The following is a reflection I shared during Lent with my congregation. Several laypeople took turns during these past six weeks to talk about their understanding of the hope we have through our Christian faith. The thoughts I share on this below represent one of the aspects of hope that comes to my mind as I consider how the presence of hope is shaped by the presence of Christ in my life. As always, I welcome your thoughts, comments, questions, or other feedback in the comments section below, or on the Contact page.
Hope can be described in many ways, but as I looked through scriptures talking about hope this week, I noticed a theme of hope in God as something that we grab onto and hold tight in the midst of trouble and pain. As God’s beloved people, Christ’s light of hope is eternal and always with us. This hope in the power of God through Christ to deliver us from the brokenness in ourselves and our world accompanies us throughout our time here on earth. It guides our steps and calls us back into a redeemed relationship with God again and again, no matter the fear, suffering, and shortcomings that we face. This hope holds a promise of what is to come at the end our life when we are finally reconciled to God through Christ. Although we always carry Christ’s light of hope in our hearts, we may notice it more when we feel surrounded by darkness, because as the gospel of John says, “The light [of Christ] shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” I have personally faced times of darkness in my own life, and with everything going on in the world today, I think many of us can identify times we have felt a sense of darkness, a feeling of being downcast or disturbed by what is happening around us or within us. At these times, Christ’s light of hope burns brightly and becomes a torch we can grab hold of to shine the way. When we choose to grab ahold of God’s promises for us and put our hope in Him, God will provide for us. Scripture reflects this, like when the writer in the book of Lamentations expresses deep pain and grief, and then demonstrates this choice to hope, to wait expectantly, for God to fulfill His promises. The writer says… (Lamentations 3:19-25) 19 I remember my affliction and my wandering, the bitterness and the gall. 20 I well remember them, and my soul is downcast within me. 21 Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: 22 Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. 23 They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. 24 I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.” 25 The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him; If this sounds familiar, it’s because these verses are the basis for our beloved hymn “Great Is Thy Faithfulness.” I have sung this hymn many times on Sunday mornings in the midst of the trials and burdens of everyday life and found great comfort from its reminders. When the darkness of the world seems overwhelming, I treasure the hope I have in God even more. I had the opportunity to put this into practice recently as we were driving home one night. I do not like driving in the dark, and Jacob will confirm I am not even a good passenger because I get so anxious about not being able to see as well as I can during the day. On this night it also happened to be foggy and raining, so I was becoming very stressed and worried. Jacob was driving safely and being cautious, and I trusted him to get us home. Still, all the “what if” scenarios I was imagining haunted me, and I found myself in my classic position of staring straight ahead with a clenched jaw and gripping the arm rest with white knuckles. Somehow I knew it was silly to be trying to control the situation with my own willpower, but I was paralyzed by my fear. We knew from looking at the weather reports that the fog and rain were expected to continue for the next hour, and we only had a few more miles to go, so we journeyed on. Then it hit me – what is your hope in right now? Do what you have been preparing to speak about. Grab on to the light of your hope in God, and hold on tight because—real or perceived—this is your time of trouble and distress. So I prayed through some of the words from Lamentations I had been studying… 21 Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: 22 Because of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. 23 They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. As I prayed, I was finally able to relax and trust that, no matter what happened, God would take care of us. Not only did we get home safely, but within the next few minutes, I noticed that the rain had slowed and the fog had begun to lift. God’s compassions never fail. Great is His faithfulness. Whatever troubles or challenges you and I may face today or tomorrow, we remember that Christ’s light of hope shines there with us. We can grab it and hold on tight, trusting that our hope in God’s promises is not in vain, and the darkness will never overcome it.
0 Comments
Time marches on, and I realize as day after day after day goes by that if these minutes and hours and days are going to contain any type of deeper meaning and encounters with the Holy Spirit, it is partly up to me to make space for that. Even without a full-time job to fill the majority of my days with a n assigned direction and purpose, they still fill up with...things. Some necessary, some chosen, some that connect me to God's grace and movement in the world, and many that do not.
A book I studied recently with a Sunday school group helped me put this passage of time into perspective and encouraged me again to prioritize how I am spending my time. Present Over Perfect by Shauna Nieqhuist chronicles a habitually busy, successful woman with a full life and not enough left of herself to fully live it. She is nearing the middle of her life, and after two decades of relentless busyness with her career, friends, and family, at the beginning of the book she is on the edge of burnout and searching for new answers and possibilities for how to live. In her heart, she knows that there was once more to life and herself than what she experiences now, and she sets out to recover the missing pieces. Shauna embarks on a personal journey to discover the source of her drive to constant activity and discovers that she doesn't have to "push, hustle, and prove" her way to happiness. Her desire for love, security, and self-worth can instead be found through letting go or saying no to many "extras" in her life, resting in God's grace, and reconnecting with the people and things that matter most to her. This book is one you could enjoy and learn from on your own with Shauna as your guide, or you could form a group to walk the journey with you like we did recently at my church. Even though we were all in different seasons of life, the opportunity to meet with a small group and reflect communally and privately on how we were living our lives and why was very helpful. We did not all struggle with the same things, but we were able to encourage each other to face our obstacles and fears with God's help. One of the refrains I heard often from the veterans in the group was, "I wish I had read this book years ago...I would have done things so much differently!" Even though I am not as far along in my life yet, I found myself thinking the same thing. Time, it seems, is on all of our minds. Like these fall days that start chilly, quickly warm, and then fade just as quickly into crisp sunsets, time slips through my fingers faster than I realize. I want to be wise about marking time and investing in it, like Paul describes in Ephesians: "For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) and find out what pleases the Lord. Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. It is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret. But everything exposed by the light becomes visible—and everything that is illuminated becomes a light. This is why it is said: “Wake up, sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.” Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is." (Ephesians 5:8-17) I am trying to find out in this season of my life what shape the things that are pleasing to God take. In previous seasons, pleasing God and living as a child of the light had a lot to do with how I fulfilled my role in the workplace. My rough edges came out particularly when I was at home (which wasn't a very large part of the day) because I was worn out from trying so hard throughout the workday to be pleasing to God, pleasing to my co-workers, pleasing to my students... Perhaps you can see a theme of what I tend to struggle with! In reflecting on the past, I see that even though my intentions were good and well-founded by a desire to love and serve God through my vocation, I consistently struggle with relying on my own efforts to accomplish God's work in the world. If I am worn out, God offers rest and replenishing of my physical, emotional, and spiritual resources. Where is Sabbath in my life? If I am burned out, I need to question where I am deriving my energy, passion, and motivation from. Am I working to please others based on my own efforts (like I admitted to above!), or am I abiding in Christ so that the fruit I bear is for God's good purpose and the result of His nurturing rather than my striving? "Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me." (John 15:4) And just in case the point didn't hit home, Jesus follows that up with... “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing." (John 15:5) I have experienced the truth of that last part, and Shauna's book testifies to it as well. As the seasons change and we become increasingly aware of how we mark time and live our days, may God help us live wisely and make the most of every opportunity He blesses us with. Harvest time is coming, and as Paul wrote to the Galatians: Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up." (Galatians 6:9) Rest in God this week, and I will strive to do the same. Despite our intuition and inclination, this abiding promises to be the root strength and vine-like source of direction and refreshment we need to be wise with our time and bear godly fruit in our lives. Peace to you in this season of change. I'd love to hear your thoughts on challenges you face in this season of your life. Do you struggle with busyness or finding a sense of purpose? Are you worn out from striving after your own goals or succeeding by your own efforts? What resources do you use to help you abide in Christ? How have you seen the fruit of that in your life? Feel free to share your thoughts here or on the Contact page. The following is a sermon I wrote and preached on a recent Sunday morning while my pastor was on vacation. It is based on 1 Kings 3:5-12 - the story of Solomon asking for wisdom. I welcome your questions and comments on how it speaks to your own experiences and spiritual journey! You can leave feedback below or on the Contact page.
I was excited to see the story of Solomon asking for wisdom as an option for our scripture reading in the lectionary for this morning. It is a story I have loved ever since I first heard it as a child! Imagine God came to you in a dream and said, “Ask for whatever you want me to give you.” What would you ask for? A car? A new house? Your dream job? Solomon’s story is not just any open-ended wish-granting opportunity, though. He encounters God after he completes a religious inauguration ceremony. Solomon had just been made king after his father David had died, and he was humbly seeking God’s blessing and assistance in this new role. Some scholars have traditionally thought Solomon was very young, maybe only in his teens when he became king. In any case, it’s clear from his words that he considers himself to be very inexperienced in the tasks that were before him. In those days, being king was more than just waving in parades and wearing a crown. Being king came with heavy responsibilities, including serving as a judge. People from all over the kingdom were going to be coming to Solomon with their problems and looking to him for guidance. On top of this, he was also under the weight of living up to his father David’s successes as king, dealing with a jealous brother who believed he should have been king instead, and Solomon was trying to assert his authority among other leaders who were not loyal to him. This would be a lot for anyone to handle, let alone someone who lacked experience. Even if we haven’t been made king of anything, I think many of us can relate to the situation of being put in a position that we do not feel prepared for (maybe a new job, entering into marriage, becoming a parent, transitioning into a caregiving role for a family member). On a larger level, I’m sure most of us can relate to feeling like something we are facing is too much for us. Have you faced something that made you feel overwhelmed or unprepared? Perhaps there is a need, a task, or a responsibility you are being faced with right now? Are you feeling up to meeting the challenge? When we are overwhelmed and unprepared for something, we have a choice in how we handle that situation. Pull ourselves up by our bootstraps? Bluff our way through it? Find someone else to do it? Do we hide? Solomon chose to face his situation with humility, admit his weakness, and seek God’s blessing and assistance. It’s in this context that God came to Solomon in a dream, which was a form of divine communication, and God said to Solomon, “Ask for whatever you want me to give you.” If we were in Solomon’s shoes, how many of us would have asked for wisdom in this situation? It seems like some of the other options mentioned in this passage would have been very appealing – wealth, long life, or the defeat of enemies. Surely those things would be helpful if you’re trying to be successful as a new, inexperienced king. But Solomon chose instead to seek the spiritual gift of wisdom. God was pleased with Solomon’s choice and blessed him. Ever since I first heard this story in Sunday school, I had always thought this experience represented God bestowing this gift of philosophical, intellectual wisdom on Solomon, and I had in mind a sermon extolling the virtues of deep spirituality and study in the pursuit of personal spiritual growth. I thought that this was the kind of wisdom that God had provided to Solomon to succeed in the difficult tasks he faced. As so often happens when I think I have it all figured out, God interrupted my plans! I learned that the original Hebrew translation of “wisdom” in this passage is actually pointing to the ability to tell right from wrong. It’s a practical wisdom that helps someone administer justice—we also call it discernment, or listening in order to form a judgment based on divine principles. Very useful, but not very glamorous! Now, the personal lesson I had planned for did not match what the scripture was saying! I found myself asking, “Now what?” And I heard God say, ‘You’re missing the point!” And it was then that the Holy Spirit began teaching me a new lesson, one that speaks to my heart and the journey I have been on, and one that I pray will speak to you today as well. When I first heard the story of Solomon asking God for wisdom, I didn’t understand the context of his situation, so I mistakenly put him on a pedestal in my mind. I admired him for his noble commitment to pursuing personal spiritual growth through the gift of wisdom. There is a time and purpose for philosophical wisdom in our spiritual lives. At this moment, though, that is not what Solomon needed. He did not come to God as part of a personal time of spiritual growth. He came to God in need, under extreme pressure, overwhelmed by his situation. He had a job to do, and the staggering weight of it brought him to his knees. The strongest weapon, the most fitting tool Solomon could be equipped with for this huge task of administering justice was the practical wisdom of a discerning mind. God gave him exactly what he needed. As someone who often feels overwhelmed, THAT is encouraging to hear! I have been in situations where I have felt like I’m in over my head with life. Whether it’s the pressure of expectations, the sheer amount of things to accomplish, or being afraid that I am not qualified enough to fulfill a certain role, I have felt completely overwhelmed at times in my life to the point where it has brought me to my knees. Maybe you can think of times in your life where you have felt like this too. In those times, if someone comes to me and offers advice or help, it better meet me where I am and actually be useful, otherwise I’m not interested! Sometimes we may avoid the advice and help of others completely because we are sure that no one else understands our situation. We may feel convinced that anything they might offer us will just be frustrating and unhelpful. Sometimes we may even feel this way about seeking God’s help in the difficult times in life. It is a challenge to consistently seek God first in our lives. We can sometimes fall into a pattern of seeking God in times of calm when we feel there is room for Him in our schedules. But when a crisis comes and life gets hectic, we can go into survival mode, try to put out all the fires and keep all the plates spinning, and seeking God gets pushed aside for later, once things calm down again. I don’t have time to go to Bible study, worship in church, pray… I have some real needs right in front me that need to be met right now! I have to take care of them! Maybe I will seek God tomorrow…maybe next week…maybe when I retire… When I am feeling overwhelmed in my life, seeking God first can seem like just one more demand to meet. How can I make time to seek God first when I am responsible for all these other things? I can’t focus long enough to read more than a verse or two of scripture, I listen to worship songs and sermons but the words don’t sink in, and my only prayer sounds like breathing, “God help me!” How can I possibly find time and energy to seek God first? Maybe some of you have felt that way at times too. Maybe you are sitting here feeling that way right now today. You are not alone. Life has many challenges and burdens that bring us down into valleys, or at the least keep us trudging forward in the ongoing everyday busyness of our lives. As much as I love to spend time with God on the mountaintop in times of calm and peace, our God is not just for retreats and spare time when we feel we have leftover resources to be able to seek Him. He is God with us and for us, Emmanuel. God stands with us in the trenches of life, ready to help us face our battles when we are worn down and our backs are against the wall. God comes to us when we are on our knees. Seeking God is not a hobby or a luxury. It is not something done by a privileged few. It is a command for all of us who follow Christ to seek God first every single day! Jesus said in Matthew chapter 6, “Seek first God’s kingdom and God’s righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well…” He was speaking to the masses, the crowd of everyday people who had gathered to hear him. He said, “seek FIRST God’s kingdom and God’s righteousness.” THEN all these other things, the earthly needs and responsibilities we spend so much time worrying about and trying to accomplish on our own, God will help us with those too. God meets us in our need and gives us what we need. Solomon sought God first. God met Solomon in his need and gave him exactly what he needed to meet the challenges that overwhelmed him. Then, on top of that, God granted him other earthly blessings as well—riches, honor, and a long life. If we have been forgetting to seek God first and instead have been trying to take care of everything on our own, let’s remember that God can meet us in our need with what we need. He may not meet it in the way we expect, but He will take care of us and provide what is needed. I challenge all of us to seek God first in our lives this week. We can learn from Solomon that God will give us exactly what we need to face the tasks, responsibilities, and challenges in our lives. What God provides may not make them easy or comfortable, but they will become possible with God’s help. If we seek God first and humbly admit that we cannot face these things alone, but we need His help, God is ready and waiting to give us what we need. May we all seek God first today and always, Amen. Scripture Reading: Romans 12:9-16
In a change-up from my previous posting styles, I am going to pose some food for thought related to the scriptural interpretation work that I typically do behind the scenes. Usually when I prepare to write here, I start with a scripture passage that sparks some questions in my mind, and I follow the thread of those questions with more reading and prayer until I settle on the beginnings of an answer, or at least the answer that is speaking to me in that moment in my life. What I then post is a description or glimpse into that journey I have taken (and often am continuing to take) as I seek to learn more about who God is and who we are called to be as followers of Christ. After reading the above passage from Romans, though, I find myself with lingering questions that I may benefit from continuing to ponder. I invite you to join me in reflecting on these words and questions and how they are speaking to you, in your life, at this moment. What are you learning from them about who God is and who He is calling you to be? "Let love be genuine; hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good; love one another with mutual affection; outdo one another in showing honor. Do not lag in zeal, be ardent in spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope, be patient in suffering, persevere in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints; extend hospitality to strangers. Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with one another; do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly; do not claim to be wiser than you are." (Romans 12:9-16, NRSV) When I first read this text, I was struck by its sparseness. It is essentially a list of directions for living, which is exactly what I need right now. The pace of my life has picked up recently with my baby learning to crawl and my husband taking on new job responsibilities. I've also been getting involved in community organizations and pursuing education opportunities. With more scheduled activities, I find myself with less time to delve uninterrupted into the depths of scripture and research myriads of context. Another byproduct of this change of pace is that there are many lists scattered on my kitchen counter and beside my bed - to do lists, grocery lists, lists of people to contact, random lists of things that don't have a category but must be remembered, lists of books to find, lists of scripture verses to reference when I need encouragement, lists of memories to record in the baby book... When time is short and my focus is split in many directions, life begins to be tethered to lists such as these. Because I am so list-oriented and action-driven right now, finding this passage with specific, brief, verb-loaded directions was a real gift. There are many great lessons packed into these eight verses that call us to live as people who are transformed by Christ and reflect the nature of our Creator God. I am continuing to think about the directions given in these verses to evaluate how I am doing with each and where more growth is needed, and I encourage you to do the same. Part of that process for me is internalizing what each item means and what it might look like when the principle is lived out in reality. At first I felt like interpreting these verses and applying their messages was a task that spoke for itself. However, generating ideas and images as part of interpretation is a task that is highly influenced by the wording of the text, and questioning the wording took me down an unexpected path of discovery and reflection! I first saw this passage from Romans in a New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) translation on the Vanderbilt Divinity Library's Revised Common Lectionary site as one of the suggested readings for this past week. I thought the NRSV translation was beautiful, but there were some words in it that seemed different than how it might be said today, so I decided to compare it with another translation. I like to use BibleGateway for this side-by-side comparison work, so I input the verse reference and selected New International Version (NIV), my usual go-to, and the original NRSV. I was surprised by the many differences in word choice that I saw, so I decided to try adding another translation - this time the Common English Bible (CEB), which has become an increasingly popular choice for those seeking a contemporary version of scripture. I am often surprised at how versions like CEB and "The Message" choose to phrase ideas in a "modern" way of speaking. It sounds less familiar to me than the NIV and NRSV that I'm more accustomed to, so I usually like to compare it to an older translation to see the differences and capture more nuances of the text. For the final comparison, I selected the New American Standard Bible (NASB). This is the version my husband prefers, and while I don't always immediately connect with the wording, it provides another valuable perspective on how scripture can be interpreted. With all four versions of this passage in Romans appearing side by side on my computer screen, the differences between them were striking! I'll give you a synthesized version of some of the major ones below: Romans 12:9-16 (NIV, NRSV, CEB, NASB) verse 9: Love must be sincere. Let love be genuine. Love should be shown without pretending. Let love be without hypocrisy. All four of these have the same message at heart, but "sincere," "genuine," "shown without pretending," and "without hypocrisy" each resonate with me in slightly different ways. They each spark different examples and responses in my mind. Each are valuable, and it would be difficult to say which I think is preferable. And perhaps if we were to dig further and research the Koine Greek that each of these seeks to capture in English, we would find that one wording seems more faithful to the text than another, or that all are necessary to convey the full spectrum of meaning in the original Greek that does not easily translate into English vocabulary. verse 10: Be devoted to one another in love. Love one another with mutual affection. Love each other like the members of your family. Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Again, looking at the common ground among these translations, the spirit of their meaning becomes clear, but if I were to only view one version without the others, I may come away with a much different sense for their intended meaning unless I did further research. This especially strikes me with the version from CEB that says, "like the members of your family." Unfortunately many people today live with broken family relationships, so what connotations might this version have for them? For me, the idea of a love that is "devoted" and "mutual" rings clearer when read in isolation. verse 10 (continued): Honor one another above yourselves. Outdo one another in showing honor. Be the best at showing honor to each other. Give preference to one another in honor. The main theme among these translations of the second half of verse 10 centers around humbling yourself by honoring others. NIV and NASB leave it at that. On the other hand, NRSV and CEB seem to place great emphasis on striving for this goal by including "outdo" and "be the best at," which ironically has the effect, in my mind at least, of encouraging a sense of pride rather than humility. Since I can see all the translations, I can see what the overall point is that appears in all four; without these additional references, I think it would be easy to get into a contest of honoring others! Cartoons from my childhood come to mind where two characters stand in front of a doorway saying, "No, after you!" ad infinitum while life passes them by... verse 16: Live in harmony with one another. Live in harmony with one another. Consider everyone as your equal. Be of the same mind toward one another. Interestingly, the NIV and NRSV translations are the same here with the general idea of "living in harmony," but CEB seems to go down a much more specific path. To me, the directive in the CEB version to consider everyone as an equal is not equivalent to "living in harmony" and seems potentially problematic again given the broken nature of our world and human relationships. NASB seems to suggest that harmony involves being "of the same mind," but even that phrase leaves some room for interpretation. This is one instance where I would love to see some analysis of the original Greek and perhaps commentary from Biblical scholars to see where there is some consensus for meaning. Bible Hub is a great tool for this as it breaks down these types of research resources and allows for side-by-side comparison. Check it out on the Resources page and see what you find! verse 16 (continued): Do not be conceited. Do not claim to be wiser than you are. Don't think that you're so smart. Do not be wise in your own estimation. Here again the diversity in the translations offers us multiple perspectives but also leaves us with questions. In my experiences, the word "conceited" that is offered by NIV has been used to mean having a sense of personal vanity, perhaps about one's looks or abilities. This seems different than the focus on wisdom present in NRSV and NASB. Similarly, I think that CEB is touching on a different issue with the use of the word "smart," which to me relates to intelligence and is not the same thing as wisdom. Overall there is a common theme of the need for humility in our opinions of ourselves, and I think that is the important takeaway here. If left with only one of these translations, though, how might our interpretation differ? Studying scripture can take us down many unexpected paths which are not always smooth or easy to travel. One thing that can create a stumbling block is the differences we find among various translations of the Bible. In some study groups the same translation is used by all members to avoid this confusion, but I think there is a richness and depth to our study that we lose by this homogeneous approach. I believe the Holy Spirit speaks to us when we openly listen and allow ourselves the possibility of learning something new. And there is still room for us to humbly add our perspective to someone else's in order to build up the body of Christ. Though we may not be able to settle on a quick answer of what a particular passage means, what might we discover by exploring different translations other than the one we use most often? How might our interpretations be shifted, broken down, or strengthened by this practice? How might our conversation and understanding of our faith be more informed and built up? How might we encounter God differently as we grapple with his living Word and its meaning for our lives? I'd love to hear your thoughts on Biblical interpretation, translations of scripture, and how you use these and other tools in your personal and group study! Feel free to share your ideas here or on the Contact page. Scripture Reading: John 14:15-21
Yesterday my husband and I celebrated our 9th anniversary! While our years of marital bliss have not yet surpassed the single digits, each year when May 17th comes around, I feel a sense of pride and affection for who we are becoming together and how far we have come since we began this adventure. Along the way, we have learned many important lessons that have strengthened our partnership and deepened our appreciation for each other; one such example relates to communication. You would think that two fairly articulate, caring people would be able to communicate well with each other, especially when it comes to expressing feelings. What we didn't realize early on, though, is that we spoke different love languages. Figuring out how to express just how much someone means to us can be a fun exercise in creativity, but it can also be a source of stress, confusion, or flat-out miscommunication if we do not speak the same love language as our significant other. Recently this topic of love languages came up in a Bible study, and we chimed in our collective knowledge of Dr. Gary Chapman's book The 5 Love Languages: The Secret to Love that Lasts. In brief, we recalled that there are five possible love languages: words of affirmation, acts of service, receiving gifts, quality time, and physical touch. Each of us has a primary love language that we use most often to demonstrate love for someone. For example, we may be more likely to communicate our love by giving a hug if our primary love language is physical touch. Or if it is acts of service, we may show someone we care by making them a delicious meal. This idea of each of us being oriented to expressing love in a particular way can be an eye-opener in itself, but the concept that seems really revolutionary for many relationships is that we are more likely to perceive love from someone else when it is shown to us in our love language. Many couples find that once they understand this idea, they realize how they have been "miscommunicating" their love for each other by not using their partner's primary love language to show they really do care. Our Bible study leader posed the question to us, "What if obedience is God's love language?" We all sat in stunned silence, considering this thought. Obedience is not a word that usually comes to mind when I think of modern ideas of love. It can carry negative connotations of inequality, abuse, domination, and punishment. How many of us remember times in childhood of being told to obey a parent, "or else..."? And perhaps some of us have an unhealthy relationship in our past where we were expected to obey unreasonable demands from a partner. There are many examples we could offer of instances where obedience is distasteful, or even harmful. However, I don't think this is the kind of obedience that God has in mind. "For I command you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to him, and to keep his commands, decrees and laws; then you will live and increase, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land you are entering to possess." (Deuteronomy 30:16) Moses is speaking to the Israelites here at the end of their 40-year wandering in the desert on their way to the promised land. They were a chronically disobedient group of people, much like us, and Moses is giving them instructions on how to live faithfully in this new era of their life together. There is a clear connection Moses makes between obeying God and receiving life, prosperity, and blessing which I think still holds true for us today. This is not to say that we will avoid all pain and suffering by being obedient. We live in a broken world where evil exists and causes havoc in our lives, and Christians are not immune to this reality. And we must be careful not to reduce our relationship with God to a focus on wish-fulfillment, expecting wealth and good fortune because of our faith. But God promises that we will receive good things by obeying His commands. In the larger passage from Deuteronomy, a choice is offered to us to obey or not obey, and the consequences for each are laid out for our consideration. Lest we think that God is only concerned with our compliance, though, we should also consider a passage from the New Testament that explains the connection my friend noticed between obeying God, showing our love for Him, and the good gifts this will bring about in our lives. At one point in John's gospel, Jesus is talking with his disciples about what to expect after his death and resurrection, and he describes how he will send the Holy Spirit to help guide them in their lives and ministry. In order to receive this gift of the Holy Spirit, the disciples must show their love for Jesus and for God by obeying the commands Jesus has given them. As Jesus says, "If you love me, keep my commands. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever--the Spirit of truth... Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them." (John 14:15-17, 21) Along with connecting the ideas of obedience and love, Jesus is introducing an idea that we refer to today as the Trinity - we know God as the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (three persons in one God). This is a very challenging concept to wrap our minds around, so for more explanation, click here. Jews in Jesus' time were familiar with God the Father, and Jesus established himself as God's Son through his life of ministry, death, and resurrection. Here Jesus is teaching the disciples about the third element of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit. As followers of Christ today, we are able to be in a close relationship with God the Father because of the sacrifice of Jesus the Son on our behalf, and we have communication and connection with God the Father and God the Son through the gift of the Holy Spirit. In this passage from John, though, Jesus makes it clear that in order to receive this gift of the Holy Spirit, we must show our love for God through obedience to his commands. This, Jesus seems to say, is God's love language, the way He will know that we love Him. How good are we at obeying God's commands? We may feel like we are showing God our love in many ways, but are we speaking His love language by obeying the commands He has given us? When I think about my own faith life and how I show my love for God, I think of the time I set aside to study scripture, my efforts to pray regularly (this one is a struggle for me!), and attending my church's worship services. I look for ways to serve others who are in need because I appreciate how God has lovingly met my needs. Personally, I also enjoy singing hymns and praise songs, and I feel like that is a way I communicate my love for God as well. These are all good things and important practices of the Christian faith, but the Jesus' words cut across all of these things and stop me in my tracks: "If you love me, keep my commands... Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me..." If obedience is God's love language, then I must ask myself: Am I obeying God's commands? This is a very tall order when I consider what all of these commands include! For a quick refresher on one major example, the Ten Commandments, click here. There are many other commandments in the Old Testament, and Jesus gives many commandments in his teachings in the New Testament. To "walk in obedience" to God is no easy task! When I look over the Ten Commandments, for instance, I notice some that I feel I am good at keeping, like verses 13 and 14 that tell us not to murder or commit adultery. Surely I can say with confidence that I have never broken these commandments, right? Well, that is where another reading this week from the gospel of Matthew makes me question just how obedient I really am. In this passage Jesus breaks down the deeper implications of these two commandments against murder and adultery: "You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘You shall not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’ But I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to a brother or sister, ‘Raca,’ is answerable to the court. And anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell. ...You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart." (Matthew 5:21-22, 27-28) Now the bar has been raised and I am no longer sure where I stand. I have not physically murdered anyone, but I have definitely been angry with many people many times. (Being impatient and short-tempered is a real struggle for me.) According to what Jesus is saying here, any time my frustration at someone has erupted verbally or even in my heart, I have become a murderer. Likewise, any time I have admired anyone physically other than my husband (which is hard to completely avoid in our media and entertainment culture today), I have committed adultery. If I am being honest, I am guilty as charged. I know these commandments are given for our good, and I want to keep them to show my love for God and receive God's blessing. But who could possibly live up to such standards? No one. In fact, it is impossible for any of us because as humans we are imperfect, flawed and fallible. We will inevitably fall short of all these expectations and fail to keep God's commands. Where does that leave us then? What hope do we have of expressing our love for God through obedience if we will always at some point disobey? How will we receive the gift of the Holy Spirit so that we may have a long life in the Promised Land? How will our broken love and unfaithfulness be restored? Through Jesus. If we confess our shortcomings, seek forgiveness, and ask for another chance in the name of God's Son Jesus and his sacrifice, it will be given to us. So we pray with the psalmist: "Blessed are those whose ways are blameless, who walk according to the law of the Lord. Blessed are those who keep his statutes and seek him with all their heart-- they do no wrong but follow his ways. You have laid down precepts that are to be fully obeyed. Oh, that my ways were steadfast in obeying your decrees! Then I would not be put to shame when I consider all your commands. I will praise you with an upright heart as I learn your righteous laws. I will obey your decrees; do not utterly forsake me." (Psalm 119:1-8) There are many commandments named in the Bible. As followers of Christ we are expected to obey them to show our love for God and receive the blessings He has to offer us in this life and for eternity. We cannot do this on our own, though, and God offers us help and a way to overcome our failures through His Son Jesus and the gift of the Holy Spirit. Praise be to God who we obey out of love and who never forsakes us. Amen. What are your primary love languages? How are you at speaking God's "love language" of obedience? Does it change your attitude toward God's commandments to think about keeping them as an act of love? Which commandments do you struggle with the most? I'd love to hear your thoughts! Feel free to share them here or on the Contact page. I love to be surrounded by nature. Long walks in our large arboretum-style public park revive my soul and reconnect me with a sense of what is good, honest, eternal, and God-created. Every time I visit the park, I conclude I should do it more often. This then leads me into admiring others' landscaping in their yards on the way home and thinking about how I would like to have such well-tended greenery at my own home to give it a park-like feel. I give up on this idea pretty quickly, though!
Although I appreciate the presence of plants and trees, I am very unskilled at growing and maintaining them. Even some of the hardiest perennials have inexplicably withered under my care with no reappearance the following spring. As we transition from April to May, I am looking at my flower pots from last spring - the ones that were given to me filled with a beautiful variety of vegetation already nurtured and blooming - and wondering if I dare hope and invest in a new round of growth this year? You see, I am aware of my non-green thumb, and logic tells me to conserve my resources and not to give time, energy, and money to cultivating my own plants. It would just be wasteful, fruitless, and frustrating. Reason and experience tell me I'm better off focusing my attention elsewhere. But still, I wish...I wonder... There are many analogies I could draw from my experience with growing (or not growing) houseplants. One particular verse from the passage in 1 Peter that stands out to me, though, is at the end when it describes how we are born anew in Christ: "For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God." (1 Peter 1:23) This reference to imperishable seed caught my attention. What if I could plant with seeds that were imperishable? Then, no matter what I did, however many or grievous mistakes I made in the care of my plants, they could always be restored to health again? I imagine the brittle brown leaves I forgot to water or the puffy, yellow leaves I lovingly over-watered slowly transforming back into the vivid, nourished green they were intended to be - over and over, time and again, restoration and a fresh start. This, I think to myself, sounds a lot like grace! Through Christ we are given the gift of grace that lives and endures, as the verse says, through all kind of trials and circumstances. As Paul's letter to the Romans explains, "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? ...No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Romans 5:37-39) From Paul's message here we can infer that neither can our own sinfulness separate us from the love of God as demonstrated through Christ's sacrifice which has imparted grace to us. There is no sin in our lives so great that God's grace through Christ will not heal our brokenness, wash us clean, and make us new. This is the gift of repentance and restoration. This is the gift of imperishable seed that blooms again and again. And thank goodness! We have this assurance that gives us not only hope for ourselves, but the ability to live and endure all kinds of circumstances through the help of Christ, the Word of God, the author and perfecter of our faith. It is this sense of gratitude and this assurance of our capacity to endure that allows us as followers of Christ to give of ourselves to others with a generosity of spirit that points to our Creator God. By sharing radical love with others through acts of kindness, justice, and hospitality, we are glorifying God and helping to spread the imperishable seeds of hope in Christ. "Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for each other, love one another deeply, from the heart." (1 Peter 1:22) Because of grace, we can be "purified" in our faith. If we are obedient to God's commands for our lives and the reality of Christ crucified, it will create a new heart in us that is capable of sincere love for others. As followers of Christ, we are called to "love one another deeply, from the heart" as he did, and we are capable of it through his spirit which lives in us. It is this love that transforms the world. In my current state as a gardener, I know that the plants I tend will wither and die. They will not bear fruit. They are perishable, and I am not adequately skilled for the task of caring for them. Likewise, in my human state, my ability to love others is limited. Try as I might, my human love inevitably dries up and withers to a state of being shallow, selfish, and insincere. I may start with the best of intentions, but they will ultimately fail me, and I will come up short in a time when more love is needed. Do I have experiences of genuine love for others? Absolutely! But loving others deeply and from the heart is an exhausting, painful, discouraging, and unsustainable experience without the help of God through Christ. If I only draw on my limited human abilities to love others, my efforts will come to nothing, and any growth that comes of it will fade and pass away. As Jesus says in the gospel of John, "Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing." (John 15:4-5) If we instead draw on the imperishable seed, the deep well, the living and enduring Word of God which is Christ Jesus, we will have the ability to truly love others deeply and from the heart. Though people will disappoint us, hurt us, turn us away, we will be able to love them sincerely anyway. Though we are pulled in many directions and distracted by our own selfish desires, we will be able to love them deeply anyway. Though loving others can be demanding on our time, energy, and resources, through Christ we will find we always have more to give. And our shared experiences of this love will transform us, those we are loving, and indeed the whole world until it reflects the restored beauty of the image of God. This spring as we tend our gardens, flower pots, and houseplants - or maybe just admire others' from afar - may we remember to tend our inner selves as well. Let's plant the imperishable seeds of Christ in our hearts and minds so that God's deep and abundant love will overflow from our spirit and spread the seed of His saving grace wherever we go. And if we stumble along the way, let us return to God with repentant hearts and rejoin the vine of Christ to be renewed and replanted. How wonderful to imagine the beautifully transformed life this will create here on Earth and the beauty of a life perfectly restored with God in eternity! Thanks be to God! What spiritual practices help you tend to your inner self? How are you planting imperishable seeds in your life? Do you have times when you have struggled to love others deeply, from the heart? How has your faith helped you love others? I'd love to hear your thoughts! Feel free to share them here or on the Contact page. Forgiveness seems easy enough on paper or in theory. However, I've begun to realize how I sometimes only allow forgiveness to take place on a surface level in my life, rather than deep down in the core of my being. A good comparison would be the difference between wiping a spill off the counter versus soaking and rinsing a stained shirt until it's washed and clean throughout. One only touches the visible exterior, and the other flows through all the layers, leaving nothing untouched in the cleansing process.
In my growing up years, the burden of mistakes I made and the ways I fell short of expectations--mine, others', God's--weighed on me heavily. I felt stuck in a filthy muck of "not good enough" that kept showing up on me even when I tried to ignore it or cover it up. Some of these feelings were insecurities that needed their own form of healing. Others, though, were attached to real times when I had truly messed things up by what I had done or failed to do. Guilt and shame were feelings that easily overwhelmed me, so learning that a personal relationship with God meant that I could have something called forgiveness--a second chance, a clean start, a new life...that was Good News indeed. As eager as I was to have forgiveness in my life, I have wrestled with truly accepting it, embracing it, and giving it to others ever since. One obstacle has been that my friends and I were taught to "say sorry" as kids when we injured or offended, and the immediate polite response of "that's okay," emerged later in our social patterns. Not wanting anyone to feel bad, "I'm sorry," and "That's okay," eventually flew out of my mouth as the situation called for it before my honest thoughts and feelings could catch up. After the moment had passed, I would be surprised by a wave of anger, confusion, hurt, or sadness that came unbidden. What was this? I had already said the "right" words, but I didn't always take time to process my feelings and truly seek, offer, or accept forgiveness. Without taking those steps, I was limiting the transformative power of forgiveness to heal me, heal others, and truly change my life. I have to make a conscious effort to not gloss over these opportunities for confrontation, reflection, and healing still today. One thing that helps me in this is to remember that the power of forgiveness to heal and save comes from Jesus, not myself. The scriptures we read on Good Friday describe how Jesus died a painful death that was intended to dishonor and discredit him in the eyes of the people. He knew, though, as we now know, that in order to atone for our sins and imperfections so that we could be reconciled with our just, loving, and perfectly holy Creator God, he must sacrifice himself and give up his life for our sake. So he did not protest. He accepted this role, took the weight of our sins upon himself, and died so that we would have a chance at eternal life after our death and a restored relationship with God that is a glimpse of the heavenly kingdom here on Earth. "Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all... ...After he has suffered, he will see the light of life and be satisfied; by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities. Therefore I will give him a portion among the great, and he will divide the spoils with the strong, because he poured out his life unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors. For he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors." (Isaiah 53:4-6, 11-12) Far from dishonoring and discrediting him, through his death, Jesus was glorified. Through his death, we are made whole. This is the other element of forgiveness that I struggle to grasp. "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God." (2 Corinthians 5:17-20) This reality of becoming a new creation is something I struggle to fully comprehend and embrace. In a society that encourages grudge-bearing and vengeance and gleefully exposes the past misdeeds of people's private lives, it is challenging for me to break away from how the world operates and claim true forgiveness for myself. I am going to focus more this year on believing and becoming the new creation God promises to me in this passage. It is possible because God has made a covenant with us to "forgive [our] wickedness and remember [our] sins no more" (Jeremiah 31:33-34). Our local Good Friday service was last night. We commemorated Jesus' death at the end of a Lenten journey where the weight and sting of my sinfulness and mortality has grown heavy and sharp. Sunday morning has not yet come, and the darkness of our hopelessly human state hangs in front of my eyes, obscuring the way forward. I want to embrace the faith-filled prayer of the psalmist: "Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions. Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me. Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight; so you are right in your verdict and justified when you judge. Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me. Yet you desired faithfulness even in the womb; you taught me wisdom in that secret place. Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones you have crushed rejoice. Hide your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquity. Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me." (Psalm 51:1-12) I realize as I lay awake tonight, holding my own private Easter vigil I suppose, just how much of my life I still live in the mindset of Good Friday. For years I have confronted anxiety and depression that has affected my sense of hope and peace, grappled with the perfectionism that I thought could save me, and waded through the general muck and mire of my mistakes and shortcomings. As the psalmist says, my sin and human frailty are ever before me. Perhaps for this reason, Lent has always resonated with me more than the other church seasons. Guilt and failure are things I identify with and can relate to. I am keenly aware of my need for forgiveness, my longing for healing and reconciliation, and my utter inability to supply those things for myself. I need a savior, and thanks be to God he came to me. In the wee hours of this Saturday morning, while my baby sleeps and my family has not yet arrived, before the busyness of a holiday weekend crashes in and disrupts the sacred moment, I ponder and I wait. I try to wrap my mind around the darkness that feels so overwhelming at times and remember that death does not have the final word and Good Friday is not the end of the story. I want to cling to that truth of Easter morning this year and finally release the burdens and baggage I've been carrying. I am sad for the sin in my life and the brokenness of our world. I am humbled by the love shown by Jesus in his death and forgiveness for people like me who did not deserve it. I know when I get up tomorrow I will be challenged to love and forgive as he did...again and again...and the next day...and the day after that... Knowing these demands and my struggles, grace and forgiveness taste that much sweeter. Easter is coming. I feel the anticipation and hope rising in me this year like a kid on Christmas morning. Easter holds the truth of a great gift for me and for all of us: new life, a second chance, hope, healing, a clean start, and the promise of resurrection into God's heavenly kingdom one day. "Alleluia! Christ is risen!" I whisper to myself with a smile. And I wait in hope for the celebration I know is coming in just another day. What are your experiences with giving and receiving forgiveness? Are there times when forgiveness has been a healing experience for you, or a challenging experience? What gives you hope and courage in the face of challenges? I'd love to hear your thoughts! Feel free to share them here, or on the Contact page. Scripture Reading: John 11:1-45
I am a planner, goal and detail-oriented. My plans are mapped out in my mind, written into lists, spoken in directions to others. Whenever a new, unexpected situation arises in my life, I try to wrap my mind around it by forming a plan: What am I dealing with? How will I respond? Whose help do I need? Which tools or resources would be most useful? It doesn't take long before I have a desired outcome in mind and a plan for how to achieve it. These planning skills are quite handy when needed. However, the reality of how God's plan doesn't always align with my own becomes obvious to me when I read passages like this one from the gospel of John. As I read about the story of Lazarus' illness and death, I consider another important planning question: When will I take action? I try to anticipate Jesus' response at every turn of the plot. I think of what my responses would be and how I would handle the next steps. In every instance, though, I am surprised by what Jesus does (or does not do). When he first hears of Lazarus' illness, surely he will show some concern or a hint of grief, right? No! In fact, when he heard the news, "Jesus said, This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God’s glory so that God’s Son may be glorified through it.'” (John 11:4) Jesus is confident that this is not a time for sorrow, but instead a time when God will be glorified. Well! I didn't see that coming! Surely he will at least want to rush to Lazarus' side to be with him and comfort him during the illness? I imagine times when I have heard of a friend struggling with health issues and gone out to send a card or bring them a meal, or called to chat with them and take their mind off things. That must be what Jesus will do next: go straight to Lazarus to bring him comfort. But no--then Jesus decides to wait two more days before making the journey back to Judea. This seems strange indeed! However, this is a time when, as Jesus told his disciples earlier, he will be glorified as God's Son. This gets to the heart of the matter in a way all my previous planning questions do not. Rather than focusing on what he will do, which tools he will use, how he will act, or even when, Jesus is focused on WHY. Why is this happening to Lazarus? So that God will be glorified. That is the outcome, not death, as Jesus has already shared. All of the other aspects of Jesus' response to the situation are tailored to this one objective of glorifying God. "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts." (Isaiah 55:9) My first thought when I hear of Lazarus and his sisters is to immediately rush to them and try to fix the situation. Thinking of times I have talked with friends in poor health, I would probably try to find out what remedies they had tried, if they had consulted a doctor, and what the real prognosis was in case I could see an alternative solution. If there was none, I would try to console them and grieve with them. I certainly would not choose the path that Jesus did of waiting and focusing on glorifying God. And therein lies my problem! As I reflect on the story of Lazarus and compare my response to Jesus' response, I realize that my efforts at planning in the face of a difficult situation are concerned with doing good and helping others. However, they are also motivated by my desire to take control and be in charge of the circumstances. I am typically focused on what I can do, how I can help, what I know that might be useful to someone. As I said before, my skills and ideas can be helpful, but this scripture is an important reminder that I need to keep God at the forefront of my plans and efforts, especially those intended to help others. Does my plan of action reflect God's influence? Have I prayerfully considered how I will act? Have I allowed for the possibility to not act to leave room for others to help, or for things to happen in God's timing rather than mine? Ultimately, are my plans motivated by a desire to glorify God and serve Him through caring for others? Or am I trying to bring glory to myself and what I can do? At the end of this story about Lazarus, Jesus meets with Lazarus' sister Martha: "Jesus said to her, 'I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?' 'Yes, Lord,' she replied, “I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, who is to come into the world.'” (John 11:25-27) Her sister Mary then also professes her faith by declaring to Jesus that his presence would have prevented Lazarus' death. After these expressions of faith, Jesus goes to Lazarus' tomb, accompanied by Lazarus' grieving sisters and others who were mourning. Jesus grieves with them. And then he finally takes action, telling them to roll away the stone from the tomb. As they are doing this, Jesus gives glory to God: "...Then Jesus looked up and said, 'Father, I thank you that you have heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me.'” (John 11:41-42) Even as the Son of God, Jesus wants to be sure those around him recognize the involvement of God the Father in the miracle they are about to witness. Then finally Jesus calls to Lazarus to come out, and "the dead man came out," alive once more through the intervention of Christ, to the glory of God. This ending far surpasses any that I could have planned or even imagined. It makes me wonder how often in our life God is waiting to work miracles of all shapes and sizes, if we would just make room for Him in all our planning and concern ourselves with glorifying Him in all that we do. As Jesus explained to Martha when he first visited her and her sister Mary, “'Martha, Martha,' the Lord answered, 'you are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed—or indeed only one...'" (Luke 10:41-42) The next time I am confronted with an unexpected situation, surprising circumstances, or an opportunity to act based on my own powers and ideas of what should be done, I am going to think of the story of Lazarus and remember that God's plan is often not the same as mine. Rather than forging ahead in my own way, for my own glory and satisfaction, I want to be more like Jesus who decided how to respond based on what would glorify God. If we trust that God cares for His creation, including us, then He will not fail to take care of us in our times of need, even if it is by a means or a timetable that we would not at first choose on our own. By focusing first on God, we will be able to see a way forward that not only addresses the earthly needs that are present, but does so in a way that addresses spiritual needs as well and gives glory to God instead of ourselves. So before we rush to plan, to act, to speak, to fix...let us seek God's guidance to show us the way. To God be the glory, now and forever! How do you first respond to new or challenging situations? How do you balance listening for God's direction and taking action? What are some times when you have sensed God's plan differing from your own? What did that look like and how did it turn out? I'd love to hear your thoughts! Feel free to share them in the comments here or on the Contact page. Scripture Reading: 2 Peter 1:3-11
We are called to live lives of faithfulness as followers of Christ, but what does this look like exactly? The author of 2 Peter breaks down seven qualities of a faithful Christian. Although we will inevitably fall short in our efforts to attain these and live them out in our lives, the author insists on the importance of trying, not only for our own sake, but so that our lives might reflect the loving grace of the God and the compassionate love of His Son Jesus. It is this love that people are hungry for, and by showing this love through our faithful living, we will transform the world and help others connect with God. This passage from 2 Peter is a tough kind of scripture for me to read and fully embrace because it contains both grace and accountability. I love grace, but I tend to shy away from things that hold me accountable because I don’t like the feeling of not measuring up. I’m not sure I know of anyone who appreciates being told that they are not doing a good enough job, especially when it comes to how we live our lives and live out our faith. However, I sense that the message here is not only about holding up a measuring stick, but a reminder of our underlying motivation for trying to do better with how we live out our lives faithfully. The part that stands out to me in this passage is the list of qualities the author names in verses 5-7: “…make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love.” There are some very interesting things to discuss about the items in that list and their significance, but my mind at first notices there is a list, and my type-A personality wants to make sure I have all the items checked off and accounted for. This is not an easy task, though! Thankfully God promises grace to us in our efforts. Even though we will fall short, the author is saying it’s still important that we try to acquire and live out these traits, so first things first… The order of the qualities seems important, so if I start at the beginning, I know that I have faith – check! Then the author says I should add “goodness” to that, which some theologians also describe as virtue, justice, or the strength and courage to stand up for what’s right in God’s eyes. Does that kind of goodness show up in my life? Well, sometimes. I know I recognize God’s goodness (or the need for it) in situations in life, but I need to be more consistent in doing my part to help make that goodness a reality and stand up for it when I have that opportunity. So…half-check? Next is knowledge – great! I love knowledge! Learning about God, scripture, Christian teaching and practice is something I really enjoy and spend time doing. Big check here! But wait, then there’s self-control… This one I get stuck on big time! All of that wonderful knowledge of God’s desires and commands for me as a follower of Christ is comforting and helpful, but it also means my heart, my mind, my words, and my actions should reflect those things. I know that becoming familiar with God’s Word is life-changing, but I’m a work in progress when it comes to letting it change my life. One of the areas in my life I’ve had to confront and try to allow God to change is my temper. I often rush to anger as a first reaction in situations, and it’s taken me a lot of prayer, experience, apologies, and a little therapy to realize what other emotions I’m feeling underneath the anger. Needless to say, this has made self-control very hard for me at times. On the positive side, I have noticed lately that in challenging real life situations that test my self-control, I now immediately have helpful Bible verses come to mind that keep my temper more in check, as well as the thought of “how does my response to this reflect that I am an imperfect person who has been made whole by God’s loving grace?” (Not that I have that whole sentence run through my head, but the idea is there!) Being more active in Bible studies and at my church has really helped me out with this! That has made such a huge difference for me compared to when I wasn’t actively involved with scripture regularly and those verses and thoughts did not come to mind until long after the situation had passed, or not at all. Without those reminders of my faith and identity as a follower of Christ, I am typically much more impatient and self-centered, which means my reactions to challenging situations involve getting frustrated or defensive with people. With those reminders, I am able to have more self-control and respond with less anger. This is not just about checking off “self-control” on the list – it gives me more peace internally to remember those verses that tell me God is much bigger than my situation and is looking out for me. When I have that peace, it comforts me, but it also frees me up to be more patient, kind and loving to others because I can compassionately relate to their perspective and needs without worrying so much about myself. I no longer live at the mercy of my stress and emotions. That is freedom! Do I do all of this in a perfectly loving, gentle, Christ-like way? No, there is still room for improvement there. But my faith has grown enough at this point to allow me to have some self-control and not erupt with anger as my fist response. There is so much negativity and hurt in the world already; I do not want to add to it. And I hope to continue to grow in self-control and the other qualities the author mentions so that my encounters with people are not just neutral, but are a way that God can show them His love and compassion through me. If you look at the final quality on the list, it is love—and not just any love, “agape” according to the Greek translation: Christ-like love. As I see it, the ultimate goal of our efforts to acquire and live out these qualities the author writes about is not strictly for our own benefit, or so that we can feel good about ourselves or superior to others. It is so that we know Christ’s deep, abiding, compassionate, “agape” love in our lives and have it overflow into all that we are and all that we do. Then as we go about living, others will experience that wonderful love through us—our words, our actions, how we treat each other, the help we provide, and even the anger we hold in check in order to offer a glimpse of compassion and peace. As we move through Lent, I hope you can take time to reflect on this passage and find ways to grow in these areas of faithfulness, as well as celebrate how you are already growing in others. As the author also writes here, we have the “great and precious promises” from God that He will provide for our needs, help us grow in our faith, and forgive us when we fall short. Let’s encourage each other to continue growing so that we can “receive rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” and help others do the same. How are you growing in the qualities listed in this passage from 2 Peter? Where have you seen things to celebrate in your walk with God, and where might He be calling you to reflect and try again? What are ways that you seek guidance and encouragement as you grow in your faith? I'd love to hear your thoughts - feel free to share in the comments or via the Contact page! There are some passages in scripture that truly make my spirit sing. They beat in rhythm with my heart and seem to touch my very soul in a loving, healing sort of way. Psalm 121 is one such passage for me.
I first discovered it in its entirety in college on the eve of my departure on an international mission trip. Faced with the reality of flying in a plane to another country with other students I barely knew, it struck me how little there was in this situation that I could control. As cautious and self-sufficient as I normally would try to be in my regular life, I was stepping far out of that safe, familiar realm and willingly putting my life in the hands of others. Although I know that nothing is guaranteed to anyone ever, something about those circumstances had me confronting the possibility that I was taking a very big risk and may not make it home safely. It was a frightening thought, and my anxiety crept higher and higher over the final days before our trip. Then one night as I was skimming through scripture, I found Psalm 121. It calmed my fears immediately and flooded me with a sense of peace. I lift up my eyes to the mountains-- where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth. (Psalm 121:1-2) I remembered that I was not just putting my life in other people's hands, but also in God's hands, where it has been all along. And as the Maker of heaven and earth, surely He was powerful enough to help me! He will not let your foot slip-- he who watches over you will not slumber; indeed, he who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. The Lord watches over you-- the Lord is your shade at your right hand; the sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon by night (Psalm 121:3-6) Many times in my life I have tried to be self-sufficient and take care of way too many tasks and responsibilities rather than asking for help. Sometimes it has been motivated by pride, other times by a need to be in charge, and other times by a desire to impress those around me. The most common side-effect of this for me has been sleep deprivation. At times this has become extreme to the point that I physically could not keep my eyes open any longer and would fall asleep in the middle of the day or while I was working late at night. I have even exhausted myself to the point of having mononucleosis, which forced me to bed rest for a week. Through those experiences I have learned that I am someone who needs a sizeable amount of sleep regularly to function coherently and feel like myself. So for me, these verses are particularly impressive and meaningful. God is looking out for me every second of every day! He never tires and has to sleep! He is just as powerful and all-knowing and concerned for my well-being today as He was yesterday and will be tomorrow. The Lord will keep you from all harm-- he will watch over your life; the Lord will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore. (Psalm 121:7-8) This last stanza resonated with me especially in anticipation of my overseas trip, and it continues to come to mind whenever I travel. I think it would do us well to remember it every time we step outside our home! The world can be frightening and seem full of dangers and threats, known and unknown. It would be easy to get caught up in anxiety about what or who may harm us if we venture out of our comfort zones. However, I think God calls us in this psalm to remember His almighty power and His abiding love for us. He is watching over us always and will care for us as we go out to care for others in His name. Does that mean there is no risk involved? No! But God goes with us; He is before us and behind us, guarding our path. So take heart and don't be afraid! Keeping the promises of Psalm 121 in mind, we can live bravely in His name today and always. Have there been times in your life when a scripture passage has brought you comfort just when you needed it most? Which passages speak to you in those times? What aspects or images of God bring you peace in times of uncertainty? I'd love to hear your thoughts - feel free to share in the comments or via the Contact page! |
AuthorRachel is a wife, mom, and follower of Christ. She is active in lay leadership in the United Methodist Church. Archives
October 2017
Categories© Rachel Yochum and Bible Bridge Ministry, 2017. All rights reserved.
|