aSacredRebel

understand

¹⁴My brothers and sisters, I myself am convinced that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, and are able to teach each other. ¹⁵But I’ve written to you in a sort of daring way, partly to remind you of what you already know. I’m writing to you in this way because of the grace that was given to me by God. ¹⁶It helps me to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles. I’m working as a priest of God’s gospel so that the offering of the Gentiles can be acceptable and made holy by the Holy Spirit. ¹⁷So in Christ Jesus I brag about things that have to do with God. ¹⁸I don’t dare speak about anything except what Christ has done through me to bring about the obedience of the Gentiles. He did it by what I’ve said and what I’ve done, ¹⁹by the power of signs and wonders, and by the power of God’s Spirit. So I’ve completed the circuit of preaching Christ’s gospel from Jerusalem all the way around to Illyricum. ²⁰In this way, I have a goal to preach the gospel where they haven’t heard of Christ yet, so that I won’t be building on someone else’s foundation. ²¹Instead, as it’s written, Those who hadn’t been told about him will see, and those who hadn’t heard will understand. (Romans 15:14-21, CEB)

You are all able to teach others about the love that God has given you.

You can share the knowledge of God and how God’s love has changed your life.

In doing this you will help those who do not understand or haven’t heard about God.

You can make a difference in the world by sharing what God has given you.

judged

¹²Those who have sinned outside the Law will also die outside the Law, and those who have sinned under the Law will be judged by the Law.¹³It isn’t the ones who hear the Law who are righteous in God’s eyes. It is the ones who do what the Law says who will be treated as righteous.¹⁴Gentiles don’t have the Law. But when they instinctively do what the Law requires they are a Law in themselves, though they don’t have the Law. ¹⁵They show the proof of the Law written on their hearts, and their consciences affirm it. Their conflicting thoughts will accuse them, or even make a defense for them, ¹⁶on the day when, according to my gospel, God will judge the hidden truth about human beings through Christ Jesus. (Romans 2:12-16, CEB)

Most of us reading this are Gentiles. Meaning we are not Jewish by birth or by conversion. So we do not have the Law, but when we do what the Law says we show that the Law was written on our hearts, and it is not about being under the Law or having the Law, but by doing what the law says we show ourselves to be righteous. This does not attain us access to God, only the blood of Jesus and the relationship that brings can do that, but we show our faithfulness that even by not having the Law but still doing the Law.

We are judged righteous when we do the Law by God, not when we hear it, or read it, or know it. When we do it. It is not enough for us to know it, and we don’t even have to know it, we just have to do it.

And the big question here is what is the law? Is it all 600 some rules in Leviticus? Is it the 10 Commandments, and if the 10 Commandments is it the Hebrew Scripture version, or is it the reinterpretation of Jesus? Or is it the Laws that Jesus said where the 2 most important, on which Jesus said hang the whole of the Hebrew Scriptures, Love the Lord your God with all your heart, your soul and your mind, and Love your neighbor as yourself.

I know which I think it is, but it doesn’t really say.

So which Law is it?

Foot Washing

Before the Festival of Passover, Jesus knew that his time had come to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them fully. ²Jesus and his disciples were sharing the evening meal. The devil had already provoked Judas, Simon Iscariot’s son, to betray Jesus. ³Jesus knew the Father had given everything into his hands and that he had come from God and was returning to God. ⁴So he got up from the table and took off his robes. Picking up a linen towel, he tied it around his waist. ⁵Then he poured water into a washbasin and began to wash the disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel he was wearing. ⁶When Jesus came to Simon Peter, Peter said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?” ⁷Jesus replied, “You don’t understand what I’m doing now, but you will understand later.” ⁸“No!” Peter said. “You will never wash my feet!” Jesus replied, “Unless I wash you, you won’t have a place with me.” ⁹Simon Peter said, “Lord, not only my feet but also my hands and my head!” ¹⁰Jesus responded, “Those who have bathed need only to have their feet washed, because they are completely clean. You disciples are clean, but not every one of you.” ¹¹He knew who would betray him. That’s why he said, “Not every one of you is clean.” ¹²After he washed the disciples’ feet, he put on his robes and returned to his place at the table. He said to them, “Do you know what I’ve done for you? ¹³You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and you speak correctly, because I am. ¹⁴If I, your Lord and teacher, have washed your feet, you too must wash each other’s feet. ¹⁵I have given you an example: Just as I have done, you also must do. ¹⁶I assure you, servants aren’t greater than their master, nor are those who are sent greater than the one who sent them. ¹⁷Since you know these things, you will be happy if you do them. (John 13:1-17, CEB)

Unless I wash you you have no place with me…

What would you have done if you had walked with Jesus for 3 years and then one night at dinner he takes off his outer robe and ties a towel around his waist, and gets a bowl of water and comes and starts washing your feet? The job of a servant? The man who you have been following as teacher and master is now doing the role of a servant.

I assume I would have been much like Peter, saying something like what are you doing, you are not our servant, we should be serving you. This is not your place.

Because much like Peter, I think I have it all figured out and know what is best, and then God/Jesus steps says, “we are going to do it this way.”

We need to realize that God is in control and we don’t get to say what happens, we are along for the ride. And what a ride it will be if we can let go and let God have control.

So be the servant, and let others serve you, and follow where Jesus leads.

God’s Faithfulness and Justice

So what’s the advantage of being a Jew? Or what’s the benefit of circumcision? ²Plenty in every way. First of all, the Jews were trusted with God’s revelations. ³What does it matter, then, if some weren’t faithful? Their lack of faith won’t cancel God’s faithfulness, will it?⁴Absolutely not! God must be true, even if every human being is a liar, as it is written: So that it can show that you are right in your words; and you will triumph when you are judged. ⁵But if our lack of righteousness confirms God’s justice, what will we say? That God, who brings wrath upon us, isn’t just (I’m speaking rhetorically)? ⁶Absolutely not! If God weren’t just, how could he judge the world? ⁷But if God’s truth is demonstrated by my lie and it increases his glory, why am I still judged as a sinner? ⁸Why not say, “Let’s do evil things so that good things will come out of it”? (Some people who slander us accuse us of saying that, but these people deserve criticism.) (Romans 3:1-8, CEB)

Why not do evil things so that good things will come out of it?

God can make good out of evil, but we should not do evil so that God has to make them good. God whose grace and mercy is freely given does not need us to be good and our unfaithfulness to follow God’s path will not cancel God’s faithfulness. But since God is faithful to us, we should be faithful to God.

Fo by doing evil we lie about our love of God, and are not faithful to God and show the world what we ought not to do, Our evil and unfaithfulness does not cancel God’s yet it adds to misunderstanding in the world. As children of God, we should strive to show the love God has given to us through everything we do.

Do not do evil, but share the love that was given to you.

Gentiles are without excuse

¹⁸God’s wrath is being revealed from heaven against all the ungodly behavior and the injustice of human beings who silence the truth with injustice. ¹⁹This is because what is known about God should be plain to them because God made it plain to them. ²⁰Ever since the creation of the world, God’s invisible qualities—God’s eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, because they are understood through the things God has made. So humans are without excuse. ²¹Although they knew God, they didn’t honor God as God or thank him. Instead, their reasoning became pointless, and their foolish hearts were darkened. ²²While they were claiming to be wise, they made fools of themselves. ²³They exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images that look like mortal humans: birds, animals, and reptiles. ²⁴So God abandoned them to their hearts’ desires, which led to the moral corruption of degrading their own bodies with each other. ²⁵They traded God’s truth for a lie, and they worshipped and served the creation instead of the creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. (Romans 1:18-25, CEB)

We can see God all around us through everything that God has made. So we have no excuse to not know God and to follow God.

We chose to not follow and to go after our own desires rather than to follow after where God is leading us.

We traded God’s truth for a lie that we can do it better and have a better life than God could give us.

We have no excuse to not know and follow God.

So what will you do?

Put on my yoke

¹⁶“To what will I compare this generation? It is like a child sitting in the marketplaces calling out to others, ¹⁷‘We played the flute for you and you didn’t dance. We sang a funeral song and you didn’t mourn.’ ¹⁸For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon.’¹⁹Yet the Human One came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Look, a glutton and a drunk, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.’ But wisdom is proved to be right by her works.” ²⁰Then he began to scold the cities where he had done his greatest miracles because they didn’t change their hearts and lives. ²¹“How terrible it will be for you, Chorazin! How terrible it will be for you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles done among you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have changed their hearts and lives and put on funeral clothes and ashes a long time ago. ²²But I say to you that Tyre and Sidon will be better off on Judgment Day than you. ²³And you, Capernaum, will you be honored by being raised up to heaven? No, you will be thrown down to the place of the dead. After all, if the miracles that were done among you had been done in Sodom, it would still be here today. ²⁴But I say to you that it will be better for the land of Sodom on the Judgment Day than it will be for you.” ²⁵At that time Jesus said, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you’ve hidden these things from the wise and intelligent and have shown them to babies. ²⁶Indeed, Father, this brings you happiness. ²⁷“My Father has handed all things over to me. No one knows the Son except the Father. And nobody knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son wants to reveal him. ²⁸“Come to me, all you who are struggling hard and carrying heavy loads, and I will give you rest. ²⁹Put on my yoke, and learn from me. I’m gentle and humble. And you will find rest for yourselves. ³⁰My yoke is easy to bear, and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11:16-30, CEB)

Sometimes we don’t know what we want or need. Sometimes we have to go along with what is happening even when we don’t understand it or want to.

Jesus says that we hear music but don’t dance, and then we hear a funeral song but don’t mourn. We think we want to do something but we don’t know really what we need to do.

That is where the yoke comes in. We have to go with Jesus if we have the yoke on us. We don’t have a choice not to follow and be where Jesus is.

Plus when we have the yoke on, then we can relax and let Jesus do the work.

We will go where we need to be and Jesus will care for us. The yoke isn’t a burden, it is freedom.

Be freeded by yoking to Jesus.

Happy are the eyes that see what you see

²¹At that very moment, Jesus overflowed with joy from the Holy Spirit and said, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you’ve hidden these things from the wise and intelligent and shown them to babies. Indeed, Father, this brings you happiness. ²²My Father has handed all things over to me. No one knows who the Son is except the Father, or who the Father is except the Son and anyone to whom the Son wants to reveal him.” ²³Turning to the disciples, he said privately, “Happy are the eyes that see what you see. ²⁴I assure you that many prophets and kings wanted to see what you see and hear what you hear, but they didn’t.” (Luke 10:21-24, CEB)

I praise you because you’ve hidden these things? Really shouldn’t we be praising because things have been made clear?

But sometimes we need people to be in the dark, to not understand, to have to trust.

We all need to trust God and know that we will not have all of the answers and that is simply because we do not have the ability to understand everything the way God does.

When those who think they know everything have to rely on someone else is when we truly see how much we need God.

So don’t think you can do this alone, you can’t. We all need God.

Living under the law

⁷So what are we going to say? That the Law is sin? Absolutely not! But I wouldn’t have known sin except through the Law. I wouldn’t have known the desire for what others have if the Law had not said, Don’t desire to take what others have. ⁸But sin seized the opportunity and used this commandment to produce all kinds of desires in me. Sin is dead without the Law. ⁹I used to be alive without the Law, but when the commandment came, sin sprang to life, ¹⁰and I died. So the commandment that was intended to give life brought death. ¹¹Sin seized the opportunity through the commandment, deceived me, and killed me. ¹²So the Law itself is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous, and good. ¹³So did something good bring death to me? Absolutely not! But sin caused my death through something good so that sin would be exposed as sin. That way sin would become even more thoroughly sinful through the commandment. ¹⁴We know that the Law is spiritual, but I’m made of flesh and blood, and I’m sold as a slave to sin. ¹⁵I don’t know what I’m doing, because I don’t do what I want to do. Instead, I do the thing that I hate. ¹⁶But if I’m doing the thing that I don’t want to do, I’m agreeing that the Law is right. ¹⁷But now I’m not the one doing it anymore. Instead, it’s sin that lives in me. ¹⁸I know that good doesn’t live in me—that is, in my body. The desire to do good is inside of me, but I can’t do it. ¹⁹I don’t do the good that I want to do, but I do the evil that I don’t want to do. ²⁰But if I do the very thing that I don’t want to do, then I’m not the one doing it anymore. Instead, it is sin that lives in me that is doing it. (Romans 7:7-20, CEB)

The Law is not sinful but it does make the sin that is already living in us come to light. We see how we are sinful because of the Law, but the Law can not save us. The Law will only keep us held captive.

It is not I that do the evil but the sin that lives in me and is brought to light by the knowledge of sin. I in my flesh can not do good except that God is working in and through me.

So know that sin is a part of life and the Law shows us our sin.

But trust in Jesus to live in and through you to bring you through this life to life ever after with God.

released from the law

Or do you not know, brothers and sisters (for I am speaking to those who know the law), that the law is lord over a person as long as he lives? ²For a married woman is bound by law to her husband as long as he lives, but if her husband dies, she is released from the law of the marriage. ³So then, if she is joined to another man while her husband is alive, she will be called an adulteress. But if her husband dies, she is free from that law, and if she is joined to another man, she is not an adulteress. ⁴So, my brothers and sisters, you also died to the law through the body of Christ, so that you could be joined to another, to the one who was raised from the dead, to bear fruit to God. ⁵For when we were in the flesh, the sinful desires, aroused by the law, were active in the members of our body to bear fruit for death. ⁶But now we have been released from the law, because we have died to what controlled us, so that we may serve in the new life of the Spirit and not under the old written code. (Romans 7:1-6, NET)

So if you are divorced and your husband is still alive then if you are having relationships with others you are committing adultery. Only if your husband is dead. So a man can go and do whatever they want? If we read the text as it stands, yes, men are free to do as they please and women are not, yet I believe they text implies and has a deeper meaning that you are bound to the one you know in a biblical sense which is a very intimate way. In my understanding, marriage is complete when it is consummated. So when you know a person in the biblical understanding you are really married to them. And when we get hung up on the rules of things we get held down and feel the pressure of getting things right or doing things right.

So if we are released from the burden of feeling we have to do the right things all the time we will be freed to love and share grace.

Know you are freed to love and share grace.

woe to unrepentant cities

²⁰ Then Jesus began to criticize openly the cities in which he had done many of his miracles, because they did not repent. ²¹ “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! If the miracles done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. ²² But I tell you, it will be more bearable for Tyre and Sidon on the day of judgment than for you! ²³ And you, Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven? No, you will be thrown down to Hades! For if the miracles done among you had been done in Sodom, it would have continued to this day. ²⁴ But I tell you, it will be more bearable for the region of Sodom on the day of judgment than for you!”(Matthew 11:20-24, NET)

Why do these cities not get it?

He had done miracles there but they still were not doing what they needed to do. It is like we don’t see the forest for the trees. Things from this world get in our way and we can not see what is right in front of us.

How can we stay focused on Jesus so we do not get distracted by the world and drawn away from God?

What can you do to stay focused on Jesus?