motives
Just Making Noise
By Linda Rex
February 2, 2025, 4th Sunday in Epiphany—During this season of Epiphany, we consider how Jesus Christ is revealed to us as being the Son of God in human flesh, and what that means for us as God’s children. Recently, we’ve looked at the way in which God has equipped his people with spiritual gifts, for the sake of the community of faith, so that we all may grow up in Christ, share the good news of Jesus, and serve others.
In our New Testament passage for this Sunday, 1 Corinthians 13:1–13, the apostle Paul uses a poetic summary of the love of God expressed to us in Christ, to enable the members in Corinth to see themselves in a new light. They believed that the spiritual gift of speaking in tongues was the supreme gift. They valued prophetic speaking and special knowledge, and miracles. But Paul says that apart from love or agapē (God and Christ’s self-giving love—Utley), a person speaking in tongues is just making a lot of noise. In the same way, a generous and sacrificial person, apart from agapē, has done nothing profitable. Paul says that person who is a great preacher and does a lot of miracles, apart from agapē, is nothing.
For those of us who are active in the Christian faith, and trying live lives that are full of service and sacrifice, these are powerful words. Just what are the motives which drive us? How do we express ourselves in our everyday lives? As I have gotten older, the Lord has shown me more and more how my motives for doing what I do are often mistaken. This is why it is all of grace. We need Christ in us, the hope of glory, for apart from his love at work in our hearts by his Holy Spirit, we are all just making a lot of noise.
The apostle Paul wanted the church at Corinth to realize that the Lord they said they worshipped was not at all like how they were living. He wanted them to grow up in Christ—to put on Christ in such a way that they were a true expression of humanity as God intended it to be. By looking into the mirror of their soul, Jesus Christ, they would see themselves as children who needed to grow up and put away the childish things which were keeping them from living in God’s love as they were created to live.
When reading this passage closely and with open hearts to the Spirit, we begin to realize that this is a description of Jesus, and of our Triune God. In his life here on earth, Jesus was patient, kind, and not jealous. He did not brag, but spoke truthfully about who he was and why he was here on earth, even though people did not believe him. He was never rude, though he was often straightforward and honest with the people he encountered. He did not take into account any wrong done to him, even those wrongs which placed him on the cross. We find Jesus, to the bitter end, loving all of us in spite of how we treated him, in such a way that he died a horrific death.
It is hard to look at ourselves sometimes, to see the truth about our motives and inclinations. We don’t like it when the Spirit gives us that gentle nudge which says, “That thing you are doing—it needs to stop,” or “To not do that when you could do it to help them—that’s sin.” When our hearts condemn us—and they do sometimes—God is greater and knows the truth. But he also knows what’s going on inside when we go through the motions of the Christian life without having our hearts in the right place. And he calls us to repent—to have a change of heart and mind which turns us around and gets us going in the right direction again.
It is God’s heart of love, given to us by his Spirit, which flowing into us and through us, enables us to love others as God does. It is Christ in us, living in and through us, who enables our everyday life to reflect the divine glory. We open ourselves up to the Spirit, welcoming the presence and power of God, flowing in and through us. And we respond to the Spirit’s lead in ways that express the love of God in Christ. As the apostle Paul shows us, these are ways grounded in the motive of agapē which reflect the very nature of God, and are an expression of spiritual maturity, a true reflection of our Lord Jesus Christ in this dark world. Apart from God’s grace, we are all just making a lot of noise. Thankfully, God is ever at work bringing us into the orchestrated wonder of his heavenly kingdom, and he will not quit until we are all singing his perfect song of agapē as his beloved children.
Father, Jesus, Spirit, thank you that your motive in all that you do is genuine love. Fill us anew with your presence and power, that we may love as you do. May all we say and do come from your heart of love and grace, through Jesus and by your Spirit. Amen.
“If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. And if I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I surrender my body to be burned, but do not have love, it profits me nothing. Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails; but if there are gifts of prophecy, they will be done away; if there are tongues, they will cease; if there is knowledge, it will be done away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part; but when the perfect comes, the partial will be done away. When I was a child, I used to speak like a child, think like a child, reason like a child; when I became a man, I did away with childish things. For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then I will know fully just as I also have been fully known. But now faith, hope, love, abide these three; but the greatest of these is love.” 1 Corinthians 13:1–13 NASB
“And He began to say to them, ‘Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.’ And all were speaking well of Him, and wondering at the gracious words which were falling from His lips; and they were saying, ‘Is this not Joseph’s son?’ … And all the people in the synagogue were filled with rage as they heard these things; and they got up and drove Him out of the city, and led Him to the brow of the hill on which their city had been built, in order to throw Him down the cliff. But passing through their midst, He went His way.” Luke 4:21–30 NASB
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The Gentleness of Wisdom
By Linda Rex
September 22, 2024, Proper 20 | After Pentecost—As we get further into our election year here in the United States, I am concerned by the way in which we as human beings tend to be swayed by whatever wind of politics blows in our direction. Those of us who believe and follow Jesus can get caught up in the polarization which seems to be occurring during this season, allowing ourselves to be swept along with one party’s aims and ambitions, rather than remaining rooted in our Lord, and his will and ways.
In our New Testament reading for this Sunday, James 3:13–4:3, 4:7–8a, the apostle expresses his concern about the wisdom of those who zealously sought the deliverance of his people from their Roman oppressors. The wisdom they expressed in words and actions led these people toward violence as a means of overthrowing the current government. James saw what drove their response was not the love of God in Christ, but jealousy and selfish ambition. There were those who saw what those in power had and enjoyed, and desired to have it for themselves. This led them to act in ways which did not reflect Christ, but rather, the natural and even demonic tendency towards evil and disorder.
What James speaks about is something which, when we look at our own hearts and minds today, may be a cause for concern. What are our motives for our response to the current situation we find ourselves in? What are our motives for what we do, whether at work, at home, or as we serve in our community or church? Are we motivated by God’s love in Christ, or are we motivated by jealousy and selfish ambition? Sometimes we may believe we have the greatest of intentions, when, in reality, we have ulterior motives. We may need to ask the Lord to show us what’s really going on inside.
If we truly want to be wise and understanding, James says that our wisdom is to be rooted in God himself. True wisdom, he says, is pure—it has no ulterior motives. Just like what Jesus manifested while he was here on earth, it comes simply out of a heart that is “peaceable, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, unwavering, without hypocrisy.” This sincere and quiet spirit reflects the union and communion of the divine oneness of Father, Son, and Spirit, where each Person fully knows and indwells the other, in a relationship of other-centered, self-giving, sacrificial love. This beautiful shalom, the wholeness and peace of the Triune God, is held by James in stark contrast against the “earthly, natural, demonic” wisdom expressed by those who were embracing a path which led to evil and disorder.
So, what does James say we are to do instead? Because our Triune God, who is love and who loves us, is our Creator and Redeemer, we submit to him. We voluntarily yield ourselves to the authority of Father, Jesus, and Spirit in our hearts, minds, and lives. We resist all that is evil and that spirit which stands in opposition to God’s will and his ways. We choose to draw closer to God, growing in our relationship with him day by day. In response, God will draw closer to us.
Jesus Christ has cleansed us and is cleansing us now by the work of the Holy Spirit in and with us. Jesus purified our hearts through his perfect work in our place on our behalf, and is working now to purify our hearts by his Spirit as we respond to him in faith. Our response to the Holy Spirit’s work in us and in our lives is important. We can resist or grieve the Spirit, or we can respond with humble submission, gratitude, and obedience. True wisdom involves a humble, obedient response to the Spirit’s work, allowing the Spirit to cleanse us and purify our hearts with the indwelling presence and power of Jesus Christ. The wisdom from above, God’s wisdom, has been given to us through Jesus in the Spirit. Are we yielding fully to the Spirit’s work in and through us? Are we allowing him to transform us, and to form us to Christ?
I began this message with a reference to what is happening in the political sphere in our nation today. How might God’s wisdom be applied to this situation? The reality is, as followers of Christ, our first loyalty is to our Lord and Savior, to Jesus. And we are to draw near to him, for he is the One who ultimately is Lord over the nations, and who elevates or demotes our leaders. And we are unable to clearly see and make the best determination of how to move forward apart from his direction and inspiration by his heavenly Spirit. So, we pray for our nation and for God’s Spirit to move in people’s hearts and minds. We ask God to do what only God can do, and as we are directed by him, we act in the gentleness of his divine wisdom.
Heavenly Father, thank you that you know exactly what is needed in our situation, and that you are ever at work in our lives, growing us into the fullness of Christ. Grant us the grace to respond to your work in us by your Spirit, and to yield ourselves to your will in obedience, through Jesus our Lord. Amen.
“Who among you is wise and understanding? Let him show by his good behavior his deeds in the gentleness of wisdom. But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your heart, do not be arrogant and so lie against the truth. This wisdom is not that which comes down from above, but is earthly, natural, demonic. For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there is disorder and every evil thing. But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, unwavering, without hypocrisy. And the seed whose fruit is righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace. What is the source of quarrels and conflicts among you? Is not the source your pleasures that wage war in your members? You lust and do not have; so you commit murder. You are envious and cannot obtain; so you fight and quarrel. You do not have because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures. … Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.” James 3:13–4:3, 4:7–8a NASB
Looking for Assurances
By Linda Rex
I was chatting with my son this morning and I was talking about how God has always taken care of us as a family. “Even when I was only making $6.50 an hour,” I said. “He’s always taken care of us. I’ve always tried to put God first in my finances…”
He interrupted me. “You’re not drifting into that health-and-wealth gospel stuff, are you?” he asked, amused. I laughed. “No, but it probably was starting to sound like it.”
I was reminded how easily we can slip into the cause-and-effect manner of thinking which we prefer as humans. We like to be sure God is going to do what we want in every situation, and so we come up with the perfect plan to make sure he does. We’d like to believe if we always pay our tithes off the gross and give generously to the poor and other charities, then God will always make sure we are taken care of. We hope if we always eat the right thing and drink clean water and do a good job of exercising and staying in shape, we will never develop cancer or die of a heart attack.
Doing things this way takes all the guesswork out of our relationship with God. In fact, we don’t have to even get into any of the messy stuff of dealing with our false motives or bad attitudes. As long as we’re doing the “right” thing, we’re in good with God and we have no reason to expect any issues in our life.
Of course, as we grow in our spiritual maturity in Christ, I would like to hope we get to the place we recognize this isn’t the way God works. Indeed, he seems at times to do the exact opposite of what we expect him to do in certain situations. And we can get pretty bent out of shape about it if we are not careful. It seems God likes to remind us about who is the Lord of the universe, and it’s not us. And he also likes to remind us even when it seems like everything is falling apart, he can still take it and work it all out for the best.
The real issue here is God’s real nature is relational, and all he does with us as human beings is with this relationship in mind. To live in the Triune relationship is to live in a relationship in which there is uniqueness and equality of Personhood in oneness of Being.
We are created in the image of this God, called into relationship with this God, and embraced in the midst of our turning away from this relationship in and through Christ’s life, death, resurrection and ascension. In the gift of the Spirit, God works to bring us fully into the Triune embrace in such a way we know we share in Christ and we begin to intentionally participate in God’s love and life.
The thing is, this is a relationship we are called into and created for. And within this relationship we have been given great freedom. God has freed us from sin and death so we may live forever in the true freedom which exists in God’s being—a freedom to truly be who God created us to be—children of God who love their Abba with all their being, and who love their neighbor as themselves. This is the true freedom Christ won for us—to live out by the Spirit our true humanity which is hidden with Christ in God.
This freedom given to us by our Creator and Sustainer is what we wrestle with as human beings. On the one hand we like being able to do what we want, when we want, and how we want. We want to call the shots in this universe, while having God take care of us and give us everything we want when we want it and how we want it.
We live, if we are honest with ourselves, too often as if we are our own little gods, not realizing that such freedom is a false freedom. It is a lie—and whatever it is we have chosen which is not in within the truth of our being as God’s children will in the end enslave us and consume us, and without God’s intervention, may even eventually destroy us.
And these things we choose are not always the vices most of us easily acknowledge as being wrong or unhealthy. The worst choices we make are the most deceiving—the choice to objectify God and one another, the choice to put our trust in money, people, and other things rather than in God alone, or the choice to try to control God, or even one another, by the things we do or say—acting as though we can change the way God or others behave if we just act correctly or speak perfectly. We do our best manipulate, use, manage, and/or control God and one another, rather than respecting each one’s personhood and honoring him or her as the person he or she is.
If I choose to honor God with my finances by tithing, for example, by giving 10% off my gross income, that is a good thing to do as an expression of my love for God. I am free to tithe or not tithe, and no doubt, if I genuinely wish to bless God by tithing, he will be pleased by my heart of gratitude and generosity. But tithing does not obligate God in any way to make sure my bills are paid or I have money for a new car. It demonstrates a heart of devotion and trust toward God but it does not cause God to do anything in return. The cause-and-effect rule does not apply.
My experience in my relationship with God, however, has been when I was making next to nothing and felt convicted of the need to continue to tithe in spite of my poverty, God honored that and somehow always made sure I had what I needed. I did not control or manipulate God by my giving—but I did express my genuine heart of devotion and commitment to God through my giving, and I found myself being blessed and helped by God in the midst of my poverty.
I remember one ongoing conversation with God expressed my anxiety about the bills which I thought I couldn’t pay. Anxiety in itself demonstrates a lack of faith in my Abba, and I have struggled with this over and over—it’s one of those subtle yet encroaching sins. But God merely would remind me to write down my needs and to ask him to take care of them. That is a relational thing, not a cause-and-effect thing. It is an act of trust. I felt compelled by the Spirit to do write down my needs and give them to God, I obeyed God and did it, and God responded by hearing and answering my prayers. It began with God and ended with God, and I got to be in the midst of it and be blessed in the process.
Looking back, I know too often in my life I thought I had to do this or do that other thing in order to be blessed by God or experience his good will towards me. In reality, God’s will toward me was already good, and he was looking out for me when I didn’t even realize it. He intervened in so many situations, and I never realized what was going on until later, if at all, and was amazed by his tender love and concern.
What I have learned is God is love and God is faithful. And we are held in his love and grace, He is always at work, no matter what is going on, bringing us to a place of redemption and healing. We are free to make choices, and God allows us to experience the joy or pain of those choices. But he is ready and willing at any time to embrace us when we come running and are ready to participate in making choices his way, in the way which best expresses our true humanity as God’s beloved children.
Dear Abba, thank you for your faithful love and gracious provision for our needs each and every day, whether we realize it or not. Thank you for holding us in your love and grace, and that your heart toward us is good and full of compassion. Grant us the grace to live in the true freedom which is ours in your Son and by your Spirit so our lives and ways of being are a true expression of your nature and Name as Father, Son, and Spirit. In your Name we pray, Amen.
“For God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, so that whether we are awake or asleep, we will live together with Him.” 1 Thessalonians 5:9-10 NASB
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