And There Remember

So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. ~ Matthew 5:23-24 (ESV)

If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. ~ Matthew 18:15 (ESV)

You’ve experienced a wounded relationship before, I’m sure, and found nothing pleasant in it. Jesus gives us some good instruction for healing those wounds. Notice who is to take the initiative - we are. Whether we are the one who is wrong or the one who has been wronged, Jesus expects us to make the first move. Notice also that we are to go to the other person, not a third person (or social media for that matter). This short circuits embarrassment and gossip by keeping the circle of those affected at a minimum, at least initially.

Are you willing to acknowledge your own wrongdoing? Are you willing to give someone a chance to apologize before you air his or her shortcomings publicly? Just think how much emotional turmoil could be avoided by practicing a little humility in our dealings with others.

What I Mean Is

What I mean is that each one of you says, “I follow Paul,” or “I follow Apollos,” or “I follow Cephas,” or “I follow Christ.” Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized into the name of Paul? ~ 1 Corinthians 1:12-13

Paul came to Corinth from Athens and preached in the city for some eighteen months before resuming his missionary travels. Apollos, the skilled Alexandrian orator, also spent some time in Corinth and had an effective ministry there. Even Cephas, also known as Peter, appears to have made Corinth a stopping place during his travels. Unfortunately, the believers in that city had begun to identify themselves by the ministers under whose preaching they were converted, even placing their favorite preacher on level footing with Christ. The leaders sent representatives to track down Paul and get help with this crisis. Through Paul’s letters and additional corrections along the way, the Corinthian church has survived to this day - two thousand years of unbroken witness to Christ. But the church so influenced by Paul, Apollos, and Cephas is, somewhat ironically, named St. John’s

By Their Fruits

Thus you will recognize them by their fruits. ~ Matthew 7:20 (ESV)

Be careful when you quote the Bible. Back in 2006, Republican Senator Sam Brownback found out the hard way that you can’t depend a general level of biblical literacy these days. During an interview with Rolling Stones magazine, Brownback quoted the above verse while criticizing countries like Sweden who had already legalized gay marriage. The author of the article, Jeff Sharlet, inferred from the quote that the Senator was calling homosexual Swedes “fruits”. After an uproar from several gay and lesbian advocacy groups, the Senator clarified his remarks saying, “this biblical passage was pertinent to our overall conversation about faith and deeds”. So if you decide to quote a scripture during a conversation, don’t assume you will be understood.

Live Free

Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God. ~ 1 Peter 2:16 (ESV)

Have you ever heard the statement “It’s a free country” used as an excuse for bad behavior? As if freedom is worthless unless you exercise it in all possible directions, both good and bad. That’s assuming the categories of good and bad can still be recognized in our societal sea of lifestyle choices. Many in our culture lack basic moral discernment and cannot (or will not) distinguish between what is allowed and what should be preferred. Is the freedom of the smut-peddler, excuse me, the adult entertainment provider, used as wisely as, say, your local grocer?

It’s a free country. Choose the good.

Even As

…even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many. ~ Matthew 20:28 (ESV)

Parents want the best for their children. The mother of James and John asked Jesus to grant her sons positions of prominence in his kingdom. Jesus told her, and his disciples, the secret to greatness - be a servant. A servant does the work, bears the load, and performs the unpleasant task. But this was not an aloof order of “Serve me well and I will reward you”. Jesus himself set the example of serving for them, and us, to follow. If we would have our own children be great, let us teach them to trust in the saving work of Jesus and then to serve others, setting an example ourselves as we follow Jesus.

For The Moment

For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. ~ Hebrews 12:11 (ESV)

The author is speaking here about the fatherly discipline of God in the lives of believers. Discipline is different from punishment. Punishment seeks to exact retribution now for a wrong done in the past. Discipline, by contrast, seeks to instill a change now that leads to a better outcome for the future. If we yield to the short-term unpleasantness of the discipline of God today, we can expect to taste the sweet fruit of peaceful right-living tomorrow.

Deadly Peril

[God] delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will deliver us again. You also must help us by prayer, so that many will give thanks on our behalf for the blessing granted us through the prayers of many. ~ 2 Corinthians 1:10-11 (ESV)

Paul faced his share of danger during his missionary journeys. Whipped five time, beaten with rods three times, nearly stoned to death, imprisoned, shipwrecked - no one can accuse him of being a wimp. But he relied on two things to keep him going. First, he believed that God would deliver him. Second, he believed the prayers of others would help him. That someone who suffered so much hardship would still consider prayer to be helpful is instructive to us, for to our modern sensibilities Paul might appear to have been abandoned by God, rather than delivered by God. If Paul could trust in God’s deliverance and the assistance of prayer, can’t we?

A Collect from Acts 4:23-31

Sovereign God, who has decreed that salvation be through faith in Jesus’ name, give us the boldness by the Holy Spirit to speak your word at all times, that by your power the gospel would bear fruit among us, through Jesus Christ our Savior, Amen.

Many Are The Plans

Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand. ~ Proverbs 19:21 (ESV)

The week before Thanksgiving in 2005 the screen on my laptop malfunctioned. Days turned into weeks as the technician sought to discover the problem. Eventually he would recommend that I get a new laptop rather than risk an expensive repair on the old machine. And so I was back in business a few days later. Would I have planned this scenario? No, I would have had my old laptop last forever without failure if I could. But this begs the question - What was the purpose of the Lord in my situation? Honestly, I don’t know. One might conjecture that perhaps I needed to learn patience. But this one thing I do know, God works all things for my good, even if I can’t always recognize his work at the time. This is as true for my petty frustrations as for the major crises in my life.

Have things turned out differently for you than what you had planned for yourself? If you entrust yourself to God then you can at least be assured his purpose for you will stand..

Rest In Peace

In peace I will both lie down and sleep; for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety. ~ Psalm 4:8 (ESV)

After having gone through a few nights with trouble sleeping, I can attest to the value of peaceful slumber. The Psalmist rested in spite of turmoil and trouble on all sides because the Lord granted him safety. How often we retreat from our haven of rest because we seek safety in our own efforts to predict or control future events. We lay awake at night, turning over various scenarios in our minds, forgetting that only the Lord can give us surety for tomorrow.