grace
The Grace of Joy
By Linda Rex
December 17, 2023, 3rd Sunday in Advent | Joy—Sometimes this time of year, we have a hard time coming up with any sense of Christmas cheer. It doesn’t help that our budgets are tight and we’re concerned about possibly catching one of the viruses going around at school, work, and the supermarket. This season may bring to mind significant losses or changes in our lives, and we may sense hovering over us a raincloud of grief, sorrow, pain, or even anxiety at having to cope with family issues as we gather with others.
On this Sunday of Joy in the season of Advent, we look at what the apostle Paul has to say about this in 1 Thessalonians 5:16–24. He tells the believers at Thessalonica to “Rejoice always; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks” and goes on to say that this is God’s will for each of us who are in Christ Jesus. If we are in the midst of a snowstorm of grief and loss, it can be really hard to rejoice, much less give thanks. We may even find it next to impossible to pray—the words get stuck in our mind and heart, and nothing comes out. We can only weep.
So how do we respond to this imperative or command given to us in God’s Word? When reading the commands or imperatives in Scripture, we must always first look for the indicatives or foundational spiritual realities on which those imperatives are based. In this case, notice the phrase, “in Christ Jesus.” This is important to pay attention to. Also, when we look a little further on, we see, “Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Faithful is He who calls you, and He also will bring it to pass.” Notice who is doing the sanctifying and who is bringing to pass our being without blame. Our wholeness is grounded in the God of peace who sanctifies us in and through his Son Jesus Christ.
Our joy isn’t in the circumstances we are experiencing, though at times we may have joyful and happy experiences with family and friends doing things we enjoy. No, the source of our joy is our faithful God of peace, who has given us his Son and his Spirit. As we come to faith in Christ, trusting in God’s grace and love, we are united with Christ and receive from him the Spirit. The Spirit of God pours into us Christ’s own love, joy, peace, gentleness, goodness, and other fruits of the Spirit.
This means we are able to receive and experience Christ’s own joy, even though at times our circumstances and experiences may be less than joyful. We are also able to be thankful in less than blessed circumstances, because we have already received the greatest gift possible, the gift of Christ in us by the Spirit, who enables us to be thankful in all circumstances.
Going even farther, being in union with Christ by the Spirit means that we share in Jesus’ own life of joy and thanksgiving in his face-to-face fellowship with his Father in the Spirit. Our life of prayer is grounded in Jesus’ own life of prayer with his Father so that he offers the things of the Father to us in the Spirit, and offers our prayers to the Father in the Spirit. When we cannot pray, for our hearts are too broken, Jesus prays for us and the Spirit intercedes for us, already knowing what is in our hearts which so yearns to be spoken.
This offers us great comfort in times when we find it hard to rejoice, pray, or give thanks, even though we know this is God’s will for us. Our faith isn’t in our ability to hang in there and do what is needed in our relationship with God. Rather our faith is in the One who is faithful and will do all that is needed to sanctify us and keep us blameless before God. We can rest in him and trust in his perfect love and grace. What a precious gift!
Dear Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, thank you for holding us in the center of your love and grace. As we go through this Advent season, remind us anew of your compassion and tender love, and fill our hearts with joy and gratitude so we may do your will. Blessed Jesus and Holy Spirit, let your prayers fill our hearts, not just for ourselves, but for all those you bring to our minds, that we may fellowship with you and one another as a communion of faith throughout this sacred Advent season. For our Father’s glory, through Jesus and by your Spirit. Amen.
“Rejoice always; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. Do not quench the Spirit; do not despise prophetic utterances. But examine everything carefully; hold fast to that which is good; abstain from every form of evil. Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Faithful is He who calls you, and He also will bring it to pass.” 1 Thessalonians 5:16–24 NASB
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When It All Melts Away
By Linda Rex
December 10, 2023, 2nd Sunday | Advent—One of the small things we like to do during Advent at our house is post a wish list on the refrigerator for each member of our household. We find this to be quite helpful in picking out stocking stuffers and other little gifts for one another. This practice helps those of us who aren’t good gift givers to be attentive to one another’s desires and interests.
This morning I was reading in our New Testament passage for this Sunday, 2 Peter 3:8–15a, about a deep desire of God’s heart. This desire is much deeper and much more costly than any stocking stuffer we may imagine. Indeed, the Triune God has already gone to great extremes to enable this wish to come true if at all possible. The apostle Peter tells us that God’s desire is that no one perish, but for all to come to repentance. In the end, there may be some who refuse to come to repentance, but God’s desire is still that every person does. Peter says that for this reason, our Lord Jesus has delayed his return in glory—it is God’s great patience and longsuffering that is our salvation.
In this letter, the apostle Peter was encouraging the believers to hold fast their faith in Christ in the face of false teachers and damaging heresies. He was reminding them of all that was theirs in Jesus, of the grace and love of God, and that there was coming, in God’s good time, a judgment in which our Lord and Savior would return in glory and make everything right. The heavens and earth will melt away one day, he said, revealing the hidden glory of the new heavens and new earth.
The day of the Lord or parousia, in the context of Peter’s second letter, is when Jesus returns in glory to establish the new heavens and new earth. Because it will come “like a thief”, it will come unexpectedly. Peter says this is important to remember because as we live our lives day by day, we want to be attentive to what God is up to—patiently working to bring about the salvation of many people. If this is what God is up to, then we want to be living in such a way that we are full participants in what God is doing, and in this way, anticipating and “hastening” the return of Christ.
One way we do this is by being diligent to be found by our Lord in peace, spotless and blameless as members of the Body of Christ. The source of our peace, our spotlessness, and blamelessness, is not in ourselves or our efforts, but in Jesus alone, as we trust in him as the one who is the Prince of Peace, the spotless Lamb of God, who took all blame upon himself, so that we might be found without blame when brought to judgment. Our diligence then, has to do with our trust in the Lord Jesus Christ, our dependency upon his finished work, and looking to him to finish what he has begun in us. We are diligent to live in the truth of who we are as God’s adopted children, in loving union and communion with Father, Son, and Spirit and each other.
When we consider the new heavens and earth, as Peter calls it, we are told it will be a place where righteousness dwells. Righteousness, or right relationships with God and one another as I like to put it, will be the hallmark of our existence then. So, as citizens of that kingdom even now, the Body of Christ is called to reflect even now the righteousness Christ forged for us on the cross. In Jesus’ death and resurrection, we find the old self melted away and replaced by the new—in Christ we are new creations. Peter tells us to live in this reality even now, resisting the temptation to fall into old patterns or ways of living that are dead and gone.
Just as one day, this temporal existence will melt away and our new existence which is hidden with Christ in God will be revealed, we look forward to when this earth and the heavens will melt away and God’s new heavens and new earth will be revealed. Meanwhile, we live in this broken, sin-wracked world and in our broken, sin-wracked flesh, trusting in our Lord and Savior’s redeeming grace and love. We diligently seek to be who God has declared us to be, living in peace, spotless and blameless, grateful for the longsuffering patience of our God, which is our salvation.
Father, Son, Spirit, thank you for giving us a hope—a new heavens and new earth to look forward to in anticipation, and a new life forever with you. Grant us the grace to live even now in right relationship with you and one another, in your perfect peace, spotless and blameless, as we trust in your salvation, through Jesus our Lord and by your Spirit. Amen.
“But do not let this one fact escape your notice, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years like one day. The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but bis patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up. Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way, what sort of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be destroyed by burning, and the elements will melt with intense heat! But according to His promise we are looking for new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells. Therefore, beloved, since you look for these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, spotless and blameless, and regard the patience of our Lord as salvation; …” 2 Peter 3:8–15a NASB
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Confirming the Testimony of Christ
By Linda Rex
December 3, 2023, 1st Sunday in Advent—I was reminded this morning of the blessing and gift we have been given of fellowship in our Lord Jesus Christ. Last Tuesday when I woke up, I was greatly challenged with being able to write and post this blog and to provide Sunday’s sermon on video, because I was very sick and my head was filled more with congestion that it was with any coherent thought.
I put out a prayer request for those who participate with me in Our Life in the Trinity, and was so blessed to have the Lord’s mercies in clearing up by noon almost completely the congestion and fuzziness of brain I had been experiencing. I was able to post both the blog and the video by evening, and I can give no credit anywhere but to the Lord Jesus Christ, and my gratitude to the believers for their faithful prayers on my behalf.
I believe this is what the apostle Paul was describing in his passage for this week, 1 Corinthians 1:3–9. I do give thanks to God concerning every one of you who support me in this ministry, for the grace of God has not been without effect, and the testimony of Jesus has been confirmed over and over in all of you. As Paul reminds us, this is the work of our God, who is faithful, and who has called us together into fellowship with his Son Jesus Christ.
Paul was wise enough to realize that whatever gifts he had been given of speech and knowledge were gifts of the Spirit from our Lord Jesus Christ. He knew that the believers in Corinth valued skills of human rhetoric or speech and knowledge, but what Paul focused on in his letter was fellowship with our Lord. The Spirit generously showers spiritual gifts upon us, but it is Jesus who confirms in us the grace of God by his Spirit, making us blameless. Our identity is in Jesus Christ and as we trust in him, dying in his death and rising in his resurrection and ascension, we participate in his own face-to-face intimate fellowship with his Father in the Spirit.
This is meant to be most evident within the context of spiritual community, where those who trust in Christ are joined together in the fellowship of the Spirit, sharing in their common faith in our Lord Jesus. The gifts of the Spirit showered upon the Body of Christ are not meant for personal glory or aggrandizement, but for the equipping of the saints, to aid in our growing up into the fulness of Christ. Together, we live as those who trust in Christ, reflecting the divine perichoresis or koinonia in our relationships with one another. This is evident testimony to the reality of our living Lord Jesus Christ by his Spirit at work in and through us.
As the psalmist says, apart from what God has done, is doing, and will do through our Lord Jesus Christ and by his Spirit, we are at the mercy of our sins and brokenness (Psalm 80:1–7, 17–19). The prophet Isaiah reminds us that apart from the mercy and compassionate intervention of God, we are not able to live out the covenant life God has called us into (Isaiah 64:1–9). But God is, by nature, merciful and compassionate, so he did not leave any of us in the state of bondage to evil, sin, and death. No, in Christ, he has set us free, and invites us to participate in that freedom by faith in Jesus.
The good news is that, as God in human flesh, Jesus lives in face-to-face relationship with our Father in the Spirit, and he enables us to share in this union and communion by faith in Christ. It’s not all up to us, thankfully, but all up to him, even though he honors our personhood and allows us to say ‘No’ to his ‘Yes’ in Christ. Our Triune God’s ‘Yes’ to us stands in spite of our ‘No’, but if we insist, in spite of and in the face of the consuming fire of his love, we will experience the results of that resistance to God’s love. It is hard for me to imagine someone so forcibly resisting God’s love, but we are persons who at times can be quite stubborn in our resistance against what is beautiful, loving and good. I am grateful, as ever, that it’s not up to me to decide any of this, but up to our loving, gracious Lord Jesus, who is both the judged and the Judge. May his Name be praised evermore!
Our loving, heavenly Father, thank you for your faithfulness by which we are saved and brought, in your Son, into face-to-face fellowship with you in the Spirit. Grant us the grace to allow you to finish what you have begun in us, by fully participating in your saving work, through Jesus our Lord. 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
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The Simplicity of the Gospel
by Linda Rex
October 8, 2023, Proper 22 | After Pentecost—Recently I was given the privilege of participating in a writing project which found me immersed in studies, prayer, and the Word of God. As I dove deep, I was grateful for the benefit of the education I have received over the years, specifically my current journey with Grace Communion Seminary.
The passage for this Sunday, Philippians 3:4b–14, was a good reminder that no matter how blessed I may be and no matter how educated or spiritually grounded I become, it is of little value in comparison with personally knowing my Lord Jesus Christ. Over the years I have come up against this over and over, as though our Father wants to remind us constantly of what really matters in this life. Indeed, Jesus himself told us to seek his kingdom first, and all the other would be added (Matt. 6:33)—and Jesus is the kingdom of God present in and with us by his Holy Spirit (Lk. 17:20-21).
Have you ever lost anything that you valued more than anything in the world? I know I have. Over the years, I have lost friends, family members, jobs, and at one point I even lost my marriage, though God was gracious and eventually restored it. What I gained in the midst of all those losses, though, is what, as I discovered over the years, is of greatest and most lasting value—a deeper, closer walk with Jesus and the Spirit, and a clearer understanding of who God is, how much he loves you and me, and what really matters in this life. I learned things about myself I never knew before—some things which required repentance, some things which surprised me, and some things which enabled me to realize God’s generosity, mercy, and love.
This brings to mind the old story in the book of Genesis, where Lot and his family are escaping the imminent destruction of their home. They are told by the angels not to look back. But Lot’s wife does look back at one point, and ends up a pillar of salt. I’ve often wondered what exactly made her look back (Gen. 19:17, 26). Was she missing friends, family, or the luxuries of city life? Recently, we were reminded of the stories which came out of the events of 9/11, where people were needing to leave the building after the planes hit and before the buildings fell. At that moment, they had a choice. They could go back and get what they left behind—a purse, a computer, a briefcase—or they could leave it behind and escape. So many of those who went back to get their belongings did not survive, while many of those who immediately left did.
I’m not saying there was sin either way. I’m simply using it as an example of what can happen when we get our priorities out of order. It’s possible to get our priorities out of order even when we are serving God. When getting the next church project done or the next sermon written, or the next Christmas box made, or the next box of donated items filled becomes more important than having a quiet conversation with our Lord, we have allowed our priorities to go awry. We can so easily trade in the righteousness which is ours by faith in Christ for a righteousness based on what we do, who we serve, what church we attend, or what book or Bible we read.
The apostle Paul brings it down to the nitty-gritty, down to the simplicity of the gospel. We share in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. We can know and be known by our Lord Jesus Christ. He has given us his Spirit so we can share in his own face-to-face relationship with our heavenly Father. There is nothing more valuable or lasting than this.
Our daily walk in the Spirit by faith in Christ is what gives us the fortitude, the grace, and the love we need each moment. Our ministry, whatever it may be, is empty apart from the presence of the indwelling Christ by the Spirit. Our service to God and others may be great and be helpful, but it needs the empowerment of God’s Spirit in order for it to have eternal and lasting value. We need our Lord Jesus living in us and moving through us by his Spirit in order to make our everyday lives be more than drudgery or routine, and to be able to endure the suffering and struggle that comes with following Christ. When we do life in the Spirit, it becomes an adventurous journey with our Lord and our Father, where wonderous things can happen, lives can be transformed and healed, suffering and pain can be endured and overcome, and God’s kingdom be realized even now in human hearts and lives.
Dear Father, thank you for your love and grace, and your personal presence in and with us through Jesus and by your Spirit. May we be reminded this day to seek you and your kingdom first, and allow you to take care of the rest, through Jesus our Lord and by your Spirit. Amen.
“If anyone else has a mind to put confidence in the flesh, I far more: circumcised the eighth day, of the nation of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the Law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to the righteousness which is in the Law, found blameless. But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ, and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith, that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death; in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already obtained it or have already become perfect, but I press on so that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus. Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 3:4b–14 NASB
“ ‘Listen to another parable. There was a landowner who ‘planted a vineyard and put a wall around it and dug a wine press in it, and built a tower,’ and rented it out to vine-growers and went on a journey. When the harvest time approached, he sent his slaves to the vine-growers to receive his produce. The vine-growers took his slaves and beat one, and killed another, and stoned a third. Again he sent another group of slaves larger than the first; and they did the same thing to them. But afterward he sent his son to them, saying, “They will respect my son.” But when the vine-growers saw the son, they said among themselves, “This is the heir; come, let us kill him and seize his inheritance.” They took him, and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. Therefore when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those vine-growers?’ They said to Him, ‘He will bring those wretches to a wretched end, and will rent out the vineyard to other vine-growers who will pay him the proceeds at the proper seasons.’ Jesus said to them, ‘Did you never read in the Scriptures, “ ‘The stone which the builders rejected, this became the chief corner’ stone; ‘this came about from the Lord, and it is marvelous in our eyes”? Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people, producing the fruit of it. And he who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; but on whomever it falls, it will scatter him like dust.’ When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard His parables, they understood that He was speaking about them. When they sought to seize Him, they feared the people, because they considered Him to be a prophet.’ ” Matthew 21:33–46 NASB
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He Teaches the Humble
by Linda Rex
October 1, 2023, Proper 21 | After Pentecost—I’ve noticed lately in the news and in social media that there is a movement towards being split into two extreme sides. There doesn’t seem to be a place where people are willing and able to see both sides and come to some understanding of where the other is coming from. This seems to include every facet of our society, including politics, education, and matters of faith.
When the apostle Paul addresses issues of disunity, he focuses on the one thing all humans have in common—the gift of salvation in Jesus Christ. Inherent within the gift is the indication that we have great need of grace—that we all are guilty of not loving God and each other in the way we were intended to originally.
In our New Testament passage for this Sunday, Philippians 2:1–13, Paul points out that our unity, our participation in the perichoresis or other-centered love and oneness of Father, Son, and Spirit, are best experienced when we share in the humility demonstrated by Jesus Christ. He points out the dramatic contrast between the divinity and exaltation of the Son of God and the humiliation of crucifixion and death he was willing to undergo in human flesh at the hands of his own creation. Profoundly, we are asked to ponder this spiritual reality and to ask ourselves whether we are willing to have this same humility when it comes to those around us.
So often we are like the rocks the ancient Israelites encountered in the wilderness—hard, dry, and unyielding. There is no life or refreshment for others when we are self-absorbed, self-centered and self-willed. We easily ignore the reality of the immanent presence of God by the Spirit, and stubbornly question whether or not God really cares at all about what we are going through (Exodus 17:1–7). We can even be so absorbed with doing the “right” thing, that we stop genuinely loving and caring for those closest to us. I am learning that my own spiritual vision can become so limited that I miss the mark entirely when it comes to loving God and loving others as God intends.
How glorious that God in Christ would become that rock himself, as God in human flesh, so that rock could be broken and rivers of living water begin to flow out from and through us for the benefit of those around us! Jesus, the Rock, was willing to be truly humble to the point of death, struck by our own human hands and to suffer and die, so that ultimately, we might have new life (Psalm 78:15–16). And rising into glory, exalted by the Father to sit forever at his side still bearing our human flesh, Jesus sent the Holy Spirit, giving us a genuine personal participation in his zōe life, a life meant to be spent in spiritual community—a oneness based in Christ’s own magnificent humility.
We participate in Jesus’ humility when we embrace and participate in his self-sacrificial service to God and others. It takes a profound sense of self-sacrifice and humble service to be willing and able to lay down your life for others as a part of your everyday life. Yesterday, I was told about an officer of the law who was shot simply because he was busy performing his service to his community, and for no other reason. I understand that there may be more complex issues involved in that circumstance—I do not want to minimize those. But I do want to say that the heart and will to lay down one’s life in a community where one may simply be shot because he or she is a police officer, takes a will and power beyond oneself and requires a great deal of humility and grace, not to mention courage.
The willingness and ability to see another person’s point of view, even if you don’t agree with it, requires a real sense of humility, of knowing one’s own need for grace and recognizing our own limitations as creatures. It is possible to stand firmly upon what we believe God’s word says, and still humbly meet another person where they are for the purpose of bringing them into an embrace of love and grace. This is what Jesus did for us, and what he is inviting us to participate with him in doing for those around us.
If we stubbornly remain entrenched in our place of “right”, and shut the door to anyone who does not agree with us, we miss creating the space of grace where the Spirit can begin to work to bring transformation, healing and renewal in our lives. Humbly embracing the other, while following the Spirit’s lead in faithful obedience, opens the door for God to do something new in their lives and in our own. We remain open to the Spirit, allowing the new life which is ours in Christ to flow into and through us by the Spirit, and God begins to transform, heal, and renew both us and the world around us, enabling us to participate in his own unity and oneness in the Spirit.
We praise you, heavenly Father, for loving us so much that you would stoop to share life with us through your Son and Spirit, offering your very self to us in Jesus and allowing your Son to be crucified and die. What a gift you have given! Grant us the grace to humbly offer ourselves in service to you and others, allowing Christ’s life to flow freely through us by your Spirit. Amen.
“Therefore if there is any encouragement in Christ, if there is any consolation of love, if there is any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and compassion, make my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose. Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others. Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus ‘every knee will bow’, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.” Philippians 2:1–13 NASB
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God Will Make Them Stand
by Linda Rex
September 17, 2023, Proper 19 | After Pentecost—This morning I was reading the Old Testament passage for this Sunday when it occurred to me that being baptized in Jesus’ death and resurrection is a lot like the Israelites walking through the waters of the Jordan with the Egyptians in pursuit. As we rise out of the waters of baptism, Jesus accomplishes for us what we cannot do ourselves—he buries the enemy in utter defeat, and puts us safely on the other shore where we begin our new life in him.
With our warrior, Jesus, fighting for us, how can we fail? All we have left to do is to celebrate the victory and begin to live this new life in Christ in joyful worship (see Exodus 15:1b–11, 20–21). Now life and death are placed on a new elevation, with grace being the operative word that guides and fuels our life in Christ.
The situation the apostle Paul addresses in Romans 14:1–12 is that we tend to get stuck on the dos and don’ts of our walk in Christ. And it’s bad enough that we do this with ourselves—the worse thing is when we do it with one another. If we have never really come to a realization of our own need for God’s grace and haven’t fully embraced the gift God has given, we will tend to be very critical of others in how they live their lives. This is especially true for those of us who say we are followers of Jesus Christ.
It may be helpful to listen to your self, to your conversations within and without, for oftentimes we do not see how we are really functioning when it comes to these things. We are often a lot like Peter, who asked Jesus just how many times he had to forgive his brother. He thought he was being really generous when he suggested seven times—even the rabbis only said he needed to forgive three times and that would be gracious enough.
But Jesus pinpointed the issue and got right to the heart of the matter—Peter didn’t see his own need for grace, his own need to be forgiven. He was focused on the error another person was committing. Jesus wanted him to face his own need for grace, and in doing so, find that he had every reason to forgive and keep forgiving, no matter how many times the other person offended him (Matthew 18:21–35).
The apostle Paul used this same principle in talking to the members in Rome who just couldn’t seem to get past the things which divided them. He reminded the members that their brother or sister answered to God and God alone, and that Jesus was quite capable of making them right with the God they answered to, in spite of the ways in which they differed in their worship of God. Some still felt compelled to observe the Jewish holy days and special food requirements; others did not. Paul told them to keep these secondary things secondary, and to focus on the centrality of Jesus Christ. There they would find their unity.
Jesus is the warrior who defends each of us; he is our advocate. We do not pass judgment on one another, nor do we condemn one another, because that judgment and condemnation was already poured out on Jesus Christ on the cross. Jesus already paid whatever is due—it is forgiven. The billion-dollar debt we owed has been stamped with a paid-in-full stamp and then shredded—it no longer exists.
The question is, do we live as though there is still a debt outstanding? Do we hold others to their debts, when Jesus has already made things right? Maybe instead of pointing out people’s sins, they’d be better served by being told that God loves them and has already made things right in and through the gift of his Son and his Spirit, and that we want to include them in our own walk with Christ. Perhaps, instead of focusing on the enemy and evil which was drowned in the sea, we may want to focus on Jesus and following him, and celebrating with others our new life in him. Perhaps, we may wish to find in Christ what unites us instead of looking for things that only divide. This is our challenge as followers of Christ, for Jesus has commanded us to love one another in such a way that every can see we are his followers. We may want to ask ourselves how well are we doing this.
Our dear God, enable us to see clearly both our need for you and your grace, and the wonderful deliverance you have given us in Christ. Open our hearts and minds, that we may receive your mercy and grace, and ever offer it to others generously and freely, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
“Now accept the one who is weak in faith, but not for the purpose of passing judgment on his opinions. One person has faith that he may eat all things, but he who is weak eats vegetables only. The one who eats is not to regard with contempt the one who does not eat, and the one who does not eat is not to judge the one who eats, for God has accepted him. Who are you to judge the servant of another? To his own master he stands or falls; and he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand. One person regards one day above another, another regards every day alike. Each person must be fully convinced in his own mind. He who observes the day, observes it for the Lord, and he who eats, does so for the Lord, for he gives thanks to God; and he who eats not, for the Lord he does not eat, and gives thanks to God. For not one of us lives for himself, and not one dies for himself; for if we live, we live for the Lord, or if we die, we die for the Lord; therefore whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s. For to this end Christ died and lived again, that He might be Lord both of the dead and of the living. But you, why do you judge your brother? Or you again, why do you regard your brother with contempt? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God. For it is written, ‘ “as I live,” says the Lord, “every knee shall bow to me and every tongue shall give praise to God.” ’ So then each one of us will give an account of himself to God.” Romans 14:1–12 NASB
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Giving the Gift We Are
by Linda Rex
August 27, 2023, Proper 16 | After Pentecost—Recently my son and I took a trip out of state to a part of the United States I had not been in before. On our way home, we drove for a while down the Blue Ridge Parkway simply as an opportunity to see God’s creation and enjoy the view. The scenery was beautiful and worth seeing, but the roads were full of snakelike curves and sharp corners. As we got four hours into the trip, I began to wonder if the scenery was worth the effort we were putting into just trying to stay on the road.
Sometimes we make decisions about our everyday lives which don’t take into consideration the long-range view we ought to have. There are times when we forget the spiritual realities which are meant to guide our choices. The apostle Paul in the passage for this Sunday, Romans 12:1-8, reminds us of where our focus needs to be when it comes to our everyday lives. Having spent much of the earlier part of his letter to the Romans explaining our common need for grace and the generous, undeserved gift of mercy and inclusion in God’s life and love which we all have been given, Paul goes on to explain the impact this is meant to have on the way we conduct our lives.
Since grace is a gift we are given by God, we respond in gratitude by giving our lives away in service to God and others. Paul says this is our “spiritual service of worship” (NASB, NRSV, ESV), our “true and proper worship” (NIV), or our “reasonable service” (NKJV). In other words, rather than offering up animals in ritual sacrifice through death, we offer ourselves to God alive from the dead through Jesus’ own sacrificial offering. Instead of having to die ourselves, we die to ourselves by offering ourselves and our lives to God to do whatever he asks of us.
Determining what God asks of us means renewing our minds or our way of being so that it coincides with the truth of who we are in Christ. We focus on Jesus Christ, learning from him, and opening ourselves up to the Spirit’s guidance and direction. Since Jesus Christ lived our perfect human life as we were meant to, in right relationship with his Father in the Spirit, he becomes for us our own right relationship with God by the Spirit. We rest in him, not in our human efforts to get things right. Elsewhere the apostle Paul reminds us to keep our mind on things above, not on things on this earth, and to place our affections on things above, not on earthly things. We want to grow up into the fullness of Christ, but we won’t get there if our focus is upon human standards, rituals, ways of conducting our lives rather than on Jesus.
Paul goes on to say that as we grow up in Christ and are transformed by the renewing of our minds, we not only offer ourselves to God, but we also offer our lives in service to one another. God, by his Spirit, has through Christ given us new life. He has taken our human flesh through a change similar to what a caterpillar experiences when it becomes a butterfly—something entirely new being made out of the old. We stop eating leaves and start drinking nectar. We stop walking everywhere and start flying. Whatever we have turned away from to follow Christ no longer is our focus. Rather, we are focused on God’s agenda in this world—on the restoration, renewal, transformation, and healing of all things. We are focused on pointing others to the present and future reality of the kingdom of God here on earth as it is in heaven.
The grace God has given us in Christ poured out on and in us by his Spirit comes with gifts of service meant to be a gift to others. Just as we are united with God through Christ in the Spirit, we are joined with one another in such a way that each of us is an essential part of the body with gifts that are meant to be a blessing and service to others. This means our everyday lives become a place where we pour our lives out in love, generosity, compassion, and service to everyone around us, whether family, friends, neighbors, strangers, or even our enemies.
This elevates our human experience to a new level of participation with Jesus Christ in what he is doing in the world. We are no longer self-absorbed, self-centered, or self-willed. Rather, we are Spirit-absorbed, Christ-centered, God-willed—living as we were always meant to, in right relationship with God and one another. We live in other-centered, self-sacrificing, service to God and others.
You and I both know that this is an ideal we rarely seem to experience in this life. This is why our everyday life is a matter of daily sacrifice—of offering ourselves once more to God in gratitude and thanksgiving. Just as Jesus deliberately and willingly walked the long road to the cross, voluntarily offering himself up for us all, we choose each day to offer ourselves up as well. Our gifts and abilities are not ours to be used for our own pleasure, but for the will of God—how he would like them to be a blessing to himself and others. Whatever the result of our efforts—it is all of grace. We rest in Christ’s faithful obedience to his Father, not in our own perfect offering.
As we do this each day, we may be surprised to discover after a while that our sacrifice is no sacrifice at all, for we, in Christ, end up doing what we were originally created for and best gifted at. And our life is given meaning and value in a way we’ve never experienced before. And we no longer waste our time in futile, self-destructive pastimes, while instead, we find ways to enjoy life and relationship which are healthy, joy-filled and productive. We discover we are living God’s kingdom life right now, in fellowship with God and each other as we were always meant to. For God always meant this for us, even before any of us or our cosmos even existed.
Thank you, dear Father, for your faithful love and boundless grace. Enable us to freely offer ourselves this day, and every day, in loving service to you and others. Open our eyes to see how you have gifted and called us to service, and grant us each day the grace to do so faithfully, in Jesus’ name and by your Spirit. Amen.
“Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect. For through the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think; but to think so as to have sound judgment, as God has allotted to each a measure of faith. For just as we have many members in one body and all the members do not have the same function, so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. Since we have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, each of us is to exercise them accordingly: if prophecy, according to the proportion of his faith; if service, in his serving; or he who teaches, in his teaching; or he who exhorts, in his exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness.” Romans 12:1–8 NASB
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Liminal Spaces
by Linda Rex
July 23, 2023, Proper 11 | After Pentecost—This week I have been thinking about liminal spaces and life change, and how we never know what life will throw at us. From what I have learned about liminal spaces, they are places of transition or change, whether real or metaphorical. We may be uncomfortable or feel anxious during seasons of change or transition, especially when they mean facing difficult challenges or dealing with stressful events.
Whether we like it or not, our lives are full of these experiences of transition. This week I learned that a dear friend and former ministry co-worker passed away. Even though I am sorry that she had to go, I am grateful that she is now enjoying what she always longed for, and that was being face-to-face with Jesus and her heavenly Father in the Spirit. She had embraced her life as God’s child and had looked forward to the culmination of all that Christ had done in her life. And she longed to be with those she loved who had gone before.
We never know what may occur in life, or where we may be in the next hour, the next day, the next year. We can make plans, but in the end, we have no control over the outcome. We struggle through life, difficult situations, and long for things to be better. In many ways, all of us are caught in a liminal space, for we are present in God’s kingdom even now by the Spirit, and yet we are not fully there, for it has not yet arrived in its fullness. We are caught in the already not-yet of the kingdom of heaven, and along with the creation groan and long for the ultimate redemption of our human flesh and this world.
In the New Testament passage for this Sunday, Romans 8:12–25, the apostle Paul reminds us that how we handle this in-between time before Christ’s return in glory is important. In this in-between space, Paul says, we are under no obligation to serve our fleshly desires and will. Since the result of doing those things is a life full of fear, slavery to sin, and death, it is better that we, by God’s Spirit, put those behaviors and actions to death. The call is for life instead. And life in all its fullness is directly related to our connection with our Creator and Redeemer.
Living in this transitional space of the already not-yet of God’s kingdom is best done as a child. Accepting our being children of our heavenly Father through Jesus in the Spirit enables us to embrace God’s love and grace, and live in the truth of who we are. As God’s children, we were designed to live in God’s grace embrace, to love God devotedly and to love one another. God’s indwelling Spirit creates a resonance in our hearts which tells us that indeed we are God’s children—we hear Jesus’ own “Abba, Father” in our hearts and realize that in Christ we can see the Father’s gaze and know we are loved.
Even though we embrace who we are as God’s children, this liminal space of the already not-yet of God’s kingdom is one where we have no guarantees of an easy, comfortable life. Because God’s kingdom stands in direct opposition to the kingdoms of this world, it is more likely that we will struggle and suffer because we have embraced our kinship with our Lord. But the apostle Paul assures us that whatever we may have to go through, nothing can compare to the vast and wonderful majesty of what we are now heirs to and will receive in glory. This is why we can, in the midst of difficulty, have hope.
And held within God’s love and grace, our hearts filled with hope, we wait. While we wait there is much to do—most especially living right now the kingdom life we were created for. We don’t have to wait for Christ’s return in glory to live as adopted children of our Father. No, we begin even now to live in the truth of who God has made us to be in Christ. Because we are given the Spirit and are even now participants in God’s kingdom through Christ, we love God and love one another. We share the good news of what God has done for us in Christ, and we tell others about God’s love and grace. And we trust that what God has in mind for us is better than what we could ask for or imagine, because he loves us.
Dear Father, thank you for including us in your life. By your Spirit, enable us to hear Jesus’ own words of affection, so we can share in your life and love. Grant us the grace to live free from our old ways and live in the truth of who we are as your beloved children, through your Son Jesus and by your Spirit. Amen.
“Therefore, brothers and sisters, we have an obligation—but it is not to the flesh, to live according to it. For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live. For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, ‘Abba, Father.’ The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory. I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed. For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God. We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.” Romans 8:12–25 NIV
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No Condemnation
July 16, 2023, Proper 10 | After Pentecost—Yesterday I left our house to drop off a car at the rental service, and was immediately halted by the sight of a SWAT team at the corner where I turn out of our cul-de-sac. The officers graciously waved me through and I went on my way, stopping briefly to give my son a heads up, as he was following me in our personal car.
Later that day, the news said that the police had been trying to serve an arrest warrant, but the person had barricaded themselves in their home. The final outcome of the day’s effort at serving the arrest warrant was that the person was carried out and sent to the hospital, suffering from a self-inflicted wound. This person, who lived a couple blocks from me, was facing a difficult personal struggle, and apparently could not cope with the consequences of something they had done. As I prayed about their situation, for them and for the officers involved, I was reminded of the grace God offers us in Christ, enabling us to face our errors in more hopeful ways.
Our culture today can be very critical of people who do not fit into the “approved” way of living. Our Christian culture is especially guilty of being condemning towards those who do not follow Christ, or who live contrary to biblical teachings. Condemnation is the language of tabloids, which exploit the personal lives of people, sharing for public consumption what may or may not be true. We seem to feed off of condemnation, especially when we have been wounded by someone. We are judgmental—I find myself constantly passing judgment on myself and on those around me without realizing this is what is going on in my head. When I realize it, I am appalled, as I of all people do not want to be judgmental nor condemning.
And as we go through life, we may or may not experience a sense of guilt, shame, or self-condemnation for our own actions and words. This is why it is important to look at condemnation from God’s point of view. Our New Testament passage for this Sunday, Romans 8:1–11, reminds us that because of who we are in Christ, God does not condemn us. God knows our frame. He knows the depths of the evil which holds us hostage apart from his intervention. He knows our proclivity to walk away from him and go our own way. So, this is why our Lord came. The redemptive, transformational work of Jesus Christ in his life, death, resurrection and ascension has set us free from sin in our flesh. We no longer are held captive by sin and death, but are able to walk in newness of life. We live free from accusation, condemnation and guilt.
However, we do not experience this newness of life in its fulness as long as we remain focused on self-centered, self-willed, and self-absorbed ways of being. To live focused on self is contrary to who God has made us to be and declared us to be in Jesus Christ, for we are made in the image of our other-centered, self-giving Father, Son, and Spirit, to live as his beloved children in loving relationship with God and others. This is what the apostle Paul means when he says we are to live according to the Spirit rather than according to the flesh. There is no need for condemnation—God does not condemn us. But God does call us up into the truth of our being—to be who he created us to be. God’s love compels us to live differently now—in ways that love, serve, and bless God and each other—because that is who we are in Christ. Because our identity is in Christ now, we live and walk in the Spirit not in our flesh.
This is what is difficult for us to embrace. We don’t want to live according to anyone’s direction or instruction—we want to be free to live life on our own terms. When the consequences of living life on our own terms start to hit us, we are unable to deal with them. Condemnation is a human and Satanic response—it is not God’s response. Accusation is Satan’s response—it is not God’s way of doing things. God’s response is grace. God’s response is a love which calls things as they are—truth-telling—but also offers us room to change and to begin anew in a healthier direction. God does not condemn, but he does invite us into an embrace in which we begin to live in healthier, other-centered ways which are a blessing to those around us.
What might your life look like if you chose to be guided by God’s Spirit and God’s Word rather than by your human flesh? What would your response to life be if you knew God does not condemn you, but rather invites you into loving relationship with himself through Jesus in the Spirit? Perhaps a life lived without condemnation and held in the loving embrace of God himself may be an experience you might want to have. God merely asks you to receive what he has already given to you in Christ—forgiveness, acceptance, new life—and to begin to live that out. Why not begin today?
Thank you, Father, for loving and accepting me, and giving me forgiveness through your Son Jesus Christ. Thank you for not condemning me, but setting me free from sin and death, and welcoming home into your loving arms. I receive your gracious gift of grace and ask from this day forward, that you would fix my mind on the things of the Spirit that I might leave behind the things of my flesh, through Jesus our Lord. Amen.
“There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do: by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and to deal with sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, so that the just requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. To set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. For this reason the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law—indeed it cannot, and those who are in the flesh cannot please God. But you are not in the flesh; you are in the Spirit, since the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. But if Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also through his Spirit that dwells in you.” Romans 8:1–11 NRSV
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