pastorjohnb

Thoughts and musings on faith and our mighty God!

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Forever Faithful

Reading: Psalm 112

Psalm 112:7 – “They won’t be frightened at bad news. Their hearts are steady, trusting in the Lord.”

Photo credit: Felipe Correia

Psalm 112 describes the outcomes of a righteous life. Our passage today echoes many of the themes and calls that we’ve been reading about and pondering these past few weeks. From the Beatitudes to Micah and Isaiah to the letters of Paul and on into today’s Psalm, themes of mercy, justice, and faithful love resound. Actions reverberate throughout these texts and, in fact, in all of God’s word: obedience to God alone, being a light in the darkness, walking steadfastly with the Lord.

The psalmist begins by declaring that those who love God’s commands are “truly happy.” Their hunger and thirst for God leads them and their descendants to righteous living. The faithful will “shine in the dark” and will be guided by mercy and compassion. The followers of God will be generous and will conduct themselves always with justice. In all these ways, the faithful take on the attributes and character of the God they worship with their whole lives.

Walking humbly with God, “these sorts of people” are not shaken. They are steady and true. With firm hearts and a steady faith, their relationship with God guides them through troubles and “bad news.” As it was in Jesus’ words and in Paul’s writings, this abiding faith, this trust in God, this selfless and humble way of life, it is frustrating to those living by the ways of the world. But this will come to nothing. Our righteousness will “stand forever.” Thanks be to the Lord our God!

Prayer: Lord God, thank you for the reminder today. Thank you for lifting up our call to faithful living, day by day, moment by moment. Guide us to be faithful in all of our ways – in a discrete act of kindness, in a powerful grace in a difficult situation, in bold courage as we walk through the storm. Strengthen and encourage us, Lord, when our faith is challenged – both from within and without. Walk with us each day. Lead and guide us to be forever faithful. All for your glory and praise. Amen.


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Mender and Restorer

Reading: Isaiah 58:9b-12

Isaiah 58:12c – “You will be called Mender of Broken Walls and Restorer of Liveable Streets.”

Continuing in Isaiah 58 today, we find some conditional statements: “If you…” These are not givens. They are choices. These are choices that the people of God need to make every day. If you remove the yoke of oppression and injustice… If you stop the finger-pointing, the name-calling, the blame shifting, the spin cycling… If you “open your heart to the hungry,” to the naked, to the lonely, to the abused… If you “provide abundantly” for the afflicted, the abused, the imprisoned, the lonely… “If you…”

If you choose to do all of these things, then “your light will shine in the darkness.” If you choose to do all of these things, then God will “guide you continually and provide for you in parched places.” If you live as God calls you to live all of the time, then the world will change. We cannot live as we are called to live just some of the time. We cannot live as God calls us to live when it’s easy or convenient, when it is personal, when it’s affecting us. The tide of evil is too great for us to pick and choose when we’ll live as God’s people. With this in mind, notice the shift in verse 12. This too is conditional. If we today live as God calls us to live faithfully and steadfastly, then one day “they” will rebuild and restore. Our example of holy living has the power to change the world.

These words of healing and hope are so needed for our broken world. The establishment of a world without brokenness, of a world where peace and justice are the norm – this world will not come through violence or coercion or power over others. The hard work of restoration and repair, of rescue and redemption will come through small acts of love, lived out again and again. These small acts of love will, one by one, change people’s lives and hearts. Standing against an injustice done to a stranger, speaking words of peace on behalf of the threatened, telling truth amidst the spin and false narratives, owning our part when we are complicit, mending a relationship that is broken, sharing a meal with the poverty-stricken, caring for a sick neighbor… These small acts of love are how our light shines in the darkness. May your light shine today.

Prayer: Lord God, there are many broken walls and many unlivable streets in our world today. How these unjust systems and evil practices must grieve your heart! Lord, may they grieve our hearts too. And then, Lord, with compassion and righteousness, use us to be your love and your light in the world, bringing healing and wholeness and peace and justice to our world. Amen.


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What a Blessing!

Reading: Matthew 5:1-9

Matthew 5:9 – “Happy are people who make peace, because they will be called God’s children.”

Turning to this week’s gospel lesson for today and tomorrow, Matthew sets the scene: crowds gather so Jesus goes up a mountain, sits down, and begins to teach. Matthew tells us, “his disciples came to him.” We don’t know if the crowd came along too. This leaves us to wonder: if you’d been in the crowd that has heard the good news proclaimed and has seen the healings, would you hike up the mountain too?

Verses 3-9 hold the start of the “Beatitudes.” These statements begin a long teaching known as “The Sermon on the Mount.” Running through chapter 7, this is the longest teaching from Jesus found in the gospels. Traditionally the Beatitudes are seen as gifts or blessings. Other translations begin each statement with “Blessed are…” Perhaps these phrases are also invitations. Seen this way, these statements lay out Jesus’ desires for his followers. Marching orders!

So, who are those that Jesus identifies as “happy” or “blessed?” They are hopeless in this world, so must rely on God. They are mourning and grieving, so they are fully present to one another and to the pain of this world. They are humble and peaceful, so they will inherit God’s kingdom, even here on earth. They are seeking, hungering, thirsting for righteousness, so they will be filled and they will come to see God – in one another and in the world. And they are merciful, so they will receive mercy in return.

Those who are happy see and live by values that are different from the world’s values. They seek to make the good news of the kingdom of God a daily, present reality. And in the seeking, they will come to know God intimately just as they are intimately known by God. What a blessing!

Prayer: Lord God, attune our hearts to your will and way. Draw us, day by day, deeper and deeper into your love, filling us with hope, comfort, peace, humility, righteousness, and mercy. Fill us so that we, in turn, can be these things to the world. Amen.


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Called Yet Today

Reading: 1st Corinthians 1:26-31

1st Corinthians 1:27-28 – “God chose what the world considers foolish… weak… low-class and low-life…”

Turning to our Epistle again this week, Paul invites the believers in Corinth to remember their old selves. This is a good exercise to practice every once in a while. Take a few moments right now to think back to significant events in your faith journey. This might be a conversion moment, a light bulb experience, a time of support or comfort or strength in a difficult time or season in your life… Take a moment to remember and give thanks to God…

In today’s passage, Paul reminds these believers that they did not generally come from the ranks of the “wise… powerful… upper-class.” This reality began in the incarnation and continued in the call of the disciples – and continues yet today. In verses 27-28 we read, “God chose what the world considers foolish… weak… low-class and low-life…” Through such people, God took what the world saw and sees as wise, strong, important… and reduced all of this to nothing. These worldly titles, accolades, desires – they are really nothing in the kingdom of God. That is why fishermen and tax collectors and prostitutes were called. And it is why mothers and emergency room nurses and pastors and shop keepers and… are called yet today to bring peace and healing to our divided and broken world. It is why God calls you and me.

This work of making earth “as it is in heaven” began with Christ. Then through death, God raised Jesus up, defying the two things that all the power in the world cannot defeat: sin and death. Since then, God has called the faithful to defeat the present evils of this world: hate, violence, division, injustice, poverty, power over… God doesn’t just call. God also equips and prepares. Those moments we recalled at the start of this time, the roiling that you feel in your gut right now – all ways God is equipping and preparing us. God makes us “righteous and holy” and God will “deliver us,” some to bring peace and justice, some to pray and love, and, yes, some even unto death.

Prayer: Lord God, help us to hear your call. Open our ears and eyes to the ways that you call every single one of us to resist evil and to fight for justice. Empower our prayers, our words, our actions – whatever we have to offer to bring about peace and wholeness in our world. Grant us the courage and strength to do your will. Thank you, Lord. Amen.


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Light, Guide Our Way

Reading: Isaiah 9:1-4

Isaiah 9:4 – “You’ve shattered the yoke that burdened them.”

The first section of Isaiah speaks of God’s sovereignty and calls the people away from sin. Running throughout chapters 1-39 are words that speak of the consequences of sinful living. The defeat and time in exile feel like a train barreling down the tracks – swift and unavoidable. Here and there, though, we find words of future hope sprinkled in amongst the doom and gloom. This mirrors Israel’s political history. Ever since the time of King David, a string of evil and bag kings is halted by a good and righteous king. After a short time, the evil and bad king run begins again. This promise of “a great light” would raise up hope for a good and righteous king to once again restore Israel.

The hope of being a great nation, of again experiencing joy in the land, of seeing abundance in the harvest – these words sound wonderful to a people headed into a time of suffering and exile. These words tell the people that this coming hard time will not last forever. To be honest, I often feel like Israel must’ve felt. I need to hear these words and to believe that our current darkness will not last forever. I need hope stirred up in me – that the poor will be fed and clothed and sheltered, that the marginalized will be welcomed in, that those living in fear will know peace.

Verse 4 shouts hope to such as these. Here we read, “You’ve shattered the yoke that burdened them.” In Isaiah’s time, the system was broken. A good king could only undo so much evil before the darkness rise up anew. Today, much feels broken. Many systems need to be changed, to be made anew. We need the light of Christ to guide our way to being a more just land. Oppressing and arresting and abusing vast swaths of certain ethnic groups is not the way to fix a broken system. There is not a simple or easy solution. But if we choose to be light in the darkness and if we allow the light of Christ to guide our way, then we will find a just and right solution. May your light shine in and through us, O Lord, bringing hope and peace, justice and grace to our land. May it be so, O God. May it be so.

Prayer: Lord God, the rod of the oppressor is heavy on the backs of the vulnerable. The fear of unjust actions is running high in many places. There is a cleansing that needs to occur, a revision that must happen. Lord, let your light guide us to establishing a more just world. Guide us with peace, compassion, and empathy as we work our way to the world you envision. Amen.


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Dearly Loved, Spirit In-Dwelled

Reading: Matthew 3:13-17

Matthew 3:16 – “He immediately came up out of the water. Heaven was opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God coming down like a dove and resting on him.”

As Jesus is beginning his time of public ministry, step one is to be baptized. He travels from Galilee to the place along the Jordan River where John the Baptist is preparing Israel for the kingdom of God that is drawing near. Jesus is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit and with fire – not water. John the Baptist has just identified Jesus in this way. So as Jesus comes to be baptized, John protests. Recognizing Jesus’ greatness, John asks, “Yet you come to me?” Jesus says, in essence, “Yes, I do.” For Jesus, this is a step of solidarity with all who seek the coming kingdom of God. And this is a step towards righteousness. It is from this moment that Jesus will enter the wilderness to test his own righteousness.

After being baptized by John, “He immediately came up out of the water. Heaven was opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God coming down like a dove and resting on him.” God becomes present to Jesus in two ways. First, the Spirit of God descends and rests on Jesus. Second, God’s voice affirms Jesus, declaring love for him and happiness from him. In these ways, God is preparing Jesus to face Satan’s temptations in the wilderness after fasting for 40 days. Today, in baptism, the Holy Spirit is invited into the waters so that the Spirit will come to rest in the heart of the baptized. In the words and prayers, both pastor and congregation declare God’s love and their love for the one being baptized, pledging to walk with them as they grow in faith. Dearly loved, Spirit in-dwelled, one is prepared to bring much happiness to God. May it be so for us all.

Prayer: Lord God, just as the waters of baptism are just water without your Spirit, so too are we just flesh and bones without your presence in us. So we ask you to be ever-present in our hearts, O God. In this way, empower and encourage us to be righteous and to live justly. Amen.


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Lord of All

Reading: Acts 10:34-43

Acts 10:36 – “This is the message of peace he sent to the Israelites by proclaiming the good news through Jesus Christ: He is Lord of all!”

As cultures and as individuals we are well-practiced at placing ourselves and others in categories, boxes, distinct groups, pecking orders… There are a variety of reasons that we tend to do this. It is easy. But easy is cheap. It discards our uniqueness. It makes us feel better about ourselves. But it is an artificial and temporary identity. It gives us places to fit in, to belong. “Fitting in” – it is shallow and limited. It is freeing. We don’t have to worry about, care for, or make space for “them.” This excludes and disrespects whole swaths of people and/or groups in one fell swoop.

In today’s Acts reading, Peter’s speech comes after Peter has been summoned by God to go to Cornelius’ home. This Roman centurion was about as far outside of any box that Peter thought was acceptable as one could get. Yet here Peter was, right where God wanted him to be. That’s the thing about the Holy Spirit – it will do the same with us if we hear, listen, and follow. When we go there, where the Spirit leads, we will come to truly know what Peter learned: God shows no partiality.

In his speech, Peter states that acceptance into God’s family comes through worshipping God and living a righteous life. Luke writes, “This is the message of peace he sent to the Israelites by proclaiming the good news through Jesus Christ: He is Lord of all!” To be this message of peace is to be a person who is open to include all people, who finds worth and value in all people, who seeks to find common ground with all people. This is the example set by the one who did good and healed, who died and rose again. This is the one who offers forgiveness of sins to all who believe in him as Lord and Savior. It is a wide-open invitation. The only qualifier, the only requirement, the only need is belief. Jesus can be Lord of all. May it be so.

Prayer: Lord God, in love you call all people to a saving faith. In grace you call us as we are: sinful, flawed, selfish. In mercy you show us who and what we can be for you when we walk faithfully and live righteously. With forgiveness, you restart our journey again and again. We thank you today for always being a God whose heart is bent on forming community and building relationships. Guide us, shape us, and form us to have your heart. Use us to share the goods news of Jesus Christ: he is Lord of all. Amen.


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Grace and Mercy

Reading: Matthew 1:18-19

Matthew 1:18 – “When Mary his mother was engaged to Joseph… she became pregnant by the Holy Spirit.”

Today we enter into the miracle of the incarnation. Matthew’s gospel starts with a geneology, beginning with Abraham. Moving through three cycles of 14 generations each, we arrive at Jesus. Matthew’s birth story begins in verse 18. It is fairly succinct, mostly factual. In the opening verse we read, When Mary his mother was engaged to Joseph… she became pregnant by the Holy Spirit.” Pretty factual, until we get to the last four words: “by the Holy Spirit.” These words take us from factual to 100% mystery. This mystery and miracle is no better understood today than it was when it happened. Yet we can relate to this mystery. When a child is born, yes, we understand the process, the medical and physical facts of a birth. Even so, there is a mystery felt when a child draws that first breath and utters a cry.

In the next verse we learn a bit about Joseph, the “father.” First and foremost he is “righteous.” This designation is backed up in other gospels. Jesus is circumcised and named in accordance with the Law. Joseph and family travel to attend the requisite religious festivals. But righteousness is more than just checking off the correct boxes. Joseph’s decision to “call off their engagement quietly” is full of grace and mercy. Here is where Joseph’s true righteousness trumps his devotion to the Law. There is no asterisk in the Law about unwed pregnancies by the Holy Spirit. Joseph chooses grace and mercy, not humiliation and punishment. Although not physically Jesus’ father, here we see in Joseph two of Jesus’ greatest characteristics: grace and mercy. May we too choose grace and mercy.

Prayer: Lord God, thank you for the mystery of Jesus’ birth and for the mystery felt in all births. In these moments we sense and feel your holy presence. And thank you for your mystery working in us when we choose grace and mercy, even when norms or laws dictate otherwise. In this choice, you are revealed to us and to the world once more. Amen.


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For the Glory of God

Reading: Isaiah 7:14-16

Isaiah 7:14 – “The Lord will give you a sign. The young woman is pregnant and is about to give birth to a son, and she will name him Immanuel.”

Reading on in Isaiah 7, the prophet tells God’s people that God will give them a sign. As their world is filled with fear and worry about their future, God promises what we all long for in times of trial and hardship: a sign that God is present. Early in our own walks of faith we learn that life as a disciples of Jesus Christ isn’t always rosy and perfect. We also come to know that God is still with us even when life isn’t all sunshine and hugs. Yet at times, we can doubt or question God’s presence. After a long civil war, with rising threats from afar drawing nearer, Judah questions God’s presence. To hear that God will give a sign that God is still with them, that brings hope to God’s people. We too experience hope when God’s presence is made real in a word, in a note, in a door opening…

The sign that God will give is this: “The young woman is pregnant and is about to give birth to a son, and she will name him Immanuel.” From the Christian viewpoint, we read this as Jesus. During the writing of the Septuagint, “young woman” was changed to “virgin” to better align this verse with other messianic texts. In the original Hebrew, “young woman” is the most accurate translation. At the time of Isaiah’s ministry, the people of God would hear these words pointing to a just and righteous king, to one who would restore all of Israel to its days of glory – a new King David. These hope-inspiring words will one day be fulfilled. “Immanuel,” God with us, will be born. He will be named Jesus. Through the incarnation, Jesus will reveal what it looks like to live for the glory of God. Setting the example, Jesus invites us to follow his example. May it be so.

Prayer: Lord God, thank you for the sign that is so clear and so obvious. Thank you for coming in the flesh, for living among us, for showing us what it looks like for God to be present with us. Leaving this example, you call us to follow your example, being God’s presence to the world. Strengthen and encourage us, O God, so that we can be faithful in our walk of faith, bringing you the glory through all that we do and say and think. Amen.


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Bless God, Bless the World

Reading: Psalm 72:1-7 and 18-19

Psalm 72:19 – “Bless God’s glorious name forever; let his glory fill all the earth!”

Our reading today returns to Psalm 72, adding verses 18-19 to the verses that we read on Monday. In verses 1-7 the psalmist prayed for a just king to reign with righteousness and equity. This kind of leadership would lead to flourishing and peace for all people. These verses cast a vision for an ideal leader. In this kingdom, all people would be blessed.

The direction and tone and example that our leaders give and set often help determine our words, actions, and thoughts. In a small group meeting, for example, if the leader is welcoming and open to many different ideas, then people contribute and collaborate and share freely. The outcome or product is better because all involved take ownership. This becomes increasingly important the larger the group or the more elevated the platform. Negative or greedy or power-hungry or non-inclusive leaders tend to bring out these things in those they are trying to lead, limiting cooperation and involvement.

While leadership sets the direction, tone… we still have a choice in how we will act, speak, and think. The still, small voice of the Holy Spirit is key in these situations. If we will but listen, the Spirit will lead and guide. This is especially important when the leader is not aligned with the will and way of God’s justice and peace. In the moment, maybe holding our tongue is best. Or maybe it is speaking up to change the direction, tone… It might be a private conversation with the leader or it might be to help guide the way to find a new leader. Each of us, in our own way, are called to be a part of creating a more just and peaceful world. When we each play our part, we are fulfilling verse 19: “Bless God’s glorious name forever; let his glory fill all the earth!”

Prayer: Lord God, lead and guide us. When we are in leadership positions – large or small – may your Holy Spirit help us to lead in ways that are just and right, that encourage cooperation and build community. And when we find ourselves straying from these ideals or when we find ourselves under leaders who are less than you call us to be, may the Spirit work within us to guide our words, actions, and thoughts in ways that bless your name, thereby blessing our world. Amen.