reap what you sow

My friends, if anyone is detected in a transgression, you who have received the Spirit should restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness. Take care that you yourselves are not tempted. Bear one another’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. For if those who are nothing think they are something, they deceive themselves. All must test their own work; then that work, rather than their neighbor’s work, will become a cause for pride. For all must carry their own loads. Those who are taught the word must share in all good things with their teacher. Do not be deceived; God is not mocked, for you reap whatever you sow. If you sow to your own flesh, you will reap corruption from the flesh; but if you sow to the Spirit, you will reap eternal life from the Spirit. So let us not grow weary in doing what is right, for we will reap at harvest-time, if we do not give up. So then, whenever we have an opportunity, let us work for the good of all, and especially for those of the family of faith. (Galatians 6:1-10, NRSV)

Do not be fooled, you will answer for all you have done!

Bearing one another burdens, so that we fulfill the law of Christ. To love all and do good works toward others.

You will reap what you sow.

Are you sowing:

Love?

Mercy?

Joy?

Grace?

Or

Hate?

Cruelty?

Sorrow?

Punishment?

You will reap what you sow…

So sow love!

think of yourself?

When he noticed how the guests chose the places of honor, he told them a parable. “When you are invited by someone to a wedding banquet, do not sit down at the place of honor, in case someone more distinguished than you has been invited by your host; and the host who invited both of you may come and say to you, ‘Give this person your place,’ and then in disgrace you would start to take the lowest place. But when you are invited, go and sit down at the lowest place, so that when your host comes, he may say to you, ‘Friend, move up higher’; then you will be honored in the presence of all who sit at the table with you. For all who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.” He said also to the one who had invited him, “When you give a luncheon or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, in case they may invite you in return, and you would be repaid. But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind. And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you, for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.” (Luke 14:7-14, NRSV)

Do not think to highly of yourself! When you go to a party or a dinner sit in a normal seat. So not to get moved out of the seat of honor.

And when you have a party or a dinner invite those you can not afford to reciprocate. You are here to serve all.

We are freed in Christ, yet we are freed to serve our neighbors.

We should not do things to be repaid, but out of love and overflowing mercy in our lives.

So do not think of yourself more highly than you ought. See what Jesus sees, and serve all around you.

serve

Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going to God, got up from the table, took off his outer robe, and tied a towel around himself. Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel that was tied around him. He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?” Jesus answered, “You do not know now what I am doing, but later you will understand.” Peter said to him, “You will never wash my feet.” Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you have no share with me.” Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!” Jesus said to him, “One who has bathed does not need to wash, except for the feet, but is entirely clean. And you are clean, though not all of you.” For he knew who was to betray him; for this reason he said, “Not all of you are clean.” After he had washed their feet, had put on his robe, and had returned to the table, he said to them, “Do you know what I have done to you? You call me Teacher and Lord—and you are right, for that is what I am. So if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have set you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you. (John 13:3-15, NRSV)

Last week I went to the dentist. Now I really don’t like going to the dentist, but this was a very enjoyable experience.

After having my teeth picked and poked and scrapped and all cleaned, I get to meet the dentist. Oh yes I forgot to say this was the first time I had been to this office. The dentist comes in and tells me he is looking over my paper work, and then he reaches his hand out and says, “My name is Greg, I like to be on a first name basis, because we all put our pants on the same way.” Refreshing I thought. He asked if I was ok being called Jerry, or did I want to be called Rev, or pastor… I told him Jerry was fine and he could call me whatever he wanted as long as he didn’t call me late for diner!

He then told me a story of a class mate of his from school, and they were a few days from graduation and his class mate said he couldn’t wait to graduate. Greg agreed because they had been in school for quite a while and he was ready to be out serving people. So he asked his classmate, “Why are you excited for graduation?” His class mate responded, “Because then everyone will have to call me Doctor the rest of my life.”

Jesus got on his knees and washed the nasty dirty feet of the disciples, and took all of our nastiness with him to the cross, and He did this to give us an example. We shouldn’t lord our lives over others. We are here to serve.

We all put our pants on the same way, one leg at a time, and Jesus loves us all the same. So serve all, just as Jesus did. Jesus washed Judas’ feet. We need to follow His example!

Greatest

150920 who is welcomeAt that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” He called a child, whom he put among them, and said, “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever becomes humble like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me. “If any of you put a stumbling block before one of these little ones who believe in me, it would be better for you if a great millstone were fastened around your neck and you were drowned in the depth of the sea. Woe to the world because of stumbling blocks! Occasions for stumbling are bound to come, but woe to the one by whom the stumbling block comes! “If your hand or your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away; it is better for you to enter life maimed or lame than to have two hands or two feet and to be thrown into the eternal fire. And if your eye causes you to stumble, tear it out and throw it away; it is better for you to enter life with one eye than to have two eyes and to be thrown into the hell of fire. “Take care that you do not despise one of these little ones; for, I tell you, in heaven their angels continually see the face of my Father in heaven. (Matthew 18:1-10, NRSV)

Unless you become a child you will not enter the kingdom of heaven!

If you are humble like a child is greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

If we think we have it all together and know all the answers, then why do we need God?

You see we must become dependant to become great!

We must rely on God to give us our life and to lead us so that we will be a beacon of His hope and love for all of the world.

my way

Naaman, commander of the army of the king of Aram, was a great man and in high favor with his master, because by him the LORD had given victory to Aram. The man, though a mighty warrior, suffered from leprosy. Now the Arameans on one of their raids had taken a young girl captive from the land of Israel, and she served Naaman’s wife. She said to her mistress, “If only my lord were with the prophet who is in Samaria! He would cure him of his leprosy.” So Naaman went in and told his lord just what the girl from the land of Israel had said. And the king of Aram said, “Go then, and I will send along a letter to the king of Israel.” He went, taking with him ten talents of silver, six thousand shekels of gold, and ten sets of garments. He brought the letter to the king of Israel, which read, “When this letter reaches you, know that I have sent to you my servant Naaman, that you may cure him of his leprosy.” When the king of Israel read the letter, he tore his clothes and said, “Am I God, to give death or life, that this man sends word to me to cure a man of his leprosy? Just look and see how he is trying to pick a quarrel with me.” But when Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Israel had torn his clothes, he sent a message to the king, “Why have you torn your clothes? Let him come to me, that he may learn that there is a prophet in Israel.” So Naaman came with his horses and chariots, and halted at the entrance of Elisha’s house. Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, “Go, wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall be restored and you shall be clean.” But Naaman became angry and went away, saying, “I thought that for me he would surely come out, and stand and call on the name of the LORD his God, and would wave his hand over the spot, and cure the leprosy! Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Could I not wash in them, and be clean?” He turned and went away in a rage. But his servants approached and said to him, “Father, if the prophet had commanded you to do something difficult, would you not have done it? How much more, when all he said to you was, ‘Wash, and be clean’?” So he went down and immersed himself seven times in the Jordan, according to the word of the man of God; his flesh was restored like the flesh of a young boy, and he was clean. (2 Kings 5:1-14, NRSV)

Did you see how many people were upset in this story, or got mad because it wasn’t their way or the way they expected it to be?

The king of Israel was upset and tore his clothing when he was asked to heal Naaman.

Naaman was upset Elisha didn’t come out to see him.

Naaman was upset because the rivers of his land are greater than the waters he was told to go wash in.

If it isn’t my way, then it isn’t right.

How easy is it to do what God tells us?

Sometime as easy as going to the Jordan river and washing seven times. But we want it our way.

Well, God’s kingdom is God’s kingdom and not Burger King. And trust me His way is way better than having it your way!

Great and small…

They went on from there and passed through Galilee. He did not want anyone to know it; for he was teaching his disciples, saying to them, “The Son of Man is to be betrayed into human hands, and they will kill him, and three days after being killed, he will rise again.” But they did not understand what he was saying and were afraid to ask him. Then they came to Capernaum; and when he was in the house he asked them, “What were you arguing about on the way?” But they were silent, for on the way they had argued with one another who was the greatest. He sat down, called the twelve, and said to them, “Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all.” Then he took a little child and put it among them; and taking it in his arms, he said to them, “Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes not me but the one who sent me.” (Mark 9:30-37, NRSV)

This is an interesting passage.

Jesus just told the disciples a second time what is going to happen to Him, yet no one takes him aside, maybe they remember what He did to Peter! But also none of them asks any questions or comments at all. They continue on their way…

Then Jesus asks them what they were talking about…

They were working out their escape plan…

Because it says after Jesus told them what He did, “But they did not understand what he was saying and were afraid to ask him.” They were afraid.

And when we get afraid we do strange things. We look out for #1, ourselves.

Small fears or great fears have a way of paralyzing us or causing us to look for our escape plan.

The disciples didn’t understand what Jesus was saying, or maybe they did and if they are going to kill Him, what will they do to us, so if we think about this another way, maybe we can just work through this…

You see fears are what we make of them.

This picture of Yoda comes from The Empire Strikes Back where he sends Luke into the Dark Side tree. He tells Luke to leave his weapons, as he will not need them, they only thing he will find in there is what he takes with him.

Fear can control us. But if we can open our hearts and lives to Jesus as a child trusts, then the kingdom will be opened to us in ways we can not possibly imagine.

If we can leave our fears behind, God will take us places only He can imagine.

If we can leave our fears behind, we will open the kingdom, not only for ourselves, but to the world around us.

So what is your fear, and how will you allow Him to help you over it?

delivered

Save me, O God, by your name,
and vindicate me by your might.
Hear my prayer, O God;
give ear to the words of my mouth.
For the insolent have risen against me,
the ruthless seek my life;
they do not set God before them.
But surely, God is my helper;
the Lord is the upholder of my life.
He will repay my enemies for their evil.
In your faithfulness, put an end to them.
With a freewill offering I will sacrifice to you;
I will give thanks to your name, O LORD, for it is good.
For he has delivered me from every trouble,
and my eye has looked in triumph on my enemies.
(Psalm 54, NRSV)

I will give thanks to the Lord for He has delivered me from trouble, not because I was never headed the wrong direction, but because He listened to my cries and my prayers and helped me in my time of need.

He bent His ear to my supplications and helped me overcome the trials that were too much for me on my own.

He listened, and heard my need.

He came to my help.

He delivered me!