self-centered

But you aren’t self-centered. Instead you are in the Spirit, if in fact God’s Spirit lives in you. If anyone doesn’t have the Spirit of Christ, they don’t belong to him. If Christ is in you, the Spirit is your life because of God’s righteousness, but the body is dead because of sin. If the Spirit of the one who raised Jesus from the dead lives in you, the one who raised Christ from the dead will give life to your human bodies also, through his Spirit that lives in you. (Romans 8:9-11, CEB)

Are you self-centered?

Do you think only about yourself? Or are the needs of others central in your mind?

When Christ lives in us, through the Spirit we are focused on others and look to fulfill their needs before our own.

Think of others, and stand for Justice.

Love like Jesus.

Loving People. Loving God.

What do you think about?

So now there isn’t any condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death. God has done what was impossible for the Law, since it was weak because of selfishness. God condemned sin in the body by sending his own Son to deal with sin in the same body as humans, who are controlled by sin. He did this so that the righteous requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us. Now the way we live is based on the Spirit, not based on selfishness. People whose lives are based on selfishness think about selfish things, but people whose lives are based on the Spirit think about things that are related to the Spirit. The attitude that comes from selfishness leads to death, but the attitude that comes from the Spirit leads to life and peace. So the attitude that comes from selfishness is hostile to God. It doesn’t submit to God’s Law, because it can’t. People who are self-centered aren’t able to please God. (Romans 8:1-8, CEB)

We live by the Spirit. The Spirit guides us to not think about ourselves.

So if your thoughts are on what you will get from something, then you are not living by the Spirit. When we live according to the Spirit we are focused on other people and not ourselves. We see all people as a part of the Imago Dei and know it takes all of us to make that image.

We look out for others.

We lift others up.

We work for justice for all.

Love like Jesus. Live in the Spirit.

Loving People. Loving God.

Afraid

It was still the first day of the week. That evening, while the disciples were behind closed doors because they were afraid of the Jewish authorities, Jesus came and stood among them. He said, “Peace be with you.” After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. When the disciples saw the Lord, they were filled with joy. Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father sent me, so I am sending you.” Then he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone’s sins, they are forgiven; if you don’t forgive them, they aren’t forgiven.” (John 20:19-23, CEB)

What is something you do because you are afraid of how people will respond to you?

Do you hide your true self because you believe society will not accept you?

This past Sunday was Pentecost, the day Christians celebrate the giving of the Holy Spirit, to empower believers to be bold in their proclamation of love and acceptance by God of everyone. And yet, is everyone welcome?

It seems interesting to me that this passage and this post comes on Harvey Milk Day.

Harvey Milk was an activist, organizer, and the first openly gay man elected to public office in the country as a member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in the late 1970s. Harvey Milk came out and started organizing against discrimination of gay and lesbian business owners in the Castro District of San Francisco, and against the Briggs Initiative (this was an initiative on the California state ballot in 1978 that would have banned gays and lesbians from working in California schools). Milk was responsible for passing gay rights ordinances for the city of San Francisco and served eleven months in office before he was assassinated on November 27, 1978, along with San Francisco Mayor George Moscone. We celebrate Harvey Milk Day on his birthday, May 22.

Harvey was someone who spoke what needed to be spoken and did what needed to be done even in the face of fear.

Are you able to do that?

Can you speak love in the face of hate?

Can you be the voice of reason in the face of hate?

Will you be in a locked room, or out speaking truth in love?

Loving People. Loving God.

Body

Christ is just like the human body—a body is a unit and has many parts; and all the parts of the body are one body, even though there are many. We were all baptized by one Spirit into one body, whether Jew or Greek, or slave or free, and we all were given one Spirit to drink. Certainly the body isn’t one part but many. If the foot says, “I’m not part of the body because I’m not a hand,” does that mean it’s not part of the body? If the ear says, “I’m not part of the body because I’m not an eye,” does that mean it’s not part of the body? If the whole body were an eye, what would happen to the hearing? And if the whole body were an ear, what would happen to the sense of smell? But as it is, God has placed each one of the parts in the body just like he wanted. If all were one and the same body part, what would happen to the body? But as it is, there are many parts but one body. So the eye can’t say to the hand, “I don’t need you,” or in turn, the head can’t say to the feet, “I don’t need you.” Instead, the parts of the body that people think are the weakest are the most necessary. The parts of the body that we think are less honorable are the ones we honor the most. The private parts of our body that aren’t presentable are the ones that are given the most dignity. The parts of our body that are presentable don’t need this. But God has put the body together, giving greater honor to the part with less honor so that there won’t be division in the body and so the parts might have mutual concern for each other. If one part suffers, all the parts suffer with it; if one part gets the glory, all the parts celebrate with it. You are the body of Christ and parts of each other. (1 Corinthians 12:12-27, CEB)

We all are one body.

We all are the image of God.

We do not see God without all of us. For all of us are a part of the body. Some are parts we see like eyes, nose, ears, hair, hands, and arms. Others of us are parts we don’t see like wisdom teeth, liver, stomach, heart, and intestines. We need all these parts to make the body work and no one can say that some other part doesn’t belong. And those that aren’t in front are the ones that have more dignity.

We need everyone to make the body work and we can not say who is in or who is out.

Divisions are human made. They do not have any holding in the Body of Christ.

Love like Jesus.

Loving People. Loving God.

Different gifts…

There are different spiritual gifts but the same Spirit; and there are different ministries and the same Lord; and there are different activities but the same God who produces all of them in everyone. A demonstration of the Spirit is given to each person for the common good. A word of wisdom is given by the Spirit to one person, a word of knowledge to another according to the same Spirit, faith to still another by the same Spirit, gifts of healing to another in the one Spirit, performance of miracles to another, prophecy to another, the ability to tell spirits apart to another, different kinds of tongues to another, and the interpretation of the tongues to another. All these things are produced by the one and same Spirit who gives what he wants to each person. (1 Corinthians 12:4-11, CEB)

We have all been given a different gift, so we each have a different part to play in the body. It takes all of us to make the body and all of us to be what God has created us to be in the world. Without any one person, we are not complete.

When we say that some people do not belong because they are not living the way we think followers of God should live we are saying that God messed up and we know better about God’s creation than God does. Because the Spirit gives as the Spirit will and to each one differently.

We are not the image of God without all people.

We need everyone else to be what God intended for us to be.

So love like Jesus.

Loving People. Loving God.

Pentecost

When Pentecost Day arrived, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound from heaven like the howling of a fierce wind filled the entire house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be individual flames of fire alighting on each one of them. They were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages as the Spirit enabled them to speak. There were pious Jews from every nation under heaven living in Jerusalem. When they heard this sound, a crowd gathered. They were mystified because everyone heard them speaking in their native languages. They were surprised and amazed, saying, “Look, aren’t all the people who are speaking Galileans, every one of them? How then can each of us hear them speaking in our native language? Parthians, Medes, and Elamites; as well as residents of Mesopotamia, Judea, and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the regions of Libya bordering Cyrene; and visitors from Rome (both Jews and converts to Judaism), Cretans and Arabs—we hear them declaring the mighty works of God in our own languages!” They were all surprised and bewildered. Some asked each other, “What does this mean?” Others jeered at them, saying, “They’re full of new wine!” Peter stood with the other eleven apostles. He raised his voice and declared, “Judeans and everyone living in Jerusalem! Know this! Listen carefully to my words! These people aren’t drunk, as you suspect; after all, it’s only nine o’clock in the morning! Rather, this is what was spoken through the prophet Joel:

In the last days, God says,
I will pour out my Spirit on all people.
    Your sons and daughters will prophesy.
    Your young will see visions.
    Your elders will dream dreams.
    Even upon my servants, men and women,
        I will pour out my Spirit in those days,
        and they will prophesy.
I will cause wonders to occur in the heavens above
    and signs on the earth below,
        blood and fire and a cloud of smoke.
The sun will be changed into darkness,
    and the moon will be changed into blood,
        before the great and spectacular day of the Lord comes.
And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.
(Acts 2:1-21, CEB)

We are filled with the Spirit, and the Spirit is the one who helps us believe in God. As Martin Luther said in his explanation to the third article of the Apostles’ Creed:
“I believe that I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ, my Lord, or come to Him; but the Holy Ghost has called me by the Gospel, enlightened me with His gifts, sanctified and kept me in the true faith; even as He calls, gathers, enlightens, and sanctifies the whole Christian Church on earth, and keeps it with Jesus Christ in the one true faith; in which Christian Church He forgives daily and richly all sins to me and all believers, and at the last day will raise up me and all the dead, and will give to me and to all believers in Christ everlasting life. This is most certainly true.”

Luther knew that we couldn’t believe in God without God helping us understand who and what God is in our lives.

The Spirit shows us how to love and equips us to go into the world and share Grace and Mercy, to show other how God loves them.

The Spirit is our connection on a daily basis to God and fills and binds us to God.

The Spirit is what gives the follower of Jesus their power, it fills all living things, it surrounds us, and penetrates us, it binds the believer to God. (to paraphrase Obi-Wan from A New Hope.

Know you are always connected to God.

Loving People. Loving God.

living water

On the last and most important day of the festival, Jesus stood up and shouted, “All who are thirsty should come to me! All who believe in me should drink! As the scriptures said concerning me, Rivers of living water will flow out from within him.” Jesus said this concerning the Spirit. Those who believed in him would soon receive the Spirit, but they hadn’t experienced the Spirit yet since Jesus hadn’t yet been glorified. (John 7:37-39, CEB)

Living water is moving, it isn’t stagnant.

And when we are a part of Jesus the living water that flowed through him flows through us.

The Spirit moves in and through us and that living water is flowing from our lives.

You can show people God’s love and give them living water.

Do you give living water, or is the water you give stagnant?

Loving People. Loving God.

changed

This is what I’m saying, brothers and sisters: Flesh and blood can’t inherit God’s kingdom. Something that rots can’t inherit something that doesn’t decay. Listen, I’m telling you a secret: All of us won’t die, but we will all be changed— in an instant, in the blink of an eye, at the final trumpet. The trumpet will blast, and the dead will be raised with bodies that won’t decay, and we will be changed. It’s necessary for this rotting body to be clothed with what can’t decay, and for the body that is dying to be clothed in what can’t die. And when the rotting body has been clothed in what can’t decay, and the dying body has been clothed in what can’t die, then this statement in scripture will happen: Death has been swallowed up by a victory. Where is your victory, Death? Where is your sting, Death? (Death’s sting is sin, and the power of sin is the Law.) Thanks be to God, who gives us this victory through our Lord Jesus Christ! (1 Corinthians 15:50-57, CEB)

All of us won’t die but we will all be changed.

We really don’t know how death and resurrection work.

People say no one has ever come back, which actually isn’t true, Lazarus did and so did Jesus. But Jesus didn’t tell us what happens when we die, he told us the promise that since we will experience a death like his and we are his, we will be raised like him. So, what does that mean?

We will be changed. There will be no decay or death once the kingdom is fulfilled.

We can conjecture all we want about what that means, but we will not know until it happens, and then we won’t care.

Know you will be changed, and trust the process and the promise.

Loving People. Loving God.

won’t decay

It’s the same with the resurrection of the dead: a rotting body is put into the ground, but what is raised won’t ever decay. It’s degraded when it’s put into the ground, but it’s raised in glory. It’s weak when it’s put into the ground, but it’s raised in power. It’s a physical body when it’s put into the ground, but it’s raised as a spiritual body. If there’s a physical body, there’s also a spiritual body. So it is also written, The first human, Adam, became a living person, and the last Adam became a spirit that gives life. But the physical body comes first, not the spiritual one—the spiritual body comes afterward. The first human was from the earth made from dust; the second human is from heaven. The nature of the person made of dust is shared by people who are made of dust, and the nature of the heavenly person is shared by heavenly people. We will look like the heavenly person in the same way as we have looked like the person made from dust. (1 Corinthians 15:42-49, CEB)

We are a body made from dust, and one day our bodies will return to dust, but we also believe and confess as a Christian church that we will be raised anew in body and we will be with God for all eternity.

We will be raised anew and live forever in a place with no decay or death.

Death here is merely a step in the process.

Know we will be made of something that will last forever when God’s kingdom is made fully known.

You will not decay.

Loving People. Loving God.

sorrow to joy…

Soon you won’t be able to see me; soon after that, you will see me.” Some of Jesus’ disciples said to each other, “What does he mean: ‘Soon you won’t see me, and soon after that you will see me’ and ‘Because I’m going to the Father’? What does he mean by ‘soon’? We don’t understand what he’s talking about.” Jesus knew they wanted to ask him, so he said, “Are you trying to find out from each other what I meant when I said, ‘Soon you won’t see me, and soon after that you will see me’? I assure you that you will cry and lament, and the world will be happy. You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn into joy. When a woman gives birth, she has pain because her time has come. But when the child is born, she no longer remembers her distress because of her joy that a child has been born into the world. In the same way, you have sorrow now; but I will see you again, and you will be overjoyed. No one takes away your joy. In that day, you won’t ask me anything. I assure you that the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. Up to now, you have asked nothing in my name. Ask and you will receive so that your joy will be complete. (John 16:16-24, CEB)

Soon Jesus would ascend and he would no longer be with the disciples. But the advocate couldn’t come until Jesus went to be with God.

So we mourn, but we are filled with joy because we are still with God.

It is like when a loved one dies. We mourn, we are filled with sorrow, but we know we can have joy, for one day we will be with them again.

Sorrow is for the night, but joy comes in the morning.

We can trade all of our sorrows for the unending joy of the lord!

Loving People. Loving God.