pastorjohnb

Thoughts and musings on faith and our mighty God!

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Anticipate

Reading: Isaiah 64: 1-4

Verse One: “Oh that you would rend the heavens and come down.”

As we begin Advent today, we are preparing to remember when Jesus first came as a baby.  There is an anticipation that builds as we walk through this holy season.  There is an excitement that grows as we draw nearer to the celebration of Jesus’ birth.  Part of our excitement and anticipation is built upon what comes next though.  The birth is exciting and grand partly because of the life that is then lived by Jesus the Messiah.  Jesus the Savior brought new life and love into the world.  Jesus allowed people to connect to God in a new way and also opened up the way to eternal life for all who believe.

As Isaiah wrote today’s passage, there was a deep longing for hope and God’s presence.  The Israelites had just returned from a long period in exile.  Things were not as they had been.  Life was hard.  Isaiah voices the people’s deep-felt need for God when he writes, “Oh that you would rend the heavens and come down.”  It is a plea.  He is begging for God to come down and to intercede for the people.  The people long for God to come down to “make your name known” as God once again does “awesome things”.  The people of God are anticipating the restoration of God’s reign.  It is a waiting they want ended very soon.

On the edge of Advent, we too anticipate God’s reign.  Many people long for God to intercede in their lives today.  They long for God to bind up their hurts, to end their season in exile, to make all things new, to once again feel hope and love.  We all long for the God who “acts on behalf of those who wait upon Him”.  We too wait with hope and excitement for Christ to come down once again, to begin His forever reign.  In the interim though, we live now with the risen Christ, daily looking forward to His presence and activity in our daily lives.

As we wait, we pray for Jesus to be near the broken, to heal their hurts, to restore their lives to wholeness.  We ask that we may be used in the process, to have open hearts and willing hands.  May it be so.  Amen.


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Diverse and Inclusive

Reading: Revelation 7: 9-17

Verse Nine: There before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people, and language.

The opening verse for our passage today again paints a beautiful picture of heaven.  It is the heaven that each who call on the name of Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior will inherit.  Verse 9 reads, “There before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people, and language”.  It is a vast crowd, one so large that it cannot be counted.  It is a very diverse crowd, just as God desires.  This gathering that represents wonderful diversity and open inclusion draws people from all walks of life and from all corners of the globe.  It is the result of the Great Commission.

If this is what heaven will be and look like, is this what our churches and our circle of friends should be and look like?  Absolutely.  Most churches think they are welcoming and open and, indeed, most are.  Most people think of themselves as caring and loving and friendly people, and most of us are.  But being welcoming and caring and loving and friendly doesn’t necessarily include or draw in those who are the least and the lost of our communities and our neighborhoods.

Our church is like most.  There are two main tribes of people in our community, but only one tribe is represented in our church.  There are rich and poor and people in between in our community, but not many who are struggling economically call our church home.  These two examples are but two of the many who are missing from our body of Christ.  A snapshot of worship on a Sunday morning would reveal that we are very homogeneous.  Our community is not.  Our question may be asked at many other churches as well: how do we become more wonderfully diverse and openly inclusive?

It begins by getting to know those in our community who are not present in our churches.  We then must shift to being continually invitational with those we meet and get to know.  As Christians, we must be invitational, inviting others into Jesus’ love.  Then we must be willing to offer radical hospitality.  It is the hospitality practiced by Jesus.  It is the live modeled by Jesus.  It is the love of a humble servant, willing to give of oneself for the other.  It is a love that seeks to make people’s lives better – spiritually, emotionally, economically, socially,…  It is a love that engages people from all walks of life and from every neighborhood in our communitied.  May this be the love that is in us and is in our churches.  May this be the love that flows out of each of us and out of all of our churches.


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Anything

Reading: Romans 9: 1-5

Verse Three: For I could wish that myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers.

Paul writes of the sorrow and anguish he feels because his fellow Jews, his brothers, have rejected Jesus Christ as the Messiah.  Paul initially rejected Jesus too.  After Jesus’ death and resurrection Paul, then known as Saul, was one of the greatest persecutors of the new Christian faith.  But after his face-to-face with the risen Jesus on the road to Damascus, Paul was converted and became one of the greatest evangelists ever.  His conversion brought him great joy and peace in his life.

Yet he would willingly give all of this up for his people, the Israelites, who refuse to accept Jesus as Lord.  He writes, “For I could wish that myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers”.  Paul is ready to give up the best thing that ever happened to him so that the Jewish people could come to Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.  It pains him greatly that the chosen people reject Jesus.

On our own faith journeys we too will encounter people who reject Jesus.  Many will choose to walk away from the faith of their childhood.  We may have family members and know close friends who do not accept Jesus as Lord and Savior.  For many a parent it is a very painful experience to have a child choose to live without Jesus in their life.  For those we have a deep personal relationship with, it is indeed painful to think of one we love missing out on the joy and peace and mercy and forgiveness and all else we have, nevermind the eternal consequences.

In this many of us are like Paul.  We would give anything, even our own faith, to see ‘that’ person or persons accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.  We pray for them, we try and share our faith with them, we do all we can.  Lord God, may our work be fruitful in bringing those we love into relationship with you.


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He Is Alive!

Reading: John 20: 1-18

Verse 18: Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news, “I have seen the Lord”!

In the original garden, Adam and Eve walked and talked with God.  They had a close, personal relationship.  Their sin cost them much: they were forced from the garden.  With sin, death also entered the world.  We fast forward to another garden, this time the garden of Gethsemane.  In a moment of weakness, we find a human Jesus worried about death.  He does not want to die.  The physical part of Jesus knows what it will be like to be crucified.  But Jesus masters the fear and prepares to walk to the cross.  The divine Jesus triumphs and He is willing to drink of the cup for us.  The cup represents the new covenant, made with His blood.  This cup of forgiveness is for all who call on Jesus as Lord and Savior.  His blood was “poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins” (Matthew 26:28).  The sin that had entered in the first garden is defeated by Christ on the cross.  In the new covenant, we are freed from the power of sin.

Today’s story takes place in another garden.  Hope seemed lost.  Mary and the disciples have seen that the tomb is empty, but the do not understand.  The one they called “Messiah” – Savior of the world – was gone.  Mary stands alone, weeping.  Then angels appear, almost to announce what happens next.  Mary turns and asks for the body.  “Mary”.  Jesus speaks her name.  “Mary”.  With her name spoken, suddenly she knows it is Jesus.  She knows His voice.  He calls her by name.  In John 10:14, Jesus said, “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me”.  At His voice, Mary knows it is Jesus.  On the cross, Jesus defeated sin.  From the grave, He defeats death.

Jesus continues to call out, calling us each by name.  He calls us by name, into a personal relationship with Him.  When we open our hearts to Jesus, He comes and dwells within us.  In this relationship, we know Jesus, just as He knows us.  In this relationship, we experience what He experienced – victory over sin and death.  May we join many, proclaiming what Mary proclaimed: “I have seen the Lord”!  Hallelujah and amen!  He is risen!  He is alive!!


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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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Grace and Peace

Reading: Romans 1: 1-7

Paul opens with a thought: “set apart for the gospel”.  We are called to this.  We are called to be different from the secular culture and the worldly values by which so many live.  We are called to Christian witness in a post-Christian time.  Jesus did say that the road is hard and the way is narrow that leads to eternal life.  It is work, at times, to hold fast to the faith we profess.  Although narrow, the way is open to all who choose to live with Jesus as Lord.

In Rome, Caesar was lord.  To call upon Jesus Christ as Lord was to be set apart.  As we we’ll know from our own daily struggles to keep Jesus #1, there can only be one Lord.  So to profess Jesus is Lord implies that Caesar is not.  This was risky back in Paul’s time.  Today many think it a bit risky to profess Jesus Christ as Lord all the time and in all aspects of our lives.  This can be risky to our jobs, our friends, our hobbies, our money, and, perhaps most significantly, to our self.

As a church we can choose to be set apart.  We can have doors that are open to any and all instead of just to some.  We can offer communion to any and all who seek to be made new instead of just to those who meet our qualifications.  We can invite and welcome the whole community into our sacred spaces instead of just our church members.

As individuals, we can take these ideals and apply them to our lives as well.  W can engage any and all as we live out our lives as slaves to the gospel.  We can welcome all guests who come to our places of worship and to the events we put on or host.  We can invite all of our neighbors, coworkers, and classmates to be a part of our communities of faith.  Our lives too can have open hearts and open doors.

Paul writes, “grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ”.  May we choose to live as disciples and apostles each day, bringing peace and grace to the world, to any and all we meet.


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The Glorious Story

Reading: James 5: 7-10

“Be patient”.  That can be hard to do.  This is not so hard when life is good and you feel blessed.  Patience from a place of contentment is feasible.  But when life is hard and it seems to be one hardship after one setback after one more dose of bad news, patience can be hard to muster.  When one is struggling in life, patience is hard because hope is dim.  Many in our communities and probably some in our congregations are in a daily battle with life.  They do not know the hope and promise found in Jesus.

To the believers, James says, “Be patient and stand firm because the coming of the Lord is near”.  He goes on to remind us that the Judge is standing at the door.  The door to what?  Maybe the door to our hearts?  Maybe the door that opens to lead to His return?  We may not know the answers to these questions, but we do know that Jesus has already come.  As faithful followers we now prepare to celebrate the first coming of the baby Jesus.  We celebrate this because it leads to the life of Jesus, God in the flesh.  In life, Jesus taught us what it looks like to live God and to love neighbor.  This is the example we try to follow.  We also celebrate His life because it leads to Hid death and resurrection.  In the end, Jesus conquered the bonds of sin and death.  Through this victory Jesus gave us the gift of forgiveness that leads to eternal life.

It is with this knowledge that we enter Advent.  Knowing the rest of the glorious story.  It is with this story that we live now with the risen Savior.  He is our hope and promise now.  This brings patience in the trial now because we know the forever story.  We know Jesus will one day return and will restore all things.  We eagerly await this too.

Our quest is to share this story with another, so that they too may know the whole story.  Advent is a time when people are ripe to hear hope and promise.  It is in the air.  Who do you know that needs hope and promise amidst their struggles?  Share the glorious story with them today.


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The Way

Reading: Isaiah 35: 1-10

John the Baptist calls out and encourages us to make our lives straight pathways for the Lord.  It is a matter of repenting of our sins and living a righteous life.  Today’s passage from Isaiah speaks of this same way of life.  Isaiah proclaims that the glory of the Lord will be revealed.  The blind will see, the lame will leap, the mute will shout, and the deaf will hear.  God will restore us to wholeness.  God redeems and restores us so that we can walk “the Way of Holiness”.  God calls us to journey on this path, to walk in the Way.

In the New Testament, Jesus laid claim to this prophecy from Isaiah.  Jesus stated, “I am the way, the truth, and the life”.  Jesus established that the only way to eternal life was through Him.  More specifically, through a relationship with Him.  Isaiah proclaimed that the wicked will not walk this way.  There will be no fools or ferocious beasts on this road.  The prophet tells us that only the redeemed, only the ransomed of the Lord, will walk this path.

God wants all people to walk this path.  But God will not force anyone to walk the way of holiness.  Many will choose to walk a different path.  Jesus stated that the Way is narrow and that it is a hard road to walk.  Satan and the lies of this world constantly work to pull the saved off of the Way of Holiness.  Our human flesh is weak and we are prone to temptation and sin.  But evil will never triumph over good.  Jesus has already fought that battle.  On the cross, Jesus forever defeated sin and death.  Even though we stumble, once we claim Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, we are His.  Nothing can change that, nothing can separate us from the love of God we find in Jesus Christ.

Baby Jesus is coming soon.  We await with anticipation and expectancy.  The world senses this.  The world senses the possibilities of hope and promise that comes in Christ.  May we, as ones on the Way, help others to see the path that God also calls them to, drawing them into His love.


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Tears of Joy

Reading: Psalm 137: 1-6

Psalm 137 is also a song of lament.  The Israelites held captive in Babylon are strangers in a foreign land.  They miss Jerusalem, their homes, the temple.  The culture and the ways of the Babylonians are strange and often run counter to the faith in God that the Israelites practice.  On top of all this, the Israelites must endure taunts and torment from the Babylonians.  The Israelites are asked to sing the songs of God – the God who loves and saves them.  How ironic the twist as they live in exile.

We look at the news and see the things going on around us and we too lament.  As followers of Jesus Christ we are often “strangers in a foreign land”.  We miss the good old days when everyone knew God, when the churches were full, and when the name of God drew only respect.  The culture and ways of the world are strange and often run counter to our faith and to God’s ways.  And on top of all this, the calls of hypocrites, elitists, and judgmental ring out from those who stand against God and the church.  We often feel and act small for a people who worship the God of all creation.

Our sadness and tears for our world are much like the years shed by the Israelites.  We shed tears of alienation and rejection.  We too are reminded of our reality that we are in this world but not of it.  Our home is in heaven.  We, however, also shed tears of sadness and empathy.  We see so many who do not know Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, and we are sad.  This great gift of salvation that we received from God is a gift for all people.  The sadness and empathy that wells up in us and knowing the gift of life that we have leads us out into the world to share Christ’s light and love.  As we bring Christ into the world, as we see others coming to know Christ, our tears will become tears of joy over another won for Christ.  We go forth knowing we serve and love a mighty God.  Thanks be to God.


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The Good Fight

Reading: 1 Timothy 6: 11-19

A good life can be defined at least two ways.  For one, a good life is security, routine or order, a sense of success or accomplishment.  To have a safe home, ample food and clothing, a steady job that brings satisfaction, and good relationships with family and friends – to many this is the good life.  For others, for those who know God, a good life entails all of this and more.  For the believer, a good life is also a life lived for God, sharing God’s love and compassion with others.

In our passage, Paul is encouraging Timothy to be content in life and not to chase after the ever elusive”more”.  Paul encourages Timothy to pursue the things of God: righteousness, godliness, faith, love, gentleness, and endurance.  Paul knows Timothy will need all of these things.  Some will help Timothy to continue to grow in his faith while these same characteristics and the others will help him to share his faith with others.  A good life not only includes a relationship with God but also with the community of believers and with the stranger one meets.  Paul reminds Timothy to “fight the good fight of the faith”.  He goes on to tell Timothy to take hold of the confession of Jesus as Lord and Savior and to fully live this out in his own life.  Paul calls on Timothy to live faithfully, to shine the light of Jesus with all he meets as he proclaims the good news and as he personally pursues God.

We too can take these words of encouragement to heart.  We too can choose to claim our relationship with our Lord and Savior, with Jesus Christ.  And we too can fight the good fight of the faith, loving God and loving others with all that we are.  It is in doing these things that we take hold of eternal life – the life really worth living.  This day and every day may we fight the good fight of the faith, bringing honor and glory to God in all we do.