aSacredRebel

Persistant

But as for you, continue in what you have learned and firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it, and how from childhood you have known the sacred writings that are able to instruct you for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, so that everyone who belongs to God may be proficient, equipped for every good work. In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I solemnly urge you: proclaim the message; be persistent whether the time is favorable or unfavorable; convince, rebuke, and encourage, with the utmost patience in teaching. For the time is coming when people will not put up with sound doctrine, but having itching ears, they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own desires, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander away to myths. As for you, always be sober, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, carry out your ministry fully. (2 Timothy 3:14-4:5, NRSV)

Proclaim the message of Christ Jesus and the life He has given to all of us.

If the time is favorable proclaim it, if the time is not favorable still proclaim the message.

We are to be persistent in our proclamation of the message.

Always living our lives and speaking forth about the message of hope, grace and mercy and life eternal we can all have in Jesus Christ.

stirring the pot

The same thing occurred in Iconium, where Paul and Barnabas went into the Jewish synagogue and spoke in such a way that a great number of both Jews and Greeks became believers. But the unbelieving Jews stirred up the Gentiles and poisoned their minds against the brothers. So they remained for a long time, speaking boldly for the Lord, who testified to the word of his grace by granting signs and wonders to be done through them. But the residents of the city were divided; some sided with the Jews, and some with the apostles. And when an attempt was made by both Gentiles and Jews, with their rulers, to mistreat them and to stone them, the apostles learned of it and fled to Lystra and Derbe, cities of Lycaonia, and to the surrounding country; and there they continued proclaiming the good news. (Acts 14:1-7, NRSV)

Both sides were looking to mistreat Paul and Barnabas, those that agreed with them and others who didn’t.

But even before this, the Jews stirred the pot and set in motion schemes to keep others from believing what Paul and Barnabas were telling them.

How many times has someone done this to us?

How many times has someone set a scheme in motion to keep us from believing what God is leading us to do?

How many times have we been the one stirring the pot?

Because all of them wanted to harm Paul and Barnabas at the end…

Are we stirring?

is it lawful

On another sabbath he entered the synagogue and taught, and there was a man there whose right hand was withered. The scribes and the Pharisees watched him to see whether he would cure on the sabbath, so that they might find an accusation against him. Even though he knew what they were thinking, he said to the man who had the withered hand, “Come and stand here.” He got up and stood there. Then Jesus said to them, “I ask you, is it lawful to do good or to do harm on the sabbath, to save life or to destroy it?” After looking around at all of them, he said to him, “Stretch out your hand.” He did so, and his hand was restored. But they were filled with fury and discussed with one another what they might do to Jesus. (Luke 6:6-11, NRSV)

Is it lawful to do good or to harm on the sabbath?

Can you save or destroy on the sabbath?

Funny Jesus didn’t wait for an answer. He seemed to know what He was going to do before He asked the questions.

Because rules are good to keep order, but if they are rules that hold someone in captivity when they could be free, they are not what God has taught us.

God through Jesus came to show us love and an abundant life. So the rules take a back seat.

So is it lawful, or is it what God wants you to do?

cast out

He went down to Capernaum, a city in Galilee, and was teaching them on the sabbath. They were astounded at his teaching, because he spoke with authority. In the synagogue there was a man who had the spirit of an unclean demon, and he cried out with a loud voice, “Let us alone! What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are, the Holy One of God.” But Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be silent, and come out of him!” When the demon had thrown him down before them, he came out of him without having done him any harm. They were all amazed and kept saying to one another, “What kind of utterance is this? For with authority and power he commands the unclean spirits, and out they come!” And a report about him began to reach every place in the region. After leaving the synagogue he entered Simon’s house. Now Simon’s mother-in-law was suffering from a high fever, and they asked him about her. Then he stood over her and rebuked the fever, and it left her. Immediately she got up and began to serve them. As the sun was setting, all those who had any who were sick with various kinds of diseases brought them to him; and he laid his hands on each of them and cured them. Demons also came out of many, shouting, “You are the Son of God!” But he rebuked them and would not allow them to speak, because they knew that he was the Messiah. At daybreak he departed and went into a deserted place. And the crowds were looking for him; and when they reached him, they wanted to prevent him from leaving them. But he said to them, “I must proclaim the good news of the kingdom of God to the other cities also; for I was sent for this purpose.” So he continued proclaiming the message in the synagogues of Judea.(Luke 4:31-44, NRSV)

Jesus freed the man of the unclean spirit by calling it out of him. Then he heals Peter mother-in-law. And He healed many of diseases and cast out demons.

And when He had done all of this, He cast Himself out. He went away to a deserted place to be with God. And then rather than stay there, He went on to other places to do what He had done there.

We are called to go and take the message with of, of people healed and demons cast out. God is moving in and through us, and He will use us to do even greater things than Jesus did!

interconnected

For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in the one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and we were all made to drink of one Spirit. Indeed, the body does not consist of one member but of many. If the foot would say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. And if the ear would say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole body were hearing, where would the sense of smell be? But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. If all were a single member, where would the body be? As it is, there are many members, yet one body. The eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you,” nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” On the contrary, the members of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and those members of the body that we think less honorable we clothe with greater honor, and our less respectable members are treated with greater respect; whereas our more respectable members do not need this. But God has so arranged the body, giving the greater honor to the inferior member, that there may be no dissension within the body, but the members may have the same care for one another. If one member suffers, all suffer together with it; if one member is honored, all rejoice together with it. Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it. And God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers; then deeds of power, then gifts of healing, forms of assistance, forms of leadership, various kinds of tongues. Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? Do all possess gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret? But strive for the greater gifts. And I will show you a still more excellent way. (1 Corinthians 12:12-31, NRSV)

So what did the eye say to the ear?

“Did you see that?”

And the ear replied, “no, did you hear that?”

And just how did the eye hear what the ear had to say anyhow?

And how did the eye say anything at all?

No part of the body is any more important than another. We are all interconnected and rely on each other to make this whole thing work, just as our bodies rely on all the parts to make it work.

fulfilled

Then Jesus, filled with the power of the Spirit, returned to Galilee, and a report about him spread through all the surrounding country. He began to teach in their synagogues and was praised by everyone. When he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, he went to the synagogue on the sabbath day, as was his custom. He stood up to read, and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” And he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. The eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. Then he began to say to them, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” (Luke 4:14-21, NRSV)

Have you ever known someone that left town, your hometown, and then many years later they came back and started acting differently or saying things that you couldn’t believe?

Imagine how those in the temple at Nazareth felt about Jesus that day. He read the passage from the prophet Isaiah, about bringing good news to the poor, to proclaim release to the captives and that the blind will receive their sight. That the Lord’s favor has come, and it has come through me!

They knew Jesus and had grown up with him. how could this be?

We have a hard time allowing God to be God if we keep trying to fit Him into our box. Which means He can change people and use them to do His will. Even those we think it isn’t possible for Him to use.

I mean really for every person that you think God can’t use, there is one person who thinks you are the one God can’t use.

Allow God to fulfill His promises as He chooses and don’t try to put Him in your box.

life is light

Your steadfast love, O LORD, extends to the heavens,
your faithfulness to the clouds.
Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains,
your judgments are like the great deep;
you save humans and animals alike, O LORD.
How precious is your steadfast love, O God!
All people may take refuge in the shadow of your wings.
They feast on the abundance of your house,
and you give them drink from the river of your delights.
For with you is the fountain of life;
in your light we see light.
(Psalm 36:5-9, NRSV)

God has prepared a wonderful feast and rich drink for all of us who find shelter under His wings.

We will have life abundantly and through His light, we will see light.

He has given us abundant life and set us apart.

So live in the life of His light and in the light of His love!

Remember

Let mutual love continue. Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing that some have entertained angels without knowing it. Remember those who are in prison, as though you were in prison with them; those who are being tortured, as though you yourselves were being tortured. Let marriage be held in honor by all, and let the marriage bed be kept undefiled; for God will judge fornicators and adulterers. Keep your lives free from the love of money, and be content with what you have; for he has said, “I will never leave you or forsake you.” So we can say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can anyone do to me?” Remember your leaders, those who spoke the word of God to you; consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. (Hebrews 13:1-8, NRSV)

This passage is about putting ourselves in the place of the other.

Remember those who are:

in prison

being tortured

married

Act like you are also in prison with them, being tortured with them, and keep all marriages undefiled.

Remember all people and look out for them.

Relation

Be subject to one another out of reverence for Christ. Wives, be subject to your husbands as you are to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife just as Christ is the head of the church, the body of which he is the Savior. Just as the church is subject to Christ, so also wives ought to be, in everything, to their husbands. Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, in order to make her holy by cleansing her with the washing of water by the word, so as to present the church to himself in splendor, without a spot or wrinkle or anything of the kind—yes, so that she may be holy and without blemish. In the same way, husbands should love their wives as they do their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. For no one ever hates his own body, but he nourishes and tenderly cares for it, just as Christ does for the church, because we are members of his body. “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.” This is a great mystery, and I am applying it to Christ and the church. Each of you, however, should love his wife as himself, and a wife should respect her husband. (Ephesians 5:21-33, NRSV)

I always cringe at this passage.

Wives be subject to your husbands…

So many people have been held in relationships where this sentence has been used to keep women locked in a sentence that was perpetuated by a “loving” relationship. But you see that is what we get when we proof text or look for what we want from the Bible without looking at all of the rest of it. (And yes we all do this.)

You see this one sentence says that women need to be subject to their husbands. But the whole passage says that both partners in the marriage have an equal part to play. That both must be willing to give. It is not a master-slave, or leader-follower or another other non-equal types of relationship. Both have duties to the relationship it is not one sided or a 50-50 relationship. It is 100%-100%.

Live in relation as God intended. No one over another, but all of us working together to live in the life God intended for all of us!

a helper

08_gn02_18 Then the LORD God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper as his partner.” So out of the ground the LORD God formed every animal of the field and every bird of the air, and brought them to the man to see what he would call them; and whatever the man called every living creature, that was its name. The man gave names to all cattle, and to the birds of the air, and to every animal of the field; but for the man there was not found a helper as his partner. So the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; then he took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. And the rib that the LORD God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man. Then the man said, “This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; this one shall be called Woman, for out of Man this one was taken.” Therefore a man leaves his father and his mother and clings to his wife, and they become one flesh. And the man and his wife were both naked, and were not ashamed. (Genesis 2:18-25, NRSV)

I am always struck by this passage of the daunting task that Adam had of naming all the animals.

God created every creature and brought them before Adam and whatever he called it, that is what it was.

So why was a cow a cow and not a pig? Or why was a pig a pig and not a horse?

But none of these animals was found to be a helper for Adam. None of them was a suitable companion for Adam in his keeping of the garden.

So God created a helper. Someone who is not below or above Adam, but a companion. God created each of us a companion for this life.

We all have a helper, and we are equal, not above or below, but a companion. Help the one that God has blessed you with, and help them grow closer to God.