clean

Jesus was in one of the towns where there was also a man covered with a skin disease. When he saw Jesus, he fell on his face and begged, “Lord, if you want, you can make me clean.” Jesus reached out his hand, touched him, and said, “I do want to. Be clean.” Instantly, the skin disease left him. Jesus ordered him not to tell anyone. “Instead,” Jesus said, “go and show yourself to the priest and make an offering for your cleansing, as Moses instructed. This will be a testimony to them.” News of him spread even more and huge crowds gathered to listen and to be healed from their illnesses. But Jesus would withdraw to deserted places for prayer. (Luke 5:12-16, CEB)

Jesus was not one to keep the rules when it would get him in trouble but he wanted those who were held down to be set free and having this man go and show himself to the priest is what would set him free and allow him to rejoin the community.

Jesus made many clean and liberated them to rejoin the community.

Are we liberating people to be a part of the community?

Loving People. Loving God.

strength

So, my child, draw your strength from the grace that is in Christ Jesus. Take the things you heard me say in front of many other witnesses and pass them on to faithful people who are also capable of teaching others. Accept your share of suffering like a good soldier of Christ Jesus. Nobody who serves in the military gets tied up with civilian matters, so that they can please the one who recruited them. Also in the same way, athletes don’t win unless they follow the rules. A hardworking farmer should get the first share of the crop. Think about what I’m saying; the Lord will give you understanding about everything. (2 Timothy 2:1-7, CEB)

We get strength to run the race and stand up for the fight through the grace we receive from Jesus Christ. Pass along what you have learned about the faith so that others may find the strength they need to stand against the world.

We win by standing fast with Jesus.

Loving People. Loving God.

Hold on

Hold on to the pattern of sound teaching that you heard from me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. Protect this good thing that has been placed in your trust through the Holy Spirit who lives in us. You know that everyone in Asia has turned away from me, including Phygelus and Hermogenes. May the Lord show mercy to Onesiphorus’ household, because he supported me many times and he wasn’t ashamed of my imprisonment. After I arrived in Rome, he quickly looked for me and found me. May the Lord allow him to find his mercy on that day (and you know very well how much he served me in Ephesus). (2 Timothy 1:13-18, CEB)

Do not be like those who have fallen away from the faith, but hold on to the sound teaching you have received from us and cling to the faith and love of God.

Do not let the world pull you away, but hold fast and stand firm in the faith you have been taught.

Share that with the world and do not be swayed.

Loving People. Loving God.

Move

The next day, after leaving Bethany, Jesus was hungry. From far away, he noticed a fig tree in leaf, so he went to see if he could find anything on it. When he came to it, he found nothing except leaves, since it wasn’t the season for figs. So he said to it, “No one will ever again eat your fruit!” His disciples heard this. Early in the morning, as Jesus and his disciples were walking along, they saw the fig tree withered from the root up. Peter remembered and said to Jesus, “Rabbi, look how the fig tree you cursed has dried up.” Jesus responded to them, “Have faith in God! I assure you that whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be lifted up and thrown into the sea’—and doesn’t waver but believes that what is said will really happen—it will happen. Therefore I say to you, whatever you pray and ask for, believe that you will receive it, and it will be so for you. (Mark 11:12-14, 20-24, CEB)

Ok, there are so many questions with this passage. For instance, why did the lectionary group decide to leave out verses 15-19? Verses 15-19 is Jesus and the disciples in the temple and Jesus turning over tables and driving out the money changers.

And why is it mentioned that the fig tree had only leaves because it wasn’t the season for figs? Didn’t Jesus know this and know because of this the tree would have no figs? And yet Jesus still curses the tree.

And then Jesus tells the disciples that if they have faith in God they can move mountains. Have you ever moved a mountain? I have faith in God and I have never moved a mountain, a tree, or anything by just thinking the thing should move. So do I really have faith? It is about the will of God. Sometimes our will is not God’s will and if we ask for something that doesn’t align with God’s will, it will not happen. But do not lose faith! Jesus is always with us.

Loving People. Loving God.

keep commandments

Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born from God. Whoever loves someone who is a parent loves the child born to the parent. This is how we know that we love the children of God: when we love God and keep God’s commandments. This is the love of God: we keep God’s commandments. God’s commandments are not difficult, because everyone who is born from God defeats the world. And this is the victory that has defeated the world: our faith. Who defeats the world? Isn’t it the one who believes that Jesus is God’s Son? I write these things to you who believe in the name of God’s Son so that you can know that you have eternal life. This is the confidence that we have in our relationship with God: If we ask for anything in agreement with his will, he listens to us. If we know that he listens to whatever we ask, we know that we have received what we asked from him. If anyone sees a brother or sister committing a sin that does not result in death, they should pray, and God will give life to them—that is, to those who commit sins that don’t result in death. There is a sin that results in death—I’m not saying that you should pray about that. Every unrighteous action is sin, but there is a sin that does not result in death. We know that everyone born from God does not sin, but the ones born from God guard themselves, and the evil one cannot touch them. We know we are from God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one. We know that God’s Son has come and has given us understanding to know the one who is true. We are in the one who is true by being in his Son, Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life. Little children, guard yourselves from idols! (1 John 5:1-5, 13-21, CEB)

“This is how we know that we love the children of God: when we love God and keep God’s commandments.” We are God’s children when we love God and keep God’s commandments.

So what are God’s commandments?

Is this the 613 Levitical Laws?

Is this the 10 Commandments?

Is this Love God and Love Neighbor?

Because not long after the statement I started this devotion with the author of 1 John says, “God’s commandments are not difficult,” Well that isn’t what Jesus said. The way Jesus expanded the 10 commandments he basically made them impossible for us to keep. So how are the easy? And if it is only Love God and Love neighbor, we even screw that up. We don’t always put God first and there are people in this world we do not love. (At least I can say there are people in the world I really don’t like, but I work on loving than as God loves me.)

So maybe that is why people are leaving the church because those who claim to be apart of the church aren’t always loving.

Maybe we need to try harder to love.

Loving People. Loving God.

Minimalism

I think like most people when we hear the word minimalism we think, “Oh no I will have to get rid of all of my stuff.” We have an emotional attachment to our stuff. As I was reading the excerpt from Christian Minimalism by Becca Erlich I was struck by her talking about her emotional attachment to the sweatshirt and how she took it out of the donation bag and hide it from herself under a basket of clothes. And I thought about the flannel jacket I have that was my father’s and the sweatshirt I never wear in the back of the closet that has memories from my years in high school. The minimalism I knew before the class, readings, and discussion said I had to get rid of these things because they are things I do not use and therefore I do not need. Minimalistic means having only the things you need if you have that much.

But that is not what minimalistic is at all.

The definition Erlich gives for minimalism is, “A focus on the aspects of life that matter most and intentionally removing everything else.” (p. 1)

Minimalism doesn’t mean you can’t own stuff. In my understanding now minimalism is not letting stuff own you. Now, this still doesn’t help with my emotional attachments to the flannel jacket and the sweatshirt. I could give them away because they are in the back of the closet and I hardly ever see them. So should I get rid of them? I also thought during class about the 16 clergy shirts I have. I got most of them when I was in seminary because I had to wear one every day I was at the congregation I was serving on internship. But now I wear a clergy shirt when I do supply and sometimes not even then. And I honestly could go with the 3 I have recently purchased because they are more comfortable than the others anyhow.

I think paring things down would be good for all of us. We, as a family, have done this every time we have moved for me to take a new call. We look through what we have and get rid of things we do not need, or have not used in a while. Except for that flannel jacket and sweatshirt in my closet.

It is interesting to me that minimalism is a spectrum that can be walked by people on the whole spectrum, from those who carry all of their worldly possessions with them in a bag everywhere they go, to people who live in nice homes, with 2 automobiles. It is about the focus of your life. And how the things you own are used for the betterment of relationships and working in the world. Again it is not about how many things you own, it is if your things own you.

All of us would benefit from focusing our life on God and the relationship we have with God. If we can make God the center focus of everything we do and have God be the thing that matters most in our life, then the stuff will fall away or stay and be used for the betterment of the world through God yielding it in the world.

I don’t need the 16 clergy shirts. And I might just give up the sweatshirt and the flannel jacket. But much like Erlich and her red shoes, I think my converse need to stick around. It is how these get used to show God’s love for me and all of creation, and when they become the center of attention, then I need to refocus my life on God because God is what matters most.

Minimalism is about stuff, but it doesn’t mean you can’t have stuff. It means your life is focused on God, and you own the stuff, the stuff doesn’t own you.

occasions for joy

My brothers and sisters, think of the various tests you encounter as occasions for joy. After all, you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance. Let this endurance complete its work so that you may be fully mature, complete, and lacking in nothing. But anyone who needs wisdom should ask God, whose very nature is to give to everyone without a second thought, without keeping score. Wisdom will certainly be given to those who ask. Whoever asks shouldn’t hesitate. They should ask in faith, without doubting. Whoever doubts is like the surf of the sea, tossed and turned by the wind. People like that should never imagine that they will receive anything from the Lord. They are double-minded, unstable in all their ways. Brothers and sisters who are poor should find satisfaction in their high status. Those who are wealthy should find satisfaction in their low status, because they will die off like wildflowers. The sun rises with its scorching heat and dries up the grass so that its flowers fall and its beauty is lost. Just like that, in the midst of their daily lives, the wealthy will waste away. (James 1:2-11, CEB)

Is that really how we think of testing or trials we go through? As occasions for joy?

I am not sure that the author of James is playing with a full deck. We need to see trials and testing as times of joy because testing produces endurance and endurance completes us so we lack nothing. I mean I get it but joy is not what I usually first think of in trials and testing.

Of course, we know that God is always with us and never leaves us so in the midst of trials and testing God is always walking with us. So in that, there is definitely joy or hope.

And I honestly think that is what the author of James is truly getting at. Even in times of testing and trials be mindful that this will always lead to a deepening of your faith. And know that joy is always coming if not seen around you now. Hope is always with you as God is always with you.

Loving People. Loving God.

if you had…

The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!” The Lord replied, “If you had faith the size of a mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you. “Would any of you say to your servant, who had just come in from the field after plowing or tending sheep, ‘Come! Sit down for dinner’? Wouldn’t you say instead, ‘Fix my dinner. Put on the clothes of a table servant and wait on me while I eat and drink. After that, you can eat and drink’? You won’t thank the servant because the servant did what you asked, will you? In the same way, when you have done everything required of you, you should say, ‘We servants deserve no special praise. We have only done our duty.’” (Luke 17:5-10, CEB)

Usually, we hear this as admonishment. If you had faith the size of a mustard seed you could do this, but obviously, you don’t so you can’t. But in reality that doesn’t matter because the faith you have is sufficient for your needs.

We get so caught up in what we don’t have or can’t do, we lose sight of whose we are and what we have been given. Grace, love, mercy, forgiveness, and acceptance.

Know the faith you have is enough.

Loving People. Loving God.

Persistence

As Jesus and his disciples were going out of Jericho a large crowd followed him. When two blind men sitting along the road heard that Jesus was passing by, they shouted, “Show us mercy, Lord, Son of David!” Now the crowd scolded them and told them to be quiet. But they shouted even louder, “Show us mercy, Lord, Son of David!” Jesus stopped in his tracks and called to them. “What do you want me to do for you?” he asked. “Lord, we want to see,” they replied. Jesus had compassion on them and touched their eyes. Immediately they were able to see, and they followed him. (Matthew 20:29-34, CEB)

Why is it when people are calling for or coming to Jesus the disciples or crowds tell them not to?

Thankfully people in the bible are not persuaded by the crowds to stop seeking Jesus. Are you persuaded by the crowds to stop seeking Jesus? And do you?

Are we persistent in our following after Christ?

Do we let the crowds keep us from Jesus?

Loving People. Loving God.

WHo do you follow?

“Write this to the angel of the church in Pergamum: These are the words of the one who has the sharp, two-edged sword: I know that you are living right where Satan’s throne is. You are holding on to my name, and you didn’t break faith with me even at the time that Antipas, my faithful witness, was killed among you, where Satan lives. But I have a few things against you, because you have some there who follow Balaam’s teaching. Balaam had taught Balak to trip up the Israelites so that they would eat food sacrificed to idols and commit sexual immorality. In the same way, you have some who follow the Nicolaitans’ teaching. So change your hearts and lives. If you don’t, I am coming to you soon, and I will make war on them with the sword that comes from my mouth. If you can hear, listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches. I will give those who emerge victorious some of the hidden manna to eat. I will also give to each of them a white stone with a new name written on it, which no one knows except the one who receives it.

“Write this to the angel of the church in Thyatira: These are the words of God’s Son, whose eyes are like a fiery flame, and whose feet are like fine brass. I know your works, your love and faithfulness, your service and endurance. I also know that the works you have done most recently are even greater than those you did at first. But I have this against you: you put up with that woman, Jezebel, who calls herself a prophet. You allow her to teach and to mislead my servants into committing sexual immorality and eating food sacrificed to idols. I gave her time to change her heart and life, but she refuses to change her life of prostitution. Look! I’m throwing her onto a sickbed. I am casting those who have committed adultery with her into terrible hardship—if they don’t change their hearts from following her practices— and I will even put her children to death with disease. Then all the churches will know that I’m the one who examines minds and hearts, and that I will give to each of you what your actions deserve. As for the rest of you in Thyatira—those of you who don’t follow this teaching and haven’t learned the so-called “deep secrets” of Satan—I won’t burden you with anything else. Just hold on to what you have until I come. To those who emerge victorious, keeping my practices until the end, I will give authority over the nations— to rule the nations with an iron rod and smash them like pottery— just as I received authority from my Father. I will also give them the morning star. If you can hear, listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches. (Revelation 2:12-29, CEB)

The church in Thyatira and Pergamum seem to be similar.

Pergamum didn’t break faith of following after Christ and Thyatira kept love and faithfulness for following after Christ. Yet both of them have issues, and don’t we all!

Know that no matter how far you think you’ve gone from Christ or how close you think you are to Christ, you are never as far or as close as you think you are. God loves you because you are a beloved child of God, not for what you have done. And no matter what you do, God will still and always love you.

So remember who you follow, Christ not Satan. And love God and love neighbor like Jesus told us to.

Loving People. Loving God.