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Obeying God: Is it Necessary? Is it Required by His Law, or a Blessing of His Gospel?
Discussion/Devotional THought of the Day:
10 We are God’s work of art, created in Christ Jesus for the good works which God has already designated to make up our way of life. Ephesians 2:10 (NJB)
9 So we have not stopped praying for you since we first heard about you. We ask God to give you complete knowledge of his will and to give you spiritual wisdom and understanding. 10 Then the way you live will always honor and please the Lord, and your lives will produce every kind of good fruit. All the while, you will grow as you learn to know God better and better. 11 We also pray that you will be strengthened with all his glorious power so you will have all the endurance and patience you need. May you be filled with joy, Colossians 1:9-11 (NLT)
1 Well then, should we keep on sinning so that God can show us more and more of his wonderful grace? 2 Of course not! Since we have died to sin, how can we continue to live in it? Romans 6:1-2 (NLT)
18 Please echo these words for me: it is no “sacrifice” for parents when God asks them for their children. Neither, for those he calls, is it a sacrifice to follow him. It is, on the contrary, an immense honour, a reason for a great and holy pride, a mark of predilection, a very special affection that God has shown at a particular time, but which has been in his mind from all eternity. (1)
There is a misunderstanding among many Christians about things like obedience and sacrifice and striving to overcome temptation and sin. Some will demand other people the strictest levels of obedience, Others will say that even calling for people to obey is wrong, because we are not saved by our works, and they take that to mean they are not required of those who are saved. That they cannot be required, They would argue that to encourage people to live out their lives, trusting in God’s promises is somehow wrong.
Neither quite gets it,
Obedience doesn’t come about from a requirement, it comes about from love. You don’t willingly sacrifice your life, you don’t set it apart our of obligation, but instead you do it because of knowing God’s love. Obedience is an act of adoration, Sacrificing yourself, as a minister or missionary, or just the time you invest in teaching some junior highers isn’t an obligation, but rather a life lived in response to love. It is the way the Holy Spirit transforms us, causing us to focus on Christ’s love for us, even as He changes and empowers us. The call to obedience is that which should naturally be drawn to, even as they are drawn to confess their sins when they fail. For they know and trust in God’s love, a love that will heal and cleanse, a love that will strengthen and assure. A love which shares with us His desire, that as His children we may work alongside Him.
That is why there is such good fruit that cones from it, that is why serving God, obeying God, following God’s way, working to see His will complete is such a blessing. For we often do not think of such things as sacrifices, such work is not a burden.
It is simply walking with our God, who considers us His beloved!
(1) Escriva, Josemaria (2011-01-31). The Forge (Kindle Locations 300-303). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
The Sin Absolutely NO ONE Wants to Talk About
Devotional Thought of the Day:
28 Since they thought it foolish to acknowledge God, he abandoned them to their foolish thinking and let them do things that should never be done. 29 Their lives became full of every kind of wickedness, sin, greed, hate, envy, murder, quarreling, deception, malicious behavior, and gossip. 30 They are backstabbers, haters of God, insolent, proud, and boastful. They invent new ways of sinning, and they disobey their parents. 31 They refuse to understand, break their promises, are heartless, and have no mercy. 32 They know God’s justice requires that those who do these things deserve to die, yet they do them anyway. Worse yet, they encourage others to do them, too. Romans 1:28-32 (NLT)
13 Then he added, “Now go and learn the meaning of this Scripture: ‘I want you to show mercy, not offer sacrifices.’ For I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners.” Matthew 9:13 (NLT)
28 Sometimes we hear love described (you’ll have heard me mention this more than once) as if it were a movement towards self-satisfaction, or merely a means of selfishly fulfilling one’s own personality. And I have always told you that it isn’t so. True love demands getting out of oneself, giving oneself. Genuine love brings joy in its wake, a joy that has its roots in the shape of the Cross. (1)
In the first quote above, there is an incredible list of sins. If you read the verses before the quote in Romans, there are more sins, more perversions of the relationships that God has blessed us with, in those He has brought in to our lives.
Some will talk of how horrible this sin is, how malignant that one, or that a specific one is an abomination. Some of us will point out the entire list, indicating that gossip is as bad as any sexual sin, that breaking vows is as bad as murder. We want sin confronted, the people chastised, preferably publicly! We all have our pet peeves, those sins that need the full wrath of God poured out on them. Often arguments are reduced to which sin is worse, which will receive the fullest wrath of God, even as each of us thinks our sin should even reduce the way our mansion in heaven is furnished.
In treating sin and those whose sin we condemn in such a way, we too sin. I would draw your attention to the last sin in verse 31. We have become people who are heartless (literally – we refuse to love our family) and we refuse to show mercy.
We refuse to forgive, we refuse to reconcile, we refuse to acknowledge each other as the adopted, cleansed, forgiven children of God whom have been given the gift of the Holy Spirit. In refusing to show mercy to others, we deny the will of God, which is patient because we aren’t willing that any should perish, but that ALL should come to repentance, all should be reconciled, all should be invited to know the mercy and filial love that Christ has shown us.
In not forgiving, we are asking God to not forgive them, to bind that sin to them and make them face the wrath of God. In not forgiving, in not showing mercy, that is exactly what we are asking. We are denying the very heart of God.
Is showing mercy easy? No.
Does loving people like they are our family (and in Christ they are, or can be) take the kind of sacrifice, the getting out of oneself that Escriva encourages us to do? Yes, and it is hard, very hard.
So what that it is hard?
Yes…. that doesn’t negate the need to be merciful, nor to show people love.
We are merciful, because it is God’s desire, and because He has shown us mercy…..
and when we struggle, the aid is just a short prayer…..
Lord, have mercy a sinner!
- Escriva, Josemaria (2011-01-31). The Forge (Kindle Locations 339-343). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
The Need for Families..
Devotional Thought of the Day:
21 Submit yourselves to one another because of your reverence for Christ. 1 Children, it is your Christian duty to obey your parents, for this is the right thing to do. 2 “Respect your father and mother” is the first commandment that has a promise added: 3 “so that all may go well with you, and you may live a long time in the land.” 4 Parents, do not treat your children in such a way as to make them angry. Instead, raise them with Christian discipline and instruction. Ephesians 5:21, 6:1-4 (TEV)
19 Be grateful to your parents for bringing you into this world, thus enabling you to become a child of God. And be all the more grateful if it was they who placed in your soul the first seeds of faith and piety, of your Christian way, or of your vocation. (1)
Later this week, my mom and I will take a day and just get away. It will be one year since my dad passed, and the grief and loss that we feel may indeed well up inside of us. So I have been thinking of family a lot recently. This morning I came across St Josemaria’s quote you just read in my devotions, All over the news o that the brokenness of some famous athletes’ families recently aired out in front of the world, and an odd comment on facebook recently, sparked off this blog.
The comment this morning that struck me as odd, was the reference to the Virgin Mary as simply a “vessel”, nothing more, nothing less. It struck me as pragmatic and lifeless, and against the very idea of family as taught in the scripture. For no mother is simply a vessel, a holding place for life for 9 months.
God designed us to be part of families, and while many are dysfunctional… no wait, all are dysfunctional because of sin, that doesn’t mean we should devalue them. Yet that is what we allow. Mother’s are reduced to vessels, and holding tanks. Father’s are thought unnecessary, and of little value. Children are tossed aside, before and after they are born. Siblings are made to think that rivalry is the norm, rather than a loving family.
This isn’t new – you can’t read scripture without seeing the brokenness of families, and directions about how things really should be. Directions that are critical to be really heard, and by that I mean the scriptural meaning of hear – to absorb and let affect and transform you. This is not just something that we can take as what theologians call adiaphora, it is not optional. Nor is it it simply environmental or biological. As an adopted child, I have met my birth mother, and much of who I am, I see in her. As well, I see a lot of my adopted parents as well.
It is the relationship of family, even if we struggle with it.
The reason this is critical is simple. The family is an image of our relationship with God. He is our loving Father, our merciful Brother. We are all siblings, whether we note the relationship, or not.
Frequently, we take the image of family that we know, our broken, confused, dysfunctional families, and those we see, and project them onto our relationship with God. It becomes a fight for who is wiser, or who is in control, who is the authority, who has the rights. And we treat God like we treat our parents, our children, our brothers and sisters.
If instead of projecting on God’s family what we know from dysfunctional experiences, we let it work the other way?
We would honor our parents, praying for them, hearing them.
We would sacrifice for our family, the way Jesus did for us, knowing that in love, no sacrifice is too great for those who are in His family.
We would value the people God has given us, parents, children, siblings in our families, and in our church families.
We would seek those who are part of this family, yet don’t know it… yet.
We would love.
Lord Have mercy as we worship and love you, as we embrace our families in love.
(1) Escriva, Josemaria (2011-01-31). The Forge (Kindle Locations 304-306). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
The Task of Ministering to Others ( For pastors, priests, deacons, elders, and all who serve in the church)
Devotional Thought of the Day:
1 I, who am an elder myself, appeal to the church elders among you. I am a witness of Christ’s sufferings, and I will share in the glory that will be revealed. I appeal to you 2 to be shepherds of the flock that God gave you and to take care of it willingly, as God wants you to, and not unwillingly. Do your work, not for mere pay, but from a real desire to serve. 3 Do not try to rule over those who have been put in your care, but be examples to the flock. 4 And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the glorious crown which will never lose its brightness. 1 Peter 5:1-4 (TEV)
1 So then, my friends, because of God’s great mercy to us I appeal to you: Offer yourselves as a living sacrifice to God, dedicated to his service and pleasing to him. This is the true worship that you should offer. 2 Do not conform yourselves to the standards of this world, but let God transform you inwardly by a complete change of your mind. Then you will be able to know the will of God—what is good and is pleasing to him and is perfect. Romans 12:1-2 (TEV)
The Good Shepherd does not demand that shepherds lay down their lives for a real flock of sheep. But every spiritual shepherd must endure the loss of his bodily life for the salvation of the flock, since the spiritual good of the flock is more important that the bodily life of the shepherd, when danger threatens the salvation of the flock. This is why the Lord says: The good shepherd lays down his life, that is, his physical life, for his sheep; this he does because of his authority and love. Both, in fact, are required: that they should be ruled by him, and that he should love them. The first without the second is not enough.
Christ stands out for us as the example of this teaching: If Christ laid down his life for us, so we also ought to lay down our lives for our brothers.
From an exposition on John by Saint Thomas Aquinas, pastor (Cap. 10, lect 3)
I received the quote from Thomas Aquinas from a friend who I have never met, yet we feel towards each other like brothers. He is an older priest in Sicily, just about to turn 80, who still serves a parish. With the help of google translate, we communicate as we can.
Maybe he sent this to me because of my sermon yesterday, on the passage from Romans above. Maybe it was his reading this morning at Mass, or in his private prayer and devotional time. I don’t know. But on Monday, it is a good, no a very good reading for all of us who serve parishes, whether we are volunteers or paid, ordained ministers or lay ministers. As we call our group of pastors, deacons, elders at our parish – the diakonos, simply meaning the servants.
We are called to live sacrificially, yet, eventually we find it is not so sacrificial. We give of our time, our talents, and our treasure (or give up the opportunity to obtain these things for our own use) to those whom we serve, those who become our children in the faith. My friend, Fr. Giuseppe, has spent his life as a celibate priest, and yet the pictures of his parish show him with his children and grandchildren and great grandchildren in the faith. Those pictures show a love and care for my friend that is incredible.
But still we are called to sacrifice, our all, our lives, our hearts, Paul would even have sacrificed his own soul ( if he could have) , in order that these people know Christ. In order that this is not just book knowledge, but deep intimate knowledge of His love. The kind of knowledge that in awe leads to worship, that leads to adoration.
It’s a challenge and blessing because in sacrificing these things, we have to also give up our pride, our vanity. We have to remember that they and we are broken people, needing Christ’s healing. We have to be slow to anger, quick to forgive. Quick to apologize and make things right, long-suffering and patient to guide them toward the repentance they so need. This is the laying down our lives that Aquinas talks about – perhaps not being physically nailed to the cross, but spiritually, and emotionally, and often figuratively, as we work until we are exhausted and more.
It is an impossible task, this being examples to our flocks. Impossible save one thing. We have a God who answers our cry for mercy, who is our example, who doesn’t lord it over us, but serves us in love. That is why the task is all gospel, not law, because we encounter and need Christ in every moment, in every sacrifice.
May we follow the examples of those who have served before, who followed the examples of Christ.
Worship Isn’t A Song or and Event: it is our very life!
Worship Isn’t A Song or and Event
It is our very life!
May the grace of God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ leave you in complete, life changing awe of their love and care for you!
Not now…. Then!
I would hope by this time of the service; your mind is clear of the distractions of life. That you are getting ready to engage in what God created you to do, to be. That you have been encouraged by hearing all your sins are forgiven, that the music has inspired you to look to Christ, that the readings have compelled you to draw closer to Him,
It is nearly time…
In about 30 minutes, after the sermon, after communion, after the Benediction and then we begin to worship!
Yes, you heard me right, we begin to worship!
As Paul tells the church in Rome, it will be time to “give your bodies to God because of all He has done for you. Let all that you are become a holy and living sacrifice. This is the kind of worship that God finds acceptable.”
That is what Paul says, “This is truly the way to worship Him!”
This is what worship is! It isn’t just sitting in here, singing your hearts out. It isn’t just kneeling here, as you receive Christ’s precious Body and Blood. Indeed, those events are part of it; this service should encourage your worship – but it isn’t what worship IS.
Worship isn’t a song, or an event, it is your very life!
So how does this happen?
How it all starts, being in awe,
I asked a question this week online, and I got an incredible answer. The question was, “Do we desire God’s presence? Do we desire Eternity?”
Here is what they wrote”
“In answer to your question do we really desire to be in God’s house. Maybe one of the reasons is because we keep trying to make it Our house that elevates Our presence rather than Gods.”
Brilliant theological insight! We make it about us, rather than God
This insight is exactly what keeps us from a life of worship. We somehow think this is our life, not His, That it is our church, not His. That what matters is what our will desires, not His, that this is our time. Our place, our job, our family, our life. We ignore God’s presence in it, His part, His desires, His plan.
That is why Paul starts out with a discussion about the incredible-ness of God. He wants us to see God’s glorious nature! To realize that we cannot understand how thoroughly He works.
Remember, God promised back in chapter 8 that all things work for good for those who love God? Yeah, we don’t see that all the time, even with 20-20 hindsight. We can’t give Him advice, though we try.
A Life of worship starts in being in Awe of God.
In realizing we can’t know His ways, but we can trust Him.
That we aren’t His guide, He doesn’t need our support; we need His!!
That we can never give Him so much, that He is indebted to us, but that He gives us freely, out of the heart of love.
A life of worship recognizes that He is God, we are His children. And this realization comes as He reveals Himself through His word. This life of worship starts as we become find ourselves in awe of God. As we realize what it means that He has given us the Body and Blood of Christ.
Being transformed
When we find ourselves in awe of God’s work in our lives, the very work He promised, we find ourselves being changed. Which brings us to step two.
“let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.”
This is part of the worship, allowing God to convict us our sins, in order that He can cleanse us of them. Easy to face? No, but knowing in advance that God has promised to heal us and He is doing so, makes our confession different. It is an act of trust, it is worship!
This transformation isn’t just about being freed from sin. Hear how Ezekiel describes God’s promise:
26I shall give you a new heart, and put a new spirit in you; I shall remove the heart of stone from your bodies and give you a heart of flesh instead. 27 I shall put my spirit in you, and make you keep my laws, and respect and practise my judgements. Ezekiel 36:25-27 (NJB)
This is what God is doing in us, to us, and by the Holy Spirit. He is transforming us, as Paul says renewing our minds, changing our hearts, counting us not only righteous, but making us holy!
Making us able to trust Him, to live out our faith in worship!
Being Trusting
So as we are in awe of God, as we are being transformed, and as the Spirit takes up residence in us, the change that is made in our lives turns them into a life of worship! We begin to see our actions are being done in praise of God.
That is what Paul is talking about, as he talks about us having a proper perspective about ourselves. Not how tall, or handsome, or intelligent, or how many things you have suffered through. No, the way we evaluate ourselves is much simpler and much more real. Do you trust God? Are you willing to let Him use you, where God would put you?
How we measure ourselves is based in this simple thought.
If God calls us to use the gift He has given us, will we listen and obey, trusting that He will make it work for good? No matter whether we get it right, or whether we see the outcome, that it will be a blessing to us, and to all who love Him?
Will you use the gift God has given you, at this time, where you live, work, and hangout? Will you proclaim God’s love, trusting in Him?
Will you serve others, meeting needs, whether physical, spiritual, emotional, and trusting in Him?
Will you teach those who need to be taught, trusting in Him??
Will you come alongside and lift up those who are down, trusting in Him?
Will you give generously, even sacrificially, knowing that God will care for you?
Each has a different gift, and some different gifts for different periods of their lives, but will you use them, not trusting in things of this world but trusting in God?
Not holding those gifts back, not resisting the transformation that God is doing to us, in us. That happens as the Holy Spirit works in our lives, causing us to live in and reflect the glory of Christ.
That’s worship! Whether we are asking God to use our life, singing, or when we put out our finances to support His work, or when we offer a cup of cold orange juice and some pancakes to a hungry person.
Worship is our very life, every moment, for worship is living in awe of His presence, here and now, whenever that here and now is. Worship is letting God run our lives, wherever He sends us.
Worship is also a life in awe, and therefore in a miraculous peace, for we live with God…. His believed children, and guard in Christ. AMEN.
The Necessity of Martyrdom, our Martyrdom.
Discussion and Devotional THought of the Day:
10 Then I heard a loud voice in heaven saying, “Now God’s salvation has come! Now God has shown his power as King! Now his Messiah has shown his authority! For the one who stood before our God and accused believers day and night has been thrown out of heaven. 11 They won the victory over him by the blood of the Lamb and by the truth which they proclaimed; and they were willing to give up their lives and die. Revelation 12:10-11 (TEV)
21 But Ittai said to the king, “I vow by the LORD and by your own life that I will go wherever my lord the king goes, no matter what happens—whether it means life or death.” 2 Samuel 15:21 (NLT)
I’ve seen all over the Facebook and Twitter the Arabic letter Nain. Most are putting it up; they claim, in solidarity with the Christians in Mosul and Iraq who are facing persecution and reportedly are being martyred. The story goes that it is the letter that is being painted on the homes of Christians, to mark and identify them. It’s a handy little symbol and stands for “Nazarene.” People are free to harass, persecute and even kill those who live in those homes.
I haven’t seen necklaces and wristbands with the symbol on it yet, but I am pretty sure some entrepreneur will develop them soon.
It’s popular; it’s in vogue, it makes us somehow feel like we are doing something against the evil in their lands.
Most of us aren’t. We may change the photo on our FB. We might even donate an extra 10 or 20 bucks in the offering plate and designate it for relief. We might have heard them added to our prayers at church on Sunday, and said amen under our breath. (that assumes we were there, and heard the prayers)
But are we really willing to go to Iraq and stand beside them, and/or take their punishment? ( Sometime read the story of the martyrdom of Maximilian Kolbe – a catholic saint who did that very thing!) How far are we willing to take this fight?
And what fight is it? Is it a fight against injustice, the fight for making sure that no one ever suffers persecution. It’s a fight that no one ever has to faith death because of their faith?
Or is the fight something against something more insidious, something more evil, evil incarnate, the power of Satan. The power of the one who would accuse us of the sins we have committed and demand that we pay for each and everyone.
Revelation is clear on how that evil is defeated.
1. By remembering that Christ’s death, the shedding of His Blood cleanses, purifies and sanctifies us. That God declares us righteous and just because of that blood being shed.
2. By the words of our martyrdom, the words of our witness. It is interesting to note that martyrdom and witness are the same word in Greek. That we are so in awe of #1 that we have to share it with others, That God’s love and desire to save us transforms us into wanting others saved, even at great cost. For some that means they will dedicate their lives to serving wherever God wants, even if it means forgoing things the rest of us take for granted. Families, homes. jobs, personal pleasure. For others, it may mean their life.
For all of us, it means sacrificing the idol of self and pleasure. If we aren’t willing to do even that, can we say we stand in solidarity with those who
3. #1 and #2 lead to this – that we can’t love our life so much that we aren’t willing to sacrifice, or even portions of it (say a day off or a vacation, or even time with family) that others might know.
Paul talks of standing in solidarity, standing in communion, when he encourages the church to “imitate me, as I imitate Christ.” He does it again as he asks us to present our bodies as living sacrifices. Jesus’ words about those that would save their life must offer it up. In each, solidarity is not seen apart from martyrdom, In each we take up our cross, we willingly pay the price that others would know that God can be trusted, even through death
It goes deeper – for we are united with Christ’s martyrdom, with His witness, with His cross. There is where we find our salvation, our deliverance, in the fact that He didn’t cling to life, but gave up Himself, for us. You see that Nazarene died for us, even as some die for Him, even as we who live are living sacrifices to Him. Without His cross – without our unity to Him in it, our symbolism is void and worthless.
May we embrace whatever shame, whatever cost, whatever sacrifice is necessary, for the joy that was set before Him and before us.
Lord have mercy on us!
Forgiveness for Any Other Reason but Love…. Is Not…
Devotional THought of the Day:
38 “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.’ 39 But now I tell you: do not take revenge on someone who wrongs you. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, let him slap your left cheek too. 40 And if someone takes you to court to sue you for your shirt, let him have your coat as well. 41 And if one of the occupation troops forces you to carry his pack one mile, carry it two miles. Matthew 5:38-41 (TEV)
806 You were very sorry to hear that most un-Christian comment, “Forgive your enemies: you can’t imagine how it angers them!” You could not keep quiet, and you replied calmly, “I don’t want to cheapen love by humiliating my neighbour. I forgive, because I love, and I am hungry to imitate the Master.” (1)
Yesterday I wrote about the fact that forgiveness is not learned, it is not a discipline, it is simply the result of love.
Today, I cam across the quote from Escriva, and I again was amazed at the thought. Simply because I’ve heard this said before, I’ve even probably used something like it along the way. Just show them you are bigger than them, and forgive them. ( I apologize to any I’ve said that too. I’ve also heard it said this way, you don’t have to like forgiving them, you just have to obey God and do it.
Or perhaps the most common excuse. Forgive them, for it may not benefit them, but it benefits you
Somehow I can’t see Jesus, on the cross, being benefitted by forgiving his captors, or Stephen, being stoned by Paul’s friends, being benefited. Or any of the martyrs over the last 2 millennia, who forgave as they were tortured and died, benefitting from being free of the resentment and anger they felt.
If we forgive because we desire what is beneficial for ourselves, when the hurt and pain come back, then we will be ill-prepared to deal with it. It will again fuel resentment and anger, and thoughts of how to make them pay for the sin will creep back into our hearts
The way to forgive, to bypass revenge is simple – love.
To accept the pain, the hurt, the cost of loving that person. To give that all over to Christ, the one who taught us to pray to the Father to be forgive and to be able to forgive. The one who died for His enemies, because He loved them. The One who frees us, by paying for every debt, every trespass, every pain.
The one we hunger to love, and desire to imitate, because He has loved us…..
Mercy, Love, forgiveness….. on package deal.
May we do so…counting on the Lord’s mercy
(1) Escriva, Josemaria (2011-01-31). Furrow (Kindle Locations 3326-3329). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
What is So Special About the Gospel?
What’s So Special About the Gospel? 
August 3rd, 2014
Romans 9: 1-5
Greetings to you in the name of our risen Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, our author and perfecter of our faith! Alleluia, amen!
What is so special about the Gospel?
What is so important about the Gospel that Paul says in verse 2 from our Epistle on Romans today that he would be willing to give up everything he has including his salvation and be willing to be forever cursed, that is cut off from Christ, if that would save them?
What is so important and who are the “them” that Paul is talking about?
His people; or who he calls his Jewish brothers and sisters. Jews, Hebrews, Israelites!
His people, the people of Israel chosen by God to be the Father’s adopted children.
But aren’t these Jews the same people who have flogged Paul with forty lashes minus one? Didn’t they beat him with rods? Didn’t they stone him and treat him like garbage?
With friends like that who needs enemies?
Well it was probably for good reason I’m sure. I’m sure Paul deserved what he got!
So what did he do that was so heinous?
Was he a drug dealer or a terrorist? Maybe he was a gang banger or a thug or thief or a burglar. One thing for sure is that he had gone from a prosecutor of Christians in the name of the Jews to an enemy of the Jews.
No, this all happened to Paul at the hands of the Jews because of his mouth.
He had gone from prosecuting to proclaiming.
Paul had these things happen because of the Gospel that he was proclaiming.
What is so important and so incredibly powerful to Paul that he would give up his own salvation so that his enemies who hated him and persecuted him would know and be saved?
What is so important to you?
Is it the Gospel of Christ? The Gospel which witnesses to Christ descending in the Incarnation and being born the savior of the world in a feeding trough? Is the Gospel of Jesus Christ that through Him sacrificing His own life atones for our sin on that old rugged cross?
Is it the witness of that blessed Easter Sunday of the true and living resurrection of our God?
Is it the power of the Gospel that frees us through Christ from our sin and calls us to baptism and where we die with Christ only to live in the resurrection eternally with Him?
Is it the Gospel of Christ given, witnessed and heard for all people even your enemies or people that you just don’t care for?
Like Paul are you willing to give up everything including your own salvation so that another might come to Christ and hear the call?
Or is only for you?
The Gospel is great as long as it meets in my wheelhouse or comfort zone. I believe in Jesus but I don’t want a messy Gospel or ministry!
Maybe your sincere intention is that you really want all people to believe and know Christ; but in a convenient, leave me alone sort of way. Let’s put up signs and keep it chained up and locked up and keep those in our lives we deem undesirable out of the way. Jesus would say and do this but I am no Jesus, yet we are called to be little Christs are we not?
All these ideas may That may seem logical and valid until you read what Paul wrote in verse 2 about his Jewish brothers and sisters when he wrote, “My heart is filled with bitter sorrow and unending grief.”
How do you render that? Paul ached for these people, his people to know the freedom of the Gospel and the relationship repaired that all God’s children share in that adoption into Him.
He was torn apart that even his very enemies who scorned and despised him and more importantly Jesus, didn’t know Christ and His free gift of reconciliation.
How did they not get it? These were the people of Israel, remember Israel? His name was Jacob but it was changed because he struggled with God. They were God’s people, descendents of Jacob or Israel. God had chosen them like He has chosen us to be His people. Israel, His adopted children and He has revealed His glory to them and us in the risen Christ.
He had and has given them and us the privilege of worshipping Him and living and living in and receiving His wonderful promises.
These enemies of Paul had it right there in front of them and they rejected it and even despised it. Isn’t that our M.O. every time we sin? Isn’t it right there in front of us? Yet we reject God all the time but still His heart desires us and His heart is filled with bitter grief and sorrow whenever someone rejects Him.
These enemies had it right there in front of them as Jesus walked among them but yet they rejected the cornerstone. As I hear Paul cry and suffer for these people I am reminded of Jesus doing the same. Jesus wanted nothing more than to gather these people and die and suffer for them and live for them so that they would live but no…yet even on the cross he forgave them.
But weren’t they his enemies? Weren’t they enemies of God who rejected Christ.
Wait a minute, weren’t we enemies of God? Do we really deserve to be saved and adopted into Him? If God does this saving work through His Son and willingly gives Him up to die for His enemies, what does that say to you and I and our enemies or those we struggle and have difficult times with?
In the eyes of the world, Paul should just cut his losses and run, shake off his sandals and go.
But the power of the Gospel wouldn’t and won’t do that. The promises that God gives to Paul and to us through the Holy Spirit will not give up on us or anybody else even to people who are trying to do us harm whether it is by thought, word and deed and even people we want to harm in thought, word and deed.
The Gospel of Jesus Christ transcends our human feebleness and frailty and our sinfulness and like last week’s parable seeks to catch us like a net.
What is so important about the Gospel that it crosses lines and dividers and smashes down walls, breaking chains and unlocking doors and ripping signs down? How does it make enemies become brothers in Christ? Not by anything or the work of you and i! It is the message of Christ Himself, the very Son of God who takes our sin and God’s wrath and heaps it all upon His shoulders so that you and I through the Holy Spirit may share in His joy and His peace as brothers in sisters of the cross.
It is the Gospel of Christ that wades through all the garbage and all the junk that Satan tries to use to pull us from God in our lives outside of church and even in the church. Boil it all down and what does it come out to? It has to be about Christ.
If it is about Christ then it is about life not death, life in Him for eternity, even eternal life with people that we may not enjoy or get along with so much. You have been called by God to be His. Through the Gospel we have been given a relationship with the Father of confidence in hope as we trust in faith, a faith given freely through Christ to all those who proclaim Him.
Paul knew why the Gospel was and is so important and what they were missing. It was so crucial that he would even give up his salvation so they would know it in every fiber of their being.
So that it would affect and circumcise their very hearts and they would be washed and made new creations. So that they could live in the perfect promises of the Trinity.
He was so sure of the Gospel that he would stake his salvation so that others would have the same thing on it.
Would God take his salvation from him? No. God will never take our salvation away. He will never deny us the forgiveness of sins and our faith.
Your salvation has been freely given through Christ and for God to take it away would make His promises deceitful and untrue and not faithful to His people.
The point is Paul through being convicted and called by the Holy Spirit knew how important the Gospel of Christ was and is. He knew that it is a life restorer and saver and he knew tht this free gift of mercy, love and grace was given through Christ on the cross.
Do we? Do we really understand not from our heads, but from our hearts and would that change us and would it change how we see the world, our lives and our church?
Would we be filled with bitter grief and sorrow over those who don’t know the life saving Gospel of Christ and complete joy when ones proclaims and confesses Christ?
It might get messy and yucky. It might even get uncomfortable. It may cause us to suffer and It may even cost us our lives.
But that’s ok because we live through Christ in the power and the glory of the Gospel and through that we are the body of Christ called in baptism and united in Him who suffered and gave His life. It was messy and it was uncomfortable and it was God’s love for you and I.
What is so important and special that the Gospel would unite enemies together?
Jesus Christ given and shed for you and for all.
Alleluia, amen.
Are You Strong Enough to Really Love as Jesus Asks You to Love?
Discussion and Devotional Thought of the Day:
11 “I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. 12 My commandment is this: love one another, just as I love you. John 15:11-12 (TEV)
749 Your charity must be adapted and tailored to the needs of others… not to yours. (1)
It sounds simple and nice, this idea of loving one another.
I think we romanticize it, not in the sense of erotic love, but in the idea of some kind of peaceful utopia. That all we need is love, and somehow the world will straighten out, the Middle East conflicts will resolve, the kidnapped girls in Nigeria will come home, those who have suffered from hurricanes, earthquakes, and drought will find all they need.
Love, and the relationships, the deep intimate relationships that are created and bound in love are the farthest thing from some restful utopia. Ask any mother who has to care for a newborn, There is a deep level of love, but it isn’t all cooing and cuddling. It’s waking up every 2-3 hours to feed and change them, it is dealing with sickness, even when you are sick, it is learning to discipline and teach, it is sacrifice, it is work.
Intimate relationships between soldiers are no different (again we aren’t talking sexual – but simply things so close they can’t describe the bond between them, the extend they will go for their brothers, the sacrifices they make, without hesitation, without thought of cost. It simply is a bond that goes beyond description, that means more than life itself.
In these two examples, and in so many others, the words of St Josemaria are found to be true. Love isn’t about our needs… its about life lived in community, loving others as much as we love ourselves. Walking in the steps of Jesus, who did this better than us all.
In the book of Romans, I was amazed by how many times the prefix syn/sun shows up, How many times the concept is one where we are joined to each other, and the Holy Spirit is likewise joined to us. It is an incredible journey, not just theologically, but together. We share in our calling, our joys, our sorrows, in prayer, in being gathered in hope, and in prayer. Romans isn’t just about the mission and the question of predestination, it is not just about Justification and gifts and Israel.
It’s about a life lived in relationship – a deep relationship between God and His people. A life that can be messy, and painful, that can be sacrificial to the point of heroic, a life that is full of Love… May God enable us both to desire this, and to do it… with Him
(1) Escriva, Josemaria (2011-01-31). Furrow (Kindle Locations 3118-3119). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
Loving Your Neighbors…Does it Look Like This?
Devotional Thought of the Day:
I speak the truth in Christ, I do not lie; my conscience joins with the holy Spirit in bearing me witness 2 that I have great sorrow and constant anguish in my heart. 3 For I could wish that I myself were accursed and separated from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my kin according to the flesh. Romans 9:1-3 (NAB)
436 Experience, great knowledge of the world, being able to read between the lines, an exaggerated sharpness, a critical spirit… All those things, in your business and social relations, have led you too far, to such an extent that you have become a bit cynical. All that “excessive realism”, which is a lack of supernatural spirit, has even invaded your interior life. Through failing to be simple, you have become at times cold and unfeeling. (1)
Most of realize that the great commandments are to love God with everything, and to love our neighbor as ourselves.
Though we all struggle with this, I sometimes wonder if we know what it means to love them. It’s not just giving them a hug as we greet them during the peace, Or giving them a high five when we see them, hearing that they made a hole in one. It even goes beyond cooking a meal for them when they are recovering from a hospital stay, or helping them when they are short of cash. Loving goes a lot more. Too often, St. Josemaria has it right, the very lives we live, the successes we have in our “real world” leave us cold, and unfeeling. To be honest, sometimes we are un-loving. This Catholic priest/pastor has it right – our realism leaves us dried out spiritually.
But we are called to love, to love supernaturally, and we have a great example,
Do we feel like St Paul does, when he writes to the Romans, explaining that he desires that he would be able to give up his life, his eternal life, be completely separated from Christ, that those who were His brothers could know Jesus.
Two things about this passage need to be noted
First, what Paul wants for his people more than anything is that they would know Christ, that the power of His resurrection would be theirs, that they would walk with God, as they (and all of us) are meant to do. Nothing else matches that priority. For nothing, absolutely nothing, in life compares to the peace we have, knowing God lives in us, This love of God which compels us to love in return, the depth of that love, the height, the width and the breadth – to even glimpse of God’s love for us, leaves us in awe.
He wants that experience for them more than anything, and truly loving someone else means not just wanting them to have good, but to have the best.
Which leads us to the second thing – that he desires this so much for them, that he would desire this so much, that he is willing to give up his own place in Christ, if it meant that they would be there. He won’t just die for them, he would be willing to give all up for them. Including eternity, including Christ. (yes I know, and Paul knows that this is impossible… ) Still his desire that they know God, intimately relate and communicate and love God, he is willing to sacrifice all for that to happen. Are we? Can we trust in God to the point where God’s desire becomes more and more the dominant desire in us? Can we see our families, our neighbor’s need, their brokenness, their desperation to be loved completely, to be freed from guilt and shame, to be able not to be anxious or fear, to live in peace? Would we die on a spiritual grenade for them? Would we endure some discomfort? Would we confront them in love, showing them their need for Him?
Love you neighbor, Jesus said……….
Here is an example.
Lord, pour out your mercy on Your people. AMEn!..
Oh…. One last though in passing….Jesus also said love your enemies…
Escriva, Josemaria (2011-01-31). Furrow (Kindle Locations 1944-1947). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
