pastorjohnb

Thoughts and musings on faith and our mighty God!

Tag Archives: sin


by Leave a comment

Choices Remain

Reading: Jeremiah 4:13-18

Jeremiah 4:18 – “Your own conduct, your own deeds have done this to you.”

As we turn to Jeremiah, the Assyrians have given way to the Babylonians. Jerusalem was miraculously saved from the Assyrian siege but soon returned to their evil ways. In verse 13 Jeremiah acknowledges the coming disaster – advancing “like a tempest, horses swifter than eagles.” Horrible doom draws near. Yet even then God says through the prophet, “Cleanse your hearts of evil, Jerusalem, that you may be saved.” God is ever ready with grace and mercy.

We find ourselves in this place at times. We’ve created a mess of our lives and we get to a point where we can see that things are about to come crashing down. Whatever wrong or sin we committed is about to catch up with us. We ponder what we could do to avoid the destruction. Sometimes there is nothing we can do. Other times we are like Judah, hoping for a miracle but unwilling to do anything to provoke God to act on our behalf.

God’s declaration against Judah sounds very similar to the judgment brought against Isaiah’s generation: “she has rebelled against me.” That is what we do when we decide to commit that wrong or that sin. Continuing on, in verse 18 we read, “Your own conduct, your own deeds have done this to you.” The payment is bitter. It pierces deep in the heart. It is true for Judah; it is true for us. Our choices remain clear: God or self? Blessing or curse?

Prayer: Lord God, without you, without your guidance and direction, on the one hand, we soon find ourselves in places we can hardly believe we got to. On the other hand, we can see how our selfish and sinful choices led us to the time of atonement. Gracious God, pour out your forgiveness. And loving God, by the power of your Holy Spirit, help us to walk closer with you each day, keeping to the path that you have laid out for us to walk. Thank you. Amen.


by Leave a comment

Choices

Reading: Isaiah 1:15-20

Isaiah 1:19… 20… – “If you agree and obey… But if you refuse and rebel…”

Isaiah was a prophet called by God to speak God’s word to Judah, the southern kingdom. Isaiah called Judah, particularly its leaders, to a radical trust and faith in God and away from their sinful behaviors. Judah is characterized at the start of Isaiah 1 as children who have turned away from God. The nation outside of Jerusalem is ravaged and the cities burn as Assyria wages war against Israel and Judah. But still Judah refuses to turn towards God. Yes, they are going through the motions of worship but their hearts are far from God. In fact, God calls all of their offerings “worthless.”

Because their worship is full of hypocrisy, God’s eyes refuse to see their extended hands. God’s ears are closed to their lengthy prayers. All because Judah’s hands are “stained with blood.” God even implores them, “Wash! Be clean!” Yet it is not the blood of warfare that stains their hands. The blood comes from within Judah. God instructs them, “Put an end to evil; learn to do good.” What good? To champion justice and to care for the oppressed, the orphan, the widow.

As if in a courtroom setting, God says to Judah, “Come now and let’s settle this.” With promises of their scarlet sins being made white as snow, God tells Judah, “If you agree and obey you will eat the best food of the land. But if you refuse and rebel, you will be devoured by the sword.” Choose God or idols. Choose good or evil. Choose life or death. The same choices lie ever before you and before me.

Prayer: Lord God, since the beginning of creation these have been our choices. Until Jesus comes in final victory these will be our choices. Just as Isaiah spoke words of warning and words of life, may your Word and your Spirit guide us to faithful obedience. Lead us to walk your path in faith and trust, O Lord. Amen.


by Leave a comment

To Trust in Faith

Reading: Matthew 26:36-39

Matthew 26:39 – “My Father, if it’s possible, take this cup of suffering away from me.”

As we wrap up a week on faith overcoming our fears, we turn today to Jesus’ time in the Garden of Gethsemane. It has been a tumultuous week in Jerusalem. Jesus has clashed with the religious leaders. He has washed the disciples’ feet and instituted holy communion. He has spoken of betrayal and denial. As the time for his arrest, trial, suffering, and death nears, Jesus goes to a place of prayer that he has frequented. The disciples know this about Jesus and this place.

Entering the Garden, Jesus leaves most of the disciples, instructing them to “stay here” while he goes to pray. Taking Peter, John, and James a little further into the Garden and into his struggle, Jesus tells them, “I’m very sad. It’s as if I’m dying.” He tells them to stay they and to “keep alert” – pray! Falling to the ground, Jesus prays, “My Father, if it’s possible, take this cup of suffering away from me.” The human piece of Jesus fears what is soon to come: the arrest… The Divine piece of Jesus fears the separation from God when he takes upon himself our sins.

Choosing faith and trust over fear, Jesus prays, “However – not what I want but what you want.” What’s coming will be extremely hard, painful, difficult. But it is God’s plan. It’s always been the plan. In our moments of fear, when we can see what’s coming and when it is the unknown that raises up fear in us, may we too choose to trust in faith, knowing that our good, good God loves us and is in control. May it be so.

Prayer: Lord God, fear is something that we deal with often. It rises up in times of risk and danger; it rises up in times of challenge and trial. In the moments when fear is beginning to grip us, Lord speak into our hearts and minds. By the power of the Spirit, remind us that we are yours and yours alone. Amen.


by Leave a comment

Freed to Live

Reading: Romans 8:12-17

Romans 8:14 – “All who are led by God’s Spirit are God’s sons and daughters.”

Romans 8 begins with Paul reminding us that we are set free by the Spirit. As Paul develops his argument, he tells us that we have been set free from the law of sin and death. Living by and under the law of Christ’s Spirit, we receive life and righteousness. As we lean into today’s reading Paul reminds us that because we are living under Jesus Christ, we have an obligation. It is not an obligation to selfish or sinful living. That life leads to death.

Our obligation is to live by the Spirit, putting “to death the actions of the body.” Doing so we become part of verse 14: All who are led by God’s Spirit are God’s sons and daughters.” The Spirit of Christ adopts us as children of God. Therefore we don’t have to live in fear under the old spirit of slavery, under the ways of the world. We can remember the fears we felt back when we were children of the world: Am I good enough? Do I have enough? Amen I popular? Am I powerful?…

Living under Christ, our identity is rooted in our place in the family of God. Paul reminds us that because “we are children, we are also heirs.” Although we may suffer at times with Christ, we will also one day be glorified with him. This is the outcome of our faith: the salvation of our souls. Trusting in this we are freed to live as Jesus lived in this world, loving God and loving neighbor every day. Thanks be to God!

Prayer: Lord God, what a blessing it is to live as your child, led and guided by your Spirit within us. Attune all that we are to your will and way, reflecting who and what you are to the world. Use our words and actions to glorify you. Amen.


by Leave a comment

A Simple Choice

Reading: Matthew 7:24-27

Matthew 7:25 (or 27) – “The rain fell, the floods came, and the wind blew and beat against that house.”

We all live in a broken world where evil, illness and disease, violence, death, and all the -isms cause hardship, trial, and suffering. Add to this our proclivity to sin, which only increases the challenge of living faithfully in this broken world. These things are true for all people: Christ followers, Muslims, atheists, agnostics…

For Jesus, in today’s passage, there are two choices with two distinct outcomes. One can choose to hear and put into practice his words and example, or one can hear and choose not to allow his words to shape and guide one’s life. It is a simple choice: obey or disobey.

And there is an outcome of effect of one’s choice. In our broken world, “The rain fell, the floods came, and the wind blew and beat against that house.” Sin, evil, sickness, prejudice, injustice, pride… will rain down on our lives. The guilt, the stress, the shame, the suffering, the doubt – they will flood into our heart, mind, soul, and body. They will beat against our faith or against our psyche, depending on the choice we made to trust self or to trust God.

Those who choose to hear and obey are the “wise” who chose life and faith. These lives are “firmly set on bedrock.” Jesus is our bedrock, our firm foundation. Those who choose the ways of the world are the “fools.” They are building on sand. It is a simple choice: God or self? Our choices determines if we can withstand the storms of life. May we choose to build our lives upon Jesus Christ, our rock.

Prayer: Lord God, the way of the world is wise and easy and it leads to destruction. Your way is narrow and hard but it leads to abundant life. Surrounded by the voices and other influences of the world, it is hard to stay on your path. The storms of life only increase this challenge. Lord, be near us in all things, at all times. Amen.


by Leave a comment

Live “Out Loud”

Reading: Matthew 5:13-16

Matthew 5:13 and 14 – “You are the salt of the earth….You are the light of the world.”

Following the Beatitudes, Jesus turns to this metaphor about living as salt and light. This call to stand out from the world, to live faith in ways that are fully present in the world – they read very differently according to time and context. These words of encouragement, for example, would have been received differently in real time versus in the days right after Jesus’ death or centuries later when the Roman persecution of Christians was really ramping up.

Jesus first declares to all disciples, “You are the salt of the earth.” Salt was essential to life in Jesus’ day. Salt was used to cleanse, to preserve, to seal covenants, to flavor food. A Christian’s faith can function in all of these ways. Faith cleanses away the sin of this world. Faith preserves what really matters: the way of God. It makes our relationships steadfast and unconditional. Faith flavors all areas and aspects of our lives.

Next Jesus declares: “You are the light of the world.” Faith is not to be hidden, but is to be used to light our way and to show others the life that brings glory and honor to God, not to self. As light, faith calls us to illuminate the evils of our world. Our faith is not to be private or secret, but is to “shine before people” and is to “shine on all who are in the house.” The world is our house.

Disciples today are still called to be salt and light. We are still called to live our faith “out loud.” Today that perhaps feels a bit more like it must’ve felt under Roman persecution. It feels like speaking against evil and against the powers of this world might be costly. Yet this personal cost pales in comparison to the social cost of silence in the face of injustice and other evils, both to our faith and to the lives of those being targeted. With this in mind, may we be salt and light to our world in need.

Prayer: Lord God, fill us with your love and mercy, with your grace and strength. Filled, empower us to stand for the marginalized and for those without voice, without power, without place. Build up in each of us a will to love and live as Jesus loved and lived. And, Lord, may it begin with me. Amen.


by Leave a comment

Because God Loves Us…

Reading: 1st John 4:7-21

1st John 4:12b – “If we love each other, God remains in us and his love is made perfect in us.”

Photo credit: Shane

Our passage begins with John imploring us, “dear friends,” to love one another. The foundation for this charge is built upon two things. First, love is God. Love comes from God. God is love. Second, those who practice love are born from God and know God. There is a relationship formed as a believer professes Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. This relationship is grounded in God’s love.

All relationships are two-way. The apostle John first establishes proof of God’s love for us in the fact that God sent Jesus to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins. John also reminds us that God has given us the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit. This is the second proof. This is how God’s love remains in us and enables the relationship to be two-way. We next read about how we offer proofs of our love of God through our love for one another.

In verse 12 we read, “If we love each other, God remains in us and his love is made perfect in us.” John Wesley picks up on this idea in what he called ‘going on to perfection.’ Wesley understood the Christian faith as a process of unending growth. Loving more and wider changes the believer for the good, maturing and deepening our faith. Now, this call to love and the process of maturing in our faith – they are not easy.

John reflects this as he writes these words of encouragement: “Perfect love drives our fear.” To love one another as God loves us will call us to risky places, to challenging conversations, to situations where we lie self on the line. Yet we do not go alone nor do we do these things by ourselves. Because God loves us, God goes with us into these places, situations, and conversations where we are called to be love and light, hope and peace, trust and justice, grace and forgiveness. Through God’s unconditional and faithful love, may we seek and strive to love all of our brothers and sisters just as God loves us.

Prayer: Lord God, emboldened by your love, guide us to step out in faith, without fear and without concern for self. Bring us into all the places and lives that need to know your love. Empowered and encouraged by the Holy Spirit, lead us to practice your love well so that others may come to experience and know your love in their hearts. Amen.


by Leave a comment

The Divine Nature

Reading: Leviticus 19:15-18

Leviticus 19:18 – “You must not take revenge or hold a grudge…Instead, you must love your neighbor as yourself.”

Much of what God has to say about living as holy people has to do with our relationships with one another. Today’s verses begin with a call to being just in matters of the law. God sees all people as equal and charges us to do the same: don’t show favoritism or reference to either the poor or to the rich. All people deserve the same justice.

We also read of some prohibitions. We are not to slander our neighbors. This would include gossip and judging – two sins that we easily fall into. We are not to hate our neighbors. This sin has many roots: greed, jealousy, envy… We are not to stand by while our neighbor is assaulted. We are not to stand by while our neighbor sins. We are called to strongly rebuke them. Failure to do so places some responsibility for their sin upon us.

Turning to verse 18 we read the second of the two great commandments. But first we read, “You must not take revenge or hold a grudge.” This is hard because it is woven into our human nature. When someone hits us, our first instinct is to hit back. This action, however, often starts a vicious cycle. Maybe it’s better just to harbor a grudge? No, this causes a deeper, nagging, lasting issue in our hearts. Reading on we come to God’s command: “Instead, you must love your neighbor as yourself.” There it is. Live into the divine nature also within us. May this be the path we choose to walk with all of our neighbors.

Prayer: Lord God, guide us to walk in your ways, loving others as you love us. Keep us free from bias and hateful words and actions. Fill us with empathy and compassion, with love and grace. Lead us to be people who stand for what is holy and just, speaking and acting in ways that promote these things in our lives and in our world. Amen.


by Leave a comment

Love Them As Yourself

Reading: Leviticus 19:33-37

Leviticus 19:33-34: “When immigrants live in your land with you, you must not cheat them… You must love them as yourself.”

Photo credit: Wylly Suhendra

Leviticus 19 is titled “Living as Holy People” in my study Bible. The chapter is centered on the ethics of holiness and love and is grounded in God’s statement found in verse 2: “You must be holy, because I, the Lord your God, am holy.” In verses 33-37, today’s reading, the focus is on how one treats the immigrants living among you.

In the first two verses we see how the ethics of love and holiness should be applied to the immigrants living in the land: “When immigrants live in your land with you, you must not cheat them… You must love them as yourself.” There is a connection here to Israel’s time as slaves in Egypt. This becomes clear in the next verse. There is an element of “remember how poorly you were treated” being connected to “then don’t do that to others.” Our human nature can tempt us to pass mistreatment we’ve known along to those with less power or with less voice because Satan’s lie is that this behavior will somehow make us feel better.

In Egypt there were two sets of weights for the scales. A heavier set required the Israelites to produce more brick, harvest… to meet their work quotas. A lighter set yielded less when they bartered for needed items. Fair treatment is what God is calling Israel to in today’s verses. It is what we are still called to today.

Treating everyone the same is what we are called to do as we practice God’s ethics of love and holy living. We can be tempted to take advantage of or to mistreat those with less power or less voice and this can happen in many ways – economically, socially, politically. When tempted, may we remember the charge to “love them as yourself.”

Prayer: Lord God, help us to be holy as you are holy. Guide us to love others as you love us. May the way we treat the outsider, the powerless, the voiceless, the marginalized reflect how we would hope to be treated if we stood in their shoes. Empower us to stand for justice with compassion. Strengthen us to stand against prejudice and marginalization. Amen.


by Leave a comment

Faith Always

Reading: Deuteronomy 6:4-9

Deuteronomy 6:6 – “These words that I am commanding you today must always be on your minds.”

Photo credit: Milo Weiler

Today’s verses begin with a call to attention: Listen! This is followed by the ‘great commandment’ to love God with all of one’s “heart… being… strength.” The words of reminder that we read today are set within the giving of the Law. The Ten Commandments and the rest of the Law were given to govern all aspects of the personal and social lives of the Israelites. Many years later, as he worked out the core tenets and practices of Methodism, John Wesley would call these two ‘sides’ of our faith personal and social holiness.

In verse 6 we feel the completeness of the call to love God: “These words that I am commanding you today must always be on your minds.” As implied in the great commandment, faith is to guide all areas of our lives. Faith is not just part of our life, lifting up a prayer now and then, loving God or neighbor when it is convenient… Faith is to be lived out 24/7, to be “always” on our minds and in our hearts.

‘How’ we do this is unpacked in verses 7-9. We are to teach the way of faith to our children. We are to talk about our faith when we get up, when we lie down, and in between. We are to write key verses here and there. Today we do so with sticky notes, bookmarks, posters, wall art, mugs… All are ways to remind ourselves to live out our faith always.

Why is all of this necessary? To be honest, we by nature are selfish and inwardly focused. Left on our own or even practicing a sometimes faith, things like greed, power, jealousy, control, lust… begin to guide our lives. In this constant battle we need reminders of who and what we are called to be: people who live God with all that we are.

Prayer: Lord God, when we become tempted, whisper your love into our heart. When the temptation leads to sin, pour your grace, mercy, and forgiveness over us. In our daily lives, Lord, remind us again and again of your truths and if your call to walk in your ways. Amen.