faithful
Much Deeper Than the Body
by Linda Rex
February 12, 2023, 6th Sunday in Epiphany—One of the readings for my recent coursework at Grace Communion Seminary talks about the way in which God does who God is. What I mean by that is, who God is in his being is what he does in his actions. God is a Redeemer, and so he redeems us. God is Savior, and so he saves us. When Jesus says to his disciples, if you’ve seen me, you’ve seen the Father, he is saying that the love and grace of his Father was in that moment being expressed in the person and life of his Son Jesus. And it was fully expressed in Jesus’ self-offering on the cross.
The reason I am bringing this up is because of how the gospel reading for today, Matthew 5:21–37, resonates with this. Jesus pointed out that our human way of doing things just will not work in the economy of the Triune life or kingdom of God. Jesus calls us to go much deeper than just putting on an outer show of religiosity. He was “meddling”—telling people that going through the motions was not enough. The way we live and act needs to go much deeper than just the externals—it must involve the heart and soul of a person. And it has to do with our passions, desires, impulses, and motivations.
But there is even more going on here than just that. Who we are drives what we do. In this passage, we can see that Jesus is so much more than just the words he was speaking. In his life, death, and resurrection Jesus was in many ways all of these things in action. Who he was as God in human flesh was an expression of these very things in a real and tangible way as a human, fleshly person led by and filled with the Holy Spirit.
For example, when we think of God, we often think of a being who is mad at us for being such awful sinners, to the point that he had to kill his Son for us. But consider the way God in Christ really does approach our evil and sin, and our broken relationship with himself. He doesn’t despise us for our failure to measure up to our obligations to him and one another. Rather, he recognizes our inadequacy and lack of even desiring to do what is right at times. Because he knows this about us, he comes, takes on our human flesh, and forges within us a new away of being—giving us his own desire to do what is right and holy. And then he dies and rises, and sends the Spirit so we can live in right relationship with him now and forever.
Going further, consider how Jesus deals with the reality of our offenses against him. In his own self-offering, the Son of God set aside his need for revenge or self-gratification when we became his opponents, and instead, laid down his own life. He came to us in our human flesh, to live our life and die our death, for our salvation and redemption. We had something in our hearts against God, and Jesus came to us and made things right, reconciling us to God in himself and calling us to be reconciled in that same way to God and each other.
Notice how Jesus used hyperbole to express our need to get rid of those parts of ourselves which cause us to sin. Truth be told, he never meant us to actually physically cut off or remove these parts of our body. What he did demonstrate to us in his life and death was that he was willing to do for us what we could not do in this regard. None of us is capable of eliminating those parts of us that cause us to sin—which is why Jesus took our human flesh to the cross and allowed us to crucify it so that our human flesh would die once and for all to evil, sin, and death. And in the resurrection, Jesus gave our human flesh new life—a new way of being grounded within himself. As Paul wrote, we don’t look at people through the lens of their sinful human flesh any longer because in Christ they are new creations (2 Cor. 5:16-17).
Going on, even when Jesus is talking about the topic of divorce and adultery, he takes us into the realm of committed or covenant relationship. The religious leaders of his day had added and subtracted so much to the law that it was possible to divorce for any reason, and women were being left without anyone to care for them because of the selfish choices of the men who had give them a promise of fidelity and then had broken it.
When we look at the history of the ancient nation of Israel, God’s covenant people, we see that the prophets often spoke of this nation’s relationship with God as a marriage or covenant relationship. Even though this nation was repeatedly unfaithful to God, he was always faithful to her. The prophet Hosea, in a living parable, showed God’s willingness to go the extra mile by faithfully loving and caring for his unfaithful spouse. Jesus, in his person, was the fulfillment of this beautiful picture, coming to his people in God’s faithfulness to them, so that he could bring home to his Father his beloved bride, his covenant people, which in his life, death, resurrection, and the giving of the Spirit, were the newly forged, redeemed and restored body of Christ, the church.
And in this way, we see that God is what God does. He is a God of his word. When he says “yes”, that is what he means. And when he says “no”, he means no. When he said that he would crush the serpent’s head (Gen. 3:15), he did so, as God in human flesh in the person of Jesus Christ, dying on the cross for our salvation. When God said he would send the Suffering Servant Messiah to his people to redeem not only them, but the whole world—that is what he did. God has kept his word to us and will keep his word to us. He is trustworthy, faithful, and true.
This is why we can rest in the reality that God will finish what he has begun in us. In the New Testament reading, 1 Corinthians 3:1–9, the apostle Paul points out that there is a difference between living in the truth of what Christ has done in our place on our behalf or living in our unredeemed flesh. Are we walking as mere human beings, or are we walking as spiritual people, those who are filled with and led by God’s Spirit, Christ in us? Our belief isn’t what makes us different people. Cutting off parts of our body or trying to make radical changes to our behavior doesn’t change us. What is life-transforming is Christ—the indwelling presence of God by the Holy Spirit. We are God’s field, God’s building, and he is at work in us, as we respond to him in faith. And we participate in his work in this world as we are led by the Spirit to love and serve others as we are gifted and called by God. It is a comfort to know it is all up to him, not all up to us—we just get to be a part of what he is doing!
Thank you, Abba, for allowing us to be a part of what you are doing in this world. Thank you, Jesus, for giving yourself so freely to us and for including us in your own relationship with the Father in the Spirit. Grant us the grace to live and walk so that all that we do is a true expression of who we are in you, through Jesus our Lord and by your Spirit. Amen.
“And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual men, but as to men of flesh, as to infants in Christ. I gave you milk to drink, not solid food; for you were not yet able to receive it. Indeed, even now you are not yet able, for you are still fleshly. For since there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not fleshly, and are you not walking like mere men? For when one says, ‘I am of Paul,’ and another, ‘I am of Apollos,’ are you not mere men? What then is Apollos? And what is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, even as the Lord gave opportunity to each one. I planted, Apollos watered, but God was causing the growth. So then neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but God who causes the growth. Now he who plants and he who waters are one; but each will receive his own reward according to his own labor. For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, God’s building.” 1 Corinthians 3:1–9 NASB
[Printable copy: https://newhope4me.files.wordpress.com/2023/01/olitmuch-deeper-than-the-body.pdf ]
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Wake Up, Get Up, and Pray
By Linda Rex
April 10, 2022, Passion Sunday [or Palm Sunday]—There’s something about death and dying that causes us to want to avoid the topic like the plague. It’s so final—and it’s so disturbingly disruptive to our peace and our status quo.
The reality is, though, that before God can do something new in someone’s life or in a church’s life, he has to bring the old to an end. Jesus remarked that it doesn’t work to put new wine in old wineskins, for they will break from the strain. One can only put new wine in new wineskins, which can stretch to accommodate the stress it will place on the containers (Matt. 9:17).
This is true about our humanity as well. We were all dead in sin, unable to live in the truth of who God created us to be as his image-bearers. We were bound in the chains of unhealthy ways of living and being. Apart from God’s gracious provision, we were all bound to the consequence of sin which was death.
The gospel reading for Passion Sunday this year is extensive, including the contents of two chapters in the book of Luke, Luke 22:14–23:56. This reading takes us from the gathering in the upper room for the last meal with Jesus, through Jesus’ agonizing prayer of relinquishment in the garden, to the betrayal by Judas, Jesus’ arrest, Peter’s denial, the long vigil during Jesus’ various trials, his crucifixion, and his burial. This sequence of events was a necessary part of the fulfillment of God’s promise to free us from the shackles of evil, sin, and death.
In the midst of this reading, we find Jesus inviting his disciples to share in the Passover meal with him. Taking bread in his hands, he gave thanks, and broke it, saying, “This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me” (Luke 22:20 NASB). And taking one of the cups offered during the meal, he gave thanks and said, “This cup which is poured out for you is the new covenant in My blood. But behold, the hand of the one betraying Me is with Mine on the table” Lk. 22:20b-21 NASB).
Table fellowship in that time and place was a treasured privilege. To open your home and offer your table to someone was to include them in your inner circle. Someone who shared your table was bound by the social code of that day never to betray you—it would be unthinkable that someone would dare to turn against the person who invited them in and made them feel welcome. How astonished the disciples were that Jesus would even suggest that one of them would betray him!
But, as human beings, isn’t it true that deep inside each of us is the capacity to do that very thing? It is easy for us to look back at Judas Iscariot and say to ourselves, “I would never, ever betray Jesus in that way.” But in our heart of hearts, we must know that we each are capable of giving an appearance of fidelity and loyalty, when in our hearts we are unfaithful and disloyal. This man, who thought the bottle of nard should be sold to feed the poor and needy, was in reality, a thief—one who used the common purse as his personal wallet when he felt like it. But it took a crisis—a temptation—to reveal the truth of who he really was inside.
Peter told Jesus that, even if threatened with death, he would never deny his Lord. Jesus, on the other hand, knew the capacity of the human heart for infidelity and disloyalty. He told Peter that, on the contrary, before the rooster crowed, he would deny his Lord three times. Peter was indignant at the thought, but Jesus knew him well—his impetuosity, his bravado, and his weakness. And he loved him enough to tell him the truth about himself, just as he told the betrayer he knew what he would do.
It does not hurt for us to be honest with ourselves about our capacity to be disloyal to our God or unfaithful to our commitment to him. Having humility about our human weakness is the very place we need to be for God to do his greatest work within us. It is in breathing out with Christ the last breath of our old life and finding ourselves laid with Jesus in the tomb that we awaken with the new life in his resurrection. Peter, upon his third denial, caught Jesus’ eye, and was broken—he left, weeping with remorse for his denial of his beloved Lord. It was in that moment of death to his old way that Peter was suddenly open to a new life—the one Jesus was creating for him in that moment as he was being mistreated, beaten, crucified, and laid in the tomb.
Judas, in his moment of remorse, went to the temple and the priests to return the money he had received for betraying Jesus. Rather than receiving the grace of redemption and salvation from their words and their hands, he received rejection and ridicule instead. Left holding the baggage of his old life, how could he receive a new one? He took matters into his own hands, judging himself worthy of death and executing himself, rather than receiving the death of Jesus in his stead. What he desperately needed was available in Christ, but he was blind to this reality.
Jesus understood the power of temptation, and Satan’s pull to take matters into our own hands. He knows our tendency to try to save ourselves or to play games with ourselves, believing that as long as no one truly knows the state of the internal trash heap of our soul, we are fine. He knows that what we need, only God can give. Our redemption, our transformation, and our healing can only come through the One who stands in our place, on our behalf—our Lord and Savior. Jesus faced temptation in the garden of Gethsemane by grounding himself in his personal relationship with the Father in the Spirit. He took his humanity to the feet of his God and submitted himself fully to the Father’s will, in spite of what his humanity and the adversary, were screaming at him to do.
Jesus reminded his disciples more than once that night to get up and pray rather than sleep. How many times have we been caught unaware by temptation because we were not living in close fellowship with God? How often have we been spiritually asleep when we needed to be alert to the wiles and seductions of Satan as he was seeking to break up the communion we have been given with God and with others through Christ in the Spirit? Passion Sunday is a good time to be reminded to wake up, to get up and pray.
It is also a good time to be reminded of the need to let our old life remain where it is—in the death of Jesus. Wake up to the reality that our sinful flesh is not the truth of our life in Christ—leave it there on the cross and in the tomb with Jesus. Get up—walk in the newness of life given us in the resurrected Lord—the resurrection we will celebrate next week on Resurrection Sunday. And pray—live within our dependency upon God in Christ and through the Spirit to recognize and resist temptation when it arises.
During Holy Week, may we take some time to reflect deeply upon Jesus’ self-offering, how he set aside the privileges of divinity to join us in our humanity, so that he might free us once and for all from our enslavement to evil, sin, and death. May we be reminded of our participation in Christ’s death—laying silently in the tomb as those who are dead to sin, evil, and death. And may we be reminded to wake up, get up, and pray—that we may not enter into temptation. And may we rest in the finished work of Christ as God completes in us his work of redemption and transformation.
Thank you, Father, that we can come to you as dirty, scruffy, misbehaving children and find the grace to be cleansed, restored, and healed. Thank you that in Christ, we are delivered from temptation—grant us the grace to wake up, get up and pray, that we may live freely and joyfully in fellowship with you now and forever, through Jesus and by your Spirit. Amen.
“And He came out and proceeded as was His custom to the Mount of Olives; and the disciples also followed Him. When He arrived at the place, He said to them, ‘Pray that you may not enter into temptation.’ And He withdrew from them about a stone’s throw, and He knelt down and began to pray, saying, ‘Father, if You are willing, remove this cup from Me; yet not My will, but Yours be done.’ Now an angel from heaven appeared to Him, strengthening Him. And being in agony He was praying very fervently; and His sweat became like drops of blood, falling down upon the ground. When He rose from prayer, He came to the disciples and found them sleeping from sorrow, and said to them, ‘Why are you sleeping? Get up and pray that you may not enter into temptation.’ While He was still speaking, behold, a crowd came, and the one called Judas, one of the twelve, was preceding them; and he approached Jesus to kiss Him. But Jesus said to him, ‘Judas, are you betraying the Son of Man with a kiss?’ When those who were around Him saw what was going to happen, they said, ‘Lord, shall we strike with the sword?’ And one of them struck the slave of the high priest and cut off his right ear. But Jesus answered and said, ‘Stop! No more of this.’ And He touched his ear and healed him. Then Jesus said to the chief priests and officers of the temple and elders who had come against Him, ‘Have you come out with swords and clubs as you would against a robber? While I was with you daily in the temple, you did not lay hands on Me; but this hour and the power of darkness are yours.’ Having arrested Him, they led Him away…” Luke 22:39–54a
[Printable version of this blog: https://newhope4me.files.wordpress.com/2022/04/wake-up-get-up-and-pray.pdf%5D
Faith on Our Journey
By Linda Rex
February 28, 2021, 2nd SUNDAY IN PREPARATION FOR EASTER OR LENT—One of the things brought to my attention recently in a new way was how subtle the temptation is to take difficult situations into our own hands and work them out under our own power. Some of us feel an urgent need to fix things that are broken or not working the way we think they should and often jump in with both feet, not realizing that doing so may not be what God intends in the situation.
Granted, we do need to invest our best efforts in doing what we believe is the right and holy thing for us to do in each instance as we follow Christ. But when we slide into that belief that it’s all up to us, then we are spiritually on dangerous ground. I wonder if sometimes we believe we are caught in a place where we feel we have been abandoned or forgotten by God. Circumstances in our life may be such that we feel as though we are managing just fine on our own, or the opposite, we don’t see any path by which a solution could come to us for our extreme difficulties. Either way, there is a temptation to trust in our own ability to move ourselves forward rather than simply trusting in God’s promises and provision.
As members of my congregation at Grace Communion Nashville know, we are facing some difficult decisions about the future of our congregation. Over the past eight years since I have pastored this congregation, and long before that, our members have diligently worked to serve and love the people of East Nashville. They have provided free meals, prayed for people, and given what they could to help those in need, whether food, clothing, money, or just heartfelt compassion and understanding. We have done our best to provide upbeat, contemporary Christ-centered Trinitarian worship with an emphasis on communion and sharing the good news of God’s love and grace expressed to us in Jesus life, death, resurrection and ascension. We have joined in with our church neighbors in community service opportunities and events, and have participated with our neighborhood association as they served the neighbors, and have cared for those God has brought to our attention who needed extra help.
To be sure, we have hoped that our little congregation might grow some in the process, but I hope that we did not make this an expectation that had to be realized, or believe that to not have done so means we have failed in some way. I believe we need to see things much differently than that. Whatever may happen to us in the future, we do know this—we were faithful, obedient, and loving, and blameless before God in our love and service to him and others. We have trusted him to do what was needed to keep us going, and he has. We have done our best to implement best practices for church renewal so we are relevant to our community. We have asked Jesus for opportunities to serve and he has given them. We have prayed for people and baptized some, and many have experienced healing, renewal, and transformed lives, or are still in process. In my view, our little congregation has God’s handprint of masterpiece creation written all over it.
As I read Romans 4:13–25, the New Testament passage for this Sunday, I was struck by the significance of what Paul was saying there in relation to this whole topic. God gave Abraham the promise of a son and many descendants, the fulfillment of which was not based on his ability to keep the law correctly or to do all the right things, but solely on God’s goodness and grace. Abraham was honest about the reality of his and his wife Sarah’s inability to bear children at their advanced age. Abraham came to the place where he surrendered to the truth that none of this could be realized by his or Sarah’s effort or ability. Even though he and Sarah had moments of uncertainty—we see this in the circumstances around the birth of Ishmael—Abraham was brought to the place where he simply trusted in God’s faithfulness rather than in his own ability to ensure that he would have what God promised. And God counted this as righteousness.
In their book “Transformational Churches”, Ed Stetzer and Thom Rainer remind the readers that one of the most critical steps in church renewal is the congregation’s ability to see and accept the reality that apart from God’s intervention, their church will not be transformed, and that God’s ability to bring about renewal and transformation is far more powerful than any obstacle which may stand against them. God’s whole mission is the transformation of our cosmos, our world, into the truth of what he means for it to be—a reflection of his glory and majesty. Why would he not do what was necessary to bring that to pass? The authors remind us that it is “ ‘Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’ says the Lord of hosts” (Zech. 4:6b NASB). When real transformation happens to a person, or to a church, it will be obvious who did it—God did, and he will get all the glory and praise.
Every person and every church comes to a point where the reality of what they are experiencing doesn’t measure up with what they know about God and his purposes for them. In this “cathartic moment” they realize they have come to a place where there is no movement forward. Abraham and Sarah experienced this at one point, and took matters into their own hands, thinking the solution was to have a child by Hagar, a concubine. But this wasn’t God’s solution—it was theirs, and created a whole host of unnecessary difficulties which God hadn’t meant for them or Hagar or even Ishmael to have to experience. Abraham and Sarah may have erred temporarily, but in the long run their faith in God’s faithfulness won the day.
We can be honest about our weakness and our limitations without in any way preventing God from bringing transformation and renewal to pass. We can own the reality that without God’s intervention nothing will be any different than it is right now. And we can embrace the crisis in front of us in faith, trusting in God’s faithfulness and provision, allow him to show us what our next steps need to be, and then, however falteringly, take those steps. Yes, as a church, we can continue to provide leadership that is alive and open to what God is doing, express dependency upon God through prayer, and offer wholehearted, inspired worship to God. And we can embrace new relationships and circumstances God places before us where we can share the good news of God’s love and grace in Jesus Christ. But anything beyond that—let’s be real. That’s all up to God. And he works in his own time and in his own way.
We stand today at a crossroads where we are reminded by the story of Abraham and Sarah that our covenant God is faithful and keeps his word. Their simple decision to trust in God for the promised child was merely a stepping stone on the journey of the Word of God coming into human flesh to live our life, die our death, and rise again, bringing all of humanity into a new place where each and every person may by faith participate in the divine union of Father, Son, and Spirit now and forever. This childless couple, if they were standing with us, would be overwhelmed seeing the millions who today by faith are their spiritual descendants. What will we see when we look back at our participation in Christ’s mission as we trust God to finish what he began in us? I believe our faith in God’s faithfulness will be abundantly rewarded, far beyond our ability to ask or imagine, both now and in the world to come. Let’s walk by faith, not by sight.
O Faithful One, you who have ever worked to bring us near you, to share in your life and love, thank you for your faithfulness. Keep us ever faithful, trusting that you will finish what you have begun in us and believing we will see you do a new thing—a thing so great, only you could possibly have done it. Even now, in faith, we offer all the glory, honor, and praise to you. In your Name—Father, Son, and Spirit—we pray. Amen.
“Faith is our source, and that makes Abraham our father. When God changed Abram’s name to Abraham, he made a public statement that he would be the father of all nations. Here we see Abraham faced with God’s faith; the kind of faith that resurrects the dead and calls things which are not as though they were. Faith gave substance to hope when everything seemed hopeless; the words, ‘so shall your seed be’ conceived in him the faith of fatherhood. Abraham’s faith would have been nullified if he were to take his own age and the deadness of Sarah’s womb into account. His hundred-year-old body and Sarah’s barren womb did not distract him in the least! He finally knew that no contribution from their side could possibly assist God in fulfilling his promise!” Romans 4:16b-19 Mirror Bible
Rending the Heavens
By Linda Rex
November 29, 2020, ADVENT | HOPE—Last night I was watching a report by Nashville’s mayor in which he was describing the latest spike in COVID-19 cases and an upcoming mandated reduction in the size of gatherings. As you can imagine, my heart turned over. I’m not looking forward to the isolation and health problems this will bring about for so many, nor am I thrilled about the loss of income, business and other difficulties it will create for those already struggling.
In some ways, I can identify with the prophet Isaiah when he wrote:
“Oh, that You would rend the heavens and come down,
That the mountains might quake at Your presence—
As fire kindles the brushwood, as fire causes water to boil—
To make Your name known to Your adversaries,
That the nations may tremble at Your presence!” (Isaiah 64:1-9 NASB)
What is interesting about the rest of this passage, though, is how Isaiah didn’t focus on the glorious entry of God into the human sphere to exact his fiery judgment, but rather on God’s deliverance for us from our human proclivity to sin and our futile efforts to do the right thing. This one-of-a-kind God, who Isaiah describes as the potter, is called upon to do the work only he can do for and in us as his clay (Isaiah 64:1–9).
The psalmist in Psalm 80 acknowledges that the only hope for any of us is for him to smile upon us and restore us. This request is repeated three times—emphasizing a passionate desire for God’s grace and good will to be showered upon us. At the end of this psalm, he writes:
“Let Your hand be upon the man of Your right hand,
Upon the son of man whom You made strong for Yourself.
Then we shall not turn back from You;
Revive us, and we will call upon Your name.
O LORD God of hosts, restore us;
Cause Your face to shine upon us, and we will be saved.”
(Psalm 80:(1-7) 17-19 NASB)
Do you see it? Here is a hint of how God is going to save his people—something related to a “son of man” whom God places his hand on and makes strong. Our only hope for God’s grace, restoration and renewal begins with God himself and his desire for and accomplishment of our transformation and healing through the Son of Man.
In 1 Corinthians 1:3–9, when the apostle Paul speaks of the final revealing of Jesus Christ, he affirms that we are found blameless not by our own efforts, but because God is faithful. God’s faithfulness is expressed to us in his gift of grace through Jesus Christ which enriched us in speech, knowledge, and spiritual gifts, and in the testimony of Christ being confirmed in us. He has called us into and has ensured we can participate in Christ’s fellowship by the Spirit with his Father.
So often we look into passages regarding the coming of Christ in glory and begin to impress upon them our private expectations and opinions rather than seeing them from God’s point of view. We see the world around us as very messy, filled with evil and sin, and right away call for God to rend the heavens and come down in a dramatic deliverance. We can easily diminish the incredible reality of what God has already done for us in the entrance of his Son into the world in the form of a baby in a manger.
We’re entering into the Advent season, and I am reminded of that beautiful night when the shepherds were quietly tending their flocks on the Judean hillsides. Suddenly an angel appeared—“rending the heavens”—with an incredible message that would change the world forever—the Messiah had come in the person of an infant lying in a manger somewhere in Bethlehem. The angels gathered around and celebrated this good news, saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased” (Luke 2:14 NASB).
Later on, this Savior, as he faced his upcoming death on the cross and resurrection, spoke of the transition which would occur between the kingdom of God which he was inaugurating in his passion and that glorious day when he would come in power, ushering in the new heavens and the new earth. He knew there would be a substantial time lapse between his ascension and the day of his final arrival, and he wanted his followers to stay in a state of continual readiness and diligence, especially with regards to sharing the good news of what Christ did in his life, death, resurrection and ascension.
What Jesus forged for us in our humanity tore open our cosmos and set it upon a new footing—in the all-ready/not-yet of God’s kingdom, he has made all things new. We have an incredible hope that bursts into our gloomy sin-laden world and lays bare all our futile efforts at being good and forces us to a crisis—where will we put our faith? Will we continue to trust in our human efforts to rule ourselves—to count on our 201 ways to solve our own problems and save ourselves? Will we keep to our own agenda or will we submit ourselves to God’s plan for our lives? Is Christ—the way he really is—good enough for us? Or do we need to add something to the simple reality of his grace and truth?
Our attention does not need to be on some particular plan or outline of end-time events, but solely on Jesus. Christ is our life. We participate through baptism in his death and resurrection, renewing this covenant relation as we take the bread and the wine in communion with our brothers and sisters in the faith. We live each day in attentiveness to Jesus’ coming and presence—both in his presence here and now by the Spirit at work in this world, but also in anticipation of his coming glorious presence at the renewal of all things. As things grow more difficult for us, as we struggle to stay the course, we can hold ever more tightly to the reality that Christ has come, he is come now by the Spirit, and one day he will come in glory. We have every reason to hope. Maranatha—even so come, Lord Jesus!
Father, thank you for the grace you have given us in your Son, for the work you already accomplished in his life, death, resurrection and ascension, and are working out in this world even now by your Holy Spirit. Keep us ever diligent, ever faithful, attentive to the end to our precious Lord Jesus by your Spirit. Amen.
“Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. I thank my God always concerning you for the grace of God which was given you in Christ Jesus, that in everything you were enriched in Him, in all speech and all knowledge, even as the testimony concerning Christ was confirmed in you, so that you are not lacking in any gift, awaiting eagerly the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will also confirm you to the end, blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful, through whom you were called into fellowship with His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.” 1 Corinthians 1:3–9 NASB
See also Mark 13:24–37.
Free From Accusation
By Linda Rex
The antics of my daughter’s pets are keeping me amused this morning. Earlier this week we brought home a kitten to be a companion for my daughter’s black cat. This half-grown kitten is white with gray and orange patches and has beautiful green eyes. She had surgery right before we brought her home, so my daughter has had to keep her calm and the kitten has had to wear an e-collar to keep her from tearing up her stitches.
My daughter’s dog is about 15 years old and has raised pups in her past life. She’s decided she is this new kitten’s keeper. When the kitten is placed on the floor, the dog follows her around and keeps track of where she is. She talks gently to her and tries to help her understand she just wants to be friends. Right now, they are resting together in the sun next to the sliding glass doors. She has been gentle and kind to the kitten, doing her best to make her feel safe, while at the same time not allowing her under any circumstances to come near her food dish.
The kitten, however, seems to believe the dog is a fearful creature. If the dog gets too close, the kitten snarls and aims her claws for the dog’s nose. But the dog keeps trying to be friends, hoping the kitten will get over her fear. It seems that even the creatures God has made for our pleasure and companionship struggle with understanding one another and making room for one another.
This puts me in mind of how we as human beings so often live our lives in fear of God and/or in fear of one another. Fear, as opposed to love, keeps us in the fight or flight mode and prevents us from really being at rest in our circumstances and in right relationship with one another. When we view the world around us through the eyes of fear, we see things differently than how they really are. What we believe about the people, situations, and circumstances around us affects our ability to truly know God and others and to be known. Fear puts us on the defensive, causing us to hide, self-protect, self-justify, and accuse.
Even though God has reconciled us with himself and restored us to our true humanity in Christ, we still distance ourselves from God and one another. We so often allow fear to dominate our minds and hearts rather than trusting in the truth about who God is and who we are in him. We allow fear, and a host of other false concepts, feelings, and prejudices, to come between ourselves and our loving God and those God meant for us to live with in loving relationship.
Looking with fallen human eyes, we see our differences rather than what unifies us. God is so other than we are, we don’t see how we can relate to him. Even though we as human beings are constantly coming up with new ways of trying to appease God, we cannot on our own come to an understanding of who our loving God is as Father, Son, and Spirit apart from the revelation of Jesus Christ in his life, death, resurrection, and ascension and in the gift of the Holy Spirit.
We may believe that God doesn’t want us to enjoy life. He’s always making demands on us that just aren’t realistic: do good to those who hate you and persecute you, for example. We may believe that God allows bad things to happen to us to punish us. What we’re being punished for, we’re not certain. But all hell has broken loose in our life and the only explanation must be that either God hates us or is punishing us because we have been bad. Maybe we do think we know what God is punishing us for and we believe we even deserve hell because of what we did. It never crosses our mind that maybe God isn’t holding anything against us and is not accusing us of anything whatsoever.
We may believe God is the cosmic vending machine who owes us when we have lived a good life, done lots of good deeds, and have done our best to be good people. When God doesn’t seem to understand that this is how life works (in our view), we get angry with God and angry with one another. We begin to allow fear to dominate our being rather than continuing to trust in the love and grace of God.
Can you see that the issue isn’t on God’s side, but solely on our side? God has never changed in his love and faithfulness toward us. God has never ceased to reach out and draw us deeper into loving relationship with himself. He even took on our humanity so we could come to know and understand who he really is as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. He was willing to allow us to do whatever we desired to him in Jesus Christ and the cry from his lips on the cross still was, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”
Often, in our fear, we are very busy accusing God of being someone he is not and doing things he hasn’t done, merely because we do not really know who God is. We are only able to apprehend a little about the nature and being of God and what he is doing in this world. We cannot ever fully comprehend any of this because we are merely creatures God has made. God revealed himself to us in his Son Jesus Christ, but even so, we only see and understand a tiny bit of the truth.
In the same way, we are often very busy accusing ourselves and others of being people we are not and doing things which we may very well have not even conceived of doing. Sometimes our accusations of ourselves and one another have some substance in truth, but we tend to forget that any and all of these things have been and are forgiven and accepted in the Beloved.
I’m not saying that we as human beings can live however we please without any negative consequences. That is not the case. Living apart from our true humanity in Christ produces negative fruit and destroys relationships. That’s the reality of our existence.
But I am also saying that we have an accuser who from the beginning has accused God and us of things which were lies. He has planted so often in our hearts, via circumstances and unhealthy relationships, a lot of lies about who God is and who we are, creating in us an unhealthy fear of God and one another. He reminds us, as the prince of the power of the air, of all the things we and God have supposedly done wrong or neglected to do. And we believe him.
What we believe does have power. But God’s power is greater. What God did in Jesus Christ has conquered all that. Jesus, in his grace and truth, has poured out on us his Spirit of grace and truth, enabling us to begin to apprehend the truth about who God is and who we are as his beloved, forgiven, adopted children. Jesus gives us his faith in Abba and Abba’s faith in us as those created in his image to reflect his likeness. God never gave up on us, and he will never give up, no matter what the accuser may do or say in contradiction to this.
The truth is—and we are reminded again and again in our weekly participation in communion to believe anew this is so—we are accepted and forgiven, we are healed and made whole, we are adopted and received as God’s very own. We are a part of God’s household and have a place at his table. There is no room for accusation or fear, for in Christ all is made new and restored to its original design. We can lay down all our burdens and labors and truly rest in the Son, together with all the other members of God’s household.
Abba, thank you for never giving up on us, but for doing all you could possibly do to tear down the walls of fear and accusation between us and you, and us and one another. Grant us the grace to rest in your Son Jesus Christ, in your love and grace, and to walk in your truth—the truth of who you are as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and who we are in you, through Jesus our Lord. Amen.
“21 Your indifferent mindset alienated you from God into a lifestyle of annoyances, hardships, and labors. Yet he has now fully reconciled and restored you to your original design. (The word, poneros, means annoyances, hardships, and labors, often translated as evil. [See Septuagint: tree of knowledge of good and hard labor!] To reconcile: apokatalasso, fully restored to the original value. (In Thayer Definition: to change, exchange, as coins for others of equivalent value.]) 22 He accomplished this in dying our death in a human body, he fully represented us in order to fully present us again in blameless innocence, face-to-face with God; with no sense of guilt, suspicion, regret, or accusation; all charges against us are officially cancelled. 23 Remain under the influence of what your faith knows to be true about you, firmly consolidated in the foundation of your belief so that nothing can distract you from the expectation of the Gospel, a hope that is consistent with what you have heard. Just as I, Paul, am in the ministry to proclaim the one and only message that rings true with resonance in all of creation under heaven. (The dimension of the invisible spiritual realm. “You stay grounded and steady in that bond of trust, constantly tuned in to the Message, careful not to be distracted or diverted. There is no other Message—just this one. Every creature under heaven gets this same Message. I, Paul, am a messenger of this Message.”—The Message.) Colossians 1:21-23 Mirror Bible
All the Best Laid Plans…
By Linda Rex
The planning commission met this evening, and one of the items on the agenda was the East Nashville Community Plan Amendment. The Planning department staff was recommending the approval of this plan amendment which would provide additional policy guidance for properties falling within the boundaries of the Highland Heights neighborhood where we meet for services.
As the members of Good News fellowship know, the process of preparing and doing this study has taken quite a bit of time. I have tried to share bits and pieces as it has gone along, and I did attend as many of the meetings as I could. I requested prayers for the meeting this evening, and for myself too, because I had agreed to say a few words along with other members of the community.
As I wrestled over what to say in the two minutes I was allotted, I scribbled this down, then crossed it off, and wrote something else. I prayed about it. And finally, I just went, trusting I would know what to say when the time came.
I was sitting there this evening, and eventually it came time for public input on the plan. The line formed, and I waited until several people had spoken. It seemed what they were saying was different than what I had planned on—which is what I was afraid of—so I was rapidly reassessing what to say. The line of people grew shorter, so I joined in, and eventually stepped up to the microphone.
It was an intense, critical moment for me, introvert that I am, and at that moment when I needed to know exactly what to say, I fragmented. I stumbled over my introduction and finally just apologized for being nervous, and dove right in.
I did my best to say what really mattered in that moment, but if you were to ask me now what I said, I’m not sure I could tell you what it was. I do know I thanked them for their efforts to hear all voices, and I expressed my concern for those who could not speak for themselves or defend themselves. I did express concern for those who have lost homes through no fault of their own, and while validating the need for growth, I expressed concern for the safety and wellbeing of our neighbors. I ended by expressing support for the plan they had put together.
I walked away convinced I made an idiot of myself, but prayerfully hoping the little I said was of some help. As I inched my way home through the rush hour traffic, I battled shame and humiliation and all the negative darts that could possibly be tossed at my heart. Thankfully, the voice of grace is louder than all those lies. I knew when I walked out the door of the meeting room, I was trusting God would take whatever was said and done by me and those around me and would turn it to the best for everyone involved. It was an act of faith.
I hope to hear soon about the results of the meeting. From what I heard early on, there was every reason to believe the policy would be passed. This means in the near future we can expect some significant changes around the church building where we meet, some significant growth and development along the corridors, but also some support of keeping the residential atmosphere in some portions of the neighborhood where there are single-family residences.
It occurs to me now as I write this that no matter what plans we may make, they are not set in stone. It is arrogant for us to assume that because we have decided things are going to be a certain way, that they are actually going to turn out that way (James 4:13-16). And sometimes we believe that if we pray about it, and we mean well, that God’s going to work it out the way we think it ought to work out, and we’ll know exactly what to say and do in the moment and will actually say and do it when given the opportunity.
The reality is that God has his own agenda. And sometimes he allows what we consider unthinkable because he has a greater purpose in mind. We need to learn to live with open hands—willing to receive from God something other than what we have set our hearts and minds on. What may seem just and right to us may be the very thing which is causing hardship for another person.
The struggle between various viewpoints of what should be done in this neighborhood is a good example of this. One neighbor doesn’t want to see one older house replaced by two or three new higher priced homes—especially when it means people who are renters have their homes sold out from under them. But another neighbor with an older home wants their home to sell in this way, because that is why they have kept their home—it’s their retirement—without it being sold, they lose all they have invested in that home. And that’s only one scenario. There are many more.
We can make our plans and set our agenda. We can pray, and fast and pray. We do our best in each situation and say what we believe needs to be said. But the outcome—how it will all work out—is fully in God’s loving hands. We trust he will do what is in the best interests of everyone involved. And we believe that even when evil, greedy people do get their way, in his good time he will make everything right in the end.
This is the walk of faith. It’s not always easy, and it’s best done with our hands in God’s hands. We trust he’s holding us, and we remember he has promised to never leave us or forsake us. He is our trustworthy Abba, our faithful Jesus, our ever-present Spirit. We can confidently rest in his perfect love and care. And so, as much as lies within us, we trust and we rest in him.
Thank you, Lord, that you are always aware of what is going on at every moment of our lives. You are faithful and loving—grant us the grace to trust you implicitly and completely in every circumstance, especially in the ones where we mess up or disappoint ourselves and others. You will work all things to fulfill your perfect plan. Bring our desires into unity with yours so you may grant us all we ever ask for. All through Jesus we pray, amen.
“May the Lord answer you in the day of trouble! …. May He grant you your heart’s desire and fulfill all your counsel! We will sing for joy over your victory, and in the name of our God we will set up our banners. May the Lord fulfill all your petitions. Now I know that the Lord saves His anointed; He will answer him from His holy heaven with the saving strength of His right hand…. Save, O Lord; may the King answer us in the day we call.” Psalm 20:1a, 4-6, 9 NASB
Blameless and Faithful
By Linda Rex
Preparation for Easter or Lent
Today the nations are gathering to lay to rest a man who by God’s grace touched the lives of thousands with the word of God. Billy Graham impacted many lives with his preaching as he took the gospel of Jesus Christ all over the world.
Although I would preach the gospel in a more inclusive manner than he did, I cannot ignore the reality Jesus allowed Billy Graham to participate with him in the ministry of the gospel in a powerful way. I have met and been friends with several people whose lives were transformed by the ministry of the Spirit as they listened to Billy Graham preach and teach.
What has impressed me most about his ministry is, he was faithful and blameless. No, he wasn’t perfect. And no, he wasn’t perfectly correct in his preaching and theology. Neither am I. Rather, he was faithful and blameless.
Indeed, God calls us into relationship with himself in Jesus, and as he said to Abram millennia ago, he says, “I am God Almighty; walk before Me, and be blameless (Gen. 17:1b NASB), or
“Serve me faithfully and live a blameless life” (Gen. 17:1b NLT). What God is calling us to isn’t to get everything exactly right, but to live faithfully within the covenant relationship he has established with us in his Son Jesus Christ.
The reason God can call us to this is because of what he has done in giving us his Son. Our Abba knew even before he created us we would be unable to live as we ought within the perichoretic life of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. He knew we would turn away from him to ourselves, because we are what we are—creatures, frail and faulty. So even before time began, God chose to redeem us in his Son. He chose us as his very own by choosing us in his Son.
Indeed, it was always God’s wish that you and I and every other human being be included in God’s life and love. It was never God’s desire that any of us be separated from him in any way. Yet we listen to the evil one and seek our own path to glory, seeking to be gods in our own way, and turn away from the One who loves us faithfully and completely.
So God came himself in the person of the Word and entered into our humanity. He became “sin” for us. He bore our faults and wickedness—taking upon himself our weakness and frailty. He lived our life and died our death—and he rose again, bringing us with him into the presence of the Father. This is the truth of our existence—our true reality as humanity. And then Abba through Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to begin to make this real in each of us individually.
We each, then, have a life which is hidden with Christ in God—this is the truth of our existence. What we do with that, though, is what matters now. The Holy Spirit was sent to each and every person—but do we receive this gift or reject this gift? Do we welcome and embrace the indwelling Christ? No one is excluded from this gift—but everyone is free to exclude themselves if they wish.
This life which is ours, which Christ lived for us and gives us in the gift of the Spirit, is a life lived in fellowship with Abba, Jesus, and the Spirit. It is a life in which we “walk before” God—in the presence of God—sharing and participating in his life and love, and in Jesus’ ministry in and to this world.
The life of Christ is a way of being—a way of loving God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength, and loving our neighbor as ourselves. This life of Christ which we join in on is filled with God’s love, joy, peace, gentleness, goodness, and faithfulness because of the presence within of the Person of the Holy Spirit—“Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Col. 1:27).
When we participate fully in Christ’s life—when we are “in Christ”—we are blameless. God does not hold anything against us. We are held in grace—Christ is our life. He stands in our place. Christ’s life for our life.
When we come to faith in Christ, we are baptized as a participation in Christ’s baptism, confessing that we died with him and we rose with him. Baptism becomes our entry into this covenant relationship on our side, and expresses our participation in the body of Christ, the Church. Through baptism, we are included in fellowship with other believers.
We partake of the elements of communion on a regular basis to give thanks for this perfect gift and are reminded once again—our life is in Christ alone. He is our sustenance. He is our perfected life. In Christ we are held in the midst of the life and love of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. It is all of grace.
Our ability to continue in this relationship is all of grace as well. It is the gift of God. He brings us to repentance and he holds us in his perfect love. He enables us to be faithful—it is not our own ability but the power of the Holy Spirit at work within us which keeps us faithful in our covenant relationship with Abba in Jesus.
We rest in Christ—we trust God will keep us faithful to the end—we turn our sights toward heaven and our Lord and Savior, and act as if there is no other direction for our lives. Christ will finish what he has begun in us. All he asks is that we trust him moment by moment, participating fully in this covenant relationship with Abba he has brought us into. We live in the truth of who we are in Christ—we walk by the Spirit, not by our flesh. The old has gone—the new has come. And we live and walk in the truth of that, day by day, for the rest of our lives.
Then, as we face the end of our lives as Billy Graham did, we can embrace eternity with joy and hope. We have nothing to fear from death because it has no power over us. We are already participating in the eternal life Jesus brought us into by his life, death, resurrection, and ascension. We merely step over into the true realities we were already participating in by faith. Those around us will celebrate with us, because they can say with assurance, “This dear one was blameless, faithful, and beloved.” And that’s a great legacy to leave behind.
Dear God, you are faithful and blameless, and we are made in your image, after your likeness, to be faithful and blameless as well. Thank you, Abba, for giving us Jesus and your Spirit that we may be faithful and blameless as you are. We trust you will finish what you have begun in us, through Jesus our Lord. Amen.
“Forty years later, in the desert near Mount Sinai, an angel appeared to Moses in the flame of a burning bush. When Moses saw it, he was amazed at the sight. As he went to take a closer look, the voice of the LORD called out to him, ‘I am the God of your ancestors—the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.’ Moses shook with terror and did not dare to look. Then the LORD said to him, ‘Take off your sandals, for you are standing on holy ground. I have certainly seen the oppression of my people in Egypt. I have heard their groans and have come down to rescue them. Now go, for I am sending you back to Egypt.’ So God sent back the same man his people had previously rejected when they demanded, ‘Who made you a ruler and judge over us?’ Through the angel who appeared to him in the burning bush, God sent Moses to be their ruler and savior. And by means of many wonders and miraculous signs, he led them out of Egypt, through the Red Sea, and through the wilderness for forty years.” Acts 7:30-36 NASB
Our Springs of Joy
By Linda Rex
Advent—JOY
As one who has suffered on occasion from the blight of depression, I have a sympathetic heart for anyone who experiences living in this dark place. When a person is in the midst of such sadness and grief, it can take all of his or her effort just to do the simplest tasks of life.
This is not a place other people can come to and pull the sufferer out of. It is rather a place where those near and dear can come alongside and offer support, prayer, and encouragement. The best gift a person can offer to one suffering with depression is a constant and faithful relationship—a living presence with a willingness to sit in the darkness with the one struggling.
Sometimes we choose our darkness. Sometime the darkness is a result of other people’s bad choices. And other times, the darkness just is—it exists through no fault of our own. It is merely a result of health issues or circumstances. Darkness—an inner weight of crushing sadness and grief, or just loss of joy—can happen to anyone. Being depressed is not a sin, although it may at times be a symptom of an inner struggle.
For some of us, being depressed comes easily. The negativity through which we see the world becomes a lens which darkens our view each and every moment of our lives. This causes us to miss many opportunities for joy. We can be so used to the darkness that when the light enters, we close our eyes to protect them from its brightness.
Here during Advent, as we approach Christmas and the New Year, we may find ourselves resisting the holiday spirit, and feeling overwhelmed by loss and grief for various reasons. It is hard to feel upbeat when your heart is broken and your thoughts are filled with memories of what was and what could have and should have been. It is easy to be overwhelmed by the darkness during a season which should be filled with great joy.
The Holy Spirit calls to us during Advent to remember the One who joined us in our darkness, who didn’t feel it was enough just to say he loved us, but who actually came and sat in the sadness, grief, sorrow, and death with us. For God it was not enough just to be gracious and loving—he did gracious and loving. He took on our humanity and lived shoulder-to-shoulder with each of us.
God’s judgment on sin and our proclivity to evil and our preference for the darkness was the precious gift of a baby in a manger—the Word of God in human flesh—Immanuel, God with us. God’s judgment on our darkness was a gift of joy in the Person of his Son. He judged all humanity worthy of grace and worthy of salvation, worthy of his presence in the midst of their evil, suffering, and death.
That dark, starry night as the shepherds sat with their flocks on a hill outside of Bethlehem, God entered this broken world welcomed by Joseph and Mary as the fulfillment of the word of God through an angel. This little baby may have seemed insignificant and unimpressive in his humble circumstances, but his birth was the cause of the celebration of the angels. As we read in Luke 2:
“Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid. Then the angel said to them, ‘Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger.’ And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying: ‘Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men!’” (Luke 2:8-14 NKJV)
Here was a message from God to his people—a message of peace and good will from God toward his people—a message of joy. These shepherds were astonished and overwhelmed, but their response was to seek out this baby to welcome him.
In our personal darkness, we may feel as though God has forgotten us, or as though we are lost in a dark night, barely holding ourselves together. But the truth we need to be reminded of is that God’s heart toward us has not changed. He is faithful and he still loves and cares for us. God has come into our darkness in the Person of the Word of God, and in Jesus Christ has lived our life, died our death, and carried us from death into life in his resurrection.
And it was not enough for God to join us in our broken humanity. He also sent his Spirit—pouring out on all the gift of life in his Son. The call to faith, is the call to believe in and embrace the joy, the good will of God toward each and every person in the gift of his Son Jesus Christ. God has given us an inner source of joy in the gift of his personal presence in and with us in the Holy Spirit. As the psalmist said: “All my springs of joy are in you.” (Ps. 87:7b NASB)
The reality is, when we are in a dark place such as depression, depravity, or despair, we need a source beyond ourselves to raise us up and deliver us. We need a source of joy which is real and endless, and which will not be squelched by our stubborn desire to remain in the darkness. We need “springs of joy” to draw upon.
And God has given us this in the gift of his Son and his Spirit. We celebrate the breaking in of heaven into our darkness this time of year, and we find in the birth of Jesus Christ the hope, peace, and joy we would never have otherwise. He is the source of our true life, a life which God has lived in for all eternity, a life he is determined to share with you and me for all the eons to come. He calls us to trust—to believe in the truth: God is here. God is near. And he is with us forever. Immanuel—the most precious gift of all!
Dear Abba, thank you! Thank you for the precious gift of joy. Thank you for not leaving us in our darkness, sorrow, grief, and depravity, but giving us a way out—your own Son. Fill us by your Spirit with all your hope, peace, joy, and love—we do not find these things within ourselves. They are a gift. And so we thank you, and praise you with the angels, through Jesus our Lord, and by your Spirit. Amen.
“O sing to the Lord a new song, for He has done wonderful things, His right hand and His holy arm have gained the victory for Him. The Lord has made known His salvation; He has revealed His righteousness in the sight of the nations. He has remembered His lovingkindness and His faithfulness to the house of Israel; all the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God. Shout joyfully to the Lord, all the earth; break forth and sing for joy and sing praises. Sing praises to the Lord with the lyre, with the lyre and the sound of melody. With trumpets and the sound of the horn shout joyfully before the King, the Lord. Let the sea roar and all it contains, the world and those who dwell in it. Let the rivers clap their hands, let the mountains sing together for joy before the Lord, for He is coming to judge the earth; He will judge the world with righteousness and the peoples with equity.” Psalm 98 NASB
Our God of Hope
By Linda Rex
ADVENT—Hope
What if you found yourself in the midst of a committed relationship in which no matter how hard you tried, you could never get it right? What if you were the one who was unfaithful, unloving, and insensitive? What if you found yourself too often breaking the other person’s heart rather than sharing your own heart in humility and gratitude?
If we were honest with ourselves, we would have to admit that at some point in our relationships, most probably more often than we realize, we are this way. We find ourselves saying hurtful things, being unfaithful in our thinking and/or behavior, and showing our loved one disrespect by the things we say and do. We may or may not care about the effect of our behavior upon them, depending upon the state of our own heart and our relationship with them and God.
We may find ourselves despairing of ever being other than what we are, of never experiencing the blessings of a life in loving relationship with another human being, or even with God.
The story of the Old Testament tells us how God, even while knowing what the outcome would be, entered into a relationship with human beings, calling them his own, and giving them life in relationship with himself. He gave them a way of life which would enable them to experience his grace and grow in their knowledge and understanding of him and his ways of being.
In spite of all of God’s efforts to love his people and to be gracious towards them, his covenant people more often than not were unfaithful and unloving toward him. They ignored his clear revelation of what life in the presence of God looks like, and chose to establish their own rules for living. They depended upon other people, themselves, and the things of the earth rather than relying upon God for everything. God’s most loving efforts were met with resistance, rejection, and disrespect.
And yet, God did not dissolve the relationship. He relentlessly pursued his beloved children. Yes, he allowed them to experience the consequences of their unloving behavior, but he never made it a condition to his relationship with them. He is a covenant God, who keeps his covenant relationships while at the same time being free to dissolve them if he wishes to.
He sent prophets who warned them of the consequences of continuing their unfaithful, unloving behavior. Jeremiah acknowledged their inability to fulfill their covenant commitment to their God apart from his gracious intervention. He called for God, The Hope of Israel, to intervene: “Heal me, O Lord, and I will be healed; save me and I will be saved, for You are my praise.” (Jer. 17: 14 NASB)
In the midst of the darkest days of Israel’s history, they heard no prophetic word from God and were exiled far from their homeland. They knew they deserved the desolation of their temple and being removed from the land they loved: “But Zion said, ‘The Lord has forsaken me, and the Lord has forgotten me.’” But God said to them, “Can a woman forget her nursing child and have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget, but I will not forget you. Behold, I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands; your walls are continually before Me.” (Isa. 49:14-16)
God’s word to his covenant people through the prophet Isaiah gave them hope. The prophet wrote of a messiah who would come to deliver his people from oppression and to usher in the new age of the Spirit, when “all flesh will know that I, the Lord, am your Savior and your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.” (Isa. 49:26b)
And it was not enough for God to redeem his people and restore his relationship with them. He went on beyond and included all humanity in the prophetic word of hope. The prophet Isaiah spoke of God’s Suffering Servant who would come and restore his people and through them, all humanity: “And now says the Lord, who formed Me from the womb to be His Servant, to bring Jacob back to Him, so that Israel might be gathered to Him (For I am honored in the sight of the Lord, and My God is My strength), He says, “It is too small a thing that You should be My Servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the preserved ones of Israel; I will also make You a light of the nations… Break forth, shout joyfully together, you waste places of Jerusalem; for the Lord has comforted His people, He has redeemed Jerusalem. The Lord has bared His holy arm in the sight of all the nations, that all the ends of the earth may see the salvation of our God.” (Isa. 49:5-6, 52:9-10 NASB)
Today we can look back on the events which took place following these prophetic messages. We know the amazing way God kept his word of hope which he gave to his people in the gift of his Son Jesus Christ. We can recognize God’s faithfulness and compassion, and understand we are included in God’s redemptive work.
Because of what God has done and is doing for us through his Son, and how he is working today in and with us by his Spirit, we can have hope in the midst of our own difficult circumstances. We may find ourselves in dark places, but we can know Jesus is present with us in the midst of them by his Spirit. We know Abba is carrying us, faithfully loving us and working for our redemption and salvation.
And this gives us hope within our own broken relationships. We turn to Christ, to Abba, and by the Spirit gain the grace to live in ways with one another which are a reflection of the divine life and love. We find in Christ by the Spirit the ability to say no to that which is unhealthy and evil, and yes to that which is wholesome and healing. It is Christ dwelling within us by his Spirit who brings us into his own faithful, loving relationship with his Abba, and enables us to participate with him in it. And this overflows into our own human relationships as the Spirit flows between and amongst us all.
And so, the apostle Peter calls us to “fix [our] hope completely on the grace to be brought to [us] at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” (1 Peter 1:13 NASB) We are to hope in Jesus Christ—in the God of hope, who is our blessed hope in every situation and circumstance, because he is gracious, loving, and faithful.
Thank you, Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, for sending us your Son, and giving us your Spirit. Thank you that you are The God of Hope who rescues us from sin, evil, and death, and you meet us in the midst of every relationship by your Spirit so we may live together in oneness, in a recognition of and respect for our uniqueness and our equality. Grant us the grace again, to trust you in every circumstance, and when things grow dark and dreary, please shine your bright rays of hope in and through your Son Jesus and by your Spirit. Amen.
“Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself and God our Father, who has loved us and given us eternal comfort and good hope by grace, comfort and strengthen your hearts in every good work and word.” 2 Thessalonians 2:16-17 NASB
Do I Believe God Cares?
by Linda Rex
Lately this has been on my mind a lot—do I really believe God cares about that thing I’m wrestling with at the moment, whatever it may be? What do I really believe down to the core of my being about the kind of Person God is?
Intellectually I can say to myself, God is good and he loves me and he cares about the issue I’m having with my car tire, my teeth, or my finances—you name it. But when it comes down to it, how I act with regards to those things says pretty loudly what I really believe about God and his goodness towards me. The difficulties I run into in my day-to-day life and how I engage them demonstrate what’s going on in my heart and the depth of my faith and trust in the goodness of God.
As I grow older I find myself reflecting back on all the ways God has intervened in my life and circumstances to bring good out of evil and to redeem broken situations. He has protected me from certain disaster over and over again. He has provided for me when I did not deserve to be provided for. And he has placed loving, caring people in my life to demonstrate his love toward me and my family.
If I were to say God does not really care about what is going on in my life or about me personally, I would not be speaking with integrity. My experience over the years has been that he does care deeply about me and my dear ones, and is a faithful, compassionate, forgiving God. But I don’t always make decisions or live my life in the truth of that reality. Often I act as though this were not true.
In any area of life we can act as if God just doesn’t really care even though we believe he does care. We read stories in the Scriptures about people who do this very thing. They show our common humanity, our core sinful nature which Jesus came to deal with and to eradicate.
Jesus did come and demonstrated in a deeply significant way God cares about every detail in our lives, even to the point of sharing our own flesh and blood existence. Jesus did not hold himself aloof from any of our brokenness. He touched the leper to heal him. He defiled himself to call a dead man back to life. He lived our life and died our death.
When the untouchable woman touched his garments, he called her, “Daughter.” He did not reject her or condemn her. But rather, he met her in the place where she came to meet him, in her humiliation, her brokenness, her suffering and loneliness.
She must have believed something about the goodness of Jesus to get her to that place where she was willing to brave the crowds who had isolated her. Mark 5:27-28 says, “…after hearing about Jesus, she came up in the crowd behind Him and touched His cloak. For she thought, ‘If I just touch His garments, I will get well.’” She acted as though this were true, making her way through all the people so she could just touch Jesus’ cloak, and indeed found in doing so, she was healed.
What’s interesting is it appears in this story as though she was hoping to get away without being noticed, to hide again in the crowds. But Jesus would not allow that. He insisted she be a full participant in his life and in her healing.
He cared about her healing, but also about the relational aspect of her life which was missing. Her rejection by others, her isolation, her loneliness, and her shame needed to come to an end. He made a point of connecting with her, of drawing her out, and of bringing her to the notice of those around her. And he encouraged her to be at peace—a peace which was such a far cry from what she had lived with during all the years she had sought healing from every source imaginable.
Obviously, she thought he didn’t care about those things otherwise she may have been more direct in her approach. So we find this woman acted on what she believed to be true about Jesus, but Jesus took her even farther than she expected to go. Jesus met her where she was and brought her to be where he was. He didn’t just heal her physically. He also healed her in many other ways.
We can learn from this and many other stories in the Scriptures about how we deal with our struggles with believing in the goodness and faithfulness of God. We may be questioning God’s love and faithfulness, and be unsure of God’s goodness. But we can still act as if God were a good God who loves us and wants what is best for us rather than acting as if he were not. It is our choice.
Sometimes God allows us to wrestle with this and we find ourselves having to act as if God really does care about the details of our life and our struggles when it feels as if he does not. When we continue to act as if God really does care about what is going on we may find our whole approach towards the difficulty changes. We may find Jesus meets us more than halfway, and carries us through a difficult time to the other side, while helping us to grow in faith, hope and love in the process.
We just need to remember while on the one hand God cares about what we care about, on the other hand, he is more concerned about our growth as his children into the fullness of who he created us to be. He is working to grow us up into the likeness of his Son, and struggles are a necessary part of this transformation. And he will not stop until he has accomplished what he set out to do—that is something we can count on.
Dear Abba, thank you for being a God we can trust and depend on. Thank you for your faithfulness and your tender loving care. Grant us the grace in every situation, no matter how significant or insignificant and no matter how difficult or easy it may be, to act as if you are the loving, caring, faithful God you really are, through Jesus our Lord and by your precious Spirit. Amen.
“Go and gather the elders of Israel together and say to them, ‘The LORD, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, has appeared to me, saying, “I am indeed concerned about you and what has been done to you in Egypt.’” Exodus 3:16 NASB
“And He said to her, ‘Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace and be healed of your affliction.’” Mk 5:34 NASB
Our Life in the Trinity 