pastorjohnb

Thoughts and musings on faith and our mighty God!

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Broken

Reading: Luke 15: 1-3 & 11b-32

Today’s parable is familiar and allows for interesting perspectives.  One can easily see the story from multiple character’s views and can easily relate to each because most of us have filled all three roles at points in our lives.  If not us personally, we have been privy to others playing these roles.  The age-old question is always: who do you best relate to?  To me, the answer can vary at different times and maybe at times it can be all three that we relate best to.

Generally the older son is seen as the responsible son, at least at the beginning of the story.  He stayed and worked faithfully.  Like a good soldier he has been trudging along all these years.  One can easily envision the scorn and disgust he felt as the younger brother walked away from the family.  Once he returns we see that the older brother has not been serving happily all these years.  He reminds me of that coworker who has been on the job five years too long.

Generally the younger brother is seen as the rebel, as the selfish one.  In that day he was essentially saying, “Dad – you are as good as dead to me – can I have my money now”?  After going off and spending his third of the estate in “wild living”, he comes to a place of brokenness, repents, and heads for home to live as one of his father’s hired hands.  But the apology script he has practiced over and over isn’t really needed.  I’d guess the father never even heard the words his youngest son was trying to offer.

For the father and in our relationship with God, the words do not matter.  What matters is the condition of our heart.  God does not need to hear our confessions.  He does desire for us to come to Him with a broken and contrite heart, a heart that knows our deep and great need for Him.  This day may we come to admit our brokenness and may we seek Him in a real and deep way, connecting to God as we express our absolute need for Him.


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Guard the Tongue!

As human beings we are created with quick and gifted minds.  We can create and solve and figure out all sorts of imaginative inventions and complex designs and perplexing problems.  We can learn to do many different tasks and hone specific skills.  We can even learn to speak multiple languages.  Our minds are amazing creations.

“No one can tame the tongue” states James.  There are many, many instances each day where we can prove him right.  Sometimes it is us that does so, sometimes we observe others doing so.  The list of words uttered that I wish I had not said is quite a long list.  We all have similar lists.  But if one were to look at the list chronologically, hopefully one would see a pattern emerging.  As one grows in the maturity of one’s faith, you would hope to see increasing gaps between the items on the list.  A growing and developing faith should exhibit itself in how we speak to and treat one another.

James indeed does pose the question of how can we praise God with the same tongue we curse our fellow man.  It is a good question.  The simple and correct answer is that we cannot do this.  But the reality is that we do struggle with controlling our tongue.  Sometimes our amazing brains are too quick and out of our mouths comes something that should not.

At the point of hurting or harming another with our tongue, first we must offer a sincere and humble apology to all offended.  Second, we must look within and go to work at taming the tongue better.  Third, we too must be merciful and gracious when we are stung or hurt.  We are all on the same journey to draw closer and closer to God, to become more and more like His Son, Jesus.  Each day may we guard our tongues so that our light can shine brightest into the world all around us.

Scripture reference: James 3: 5b-12