change

Make room in your hearts for us. We didn’t do anything wrong to anyone. We didn’t ruin anyone. We didn’t take advantage of anyone. I’m not saying this to make you feel guilty. I’ve already said that you are in our hearts so that we die and live together with you. I have every confidence in you. I’m terribly proud of you. I’m filled with encouragement. I’m overwhelmed with happiness while in the middle of our problems. Even after we arrived in Macedonia, we couldn’t rest physically. We were surrounded by problems. There was external conflict, and there were internal fears. However, God comforts people who are discouraged, and he comforted us by Titus’ arrival. We weren’t comforted only by his arrival but also by the comfort he had received from you. He told us about your desire to see me, how you were sorry, and about your concern for me, so that I was even happier. Even though my letter hurt you, I don’t regret it. Well—I did regret it just a bit because I see that that letter made you sad, though only for a short time. Now I’m glad—not because you were sad but because you were made sad enough to change your hearts and lives. You felt godly sadness so that no one was harmed by us in any way. Godly sadness produces a changed heart and life that leads to salvation and leaves no regrets, but sorrow under the influence of the world produces death. Look at what this very experience of godly sadness has produced in you: such enthusiasm, what a desire to clear yourselves of blame, such indignation, what fear, what purpose, such concern, what justice! In everything you have shown yourselves to be innocent in the matter. So although I wrote to you, it wasn’t for the sake of the one who did wrong, or for the sake of the one who was wronged, but to show you your own enthusiasm for us in the sight of God. (2 Corinthians 7:2-12, CEB)

I have a postcard from when I was a pastor in Victoria, TX, around 2011/2012. It was for some kind of conference I honestly don’t remember what the context was, but I kept it because one side said, “Change is not something you just get from a vending machine.”

Paul talks about the letter he wrote to Corinth and how it made them sad and he is sorry for making them sad, but he really is not sad because they got the message and they changed.

Will we as a people get the message and change our hearts?

Will we see that the call to love ALL people is greater than anything else?

The call to love trumps our understanding, our desires, our wants, our wanting people to fit neatly and nicely into our boxes.

Do not be discouraged but also know it is not about what you want, but what God has put into place.

Love unconditionally.

You are called to love.

Not understand it all the time.

Not control everything.

Love.

Loving People. Loving God.

Pursue love

Pursue love, and use your ambition to try to get spiritual gifts but especially so that you might prophesy. This is because those who speak in a tongue don’t speak to people but to God; no one understands it—they speak mysteries by the Spirit. Those who prophesy speak to people, building them up, and giving them encouragement and comfort. People who speak in a tongue build up themselves; those who prophesy build up the church. I wish that all of you spoke in tongues, but I’d rather you could prophesy. Those who prophesy are more important than those who speak in tongues, unless they are able to interpret them so that the church might be built up. After all, brothers and sisters, if I come to you speaking in tongues, how will I help you unless I speak to you with a revelation, some knowledge, a prophecy, or a teaching? Likewise, things that aren’t alive like a harp or a lyre can make a sound, but if there aren’t different notes in the sounds they make, how will the tune from the harp or the lyre be recognized? And if a trumpet call is unrecognizable, then who will prepare for battle? It’s the same way with you: If you don’t use language that is easy to understand when you speak in a tongue, then how will anyone understand what is said? It will be as if you are speaking into the air! There are probably many language families in the world, and none of them are without meaning. So if I don’t know the meaning of the language, then I will be like a foreigner to those who speak it, and they will be like foreigners to me. The same holds true for you: since you are ambitious for spiritual gifts, use your ambition to try to work toward being the best at building up the church. (1 Corinthians 14:1-12, CEB)

Pursue love.

Work for that which enriches others’ lives.

When we do things for ourselves or that only God gets we are not being what God created us to be in the world. But when we put others first and see their worth and work to lift them up, we are pursuing love and showing light into darkness.

Be light.

Show love.

Work for all.

Loving People. Loving God.

Liberate!

Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee, and news about him spread throughout the whole countryside. He taught in their synagogues and was praised by everyone. Jesus went to Nazareth, where he had been raised. On the Sabbath he went to the synagogue as he normally did and stood up to read. The synagogue assistant gave him the scroll from the prophet Isaiah. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written:
The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
    because the Lord has anointed me.
He has sent me to preach good news to the poor,
    to proclaim release to the prisoners
    and recovery of sight to the blind,
    to liberate the oppressed,
    and to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.
He rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the synagogue assistant, and sat down. Every eye in the synagogue was fixed on him. He began to explain to them, “Today, this scripture has been fulfilled just as you heard it.” (Luke 4:14-21, CEB)

The Lord has anointed us:
to preach good news to the poor
to proclaim release to the captive
to recover sight for the blind
to liberate the oppressed

The Lord has not anointed us:
to tell the wealthy or well-off they will get more
to keep those captive held in their places
to not help those who need help
to keep those in power where they are at the expense of humanity.

Power does not make right and Jesus was killed because He pushed back on power.

Are we ready to stand up to tyranny and give up any status we have to show God’s love in the world?

Love like Jesus and know that will get you hated.

Loving People. Loving God.

Bad parenting…

When Mary and Joseph had completed everything required by the Law of the Lord, they returned to their hometown, Nazareth in Galilee. The child grew up and became strong. He was filled with wisdom, and God’s favor was on him. Each year his parents went to Jerusalem for the Passover Festival. When he was 12 years old, they went up to Jerusalem according to their custom. After the festival was over, they were returning home, but the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem. His parents didn’t know it. Supposing that he was among their band of travelers, they journeyed on for a full day while looking for him among their family and friends. When they didn’t find Jesus, they returned to Jerusalem to look for him. After three days they found him in the temple. He was sitting among the teachers, listening to them and putting questions to them. Everyone who heard him was amazed by his understanding and his answers. When his parents saw him, they were shocked. His mother said, “Child, why have you treated us like this? Listen! Your father and I have been worried. We’ve been looking for you!” Jesus replied, “Why were you looking for me? Didn’t you know that it was necessary for me to be in my Father’s house?” But they didn’t understand what he said to them. Jesus went down to Nazareth with them and was obedient to them. His mother cherished every word in her heart. Jesus matured in wisdom and years, and in favor with God and with people. (Luke 2:39-52, CEB)

I love this passage because if Mary and Joseph had issues then I’m in good company. Plus I have never left my children anywhere on accident and just assumed they were with the group I was traveling with.

But Jesus wasn’t really a normal child.

But the point of the lesson is, are we looking for Jesus?

And if we are looking for Jesus, why are we doing that?

You are probably saying, “pastor are we not supposed to look for Jesus?”

Is Jesus missing?
Do we need to find him?

Jesus is already with us, so we don’t need to look.

We need to let Him have control and step out of the way.

Don’t look for Jesus, allow Him to be with you as He already is.

Loving People. Loving God.

Conformed

So, brothers and sisters, because of God’s mercies, I encourage you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice that is holy and pleasing to God. This is your appropriate priestly service. Don’t be conformed to the patterns of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds so that you can figure out what God’s will is—what is good and pleasing and mature. Because of the grace that God gave me, I can say to each one of you: don’t think of yourself more highly than you ought to think. Instead, be reasonable since God has measured out a portion of faith to each one of you. We have many parts in one body, but the parts don’t all have the same function. In the same way, though there are many of us, we are one body in Christ, and individually we belong to each other. We have different gifts that are consistent with God’s grace that has been given to us. If your gift is prophecy, you should prophesy in proportion to your faith. If your gift is service, devote yourself to serving. If your gift is teaching, devote yourself to teaching. If your gift is encouragement, devote yourself to encouraging. The one giving should do it with no strings attached. The leader should lead with passion. The one showing mercy should be cheerful. (Romans 12:1-8, CEB)

Paul wrote the Romans, “Don’t be conformed to the patterns of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds so that you can figure out what God’s will is—what is good and pleasing and mature.” Do not go along with what the world does or thinks is good, but renew your minds and understanding to figure out what God’s will is and do that.

We should not be sheep and follow because everyone else is doing it. We should not just go along because it is easy and won’t cause waves.

We need to know what the will of God is and do that. Even when it goes against the crowd.

Love like Jesus and cause issues!

Loving People. Loving God.

Life

Brothers and sisters, I’m talking to you as people who know the Law. Don’t you know that the Law has power over someone only as long as he or she lives? A married woman is united with her husband under the Law while he is alive. But if her husband dies, she is released from the Law concerning her husband. So then, if she lives with another man while her husband is alive, she’s committing adultery. But if her husband dies, she’s free from the Law, so she won’t be committing adultery if she marries someone else. Therefore, my brothers and sisters, you also died with respect to the Law through the body of Christ, so that you could be united with someone else. You are united with the one who was raised from the dead so that we can bear fruit for God. When we were self-centered, the sinful passions aroused through the Law were at work in all the parts of our body, so that we bore fruit for death. But now we have been released from the Law. We have died with respect to the thing that controlled us, so that we can be slaves in the new life under the Spirit, not in the old life under the written Law. (Romans 7:1-6, CEB)

Our life is not based on old rules, but the new rule of Love.

We are freed in the Spirit to love, not bound to follow the rules.

Martin Luther once wrote to Philip Melanchthon, “Be a sinner, and let your sins be strong (or “Sin boldly”), but let your trust in Christ be stronger, and rejoice in Christ who is the victor over sin, death, and the world.” We should so live love out loud not worried about following the rules, but boldly loving, because Christ has overcome the world and has called us to love.

Love Out Loud.

Loving People. Loving God.

Compare?

Some people said to Jesus, “The disciples of John fast often and pray frequently. The disciples of the Pharisees do the same, but your disciples are always eating and drinking.” Jesus replied, “You can’t make the wedding guests fast while the groom is with them, can you? The days will come when the groom will be taken from them, and then they will fast.” Then he told them a parable. “No one tears a patch from a new garment to patch an old garment. Otherwise, the new garment would be ruined, and the new patch wouldn’t match the old garment. Nobody pours new wine into old wineskins. If they did, the new wine would burst the wineskins, the wine would spill, and the wineskins would be ruined. Instead, new wine must be put into new wineskins. No one who drinks a well-aged wine wants new wine, but says, ‘The well-aged wine is better.’” (Luke 5:33-39, CEB)

Who should we compare ourselves to?

In the reading, people are comparing the disciples of Jesus to the disciples of John and of the Pharisees, but Jesus is still here and so the comparison is apples to oranges as the saying goes.

The only person we should compare ourselves to is Jesus, and that will make us miserable. So maybe we should only compare ourselves to ourselves.
Have I grown and gotten closer to being like Jesus?
Have I moved closer to loving more and judging less?
Have I started working on myself and not seeing faults in others?
Have I noticed my gifts and not be jealous of the gifts of others?

Grow yourself and don’t compare yourself to others.

Loving People. Loving God.

Agree – don’t be divided…

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. I thank my God always for you, because of God’s grace that was given to you in Christ Jesus. That is, you were made rich through him in everything: in all your communication and every kind of knowledge, in the same way that the testimony about Christ was confirmed with you. The result is that you aren’t missing any spiritual gift while you wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed. He will also confirm your testimony about Christ until the end so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful, and you were called by him to partnership with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. Now I encourage you, brothers and sisters, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ: Agree with each other and don’t be divided into rival groups. Instead, be restored with the same mind and the same purpose. My brothers and sisters, Chloe’s people gave me some information about you, that you’re fighting with each other. What I mean is this: that each one of you says, “I belong to Paul,” “I belong to Apollos,” “I belong to Cephas,” “I belong to Christ.” Has Christ been divided? Was Paul crucified for you, or were you baptized in Paul’s name? Thank God that I didn’t baptize any of you, except Crispus and Gaius, so that nobody can say that you were baptized in my name! Oh, I baptized the house of Stephanas too. Otherwise, I don’t know if I baptized anyone else. Christ didn’t send me to baptize but to preach the good news. And Christ didn’t send me to preach the good news with clever words so that Christ’s cross won’t be emptied of its meaning. (1 Corinthians 1:3-17, CEB)

Agree with one another and don’t be divided into rival groups. Instead, be restored with the same mind and purpose.

I wonder about this as we are headed into the next four years with an administration in the United States that does not see the humanity of some people and will actively work to make them hide who they are to live. Christ came to show us how to love and lift those held down and neglected.

We can not be divided in the understanding that all people are part of the Imago Dei. All people as God created them, not as anyone else is comfortable with them being, but as they are.

If we can not agree on that, then we will be divided, but love will win.

We need to preach the good news of the love of God not with clever words so that the cross is emptied of its meaning, but in a way that shows divisions are wrong and to live love.

Live love and be light and show God’s love for all.

Loving People. Loving God.

Better

Love should be shown without pretending. Hate evil, and hold on to what is good. Love each other like the members of your family. Be the best at showing honor to each other. Don’t hesitate to be enthusiastic—be on fire in the Spirit as you serve the Lord! Be happy in your hope, stand your ground when you’re in trouble, and devote yourselves to prayer. Contribute to the needs of God’s people, and welcome strangers into your home. Bless people who harass you—bless and don’t curse them. Be happy with those who are happy, and cry with those who are crying. Consider everyone as equal, and don’t think that you’re better than anyone else. Instead, associate with people who have no status. Don’t think that you’re so smart. Don’t pay back anyone for their evil actions with evil actions, but show respect for what everyone else believes is good. If possible, to the best of your ability, live at peace with all people. Don’t try to get revenge for yourselves, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath. It is written, Revenge belongs to me; I will pay it back, says the Lord. Instead, If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him a drink. By doing this, you will pile burning coals of fire upon his head. Don’t be defeated by evil, but defeat evil with good. (Romans 12:9-21, CEB)

“Don’t think that you’re better than anyone else.”

Treat everyone as equal, because all of us are equal in the eyes of God.

Associate with people of no status, and be humble.

We can not defeat evil with evil, we must love and show love in all we do.

We are not better than anyone else and we will not show love by being hateful.

Love always.

Loving People. Loving God.

sign

On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee. Jesus’ mother was there, and Jesus and his disciples were also invited to the celebration. When the wine ran out, Jesus’ mother said to him, “They don’t have any wine.” Jesus replied, “Woman, what does that have to do with me? My time hasn’t come yet.” His mother told the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.” Nearby were six stone water jars used for the Jewish cleansing ritual, each able to hold about twenty or thirty gallons. Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water,” and they filled them to the brim. Then he told them, “Now draw some from them and take it to the headwaiter,” and they did. The headwaiter tasted the water that had become wine. He didn’t know where it came from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew. The headwaiter called the groom and said, “Everyone serves the good wine first. They bring out the second-rate wine only when the guests are drinking freely. You kept the good wine until now.” This was the first miraculous sign that Jesus did in Cana of Galilee. He revealed his glory, and his disciples believed in him. (John 2:1-11, CEB)

This was the first sign Jesus did. He revealed his glory, even though he told Mary his time had not yet come.

This sign also shows us that Jesus cared for those around him.

The reading starts, “On the third day…” The third day of what?

John chapter one starts with the Logos and John baptizing, and then verse 29 says, “The next day…” Jesus comes and is baptized. And then verse 35 says, “The next day,” and verse 43 says, “The next day.” So should chapter two start on the fourth day? Or is the third day signifying something else? Maybe it was the third day of the celebration.

But Jesus was told they didn’t have wine, and he had servants fill water jars for cleansing rituals, 120 – 180 gallons of water that Jesus made into wine—and not just wine, but good wine. It is understandable that the person throwing the party would use the best wine first and, as guests got drunk, bring out the less favorable wine because it wouldn’t matter as much. But Jesus didn’t consider the wine before, or maybe he just makes really good wine all the time.

Jesus cares for those even when it might not be the right timing.

Jesus cares for you and will always be with you.

You are a sign of Jesus’ love for the world.

Loving People. Loving God.