pastorjohnb

Thoughts and musings on faith and our mighty God!

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Conflict Resolution

Reading: Matthew 18:15-17

Matthew 15:17a – “If your brother or sister sins against you…”

In Matthew’s gospel, as it is throughout the entirety of scripture, there is an emphasis on loving God and neighbor. These actions are the focus of the shema – a three times daily Hebrew prayer. These actions are identified by Jesus (and others) as the two most important commands of God. And even with all of this emphasis, Jesus must still address the fact that in the church – in the place of love – we sin against and we hurt one another.

Before we dive into verses 15-17 today, let us consider what immediately proceeds Jesus’ teaching on conflict resolution. In verses 10-14 we find the very well-known parable of the lost sheep. We recall that a sheep gets lost. The shepherd goes to great lengths – to any length necessary – to find the one lost sheep. Returning the sheep to the flock, there is great rejoicing both on earth and in heaven. We next consider verses 15-17 with this spirit in mind.

Jesus addresses the consequences of sin within the church in three steps. The first step is one-on-one. It is personal and private. There is no airing of our dirty laundry. It is a loving, honest sharing of the hurt. Without an audience, it allows forgiveness to heal a broken relationship. If this effort fails, we are to engage a third party. They can impartially hear both sides of the conflict and offer unbiased input. There may be something that we need to hear too.

And if this fails, we are to bring the conflict to the church’s attention. This engages more listeners and potential mediators. It becomes a group effort to reconcile a damaged relationship. Sadly, even this step fails sometimes. Jesus’ next step? Treat them as you would a Gentile or tax collector. Keep reaching out, meet needs when possible, maybe even have dinner with them. Treat them as you would a lost sheep, going to any length necessary to return them to the flock. In love, may it be so.

Prayer: Lord God, conflict! We do not like it. We want to avoid it. But left unresolved, it poisons our intentions, it harms the body of believers, it taints our words and actions. Lord, empower us to be people of reconciliation. In these efforts, make us brave and transparent. Make us good listeners. Make us people that will go above and beyond to heal brokenness. Amen.


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Put on Christ

Reading: Romans 13:11-14

Romans 13:14 – “Dress yourself with the Lord Jesus Christ, and don’t plan to indulge your selfish desires.”

As we press on in Romans 13, Paul adds the “why” and the “how” to the call to live out our obligation to love. In verse 11 and the first part of verse 12, Paul declares that “the hour has already come.” Whether talking about Jesus’ return or about the fact that one has professed Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, Paul states, “our salvation is nearer than when we first had faith.” Indeed – each day lived is one day closer to heaven. This is Paul’s “why.” As we do not know our last day, it is important to love well each and every day.

In the rest of verse 12 through verse 14, Paul addresses the “how” of fulfilling our obligation to love. Paul focuses mostly on their/our struggles. “Behave appropriately” sums up Paul’s instruction on holy and righteous living. He lists several “actions that belong to the darkness.” Maybe some of these resonate with you. Maybe your struggles with sin are in other areas. Many of our battles change as mature in our faith, but others remain constant “thorns” in our side.

Paul closes his thoughts with these instructions: “Dress yourself with the Lord Jesus Christ, and don’t plan to indulge your selfish desires.” This image connects into the imagery of baptism. Entering the waters, one takes off the old self, repenting of sin. Emerging from the waters, one is cleansed, made new in Christ. If we daily clothe ourselves in Christ, we are making an intentional choice to live a good and holy life. This means we are not planning to satisfy our selfish wants. To close, John Wesley noted this concerning verse 14: “The apostle does not say, Put on purity and sobriety, peacefulness and benevolence; but he says all of this and a thousand times more at once, in saying, Put on Christ.” May it be so for you and for me.

Prayer: Lord God, thank you for bringing us one day closer to being with you in your glory. Walk with us today, leading and guiding us to step even closer this day. Keep us on your path. Guide us so that we do not stray. Lead us to daily clothe ourselves in Christ, empowering us to love you and all of our neighbors. Amen.


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The Covenant Keeper

Reading: Psalm 105:7-11 and 45

Psalm 105:8 – “God remembers his covenant forever, the word he commanded to a thousand generations.”

As we turn to Psalm 105 today and tomorrow, the focus is the covenant God made first with Abraham. This covenant was reiterated with Isaac and Jacob and has been passed on “to a thousand generations.” The covenant that God made with Abraham was not just about him. Abraham was a part of the covenant, yes, but the focus from day one has been the people of God.

God’s justice is the foundation of the covenant. At its core, God’s justice calls us to just living. This calls us to live in a right relationship with God, with one another, and with all of creation. Living this way, we represent the covenant: God is our God and we are God’s people. The idea of covenant has been around a long time, likely even before Abraham. It is not unique to Israel. In all cases, at its core, covenant is meant to be a forever commitment.

This week’s Disciplines writer, Rev. Dr. Donna Giver-Johnson, notes that the word translated “to cut” is the root word of our word “covenant.” In ancient times, the two parties entering a covenant would cut an animal in half. They would then walk between the halves, symbolizing their offer to be slain like the animal if they did not keep the covenant. The writer of Psalm 105 echoes this deep level of commitment using phrases like “solemn pledge” and “binding law.”

In Genesis 15, in a vision that came just after establishing the covenant with Abraham, God passed between a cut animal, demonstrating God’s commitment to this covenant with God’s people. This established the fact that the keeping of the covenant is dependent on God alone, not on us. At just the necessary moment, God sent Jesus, the bringer and giver of grace. It is through God’s grace that we now live under the covenant. For this grace, we say, thanks be to God!

Prayer: Lord God, thank you for being the covenant keeper. On our own we’d only be covenant breakers. Only through your love and strength can we begin to walk in covenant relationship with you and with one another. And only through your grace and mercy can we return to covenant relationship when we fall short or fail. Thank you, Lord, for walking with us. Amen.


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Intended and Designed

Readings: Genesis 1:26-31 and 2:1-4

Genesis 1:27 – “God created humanity in God’s own image… male and female God created them.”

Continuing with the first creation story today, we move into God’s three-in-one nature. The words become “let us” and “in our image.” There is cooperation and conversation around this last step of creation in the first story. Like the sea, air, and land creatures, humanity is directed to “be fertile and multiply.” But God adds another role: to take charge of creation. This task must be done as if God we’re doing it. Created in God’s image, we are to care for this world with love, careful thought, and goodness.

After God created humanity, both female and male, in God’s image, God looked at all of creation, not just humanity, and “it was supremely good.” Now that all was as it should be, all parts and components just as God intended and designed them to be, creation was complete and all of it was supremely good. Work finished in “six days,” God rested. Yes, God rested. This too is part of what God intended and designed for all of creation.

Humanity is most like God the rest of the week when we rest and make holy one day out of seven. The Sabbath, our day of rest, is made holy by turning away from work and other cares of this world, instead focusing on our relationship with and connection to the Lord God. As we delve into worship, prayer, meditation, and actual, physical rest on our holy day, we are renewed and re-energized – ready to care for one another and the rest of creation as if God were caring for it. May it be so for you and for me.

Prayer: Lord God, help us to be better image-bearers. In the creation story we see you giving again and again, creating a world that was supremely good. Lord, lead us, guide us, direct us to be a part of your plan to return our world and all of creation to one that is supremely good once again. Amen.


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Be My Witness

Reading: Acts 1:6-14

Acts 1:8b – “You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

As we pick up today’s passage, the risen Jesus has been with the disciples for forty days. He has offered “many convincing proofs” that he has risen and is alive. Jesus has promised the coming “baptism” of the Holy Spirit. In response, the disciples ask Jesus if it us now time for him to “restore the kingdom of Israel.” Not exactly. Remember, nothing remotely like this has ever happened before. The disciples are learning on the fly. An ever patient Jesus replies, “Rather, you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you.” The power is the Spirit of God within Jesus that gave him the words to say, that showed him the next steps to take, that guided all of his actions and decisions. That same power is about to fall upon these first disciples, empowering and equipping them in the same ways that the Spirit did with Jesus.

The Holy Spirit can work the same way in our lives. Once we surrender to Jesus Christ as the Lord and Savior of our hearts and lives, we too have this same power available to us. Jesus continues in verse 8, telling the disciples, “You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” Note the expanding circles. The community of believers, the earliest “church,” will begin in Jerusalem. It will be tested by fire but will grow through the disciples’ witness. The disciples will go out into wider Israel, entering even Samaria, to witness to the good news. Eventually the apostles – Paul, Timothy, Silas… – will carry the good news of Jesus Christ to the ends of the known world. At each place, the power found in the story of Jesus will change hearts and lives. As the two men in white robes indicated, this work will continue until Jesus returns. We await that day. While we wait, we do so with the same charge as those first disciples: be my witness. So may we do as the first disciples did, sharing our stories of faith, building the kingdom of God here on earth. Lord, may it be so!

Prayer: Lord God, thank you for the gift of your power and presence that lives in our hearts. Continue to use that presence to refine and shape us, to deepen our faith, and to guide our unfolding stories of faith. Use us as you used the first disciples, taking our stories of faith out into the world, sharing the good news of Jesus Christ with all that we meet. Enter their hearts too, O God, drawing them to you. Amen.


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Turning and Returning

Reading: Psalm 80:17-19

Psalm 80:18 – “…then we will not turn away from you!”

How often have you pled with God as Asaph does on behalf of the people of God? Just send us a good king, one able to end these threats, to keep us safe and make us great, “…then we will not turn away from you!” God, just get me out of this mess… just heal this person… just fix this relationship… just keep me out of jail… and I’ll follow you faithfully every day for the rest of my life. In our desperate moments, yes, we too cry out to God.

We are sinful by nature, exposed daily to the temptations of this world. When we fall to the tempting, we sin and fall short of the glory of God. In this fallen state, we are separated from God. But we don’t remain there. We seek forgiveness and restoration. We pledge repentance – to turn away and never return to that sinful life. We are well-versed in the turning from God and seeking to return to God, to be made whole and new again.

Like the people of Asaph’s day, we long to be whole, to live in right relationship with God and with one another, to feel safe, to belong. This too is part of our human nature. Created in the image of the divine, we long for connection and community. We long to be loved. And we have a longing to love God and one another. Here we reflect our creator, the one who is love.

Psalm 80 closes with words that are very similar to the words we looked at yesterday. “Restore us… make your face shine so that we can be saved.” Be with us, O God, shine your face upon us so that we can be saved – from temptation and sin, from this broken world, from ourselves. May it all be so.

Prayer: Lord God, thank you for who and what you are: unconditional love, endless mercy and grace, neverending forgiveness. Thank you too for creating us with these things in our hearts as well. Practicing and receiving these ways of being and living in the world, we find our place of belonging with you, with one another, with creation. Lead and guide us, walk with us daily, empowering us to be your hands, feet, and presence in this world. Amen.


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Readying Hearts and Lives

Reading: Matthew 3:1-6

Matthew 3:2 – “Change your hearts and lives! Here comes the kingdom of heaven!”

Photo credit: Kelly Sikkema

Advent is a season of longing and waiting. There is an anticipation that builds as we await the coming Messiah. Entering into Matthew 3 today, the people of God have been waiting, longing deeply for the Messiah to come. About 400 years before John the Baptist was born, the prophet Malachi called the people of God back to holy living. Channeling his inner Isaiah, in 3:1 Malachi writes, “Look, I am sending my messenger who will clear the path before me.” A few verses later God speaks these words through the prophet: “Return to me and I will return to you.” These words and others from prophets including Isaiah have hung in the air and in the peoples’ hearts for many, many years. The most recent occupation, this time by the Roman empire, has heightened their longing and anticipation.

John the Baptist arrives onto this scene and steps out into the wilderness, proclaiming, “Change your hearts and lives! Here comes the kingdom of heaven!” Out in the desert, dressed as he was, both mark him as the “Elijah” who was to come. John struck a chord with the people of God. Identified as the one of whom so many prophets have spoken, John drew large crowds. They confessed their sins and were baptized in the Jordan. The people were committing themselves to living holy lives, readying themselves for the coming Messiah and the kingdom of heaven that was drawing near. As we read this passage and hear John’s call to repent and prepare ourselves, may we ready our hearts and lives anew to welcome the coming Jesus and his kingdom here on earth.

Prayer: Lord God, draw us near, hear our confessions, receive our repentance, and guide our hearts and lives. Ready us to welcome the Christ child and all that he offers: joy, peace, hope, love, mercy, grace. As we prepare ourselves O Lord, use our voices to proclaim the one who rescues, redeems, saves, and sets free. Use us as heralds and bringers of your kingdom here on earth. Amen.


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Avoid, Yes… But…

Reading: 1st Timothy 3:1-5

1st Timothy 3:5 – “They will look like they are religious but deny God’s power. Avoid people like this.”

Chapter 3 of Paul’s first letter to Timothy begins with the heading, “Avoid people like this.” Reading that brought my mind back to my days of parenting and to my work with church youth. As a parent you too probably had at least an idea of who or what kind of a person you hoped your son or daughter did not hang out with. The sad truth, though, is that the same reason that we hoped this for our kids also applies to us as people. Who we choose to spend our time with greatly influences who we are.

Paul’s advice to Timothy echoes the feel of what we read yesterday in Galatians 5. Paul references the “last days” in verse 1. The early church believed that Jesus’ return was imminent. The reality is that Christians have been living in the last days ever since Jesus’ death. Those to avoid will be money-lovers. They will be selfish and prideful. They will be without self-control. They will choose love of pleasure over love of God. We all know people like this. But, in at least some of these ways, we were and can be people like this. Yes, truth be told, some of these ways of unholy living remain dangers to our walk of faith.

Because of this last part, because of our ongoing struggles with some sins, verse 5 hits home. Here Paul writes, “They will look like they are religious but deny God’s power. Avoid people like this.” While we’ve all sat and will sit in church while we’re wrestling with some sin, Paul is talking about folks who try really hard to appear all religious but are far from God and from holy living. We know and/or know of people like this. And, yes, we should avoid them in the general sense. But should we do more?

Prayer: Lord God, walk with us daily. Whisper your guidance, conviction, and correction into our hearts through the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit. Move us to offer prophetic voice to speak against false religiosity. Use us to call it out, yes, but also use us to model true faith to the world. Amen.


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An Unshakable Kingdom

Reading: Hebrews 12:25-28

Hebrews 12:28 – “Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that can’t be shaken, let’s continue to express our gratitude.”

The writer of Hebrews begins our passage for today with “See to it that you don’t resist the one who is speaking.” These words are in reference to what was previously written in this chapter. The “one” is the risen one, Jesus, “the mediator of the new covenant.” Jesus “speaks” to all believers, to us, his followers, then and now, through the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit.

During Jesus’ time on earth many “refused to listen.” They will not escape the judgment to come. The author ponders how believers will escape if they too reject the guidance of the Holy Spirit. We are reminded that just as God’s voice has “shaken the earth” before, the power of the divine voice will shake the earth once more. All that is of this world will be “shaken” and will be removed. What can’t be shaken is what will remain.

The writer of Hebrews speaks of this in verse 28, writing, “Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that can’t be shaken, let’s continue to express our gratitude.” The eternal kingdom promised to the faithful will be realized with the return of Jesus. This promise and the new heaven and earth are what cannot be shaken. The promise is solid and true. The promise is ours. So, yes, let us express our gratitude to the Lord our God. Hallelujah! Thank you, Jesus!

Prayer: Lord God, as we live day by day, life often feels “shaky.” There is so much division and unrest, so much poverty and suffering. In this world it can be hard to hold fast to this vision of a coming, unshakable kingdom. And yet you are present to us, available whenever and wherever we are willing to have ears to listen and eyes to see. Open our spirits to your Spirit. Empower and equip us to be people who build up and live out your kingdom here on earth. Amen.


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Abundant and Generous

Reading: Isaiah 55:6-11

Isaiah 55:7 – “Let them return to the Lord so that he may have mercy on them… because he is generous with forgiveness.”

Photo credit: Freestocks

Isaiah 55 is an invitation to the feast of the Lord. The rations of captivity will become an abundant divine banquet. The covenant of love between God and Israel will be renewed. Through the prophet, God is telling Israel that pardon and return is possible. There are times in our lives when a relationship is strained or broken and we wonder if things can ever be made right again. We wonder if pardon and renewal are even possible.

Verses 6 and 7 reveal the first steps for Israel. First, seek and call on the Lord “while he is yet near.” The time is now. Isaiah invites the wicked to turn from their sinful ways and schemes. For us, these might be first steps too. To begin healing what is broken, seeking God’s wisdom and guidance in prayer is step one. And if the hurt or harm is ongoing, we must certainly stop this at once.

In the last part of verse 7 we read, “Let them return to the Lord so that he may have mercy on them… because he is generous with forgiveness.” God desires to forgive and restore, to renew the covenant relationship. For Israel and sometimes for us, we do not understand God’s terms. Our rational and prideful ways can block mercy and forgiveness. This is why we’re reminded that God’s ways and plans are so much higher than ours. God pours out generous forgiveness. With God, these promises and invitations, they are like the rain and snow that renews the earth. If we turn to God, if we abandon our sinful ways, then we will experience generous and abundant forgiveness and renewal. Following this model we can also experience forgiveness and renewal in our own broken relationships. May it be so.

Prayer: Lord God, thank you for your generous forgiveness and for your deep desire to walk with us, fallible as we are. Your grace and your love go far beyond our understanding yet we can grasp how we are to live and be in the world, how we are to treat one another. Forgiven and renewed ourselves, empower us to practice well your generous forgiveness and abundant love and grace. Amen.