responsibility
Our Life of Fellowship
by Linda Rex
September 29, 2024, Proper 21 | After Pentecost—Back in 2013, I accomplished a huge goal in my life by completing my Master of Pastoral Studies degree at Grace Communion Seminary. As part of this project, I wrote a thesis on the New Testament passage which happens to be one of the RCL passages for this Sunday, James 5:13–20.
I had to do an extensive exegesis on the passage, and also examine it in the light of historic orthodox Christian teaching, as well as within the context of our theological journey within Grace Communion International. As I began to study this passage, I examined it in the light of Christ-centered Trinitarian theology, since Jesus needs to be the lens through which I look. Even though my thesis had to do with the importance role relationships play in experiencing health and wholeness, it brought forth some important nuances about our life of faith within the Body of Christ, and what our life of fellowship with one another should look like.
Here is a summary passage from that thesis:
God has called us all into relationship with himself in Christ by the Spirit. As believers we live in relationship with one another in Christ, as well as in union with the Father, Son and Spirit. Throughout all of life, we are to live in relationship with God, responding to him in prayer and in songs of praise in the good times and bad. As believers, we live as members of the Body of Christ in the Spirit, and as such we have a responsibility to one another. When a brother or sister is ill, they are encouraged to call for the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them so they may experience the care and concern of both God and their brothers and sisters. When a brother or sister is struggling with weaknesses, we minister God’s grace to them in prayer and/or in other ways. We are encouraged to confess our faults to one another and to pray for one another so we may be free. And we call erring brothers and sisters back to their center in Christ when they wander away. As we participate with Christ in his ministry of care for others, we share in the spiritual blessings that come from the harvest he seeks in the lives of his people as he conforms them to Christ.
As you can see, life in fellowship with others is vibrant, alive, and active. It is a life of sharing, caring, and serving one another. There is a responsibility to one another, and a deep sense of humility, joy, obedience, and reverence before God, as we walk in intimate relationship with him.
When we look at our Christian fellowships today, how many of them look like this? I don’t say that to be critical, but to show that the Holy Spirit does not change. When the Holy Spirit draws us together into spiritual fellowships—this is what it looks like. This is where Jesus Christ shows up—living in us, with us, and through us by his Spirit. This is where the Father’s presence rests, and we live in the joy of mutual indwelling through Jesus in the Spirit. In my mind, this looks a lot like what GCI calls healthy church.
The question is not whether our church is or is not following some guideline to be healthy church. The question is, are we in union and communion with our Triune God—Father, Son, and Spirit? Are we united with Christ? If so, then, how are we living that out in our relationships with one another? Living it out relationship with one another looks like getting into face-to-face relationships with people who may be like us or different than us. And relationships can be very messy, and difficult. In fact, some relationships may be even painful or distressing. And that may make us very uncomfortable.
But the point is—we never do any of this alone. There is one human being who has dealt with just about any kind of person that has ever existed—and he still lives as God in human flesh—the resurrected Jesus Christ. Our ability to live with others in warm fellowship is made possible by Jesus Christ living in and through us by the Holy Spirit. It is the life of Christ actively flowing in and through us which brings about this warm fellowship which characterizes the Body of Christ. Are we opening ourselves up to the Holy Spirit? Do we draw close to God through listening to his Word, praying, and practicing the many other spiritual disciplines such as silence, solitude, generosity, and service? These are things we do to open ourselves up to allow God to live his life of warm fellowship in and through us. And this is our life of fellowship as the Body of Christ.
Heavenly Father, Jesus, Spirit, thank you for including us in your life and love. Thank you, Jesus, for all you have done and are doing to make this possible. And thank you, heavenly Spirit, for always and forever working in and through us to enable us to live in fellowship with you, God, and one another, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
“Is anyone among you suffering? Then he must pray. Is anyone cheerful? He is to sing praises. Is anyone among you sick? Then he must call for the elders of the church and they are to pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord; and the prayer offered in faith will restore the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up, and if he has committed sins, they will be forgiven him. Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much. Elijah was aa man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the earth for three years and six months. Then he prayed again, and the sky poured rain and the earth produced its fruit. My brethren, if any among you strays from the truth and one turns him back, let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.” James 5:13–20 NASB
[Printable copy: https://lifeinthetrinity.blog/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/olitour-life-of-fellowship.pdf ]
[More devotionals may be found at https://lifeinthetrinity.blog ]
[Subscribe to Our Life in the Trinity YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/@ourlifeinthetrinity ]
A Spirit of Wisdom and Revelation
By Linda Rex
May 12, 2024, Ascension Sunday | Easter—This Sunday, as we reach the end of the Easter season, we pause to consider the ascension of Jesus Christ. This often overlooked celebration is actually an important part of the Christian calendar. Jesus Christ did not just rise from the grave, bringing all of humanity through death into resurrection. He also ascended, to be seated at the Father’s right hand in glory in the fellowship of the Spirit.
Apart from the ascension, our human flesh would not have been brought home with the resurrected Jesus into face to face union with his Father in the Spirit. Apart from Jesus’ ascension, we would not have been sent the gift of the Holy Spirit sent from his Father. It is the Spirit through whom Jesus and his Father come to dwell in each of us. By faith, the Spirit makes our very own what Jesus has forged for us all in his life, death, resurrection, and ascension. And the coming of the Spirit is what we celebrate on Pentecost, which will be next Sunday, May 19th.
The apostle Paul, in our New Testament reading for Ascension Sunday, records how he constantly prays for the church members in the various congregations to whom this circular letter was sent. Paul is very grateful to God for their faith in the Lord Jesus. The apostle’s most urgent plea is for those hearing the letter to be given “a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him.” The only way that any of us can come to know God, or come to understand his calling, his power, or his glory, is by God’s Spirit giving us enlightenment. And Paul says that this is only possible because of the resurrection power which brought Jesus up from death at work in each of us by the Holy Spirit. As we pray for enlightenment, for ourselves or others, God begins to open our minds and hearts up to the truth.
Paul also acknowledges that whatever we may do as those gathering in Jesus’ name, we do only as participants in Jesus’ life with his Father in the Spirit. His heavenly Father has placed all things under Jesus’ feet, and made him head of the church, which is made up of those who by faith are united with Jesus in his death and resurrection. Consider for a moment what it means that God in Christ is reigning over all.
Then consider even more deeply what it means that human flesh in Jesus Christ is reigning over all. The ramifications of this are mind-blowing. But isn’t that the way God always meant it to be? From the beginning, God intended human beings to participate with him in reigning over all he had made. He gave humans the responsibility to tend the earth, to be stewards of all he had made. But we chose to go our own way and to follow the lead of the evil one, who ever stands in opposition to God and seeks to divide, destroy, ruin, and enslave at every point. The evil one, who does not submit to God’s will and God’s love, is ever drawing us to follow him and obey his will or our own self-will instead.
No matter how powerful or intense the evil one is, he cannot stand against what God has done for humankind in the person of Jesus Christ. In Jesus, now, human beings are united with God in a way where they will never be separated, ever. Jesus has and will forevermore, be fully human and fully God. We, as Paul says, are God’s portion. We are God’s inheritance. What God has done in the Lord Jesus Christ, he has done for each and every person, whether they know it or believe it or not. The gift has been purchased, wrapped and sent—will we leave in on the desk and never touch it? Will we push it away and refuse it? Or will we simply rip it open and begin to enjoy the benefits of this precious gift each and every moment of the rest of our life.
Moving our thoughts away from ourselves at this point is critical. Here we look at the example of Paul and his heart towards those who would hear the words in this circular letter. He was praying that they not only would receive the gift given, but that they would revel in it and be able to experience the full benefits of the gift they were given in Jesus Christ. As we go about our daily lives, who might we pray this prayer for? How might our life in relationship with family, friends, and community be different if we prayed this prayer over those we encounter day by day? As we ask the Lord for his enlightenment, his wisdom, and all the other things Paul mentions here, perhaps we might also ask the Lord to give us heart to pray for others that they too to be given the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him.
As we pray this prayer over those God puts in our minds and hearts, we may discover ourselves swept up into what Jesus is doing in this world by the Spirit. And we may find ourselves held in the midst of the life and love of our Father and his Son in the Spirit. And we can rejoice, for that is where we were always meant to be.
Heavenly Father, thank you for all those you have brought to yourself, and those you have created for your glory. May your precious Spirit enlighten each and every person. May you draw each one closer to you and bring them to a deeper faith in your Son Jesus. May your perfect love enable us to see and experience the resurrection power of Jesus at work in us and in the lives of those near us and dear to us, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
“For this reason I too, having heard of the faith in the Lord Jesus which exists among you and your love for all the saints, do not cease giving thanks for you, while making mention of you in my prayers; that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him. I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe. These are in accordance with the working of the strength of His might which He brought about in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. And He put all things in subjection under His feet, and gave Him as head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.” Ephesians 1:15–23 NASB
“Now He said to them, ‘These are My words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things which are written about Me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.’ Then He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, and He said to them, ‘Thus it is written, that the Christ would suffer and rise again from the dead the third day, and that repentance for forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in His name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. And behold, I am sending forth the promise of My Father upon you; but you are to stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.’ And He led them out as far as Bethany, and He lifted up His hands and blessed them. While He was blessing them, He parted from them and was carried up into heaven. And they, after worshiping Him, returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and were continually in the temple praising God.” Luke 24:44–53 NASB
[Printable copy: https://lifeinthetrinity.blog/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/olita-spirit-of-wisdom-and-revelation.pdf ]
[More devotionals may be found at https://lifeinthetrinity.blog ]
[Subscribe to Our Life in the Trinity YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/@ourlifeinthetrinity ]
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 ]
Entrusted with What’s His
By Linda Rex
November 15, 2020, Proper 28—It can be easy to believe that God has a funny way of running the universe. He makes these creatures who have intelligent minds, the ability to make decisions and to create things. He gives them the ability to reproduce themselves. And then he gives them the capacity to ignore him, reject him, and even turn against him. And to top it all off, he gives them the responsibility to care for all he has made!
What was God thinking? Perhaps I’m being a little too humorous about this, but I believe we can take this in two ways—1) we can believe that God is loving and good and believes in the creatures he has made and is working for their good, or 2) we can believe that he is a hard, cruel God who is setting up humanity from the beginning for failure. How we respond as human beings to our call to care for and steward all God made and to love one another is essentially grounded in what kind of God we believe in, if any.
Moving forward, then. What kind of God would take on a human body and live in it, allowing himself to be ridiculed, rejected, and even crucified? And even after all that, entrust to his followers the Holy Spirit, sharing the good news of God’s love, and the responsibility of building the church and equipping the saints? The track record of the believers and the church over the millennia hasn’t always been the best, but knowing this would happen didn’t keep Christ from charging his followers with this responsibility.
It seems that too often, we as human beings have spent our time playing video games when we could have been washing the dog, cleaning our rooms or having friends over for a play date. Rather than creating a Play-Doh masterpiece for mom, we’ve been battling virtual ninjas, ending up with nothing to show for it but a great score on the leaderboard. Believe me, I love a great video game, but my point is that too often we as human beings have missed the boat when it comes to understanding who we are and what we are meant to do with our time here on earth. Too often we have taken the overflowing sack of God’s love and grace and buried it in the ground.
When we look at Jesus’ parable about the talents, we tend to narrow it down to believers needing to use their spiritual gifts in his service. I think there is a whole lot more at stake than simply that. The context is the kingdom of heaven—Jesus is describing the kingdom he was inaugurating in himself, in his presence as the Creator within his creation. As God in human flesh, he was seizing back what humanity had lost by turning away from God to the things of this world and Satan.
What every human being needs to come to terms with is that God loved him or her enough to set aside temporarily the benefits of his divinity, to come and live in our humanity, for each person’s sake. He sought to raise humanity up out of the spiritual poverty and death we had fallen into so that we could live now and forever in right relationship with him and one another. He freed us from evil, sin, and death, not so we could party however we wanted, but so that we could be a part of his heavenly celebration now and for all eternity. He sent his Spirit so we would be empowered with his very presence and person to enable us to live as we were meant to live—in other-centered love with God and each other.
What would happen if we came to terms with the reality that God loves each of us, immensely, completely, and forever? What if we understood that God has entrusted us with his Son, his Spirit, and all he has made—offering life in union and communion with him now and forever? What are we doing with this grace God has given us?
God gives us his creation to steward. God gives us himself in his Son and in his Spirit. Repentance and faith, with baptism into the body of Christ, are the immediate response he seeks. We’ve been given a huge bonus check of grace—do we go to the bank and open up an account so we can put the grace to work? Or do we cash the check and then hide the bills in the wall of our house? What do we do with the grace and love God lavishes on us?
Grace put to work opens the door for others to experience and share in God’s grace. This is our participation in the life of Christ. He is at work in this world, bringing others to the knowledge of himself and enabling them to participate as well in what he is doing in the world. By faith and through baptism, new believers are welcomed into the body of Christ, and included in our participation in the mission of Jesus to spread the gospel (the good news of God’s love expressed to us in Christ) throughout the world.
And yes, the Spirit showers spiritual gifts on believers, enabling them to play particular roles within the body of Christ—teaching, preaching, administrating, sharing, helping, and serving for example. These gifts are meant to enable believers to participate more fully in stewarding all God has given. Some are meant to equip others to do ministry and to build up the body of Christ. Some are meant to demonstrate God’s love in tangible ways in this world so that others can experience God’s love and grace in their lives.
The gospel of Jesus Christ isn’t just a story we tell. It is a life which we live. It is a person we reflect. As image-bearers of Christ, we bear his name, his Suffering Servant nature, by his Spirit in our person. As we respond to God’s love and grace expressed to us in his Son Jesus, we recognize that we are merely stewards of what belongs to the God who is the Lord over all and who dwells in perichoretic love. This reminds us to responsibly care for the world and cosmos we live in as our participation in his life and love—we seek his best interests, not our own. It reminds us to love our neighbor as ourself rather than being self-seeking, self-willed, and self-indulgent. And all of this we do empowered by and infused with the very presence and person of Jesus Christ in the Spirit.
God has lavished his love and grace on us as creatures meant to reflect his nature and way of being. He has entrusted this world to us and in Jesus has enabled us to be faithful and obedient children who serve him diligently. What are we going to do with the great big sack of God’s love and grace we have been given? What have we been doing with it? Is it time to make a change?
Father, thank you for the generous love and grace you have lavished upon as your creatures, for this amazing creation you have given us, and the gift of your Son and your Spirit. Thank you, Jesus, for doing for us in our place what we could not do for ourselves. We trust in your perfect stewardship that we may be by your Spirit good stewards of all we have been given. Amen.
“Lord, You have been our dwelling place in all generations.
Before the mountains were born
Or You gave birth to the earth and the world,
Even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God.
You turn man back into dust …
You have swept them away like a flood, they fall asleep;
In the morning they are like grass which sprouts anew.
In the morning it flourishes and sprouts anew;
Toward evening it fades and withers away. …
So teach us to number our days,
That we may present to You a heart of wisdom.” Psalm 90:1–3a, 5b–6, 12 NASB
See also Matthew 25:14–30; 1 Thessalonians 5:1–11.
Our Life in the Trinity 