Down payment

We know that if the tent that we live in on earth is torn down, we have a building from God. It’s a house that isn’t handmade, which is eternal and located in heaven. We groan while we live in this residence. We really want to dress ourselves with our building from heaven— since we assume that when we take off this tent, we won’t find out that we are naked. Yes, while we are in this tent we groan, because we are weighed down. We want to be dressed not undressed, so that what is dying can be swallowed up by life. Now the one who prepared us for this very thing is God, and God gave us the Spirit as a down payment for our home. (2 Corinthians 5:1-5, CEB)

Interestingly here Paul refers to the Spirit as a down payment for our home. Our home with God for all eternity. And the Spirit being with us is the foretaste, the sneak peek at what all of eternity will be like.

You see this place is merely a stop on the way to our life for all eternity. It is a way to travel and a place to help others be more like God. Loving in every aspect and understanding of those around them.

We are called and invited to be God in the world.

You are to shed the tent of this world and show this world the grace, mercy, and love of God.

Love like Jesus.

Loving People. Loving God.

Love

The end of everything has come. Therefore, be self-controlled and clearheaded so you can pray. Above all, show sincere love to each other, because love brings about the forgiveness of many sins. Open your homes to each other without complaining. And serve each other according to the gift each person has received, as good managers of God’s diverse gifts. Whoever speaks should do so as those who speak God’s word. Whoever serves should do so from the strength that God furnishes. Do this so that in everything God may be honored through Jesus Christ. To him be honor and power forever and always. Amen. Dear friends, don’t be surprised about the fiery trials that have come among you to test you. These are not strange happenings. Instead, rejoice as you share Christ’s suffering. You share his suffering now so that you may also have overwhelming joy when his glory is revealed. If you are mocked because of Christ’s name, you are blessed, for the Spirit of glory—indeed, the Spirit of God—rests on you. Now none of you should suffer as a murderer or thief or evildoer or rebel. But don’t be ashamed if you suffer as one who belongs to Christ. Rather, honor God as you bear Christ’s name. Give honor to God, because it’s time for judgment to begin with God’s own household. But if judgment starts with us, what will happen to those who refuse to believe God’s good news? If the righteous are barely rescued, what will happen to the godless and sinful? So then, those who suffer because they follow God’s will should commit their lives to a trustworthy creator by doing what is right. (1 Peter 4:7-19, CEB)

Above all, show sincere love to each other.

The thing we can do to show we follow God is to love each other.

When you speak you should speak love.

We are to be the voice of love. We are the hands of love.

We show the world how God loves them, by speaking and doing love in everything we do and say.

Above all, show sincere love to each other.

Loving People. Loving God.

Heal others

After this there was a Jewish festival, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. In Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate in the north city wall is a pool with the Aramaic name Bethsaida. It had five covered porches, and a crowd of people who were sick, blind, lame, and paralyzed sat there. A certain man was there who had been sick for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there, knowing that he had already been there a long time, he asked him, “Do you want to get well?” The sick man answered him, “Sir, I don’t have anyone who can put me in the water when it is stirred up. When I’m trying to get to it, someone else has gotten in ahead of me.” Jesus said to him, “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.” Immediately the man was well, and he picked up his mat and walked. Now that day was the Sabbath. The Jewish leaders said to the man who had been healed, “It’s the Sabbath; you aren’t allowed to carry your mat.” He answered, “The man who made me well said to me, ‘Pick up your mat and walk.’” They inquired, “Who is this man who said to you, ‘Pick it up and walk’?” The man who had been cured didn’t know who it was, because Jesus had slipped away from the crowd gathered there. Later Jesus found him in the temple and said, “See! You have been made well. Don’t sin anymore in case something worse happens to you.” The man went and proclaimed to the Jewish leaders that Jesus was the man who had made him well. As a result, the Jewish leaders were harassing Jesus, since he had done these things on the Sabbath. Jesus replied, “My Father is still working, and I am working too.” For this reason the Jewish leaders wanted even more to kill him—not only because he was doing away with the Sabbath but also because he called God his own Father, thereby making himself equal with God. (John 5:1-18, CEB)

The religious leaders were so concerned with maintaining power and control, that they lost the vision of what we are called to do and be.

Love.

Love looks past rules to see the humanity of every person and their needs in the given moment.

The person Jesus healed didn’t even say he wanted to be made well, he made excuses for why he had not made it into the water yet when it was stirred. Jesus plainly asked him, “Do you want to get well?” He did not respond “Yes” but with excuses. What would you say to Jesus if he asked, “Do you want to get well?”

What would we say to others who ask to be made well? Would we find excuses not to help or see the humanity of the one asking and know that love is the answer?

Error on the side of grace and love like Jesus.

Loving People. Loving God.

Antioch controversy…

Some people came down from Judea teaching the family of believers, “Unless you are circumcised according to the custom we’ve received from Moses, you can’t be saved.” Paul and Barnabas took sides against these Judeans and argued strongly against their position. The church at Antioch appointed Paul, Barnabas, and several others from Antioch to go up to Jerusalem to set this question before the apostles and the elders. The church sent this delegation on their way. They traveled through Phoenicia and Samaria, telling stories about the conversion of the Gentiles to everyone. Their reports thrilled the brothers and sisters. When they arrived in Jerusalem, the church, the apostles, and the elders all welcomed them. They gave a full report of what God had accomplished through their activity. Some believers from among the Pharisees stood up and claimed, “The Gentiles must be circumcised. They must be required to keep the Law from Moses.” The apostles and the elders, along with the entire church, agreed to send some delegates chosen from among themselves to Antioch, together with Paul and Barnabas. They selected Judas Barsabbas and Silas, who were leaders among the brothers and sisters. They were to carry this letter: The apostles and the elders, to the Gentile brothers and sisters in Antioch, Syria, and Cilicia. Greetings! We’ve heard that some of our number have disturbed you with unsettling words we didn’t authorize. We reached a united decision to select some delegates and send them to you along with our dear friends Barnabas and Paul. These people have devoted their lives to the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, we are sending Judas and Silas. They will confirm what we have written. The Holy Spirit has led us to the decision that no burden should be placed on you other than these essentials: refuse food offered to idols, blood, the meat from strangled animals, and sexual immorality. You will do well to avoid such things. Farewell. When Barnabas, Paul, and the delegates were sent on their way, they went down to Antioch. They gathered the believers and delivered the letter. The people read it, delighted with its encouraging message. Judas and Silas were prophets, and they said many things that encouraged and strengthened the brothers and sisters. Judas and Silas stayed there awhile, then were sent back with a blessing of peace from the brothers and sisters to those who first sent them. Paul and Barnabas stayed in Antioch, where, together with many others, they taught and proclaimed the good news of the Lord’s word. (Acts 15:1-5, 22-35, CEB)

Early people who followed Jesus were Jewish and held that those being a part of the religion needed to follow the ways of becoming a Jew which meant for men they needed to be circumcised. Paul did not believe this was the case and tried to show others this was not what God intended.

There was a fight about who was right and how people showed they were a part of the way. Paul talked about this in his letters specifically Galatians. Circumcision is an outward sign of the covenant and really doesn’t show how one lives and is devoted to God. This was a conversation that went on for a while, but we need to know that nationality or lack of a foreskin doesn’t make one a follower of Jesus.

God welcomes all, regardless of any mad made division.

Love like God.

Welcome all.

Loving People. Loving God.

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.