holy
Hope Fulfilled
By Linda Rex
January 5, 2025, 2nd Sunday in Christmas—As we enter this new year of 2025, we face many challenges. We look forward with optimism as we see opportunities for growth or anticipate achieving certain goals we set for ourselves. We may dread the outcome of long-term illnesses. Or we may look forward with hopeful joy as we expect the coming of a new child.
No matter what our future may hold for us, we have learned during our Advent and Christmas seasons, that we can have hope. We can have hope, not because we know how things will turn out, but because amid every circumstance of life, we are not alone. We do not do any of these things on our own, but in relationship with our heavenly triune God through Jesus in the Spirit.
In our Old Testament passage for this Sunday, Jeremiah 31:7–14, the prophet inserts in the middle of his prophetic warning to ancient Israel, a word of hope. This hope is not based upon the nation’s willingness and ability to live rightly or to bring it about, but solely in who God is as their covenant partner. God declared they were his people and he was their God. For that reason alone, he would ensure their return and their blessing.
However, we find that the blessing God intended for his people went far beyond what they expected. God had much more in mind than simply returning this people to a location here on earth and giving them a lot of earthly blessings. God was more concerned about their eternal destiny and their spiritual renewal. What God had in mind is what he had in mind for all humans everywhere in all time—the restoration of our relationship with him through our Lord Jesus Christ, and the unity we would one day have with God in the Holy Spirit in the new heaven and earth.
We read about God’s heart in the New Testament reading for this Sunday, Ephesians 1:3–14. In this passage, the apostle Paul celebrates the loving heart of our heavenly Father, who, from before time, intended us to be “holy and blameless before him.” It was always on God’s mind that we be adopted as his beloved children through our Lord Jesus Christ. Everything we have celebrated during this Christmas season points to the important event of the incarnation, where God’s Son entered into our human existence and joined us here on earth. This was always God’s intention, and he worked towards this end in spite of our human fall into evil, sin, and death.
When we read the prophecy of Jeremiah, we hear the echoes of the future fulfillment of this prophetic word in Jesus Christ. For example, he writes that the Lord says, “… I will make them walk by streams of waters, on a straight path in which they will not stumble; for I am a father to Israel, and Ephraim is My firstborn.” In looking back through the lens of Jesus Christ, we see this word differently than we would see it through the lens of the Mosaic covenant.
We see that the ancient nation of Israel is wrapped up in the person of Jesus, who fulfilled all that was required of them in their covenant with God. We see the “father” talked about in this passage revealed by Jesus to be his own heavenly Father, and the “streams of waters” to be the Helper, the blessed gift of the Holy Spirit. We see that in Jesus, the Son of the Father, who in our human flesh, walked the road we are to walk in relationship with his Father, we have a path to live in and follow which will prevent us from stumbling. As we walk in the Spirit, and not in our flesh, we walk in Jesus, and in doing so, we will not stumble, for he upholds us.
We see that God’s heart toward us desires our blessing and our joy. He worked for millennia to keep his promise to heal and restore our relationship with him. Jesus, when he came, was diligent to fulfill the promises given in the Old Testament to his people, and to the nations. What we celebrate during this Christmas season reminds us that God is faithful, and that we can place our trust in him, because of who he is as our faithful Lord. We are filled with hope, peace, joy, and love, as we reflect on all he has done for us, is doing for us today as he is present in this world by his Spirit, and what he will do one day when Jesus comes in glory to establish the new heaven and earth. In all these things, we have every reason to celebrate. Merry Christmas!
Heavenly Trinity, thank you for your faithfulness and your love expressed to us in the gift of Jesus Christ. Open our hearts and minds and enable us to receive this precious gift, and respond to all have done, are doing, and will do, in faith, putting our faith completely in you and not in ourselves. We thank you for keeping your word, and giving us every spiritual blessing in Christ Jesus. Amen.
“For thus says the LORD, ‘Sing aloud with gladness for Jacob, and shout among the chief of the nations; proclaim, give praise and say, “O LORD, save Your people, the remnant of Israel.” Behold, I am bringing them from the north country, and I will gather them from the remote parts of the earth, among them the blind and the lame, the woman with child and she who is in labor with child, together; a great company, they will return here. With weeping they will come, and by supplication I will lead them; I will make them walk by streams of waters, on a straight path in which they will not stumble; for I am a father to Israel, and Ephraim is My firstborn.’ Hear the word of the LORD, O nations, and declare in the coastlands afar off, and say, ‘He who scattered Israel will gather him and keep him as a shepherd keeps his flock.’ For the LORD has ransomed Jacob and redeemed him from the hand of him who was stronger than he. They will come and shout for joy on the height of Zion, and they will be radiant over the bounty of the LORD—over the grain and the new wine and the oil, and over the young of the flock and the herd; and their life will be like a watered garden, and they will never languish again. Then the virgin will rejoice in the dance, and the young men and the old, together, for I will turn their mourning into joy and will comfort them and give them joy for their sorrow. I will fill the soul of the priests with abundance, and My people will be satisfied with My goodness,” declares the LORD.” Jeremiah 31:7–14 NASB
See also Ephesians 1:3–14; John 1:10–18.
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According to Our Design
By Linda Rex
April 14, 2024, 3rd Sunday | Easter—Many years ago, I sat in biology class and listened to my instructor talk about how a plant grows. One of the students raised their hands and asked, how does a leaf know when it is done growing? I wondered this too, thinking to myself, how does a leaf know when it is supposed to stop developing? How does the plant know to stop growing that leaf and to start growing another one?
Not being a biologist, nor a teacher, my understanding of these natural processes is quite limited. But the simple understanding I came to that day was that written into the very being of the plant was the blueprint of its design. Because the cells of the plant knew its design, what it ultimately was to be, that is how they multiplied and developed together, to create a plant uniquely like the design written into its very being. As stems were formed, leaves grew, flowers unfolded, and seeds developed, each fulfilled its original design—unless something interrupted or twisted that process. Then the plant would not grow properly and would be flawed.
In the New Testament passage for this Sunday, 1 John 3:1-7, the apostle John says that each and every person on this earth has a unique design—to be the children of God. John says that not only, because of Christ, will we one day be God’s children, but that even now, this is our divine design. Created to live in right relationship with God and one another, humans were meant to love and be loved, to live in other-centered self-giving love within the divine fellowship of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Just as the unique equal Persons of the Triune God live in oneness and unity, each of us as unique, equal human persons were meant to live together in union and communion with God and one another.
To live in any other way than that in which we were designed to live, is to live in the way the apostle John is describing here when he says “sin is lawlessness.” The law of love—for Jesus said this was his command, to love one another as he loved us by laying down his life—is the law we were designed to live. This is our spiritual DNA so to speak. Jesus Christ has lived our life, died our death, and risen again, restoring us to our original design as the image-bearers of God we were created to be. Now we are to grow up into the fullness of who we are in Christ.
In this passage, note that Jesus Christ is the pure one, into whose purity we live. Jesus Christ is the righteous one, into whose righteousness we live. The truth of our human design is found in Jesus Christ—the only human, perfected and holy, who lives in face-to-face intimate communion with our Father in the Spirit, even now. Jesus invites us into that glorious embrace, and gives us his Spirit so that we can participate fully in it even now as we trust in him. It is Christ’s life of faith, his life of worship, praise, and prayer we participate in. He is the One we will one day look like, when we see him in glory. What a great hope this is!
Until that day when Jesus returns in glory and establishes the new heaven and earth, our human existence will be in this place where we are fully broken and sinful, but at the same time fully pure, accepted, forgiven, redeemed in Christ—our true life is hidden with Christ in God, as the Scripture says. Caught in this place where, in Christ we are already-but-not-yet all that we need to be, we live each moment in full dependency upon Christ. We are beloved children of our heavenly Father—so we live into that reality, trusting Jesus to finish what he has begun in us by his Spirit.
The good news is that Jesus Christ has done all that is needed for us to live in right relationship with God and one another now and forever. This does not mean that we live however we want. What it means is that we begin, by the Spirit, to live into the truth of our original design. We begin to simply be who God, in Christ, has created us to be. We allow God to live in and through us, for the sake of others, just as Jesus allowed his Father by the Spirit to live in and through him for the sake of us all. Whatever road this may take us down—and Jesus ended up going down the road to death and resurrection, for our sakes—we follow Christ, and allow his Spirit to finish what he has begun in us. We trust in God’s perfect love, and that what he has designed and forged into our human flesh will be perfected in us, just as it was perfected in Jesus Christ, in his life, death, resurrection and ascension, and in the giving of his Spirit.
Heavenly Father, we thank you for including us in your life and love, through your Son and by your Spirit. Enable us to see and know our original design, to be those who reflect your likeness, the other-centered self-giving love you are in your very Being. Forgive us for all the ways in which we corrupt and disrupt this divine design—we receive your cleansing and renewal, in your Son Jesus and by your Spirit, and ask that we may live into the fullness of all you meant us to be as your adopted children. Amen.
“See how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we would be called children of God; and such we are. For this reason the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is. And everyone who has this hope fixed on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure. Everyone who practices sin also practices lawlessness; and sin is lawlessness. You know that He appeared in order to take away sins; and in Him there is no sin. No one who abides in Him sins; no one who sins has seen Him or knows Him. Little children, make sure no one deceives you; the one who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous; …” 1 John 3:1–7 NASB
“Consider the amazing love the Father lavished upon us; this is our defining moment: we began in the agape of God—the engineer of the universe is our Father! So it’s no wonder that the performance-based systems of this world just cannot see this! Because they do not recognize their origin in God, they feel indifferent towards anyone who does! Beloved, we know that we are children of God to begin with, which means that there can be no future surprises; his manifest likeness is already mirrored in us! Our sameness cannot be compromised or contradicted; our gaze will confirm exactly who he is—and who we are. And every individual in whom this expectation echoes also determines to realize their own flawless innocence mirrored in him whose image they bear. Distorted behavior is the result of a warped self-image! A lost sense of identity is the basis of all sin! (… Sin is to live out of context with the blueprint of one’s design; to behave out of tune with God’s original harmony. It is to be out of step with your true sonship! … The root of sin is to believe a lie about yourself, which is the fruit of the “I am-not Tree”. This was also the essence of Israel’s unbelief that kept them trapped in a grasshopper-mindset for 40 years. …) We have witnessed with our own eyes how, in the unveiling of the prophetic word, when he was lifted up upon the cross as the Lamb of God, he lifted up our sins and broke its dominion and rule over us! To abide in him in uninterrupted seamless oneness, is to live free from sin. Whoever continues in sin has obviously not perceived how free they are in him; they clearly do not really know him. Little children, do not be led astray by any other opinion; his righteousness is the source of our righteousness.” 1 John 3:1–7 Mirror
See also Luke 24:36b–48.
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In Christ We All Lead
By Linda Rex
October 25, 2020, Proper 25—What is your sphere of influence? Is it merely your toddler and four-year-old? Is it the annoying neighbor who never cleans up the trash in his backyard? Is it the guy at the next desk who likes to tell funny stories but doesn’t follow through on his assignments? Perhaps it is simply the boss who comes by your desk each morning to wish you a great day.
We may only have a small number of people we affect each day. But there are some people in this world who have been given a much larger sphere of influence—that of leading towns, cities, states, nations and large organizations or companies. The effect their decisions have on large numbers of people shows the great extent of their influence. Sometimes this influence is for the better and others for the worst. There are people from the past whose lives and choices still affect the world today—we remember them with gratitude or anger, depending on how we have been affected by the decisions they made.
Our spheres of influence, great or small, are places where we have the privilege, even the responsibility, to participate with Christ in furthering his work of healing, wholeness and renewal in this cosmos. We can abdicate this task to others, or we can embrace it as part our identity as humans created to reflect the image of God and to follow Jesus Christ. To be an influencer of those around us by living out the gospel is a way we participate in Christ’s leadership in this world.
Christ first came as a suffering servant, laying down his life for each and every person on earth. He calls each of us to the same type of servant leadership—in whatever sphere of influence we may have. As followers of Christ, we share the gospel with those people who are close to us and we share our lives with them as well. It is our participation in Christ—our dying and rising in him—that gives others evidence of the miracle of grace and makes the gospel come alive, drawing them into the triune life.
As we live in face to face relationship with God as Moses did, we receive wisdom and God’s grace for our lives. Our active participation in the triune life is reflected in the way we live, the choices we make, and how these decisions impact the people in our sphere of influence. Do they see the radiance of God’s glory reflected in our faces, in our attitudes, words, and conduct? When all of these reflect God’s holy, loving nature, then the people around us are influenced to do the same, maybe even to seek the source of our Christlikeness.
Our participation in Christ resembles the other-centered perichoretic giving and receiving of the Father, Son, and Spirit. In the triune life, each pours into the other and receives from the other, as participants in the divine dance. Likewise, every human being has been given a place in this dance in and through Christ’s life, death, resurrection and ascension. In the giving of the Spirit, each may personally join in by faith, trusting in the finished work of Christ. As we trust in Jesus, centering our lives and faith in him, we find the faith, hope and love to effectively influence our family, our community, our nation and all of creation for the better.
In an ideal world, as in the kingdom of God, our leaders would be Christ-centered, seeking the heavenly realities rather than the power, authority, wealth, and popularity of this broken world. They would be seeking the benefit and best of those they served rather than their own pleasure and desire. Even though they are faulty and frail, our human leaders today still can choose to lead out of God’s Spirit of wisdom and love rather than the fleshly values of greed, lust, indifference, and selfishness. But will they?
Our effort, as we make decisions regarding electing our leaders, is to seek out and choose those who will most likely exemplify and support that which is good, true, and holy. This is a challenging task, for we must accept that we are dealing with people who are just as broken and faulty as we are. This is why we seek God’s direction and instruction, and take into consideration the issues and complications involved in electing leaders.
And as we think of our own spheres of influence, how we are we doing in providing leadership which reflects the nature of Christ? Are we holy, as God is holy, living in that loving unity of equal yet different persons we were created to reflect? Do we love God with all of our being and love our neighbor as ourselves?
Any change in government, in society, and even in our world, has its roots in the finished work of Christ. For us to experience it within our own sphere of influence, we turn to Jesus and receive his gift of the Holy Spirit. Turning our face away from the values and idols of this world and back towards God is an important start. As our Lord did, laying down our life for the sake of those nearest and dearest to us is another. Accepting that choosing the high road of holiness, service, and obedience to God is going to require a cost, even a sacrifice on our part, is another step. And following Christ in spite of all that may distract or afflict us needs to be our constant decision.
There is a price to pay to have the world we wish we could have. Resisting evil requires effort. Choosing a different path is a great challenge. Continuing in persevering effort is tough. But as we do this individually and collectively, we will find that the people in our spheres of influence will be affected and slowly begin to change. There may be resistance, even severe resistance to any effort on our part to be reflections of God’s goodness, love, and grace in this broken world. But if we hold on to Jesus as he holds onto us, walk in the Spirit and trust in his love and grace, we will find that ultimately the world around us will begin to change for the better.
Holy Father, in our world today, it seems we are too often influenced by evil, sin, and death rather than by your love and grace. We are grateful Jesus, that not only did you come and stand in our stead, offering your life for our life, your death for our death, but you also sent your Spirit to enable us to share even now in your divine life and love. Thank you for forgiving us our sins. Thank you for turning our faces back to yours, Abba. Spirit, thank you that you transform our hearts by faith, through Jesus our Lord. Amen.
“Now Joshua the son of Nun was filled with the spirit of wisdom, for Moses had laid his hands on him; and the sons of Israel listened to him and did as the LORD had commanded Moses. Since that time no prophet has risen in Israel like Moses, whom the LORD knew face to face, for all the signs and wonders which the LORD sent him to perform in the land of Egypt against Pharaoh, all his servants, and all his land, and for all the mighty power and for all the great terror which Moses performed in the sight of all Israel.” Deuteronomy 34:9-12 NASB
“Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying: ‘Speak to all the congregation of the sons of Israel and say to them, “You shall be holy, for I the LORD your God am holy.” … you shall love your neighbor as yourself; I am the LORD.’ ” Leviticus 19:1-2, 19b NASB
“…just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, so we speak, not as pleasing men, but God who examines our hearts. … Having so fond an affection for you, we were well-pleased to impart to you not only the gospel of God but also our own lives, because you had become very dear to us.” 1 Thessalonians 2:4, 8 NASB
See also Matthew 22:34-46 NASB.
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