aSacredRebel

last, lost, least, little

“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on his right, “Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.” Then the righteous will answer him, saying, “Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?” And the King will answer them, “Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.” “Then he will say to those on his left, “Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.” Then they also will answer, saying, “Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to you?” Then he will answer them, saying, “Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.” And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.” (Matthew 25:31-46 ESV)

“Sometimes I think we forget about others needs, to busy trying to reap life’s crops to be sowing seeds, our own selfishness blinds our eyes until we can’t help others see, how can I lea a blind man to the Lord if my eyes are stuck on me?” so begins one of my favorite songs by Todd Zielinski, The Least of These. What we do for the least of our brothers and sisters we do to the Lord.

You see in Jesus’ day those outcast by society had no support mechanism. If you were in prison, then you had nothing, and needed someone to provide for you. The prison did not provide clothing, bedding, food. We think of prison as a life where things are provided for you, but that was not the case and most of the time, the family of the prisoner shunned them, so they had nothing. Even today this is the case south of the border in the USA. Prisons in Mexico provide little if anything for inmates and they must rely on the family or the stranger to provide for them.

You see we have been tricked into believing that this verse is about getting into heaven. Because Jesus is separating the sheep from the goats, and sending one to the kingdom prepared for them, and the others to the fires prepared for them. We get hung up on wanting to do the right thing for us, we forget about the other. We lose sight of what Jesus is really telling us here, that we need to treat everyone with respect and not be so concerned with ourselves that we miss the world around us. We need to go and be the hands and feet of Jesus, not worrying about our own needs, but the needs of those around us, and if we all do this, then someone is worried about your needs, so you can take care of the last, lost, least or little…

So do to the least of these, as you would have done unto you and know that Christ is watching over you.

Hate…

For this is the message that you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another. We should not be like Cain, who was of the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own deeds were evil and his brother’s righteous. Do not be surprised, brothers, that the world hates you. We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brothers. Whoever does not love abides in death. Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him. By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. But if anyone has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him? (1 John 3:11-17 ESV)

I do not believe as Christians we are ever surprised that the world hates us. We can all get it. The hypocrisy and way we as a church treat people sometimes is not what we say we are suppose to do. John tells us to love one another because if we do not love we abide in death…

How many of you have hated someone? If we are all honest we can all say yes. Even possibly a beloved relative, who did something that did not sit right with us and for a moment, however brief it was, we hated them. If this is true, you (and I) were abiding in death and life has no place in us. And then let’s take it to Jesus’ level, where if you think bad thoughts about someone you have murdered them in your mind. So how many of us have ever thought bad thoughts about someone?

So we are all guilty of not loving, and not showing forth God’s love to those around us…

So what can we do?

Maybe smile at the person who hands you your coffee after you corrected them 25 times on the order and they still get it wrong…

Maybe we hold the door for people around us.

Maybe we help someone who we see struggling carrying a heavy load.

Maybe we are open to God’s leading and guiding to put us where we need to be, and do what we need to do…

Be ready to love everyone the way God loved you. Putting your needs before His own…

Show no partiality…

My brothers, show no partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory. For if a man wearing a gold ring and fine clothing comes into your assembly, and a poor man in shabby clothing also comes in, and if you pay attention to the one who wears the fine clothing and say, You sit here in a good place, while you say to the poor man, You stand over there, or, Sit down at my feet, have you not then made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts? Listen, my beloved brothers, has not God chosen those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom, which he has promised to those who love him? But you have dishonored the poor man. Are not the rich the ones who oppress you, and the ones who drag you into court? Are they not the ones who blaspheme the honorable name by which you were called? (James 2:1-7, ESV)

Why is it when we see some one at a light or on the street corner with a cardboard sign asking for money we lock our doors or walk on the other side of the street? Why do we assume they are making more pan handling than we are slaving away at our job?

Why do we judge people by what they where? If someone has a gold ring and fancy clothes so what? Are they really any different than someone who wears jeans and t-shirts all the time? We look at people and think we know who they are and their life situations by seeing them once or twice… Look around you today at the people you work with. How well do you know these people? Some of them you may have known for years, but do you know what struggles they are facing? Do you know the pain that is taking over their lives?

We can not know a person by their appearance. We can not judge a person by what they look like, because deep down inside where it really matters we are all the same, and we are all loved by God and were given the same mercy from Him.

So go and show mercy this day, not judging others, but living out God’s mercy through your life.

Go and receive likewise…

Just then a lawyer stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he said, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” He said to him, “What is written in the law? What do you read there?” He answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.” And he said to him, “You have given the right answer; do this, and you will live.” But wanting to justify himself, he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” Jesus replied, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell into the hands of robbers, who stripped him, beat him, and went away, leaving him half dead. Now by chance a priest was going down that road; and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan while traveling came near him; and when he saw him, he was moved with pity. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, having poured oil and wine on them. Then he put him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. The next day he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said, ‘Take care of him; and when I come back, I will repay you whatever more you spend.’ Which of these three, do you think, was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?” He said, “The one who showed him mercy.” Jesus said to him, “Go and do likewise.” (Luke 10:25-37, NRSV)

This story is so familiar to us we think we know it…

But did you know that Jesus was asking the lawyer, the one who should know the law and the scriptures what his interpretation of the scripture was, because in Hebrew there would have been no vowel points and the word for neighbor and the word for enemy are the same root… So the only difference is the vowel points which would not have been present in the text the lawyer was reading. So was Jesus asking the lawyer what he read meaning, “do you see the double meaning?” Is it love your neighbor or love your enemy as yourself?

And then there is Jesus’ question at the end of the text, “Which of these three, do you think, was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?” The lawyer asked who his neighbor was and Jesus told a story and asked who was neighborly to the character in the story… so maybe what it means to be a neighbor is you are willing to accept help and be open to the stranger giving assistance. It is not all about going and doing, but also going and receiving…

So go and love God and your enemy as yourself and make yourself open to receive what God wants to give you!

into the light

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.” (John 3:16-21 ESV)

So who among us really can stand? The one who always does what God wants us to do. Because if your deeds are wicked you will love the darkness so your deeds do not become made known.

How many of us have things we never discuss because we do not want anyone to know about it? We all have things hidden away in the recesses of our lives, yet God knows all about them, and some day they will be made known, so why do we hide them?

You see that is exactly what is being discusses here. We all have things we want to keep in the darkness. But if we love the light and follow after Jesus then all of our deeds will be made known.

So step into the light and follow Jesus. Remembering that He loves you regardless of what is hidden in the darkness.

A Good Neighbor: Benedict’s Guide to Community by Robert Benson

‘”Honor everyone, and never do to another what you would not want done to yourself,” we read in the Rule. “Love your neighbor as yourself,” we read in the Gospel.’

This quote from page 84 of A Good Neighbor is a summery of what it is to live in community. To be a neighbor, to be present to those to whom we have been given, and to those who have been given to us. We need to remember the simplicity of this, and Robert Benson helps us to see the simplicity in all of it’s glorious complexities.

Benson looks at the many communities he lives in and then works through the frame work of Benedict’s Rule for living together in community. Even though we are not monastic we can still learn from the Rule and live in the Spirit in the communities we have been placed.

Benson helps us work through our longing for community, a need for us to be humble in every aspect and moment of our lives, showing us the need for mercy and how it is better to give mercy than receive it. Benson also helps us see how we seek the community that we fit into, rather then welcoming those who have been given to us. He then wraps up his discussion by reminding us we truly show God’s love through our humble acts of caring for the other, and that is why we are here, for the other.

This book is a wonderful short read that reminds us that living in community and being a good neighbor is easy in concept, but hard in execution. However if we focus on the simple and allow ourselves to be humble, merciful, and focused on the other, it will be easier than we thought it would.

Lead me in your path…

To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul. O my God, in you I trust; let me not be put to shame; let not my enemies exult over me. Indeed, none who wait for you shall be put to shame; they shall be ashamed who are wantonly treacherous. Make me to know your ways, O Lord; teach me your paths. Lead me in your truth and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; for you I wait all the day long. Remember your mercy, O Lord, and your steadfast love, for they have been from of old. Remember not the sins of my youth or my transgressions; according to your steadfast love remember me, for the sake of your goodness, O Lord! Good and upright is the Lord; therefore he instructs sinners in the way. He leads the humble in what is right, and teaches the humble his way. All the paths of the Lord are steadfast love and faithfulness, for those who keep his covenant and his testimonies. (Psalm 25:1-10, ESV)

Every time I read this psalm I can’t help but start singing! (see the video below…) We are to trust in the Lord no matter where we are or where we go. He is our rock and our foundation, our salvation and our guide for our life’s journey.

It is interesting though that this psalm speaks not of the rules we must follow, but the paths that we take…

For instance, “Make me to know your ways, O Lord; teach me your paths. Lead me in your truth and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation…” Teach me your paths! Help me to go where you would have me go. Lead me and help me to do the things that You would have me do. Not what the rules say I have to do, or the organization says is right, but where God is leading me.

Don’t get me wrong, there is something to the organization that helps to keep us on track knowing we are not going off on our own, but God is leading us down the path of our life, not asking us to follow anything but Him. All of the paths of the Lord are steadfast love and faithfulness, He will not lead us wrong if we will but follow where He is leading us!

So trust in the Lord and follow where He leads!

Creating a team covenant

Surface To Soul

Vibrant Faith Ministries has a ritual of regularly recites our mission statement and the following covenant at our weekly meetings. This 60 second agenda item reminds team members how we intend to treat one another as we fulfill our mission. It provides a foundation for describing what is appropriate behavior and what isn’t, giving members permission to raise concerns if they feel the covenant has been broken. It reminds participants of the important role they play in creating a healthy team. Here’s what we read every Tuesday.

Our COVENANT: As members of this faith community, we commit to:

Affirm, encourage, support, pray for, and bless one another.
Appreciate and affirm each other’s gifts, backgrounds, and viewpoints.
Speak well of each other to build up the body of Christ.
Communicate with each other in honest, open Christ-like ways.
Commit to ongoing personal, professional, and spiritual growth.
Be open to new ways…

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Can faith save you?

What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but do not have works? Can faith save you? If a brother or sister is naked and lacks daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and eat your fill,” and yet you do not supply their bodily needs, what is the good of that? So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead. But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I by my works will show you my faith. You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe — and shudder. Do you want to be shown, you senseless person, that faith apart from works is barren? Was not our ancestor Abraham justified by works when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was brought to completion by the works. Thus the scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness,” and he was called the friend of God. You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone. Likewise, was not Rahab the prostitute also justified by works when she welcomed the messengers and sent them out by another road? For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is also dead. (James 2:14-26, NRSV)

Ok… This is a hard text for Lutherans because “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-9). So we kind of get hung up on the works part, much to our detriment. I have heard it said that the average Lutheran invites some one to worship once every 27 years… Now that is resting on your faith!

James here asks “Can faith save you?” My answer when I saw that was yes! absolutely faith is the only thing that can save me. This past Sunday before worship, someone asked me about a devotional they had read in which a person had died and gone to heaven and God asked them what they had done to get here. She asked me what I would say, and I replied, “nothing. I have done everything in my power not to be here, but I am here because of Jesus.” And that my friend is the only thing that can save us. Belief in the promises that Christ died for you and because of what He did you can be in a right relationship with God.

Now does that mean that James is wrong? NO! We have to have works. But not because works can save us, but because as James says, “So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead.” We have to have works and we have to be filled with love for the other so we are moved to be there and cloth the naked and feed the hungry.

And the continuation of Ephesians 2:8-9 is verse 10 “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works,which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” God had prepared good works for us to through the love of Christ to light and season the world.

So do not allow your relationship with God to be dead… Do the works He has prepared for you before you were conceived and shine a light in the darkness!

God in the Alley by Greg Paul

“However, these stories of my friends reveal a peculiar paradox: I am more likely to find Jesus revealed to me and through me in weakness than in strength, sinfulness than in purity, or doubt than in perfect faithfulness.”

Greg Paul takes you on a ride through the streets of Toronto to meet and see Jesus. He goes to places those of us who are “christian” think Christ would never go, but Paul takes us there and introduces us to Jesus in the characters and people of every day life in Toronto. He shows us that Christ is present and active in the lives of people most church people have written off as fodder for hell.

This book is a must read to help us all understand that God truly does work in strange and mysterious ways!