restored

After leaving the synagogue, Jesus, James, and John went home with Simon and Andrew. Simon’s mother-in-law was in bed, sick with a fever, and they told Jesus about her at once. He went to her, took her by the hand, and raised her up. The fever left her, and she served them. That evening, at sunset, people brought to Jesus those who were sick or demon-possessed. The whole town gathered near the door. He healed many who were sick with all kinds of diseases, and he threw out many demons. But he didn’t let the demons speak, because they recognized him. Early in the morning, well before sunrise, Jesus rose and went to a deserted place where he could be alone in prayer. Simon and those with him tracked him down. When they found him, they told him, “Everyone’s looking for you!” He replied, “Let’s head in the other direction, to the nearby villages, so that I can preach there too. That’s why I’ve come.” He traveled throughout Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and throwing out demons. (Mark 1:29-39, CEB)

Jesus was healing people. Not only physically but also restoring them to society.

That is really what this healing was about, restoring people to community.

When we love people as God created them, we are helping restore them to community.

Love like Jesus.

Loving People. Loving God.

Lawful?

Jesus left that place and went into their synagogue. A man with a withered hand was there. Wanting to bring charges against Jesus, they asked, “Does the Law allow a person to heal on the Sabbath?” Jesus replied, “Who among you has a sheep that falls into a pit on the Sabbath and will not take hold of it and pull it out? How much more valuable is a person than a sheep! So the Law allows a person to do what is good on the Sabbath.” Then Jesus said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” So he did and it was made healthy, just like the other one. The Pharisees went out and met in order to find a way to destroy Jesus. (Matthew 12:9-14, CEB)

This passage reminds me of the memes I see that say, “well is it biblical?” Biblical is smashing your enemies ‘ children’s heads against rocks, but is that loving? Jesus told us to love. To love everyone. Jesus said there were two kinds of people, your neighbors, and your enemies and Jesus said that we are to love both.

So is it lawful to be loving? Seriously that is the wrong question.

Love like Jesus.

Loving People. Loving God.

Free?

Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Haven’t I seen Jesus our Lord? Aren’t you my work in the Lord? If I’m not an apostle to others, at least I am to you! You are the seal that shows I’m an apostle. This is my defense against those who criticize me. Don’t we have the right to eat and drink? Don’t we have the right to travel with a wife who believes like the rest of the apostles, the Lord’s brothers, and Cephas? Or is it only I and Barnabas who don’t have the right to not work for our living? Who joins the army and pays their own way? Who plants a vineyard and doesn’t eat its fruit? Who shepherds a flock and doesn’t drink its milk? I’m not saying these things just based on common sense, am I? Doesn’t the Law itself say these things? In Moses’ Law it’s written: You will not muzzle the ox when it is threshing. Is God worried about oxen, or did he say this entirely for our sake? It was written for our sake because the one who plows and the one who threshes should each do so with the hope of sharing the produce. If we sowed spiritual things in you, is it so much to ask to harvest some material things from you? If others have these rights over you, don’t we deserve them all the more? However, we haven’t made use of this right, but we put up with everything so we don’t put any obstacle in the way of the gospel of Christ. Don’t you know that those who serve in the temple get to eat food from the temple, and those who serve at the altar share part of what is sacrificed on the altar? In the same way, the Lord commanded that those who preach the gospel should get their living from the gospel. But I haven’t taken advantage of this. And I’m not writing this so that it will be done for me. It’s better for me to die than to lose my right to brag about this! If I preach the gospel, I have no reason to brag, since I’m obligated to do it. I’m in trouble if I don’t preach the gospel. (1 Corinthians 9:1-16, CEB)

Are we not free to do what we want?

Yes and no…

We are free because God made us that way, and yet we are bound to preach the gospel. We are so loved by God we need to share that knowledge through our lives.

Now this doesn’t mean you need to stand in a pulpit and espouse the words of God to congregations full of people. It means that your life speaks the love, grace, and mercy you have received. It means you love all as you are loved. That you do not judge unless you are ready and willing to be judged by the same judgment.

We need to share the grace, mercy, and love we have been given and show the love God has for all of creation. That is preaching the gospel. To use the quote often attributed to St. Francis of Assisi, but has never been shown to be from him, “Preach the gospel at all times, and when necessary use words.” Let you life so speak the love God has for all creation.

Love like Jesus.

Loving People. Loving God.

Love your neighbor as yourself.

Look, I, Paul, am telling you that if you have yourselves circumcised, having Christ won’t help you. Again I swear to every man who has himself circumcised that he is required to do the whole Law. You people who are trying to be made righteous by the Law have been estranged from Christ. You have fallen away from grace! We eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness through the Spirit by faith. Being circumcised or not being circumcised doesn’t matter in Christ Jesus, but faith working through love does matter. You were running well—who stopped you from obeying the truth? This line of reasoning doesn’t come from the one who calls you. A little yeast works through the whole lump of dough. I’m convinced about you in the Lord that you won’t think any other way. But the one who is confusing you will pay the penalty, whoever that may be. Brothers and sisters, if I’m still preaching circumcision, why am I still being harassed? In that case, the offense of the cross would be canceled. I wish that the ones who are upsetting you would castrate themselves! You were called to freedom, brothers and sisters; only don’t let this freedom be an opportunity to indulge your selfish impulses, but serve each other through love. All the Law has been fulfilled in a single statement: Love your neighbor as yourself. But if you bite and devour each other, be careful that you don’t get eaten up by each other! (Galatians 5:2-15, CEB)

Love your neighbor as yourself…

Telling people they need to be circumcised isn’t what faith is about. An external scare to the flesh doesn’t make you a part of the family. The internal circumcision is what changes a person. “Being circumcised or not being circumcised doesn’t matter in Christ Jesus, but faith working through love does matter.” Love for others is how we show that we follow Christ. Not by enforcing rules that don’t matter in the end. If it is about the rules, then what does the cross mean? Nothing!

Anyone who tells you differently, or says you are not worthy of God’s love should go castrate themselves! They are living not through faith and do not show God’s love.

Show mercy and grace, and love as you are loved.

Love like Jesus.

Loving People. Loving God.

mercy

Jesus and his disciples came to the other side of the lake, to the region of the Gerasenes. As soon as Jesus got out of the boat, a man possessed by an evil spirit came out of the tombs. This man lived among the tombs, and no one was ever strong enough to restrain him, even with a chain. He had been secured many times with leg irons and chains, but he broke the chains and smashed the leg irons. No one was tough enough to control him. Night and day in the tombs and the hills, he would howl and cut himself with stones. When he saw Jesus from far away, he ran and knelt before him, shouting, “What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? Swear to God that you won’t torture me!” He said this because Jesus had already commanded him, “Unclean spirit, come out of the man!” Jesus asked him, “What is your name?” He responded, “Legion is my name, because we are many.” They pleaded with Jesus not to send them out of that region. A large herd of pigs was feeding on the hillside. “Send us into the pigs!” they begged. “Let us go into the pigs!” Jesus gave them permission, so the unclean spirits left the man and went into the pigs. Then the herd of about two thousand pigs rushed down the cliff into the lake and drowned. Those who tended the pigs ran away and told the story in the city and in the countryside. People came to see what had happened. They came to Jesus and saw the man who used to be demon-possessed. They saw the very man who had been filled with many demons sitting there fully dressed and completely sane, and they were filled with awe. Those who had actually seen what had happened to the demon-possessed man told the others about the pigs. Then they pleaded with Jesus to leave their region. While he was climbing into the boat, the one who had been demon-possessed pleaded with Jesus to let him come along as one of his disciples. But Jesus wouldn’t allow it. “Go home to your own people,” Jesus said, “and tell them what the Lord has done for you and how he has shown you mercy.” The man went away and began to proclaim in the Ten Cities all that Jesus had done for him, and everyone was amazed. (Mark 5:1-20, CEB)

“tell them what the Lord has done for you and how he has shown you mercy.”

We are all not called to be with Jesus, but we are all called to share what Jesus has done for us.

We need to make our lives about sharing the mercy that God has shown to us.

In this world of evil and pain, God is with us and God’s mercy will see us through. We are never alone and God loves us as we are not how the world around us wants us to be.

So share love. Share mercy. Share grace.

Love like Jesus.

Loving People. Loving God.

Follow God

I want you to be free from concerns. A man who isn’t married is concerned about the Lord’s concerns—how he can please the Lord. But a married man is concerned about the world’s concerns—how he can please his wife. His attention is divided. A woman who isn’t married or who is a virgin is concerned about the Lord’s concerns so that she can be dedicated to God in both body and spirit. But a married woman is concerned about the world’s concerns—how she can please her husband. I’m saying this for your own advantage. It’s not to restrict you but rather to promote effective and consistent service to the Lord without distraction. If someone thinks he is acting inappropriately toward an unmarried woman whom he knows, and if he has strong feelings and it seems like the right thing to do, he should do what he wants—he’s not sinning—they should get married. But if a man stands firm in his decision, and doesn’t feel the pressure, but has his own will under control, he does right if he decides in his own heart not to marry the woman. Therefore, the one who marries the unmarried woman does right, and the one who doesn’t get married will do even better. A woman is obligated to stay in her marriage as long as her husband is alive. But if her husband dies, she is free to marry whomever she wants, only it should be a believer in the Lord. But in my opinion, she will be happier if she stays the way she is. And I think that I have God’s Spirit too. (1 Corinthians 7:32-40, CEB)

Paul here gives us an outline for how you can follow God. Simply put, Paul says to be single. Because if you are single you only have to focus on God. But this is not always the best way for everyone. I think we all know instances where single people were not focused on God but on their own pleasure. But Paul says if you have strong feelings and need to marry, then marry. But Paul also commends us to be following after the Lord.

So in all you do follow God and do not set your mind on the concerns of the world.

Love like Jesus.

Loving People. Loving God.

Avoid…

When we arrived in Jerusalem, the brothers and sisters welcomed us warmly. On the next day Paul and the rest of us went to see James. All of the elders were present. After greeting them, he gave them a detailed report of what God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry. Those who heard this praised God. Then they said to him, “Brother, you see how many thousands of Jews have become believers, and all of them keep the Law passionately. They have been informed that you teach all the Jews who live among the Gentiles to reject Moses, telling them not to circumcise their children nor to live according to our customs. What about this? Without a doubt, they will hear that you have arrived. You must therefore do what we tell you. Four men among us have made a solemn promise. Take them with you, go through the purification ritual with them, and pay the cost of having their heads shaved. Everyone will know there is nothing to those reports about you but that you too live a life in keeping with the Law. As for the Gentile believers, we wrote a letter about what we decided, that they avoid food offered to idols, blood, the meat from strangled animals, and sexual immorality.” The following day Paul took the men with him and went through the purification ritual with them. He entered the temple and publicly announced the completion of the days of purification, when the offering would be presented for each one of them. (Acts 21:17-26, CEB)

As for the Gentile believers, we wrote a letter about what we decided, that they avoid food offered to idols, blood, meat from strangled animals, and sexual immorality.

Don’t eat things offered to idols. Stay away from blood. Make sure the animal your meat comes from was not strangled. Do not be sexually immoral.

Unless you kill all your own animals how are you sure of the way the animal died? If you actually kill an animal, how can you stay away from blood? How are you certain the food set before you was not used as a sacrifice for an idol? What does it mean to be sexually immoral?

All of these are pretty straightforward, and yet also hard to say what they are.

We get into trouble when we try to define these things for others. We need to define these for ourselves and monitor ourselves and not others by our standards.

Love like Jesus and show mercy like God.

Loving People. Loving God.

Teaching

Jesus and his followers went into Capernaum. Immediately on the Sabbath Jesus entered the synagogue and started teaching. The people were amazed by his teaching, for he was teaching them with authority, not like the legal experts. Suddenly, there in the synagogue, a person with an evil spirit screamed, “What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are. You are the holy one from God.” “Silence!” Jesus said, speaking harshly to the demon. “Come out of him!” The unclean spirit shook him and screamed, then it came out. Everyone was shaken and questioned among themselves, “What’s this? A new teaching with authority! He even commands unclean spirits and they obey him!” Right away the news about him spread throughout the entire region of Galilee. (Mark 1:21-28, CEB)

Jesus taught as one with authority, not like the legal experts.

And the demons knew who he was and were afraid of him.

Nothing is out of the power of Jesus.

Know you are safe with Jesus who will always be with you.

Love like Jesus.

Loving People. Loving God.

Torture?

When Jesus arrived on the other side of the lake in the country of the Gadarenes, two men who were demon-possessed came from among the tombs to meet him. They were so violent that nobody could travel on that road. They cried out, “What are you going to do with us, Son of God? Have you come to torture us before the time of judgment?” Far off in the distance a large herd of pigs was feeding. The demons pleaded with him, “If you throw us out, send us into the herd of pigs.” Then he said to the demons, “Go away,” and they came out and went into the pigs. The whole herd rushed down the cliff into the lake and drowned. Those who tended the pigs ran into the city and told everything that had happened to the demon-possessed men. Then the whole city came out and met Jesus. When they saw him, they pleaded with him to leave their region. Boarding a boat, Jesus crossed to the other side of the lake and went to his own city. (Matthew 8:28-9:1, CEB)

Have you come to torture us before the time of judgment?

This to me is an odd sentence to say to Jesus. There isn’t any justification for this, as we have no stories of Jesus torturing anyone from the scriptures.

But remember these are demons. Evil spirits.

But here Jesus tortures the pigs, by letting the demons enter them. What a waste of bacon…

But in everything Jesus is merciful. He didn’t send the demons away, he allowed them to do what they asked.

Be like Jesus and help people. Be merciful.

Love like Jesus.

Loving People. Loving God.

Change…

“Write this to the angel of the church in Pergamum:

These are the words of the one who has the sharp, two-edged sword: I know that you are living right where Satan’s throne is. You are holding on to my name, and you didn’t break faith with me even at the time that Antipas, my faithful witness, was killed among you, where Satan lives. But I have a few things against you, because you have some there who follow Balaam’s teaching. Balaam had taught Balak to trip up the Israelites so that they would eat food sacrificed to idols and commit sexual immorality. In the same way, you have some who follow the Nicolaitans’ teaching. So change your hearts and lives. If you don’t, I am coming to you soon, and I will make war on them with the sword that comes from my mouth. If you can hear, listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches. I will give those who emerge victorious some of the hidden manna to eat. I will also give to each of them a white stone with a new name written on it, which no one knows except the one who receives it. (Revelation 2:12-17, CEB)

We can choose to follow after ways that are not the path set before us by God. When we do this we follow the path of Satan.

This is not what God calls us to and when we do this we need to repent and change our ways. We can change our hearts and follow after Jesus.

Follow Jesus and love the world as you are loved.

Love Like Jesus.

Loving People. Loving God.