descendants will be strangers

The high priest asked, “Are these accusations true?” Stephen responded, “Brothers and fathers, listen to me. Our glorious God appeared to our ancestor Abraham while he was still in Mesopotamia, before he settled in Haran. God told him, ‘Leave your homeland and kin, and go to the land that I will show you.’ So Abraham left the land of the Chaldeans and settled in Haran. After Abraham’s father died, God had him resettle in this land where you now live. God didn’t give him an inheritance here, not even a square foot of land. However, God did promise to give the land as his possession to him and to his descendants, even though Abraham had no child. God put it this way: His descendants will be strangers in a land that belongs to others, who will enslave them and abuse them for four hundred years. And I will condemn the nation they serve as slaves, God said, and afterward they will leave that land and serve me in this place. God gave him the covenant confirmed through circumcision. Accordingly, eight days after Isaac’s birth, Abraham circumcised him. Isaac did the same with Jacob, and Jacob with the twelve patriarchs. (Acts 7:1-8, CEB)

Descendants will be strangers in a land that belongs to others, who will enslave them and abuse them for four hundred years. And I will condemn the nation they serve as slaves…

God over and over again in the words of scripture tells us that we need to watch out for the orphan, the widow, the stranger, and the wanderer. We need to accept and unfold all into our lives and love as we are loved by God.

Abraham got no inheritance, but the promise was his descendants would get an inheritance after they were enslaved and mistreated. And yet we enslave and mistreat people all the time and say that is what God called us to do. We say that we need tighter border security and to not allow any sojourners into our land, but God tells us over and over we need to welcome the stranger, the sojourner and to treat them as part of the family.

What inheritance will we get? We deserve nothing, for we have not loved as we have been loved. So how can we change and make a difference in the world?

Loving People. Loving God.

Children

I’m speaking the truth in Christ—I’m not lying, as my conscience assures me with the Holy Spirit: I have great sadness and constant pain in my heart. I wish I could be cursed, cut off from Christ if it helped my brothers and sisters, who are my flesh-and-blood relatives. They are Israelites. The adoption as God’s children, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the Law, the worship, and the promises belong to them. The Jewish ancestors are theirs, and the Christ descended from those ancestors. He is the one who rules over all things, who is God, and who is blessed forever. Amen. But it’s not as though God’s word has failed. Not all who are descended from Israel are part of Israel. Not all of Abraham’s children are called Abraham’s descendants, but instead your descendants will be named through Isaac. That means it isn’t the natural children who are God’s children, but it is the children from the promise who are counted as descendants. The words in the promise were: A year from now I will return, and Sarah will have a son. (Romans 9:1-9, CEB)

Flesh and blood don’t matter here.

It doesn’t mean you are a child of the promise if you are an offspring of someone who is a part of the promise. Flesh and blood are not the markers for in or out.

If you are part of the promise you are counted as a child of God. Your flesh and blood doesn’t matter.

If you are a part of the promise. You are a child of God.

Loving People. Loving God.

Don’t worry

Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Therefore, I say to you, don’t worry about your life, what you will eat, or about your body, what you will wear. There is more to life than food and more to the body than clothing. Consider the ravens: they neither plant nor harvest, they have no silo or barn, yet God feeds them. You are worth so much more than birds! Who among you by worrying can add a single moment to your life? If you can’t do such a small thing, why worry about the rest? Notice how the lilies grow. They don’t wear themselves out with work, and they don’t spin cloth. But I say to you that even Solomon in all his splendor wasn’t dressed like one of these. If God dresses grass in the field so beautifully, even though it’s alive today and tomorrow it’s thrown into the furnace, how much more will God do for you, you people of weak faith! Don’t chase after what you will eat and what you will drink. Stop worrying. All the nations of the world long for these things. Your Father knows that you need them. Instead, desire his kingdom and these things will be given to you as well. (Luke 12:22-31, CEB)

How many times do we hear don’t worry about that?

But does that help? Usually when I hear don’t worry, I seem to worry more.

But here Jesus says that the flowers don’t toil about how they will look and the birds don’t worry about how their wings will look, so if God cares for the flowers and the birds, we shouldn’t worry about what we will wear or eat, or how we will look.

Well, Jesus that is easier said than done. And it might be easy for you to not worry but it is not so easy for me. There are things I need to get done and people I have to care for. There are people who are depending on me to get things done and to be there for them and I just can’t not worry.

And if you are like me that is how you respond to this reading. But really if we let go and allow God to control the things we think we can control (which we can’t). If God is in control things will go better than we think they ever could.

So struggle with me in not worrying, let go, and allow God to care for you as God does. And allow God to do what God does, provide and love.

Loving People. Loving God.

gracious

Keep on praying and guard your prayers with thanksgiving. At the same time, pray for us also. Pray that God would open a door for the word so we can preach the secret plan of Christ—which is why I’m in chains. Pray that I might be able to make it as clear as I ought to when I preach. Act wisely toward outsiders, making the most of the opportunity. Your speech should always be gracious and sprinkled with insight so that you may know how to respond to every person. (Colossians 4:2-6, CEB)

Your speech should always be gracious and sprinkled with insight…

I know I struggle with this. We need to be gracious in everything we say.

Our lives should show forth the wonders of God’s love in everything we do and say. So our comments should always be gracious and inspired by God. Do not succumb to the flesh and speak with an evil tongue. But be gracious in every way.

Speaking truth in love and spreading joy and hope through your actions and your words.

Loving People. Loving God.

the heart for the Lord

Wives, submit to your husbands in a way that is appropriate in the Lord. Husbands, love your wives and don’t be harsh with them. Children, obey your parents in everything, because this pleases the Lord. Parents, don’t provoke your children in a way that ends up discouraging them. Slaves, obey your masters on earth in everything. Don’t just obey like people pleasers when they are watching. Instead, obey with the single motivation of fearing the Lord. Whatever you do, do it from the heart for the Lord and not for people. You know that you will receive an inheritance as a reward. You serve the Lord Christ. But evildoers will receive their reward for their evil actions. There is no discrimination. Masters, be just and fair to your slaves, knowing that you yourselves have a master in heaven. (Colossians 3:18— 4:1, CEB)

DOn’t just do what you should when people are watching, but do what you should for fear of the Lord. Whatever you do, do it from the heart for the Lord and not for yourself or for people. You are not trying to make people happy by serving them. You are doing what the Lord prepared for you to do.

the heart for the Lord is the motivation we need. Not for the prize or recognition here, but to make the Lord happy and to serve as we were served.

Loving People. Loving God.

greed

Someone from the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.” Jesus said to him, “Man, who appointed me as judge or referee between you and your brother?” Then Jesus said to them, “Watch out! Guard yourself against all kinds of greed. After all, one’s life isn’t determined by one’s possessions, even when someone is very wealthy.” Then he told them a parable: “A certain rich man’s land produced a bountiful crop. He said to himself, What will I do? I have no place to store my harvest! Then he thought, Here’s what I’ll do. I’ll tear down my barns and build bigger ones. That’s where I’ll store all my grain and goods. I’ll say to myself, You have stored up plenty of goods, enough for several years. Take it easy! Eat, drink, and enjoy yourself. But God said to him, ‘Fool, tonight you will die. Now who will get the things you have prepared for yourself?’ This is the way it will be for those who hoard things for themselves and aren’t rich toward God.” (Luke 12:13-21, CEB)

We need to watch that we do not succumb to greed of any kind.

God is not a cosmic vending machine to get us all our desires. God is the creator of all and loves all creation the same.

Let us be focused on sharing the abundance we have been given so all may have what they need. Life is not about building bigger barns, but longer tables.

Let us be a blessing for others.

Loving People. Loving God.

what is holding you back?

As Jesus continued down the road, a man ran up, knelt before him, and asked, “Good Teacher, what must I do to obtain eternal life?” Jesus replied, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except the one God. You know the commandments: Don’t commit murder. Don’t commit adultery. Don’t steal. Don’t give false testimony. Don’t cheat. Honor your father and mother.” “Teacher,” he responded, “I’ve kept all of these things since I was a boy.” Jesus looked at him carefully and loved him. He said, “You are lacking one thing. Go, sell what you own, and give the money to the poor. Then you will have treasure in heaven. And come, follow me.” But the man was dismayed at this statement and went away saddened, because he had many possessions. (Mark 10:17-22, CEB)

A man asked Jesus what he must do to obtain eternal life…

Keep the commandments:
Don’t commit murder.
Don’t commit adultery.
Don’t steal.
Don’t give false testimony
Don’t cheat. 
Honor your father and mother

Don’t cheat? Where is that a commandment? Is Jesus changing the rules and lists in front of us?

But the man says I’ve done all these things. Yeah right. I honestly can’t say that I have done all of these things, especially with the expansion Jesus put on them. I mean I try to be who I say I am. But thinking bad thoughts about someone is murder according to Jesus and even though I can say I love everybody, there are some I have wished harm on, and have I always honored my mother and father, no, because I talked back and did things they didn’t want me to do. But this man claims he has always kept all of these.

So Jesus says fine, then sell everything you have and give the proceeds to the poor and come back and follow me. And he couldn’t because he had a lot of stuff.

So what is it Jesus would tell you to do if you could say you have kept all the commandments?

What is keeping you from really following after Jesus?

Loving People. Loving God.

new person

So I’m telling you this, and I insist on it in the Lord: you shouldn’t live your life like the Gentiles anymore. They base their lives on pointless thinking, and they are in the dark in their reasoning. They are disconnected from God’s life because of their ignorance and their closed hearts. They are people who lack all sense of right and wrong, and who have turned themselves over to doing whatever feels good and to practicing every sort of corruption along with greed. But you didn’t learn that sort of thing from Christ. Since you really listened to him and you were taught how the truth is in Jesus, change the former way of life that was part of the person you once were, corrupted by deceitful desires. Instead, renew the thinking in your mind by the Spirit and clothe yourself with the new person created according to God’s image in justice and true holiness. (Ephesians 4:17-24, CEB)

When you were claimed by God as a child of the kingdom you were transformed the old you died and a new you was born.

Therefore we must put away things we have known and live the life that God has called us to. We should live and walk in the ways of Christ and not of the flesh of this world.

We are a new person and Christ has led us to be a light to the world. Let us claim that life and live into it sharing light in everything we do.

Loving People. Loving God.

mysterious

God’s riches, wisdom, and knowledge are so deep! They are as mysterious as his judgments, and they are as hard to track as his paths! Who has known the Lord’s mind? Or who has been his mentor? Or who has given him a gift and has been paid back by him? All things are from him and through him and for him. May the glory be to him forever. Amen. (Romans 11:33-36, CEB)

Riches
Wisdom
Knowledge
Judgments

These are some of the attributes of God that are mysterious. Meaning we really don’t understand them.

We can not understand the mind or ways of God. We think we get it and then something happens that throws us on our heads.

And honestly, that is ok. We need to be open to being able to say I don’t get it and I don’t understand, but God is always with me and always for me.

Live in the mystery.

Loving People. Loving God.

Where does it end?

“You have heard that it was said, You must love your neighbor and hate your enemy. But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who harass you so that you will be acting as children of your Father who is in heaven. He makes the sun rise on both the evil and the good and sends rain on both the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love only those who love you, what reward do you have? Don’t even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers and sisters, what more are you doing? Don’t even the Gentiles do the same? Therefore, just as your heavenly Father is complete in showing love to everyone, so also you must be complete. (Matthew 5:43-48, CEB)

The person questioned Jesus on how to get saved, and Jesus answered love God and love your neighbor. And the person questioned Jesus on who his neighbor is. We want loopholes to get out of loving people we do not want to love.

But here Jesus takes it a step further and says not only love God, and your neighbors (which is everyone, by the way) but also love your enemies and pray for those who harass you. So that they may see the love of God through you.

Seriously Jesus?! I have to not only love people all over the world that I don’t even know who are my neighbors but I also have to love and pray for those who are actively seeking my downfall? Yes. Jesus will always say yes.

We are called to love everyone without end. Regardless of how they treat us, we must love, because that is what God told us to do.

It is not easy my friends. I still have people in my life whom I would not like to have dinner with, but I love them. I wish them the best and pray for them that God will be with them and show them love so that God’s love will be made known in the world. In the last 2 congregations I served my final sermon ended with the line, “God loves you and so do I.” And I meant it. Even those that were happy to see me go. I can honestly say I love them. I would not trust some of them to watch my children or move my stuff, but I love them and wish them no harm.

Can we all say that?

Loving People. Loving God.