Who do you think you are?

So you are going to say to me, “Then why does he still blame people? Who has ever resisted his will?” You are only a human being. Who do you think you are to talk back to God? Does the clay say to the potter, “Why did you make me like this?” Doesn’t the potter have the power over the clay to make one pot for special purposes and another for garbage from the same lump of clay? What if God very patiently puts up with pots made for wrath that were designed for destruction, because he wanted to show his wrath and to make his power known? What if he did this to make the wealth of his glory known toward pots made for mercy, which he prepared in advance for glory? We are the ones God has called. We don’t come only from the Jews but we also come from the Gentiles. As it says also in Hosea, I will call “my people” those who aren’t my people, and the one who isn’t well loved, I will call “loved one.” And in the place where it was said to them, “You aren’t my people,” there they will be called “the living God’s children.” But Isaiah cries out for Israel, Though the number of Israel’s children will be like the sand of the sea, only a remaining part will be saved, because the Lord does what he says completely and quickly. As Isaiah prophesied, If the Lord of the heavenly forces had not left descendants for us, we would have been like Sodom, and we would have become like Gomorrah. (Romans 9:19-29, CEB)

Who do you think you are to talk back to God?

Yet we all do it probably every day. I have said I don’t want to go there or lead those people. God, do you really know who I am and you want me to be a pastor, are you crazy?

Yet does the clay say to the potter, why did you make me like this? Should we really talk back, or question, or should we listen and follow?

God’s creation is not from one nationality, not from one group of people. All humans were created by God and all are included by God and therefore need to be included by us.

God says, “I will call “my people” those who aren’t my people, and the one who isn’t well loved, I will call “loved one.”” Those who the world doesn’t love are God’s people and beloved of God. You don’t get to decide who is in or out because God has already said, everyone is loved and included.

Love like Jesus.

Loving People. Loving God.

Sabbath created for humans

Jesus went through the wheat fields on the Sabbath. As the disciples made their way, they were picking the heads of wheat. The Pharisees said to Jesus, “Look! Why are they breaking the Sabbath law?” He said to them, “Haven’t you ever read what David did when he was in need, when he and those with him were hungry? During the time when Abiathar was high priest, David went into God’s house and ate the bread of the presence, which only the priests were allowed to eat. He also gave bread to those who were with him.” Then he said, “The Sabbath was created for humans; humans weren’t created for the Sabbath. This is why the Human One is Lord even over the Sabbath.” Jesus returned to the synagogue. A man with a withered hand was there. Wanting to bring charges against Jesus, they were watching Jesus closely to see if he would heal on the Sabbath. He said to the man with the withered hand, “Step up where people can see you.” Then he said to them, “Is it legal on the Sabbath to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?” But they said nothing. Looking around at them with anger, deeply grieved at their unyielding hearts, he said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” So he did, and his hand was made healthy. At that, the Pharisees got together with the supporters of Herod to plan how to destroy Jesus. (Mark 2:23-3:6, CEB)

There is a whole thing with the Sabbath: what day it is and what we are supposed to do on it. I am old enough to remember Blue Laws. Where places of business had to be closed on Sunday because it was the day of rest. Even today there are laws in some states where car dealerships can not be open both days on the weekend. But is the Sabbath Saturday or Sunday?

There are a couple businesses I know of that I will not mention that I do not shop at that are closed on Sundays because they claim to be “Christian”. And therefore they can not be open on the day you are to go to worship. It is great they give their employees the day off to go to worship. I actually think that is a great thing. That does not make them Christian though. Going to worship doesn’t make you Christian, any more than standing in a garage makes you a car. And Sunday is not the day of rest or the Sabbath, it is the first day of the week when the resurrected Jesus appeared to the disciples.

Saturday is the Sabbath. The Sabbath is the 7th day of creation and if we say Sunday is the first day, then Saturday is the 7th and the Sabbath. And on that day according to the law, you are to rest. You can not go more than .5 miles from home because you are only allowed to travel a mile that day. You can also not go by horse or donkey or car because that is working the animal/machine and that is not allowed. So why be closed on Sunday and not Saturday, if they are actually keeping the Sabbath then they should be closed on Saturday for that and Sunday so their employees can worship.

And yet, Jesus said the Sabbath was created for us. And we think it is something we have to do when in reality it is something we get to do. Even though most of us never do it, we need to rest. God created the whole cosmos in 6 days. and rested. So should we. We are not forced to rest but given the opportunity to rest.

And when it comes to helping people on the Sabbath that is not a way to get out of helping or saying the person or people need to come back tomorrow. We need to help. We need to heal. We need to love. Sabbath doesn’t stop that. Sabbath doesn’t prohibit that.

Love like Jesus and with right judgment love. Rules come second. Love comes first.

Loving People. Loving God.

right judgment

Didn’t Moses give you the Law? Yet none of you keep the Law. Why do you want to kill me?” The crowd answered, “You have a demon. Who wants to kill you?” Jesus replied, “I did one work, and you were all astonished. Because Moses gave you the commandment about circumcision (although it wasn’t Moses but the patriarchs), you circumcise a man on the Sabbath. If a man can be circumcised on the Sabbath without breaking Moses’ Law, why are you angry with me because I made an entire man well on the Sabbath? Don’t judge according to appearances. Judge with right judgment.” (John 7:19-24, CEB)

If you can do a work to uphold the law on the Sabbath but can not make a man well how does that fit what God has called us to do in loving God and loving our neighbor?

Jesus healed people when he came across them and the day didn’t matter, because, in reality, it is better to make someone well, than to uphold a rule that could mean a person could die.

And even Jesus says here that it wasn’t Moses who gave the law but the patriarchs. We follow rules given by people who want to maintain power and control. The only one who should be in control is God.

Follow God and love like Jesus.

And that means healing on the Sabbath and love comes first. Right judgment says love comes first.

Loving People. Loving God.

No thing

So what are we going to say about these things? If God is for us, who is against us? He didn’t spare his own Son but gave him up for us all. Won’t he also freely give us all things with him? Who will bring a charge against God’s elect people? It is God who acquits them. Who is going to convict them? It is Christ Jesus who died, even more, who was raised, and who also is at God’s right side. It is Christ Jesus who also pleads our case for us. Who will separate us from Christ’s love? Will we be separated by trouble, or distress, or harassment, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written, We are being put to death all day long for your sake. We are treated like sheep for slaughter. But in all these things we win a sweeping victory through the one who loved us. I’m convinced that nothing can separate us from God’s love in Christ Jesus our Lord: not death or life, not angels or rulers, not present things or future things, not powers or height or depth, or any other thing that is created. (Romans 8:31-39, CEB)

If God is for us who or what can be against us?

There is no thing that will come between God and us. If God was willing to step down from the throne and take on our lot and show us how to love and be put on trial and beat and killed because of those who God was trying to love didn’t understand it, then what will keep us from God?

There is no thing that will ever keep us from God.

The grammar checker on my typing wants me to make no thing nothing. And nothing is different than no thing. While they can mean the same thing I wanted the emphasis of NO Thing. There is not a single thing that can separate you from God’s love. Not any thing God created. Not anything humans created. Not anything that you created. No thing will keep God from you.

Share that love with the world. So everyone knows they are loved.

Loving People. Loving God.

Fake trial

Three days after arriving in the province, Festus went up to Jerusalem from Caesarea. The chief priests and Jewish leaders presented their case against Paul. Appealing to him, they asked as a favor from Festus that he summon Paul to Jerusalem. They were planning to ambush and kill him along the way. But Festus responded by keeping Paul in Caesarea, since he was to return there very soon himself. “Some of your leaders can come down with me,” he said. “If he’s done anything wrong, they can bring charges against him.” He stayed with them for no more than eight or ten days, then went down to Caesarea. The following day he took his seat in the court and ordered that Paul be brought in. When he arrived, many Jews who had come down from Jerusalem surrounded him. They brought serious charges against him, but they couldn’t prove them. In his own defense, Paul said, “I’ve done nothing wrong against the Jewish Law, against the temple, or against Caesar.” Festus, wanting to put the Jews in his debt, asked Paul, “Are you willing to go up to Jerusalem to stand trial before me concerning these things?” Paul replied, “I’m standing before Caesar’s court. I ought to be tried here. I have done nothing wrong to the Jews, as you well know. If I’m guilty and have done something that deserves death, then I won’t try to avoid death. But if there is nothing to their accusations against me, no one has the authority to hand me over to them. I appeal to Caesar!” After Festus conferred with his advisors, he responded, “You have appealed to Caesar. To Caesar you will go.” (Acts 25:1-12, CEB)

How many of us have ever been put on trial for our faith?

Not a fake trial, or “we are being persecuted” when we aren’t. I remember about 16 years ago I was teaching a confirmation curriculum at a camp with a bunch of other pastors and I had a shirt that said “This shirt is illegal in 53 countries.” Because it had a cross on it. There were and still are countries where it is illegal to display the cross, and that is persecution. And people in those countries still display crosses, knowing they will be arrested, tried, and possibly killed for those actions.

Would you do that? Paul was willing to die for his faith. He knew God was always with him and the promises were true.

Do you have this faith?

Are you willing to be so bold and outspoken, trusting in what you believe about God and what God is leading you to do, to face trial and possibly death?

I would like to say I am, but I might be wrong.

I pray I would have the faith of Paul to stand in front of accusors and go to death for God.

Know no matter where you are in this, God loves you and will always stand with you.

We need to be bold in our proclamation of love and seek justice for all.

Loving People. Loving God.

Hidden Light

Jesus said to them, “Does anyone bring in a lamp in order to put it under a basket or a bed? Shouldn’t it be placed on a lampstand? Everything hidden will be revealed, and everything secret will come out into the open. Whoever has ears to listen should pay attention!” He said to them, “Listen carefully! God will evaluate you with the same standard you use to evaluate others. Indeed, you will receive even more. Those who have will receive more, but as for those who don’t have, even what they don’t have will be taken away from them.” (Mark 4:21-25, CEB)

Do you light a lamp to hide it?

Do you hide the light of your life?

Sometimes we feel like we can not fully express ourselves to live into who we are because we think society will not accept that. But when you light a lamp and put a basket over it, the lamp goes out or the basket catches fire.

Do not hide your light. Let it shine for all the world to see the beautiful creation you are.

You are part of the image of God and we can not dim that nor replace that.

Shine as your part of God and let everyone see it!

Loving People. Loving God.

Integrity

When I came to you, brothers and sisters, I didn’t come preaching God’s secrets to you like I was an expert in speech or wisdom. I had made up my mind not to think about anything while I was with you except Jesus Christ, and to preach him as crucified. I stood in front of you with weakness, fear, and a lot of shaking. My message and my preaching weren’t presented with convincing wise words but with a demonstration of the Spirit and of power. I did this so that your faith might not depend on the wisdom of people but on the power of God. What we say is wisdom to people who are mature. It isn’t a wisdom that comes from the present day or from today’s leaders who are being reduced to nothing. We talk about God’s wisdom, which has been hidden as a secret. God determined this wisdom in advance, before time began, for our glory. It is a wisdom that none of the present-day rulers have understood, because if they did understand it, they would never have crucified the Lord of glory! But this is precisely what is written: God has prepared things for those who love him that no eye has seen, or ear has heard, or that haven’t crossed the mind of any human being. God has revealed these things to us through the Spirit. The Spirit searches everything, including the depths of God. (1 Corinthians 2:1-10, CEB)

Paul didn’t come with the best thought-out language or eloquent speeches. He came as himself and spoke about who he was and what Christ has done.

That is how we all should live. Speaking the truth in love and living that way.

Not putting on false pretenses or trying to be something more than we are.

Be who God created you to be and live that way in every aspect of your life.

Show what God has done for you and through you and help others see God’s love for them.

Loving People. Loving God.

Seriously?!?!

After this I looked and there was a door that had been opened in heaven. The first voice that I had heard, which sounded like a trumpet, said to me, “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this.” At once I was in a Spirit-inspired trance and I saw a throne in heaven, and someone was seated on the throne. The one seated there looked like jasper and carnelian, and surrounding the throne was a rainbow that looked like an emerald. Twenty-four thrones, with twenty-four elders seated upon them, surrounded the throne. The elders were dressed in white clothing and had gold crowns on their heads. From the throne came lightning, voices, and thunder. In front of the throne were seven flaming torches, which are the seven spirits of God. Something like a glass sea, like crystal, was in front of the throne.

In the center, by the throne, were four living creatures encircling the throne. These creatures were covered with eyes on the front and on the back. The first living creature was like a lion. The second living creature was like an ox. The third living creature had a face like a human being. And the fourth living creature was like an eagle in flight. Each of the four living creatures had six wings, and each was covered all around and on the inside with eyes. They never rest day or night, but keep on saying, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is coming.” (Revelation 4:1-8, CEB)

Is this vision supposed to make me feel good?

I read this and think what is going on here? They are covered with eyes? All over and around? And they have 6 wings?

But from this we get hope? Seriously?

It is a vision of what will be in the fulfillment of the kingdom.

The hope for me is in the consistent worship of God. We will just worship God and be in God’s presence all the time in the kingdom. And that beyond any scary creature or image is hope.

Hope is something we can’t see and when we envision it sometimes it may not come out the way we want it to.

Know the promise is real and we will be with God for all time. That is our hope.

Loving People. Loving God.

Trinity Sunday

There was a Pharisee named Nicodemus, a Jewish leader. He came to Jesus at night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God, for no one could do these miraculous signs that you do unless God is with him.” Jesus answered, “I assure you, unless someone is born anew, it’s not possible to see God’s kingdom.” Nicodemus asked, “How is it possible for an adult to be born? It’s impossible to enter the mother’s womb for a second time and be born, isn’t it?” Jesus answered, “I assure you, unless someone is born of water and the Spirit, it’s not possible to enter God’s kingdom. Whatever is born of the flesh is flesh, and whatever is born of the Spirit is spirit. Don’t be surprised that I said to you, ‘You must be born anew.’ God’s Spirit blows wherever it wishes. You hear its sound, but you don’t know where it comes from or where it is going. It’s the same with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” Nicodemus said, “How are these things possible?” “Jesus answered, “You are a teacher of Israel and you don’t know these things? I assure you that we speak about what we know and testify about what we have seen, but you don’t receive our testimony. If I have told you about earthly things and you don’t believe, how will you believe if I tell you about heavenly things? No one has gone up to heaven except the one who came down from heaven, the Human One. Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so must the Human One be lifted up so that everyone who believes in him will have eternal life. God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him won’t perish but will have eternal life. God didn’t send his Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through him. (John 3:1-17, CEB)

Whoever is born of the Spirit is of God and is born anew.

A new creation with the Spirit of God living in and through them.

God moves us to love the world as God loved it.

Unconditionally.

Know that even when you are supposed to know and understand things, God still loves you when you don’t.

The Trinity and God are not easily understood and work in ways that we humans can’t understand. The most important thing in my opinion we need to know about God and the Trinity is that God in God self is in relationship. There are 3 of them, and living and moving in a dance that brings life.

So when we think we can do this alone, God shows us, it should be done in relationship to others.

Love like God and move in relationships.

Loving People. Loving God.

It will not be easy…

“If the world hates you, know that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, the world would love you as its own. However, I have chosen you out of the world, and you don’t belong to the world. This is why the world hates you. Remember what I told you, ‘Servants aren’t greater than their master.’ If the world harassed me, it will harass you too. If it kept my word, it will also keep yours. The world will do all these things to you on account of my name, because it doesn’t know the one who sent me. “If I hadn’t come and spoken to the people of this world, they wouldn’t be sinners. But now they have no excuse for their sin. Whoever hates me also hates the Father. If I hadn’t done works among them that no one else had done, they wouldn’t be sinners. But now they have seen and hated both me and my Father. This fulfills the word written in their Law, They hated me without a reason. “When the Companion comes, whom I will send from the Father—the Spirit of Truth who proceeds from the Father—he will testify about me. You will testify too, because you have been with me from the beginning. (John 15:18-27, CEB)

It seems like followers of Jesus want to make us believe that following God and doing what we are called to will be easy. A walk in the park…

But the Bible never says that. We are never told that life following Jesus will be easy. In fact, we are told over and over again the exact opposite.

The world hated Jesus and mocked him and killed him for what he came here saying and doing, so why do we think it will be a walk in the park. But if it is a walk in the park, that park would be Jurassic Park.

Know that Jesus was hated, and you will be too if you follow and speak as he spoke and love as he loved. However, that is what we are called to do.

Love like Jesus. And know that Jesus is always with you.

Loving People. Loving God.