Worth Repeating - September 20, 2017

Zechariah 7: 5, 6 “Ask all the people . . . ‘When you fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh months for the past seventy years, was it really for me that you fasted? And when you were eating and drinking, were you not just feasting for yourselves?’” (NIV)

Just think how difficult it would be to share our faith during the holidays if “reason” didn’t rhyme with “season.”*

Christmas was approaching and my co-workers (all women) were stressed over how much they had to do to prepare for the holiday – shopping, baking, wrapping, decorating. I didn’t have much sympathy for them. “Who said you had to do all that stuff?” I asked. Turns out, they were doing it because they chose to.

Zechariah was instructed to have a similar conversation with the Jews who had returned to their homeland from exile in Babylon. They wanted to know if they should continue observing the days of fasting and mourning they had instituted in memory of Jerusalem’s defeat. Through Zechariah, God answered their question with more questions. “Did you fast and mourn for me?” and “Did you feast for me?” It seems their fasting and feasting had lost its meaning.

Does that sound familiar? While there is nothing wrong with getting together with family to eat turkey or exchange gifts or hide eggs, let’s not pretend we’re honoring God when we have left him out of the festivities. We may kid ourselves that Thanksgiving is about being thankful; Christmas is about Jesus’ birth; and Easter is about his resurrection; but seriously . . .

We may have become like Zechariah’s compatriots – turning a perfectly fine religious tradition into a meaningless version of its intended purpose – but our danger lies in how we observe the only mandatory “holiday” instituted for Christians: the Lord’s Supper, in which we commemorate Jesus’ death and resurrection. In I Corinthians 11: 17-32, we find instructions for the right way to participate and the warnings about what will happen if we allow it to become just another meaningless tradition.

In the situation addressed in this passage, God did finally answer the people’s question with an answer. In 8: 19, we find the good news: their self-imposed fasts would become joyful and festive occasions. The same may be possible for our traditional holidays if we include God in our celebrations once more and if we heed his plea to “love truth and peace.”

It can be a deadly thing to come to God with unexamined lives.*

Worth Repeating - September 19, 2017

I Timothy 6: 17 Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. (NIV)

Riches were never true to any that trusted to them.*

Paul does not condemn the wealthy for being wealthy. If you are rich, good for you. But, Paul warns, don’t think too highly of yourself just because of your money. How did you get rich in the first place?  Did you inherit it? Then you have nothing to brag about. Did you earn it by being shrewd and hard-working? Who gave you the health and the intelligence to accomplish that? 

It is possible to get rich without God’s help. Even for those who give God credit for their fortunes, there is still the temptation to forget that they need God. Even if we wisely and generously use our wealth, it can fail us. Is your faith strong enough to survive the loss of your wealth? Is your faith strong enough to withstand obtaining wealth?

No matter how much pleasure our treasure affords us, it can’t buy joy. Paul tells Timothy to command the rich people to put their hope in God – who richly provides everything for our enjoyment. He doesn’t just provide for our needs and expect us to be satisfied with that; he wants us to enjoy things. Things he has created for our pleasure – but not for our worship. And what better way to find joy in our stuff than to share it with others?

It is better to have the permanent divine source of wealth than the transient wealth itself.*

Worth Repeating - September 18, 2017

Ephesians 4: 4-6 There is one body and one Spirit – just as you were called to one hope when you were called – one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. (NIV)

If all ideas are equally valid . . . then no idea is really worth our allegiance, nothing is worth living or dying for – or even arguing about.*

The life of a Christian is both liberating and restrictive. We are free from the penalty of sin, we are free from guilt, we are free to choose. But we are limited to one body, one Spirit, one hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all. It is not true that “we’re all going to the same place – we’re just taking different paths.”

I heard a comedian suggest that if you believe that if it doesn’t matter how you get there, next time you plan a trip, just go to the airport and get on any random plane. See how that works for you. The only way you will ever reach your destination is to get on a plane that is going there.

If you want to go to heaven, you can’t decide which of the “ones” you like and discard the rest. You can’t map out your own little detour and hope that you will eventually get there. Jesus didn’t tell us that he is the best way; he said he is The Way. (John 14: 6)

As long as Jesus is one of many options, he is no option.*

Worth Repeating - September 17, 2017

Luke 10: 17 The seventy-two returned with joy and said, “Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name.” (NIV)

Don’t strive to find more power in your faith; rest your faith in the Source of all power.*

We don’t see much demon possession today. I have read speculation that the reason for so much demonic activity in Jesus’ day was that Satan was afraid. He knew Jesus was a threat, but he didn’t know exactly what the plan was so he ramped up his evil plots to combat whatever God had in store. But just because demon possession is practically unheard of – at least in the USA – it doesn’t mean demonic activity is on the wane. Satan hasn’t gone on vacation. If you watch the news, you are aware of demonic activity around the world.

In this verse, we find that the seventy-two appointed by Jesus to go ahead of him to his destinations were thrilled to report to him their new-found power over demons. Jesus gently pointed out to the seventy-two (verse 20) that their rejoicing should not be because demons submitted to them but because their “names are written in heaven.” We don’t have the same miraculous power that Jesus gave to his disciples, but we are reminded in the spirit-filled words of Peter, “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven give to men by which we must be saved.” (Acts 4: 12)

We wage personal battles with evil every day. Do you have an addiction? Are you a worrier? Do you struggle with depression, fear or illness? Is your marriage in trouble? Have you wandered from God? We must seek the saving power of the name of Jesus before we can receive the overcoming power of his name.  Accept his saving power and, whatever your demon, it will submit to you in Jesus’ name.

The grace of God that saves us is also the same grace that sustains us.*

Worth Repeating - September 16, 2017

Proverbs 23: 23 Buy the truth and do not sell it. (NIV)

Truth isn’t decided by a majority vote or by power politics. It isn’t decided by the people with the biggest bank accounts, or who talk the loudest, or who use language most creatively. Truth is decided by God.*

Buy low, sell high. Classic advice for those who deal in commodities. Solomon’s recommendation for handling truth puts it in a different category from other valuable products. He doesn’t suggest that we shop around for a bargain – truth is worth whatever it costs. Once we have it, we should never trade it for anything else – no matter how high its value goes up. So . . . truth has a price; we should pay the price; and we should not sell it. What are we to do with it then? Again we find that truth differs from other valuable commodities. We can’t sell it for a profit, but if we share it, its value increases, and we never have less than we started with.

In John 14: 6, Jesus declares that he is The Truth. He is that fixed point from which we measure the trueness of everything else. Compared to Shaquille O’Neal, I am short. Compared to Danny DeVito, I am tall. Which am I, tall or short? In determining if a person is tall or short, you must establish a standard of height. Likewise, everything must be held up to Jesus as the standard for truth.

The most important truth about Jesus Christ is his saving truth. In the same verse in which he proclaims that he is the Truth, Jesus also makes it clear that he is the only way to the Father. Buy that truth, no matter what it costs. Never sell it, no matter how tempting the offer. Share it and it will still be yours.

It would be the height of egotism to insist that you alone are the pathway to God – unless it happens to be true.*

Worth Repeating - September 15, 2017

Luke 8: 25 “Where is your faith?” he asked his disciples. (NIV)

God’s strength is perfected in man’s weakness. That is a lesson our eyes will never learn.*

The part of Jesus that was human surely had moments of discouragement when he looked at the raw material he had to work with. Would it have been worse if his disciples were deliberately obtuse than if they were just naturally dense? What about his followers today? How often do we go along on our merry, misinformed way?

I have always pictured God shaking his head in despair as we stumble around in our attempts to fulfill his commission to go into all the world. But just maybe that’s not his attitude at all. He knew when he left the world in our human hands that we were weak and shallow and sinful. Yes, we are all he has to work with but that was his plan – not just something he has resigned himself to live with. His plan.

I don’t claim to know God’s actual attitude. Maybe he doesn’t have one. But he is love so perhaps that’s all he sees when he looks at us. Not failure. Not indifference. Does that make him an indulgent Father? Perhaps. Patient? Yes, the Old Testament abounds with examples of his patience. But not limitless patience.

In his sermon in Athens, Paul said, “For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed.” (Acts 17: 31) For us who are his followers, made righteous through the blood of this man God has appointed, justice is nothing to fear. God will not see that we are inept, inadequate, faithless and defiant. He will see nothing but love.

The reasons why God created the world and placed human beings in its midst lie deep within the mystery of God’s being and are beyond human comprehension.*

Worth Repeating - September 14, 2017

Leviticus 18: 1-3 The Lord said to Moses, “Speak to the Israelites and say to them, ‘I am the Lord your God. You must not do as they do in Egypt, where you used to live, and you must not do as they do in the land of Canaan, where I am bringing you. Do not follow their practices.’” (NIV)

If your Christianity doesn’t make you look different, what makes you think your neighbors will notice?* 

I have a Filipino friend who told me of an event she attended and how uncomfortable she felt there. She had to clarify for me that she felt conspicuous because of her obvious ethnicity amid a crowd of “white” people. It shocked me to realize how oblivious I was to how it feels to be different. Racially and culturally, I have very seldom found myself to be a minority in the crowd; as a Christian, however, I should be familiar with what it feels like to stand out from the herd.

In these verses in Leviticus, and in many other passages, God reminds his people that they are not to blend in with the people around them. God’s people then and now are to contrast vividly with the rest of the world’s population. Here, he tells them not to do as the Egyptians did in the land they had come from nor as the Canaanites did in the land he had brought them to. We should note that not everything these people did was evil - there was more to them than just their religion - but their societies were permeated with customs and behaviors that no child of God should tolerate. And yet, exposure leads to tolerance and compromise.

In the King James Version, Deuteronomy 14: 2 and 26: 18, Titus 2: 14, and I Peter 2: 9, speak of God’s people as “peculiar.” Newer translations describe us as “belonging to God.” I don’t know if the newer versions are more accurate or if we just don’t like being thought of us peculiar, but I’m thinking we would make a stronger statement in today’s culture if we were a little more comfortable with being looked at as peculiar. Maybe we are true to our faith in the worship service but do we stand out from the world when we’re out in it? Is there anything that distinguishes us from the natives in the land of Canaan?

If the Enemy cannot destroy the believers through open conflict, he will dilute them through subtle compromise.*