pastorjohnb

Thoughts and musings on faith and our mighty God!

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Past the Surface

Reading: 1st Samuel 16:1-13

Verse 7b: “People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”

In our first Old Testament reading this week we visit a familiar passage and center in on a well-known verse. Samuel the prophet is sent to anoint the next king of Israel. Samuel the prophet brings God’s word to the people. Like most prophets it is often by offering words of correction and warning. His job is to get wayward people to walk faithfully. His most recent difficult words informed King Saul that he has been rejected by God. He has violated God’s command. He will reign, however, until the next king is ready. Over time people have come to fear seeing Samuel coming. This all is why the city elders tremble as Samuel draws near.

As the time comes to anoint the future king, Samuel sees and thinks as we can be tempted to see and think. First comes Eliab – oldest, strongest, tallest. Surely this is the one! No, God says, “People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” Son after son passes by Samuel. The oil remains in the horn. In the end the youngest is sent for – the one out tending the sheep. God says to Samuel, “Rise and anoint him. He is the one.” Maybe the least likely from human standards, but the one with the heart to follow God and to lead the people faithfully. The Spirit comes upon David and begins to prepare him to be king one day.

The key verse for today is the lesson we need to learn and to practice over and over. Go past the surface, get down below the shine to know the person’s heart. Hear their story, understand what has shaped and formed them. As we do, we will begin to see where God is working or where God could be at work. As David was, may we too be led by the Spirit.

Prayer: Lord God, help me to see what you see, to perceive as you perceive. Then guide me and use me to build your kingdom by encouraging and empowering others in their walk of faith. Amen.


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Patience, Love, Mercy

Reading: Exodus 17:3-7

Verse 6: “I will stand there before you… Strike the rock, and water will come out of it for the people to drink.”

Continuing in Exodus 17 today, the people are thirsty – parched. They grumble at Moses who grumbles to God. At this point, God demonstrates patience, love, and mercy. I imagine God first drawing a deep breath and then counting to 10. As God exhales slowly, I imagine God looking down in love upon this quarrelsome, doubting lot. As God looks upon these children panicking in the desert, God’s heart is once again moved to mercy. We don’t have to imagine this part. In verses 6 God tells Moses, “I will stand there before you… Strike the rock, and water will come out of it for the people to drink.” God goes before Moses, leading the way to water, to life, to joy.

First, a lesson from Moses: lead using the example you want others to follow. After receiving the peoples’ complaint, Moses should’ve gone to God in prayer. Moses should’ve first sought God’s direction, strength, guidance – and patience, love, and mercy. This is how God led. That’s our second lesson, this one from God. When seeking to help or care for someone in distress, practice patience, love, and mercy. See the person as they are, try to understand where they are, feel what it is like to be in their shoes. Then allow first love and then mercy to guide your efforts and your response.

We are now in our own season in the wilderness. We are journeying towards the cross during Lent. This season of introspection invites us to look within, to honestly see ourselves as we are. Maybe we’ll find some grumbling and a bit of quarreling. Maybe we’ll find anger or lust or pride or doubt or something else that needs to go. As we seek to root out these sinful behaviors as we prepare ourselves to stand at the foot of the cross in the presence of the one who surrendered all for us, may we too practice patience, love, and mercy with ourselves. The roots of our sin are deep and the journey is long and difficult. May God be with us.

Prayer: Lord God, today I ask that you pour out your patience, love, and mercy. Fill me with these so that I too can be generous with them – both with myself and with others. Lead me to look deeply within this day; guide me to that which I need to surrender to your will and way. Amen.


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Washed Clean

Reading: Psalm 32

Verse 5: “I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity… you forgave the guilt of my sin.”

In our Psalm today we find a pattern that we all know intimately and we find the truth that breaks or redeems this pattern. Like David, the author of the Psalm, we are familiar with sin. Some may think that as our faith matures, we sin less. We do, I believe, get a handle on many things that caused us to sin when we were less mature in the faith. However, as our faith matures, we come to understand more as sin. Things that we did not see before as sinful, suddenly it is sinful. For me, for example, gossip was one of those things. At a point I realized that this was sinful and that I needed to control my tongue. And physical age, which tends to parallel our “faith age,” brings with it challenges that often require greater faith – health issues, emotional changes…

No matter our age or the maturity of our faith, David names something that we all struggle with. Strangely it is not the sin itself. If one is truly repentant and seeks God’s help, then God will provide all that we need to overcome that sin. It is the guilt that we can struggle with. I may be able, with lots of help from God, to get a judgmental attitude turned around. The guilt for damage done remains though. This too I need to surrender to God. In verses 5 we find the promise: “I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity… you forgave the guilt of my sin.” When we are honest with God and seek God’s power, then God not only forgives but also takes away our guilt. Now we may have work to do to restore or reconcile that relationship, but the stain or the guilt is washed clean by God’s love.

Fully forgiven, we get to the place that David is at at the end of the Psalm. The guilt and the weight of the sin removed, we know that God’s unfailing love surrounds us. We can rejoice in the Lord. We can experience joy and gladness as we lift our praises to God. What a wonderful Savior. Thanks be to God!

Prayer: Lord God, you seek to walk with us daily. Beside us, you give us strength and courage. Beside us, you welcome our honest conversations and confessions. Through the life given by your son, you cleanse us and free us from the sun and guilt that we bear. Thank you for your mercy, for your grace, and for your great love. All my days may I praise your holy name. Amen.


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Hearing and Listening

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

Verse 32: “But we had to celebrate and be glad… he was lost and is found.”

Today we return to the story of the “lost son.” He was the one who checked out early, squandered his wealth, came home defeated, and was received generously. Throughout the story we see the father. He met his younger son’s demand, longed for his return, and celebrated when the lost were found. The elder son formally enters the story in verse 25. Coming in from working in the fields, he gets angry over the celebration, at this welcoming home of his brother. We have the details or the facts of the story. But we don’t have much of the “why.” Why did the younger son ask such a thing of his father?…

We live around and interact with all sorts of people. We see their actions and we hear some of their words. And as is the case with the parable of the lost son, we can read into or infer some things. Yet we must be careful. These “insights” are guesses that come from within us and are often our perceptions or our own preconceived notions. We work with someone, for example, and we watch them for a bit and then we make assumptions about them. This is dangerous.

Each of us is unique and we all have our own stories. To really understand each other we must be willing to go beyond observations. We must become involved with one another, hearing and listening to each other’s stories. Only then do we enter into authentic relationships with one another, only then do we find space for ministering to one another. May we each be willing to spend time investing in our relationships, deepening our commitment to one another.

Prayer: Lord God, slow me down. Help me to be fully present to the one in front of me. Give me ears to hear and a heart to listen. Amen.


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A Difficult Road

Readings: Luke 13:1-5 and 1st Peter 3:8-17

Verse 8: “Finally, all of you, live in harmony with one another; be sympathetic, love as brothers, be compassionate and humble.”

Photo credit: Jan Huber

In the first half of this week’s passage from Luke 13, Jesus is presented with two scenarios, both with the same theme. In these scenarios people suffer a great tragedy. Those present ask Jesus if those who died suffered because they were “worse sinners”. In other words, did God single them out because of their sin? Jesus’ short and emphatic answer is “No!” Turning the conversation back to those present, Jesus twice says, “But unless you repent, you too will all perish.” Yes, we’ll all die one day. God does not go out of God’s way to punish us here for our sins. But ultimately, we will perish and spend eternity outside of God’s glory if we choose to live in sin.

These concepts of suffering and living faithfully are continues in our 1st Peter 3 passage. Our passage begins with these words: “Finally, all of you, live in harmony with one another; be sympathetic, love as brothers, be compassionate and humble.” Living faithfully involves getting along, being understanding and loving and caring, practicing humility. Jesus modeled this way of living. Peter also encourages us to not repay evil with evil but instead to be a blessing even to those who cause suffering in our lives. Jesus also modeled this way of living. Going further, Peter invites us to be willing to suffer for our faith at times. This idea of being willing to suffer is incongruent with our “feel good”, selfish culture. To do or say something that might bring some actual suffering is greatly avoided.

Yet this is the way of the cross. Jesus asks us to have a willingness to do what he did: to carry a cross, to walk a difficult road. For us, the first step is offered by Peter in verse 15: “in your heart set apart Christ as Lord.” This decision leads us to always choose Jesus’ way over the way of the world. Jesus’ way is primarily the way of love. Loving enough will lead us to times of suffering and sacrifice. This includes having less so that others can have some. This includes standing with those who are experiencing injustice, being a voice for equality, engaging oppressive systems. Each of these difficult roads invite suffering and require sacrifice. When we are willing to repent from the sinful ways of the world, when we are willing to practice compassion and empathy and understanding, when we are willing to carry a cross for the other, then we are our world will be changed. May it be so.

Prayer: Lord God, give me a willingness and a courage to walk the difficult road. With a heart to suffer for others, send me out into the brokenness of the world. With a holy courage, lead me to those who need voice, to those who need one willing to stand beside them. Amen.


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Deeper, Stronger

Reading: Job 42: 1-6

Verse 5: “My ears had heard of you but now my eyes see you.”

Job has lived a righteous and upright life. God allowed Satan to test Job’s faith. He remained faithful. Job’s wife and friends add to his suffering with accusations and condemnations. Job longs to have an audience with God, to state his case. God responds to Job in a long speech that leaves Job humbled and with a new understanding of God. Today we read Job’s response.

Job begins by acknowledging that God “can do all things” and that “no plan of yours can be thwarted.” Job has taken in the immensity of God’s power and the depth of God’s creative might. In the complexity of the created world and in the detailed order of animal life, God has done some amazing and awesome work. God speaks of the behemoth and the leviathan – two creatures with great power that are feared by humanity. These creatures are far outside of man’s control but well within God’s. God asks, “Can you make a pet of him?” No, God, certainly not. In response Job says, “Surely I spoke of things I did not understand, things too wonderful for me.” Job recognizes his place in God’s world. Along with all of humanity, Job realized that he was not the center of all things.

Job has been changed by this encounter with God. In reality Job knew God and followed God’s ways at least as well as any other human being on the earth. God lifted him up to Satan as an example of faith. But as God spoke out of the whirlwind, Job came to know God in a deeper and more intimate way. In verse five Job declares, “My ears had heard of you but now my eyes see you.” Job had worshiped and followed a God that he thought was powerful, awesome, worthy of his praise. Now Job sees God in a clearer way. Job now knows that God is all these things and so much more. His connection to God is now so much deeper, so much more profound, so much stronger. Job’s faith in God has grown. As we delve into the word, as we allow the Holy Spirit to lead and guide our lives, as we strive to follow Jesus’ example, our faith will grow deeper, the connection will become stronger. May it be so as we walk closely with the Lord our God day by day.

Prayer: Lord God, like Job, the more I know you, the longer I walk with you, the more awed and amazed I become. My faith journey has been filled with moments when I’ve come to know you more intimately, to love you more deeply, to praise you more sincerely. Continue to journey with me, ever allowing my eyes and heart to see and know you more clearly. Amen.


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Rooted in Love

Reading: Ephesians 3: 14-21

Verses 17-18: “I pray that you, being rooted and established in love… grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ”.

Photo credit: Emma Gossett

Chapter 3 of Ephesians opens with Paul declaring himself a “prisoner” of Jesus Christ for the sake of the Gentiles. Those he once saw as so far outside of God’s love have been brought near. Paul is now the primary missionary to the Gentiles. What an amazing turnaround! Our passage today is a prayer for the Ephesians. It begins with Paul on his knees.

Ephesus was a city much like the cities and towns that we live in. The culture of Paul’s day valued wealth and status and power. Life was centered around getting more and more. The world in which these early believers lived and the audience with whom they were sharing the good news was not much different from our own contexts. Paul first prays for the Holy Spirit’s power to fill them and to strengthen their inner being. Paul asks God to make them sure of who they are in Christ Jesus.

Paul then prays, “I pray that you, being rooted and established in love… grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ”. Perhaps thinking of the parable of the sower found in Matthew 13, Mark 4, and Luke 8, Paul prays for deep roots of faith. When trouble or persecution or the cares of the world rise up, Paul prays that they will remain rooted in the love of Jesus Christ. He prays for them to understand the vastness and limitless nature of God’s love. Knowing this, they will be filled with the “measure of the all the fullness of God”. They will be filled with his love. Being filled, they will then overflow into the world. May it be so for you and for me.

Prayer: God of love, fill me, fill me, fill me. Pour out your love upon me. Fill me so full that your love washes away all that keeps me from being fully yours. Amen.


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Open Wide

Reading: 2nd Corinthians 6: 1-13

Verse 2: “Now is the time of God’s favor, now is the day of salvation”.

Photo credit: Brett Jordan

As our passage begins, Paul begs those in the church in Corinth not to receive God’s gift of grace in vain. To know what grace is or to understand what grace offers is very different from living into God’s grace. It is not some distant thing or something you pull out of the drawer when you really need it. As Paul explains, “Now is the time of God’s favor, now is the day of salvation”. We are to receive and live in God’s grace 24/7. Now is the time. Today is the day.

Paul strove to model this for his fellow believers. He sought to glorify God as he shared the good news of Jesus Christ. As a humble servant of the Lord, Paul ever tried to “commend” himself and his fellow ministers in all they did. Paul and company exhibited endurance, hard work, purity, understanding, patience, kindness, sincere love, truthful speech, and righteousness. Along the way they experienced troubles, hardships, distress, beatings, riots, imprisonment, and hunger. What strengthened and enabled them to serve so faithfully in spite of all these challenges? Grace. The grace of God empowered them and kept them on track. The grace of God also carried them through when things went off the tracks.

Paul encourages the church in Corinth to claim this same grace, to live into it fully. In verse thirteen he urges them to “open wide your hearts also” – follow our example. An open heart is filled by God’s grace. Is your heart wide open?

Prayer: Lord God, use me today as a humble servant for Jesus Christ. If I must endure, strengthen me. If it requires much, fill me with your Spirit. If it is quiet and faithful humble service, guide and lead me well. Amen.


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In Christ

Reading: 2nd Corinthians 5: 16-17

Verse 17: “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come”.

Our verses for today begin with Paul inviting us to look beyond the world and its points of view. Too often we see as the world sees. People of faith can be just like the world in terms of how we define ourselves and others. We too easily see and understand ourselves and others through terms like race, class, gender, occupation, ethnicity, age, and so on. Too often terms like these lead to judging another’s worth and value – all us relative to how we see or define ourselves. Jesus did not see or understand the world and the people he encountered this way. Why should we think it OK to do so?

Who we are and how we see and understand ourselves is part of our sacredness. God created all of us, knit us together in love. Our worth and our value is rooted in this holy creation. Each created by God, each made in the image of our God – this is how we should see and understand ourselves and others. No worldly terms or constructs should in any way lessen how we see and understand and love ourselves and one another.

Early in the history of the church a deadly disease spread through many communities. Out of fear of dying themselves, many people placed loved ones out in the street to die. It was those early Christians who took the sick into their homes to care for them, to love on them. The early church did not care that they were pagans or Jews or that they were rich or poor or anything else. Jesus had instructed them to care for the least of these. How far some of us have gotten from such simple instructions.

As followers of Jesus Christ may we reclaim the vision and love of the one we say we follow. Loving and caring for all we meet and encounter, may we see and understand each as created by God, each as beloved by God. Doing so we live into these words: “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come”. In Christ may we transform ourselves, the church, and the world into a more loving, caring, and just place.

Prayer: Lord God, guide me this day to love as Jesus Christ loved. Grant me eyes to see all as you see them – created in love by you. Seeing as you see, may I live out your love in the world each day. Amen.


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Clothed in Power

Reading: Luke 24: 44-53

Verse 47: “Repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached… to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem”.

Photo credit: Fuu J

As Luke draws his gospel to a close Jesus appears to the disciples one last time before he ascends into heaven. In this last encounter Jesus again teaches them. He “opened their minds” so that they could understand how all scripture points towards Jesus himself. He gives them their marching orders, saying, “Repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached… to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem”. The disciples are to be “witnesses” to all of this. To accomplish this big task, Jesus again reiterates that he will send the promised Holy Spirit to “clothe” them with power.

The Holy Spirit continues to clothe you and me in power. The task of all disciples remains the same: to share the good news of Jesus Christ with the world. In order to share the good news we must first know it ourselves. Jesus poured his knowledge of God into the disciples and the Holy Spirit would continue to teach, remind, reveal, prompt, encourage… them in the ways of the Lord. In our Bibles we have the source of knowledge, the words of life. As we delve daily into the scriptures, the Holy Spirit works within us to help us to understand and apply the word to our lives. Through this process we are also clothed with power, made ready to share the good news of Jesus Christ with a world in need.

Today we close with these words of prayer from the apostle Paul: “I pray that your heart will be flooded with light so that you can understand the confident hope he has given to those he has called” (Ephesians 1:18). Clothed with power, filled with confident hope, may we go forth into the world to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.

Prayer: Lord God, clothe me with your power and fill me with hope as I walk in the world today. May the light of Christ shine into the darkness, helping others to know the saving power of Jesus Christ. Amen.