pastorjohnb

Thoughts and musings on faith and our mighty God!

Tag Archives: relationship


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So Called to Love

God’s call on our lives is total and complete. How we do each thing should be a reflection of the relationship we have with Him. The way we treat one another, the way we care for one another, the way we deal with one another – all should be a reflection of how God loves us. And as God loves all, we too are called to love all.

The growth we experience as our faith deepens must also be shown on the outside in the relationships we have with others. Faith lived out is faith shared. In Leviticus 19 there is a long list of ‘do not…’ steal, lie, slander, bear grudges and so on. These are all things we would not want others to do to us. There are also three things that are ‘positives’. The first is to rebuke your neighbor so that we do not share in their guilt. The second is to love your neighbor as yourself. These two kinda go hand in hand.

In the list of mostly ‘don’t’ do this or that, we can see God trying to limit our natural inclinations to be selfish and to judge others. In this way we can try to legitimize how we treat others or how we withhold from others because they are not worthy of our time, attention, care, and so forth. These are such hard things to curb.

Each little section of Leviticus ends with these words: “I am the Lord.” This gentle reminder serves two purposes: to remind us that we are called to be a reflection of God’s love for the world and to remind us that we can only live this way w/God’s presence and help in our day to day lives. Hebrews 13: 20-21 are a reminder of this reality: “May the God of peace equip you with everything good that you may do His will, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever and ever.”


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More Than “Things”

In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus is seeking to take what was law and extend or expand it a bit more. Today is a visit to how we treat and look at other people. In verses 27-37 Jesus tackles adultery, divorce, and keeping our word. And as always with Jesus, it is not about the letter of the law but about what it means to us as people.

All of these ideas or concepts are about valuing the relationship and the individual. They are about seeing each other as children of God – invaluable in His sight. It is all about treating each other that way too.

Society and our culture teach us to look at other people as ‘things’. That way it is easier to step on them as one climbs the ladder of success or to simply walk right by them on the street as one is on the way to some more important event, meeting, or ‘thing’. If one looks at people as things, it becomes easier to lust, divorce, and lie.

But Jesus sees it differently and calls us to do the same. He teaches us that when we look at another with lust in our heart, we have committed adultery. He advises us that when we sin we should gouge out the eye or cut off the hand that causes us to sin rather than to end up in hell. (I imagine that if I were struggling with lust and gouged out an eye, that I would look at others a little differently – figuratively and literally!) He advises us to work on our marriage instead of simply walking away from that ‘thing’ we married. He teaches that in our relationships, our word should be solid. Let our yes be yes and our no be no.

All of this is based on how our heavenly Father looks at us and on how we expects us to look at others. For we are not ‘things’ but unique creations of God’s mighty hand. God is “especially fond” of each and every one of us (kudos to “The Shack”). Just as we should be of others!


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Come and See

In the Gospel lesson for today, John the Baptist sees Jesus and proclaims him the Lamb of God. As Jesus passes by two of John’s disciples follow Jesus. As they do Jesus asks them what they want but instead of answering they ask him where he is staying. His response isn’t an answer either, but an invitation: “Come and see.”

This is what Jesus says to us too: ” Come and see.” It is what we are called to say to others as well. We are called to evangelize – to share the good news. For many this is a scary word. But we need to realize that our call is not to sell Jesus or to convince someone they have to go “all in.” We must simply enter into people live’s and say, come and see.

It may be saying, “Hey, can I tell you about Jesus and what he has done for me?” Or it may be stepping into a need and loving your neighbor. It may simply be living your life as an example of what it means to be a Christian. Ultimately, it is about drawing people in so that they can come and see who Jesus is.

In the devotional I read this morning there was a great analogy. It spoke of our relationship with Jesus as a series of concentric circles. Each layer a bit closer to Jesus. When we invite others to ‘come and see’ we are asking them to step one circle closer, not to leap all the way to the middle. May our words, actions, and deeds today help people to come and see Jesus, to draw closer to the Savior of the world.


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All Those in the Middle

“He must become greater; I must become less.” That really is the crux of the matter for us as followers of Christ. How do we come to be able to say that about everyone – that our wife, our kids, our friends, that homeless person – that they get considered before we consider ourselves? To know that as Jesus becomes the Lord of our life, we become less and less?

That’s hard to do! But we see in John 1 an example to follow. John the Baptist drew people out into the wilderness to hear his message of repentance. Lots of people. Many who heard him stepped out into the water to be baptized. Pretty heady stuff! I wonder if I could be so humble. I wonder if I’d drift off into the “Look how well I am doing!” mentality and become self-absorbed. It is hard to keep a humble perspective when we are successful and popular.

Yet in spite of the crowds John continues to proclaim Jesus and continues to point toward Him. John realized his call in life was to draw people toward Jesus. He also knew that as Jesus’ ministry grew his own would decline. “He must become greater; I must become less.” And John was absolutely, 100% happy to say that. And he meant it!

As our faith deepens and the relationship with Christ becomes THE relationship in our life, we too can come to say those words of John – I must become less. As we humbly kneel at the foot of the cross and look up into the loving eyes of Jesus, we ask, “What can I do for you today Lord?” As we enter our worlds today, may we seek to be the lesser – to treat all as somewhere between Christ and ourselves.