Qualified

4 This is the confidence that we have through Christ in the presence of God. 5 It isn’t that we ourselves are qualified to claim that anything came from us. No, our qualification is from God. 6 He has qualified us as ministers of a new covenant, not based on what is written but on the Spirit, because what is written kills, but the Spirit gives life. 7 The ministry that brought death was carved in letters on stone tablets. It came with such glory that the Israelites couldn’t look for long at Moses’ face because his face was shining with glory, even though it was a fading glory. 8 Won’t the ministry of the Spirit be much more glorious? 9 If the ministry that brought condemnation has glory, how much more glorious is the ministry that brings righteousness? 10 In fact, what was glorious isn’t glorious now, because of the glory that is brighter. 11 If the glory that fades away was glorious, how much more glorious is the one that lasts! (2 Corinthians 3:4-11, CEB)

We are not qualified because of what we have done. We do not rise and fall by our own merits in the eyes of God. We can not pull ourselves up by our own boot straps in God’s kingdom. We are only qualified in God’s eyes because of Christ.

So do not think to highly of yourself, but live in the goodness of God and all God has done for you.

God will work through you in glory to show love to all of the world.

Love People, Love God.

Say What?

20 Some Greeks were among those who had come up to worship at the festival. 21 They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and made a request: “Sir, we want to see Jesus.” 22 Philip told Andrew, and Andrew and Philip told Jesus. 23 Jesus replied, “The time has come for the Human One to be glorified. 24 I assure you that unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it can only be a single seed. But if it dies, it bears much fruit. 25 Those who love their lives will lose them, and those who hate their lives in this world will keep them forever. 26 Whoever serves me must follow me. Wherever I am, there my servant will also be. My Father will honor whoever serves me. 27 “Now I am deeply troubled. What should I say? ‘Father, save me from this time’? No, for this is the reason I have come to this time. 28 Father, glorify your name!” Then a voice came from heaven, “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.” 29 The crowd standing there heard and said, “It’s thunder.” Others said, “An angel spoke to him.” 30 Jesus replied, “This voice wasn’t for my benefit but for yours. 31 Now is the time for judgment of this world. Now this world’s ruler will be thrown out. 32 When I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw everyone to me.” (33 He said this to show how he was going to die.) (John 12:20-33, CEB)

What would you say if someone told you there were some Greeks who want to see you?

“The time has come for the Human One to be glorified?”

Sometimes I wonder how the disciples learned anything really. Andrew and Philip tell Jesus some people want to see him and he starts into a dialog about what God is doing here and now.

Jesus came to show us that our ways are not God’s ways and sometimes things may not make sense, but we need to trust that God is working in and through everything for our good.

God loves us as we are and is always with us. So go into the world and through the chaos love them as God loves you. Completely and fully.

Love People, Love God.

Love always, give life.

Six days before Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, home of Lazarus, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. 2 Lazarus and his sisters hosted a dinner for him. Martha served and Lazarus was among those who joined him at the table. 3 Then Mary took an extraordinary amount, almost three-quarters of a pound, of very expensive perfume made of pure nard. She anointed Jesus’ feet with it, then wiped his feet dry with her hair. The house was filled with the aroma of the perfume. 4 Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (the one who was about to betray him), complained, 5 “This perfume was worth a year’s wages! Why wasn’t it sold and the money given to the poor?” (6 He said this not because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief. He carried the money bag and would take what was in it.) 7 Then Jesus said, “Leave her alone. This perfume was to be used in preparation for my burial, and this is how she has used it. 8 You will always have the poor among you, but you won’t always have me.” 9 Many Jews learned that he was there. They came not only because of Jesus but also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. 10 The chief priests decided that they would kill Lazarus too. 11 It was because of Lazarus that many of the Jews had deserted them and come to believe in Jesus. (John 12:1-11, CEB)

Why did Mary use the nard on Jesus’ feet? It was expensive and not something you would just have around. So what did Mary know?

When we don’t understand things we want to just looking over it and not allowing it to become part of who we are. There will always be poor, what does that mean? That we don’t need to interact with or help the poor? No we should always lift up the lowly and speak on behalf of those who don’t have a voice. We need to always be proclaiming the love of God to all.

And sometimes we think others are up to things they may not be up to, and it really isn’t our place to judge others based solely on what our thoughts of them are.

We need to love as Jesus did, and give life to everyone.

Love People, Love God.

Jesus knows

14 Also, let’s hold on to the confession since we have a great high priest who passed through the heavens, who is Jesus, God’s Son; 15 because we don’t have a high priest who can’t sympathize with our weaknesses but instead one who was tempted in every way that we are, except without sin. 16 Finally, let’s draw near to the throne of favor with confidence so that we can receive mercy and find grace when we need help. 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. 2 The high priest is able to deal gently with the ignorant and those who are misled since he himself is prone to weakness. 3 Because of his weakness, he must offer sacrifices for his own sins as well as for the people. 4 No one takes this honor for themselves but takes it only when they are called by God, just like Aaron. (Hebrews 4:14—5:4, CEB)

Jesus knows what we have been through. Jesus can see and understand what we are going through. Even when we wonder how Jesus knows what we go through when the technology and surrounding of our culture is so different from what Jesus saw and experienced. Jesus knows, and is there to be an interceder for you in all things.

Knows that Jesus sees you and understands where you are and what you are going through. Jesus knows.

Love People, Love God

We need rest

Therefore, since the promise that we can enter into rest is still open, let’s be careful so that none of you will appear to miss it. 2 We also had the good news preached to us, just as the Israelites did. However, the message they heard didn’t help them because they weren’t united in faith with the ones who listened to it. 3 We who have faith are entering the rest. As God said, And because of my anger I swore: “They will never enter into my rest!” And yet God’s works were completed at the foundation of the world. 4 Then somewhere he said this about the seventh day of creation: God rested on the seventh day from all his works. 5 But again, in the passage above, God said, They will never enter my rest! 6 Therefore, it’s left open for some to enter it, and the ones who had the good news preached to them before didn’t enter because of disobedience. 7 Just as it says in the passage above, God designates a certain day as “today,” when he says through David much later, Today, if you hear his voice, don’t have stubborn hearts. 8 If Joshua gave the Israelites rest, God wouldn’t have spoken about another day later on. 9 So you see that a sabbath rest is left open for God’s people. 10 The one who entered God’s rest also rested from his works, just as God rested from his own. 11 Therefore, let’s make every effort to enter that rest so that no one will fall by following the same example of disobedience, 12 because God’s word is living, active, and sharper than any two-edged sword. It penetrates to the point that it separates the soul from the spirit and the joints from the marrow. It’s able to judge the heart’s thoughts and intentions. 13 No creature is hidden from it, but rather everything is naked and exposed to the eyes of the one to whom we have to give an answer. (Hebrews 4:1-13, CEB)

Have you ever heard someone say they can’t take a day off because there is too much to do?

Some pastors are known to have said and say that they can’t take a day off because the devil doesn’t take a day off. Well if Satan is your role model, maybe you should rethink your role model!

God took a day off in creation. The being who created everything, took a day to rest.

If God can rest, then we have to rest. Rest is necessary for us to get to our fullest potential. And God will only let us in God’s rest when we show the faith of resting in God.

So let go of getting it all done and rest in the loving embrace of the creator of the universe and know you are loved.

Love People, Love God.

Valid

12 Jesus spoke to the people again, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me won’t walk in darkness but will have the light of life.” 13 Then the Pharisees said to him, “Because you are testifying about yourself, your testimony isn’t valid.” 14 Jesus replied, “Even if I testify about myself, my testimony is true, since I know where I came from and where I’m going. You don’t know where I come from or where I’m going. 15 You judge according to human standards, but I judge no one. 16 Even if I do judge, my judgment is truthful, because I’m not alone. My judgments come from me and from the Father who sent me. 17 In your Law it is written that the witness of two people is true. 18 I am one witness concerning myself, and the Father who sent me is the other.” 19 They asked him, “Where is your Father?” Jesus answered, “You don’t know me and you don’t know my Father. If you knew me, you would also know my Father.” 20 He spoke these words while he was teaching in the temple area known as the treasury. No one arrested him, because his time hadn’t yet come. (John 8:12-20, CEB)

It is interesting to think about what makes something valid.

How is a fact valid or not?

The past couple of days I participated in an online gathering to discuss Bonhoeffer and some of his writings. The last session included an excerpt from “After Ten Years” from Letters from Prison. Below is a quote on stupidity.

Stupidity[16] is a more dangerous enemy of the good than malice. One
may protest against evil; it can be exposed and, if need be, prevented
by use of force. Evil always carries within itself the germ of its own
subversion in that it leaves behind in human beings at least a sense of
unease. Against stupidity we are defenseless. Neither protests nor the
use of force accomplish anything here; reasons fall on deaf ears; facts
that contradict one’s prejudgment simply need not be believed—in
such moments the stupid person even becomes critical—and when
facts are irrefutable they are just pushed aside as inconsequential, as
incidental. In all this the stupid person, in contrast to the malicious one,
is utterly self-satisfied and, being easily irritated, becomes dangerous
by going on the attack. For that reason, greater caution is called for
when dealing with a stupid person than with a malicious one. Never
again will we try to persuade the stupid person with reasons, for it is
senseless and dangerous.

After Ten Years, Letters from Prison. Bonhoeffer, Dietrich

This quote just rang true for all of us. How when someone hears something and it resonates with them, if they are not willing to hear anything else, then they are more of an issue than evil itself. People who will not hear reason and have already made up their minds can not be persuaded to hear or understand the truth. They are more dangerous than one who is evil but will hear good reason.

So what makes something valid? If it is true according to the truth, that we are all created in the image of God and are loved by God. Anything that goes against this is not true and is not valid.

Go and share the truth.

Love People, Love God.

tempt or help?

6 These things were examples for us, so we won’t crave evil things like they did. 7 Don’t worship false gods like some of them did, as it is written, The people sat down to eat and drink and they got up to play. 8 Let’s not practice sexual immorality, like some of them did, and twenty-three thousand died in one day. 9 Let’s not test Christ, like some of them did, and were killed by the snakes. 10 Let’s not grumble, like some of them did, and were killed by the destroyer. 11 These things happened to them as an example and were written as a warning for us to whom the end of time has come. 12 So those who think they are standing need to watch out or else they may fall. 13 No temptation has seized you that isn’t common for people. But God is faithful. He won’t allow you to be tempted beyond your abilities. Instead, with the temptation, God will also supply a way out so that you will be able to endure it. (1 Corinthians 10:6-13, CEB)

I always struggle with passages like this, because we all want to say that God doesn’t test us, or tempt us.

But look at Jesus being led into the wilderness, each gospel says it was the Spirit that led Jesus to the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. Not the Spirit didn’t tempt Jesus, but the Spirit took Jesus there.

And we pray in the Lord’s prayer, and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Don’t tempt us but if we get there deliver us from evil or the evil one. Which is really what this passages says. Do not rely on your own understanding but put you trust in God because when you stumble God will be there with a way out.

God is always with us, to guide and help us.

Trust that.

Believe that.

Love People, Love God.

Are we?

Therefore, brothers and sisters who are partners in the heavenly calling, think about Jesus, the apostle and high priest of our confession. 2 Jesus was faithful to the one who appointed him just like Moses was faithful in God’s house. 3 But he deserves greater glory than Moses in the same way that the builder of the house deserves more honor than the house itself. 4 Every house is built by someone, but God is the builder of everything. 5 Moses was faithful in all God’s house as a servant in order to affirm the things that would be spoken later. 6 But Jesus was faithful over God’s house as a Son. We are his house if we hold on to the confidence and the pride that our hope gives us. (Hebrews 3:1-6, CEB)

Jesus was faithful to the one who appointed Him.

Are we faithful?

Look at Moses. A man who had a speech impediment, and yet spoke before one of the greatest rulers of the world. Moses did things he never knew or thought he could do, not because he himself did them, but because he was faithful.

If we are faithful what will God do through us?

God has and will always love you, so how do we show our love for God?

Love People, Love God.

might

14 Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so must the Human One be lifted up 15 so that everyone who believes in him will have eternal life. 16 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. 17 God didn’t send his Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through him. 18 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. 19 “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. 20 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. 21 Whoever does the truth comes to the light so that it can be seen that their actions were done in God.” (John 3:14-21, CEB)

Everyone knows John 3:16. Even if you have never darkened the door of a church building, or been in a worship service, or cracked open a Bible.

It is seen on billboards and posters at games and places where mass attend. We know, “For 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.” It is almost like something we learned in school. Like if you know a pastor in the Lutheran church ask them the conjugation of the Greek verb λυω. It was ingained in our minds.

But to me the most important verse in this passage is the one after 16, 3:17. “God didn’t send his Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through him.”

Jesus didn’t come to judge us but that we might be saved through Him. That we might learn how to live through Him.

God knew we were far off the wayside, so we don’t need to be judged, we need an example, we need a savior. Jesus came not to condemn, but to save us.

Believe that you are a child of God and that God loves you and chose you.

Then go into the world and love as you have been loved.

Love People, Love God.

Above or again?

There was a Pharisee named Nicodemus, a Jewish leader. 2 He came to Jesus at night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God, for no one could do these miraculous signs that you do unless God is with him.” 3 Jesus answered, “I assure you, unless someone is born anew, it’s not possible to see God’s kingdom.” 4 Nicodemus asked, “How is it possible for an adult to be born? It’s impossible to enter the mother’s womb for a second time and be born, isn’t it?” 5 Jesus answered, “I assure you, unless someone is born of water and the Spirit, it’s not possible to enter God’s kingdom. 6 Whatever is born of the flesh is flesh, and whatever is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Don’t be surprised that I said to you, ‘You must be born anew.’ 8 God’s Spirit blows wherever it wishes. You hear its sound, but you don’t know where it comes from or where it is going. It’s the same with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” 9 Nicodemus said, “How are these things possible?” 10 “Jesus answered, “You are a teacher of Israel and you don’t know these things? 11 I assure you that we speak about what we know and testify about what we have seen, but you don’t receive our testimony. 12 If I have told you about earthly things and you don’t believe, how will you believe if I tell you about heavenly things? 13 No one has gone up to heaven except the one who came down from heaven, the Human One. (John 3:1-13, CEB)

Good ol’ Nicodemus. How can a person be born again, can they enter the mother’s womb a second time and be born again? Well is that really what Jesus said?

The version above shows us in a different way, Jesus said, “born anew.” Literally the word Jesus uses here can be translated again, and it can be translated as from above. After Nic asks if one can be born again, Jesus says, “you have to be born of water and of Spirit.”

Now most people will say that means you have to be baptized. But does born of water mean baptism? I have witnessed 3 C-sections, as all of my daughters were born through C-sections, and I have to say there was water involved. And in natural child birth there is a lot of water involved. We are all born of water. Every last one of us, and that is not baptism. That is natural.

And so the only thing missing then is the above, the birth of the Spirit, and does this happen at Baptism? Well in the ELCA, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, we say that the baptized is marked with the cross of Christ and sealed by the Holy Spirit forever. But I have always had issue with this because it is like saying the only way the Spirit works is through this ceremony. And that is just wrong. The Spirit comes to a person when the Spirit wants to come, it doesn’t happen just because some pastor says those words.

So how are you born again? It is done by God, when God feels like it.

Just believe it.

Love People, Love God