pastorjohnb

Thoughts and musings on faith and our mighty God!

Tag Archives: strange


by Leave a comment

Foundation, Future, Present

Reading: 1st Peter 1:17-23

1st Peter 1:19 – “You were liberated by the precious blood of Christ.”

Photo credit: Shane

Our passage today begins with a call to “conduct yourselves with reverence” as we live out our days in this “strange world.” This is a very accurate description of our time and it is an important reminder. Sometimes it can be hard to live with reverence. We often live in a spin cycle, doing the same things day after day. A brief break comes on the weekend, but then we’re right back at it. If we are to live with reverence for God in the day to day, then we must daily remember our foundation and our future.

Peter reminds us that we are not “liberated” or set free or saved by the “perishable things” of this world. Yes, we can get caught up chasing after gold and other worldly things, living that “empty lifestyle.” Instead, though, Peter reminds us, “You were liberated by the precious blood of Christ.” We were freed to live differently, to be set apart from the things of the world. Jesus was chosen before creation began to be the perfect sacrifice to free us from sin and death, the two great powers of this world. Freed from these powers, our faith and hope can rest in God. Resting here, Christ is our sure foundation and our promise of a future in God’s glory.

There is also a “present” to Peter’s words today. The charge Peter gives is very much like the response called for in Psalm 116. The charge is to be obedient to Jesus’ example, having “genuine affection” for one another. We are to love one another “deeply and earnestly.” This should be our response to God’s “life-giving and enduring word,” Jesus Christ. Living as love and with love, we share our foundation and we invite others into a future with hope. May it be so.

Prayer: Lord God, as we live out our moments on this earth, daily remind us of our place with you. Reminded, guide us to live daily as Christ lived: loving one and all. Living as love, use us to draw others to the living word, Christ Jesus. Secure our hope in your love, our rock and redeemer. Day by day, walk with us, guiding us towards our true and eternal home. Amen.


by 1 Comment

Strange Things

Reading: Luke 24: 41-48

Verses 47 and 48: “Repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in His name to all nations… You are witnesses of these things”.

In our passage today the disciples encounter the risen Lord. Even after He shows them His hands and feet they still do not believe. He eats a piece of food in their presence. Surely a ghost would not eat. This very human gesture must have calmed the disciples, because then Jesus begins to teach them. It still amazes me that these closest of Jesus’ friends so struggle to connect what He told them when He was alive to what is happening now. Being scared and frightened does strange things to the mind.

Although none of us lived with Jesus for three years, seeing Him teach and heal and set the example of how to love, we do have many more ways to connect with Jesus than those first disciples had. We have our Bibles. When we wonder about something or have a question, we can turn to the Word and re-read a passage or look something up. We have millions of books and articles at our fingertips, hundreds of which address even the smallest question we could have. We gather weekly for worship where scripture and songs remind us of Jesus and our faith. In worship we also pray and hear the Word proclaimed. Many of us also go to a small group or study group where we go deeper in our faith development or understanding. Yet with all of this even the smallest storm in life can make us ask, “Jesus who”? Being scared and frightened does strange things to the mind.

Jesus meets the disciples in today’s passage right where they are at. He once again reminds them of all that had been written of Him in the scriptures. He showed them how He was the fulfillment of the Law and prophets. He summarized the last few days and then said, “Repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in His name to all nations… You are witnesses of these things”. Jesus gave the disciples new purpose and direction. They were to bear witness.

Jesus seeks to meet us right where we are at. When we are scared and frightened, Jesus calls to us, He calms our hearts and minds. When we are confused and quite cannot remember, He whispers in our ear. Through the power and presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives, Jesus remains very much alive. Our purpose and direction remains the same as it was with the disciples: we are witnesses. May we go forth each day, telling the story of repentance and forgiveness of sins.


by 1 Comment

Bloom

Reading: Jeremiah 29: 1 and 4-7

The Babylonians destroyed Jerusalem and hauled off the leaders and gifted people to Babylon as slaves.  Many Israelites were the victims of this forced relocation.  They found themselves slaves in a strange new place, surrounded by a culture much different from their own.  Instead of instructing them to keep isolated, to long to return to Jerusalem, or to rebel, God instead instructs them to settle in, to build homes, to marry off their children.  The message is that this is not temporary.  To further indicate this God instructs them to begin praying for the Babylonians to prosper.

We too can find ourselves in a strange or foreign place.  Sometimes this is physical.  Our parent or spouse receives a new job or is transferred and we find ourselves in a new place amongst many new faces.  It can be when we head off to college or to our first ‘real job’ and we come to realize we are alone in a new world.  Sometimes our new surroundings are emotional.  We come home to find out a divorce looms and life is suddenly altered.  We receive the phone call that a loved one has passed and life is forever different.  Or one day, in the middle of a normal day, we realize that we are lost in life or are just drifting along and we long for an anchor, for a purpose.  And, of course, all of these physical and emotional changes affect our spiritual life too.

God instructed the Israelites to become part of their new surroundings.  God wanted them to grow, to multiply, to prosper in this new place.  When all else was stripped away, all the Israelites had to rely on was God.  God was the one constant for the people.  In the midst of our own times of exile, God calls out to us as well.  When all else seems new or foreign, God is still the same.  Like the Israelites, our instructions are the same: trust in God alone, cling to God alone, and bloom where God has planted us.  May we trust in God’s plans and may we obediently follow God’s will as we follow wherever God leads.