personhood
Hold Fast and Stand
By Linda Rex
February 9, 2025, 5th Sunday in Epiphany—What do you believe about the Lord Jesus Christ? Why do you believe what you believe? What impact does this belief regarding Jesus have on your life, if any?
The apostle Paul, in our New Testament reading for this Sunday, 1 Corinthians 15:1–11, challenges the Christians in Corinth with the basics of their faith. In his letter to them, he addresses quite a few issues which were occurring within that church, which brought into question the seriousness of their faith in Jesus Christ. If they truly believed that Jesus Christ was the Messiah, who lived, died, and rose again, appearing to many people after his resurrection, then why wasn’t their behavior demonstrating this? They were acting more like the culture they lived in than they were acting like Jesus Christ and his kingdom culture. This was a grave concern for the apostle.
In this passage, Paul rehearses an early statement of faith which was probably recited by the believers of his day. He reminds his readers of how Jesus Christ, in his life, death, and resurrection, fulfilled the prophetic Word, which predicted his life’s events. Going on beyond that, Paul points out the many eyewitness accounts of encounters with the resurrected Jesus, who after his bodily resurrection interacted with, and ate and drank with many people, before he ascended back to heaven.
Today we do not have the benefit of being able to have a face-to-face conversation with those who knew Jesus Christ personally and witnessed his life, death, and resurrection. But we do have the written testimony of the New Testament scriptures, and the witness of the Holy Spirit, who enables us to understand and believe what we read about Jesus. Because of the presence and power of the Holy Spirit, we are able to come to faith in Jesus, realizing that he is still alive and active today in our world and in us, and in our lives.
It’s important, though, to remember that Jesus Christ is not just this person who lived many millennia ago. He is so much more than a human being who lives and dies and ends up forgotten or memorialized in a book somewhere. What makes Jesus so significant is that he is not just human, but is God in human flesh. This means that his life here on earth is of eternal significance, and what he did for all of us as humans is profound. In and through him, we have new life. Our human existence, our personhood, has been transformed, brought up to a new level within which we live and participate by faith in Jesus Christ.
What difference does it make that we trust in Jesus as our Lord and Savior? Faith in Jesus Christ, in his life, death, resurrection, and ascension, means that our human existence is grounded in something beyond our transient, temporal existence. Our culture is constantly changing and morphing into something new. Its trends and expectations are always being replaced by new ones, which are grounded in changing human opinions, preferences, and passions. Instead of the solidity of our Maker’s design and redemptive work, we are beset by a kaleidoscope of possibilities and impossibilities, which are ever in flux.
But Jesus, as the perfected human, who brings us into right relationship with his Father in the Spirit, stands as our Rock amid this constantly changing scene. Jesus provides us with a foundation which is solid, and on which we can take our stand, no matter what may come our way. As Paul addresses the issues in the church at Corinth, he brings the believers back to the basis of their faith—Jesus Christ, who lived, died, and rose again, as their Messiah. He was their unity, in spite of their many differences. He was their wisdom, right relationship with God and one another, and their redemption. It was Jesus they were growing up into by the Spirit, and who gave them all the Spirit’s gifts and blessings for the benefit of the entire Body. The true evidence of life in the Spirit was when they were actually living in such a way that they resembled Jesus Christ. Today, as we gather in Jesus’ name, we want to be sure that we heed the apostle Paul’s words by living in truth of who we are in Jesus. Jesus is our life. May our lives, words, and deeds be a true reflection of him in every way, for this is our true humanity.
Heavenly Father, thank you for loving us so much that you gave your Son and your Spirit so that we could share in your love and life. Enable us to trust in Jesus, and by your Spirit, to live out our faith in a way that is a true reflection of your kingdom glory. Amen.
“Now I make known to you, brethren, the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received, in which also you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast the word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. After that He appeared to more than five hundred brethren at one time, most of whom remain until now, but some have fallen asleep; then He appeared to 1ames, then to all the apostles; and last of all, as to one untimely born, He appeared to me also. For I am the least of the apostles, and not fit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me did not prove vain; but I labored even more than all of them, yet not I, but the grace of God with me. Whether then it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed.” 1 Corinthians 15:1–11 NASB
“… When He had finished speaking, He said to Simon, ‘Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch.’ Simon answered and said, ‘Master, we worked hard all night and caught nothing, but I will do as You say and let down the nets.’ When they had done this, they enclosed a great quantity of fish, and their nets began to break; so they signaled to their partners in the other boat for them to come and help them. And they came and filled both of the boats, so that they began to sink. But when Simon Peter saw that, he fell down at Jesus’ feet, saying, ‘Go away from me Lord, for I am a sinful man!’ … When they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed Him.” Luke 5:1–11 NASB
“In the year of King Uzziah’s death I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, lofty and exalted, with the train of His robe filling the temple. Seraphim stood above Him, each having six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one called out to another and said, ‘Holy, Holy, Holy, is the LORD of hosts, The whole earth is full of His glory.’ And the foundations of the thresholds trembled at the voice of him who called out, while the temple was filling with smoke. Then I said, ‘Woe is me, for I am ruined! Because I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts.’ Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a burning coal in his hand, which he had taken from the altar with tongs. He touched my mouth with it and said, ‘Behold, this has touched your lips; and your iniquity is taken away and your sin is forgiven.’ Then I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, ‘Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?’ Then I said, ‘Here am I. Send me!’ ” Isaiah 6:1–8 NASB
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For the Common Good
By Linda Rex
January 19, 2025, 2nd Sunday in Epiphany—In our culture today, we are told that our goal in life is to find what in life makes us happy and to go do that. We are to find the person to be with that enables us to be happy, and to leave behind that person who does not make us happy. We are encouraged to find what we enjoy doing and can do well, and to go out and do it, so that we can feel fulfilled and enjoy great success, financially, and in other ways.
In contrast, we find in God’s kingdom culture that our goals are centered in the mission and ministry of our Lord Jesus Christ. We may have been given talents and abilities by God, and spiritual gifts by his Spirit, but our purpose for using them is not solely for our own benefit or aggrandizement.
When we look at Jesus, the King of the kingdom of God, we see an entirely different way of applying our gifts and abilities to the circumstances in our lives. In the Gospel passage for this Sunday, John 2:1–11, we see Jesus and his disciples attending a wedding in Cana along with his mother, Mary. During this week-long celebration, Mary realizes that the wine has run out—a serious issue for the newlyweds. It would create a social catastrophe for the couple in that small community that they would never live down. Mary is concerned about this on their behalf and so she goes to Jesus, and tells them of her concern.
Here we see the wonder of Jesus’ tender loving care for us as human beings. He tells Mary that it is not his time yet. He could do the miracle she wanted, but at what price? To begin to do miracles was to begin to walk the road to the cross. Was she ready for him to do that? Was he ready to do that?
Here we also find some guidance on using our abilities or gifts as given to us by God. At times it may be inconvenient for us. Or it may exact a price that is costly. Or it may require us doing the uncomfortable thing we aren’t quite yet prepared to do. But Jesus is not dissuaded by any of these things. He simply steps up to the task and does what is needed, in abundance. He over-provides, in such a way that the wedding festivities could continue in joyful celebration, with the best wine being the last wine served.
In our New Testament passage for this Sunday, 1 Corinthians 12:1–11, we see that the apostle Paul attempts to educate the members on the proper use of spiritual gifts. We are not given the Lord Jesus Christ by the Spirit so that we can curse others, but so that we can be a blessing to them. Our gifts and abilities are given for the common good.
The whole Trinity is involved in our spiritual giftedness, for by the Spirit we are given a variety of gifts. The Lord gives us a variety of ministries. And God, by these gifts and ministries works a variety of effects within Christ’s Body, the Church. The point Paul makes is these gifts and abilities are not given for our personal use and pleasure and pride, but “for the common good.” The different ways in which we are gifted and able to do particular things is for the sake of the whole. Our distinctions are not meant to divide or to make us superior or less than one another, but so that we are able to help one another and lift one another up. The personhood of the Holy Spirit is pointed out by the apostle Paul as he explains that the distribution of spiritual gifts is a decision the Spirit makes. It is by the Spirit’s will that we receive what is uniquely ours in giftedness and ability.
As we follow in Christ’s footsteps, we offer our spiritual gifts and our abilities to the Lord in service to him and others. We realize that to give ourselves in service in this way exacts a price, just as it cost Jesus everything. This is why we humbly offer ourselves in service—we realize that there are going to be challenges, difficulties, and that it may be very costly for us to serve God and others in this way. But this is why God gifted us—for the benefit of others, especially the Body of Christ, not solely for the benefit of ourselves.
I am reminded at this point about what happens when we offer our tiny, insignificant gifts to Jesus. The young boy gave his child’s mite of fish and loaves into the hands of Jesus, who offered them in thanksgiving to his heavenly Father. What Jesus received back by the Spirit was enough for thousands of people, and twelve basketfuls of leftovers. When we lay it all at the feet of Jesus, miracles happen. We don’t know what God may do with our self-offering, the humble use of our spiritual gifts and abilities for the mission and ministry of the Lord, but we can trust that it will further his kingdom work and bless his people. Thank the Lord!
Dear Spirit, thank you for the gifts and abilities you have given to each of us. Father, grant us the grace to surrender all of these to you, that they may be used to further your kingdom purposes and serve Christ’s Body, the Church. All we have is yours—may we faithfully serve you with all that we are, through Jesus our Lord by your Spirit. Amen.
“Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I do not want you to be unaware. You know that when you were pagans, you were led astray to the mute idols, however you were led. Therefore I make known to you that no one speaking by the Spirit of God says, ‘Jesus is accursed’; and no one can say, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ except by the Holy Spirit. Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit. And there are varieties of ministries, and the same Lord. There are varieties of effects, but the same God who works all things in all persons. But to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. For to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, and to another the word of knowledge according to the same Spirit; to another faith by the same Spirit, and to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, and to another the effecting of miracles, and to another prophecy, and to another the distinguishing of spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, and to another the interpretation of tongues. But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually just as He wills.” 1 Corinthians 12:1–11 NASB
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Faith in Action
By Linda Rex
September 8, 2024, Proper 18 | After Pentecost—In my personal faith tradition years ago, having the right theology or correct belief system was essential. In the extreme form of this belief and practice, exclusion of any group or person that did not agree with our faith tradition was the norm. Sadly, this meant that we were blind to how God was working with every person in this world and within other faith traditions.
Over the years, I began to see that there were huge flaws in what I believed and practiced in the name of obeying God and following what the Bible taught. Much of this was due to a desperate need for the Spirit to give me a new framework through which to view God and the Bible, a framework given to us by God himself. He gave us his Son, Jesus Christ, as the sole true interpreter and revealer of God and his will and his ways. When I began to see through the lens of Jesus Christ, everything changed, thanks to the Spirit’s gracious work.
When James addresses the issue of Christian faith and practice, he does so through the lens of Jesus Christ and all that Jesus is for us in his life, death, resurrection, and ascension, and in the gift of the Spirit. In order to read the book of James properly, we need to find the indicatives which undergird each of the imperatives or commands which the apostle gives us to follow. For example, in our New Testament reading for this Sunday, James 2:1–10, 14–17, the apostle James tells us that we are not to treat some people better than others when they join us in Christian fellowship. And he says that we need to be aware that our faith is empty or dead if it is not accompanied by actions which affirm its reality. These are the imperatives or commands James is encouraging us to put into practice.
But notice the indicatives or underlying spiritual realities behind these imperatives. He asks, “did not God choose the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which He promised to those who love Him?” The royal law expressed in Jesus Christ—the lens through which we view all things—is that God in Christ was willing to lay down his life for us so that we could be with him forever. This is the God, the Lord Jesus, who while on this earth spent much of his time with the everyday people of his land, ministering to the poor, needy, and afflicted, both Jew and non-Jew. James tells us that, because of Jesus Christ and because of his own law of love written on our hearts by the Spirit, we treat every human being with dignity, respect, and kindness. The person may be different than us, they may be struggling, but they are our equals—as the apostle Paul says, we are all one in Christ Jesus.
In the Gospel passage, Mark 7:24–37, Mark tells two stories within the context of Jesus’ harassment by the leaders of his people. One is about a woman who was “a Gentile [a non-Jew], of the Syrophoenician race”—someone who the Jewish leaders would have avoided having anything to do with, even though she needed their help in freeing her daughter from demon possession. And, even though Jesus reminds her that his immediate focus is currently on his own Jewish people, she counters his initial refusal with a humble, yet bold remark about how even the pet dogs get the crumbs off the table. Touched by her faith, Jesus heals her daughter.
The other story is about a man who is deaf and mute that some people brought to Jesus to heal. Jesus shows the man what he’s going to do and then says, “Be opened.” In that moment, the man’s ears are opened and he is once again able to speak. Jesus tells the people who brought him not to say anything about his healing, since it would complicate Jesus’ ability to continue to do ministry in that area. But they become more and more vocal about it. And Jesus knows that this will only increase his persecution by the leaders of his people. And Jesus knows that the Jewish leaders of that day needed a new lens through which to view the people with whom God had given them the responsibility to lead and care for. They needed to get out of their religious box and begin simply practicing the law they knew by heart, to truly love their neighbor as themselves. Their faith in their loving God needed to be evidenced in the actions they took day by day as they encountered the different people in their lives, no matter their background, history, circumstances, religious affiliation, or race.
So, going back to our passage in James, we see that the people James writes to have the same issues that Jesus was up against during his time here on earth. The human tendency to put some people lower and some people higher is at work in this fellowship, and James calls them back to the spiritual realities of their faith in Christ. In the Triune oneness of Father, Son, and Spirit, there’s unique personhood, yet equality and unity. In the same way, this group of believers needed to start acting like the children of God they were, treating one another as unique equals who were sharing in the oneness which is ours in Christ by the Spirit. And when someone came into their gathering who did not fit any human category of value and worth, they were to still treat them as a beloved child of God, for in Christ, that is what they are. And here we find the impetus to live this out ourselves today, as God’s beloved children, who God, in Christ, stooped down to include in his own life and love, both now and forever. Who might God want us to include who we have previously excluded?
Thank you, Father, for going to such extent to include us in your life and love through your Son Jesus in the Spirit. Thank you for raising us up out of our poverty of evil, sin, and death, and for giving us the dignity and worth of being called your very own adopted children. Grant us the grace to value others with the same grace and worth with which you value us, through Jesus our Lord. Amen.
“My brethren, do not hold your faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ with an attitude of personal favoritism. For if a man comes into your assembly with a gold ring and dressed in fine clothes, and there also comes in a poor man in dirty clothes, and you pay special attention to the one who is wearing the fine clothes, and say, ‘You sit here in a good place,’ and you say to the poor man, ‘You stand over there, or sit down by my footstool,’ have you not made distinctions among yourselves, and become judges with evil motives? Listen, my beloved brethren: did not God choose the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which He promised to those who love Him? But you have dishonored the poor man. Is it not the rich who oppress you and personally drag you into court? Do they not blaspheme the fair name by which you have been called? If, however, you are fulfilling the royal law according to the Scripture, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself,’ you are doing well. But if you show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors. For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all. … What use is it, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but he has no works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, and one of you says to them, ‘Go in peace, be warmed and be filled,’ and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that? Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself.” James 2:1–10, 14–17 NASB
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Living in the Triune Gift
by Linda Rex
June 4, 2023, Holy Trinity | After Pentecost—As we move on into the season beyond Pentecost, we begin to consider what it means that we participate and live in the Triune gift given to us in Jesus and the Spirit. What does it mean that we are included in God’s life and love, and are called together into community?
The Lord Jesus Christ gave his disciples instructions before he ascended, telling them to live out the implications of his ascended life by making disciples, baptizing and teaching them wherever they went (Matthew 28:16-20). His instructions to them were predicated on the reality that he had received all authority in heaven and on earth from his Father in the Spirit, and he would be going with them through whatever they might face, no matter the circumstances.
As the early churches were formed and began to gather, those who were not familiar with Jewish regulations regarding fellowship joined with those who had customarily followed certain Jewish customs and regulations throughout their lives. And the Roman culture of the day venerated social status, income level, and materialism—similar to our culture today. In the midst of these contrasting influences and expectations, the Corinth church was in disarray, caught up in unChristlike behaviors and practices, and being led astray by false teachers. The apostle Paul lovingly sought to call them back to the grace, love, and unity which was theirs in Jesus Christ.
As he closed his letter to the members at Corinth, Paul began to write in deep affection with his own hand the closing benediction (2 Cor 13:11-13). Using the common greeting of “farewell,” he encouraged them to “put things in order.” The NIV and ESV say “aim for full restoration” or “strive for full restoration,” while the NASB says “be made complete.” He wanted them to put aside their differences and all of the false identities they were embracing, and simply be who God said they were—his beloved children, bound together by the Spirit in love and grace.
Paul went on to encourage his beloved spiritual brothers and sisters to be “likeminded” and to “live in peace.” What was on the apostle’s heart was the unity of the body of Christ being made manifest in the way that they treated one another. He longed for them to drop the societal and cultural exclusivism and live in truly Christlike inclusive, caring, and sharing ways with one another. This call for unity and being of one mind and heart is reminiscent of Jesus’ instruction to his disciples before he went to the cross. He told them to love one another, and in this way prove to others that they were his disciples (John 15:7-11). In doing so, he said, they would rejoice. This resonates with Paul’s instructions to the members at Corinth, for he too tells them to rejoice in the midst of their unity and likemindedness in the Spirit.
And this is the key. It is impossible for us to have this kind of unity and harmony apart from the living presence of God himself through Jesus in the Spirit. It is the grace of Jesus, the love of God, and fellowship of the Holy Spirit we are living in the midst of and participating in when we join together as one body, the body of Christ. Our unity of mind and heart is a gift from the Holy Spirit. This is where our joy comes from, a gift of the divine joy God has in his own unity and love as Father and Son in the Spirit. We receive God’s Spirit and joyfully participate in the grace offered to us in Jesus as an expression of our Father’s love, fellowshipping with God and man in peace and harmony.
When we try to work this up ourselves, we find that we are unable to avoid the differences which cause division within the body of Christ. When we seek to follow what is culturally comfortable and what we’ve grown up doing all our lives, we discover that these things create differences rather than unity. When we allow our individualism to reign, we lose our mutual personhood, for those relationships which are meant to harmonize together become fractured and broken. Our best efforts at unity are fragile and at times even infectious. We desperately need the grace of Jesus, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Spirit to make us one, heal our divisions, and unify us. May we live in the blessing of God’s gift in Christ by the Spirit—and receive from our loving Triune Lord, the unity, harmony, peace he always meant for us to enjoy, and learn to share it with others. May we receive the Triune gift and live within it in gratitude and praise.
Dear God, thank you for including us in your life and love, for the grace offered to us through your Son because of your faithful, bountiful love, Father, in the wondrous fellowship and joy of your Holy Spirit. Enable us to receive all that you have for us, to live in the truth of who we are as your beloved children, in the unity and harmony and peace you always meant for us to enjoy, through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.
“Finally, brothers and sisters, farewell. Put things in order, listen to my appeal, agree with one another, live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you. Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the saints greet you. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with all of you.” 2 Cor 13:11-13 NRSV
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Stewarding Our Greatest Asset
By Linda Rex
September 18, 2022, PROPER 20—Do you have property or assets which require a lot of attention and effort for their care? Do you own some things which have become heavy financial or physical burdens for you to carry? Of all your physical possessions, what is your greatest asset? What do you value the most?
Even though we may own property or have physical assets of some kind, Jesus says that what is ours isn’t really our own. As we reflect on our origins, having been created by God to reflect his likeness and instructed by God to tend the garden and all he created, we see that stewarding is fundamental to our personhood as human beings. Taking care of what doesn’t belong to us but what belongs to God is an essential part of our everyday responsibilities as God’s children. We may not realize this, but our everyday lives are simply a participation in what God is doing in this world, and our actions (or inaction) are a statement of how well we are fulfilling our role as stewards of all God has made.
Too often I find myself approaching life as though what I own belongs solely to me, rather than seeing everything through the lens of stewardship—our participation in God’s life—recognizing that everything belongs to him. Perhaps it is good to be reminded that we have been given the responsibility to care for all God has made and to do what he wants done, rather than simply deciding for ourselves what we want to do with what we have. This understanding definitely puts a different outlook on how we live our lives and what we do with the physical assets which come our way.
Going beyond this, though, I am reminded that the greatest asset of all is not some physical belonging or possession, but rather something of more infinite value, meant to be shared with others. In the gospel passage for this Sunday, Jesus told a parable about a rich owner who had to call his manager into account for squandering his possessions. This term “squandering” is the same term Jesus used in his story about the prodigal son, who squandered his Father’s inheritance with extravagant and wasteful living. The dishonest manager was told to give an account of his management, for he was going to be fired if he could not prove his innocence.
As this manager thought about what to do, he came up with a plan which might ensure that he had a place to land once he lost his present employment. He met with the owner’s debtors, and worked with each one to reduce the amount they owed. Surprisingly, when his master found out what he had done, he praised the manager for his shrewdness in handling the situation he was in.
It is interesting that in his parable, Jesus would have the unjust steward praised for what was, in effect, stealing even more from his master. But Jesus, as he addressed his disciples, was focused on something entirely different than simply teaching them the difference between honesty and dishonesty. Indeed, what the dishonest manager offered others was what Jesus himself was offering all people—grace, and life in the kingdom.
The leaders of Jesus’ day had been made stewards of God’s kingdom and his righteousness. They were responsible to care for those who were in need or who were estranged from God. But too often, they valued wealth, possessions, prominence and popularity instead, and did not see their own need for God’s grace and mercy. Not realizing their own need for grace, they did not offer it to anyone else. Instead, they held people to impossible standards and excluded them from table fellowship in ways God never intended.
Ironically, in Jesus’ parable, the one who was the Christ figure is the unjust steward, who offered the owner’s debtors grace. In his life coming to an end, the unjust steward offered new life to those who were indebted to his master. Jesus, as he told this parable, knew the price he himself was going to have to pay so that those listening would receive God’s grace—his rejection, suffering, and crucifixion. He knew that he was facing death so that all people might rise with him in the resurrection and be given new life. Jesus was stewarding well God’s gift of grace to humanity by offering himself freely in our place and on our behalf.
Jesus’ gift of grace in his birth, life, death, resurrection, and ascension is our greatest asset. Jesus’ self-offering, his willingness to lay it all down for us so that we may have new life, is the most valuable thing we own. This is a gift he has given to each and every human being—it is not limited to only those who deserve it. In fact, Jesus often pointed out that it is those who realize they don’t deserve it who best see the value of this gift.
The question is, do I, do you, see the value of God’s grace and God’s kingdom life given to us in Christ? And having been given this most precious gift, do we even realize our need for it?
And, having received this totally undeserved benefit of grace and eternal life, how well do we steward it? By God’s grace we are all included in God’s life, moment by moment sharing in what he is doing in this world. By God’s grace, we have been given all we need for life and godliness. By God’s grace and mercy, we have been included in Christ’s own intimate relationship with the Father in the Spirit, having been included now and forever in the life and love of God. How well do we share this gift with others? Are we helping others to see the magnitude of what Jesus has done for them?
Whatever physical assets we may own in this life pale in comparison with this most wonderful gift. When we see and understand this, we begin to have a new perspective about everything we own. We begin to realize that generosity, sharing, hospitality, and service are each a participation in what God’s doing in this world. We find ourselves acting more as stewards, recognizing God’s ownership of us and all that we have, and we begin to actively participate in Jesus’ death and resurrection, sharing with others the good news of the grace offered to all. This is the best stewardship of the priceless asset we have been given—God’s grace and eternal life.
Thank you, heavenly Father, for sharing every good thing with us, especially the gift of the kingdom and grace through Jesus. So many good gifts! Grant us the grace to steward them well and share them freely with others, through Jesus and by your Spirit. Amen.
“Now He was also saying to the disciples, ‘There was a rich man who had a manager, and this manager was reported to him as squandering his possessions. And he called him and said to him, “What is this I hear about you? Give an accounting of your management, for you can no longer be manager.” The manager said to himself, “What shall I do, since my master is taking the management away from me? I am not strong enough to dig; I am ashamed to beg. I know what I shall do, so that when I am removed from the management people will welcome me into their homes.” And he summoned each one of his master’s debtors, and he began saying to the first, “How much do you owe my master?” And he said, “A hundred measures of oil.” And he said to him, “Take your bill, and sit down quickly and write fifty.” Then he said to another, “And how much do you owe?” And he said, “A hundred measures of wheat.” He said to him, “Take your bill, and write eighty.” And his master praised the unrighteous manager because he had acted shrewdly; for the sons of this age are more shrewd in relation to their own kind than the sons of light. And I say to you, make friends for yourselves by means of the wealth of unrighteousness, so that when it fails, they will receive you into the eternal dwellings. He who is faithful in a very little thing is faithful also in much; and he who is unrighteous in a very little thing is unrighteous also in much. Therefore if you have not been faithful in the use of unrighteous wealth, who will entrust the true riches to you? And if you have not been faithful in the use of that which is another’s, who will give you that which is your own? No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.’ ” Luke 16:1–13 NASB
[Printable copy: https://lifeinthetrinity.blog/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/stewarding-our-greatest-asset.pdf ]
[If you are interested in participating in an in-person discussion group here in the Nashville, Tennessee area or via Zoom, please contact me at ourlifeinthetrinity@gmail.com ]
Our Hidden Life in Christ
By Linda Rex
July 31, 2022, PROPER 13—I was making some updates on my blog site this morning when I realized that my profile and the site welcome page were outdated. As I was making the appropriate adjustment to what I had written there, it came to my mind how easy it is for us to find our identity in the everyday things of life such as what we do for a living, who we are related to, and how we spend our time, rather than simply finding it in Jesus Christ.
How do you answer when someone asks you to tell them about yourself? I did not realize how often I use the phrase “I am…” when telling someone about myself. For example, “I am a pastor.” Well, yes, for a time I have done the work of a pastor. Or, “I am a wife and a mother.” Now, yes, I do have a husband so in that sense I am a wife—Ray’s wife. And yes, I do have two adult children, so in that sense, I am a mother. But are these things my sole identity? Why are these often the first thing out of my mouth, rather than something about who I am in Christ?
What I realized in reading the New Testament passage for today, Colossians 3:1-11, was that we often find our identity everywhere but where it has its true source—in Jesus Christ. The apostle Paul wrote that our life is hidden with Christ in God. Our true life, our true self, is found in Christ, in his beloved sonship in relationship with the Father. We are dead to anything that does not fit within the realm of Christ and his oneness with the Father in the Spirit. We can, because of Christ, say, “I am the beloved son or daughter of the Father.”
In that simple statement there is so much life! Think of it. The simple use of “I am” means that we participate in God’s life—in his personhood, in the sense that he has included us in his life as the “I Am” through Christ in the Spirit. To say we are beloved is to say we participate in Christ’s own relationship of other-centered love and affection between the Father and the Son in the Spirit. And to say we are a son or a daughter of the Father is to say we participate in Christ’s own sonship, thereby sharing in his rights and privileges as adopted children of the Father in the Spirit. As I begin to ponder these things, I zone off into oblivion—it is too much to get my mind and heart around all at once.
And thinking of where we find our true life, the apostle Paul tells us that we are dead to the rest—those things that no longer define us: anger, wrath, slander, immorality, impurity, evil desire, greed, abusive speech, and dishonesty. I’m sure there are many other things we think, say and do that are not a part of what God created us to think, say and do. There are many things we think, say and do which are not a healthy and genuine participation in Christ’s life of oneness with the Father in the Spirit. But they all died in Jesus’ death and are no longer a part of who we really are.
Our identity now is in the crucified and risen Christ. In Jesus’ life, death, resurrection, and ascension we find ourselves restored to God’s initial creative genius—bound through Christ in the Spirit to the Father in an eternal embrace of love which will never be broken. Nothing can or will separate us from God’s love in Christ. Praise God!
The kicker is—do we believe this? It’s true, whether we see it or know it or not. Our experience of it is enhanced as we begin to believe in the truth of it and begin to live it out. This is why the apostle Paul tells us to “keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.” We prefer to focus on what we can see and touch, not believing in the invisible, intangible things of our existent such as the spiritual realities. But those spiritual realities are where we find our true life and our real identity.
Think of the gospel reading for today in Luke 12:13–21. A man rushed up to Jesus, interrupting his teaching session, to insist that he intercede in a family dispute over an inheritance. Jesus’ penetrating answer moved the discussion straight to the real issue: greed. Telling a story to demonstrate his point, he described a wealthy farmer who had just reaped an over abundant crop. This farmer decided he would build himself bigger barns to store the crop and sit back, and enjoy the good life. Jesus then asked a poignant question: “What if the rich man died that night? Who would get all that he had worked so hard to collect?” Then Jesus made his point, “So is the man who stores up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.” We find our true wealth solely in our relationship with God.
There is so much more to this life than what we feel, see, hear, taste, or touch. All of our inner thought life and our senses find their true existence now within Christ’s life with the Father in the Spirit. That means that we are dead to anything that is not found within that life and so, as Paul wrote, we leave all that behind. We are dead to greed, so we no longer live in greedy ways. We are not defined by our money, by how much we earn, or how we earn it, or how we use it, other than in what way it is a reflection of Christ’s own way of being with regards to money. We are not defined by our wrath, slander, or impurity, but by Christ’s own way of self-control and chastity. What we keep our focus on is so important. Because Jesus is the centre of our life, we want to keep Jesus as the centre of our life, for he is the One who defines our true humanity.
We so easily get focused on the earthly realities that we often forget there is a life beyond this life that is grounded in the very person of Jesus Christ. He is the king of God’s kingdom and in his self-offering, has brought every one of us up into an objective union with God in which we find our genuine life hidden within his own life in relationship with the Father in the Spirit. It is by faith in Christ that we experience subjectively that relationship in tangible ways. We participate in Christ’s own death and resurrection, in his life with the Father by faith. And we live and walk now and forever by faith in gratitude and devotion as Abba’s beloved adopted children through Jesus in the Spirit.
Thank you, Abba, for making us your very own beloved children, for including us in your life now and forever. Grant us the grace to live in the truth of who we really are, in the hidden life that is already ours, through Jesus in the Spirit. Amen.
“Someone in the crowd said to Him, ‘Teacher, tell my brother to divide the family inheritance with me.’ But He said to him, ‘Man, who appointed Me a judge or arbitrator over you?’ Then He said to them, ‘Beware, and be on your guard against every form of greed; for not even when one has an abundance does his life consist of his possessions.’ And He told them a parable, saying, ‘The land of a rich man was very productive. And he began reasoning to himself, saying, “What shall I do, since I have no place to store my crops?” Then he said, “This is what I will do: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, ‘Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years to come; take your ease, eat, drink and be merry.’ ” But God said to him, “You fool! This very night your soul is required of you; and now who will own what you have prepared?” So is the man who stores up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.’ ” Luke 12:13–21 NASB
[Printable copy: https://lifeinthetrinity.blog/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/our-hidden-life-in-christ.pdf ]
Lord of the Spirits
By Linda Rex
January 31, 2021, 4th SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY—There is a fascination nowadays with the spiritual. Stories, information, and related materials can be found in movies, books, anime and television shows. It seems as though, even in our information age, we are seeking for something beyond the physical, as though we sense there is more going on than what our reason tells us. We seek out the occult, the mystical, the mythological. But when I speak of spiritual things truly existing and that God or Jesus are real, people immediately take offense or ridicule the idea.
Sometimes I am told that Jesus is just some historical, mythical figure and he has no existence beyond this one. Even many Christians today believe that healing and other miracles no longer occur in the world. In all practicality, they are atheists, living as though God doesn’t really exist and if he does, that he doesn’t care. Indeed, how would one explain an encounter with the living Jesus when there are so many practical reasons not to believe it occurred? It is difficult to explain the way in which the things of the Spirit invade our human existence and genuinely alter it, and it is equally difficult to explain to someone else what it is like to encounter the living Lord. We each have to experience this for ourself.
The gospel of Mark describes how Christ during his ministry would follow the common Jewish practice of attending synagogue on the Sabbath. There the scrolls would be opened and read, and the scribes would expound as best as they could what the meaning was. Their interpretations were drawn from the many writings of the scribes and rabbis before them. They spoke of only that which they understood, and focused on the details of the law and all the meticulous rules these forebearers had established in an effort to keep these laws properly.
On this particular Sabbath day, Jesus entered the synagogue at Capernaum and began to teach. He amazed the listeners because he spoke, not upon the authority of the those prior to him, but upon his own authority. It was as though inherent within himself was the authority to declare the meaning of the scriptures. He didn’t need someone else’s exposition of the Old Testament scriptures to inform him—he simply knew what the intent was and so he presented it. The implication here was that he knew the intent of the scriptures because he was the One who had given them to his people in the first place.
Jesus’ teaching that day was interrupted by a man who was under the control of a presence other than himself. This spirit, Mark explained, was “unclean” or “impure” or “evil”—it is translated in different ways. But the unclean spirit obviously did not have the man’s well-being in mind, but had completely supplanted the man’s will with its own evil will. The spirit in the man called out to Jesus, seeking to silence him by exposing who he was—the “Holy One of God.” He challenged the Lord, asking whether Jesus had come to destroy him and those like him.
It was significant that Jesus immediately silenced the evil spirit and told it to leave the man. Jesus was indeed beginning his warfare against the kingdom of evil, but not in the way which was expected of him. He did not want people to get in mind a wrong idea of what kind of Messiah had come to them. Nor did he need evil spirits to affirm who he was as the Son of God in human flesh. He was Lord over all these spirits, the evil and the good, for they were created by him and had to bow to his will and wishes at all times.
The obedience of the spirit to Jesus’ command astonished the crowd. Here was another way in which Jesus’ authority was made evident. He didn’t need fancy incantations and magical spells. He didn’t use the formulas the Jewish leaders used for exorcism. No, he had the power over the spiritual world as well as the physical world, so he simply commanded and it was done. This was an epiphany—a clear revelation of who Christ was as God in human flesh, the Lord over all his creation, of both the physical and spiritual realms. From this event in the synagogue the news spread out all over the area about Jesus and what he had done.
One of the hardest things for us as humans to accept is the reality that there are some things we just don’t have control over. Some may seek out the things of the spirit as a cry to be able to know something which can’t otherwise be known, to do what could not otherwise be done, or to control others or situations which are out of their control. They do not realize that when we seek the things of the spirit world apart from God that we will often end up enslaved, controlled by forces and spirits beyond ourselves which steal from us our ability to make our own decisions and choices, and in the end, drive us to self-destruction.
We also tend to give ourselves over to attitudes and behaviors which in many ways take control in the same way as the spirit described in this story. Sometimes we allow anger to dig deep roots in our soul, creating a bitterness that begins to affect everyone around us. Resentment and bitterness, and a desire for revenge, can so consume us that we in time we may lose all desire or ability to choose another option apart from God’s intervention on our behalf. There are many other desires that we have as human beings which when properly used within God’s limits are healthy and build us up, but when we give ourselves over to them, they in the end begin to consume us and to control every aspect of our lives, even removing from us our own ability to choose another way.
God does not deprive us of our will nor control it—even though he could—because he loves us and respects our personhood. Any other spirit than that of God will not treat us with this type of respect. This includes some humans, who seek to control our will and keep a tight reign on our every decision, forcing us to do what we do not wish to do. This is not God’s way of being, nor what he created us for. He does not force himself on us. He created us and redeemed us to be his dwelling place through Jesus in the Holy Spirit, to worship and serve him joyfully out of gratitude and love—voluntarily, simply because we desire to.
God through Jesus invites us into relationship with himself and offers himself to us in the Holy Spirit, allowing us to resist, reject, or silence him. He asks us to open ourselves up to him, to make ourselves available to him, to participate with him in what he is doing in the world, but he always leaves us free to say no. When a follower of Jesus speaks of surrender to God, or being filled with the Holy Spirit, they do not mean that they intend to lose their own ability to make decisions or to lose control of their own mind or body. Rather, they are saying that they are agreeing to God’s invitation to voluntarily give space for him to live within them and form them into what all of us were originally created to be—places where God dwells through Jesus in the Spirit so that we might be true image-bearers of Jesus Christ who both love God and love others as we love ourselves.
Mark tells us this story about Jesus so we can discover for ourselves who this teacher is. It is the Holy Spirit in us who enables us to see with spiritual eyes—to see beyond the words on the page and the historical figure of Jesus into the reality of who he is today as our living Lord. This is the beginning of Mark’s testimony that this person Jesus Christ was God in human flesh—the One who lived, died, and rose again, and who comes to us as the living Word in the Spirit. This living Lord Jesus Christ is not just a prophet or teacher, but One at whose word evil spirits are silenced, teachers are amazed, and people are healed. Invite Jesus to make himself real to you—to enable you to see him for who he really is. Seek him out, and he will, in time, enable you to find him. Then you will know, in that moment, that all I have said is true—there is a world beyond this world, and Jesus is Lord of both, and is just as alive today as he ever was, and best of all—he loves you.
Heavenly Father, thank you for the precious gift of your Spirit through your Son Jesus. May your Spirit open the eyes of our minds and hearts so that we may perceive the spiritual realities and come to know Jesus personally as he really is—the living Savior and Lord of all. May we freely give ourselves to you, God, that we may receive ourselves whole and complete through Jesus Christ by the Spirit in return. Amen.
“Just then there was a man in their synagogue with an unclean spirit; and he cried out, saying, ‘What business do we have with each other, Jesus of Nazareth? Have You come to destroy us? I know who You are—the Holy One of God!” And Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be quiet, and come out of him!’” Mark 1:23–25 NASB
See also Mark 1:21–22, 26–28; 1 Corinthians 8:1–13.
God Isn’t Like That
By Linda Rex
TRINITY SUNDAY—The older I get and the more I learn about God, the more I realize how misinformed about God I really have been. The cool thing about God is the more you get to know him, the more there is to get to know and understand. The best I can do is be in relationship with him—understanding him fully isn’t something any of us can do.
Many of my God-concepts were formed within a religious context which saw God as a family of Father and Son in which the Holy Spirit was an energy or force or God’s essence. In those years I did not believe the Holy Spirit was a Person and did not believe in the Trinity. The God I believed in was stern and critical, demanding perfect obedience if I wanted his love and acceptance.
Even though I was well-versed in the old testament scriptures, I did not realize how often in the old testament distinctions with regards to the attributes of God were made—for example, wisdom is personified as a woman who was with God when he created all things and God’s glory was pictured as a burning fire or radiant person.
I remember the first time I began rereading the old testament scriptures in view of the Triune God. God began to look a lot different than I had thought he was. I was astonished to find all three Persons of the Trinity present at creation—the Spirit was present at creation hovering over the water while God and his Word were active in creating all things. The apostle Paul called Jesus the wisdom of God—in Proverbs we read wisdom personified was present at creation (Prov. 8). While Jesus often called himself the “son of man” during his ministry here on earth, in the book of Daniel, the “son of man” came into a heavenly scene and took a seat at the right hand of the Ancient of Days.
Jeremiah used the expression “Now the word of the LORD came to me saying” when he described hearing God speak (Is. 2:1), while in 1 Sam. 3:21 says, “the Lord revealed Himself … by the word of the Lord.” The Word of God John spoke about was the Logos or reason of God who always was with God and was God, and who came into our humanity as God in human flesh. The living Word of God revealed in Jesus Christ turns out to be the one through and for whom all things were created.
There are a lot of places in the old testament and in the new—I won’t take the time to enumerate here—in which God reveals himself as one God in three Persons. I was so amazed when I understood that the Spirit had all the attributes of personhood—the Spirit was a person to be worshiped and obeyed along with the Father and the Son. When I began to interact with God as he really is rather than as how I had mistakenly thought he was, there was a distinct change in my relationship with God. I began to hear God’s word and understand it personally in a new way, and my thoughts and behavior began to change as my relationship with God became more real and personal.
It is always tempting for us to follow our creeds without ever investigating for ourselves what the truth of the matter is. The Spirit of truth wants to bring us into a deeper, closer relationship to the Father in and through his Son Jesus Christ. The Spirit’s efforts aren’t to make himself more visible or evident but to reveal to us more fully the Father and the Son, and to draw us deeper into fellowship with God and one another.
We can get so focused on what is or isn’t true that we miss the reality of our real inclusion in the intimate relationship between the Father and Son in the Spirit. We are called to go deeper, to rest more fully in, the love of God—this love which was so fully expressed in the gift of the incarnation, crucifixion, resurrection and ascension. Here we find God personally involved in our lives and our broken existence, drawing us to himself in spite of our rejection and failures to love.
The extravagant, overwhelming love of God expressed to us in Christ is made increasingly real to us as we respond to the work of the Spirit. Opening ourselves up to the Spirit’s work allows us to toss away false views of God and of ourselves and enables us to begin to apprehend God’s love, glory, and goodness and how we are meant for that to be expressed in and through us as God’s image-bearers. Responding to the word of God which comes to us from the Father through Jesus by the Spirit means beginning to walk in the truth, in Christlikeness. But this all has its source and fulfillment in God.
What indeed are humans that God would take any thought of us? But he did. He gave you and me such dignity and worth—crowning us with his righteousness, making us rulers over all he made, and ordaining and obtaining for us an eternity as his very own adopted children. The Son of Man, our Jesus, has been crowned king of kings and lord of lords, and he stands in our stead and on our behalf at the Father’s side. At this moment, we are hidden there in Christ in the presence of the Father—sharing in his glory and goodness, and being looked upon with delight as Abba’s beloved.
As time goes by and I grow in my relationship with God and my understanding of his word, I see more clearly the evidence in Jesus’ own words in the book of John. He spoke quite freely about the Father and the Spirit and himself being in intimate relationship of mutual submission and love. As we turn to Christ and respond to the Spirit we are drawn deeper into intimate relationship with our Abba, and are able to rest both now and forever in the abounding love of God as his adored children.
Thank you, Abba, for loving us so much, for giving us your Son Jesus and your precious Spirit of truth. Continue to draw us closer to you. Open our hearts and minds to receive your love and to come to know you as you really are, and to believe you really do love us completely, just as we are and are working to bring us into the fullness of all you meant for us to be in Jesus by your Holy Spirit. We thank you and praise you that you will finish what you have begun. Amen.
“What is man that You take thought of him, | And the son of man that You care for him? | Yet You have made him a little lower than God, | And You crown him with glory and majesty! | You make him to rule over the works of Your hands; | You have put all things under his feet,…” Psalm 8:4-6 NASB
“But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come. He will glorify Me, for He will take of Mine and will disclose it to you. All things that the Father has are Mine; therefore I said that He takes of Mine and will disclose it to you.” John 16:13-15 NASB
Named By God
By Linda Rex
It’s hard for me to imagine ever walking the streets of Jerusalem in this life. It must be a powerful experience for a follower of Jesus to walk the same streets he walked, seeing and hearing similar sights and sounds. It must be very inspiring to look down upon the city from the Mount of Olives and to imagine what it must have been like on that dark night when Jesus poured his heart out to his Father in surrender.
God chose the people of Israel and its city of David to fulfill his plan for the redemption of the world. Jerusalem is a good example of the reality that God does not leave us as we are, but is continually in process, moving us toward a beautiful, redemptive end.
It’s a little difficult for me to get my mind around the idea that God might single out a particular city to place his name and to call his own. Yet it was Jerusalem Jesus came to as a youth to sit at the elders’ feet in the temple. It was Jerusalem that was the center of so much of Jesus’ life and ministry, and where he was crucified, buried, and resurrected.
And it is Jerusalem that over the millennia has been the focus of strife, division, and war. It is instructive that when human beings are involved, even those who call themselves Christians, there is so much disagreement, hostility and disunity.
Thomas F. Torrance lamented that even in Jerusalem, the city of David, the place of the ultimate sacrifice by our Savior, Christians will not gather together at the table to partake of the Lord’s supper together. Their divisions over matters of doctrine and even the manner of partaking of the eucharist are so intense, there is no common ground on which to gather together, even though Jesus Christ created that common ground within himself when he was here on earth.
God never meant for us to live our lives divided from one another or separated in any way from him. We as human beings focus on what divides us rather than on what brings us together. We focus on our distinctions while God focuses on our unity within the Trinity—all made in the same image of the God who is Father, Son, and Spirit.
It is so important to us in this modern world to have a distinct name that is our very own—our own identity and personhood—a sense of individuality. It is ironic that so often we want to “be different” so we dress and act like everyone else who is trying to “be different.” Our unity, though, is not a matter of us all being the same, thinking the same thoughts, having the same aspirations and preferences. Our unity is in the One whose name we bear, the Lord Jesus Christ. Our unity is in what he has done, is doing and will do in our place and on our behalf.
Unless we are in tune with the spiritual realities, we do not realize it is in our personhood as made in the image of God in his likeness that we find not only our commonality but also our uniqueness of personhood. We do not get lost in the unity within the Trinity, but rather we become more fully our own true selves—those who are the beloved adopted children of God Most High—created in his image, to reflect his likeness.
He is the Name Above All Names. He has named us his very own in his life, death, resurrection, and ascension. No one can take his name from us because he has joined himself to us in our humanity, taken it through death and resurrection, and lifted us up with him to be forever in the presence of the Father in the Spirit.
The body of Christ bears the name of Jesus Christ as she walks with him down the path through death to resurrection. She is the Bride of Christ, and when he returns to earth in all his glory, she will bear his name forever. She will dwell in the New Jerusalem, the new Zion, which will be filled with God’s beloved adopted children, all bearing a new name which God alone will give them.
God has a new name for Zion. He, in Jesus, has remade and is renewing all things, including the broken, embattled city of Jerusalem. One day this historical treasure will cease to exist as it does today, and will become what God envisions her to be. In the same way, the body of Christ—the universal body of believers, the Church—will become all that God meant for her to be.
I believe this is God’s word for Grace Communion International as well. We have been through so much as a denomination. We are much like a forsaken, and rejected spouse (Isa. 54). But God is gathering us back, building us up, and making us new. He has given us a new name, and this name is in his Son Jesus Christ. We have nothing to fear and everything to hope for.
There is much yet to be done in sharing the good news of all God has done for all humanity in and through Jesus Christ. We have a great story to tell of God’s redemptive purpose and power. We have the gifts and blessings of the Holy Spirit. We have come to see our center is in Jesus Christ. We are finding our identity, purpose and value within the Triune God as we participate in the divine love and life of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
We have gone with Jesus all the way through death and resurrection. God isn’t done with us yet, but is just getting started. He has given us his name, and is causing us to shine with his righteousness and his salvation so that all nations may see and turn to Jesus. May God be glorified in and through us as we share with Jesus in his mission to the world.
Heavenly Father, thank you for calling us to be a part of what you are doing in this world, and allowing us to participate with Christ in both his sufferings and his glory. Continue to write on us your Name that we might effectively bear your good news to every part of this broken and hurting world. Lord, please demonstrate your power and your great love through your people, and specifically through us as members of Grace Communion International. Give our pastors and leaders wisdom to know your will and to follow you wherever you lead. By your Spirit, bring healing, renewal, and transformation. We thank you in advance and trust you for all of this in and through the mighty name of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
“For Zion’s sake I will not keep silent, / And for Jerusalem’s sake I will not keep quiet, / Until her righteousness goes forth like brightness, / And her salvation like a torch that is burning. The nations will see your righteousness, / And all kings your glory; / And you will be called by a new name / Which the mouth of the LORD will designate.” Isaiah 62:1-2 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
Our Life in the Trinity 