better or for worse – in the collective, the true strength lies within the individuals that are a part of that collective or group or community of faith.

Beginning in verse 31 God speaks of a “new covenant.” It will be very different than the old covenant. The difference is found in verse 33: “I will put my instructions within them and engrave them on their hearts. I will be there God and they will be my people.” Imagine how God’s people, living in exile, would hear these words of hope. God’s will and way will be internalized, “written” on our hearts. Within God’s people, the voice of the Spirit will guide us, lead us, convict us, teach us… We will not have to say to one another, “Know the Lord!” Living within us, we will walk daily in a close, intimate, personal relationship with the Lord our God. What words of hope!

The hope and promise of the new covenant felt by the exiles has been realized in and through Jesus. His teachings and example are what work to “engrave” God on our hearts. His death and resurrection wash away the “sour grapes” of our sin and shame. Jesus’ ongoing presence through the Holy Spirit living in our hearts allows us to walk daily with the Lord our God. For this new covenant, we shout, thanks be to God!

Prayer: Lord God, what a gift, what a friend we have in Jesus! Your living presence in us, showing us the way to go, forming our will to your will – what a personal, loving, powerful way to connect to you, to dwell in your presence, to live out the new covenant. Thank you, Lord, for being our God and for having us as your people! Amen.


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“Preach” Always

Reading: 2nd Timothy 3:14-4:5

2nd Timothy 4:2 – “Preach the word. Be ready to do it whether convenient or inconvenient. Correct, confront, and encourage with patience and instruction.”

Paul’s encouragement to Timothy begins with an invitation to stay focused on the word of God. Timothy began learning the word as a young child and has grown in his understanding of the scriptures. Paul reminds him that all scripture is useful – sometimes for teaching, other times for correcting, sometimes for training, other times for showing mistakes. As our guide to faith, scripture will equip the faithful “to do everything that is good.”

Shifting to chapter 4, Paul commissions Timothy “in the presence of God and if Jesus Christ.” The heart of his commission falls mostly in verse 3, where we read, “Preach the word. Be ready to do it whether convenient or inconvenient. Correct, confront, and encourage with patience and instruction.” While the formal preaching most often happens on Sunday morning, the most impactful sharing of the good news occurs outside of that 15-20 minutes. The bold and powerful witness, the sure and steady faith – this is how we “preach” our faith. Putting heart, voice, hands, and feet to service in the kingdom of God is the best possible way to preach the good news.

Paul warns Timothy that there will be challenges and suffering. He speaks of a time when people will “collect teachers who say what they want to hear.” Truth will be sacrificed for personal comfort and personal gain. In the midst of this, Paul emphasizes the importance of Timothy’s choices, advising him to “keep control of yourself in all circumstances.” Don’t engage in the ugly, don’t get caught up in the division. Prudent advice for our day too!

The apostle’s closing advice to Timothy is complete: endure suffering, do the work of sharing the good news, serve fully. Give God all that you are and all that you have. May this be our daily goal.

Prayer: Lord God, you ask for all of us – our energy, our resources, our time, our gifts and talents, our prayers, our love – given in witness to the good news of salvation found in Jesus Christ. Guide us, Lord, to preach always. Strengthen us when we’re weak. Encourage us when we’re challenged. Comfort us when we’re suffering. In all ways and at all times, use us to build the kingdom of God. Amen.


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Surrender All in Prayer

Reading: Philippians 4:4-9

Philippians 4:6 – “Don’t be anxious about anything; rather, bring up all your requests to God in your prayers… along with giving thanks.”

Our words today come from a section titled “Stand firm in the Lord.” Paul encourages us to be people who are faithful in all moments in life. He writes twice in the opening verse, “Be glad!” Allow the joy we find in Christ to be evident in our lives. Be that something different that others notice. Paul then encourages us to be gentle in how we treat all people. This includes ourselves. This too will be noticed by others.

In verse 6 we read, “Don’t be anxious about anything; rather, bring up all your requests to God in your prayers… along with giving thanks.” There will certainly be times when anxiety (and fear, doubt, worry, stress…) are present in our lives. An unwanted change, an unexpected loss, an unwelcome diagnosis, an unwarranted injustice will happen. This is life. In these moments, Paul reminds us, we have a choice: anxiety… or take it to the Lord in prayer. Bring our anxiety or our whatever to God, surrender that feeling to God, and God will bring us a peace that comes from beyond ourselves. Paul also reminds us to ever be thankful. When we thank God for other times when God brought us peace… in the past, then we are assured that our compassionate and loving God will bring us peace… once again.

Continuing, Paul invites us to focus on all that is excellent and admirable – all that is true, holy, just, pure, lovely, and worthy of praise. In other words, focus on Jesus and on the gifts that come through our relationship with him. And, Paul says, if you need a more present reminder, remember what Paul and his fellow ministers taught and lived out. Like these faithful men and women, when we live faithfully, when we trust into God’s presence, when we surrender all to God in prayer, then God’s peace will be with us. May it be so!

Prayer: Lord God, thank you for the peace that comes when we enter your presence and surrender to you our anxiety and other emotions that can separate us from you and from others. Fill us with your peace that passes understanding so that we can walk with you through all that life throws our way. And even in the midst of the trials and struggles, remind us to be grateful and gentle, just as you are with us. Amen.


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Humble Surrender

Reading: 2nd Kings 5:1-3 and 5-14c

2nd Kings 5:14b – “Now I know for certain that there’s no God anywhere on earth except in Israel.”

Photo credit: Shane Rounce

A powerful general from Aram has a skin disease. Unlike in Israel, this does not make him an outcast in his country. But this disease still creates a physical need for healing. By chance (?) an Israelite girl is a slave in Naaman’s home. She comments, ‘Only if my master could see the prophet in Samaria…’ In no time, Naaman is off to Israel’s king – letter, thank you gift, and entourage in tow. The king of Israel is powerless to heal him so he receives this visit as an attempt to pick a fight. Elisha the prophet hears of this and tells the king to send Naaman his way.

Ultimately following Elisha’s simple directions, Naaman is beyond healed. His skin was restored to the skin of his youth. Not just the bad spot was cleansed. Returning to Elisha’s house, Naaman declares, “Now I know for certain that there’s no God anywhere on earth except in Israel.” The outsider, the foreigner, is profoundly affected. Professing his faith in God alone, Naaman will bring dirt back home so that he has a place to worship God. The cleansing of his disease has begun Naaman on a path that leads to wholeness for Naaman. This is found only in a relationship with the Lord.

Wholeness comes through living daily in a right relationship with God. This week we’ve talked about one means to focus on living this way. The Examen’s steps of request, relish, review, repent, and resolve take us daily to a place of honest reflection and introspection, drawing us closer to the Lord, empowering our daily walk. This discipline is grounded in humility and surrender. Kneeling on proverbial dirt, may we worship the Lord our God each day.

Prayer: Lord God, we can struggle as Naaman did, allowing pride and status to mislead us, to keep us from a place where we open ourselves up to your healing power. Like the servant who called him to humble surrender, may we hear the voice of your Spirit calling us to this place daily. Amen.


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Resolve

Reading: Jeremiah 29:1 and 4-7

Jeremiah 29:5-6 – “Build houses and settle down; cultivate gardens and eat what they produce. Get married and have children…”

In the opening verse we learn that Jeremiah sends a letter to those who have been brought into exile – to the elders, priests, prophets, and people taken to Babylon from Jerusalem. The typical thought process would be figuring out how to get back home ASAP. For us, when we’ve sinned and find ourselves in exile, this is normally our thought process. It will not be so for Jeremiah and for Israel.

This is part of God’s proclamation to Israel: “Build houses and settle down; cultivate gardens and eat what they produce. Get married and have children…” In other words, settle in and become a part of where God has sent you. Treat whatever city of exile as your new homeland. Contribute to the community’s welfare and pray for it. Israel will spend almost two generations in exile (70 years.) During this time God will produce a small but faithful remnant to return to Jerusalem and to the Promised Land.

Jeremiah is calling Israel to the fifth movement of Ignatuis’ Examen: resolve. In more modern language, God is asking Israel to “bloom where you are planted.” Being there for the long haul, God invites Israel to make the most of their new reality. A better future is out there for God’s people. But there is work to be done. Like Israel, at times we must resolve that tomorrow can and will be different. Working through request, relish, review, and repent we arrive at a place of heart prepared to look and move forward with hope. As we resolve to live more like Christ, God’s transforming Spirit leads us forward, deepening our relationship with God and with one another. May it be so each day as we learn to practice this powerful spiritual discipline.

Prayer: Lord God, lead and guide us to walk the walk, not just to talk the talk. Lead and guide us to work the steps, not just to give them a tip of the hat. Only when we put in the effort, only then will you work in and then through us, transforming our hearts and the communities in which we live and in which we worship. Strengthen and encourage us, O God. Amen.


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Praise and Thanksgiving

Reading: Luke 17:15-19

Luke 17:18 – “No one returned to praise God except this foreigner?”

As we continue in the story of Jesus healing ten men of their skin diseases, we turn to the second step in the spiritual discipline called the Examen: relish. This step is the expression of gratitude for the way(s) that God has worked in our lives. While I did not notice the subtitle yesterday, today I did. It is this: “Jesus heals a Samaritan.”

All ten men are cleansed of their skin diseases as they make their way to the priest. The cleansing must not have been immediate but somewhere along the journey. At that time, one saw he was healed and turned back toward Jesus. The other nine continued on to the priest to complete the next step: passing inspection so that they could be declared “clean.” This priestly step allowed them to rejoin society, to go back to their old life – to life before disease.

The Samaritan returns, praising God in a loud voice. He falls at Jesus’ feet to express his deep gratitude. This is what “relish” looks like. Jesus then muses aloud, wondering where the other nine are. He points out the fact that ten were cleansed. Jesus then asks, “No one returned to praise God except this foreigner?” The cleansing was the first step in healing the Samaritan. His faith has been deepened because of his experience. His praise and gratitude build up his relationship with God. The other nine were surely grateful for being able to go back to their old life. But then they just returned to their old faith. This is what saddens Jesus. God moved the needle for a moment, then it just went back to empty.

Most of us pray to God all the time. When we’re serious we likely seek to enter into God’s presence (request.) In those instances when God does restore health or open a door or whatever, do we relish what God has done? If so, we begin to experience healing as we move closer to wholeness in our relationship with God. In our daily lives, may we choose to make time to praise and thank the Lord our God.

Prayer: Lord God, how often we are like the nine. We whisper a quick “thank you” and get right back to the buzz of life. O God, slow us down, draw us closer. Lead our heart to fully recognize how you’ve moved or acted, and then guide us to offer our praise and thanksgiving. Taking this time builds our faith, our relationship with you, healing a bit more of our brokenness. Teach us to relish you and all you do. Amen.


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Request

Reading: Luke 17:11-14

Luke 17:12-13 – “Ten men with skin diseases approached him… they raised their voices and said, ‘Jesus, Master, show us mercy.'”

On the way to Jerusalem Jesus encounters ten men who have been living apart from the rest of the world – apart from family, apart from friends, apart from neighbors, apart from places of worship. Because of their skin disease, the Law requires them to live outside of community, isolated and ostracized. Cultural norms must have enforced this too. One outside the Law is living outside of community.

As Jesus is entering a village, here is what happens: “Ten men with skin diseases approached him… they raised their voices and said, ‘Jesus, Master, show us mercy.'” They raise voices and shout because they are not supposed to come close to Jesus. In a similar way, someone must’ve shouted at these men about this Jesus and his power to heal. Maybe a loved one shouted the good news to them one day. Or perhaps it was a passersby who was loudly praising God on his or her way home after personally encountering the healer.

The ten are practicing the first step of the spiritual discipline called the Examen. They are asking Jesus to draw near to them – to be in his divine presence. We do this almost naturally when we or a loved one is sick or otherwise in need of divine presence and help. As the lepers did, we too often ask for more than to simply be in Jesus’ presence. As the lepers are following Jesus’ instructions to go to the priest, “they are cleansed.” Skin diseases healed, there is now an unspoken invitation to enter Jesus’ presence. Only one will respond. Only one will experience the presence that Ignatius sought. His desire was to simply enter God’s presence, to feel or sense God with him. That was all. No pleas or petitions. Just sit in the presence of God. May this be our request and our experience today.

Prayer: Lord God, lead and guide us to a place of heart and mind where we can sit or rest in your presence. It is natural to move right into asking. We want you to be with us or with a loved one so that you can ___. Lord, move us away from transaction and into relationship. Yes, at times we do ask and it is good and right. But grant us times when we are still and quiet and present to you. Draw us close, O God. Amen.


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Our Faithful God

Reading: Lamentations 1:1-6

Lamentations 1:5b – “Certainly the Lord caused her grief because of her many wrongs.”

Lamentations is a vivid and emotional account of the destruction of Jerusalem and her temple at the hands of the Babylonians. Jeremiah is likely the primary author. The prophet worked long and hard trying to call the leaders and the people back into right relationship with God. But they chose to ignore his words of warning, instead choosing to trust in idols and foreign nations. Lamentations primarily deals with the consequences of these sinful choices but also offers hope in God’s love and faithfulness.

Lamentations personifies Jerusalem as a woman, present in the great destruction, sitting in the ruins. In the first verse we read, “She sits alone, the city that was once full of people.” When I first read this line, my brain read “promise” instead of “people.” Then I thought, yes, once Judah relied on and trusted in God’s promises. Their choice to trust in their own power and efforts has led them to become “slaves” sent away into exile. Maybe my brain read it this way because sadly at times this is our choice too. We choose self over God and/or neighbor, becoming a “slave” to our sin, exiling ourselves from God’s presence.

The author believes that Judah’s tears and mourning and grief are the direct result of her sinful behaviors. In verse 5 we read, “Certainly the Lord caused her grief because of her many wrongs.” While we do not subscribe to the ancient Jew’s understanding of faith as “do good, be blessed… do evil, be cursed,” we do experience tears, mourning, and grief at times as the practical outcomes of our sinful and selfish choices. While we do exile ourselves at times, God always remains present. Our faithful God listens to our painful laments while allowing us to be refined and to grow in faith because of our hard lessons. In this we find hope – as the author of Lamentations does as we turn to chapter 3 tomorrow.

Prayer: Lord God, while we are far from perfect, your perfect love never wavers, never fails. While we wander and separate ourselves from you, your steadfast presence is always right there, ready to redirect, to teach, to forgive, to welcome us back into right relationship. Thank you God!! Amen.


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Learn Their Names

Reading: Luke 16:19-26

Luke 16:23 – “While being tormented in the place of the dead, he looked up and saw Abraham at a distance with Lazarus at his side.”

Photo credit: Clay Banks

Reflecting on this passage, John Wesley wrote, “It is no more sinful to be rich than to be poor. But it is dangerous beyond expression.” Wesley lived in England during the start of the industrial revolution. The focus of his ministry was upon the poor – the uneducated, the poorly housed, the miners and factory workers, and others who were being exploited and oppressed by the wealthy. The poverty level was high in the places that Wesley preached, started schools and orphanages, and offered basic but free medical care.

Today’s parable features Lazarus, a poor, sick beggar who is overlooked each day by a rich man. The rich man has more than enough to care for Lazarus but he chooses to not even acknowledge Lazarus’ existence. Perhaps to know him would lead one to care about and for him. As it happens, both die. Lazarus goes to heaven and the rich man goes to hell. In verse 23 we read, “While being tormented in the place of the dead, he looked up and saw Abraham at a distance with Lazarus at his side.” By Abraham’s side, Lazarus has good things. The rich man is tormented in hell. It is only then that the rich man sees and acknowledges Lazarus – but only because he wants something from him. Alas, says Abraham, fates are now fixed. Judgment has come. There is no going from heaven to hell or vice versa.

Poverty continues to be a reality for many people today. Most of us as individuals and certainly we as a nation have more than enough to care well for the Lazarus’ of our day. God’s will and way called for the rich man to care for Lazarus just as God calls out to us today. To be the hands and feet of Jesus requires that we engage those living in poverty, with illness, and in need. This begins with knowing their names. May we learn their names.

Prayer: Lord God, when our relationships with the least of these gets personal, it gets so much more real. So guide us, O Lord, to invest in the lives of those with needs that we can meet. Open our hearts to compassion and love and care. Use us to minister in your name. Amen.


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Take Hold of True Life

Reading: 1st Timothy 6:17-19

1st Timothy 6:17-18 – “Tell people who are rich… to do good, to be rich in the good things they do, to be generous, and to share with others.”

Photo credit: Shane

Continuing in 1st Timothy 6 today, Paul instructs Timothy on how to minister to those Christians who do have wealth, power, status… There were and are people that God has blessed with gifts and talents and legacies that has and have allowed them to be rich in the things of this world. Paul first addresses the dangers of this place in life. One can easily become prideful and arrogant. This often leads to isolating oneself from those who are seen as “less than.” From this place of heart and mind one can place their hope in their worldly riches instead of in God. Some falsely think, “Who needs God when I have all of this?”

Paul’s instruction to Timothy is this: “Tell people who are rich… to do good, to be rich in the good things they do, to be generous, and to share with others.” To do good and to be rich in good works is to engage the world around you. This counters the choices to isolate and to look down on those without wealth, power, status… To do good for others draws us into relationship and here we find our commonality, which leads to unity. To be generous and to share what we have lifts up those without and it grows one’s compassion and empathy, deepening one’s desire to practice generosity. To do good and to be generous draws us closer to God and to one another.

In verse 19 Paul states that these actions lay a “good foundation for the future.” This foundation is an ever-growing compassion and love for neighbor and a continual growth in one’s relationship with God. Living out our faith in these ways allows us to “take hold of what is truly life.” This is loving God and neighbor with all that we have and are. May it be so for you and for me.

Prayer: Lord God, lead us to be people of love and compassion. Guide us to people and places that need to experience these things. Open our hearts and hands to serve you through serving those in need. In these ways, use us to draw others closer to you. Amen.