Good soil

When a great crowd was gathering and people were coming to Jesus from one city after another, he spoke to them in a parable: “A farmer went out to scatter his seed. As he was scattering it, some fell on the path where it was crushed, and the birds in the sky came and ate it. Other seed fell on rock. As it grew, it dried up because it had no moisture. Other seed fell among thorny plants. The thorns grew with the plants and choked them. Still other seed landed on good soil. When it grew, it produced one hundred times more grain than was scattered.” As he said this, he called out, “Everyone who has ears should pay attention.” His disciples asked him what this parable meant. He said, “You have been given the mysteries of God’s kingdom, but these mysteries come to everyone else in parables so that when they see, they can’t see, and when they hear, they can’t understand. (Luke 8:4-10, CEB)

Lord let my heart be good soil.
Open to the seed of your word.
Lord let my heart be good soil
where love can grow and peace is understood.

When my heart is hard break the stone away
When my heart is cold warm it with the day
When my heart is lost lead me on your way
Lord let my heart, Lord let my heart
Lord let my heart be good soil.

These are the words to Lord Let my Heart Be Good Soil from With One Voice.

All we can do is pray that our lives are open to the moving of God and that we are not stuck in our ways.

I pray that your lives and your hearts will be good soil for God to cultivate a love for all people and a person willing to do God’s will.

Loving People. Loving God.

Pray for others

This is why I kneel before the Father. Every ethnic group in heaven or on earth is recognized by him. I ask that he will strengthen you in your inner selves from the riches of his glory through the Spirit. I ask that Christ will live in your hearts through faith. As a result of having strong roots in love, I ask that you’ll have the power to grasp love’s width and length, height and depth, together with all believers. I ask that you’ll know the love of Christ that is beyond knowledge so that you will be filled entirely with the fullness of God. Glory to God, who is able to do far beyond all that we could ask or imagine by his power at work within us; glory to him in the church and in Christ Jesus for all generations, forever and always. Amen. (Ephesians 3:14-21, CEB)

The writer of Ephesians says they kneel before the Father to strengthen others.

So that those around him will be filled with the Holy Spirit and that Christ will live in their hearts through faith.

That they will have strength and be filled with love to overflowing to everyone around them.

That they will know the depth, width, and length they are loved. And they will be filled with knowledge to help in all circumstances.

Do you pray for those around you like this?

Imagine if we all prayed for the community around us like this?

We can change the world!

Let’s get to kneeling before the Father.

Loving People. Loving God.

honor

Every high priest is taken from the people and put in charge of things that relate to God for their sake, in order to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins. The high priest is able to deal gently with the ignorant and those who are misled since he himself is prone to weakness. Because of his weakness, he must offer sacrifices for his own sins as well as for the people. No one takes this honor for themselves but takes it only when they are called by God, just like Aaron. In the same way Christ also didn’t promote himself to become high priest. Instead, it was the one who said to him, You are my Son. Today I have become your Father, as he also says in another place, You are a priest forever, according to the order of Melchizedek. (Hebrews 5:1-6, CEB)

How do we get respect?

How do we get honor?

There are those who demand respect and honor, and sometimes they get it. Sometimes they don’t.

We get respect and honor by showing we deserve it. We live lives of integrity and actually are who we are all the time, even when people aren’t looking.

Jesus was made high priest by God. The one to stand in our place and do what we can’t.

Know that Jesus is always there for you.

And share the love that God gives us through Jesus with the world so all may know that they are loved and held.

Loving People. Loving God.

Surprise, Surprise, Surprise

“Now when the Human One comes in his majesty and all his angels are with him, he will sit on his majestic throne. All the nations will be gathered in front of him. He will separate them from each other, just as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right side. But the goats he will put on his left. “Then the king will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who will receive good things from my Father. Inherit the kingdom that was prepared for you before the world began. I was hungry and you gave me food to eat. I was thirsty and you gave me a drink. I was a stranger and you welcomed me. I was naked and you gave me clothes to wear. I was sick and you took care of me. I was in prison and you visited me.’ “Then those who are righteous will reply to him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you a drink? When did we see you as a stranger and welcome you, or naked and give you clothes to wear? When did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ “Then the king will reply to them, ‘I assure you that when you have done it for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you have done it for me.’ “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Get away from me, you who will receive terrible things. Go into the unending fire that has been prepared for the devil and his angels. I was hungry and you didn’t give me food to eat. I was thirsty and you didn’t give me anything to drink. I was a stranger and you didn’t welcome me. I was naked and you didn’t give me clothes to wear. I was sick and in prison, and you didn’t visit me.’ “Then they will reply, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison and didn’t do anything to help you?’ Then he will answer, ‘I assure you that when you haven’t done it for one of the least of these, you haven’t done it for me.’ And they will go away into eternal punishment. But the righteous ones will go into eternal life.” (Matthew 25:31-46, CEB)

There are two groups here, those who took care of Jesus and those who ignored Jesus. And the common thread that connects the two groups? Both of them were surprised at what they had or hadn’t done.

Neither knew they had seen Jesus.

Neither knew they had helped or ignored Jesus.

How do we know when we see Jesus?

Easy, when you look into the eyes of another, you are seeing Jesus. Even if that person isn’t a Christian. Even if that person is vile and evil. God loves all people and is with them. And how we treat them is how we treat God.

Love all, and don’t be surprised when the day comes and you are welcomed because you gave Jesus a drink. Because everyone deserves love.

Loving People. Loving God.

Don’t be Cain

This is the message that you heard from the beginning: love each other. Don’t behave like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he kill him? He killed him because his own works were evil, but the works of his brother were righteous. Don’t be surprised, brothers and sisters, if the world hates you. We know that we have transferred from death to life, because we love the brothers and sisters. The person who does not love remains in death. Everyone who hates a brother or sister is a murderer, and you know that murderers don’t have eternal life residing in them. This is how we know love: Jesus laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters. But if someone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but refuses to help—how can the love of God dwell in a person like that? (1 John 3:11-17, CEB)

Cain killed his brother out of jealousy.

Life is a gift given to all of us, and sometimes it seems like other people get all the good stuff while we slog through the crap. And sometimes life isn’t fair.

A lot of times though the things we say are weighing us down are things we might get a little out of context and make bigger than they are. I’m not trying to say bad things don’t happen, but attitude is a lot in life. The world and people put down those who seem to have it better and easier and we think if we hold them down that somehow their luck will come to us. and that isn’t how this works. Cain didn’t get what Abel had by killing him, Cain got punished for taking a life.

Don’t be Cain and think that killing your Abel will change things for the better because it won’t.

Walk and journey through your life and make the best of it and know that you don’t walk alone.

God is always with you.

Love the world as you are loved.

Loving People. Loving God.

Can you tell…

My brothers and sisters, when you show favoritism you deny the faithfulness of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has been resurrected in glory. Imagine two people coming into your meeting. One has a gold ring and fine clothes, while the other is poor, dressed in filthy rags. Then suppose that you were to take special notice of the one wearing fine clothes, saying, “Here’s an excellent place. Sit here.” But to the poor person you say, “Stand over there”; or, “Here, sit at my feet.” Wouldn’t you have shown favoritism among yourselves and become evil-minded judges? My dear brothers and sisters, listen! Hasn’t God chosen those who are poor by worldly standards to be rich in terms of faith? Hasn’t God chosen the poor as heirs of the kingdom he has promised to those who love him? But you have dishonored the poor. Don’t the wealthy make life difficult for you? Aren’t they the ones who drag you into court? Aren’t they the ones who insult the good name spoken over you at your baptism? (James 2:1-7, CEB)

Can you tell who is more loved by how they look?

Like the story says, one wearing a gold ring and one in filthy rags, which is more loved? By their appearance, you can not tell who is more loved by the world. But who is more loved by God? Neither, they are both loved the same. Both are sinners and need to be redeemed and are loved by God equally.

We can not see what God sees when we look with our own eyes or the eyes of the world. We must look through the eyes of God and treat everyone as God treats them.

Love all.

Love Out Loud.

Loving People. Loving God.

wanted to prove

A legal expert stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he said, “what must I do to gain eternal life?” Jesus replied, “What is written in the Law? How do you interpret it?” He responded, “You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your being, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and love your neighbor as yourself.” Jesus said to him, “You have answered correctly. Do this and you will live.” But the legal expert wanted to prove that he was right, so he said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” Jesus replied, “A man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho. He encountered thieves, who stripped him naked, beat him up, and left him near death. Now it just so happened that a priest was also going down the same road. When he saw the injured man, he crossed over to the other side of the road and went on his way. Likewise, a Levite came by that spot, saw the injured man, and crossed over to the other side of the road and went on his way. A Samaritan, who was on a journey, came to where the man was. But when he saw him, he was moved with compassion. The Samaritan went to him and bandaged his wounds, tending them with oil and wine. Then he placed the wounded man on his own donkey, took him to an inn, and took care of him. The next day, he took two full days’ worth of wages and gave them to the innkeeper. He said, ‘Take care of him, and when I return, I will pay you back for any additional costs.’ What do you think? Which one of these three was a neighbor to the man who encountered thieves?” Then the legal expert said, “The one who demonstrated mercy toward him.” Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.” (Luke 10:25-37, CEB)

But the legal expert wanted to prove that he was right.

How many times do we communicate to make sure that people see things the way we do? Or to make sure that our answer is the one that everyone believes?

The majority of the issues in the world today can be boiled down to communication. We don’t listen to learn or hear, we listen to respond. The average person hears 4-5 words before they are formulating how they will respond. And the problem is if the person speaking goes on a tangent on word 6 and you have shut your brain down and are more focused on the response, you will make no sense and will cause a bigger issue than there originally was.

We have to prove our point, but that was never told to us to do. We were told to love God and love our neighbor. and a neighbor is someone who lives close to you. And what is close. Well, that is relative. When we try to prove our point or make sure we are right, we are listening to respond and not to learn or hear.

We need to hear. And listen without responding. Listen to empathize, to learn, to be moved and to learn more about the one speaking. To broaden our horizons and community. To make real neighbors and to love them as God loves us.

Listen to learn and broaden.

Love Out Loud.

Loving People. Loving God.

might be

God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him won’t perish but will have eternal life. God didn’t send his Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him isn’t judged; whoever doesn’t believe in him is already judged, because they don’t believe in the name of God’s only Son. “This is the basis for judgment: The light came into the world, and people loved darkness more than the light, for their actions are evil. All who do wicked things hate the light and don’t come to the light for fear that their actions will be exposed to the light. Whoever does the truth comes to the light so that it can be seen that their actions were done in God.” (John 3:16-21, CEB)

Everyone knows John 3:16 or at least has seen the reference on a poster at a sporting event. We think that is the verse we all should know from this passage. And while it is a great verse to hear and comprehend, is it the end all be all of this passage or section of scripture.

For God so loved the world that God sent God’s only Son so that everyone who believes in the Son won’t perish but will have eternal life. Now there is a lot here we need to unpack. All who believe. Not how I believe or you believe, or we ant someone to believe, but all who believe as they believe in Jesus will have eternal life. That means you can not exclude someone because they sin differently than you or because their lifestyle doesn’t match what you think should be included. And when is it that God loved? And is that a continual love? The answer to the first question is not actually given, but to the second the answer is yes. The word used here for love is αγαπε and is in the form of third singular aorist active indicative. The important part there is aorist active, this is a verb that happened in the past but has continual action into the future. Meaning from whatever point God loved the world that love continues to have action into the future forever. There is not a moment after the time God so loved, that God does not so love the world.

But all of that on that verse to say I don’t think that is the most important verse here. John 3:17 says that God did not send God’s Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him! Jesus didn’t come to condemn us. Jesus didn’t come to give us all the reasons we don’t measure up. Jesus didn’t come to give people rocks to throw because others live in different ways than them. Jesus came so that the world might be saved.

Jesus came to save us. To show us a better way.

So the next time you see a John 3:16 poster, ask the holder if they know what John 3:17 is…

Love Out Loud!

Loving People. Loving God.

Integrity

“Because the patriarchs were jealous of Joseph, they sold him into slavery in Egypt. God was with him, however, and rescued him from all his troubles. The grace and wisdom he gave Joseph were recognized by Pharaoh, king of Egypt, who appointed him ruler over Egypt and over his whole palace. A famine came upon all Egypt and Canaan, and great hardship came with it. Our ancestors had nothing to eat. When Jacob heard there was grain in Egypt, he sent our ancestors there for the first time. During their second visit, Joseph told his brothers who he was, and Pharaoh learned about Joseph’s family. Joseph sent for his father Jacob and all his relatives—seventy-five in all—and invited them to live with him. So Jacob went down to Egypt, where he and our ancestors died. Their bodies were brought back to Shechem and placed in the tomb that Abraham had purchased for a certain sum of money from Hamor’s children, who lived in Shechem. (Acts 7:9-16, CEB)

Joseph was a man of integrity. Many tried to hang him out to dry and make him do something he knew he shouldn’t, but Joseph never did.

And Joesph being a man of integrity not only affected him but those around him. Pharaoh heard of Joseph’s family and brought all of them from their home to live with Pharaoh. The whole family, because Joseph was who he is all the time.

Why should you be a person of integrity? For what it gets you? No not for what it gets you, but for what it gives the world.

More love. And we all need more love.

Loving People. Loving God.

What is prayer actually?

My brothers and sisters, what good is it if people say they have faith but do nothing to show it? Claiming to have faith can’t save anyone, can it? Imagine a brother or sister who is naked and never has enough food to eat. What if one of you said, “Go in peace! Stay warm! Have a nice meal!”? What good is it if you don’t actually give them what their body needs? In the same way, faith is dead when it doesn’t result in faithful activity. Someone might claim, “You have faith and I have action.” But how can I see your faith apart from your actions? Instead, I’ll show you my faith by putting it into practice in faithful action. It’s good that you believe that God is one. Ha! Even the demons believe this, and they tremble with fear. Are you so slow? Do you need to be shown that faith without actions has no value at all? What about Abraham, our father? Wasn’t he shown to be righteous through his actions when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? See, his faith was at work along with his actions. In fact, his faith was made complete by his faithful actions. So the scripture was fulfilled that says, Abraham believed God, and God regarded him as righteous. What is more, Abraham was called God’s friend. So you see that a person is shown to be righteous through faithful actions and not through faith alone. In the same way, wasn’t Rahab the prostitute shown to be righteous when she received the messengers as her guests and then sent them on by another road? As the lifeless body is dead, so faith without actions is dead. (James 2:14-26, CEB)

How many times a day do you tell someone, “I’m praying for you”?

And what does that actually mean?

After all of the shootings, which seems to be a daily occurrence now, we hear people say sending thoughts and prayers. But what are the thoughts and what are the prayers?

I recall seeing somewhere a meme of a Pope saying that prayer is us asking God to do something about hunger (or insert worldly need here) and then going and feeding the hungry.

Faith without works is dead, and we as Lutherans have a hard time with this because we are saved by grace so we can’t earn our way but just because works don;t get us to heaven doesn’t mean we don’t have to do them. James clearly says Faith without works is dead. It will help no one.

And our out verse for doing things as Lutherans is Ephesians 2:8-9 “You are saved by God’s grace because of your faith. This salvation is God’s gift. It’s not something you possessed. It’s not something you did that you can be proud of. ” We can not earn our way, that is God’s doing, but we leave off the next verse, verse 10 which says “Instead, we are God’s accomplishment, created in Christ Jesus to do good things. God planned for these good things to be the way that we live our lives.” God planned good things for us to do to be the way we live our lives. We are saved to do good for others.

So don’t just say I’m praying, do something.

Loving People. Loving God.