pastorjohnb

Thoughts and musings on faith and our mighty God!

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Compassionate Love

Reading: Jonah 3: 1-5 & 10

Verse Ten: “He had compassion and did not bring upon them the destruction He had threatened”.

Today we pick up the story of Jonah part way through.  Jonah has already been told to go to Nineveh, fled the other direction, been tossed into the sea during a fierce storm, been swallowed by a fish, prayed to God, and was vomited on to dry land.  This is Jonah 1 and 2 in a nutshell.  Our passage today begins with God speaking a second time to Jonah, instructing him to go to the great city of Nineveh to give a message which calls for their repentance.

Nineveh is a great city with over 120,000 residents.  Our passage tells us that it takes three days to visit the city.  We also learn that it is a city of wickedness.  God calls Jonah to go to save the city from destruction.  This is the first indication of God’s compassionate love.  God desires for the city to turn from its evil ways.  God’s compassionate love is also shown to Jonah as God is willing to tell him a second time to go to Nineveh.  God could have let Jonah drown and found another messenger.

Jonah goes to Nineveh and preached, “Forty more days and Nineveh will be over turned”.  The people believe God and a citywide fast is declared by the king.  The people also put on sackcloth as a sign of their repentance.  The king led the people to do this in hope that God would be compassionate and would relent.  In verse ten we read, “He had compassion and did not bring upon them the destruction He had threatened”.  God delivered the second chance that He wanted to give the city.  The story does not end here either.  God still has some work to do with Jonah.  Even though God’s purposes for Nineveh have been completed, God still loves Jonah and goes on to show that.

In the continuing work that God does with Jonah we come to see that God not only gives Jonah a second chance, but also a third…  God does not give up on Jonah.  He continues to bring Jonah along, ever shaping him into who he was created to be.  This is a beautiful thing about our God.  He continues to do the same thing for each and every one of us.  In His great love, God works and works and works to help us along our Christian walk.  He never gives up on us.  It is a beautiful thing.  Thanks be to God for His never-ending compassionate love for you and for me.


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A Voice

Reading: Mark 1: 1-6

Verse Two: “I will send my messenger ahead of you… to prepare the way”.

Mark quotes Isaiah to open up his “gospel about Jesus Christ, Son of God”.  This quote from Isaiah 40 is the the Israelites what John 3:16 is to Christians.  It is a very well-known verse to Mark’s audience.  Through hundreds of years of various oppression, exiles, and other trials, the Israelites have clung to the promise of a Messiah.  To the Israelites, the prophets have always been bearers of God’s word.  So when John the Baptist appears in the wilderness, proclaiming that the Messiah is near, people flock out to see and hear him.  John is a one-man faith revival, much like Elijah and the other great prophets who came before him.  Why do people – “the whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem” – come out to see John?  Because he speaks words of hope and restoration.

In times of suffering and oppression, when one rises up to speak words of hope and restoration, they tend to draw a crowd, people tend to listen.  In more recent times this has happened with Gandhi in India, with Mandela in South Africa, and with Martin Luther King, Jr., in the United States.  These men spoke words of hope and restoration.  They gave the oppressed a voice that brought hope.  In our nation, Martin Luther King, Jr., brought a voice of hope coupled with compassion, peace, and, above all else, faith.  He sought to bring hope and to bring equality to a people who faced injustices and segregation.  His words of hope, strengthened by faith in God, brought great change to our nation.

Mark writes of one who will bring even greater change than this.  Mark writes of Jesus Christ, the One who will bring hope and love and compassion and peace to all peoples of all nations.  But w are getting a but ahead of ourselves.  Today we have John, the voice who called folks to repentance, preparing them for the One who is to come.  Today, many are out there in the “wilderness”, longing for hope and restoration.  Can we raise up our voices as followers of Jesus Christ, calling people to make straight their paths, to prepare their hearts for the One who is coming?  May we be loud and clear as we invite others to come and know this Jesus, the Savior and Messiah, the hope and restorer of the world.


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Repent of Ye Idols!

Reading: Acts 17: 29-31

Verse 29: We should not think the divine being is an image…

Paul tackles the prevalent religion of the local people in today’s passage: polytheism.  For many, many years the Athenians have worshipped many different gods.  Each god was limited, confined basically to its own area of expertise.  Paul takes the local faith head on when he states that we are God’s offspring.  His logic is that if we are created by God, then we should only worship the one true God and not any creation of our human hands.  For Paul, God is limitless.  All is under God’s control as God was and is the creator of all things.  This is in striking contrast to the popular stance on many gods held be the Athenians.  Paul goes on to proclaim God’s judgment on them and to call them to repentance.

On the surface level it is hard to imagine worshipping a god for this and another god for that and yet another god for this need or concern.  On the surface level, it runs so counter to basic understanding of God.  Yet if we delve in a little deeper, if we look a little more intently into the mirror, we realize that we too are more like the Athenians than we’d like to admit.  We shy away from calling them ‘gods’ but at times w definitely have lots of idols.  We might recoil at the idea of worshipping money or possessions or status or beauty, but when we get honest and get right down to it, anything we place above or before God becomes an idol we worship.

Like Paul called the Athenians, his words call us to repentance as well.  What are the things we chase after, the idols we worship?  Verse 31 reads, “for He has set a day…”.  Judgment will come.  Paul reminds us that God calls us to repent.  This day, may we look deep within, repent of all that draws our love away from God, and begin to live the lives we are called to – lives that love God with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength.


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Rejoice, Be Glad

Reading: Psalm 32

The confession of our sin is an essential part of our faith.  It always has been the key to restoring our relationship to God and to finding renewal in our innermost being.  When we fail to confess our sins, we carry around within us a weight or a shame or guilt that inhibits us from truly living life.  The psalmist calls us blessed when our transgressions are forgiven.  The writer contrasts this with his experience when he did not confess – his bones wasted away and he groaned day and night.  We to experience similar consequences when we hold onto our sin.

Even more important than avoiding the negative consequences of holding onto our sin, which we can do, is the forgiveness and grace we experience when we do come to God with our sins.  In verse five, the psalmist writes, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord, you forgave the guilt of my sin”.  He speaks of the guilt being forgiven and of the protection he felt after being made right again with God.  The psalmist describes it as being surrounded with songs of deliverance.  When we confess our sins and allow Jesus to remove the guilt and the burden, we too feel both a sense of relief and also a sense of elation at once again being in a right relationship with the Lord our God.

Today in many of our churches we will celebrate communion.  It is our time to confess our sins, to repent, and to be forgiven as an individual and as a community of faith.  We trust God to hear the words of our confessions and to then restore us to holy and pure.  In verse ten the psalmist writes, “the Lord’s unfailing love surrounds the man who trusts Him”.  This day and each day, may we be people of confession and repentance, ever seeking to be in a right relationship with God, ever desiring to walk within God’s blessing and protection, so that we too, like the psalmist, may rejoice and be glad.


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Lent and Ashes

Reading: Psalm 51: 1-17

Lent begins today on Ash Wednesday.  We mirror Jesus’ forty days in the wilderness with a season in which we too prepare ourselves and look forward to Easter, when we celebrate our risen Lord.  On this Lenten journey we pray, study, meditate, fast, and repent as means of preparation.  We begin this journey with ashes.  As we repent and work to mirror Jesus, we must work to prune away all that is impure and force certain parts of ourselves to die.  The mark of the cross on our foreheads reminds us that we belong to Jesus.  The one we seek to follow and emulate walks with us.  As we undertake this Lenten journey, we know that we do not walk alone.

Psalm 51, the Ash Wednesday choice forever, opens with, “Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love”.  Verse three reminds us, “My sin is always before me”.  We live each and every day with this reality.  We are always in a battle with temptation and sin; Satan remains vigilant, always seeking to derail us, to draw us away from God.  We seek and desperately need God’s mercy because we fail.  We are assured of God’s unfailing love.  This is a beautiful thing.  In verse ten we read, “Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me”.  These words will be said often tonight.  This is our goal in this life – to live with a pure heart.  Creating a pure heart is the focus of our Lenten journey.  May we use verse ten often as a prayer to God in this holy season of Lent.

Lent is certainly a time to look inward and to prepare for the risen Christ.  But we must also look outward.  We do not live in a vacuum.  We live as a part of humanity.  As such, we are all connected together.  Verse thirteen reads, “then I will teach transgressors your ways and sinners will turn back to you”.  We are called as Christians to shine the light of Jesus out into the world.  Many are broken and hurting.  Each needs to experience God’s unlimited mercy, unfailing love, and endless forgiveness.  As we journey through Lent, preparing ourselves, may we also help others on their journey, bringing friends and strangers alike to the cross so that they too can know our risen Savior.


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Heaven Is Near

Reading: Matthew 4: 12-23

Isaiah declared “a light has dawned” in a prophecy he wrote hundreds of years before Jesus lived.  It has been read and looked for ever since.  Matthew proclaims the prophecy fulfilled in the person of Jesus Christ.  The light of Christ that began to shine about two thousand years ago continues to shine to this day and will shine forever.  The light of Christ dispels darkness, reveals our sins, and guides our way.  The light also brings warmth and love to our days and healing and hope to our hearts.

Jesus declared, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near”.  In the light there can be no darkness, so we must repent.  The kingdom is here, so we must repent , we must change our sinful ways, we must walk as a child of the light.

To repent can be difficult.  To repent can be hard.  To repent can be work.  When we choose to repent, we can be in for a long battle.  Part of repentance means looking deep within ourselves and truly seeing who we are.  Part is also learning to listen to the voice of the Holy Spirit that brings conviction when we are tempted and when we sin.  Part of repentance is being in the Word, so we fully understand what the call to be a Christian entails and expects of us.  We are blessed when we repent.  The blessings of repentance are a deepening relationship with Jesus Christ and a better version of ourselves.  When we repent and change our ways, we are being transformed and are becoming more like Christ.

Christ calls us to repentance, but He does not stop there.  His call is also an invitation to walk with Him.  He calls us to repent of our greed, our lust, our judging… and offers us peace, contentment, joy through our relationship with Him. The great healer will take our greed and replace it with generosity.  Our lust will be overcome with love of God and love of neighbor.  Jesus will transform our need to judge into a need to offer understanding, compassion, and justice.  It does not stop with these few things.  Jesus desires to transform all of us to be just like all of Him.

This day, may we search within and repent of all that is dark, seeking to walk fully in the light of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.


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Son of God

Reading: John 1: 29-34

John the Baptist operated from outside the traditional corridors of power.  He was not a Pharisee or a Sadducee or any other type of official religious person.  John lived a life of simplicity and sparsity.  He dressed very plainly, ate locusts and wild honey, and lived in the wilderness.  One day he simply showed up and started preaching about repentance and living according to God’s ways.  People soon came to see the deep connection John had with God that revealed itself in how he lived and in how he preached.  Many people came out to hear John.  Many were moved and were baptized in the waters of the Jordan, symbolizing cleansing and a commitment to more holy living.

By the time Jesus came by to be baptized, John had a lot of followers and had developed a lot of credibility from his preaching and lifestyle.  John was popular but had always claimed a lesser role since the beginning of his ministry.  When the Pharisees questioned who he was and what he was doing, he quoted from Isaiah, saying he was “preparing the way for the Lord”.  He went on to say he was unworthy to even untie the sandal of the Lord.  Even with droves of people coming to see him, to hear him, and to be baptized by him, John remained true to his calling.  Even though jealous religious authorities came to question him, he never claimed any credit or power.  John never lost focus on his ultimate mission.

So when Jesus approached, John declared, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world”.  John testified about Jesus’ baptism, stating, “I saw the Holy Spirit come down from heaven” when he baptized Jesus and goes on to identify Jesus as the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.  This section concludes with John’s testimony: “I testify that this is the Son of God”.

John was popular.  John was drawing a good crowd.  John knew his purpose: to point people to Jesus, to prepare the way.  John used his popularity and authority to declare who Jesus was.  John wanted them to know Jesus.  May we, like John, seek to reveal Jesus to those in our lives so that they too can come to know the Son of God, the Savior of the world.


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Light

Reading: Isaiah 9: 2-7

“On those living in the land of darkness, a light has dawned”.  The light of the world reigns with righteousness and justice.  The good news of Jesus Christ is here.  In our world, where many live in darkness, this is very good news.  The light of Jesus both shows the way and also exposes the things done in the dark.

At times, life can be challenging, it can be hard.  This can be for a short season and often the holidays are a hard time.  For some it is because of loss – loss of a loved one, loss of a job, loss of a relationship.  For some it is the stress of the season – so much to do and buy, so little time and money, such high expectations.  Into these and into all situations, Jesus wants to shine the light that shows the way.  Jesus’ light reveals hope, grace, contentment.  Jesus wants to remove pain and burdens and to give us peace, rest, and joy this season.

Jesus’ light can also shine into our darkness.  In the light, the dark is cast aside.  Nothing can hide.  For some, this illuminating light banishes fears and doubts and brings reassurance and trust.  For some, the light illuminates our sins and makes us aware of our need for repentance and change.  Maybe we realize we are being greedy with our wish list or gluttonous with our spending.  Maybe we are being stingy with our time or withholding of our forgiveness.  The light shines into our darkness and calls us back to the path of following Jesus.

We all need the light.  The light leads to life lived in peace, joy, contentment.  The light reveals what truly matters in our world – love, fellowship, family, presence, time.  This Advent season, may we joyously live in the light, sharing the light of the world with all who cross our path this day.


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Fruit

Reading: Matthew 3: 5-12

John challenges the Pharisees and Sadducees who come out to see just what is going on in the desert.  He welcomes them with, “You brood of vipers!”. What a welcome!  John goes on to ask, “Who warned you of the coming wrath”?  It is almost to say, ‘who woke you up’?  John is implying that they have been lost or in a daze.

John goes on to tell these religious leaders that they need to produce fruit in keeping with repentance.  John is implying that they need to repent first, then to begin producing good fruit.  He warns them about complacency and the status quo, warning them that the axe is at the root of the tree.  I wonder if they realize they are the tree.  John wraps up this exchange by telling of Jesus, the one who is coming to baptize with the Holy Spirit and with fire.

We can read these words from John and smirk as we think about how those pompous religious folks have gotten a good talking to.  Or we can realize that maybe John is talking to us too.  To determine this, we must ask ourselves what fruit we are producing for the kingdom of God.  How are our lives planting seeds and bringing others into God’s presence?

One step beyond, especially true in this season of Advent, is to ask, ‘How are we preparing ourselves for the coming of the Christ child’?  What do you and I each need to repent of to be a worthy home for the babe to dwell in?  May we each step into our own place of solitude today to search our souls for the answers to these questions.  And may we emerge, ready to bear good fruit for God’s kingdom.


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Repent, Prepare

Reading: Matthew 3: 1-4

John the Baptist went out and began preaching in the desert.  He did not set up shop in the temple, but out in the wilderness along the Jordan River.  In spite of his location, John drew droves of people with his message, “repent, the kingdom of heaven is near”.  They came to hear John’s message, to repent of their sins, and to be baptized in the water.  People were drawn to the message of hope and new life.  They were eager for this, even willing to change.  John proclaimed, “prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him”.  John told people they had a role to play.  To receive this kingdom gift, one’s heart must be prepared and ready – we must walk a straight path.

In three weeks many will come seeking.  Many will come to worship services all around the world, seeking to be touched by this same kingdom gift, seeking the hope and new life offered by the babe in the manger.  They come because they sense that the kingdom of God draws especially near in this night.  Just as in John’s day, people are still drawn to the powerful love of God, still drawn to the possibilities of hope and new life.  This is the gift offered by the baby on Christmas Eve.

Are we ourselves prepared to receive the Christ child?  Are we ourselves ready to help others come into God’s presence on this night of celebrating the birth?  Advent, just like Lent, is a time of preparation.  It is a time when we too must live by John’s words: “repent, the kingdom of God is near”.  It is a time when we too must choose to walk a straight path so that we are ready to welcome the Lord Jesus into our own hearts again.  May we hear the voice calling and may we prepare our hearts for the coming of the Christ child and all who come seeking His gifts of hope and new life.