stand

Hold Fast and Stand

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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

[Printable copy: https://lifeinthetrinity.blog/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/olithold-fast-and-stand.pdf ]

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Taking Our Stand on Grace

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by Linda Rex

June 18, 2023, Proper 6 | After Pentecost—Earlier this week, I was talking with a friend about our mutual struggles and difficulties in life. Lately we both have had some real challenges which have reminded us of our need for our Lord’s compassionate love and grace in our everyday lives. During this season of ordinary days on the Christian calendar, all of us have an opportunity to take our stand on the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, fully embracing the gift of intimate relationship with our Father through Jesus in the Spirit. This enables us to weather in healthy ways the buffeting winds of suffering, conflict, and offense we experience day by day.

In the gospel passage for today, Matthew 9:35–10:8, Jesus gathered together twelve followers, gave them authority to heal diseases and cast out demons. And he sent them out to share the good news with the lost sheep of his people, to care for the sick and afflicted, while living an ordinary, everyday existence in their midst. The message he gave them to share was that “the kingdom of God is here.” What did Jesus mean when he said “the kingdom of God is here”?

In my youth I recall hearing many a sermon talking about the kingdom of God, but always in a future sense. I remember being told that a kingdom requires a king, and this would be Jesus Christ. I also heard that a kingdom requires an area for the king to rule, and this would be the earth, when Jesus returns in glory, and establishes his kingdom once and for all. I vaguely remember some hints about him reigning in our hearts, but that was well hidden under the emphasis on the coming kingdom of God when Jesus returns in glory.

In reality, we find the kingdom of God wherever God is, for our God as Father, Son, and Spirit reigns over all he has made. And his reign is a spiritual reality, even though we as human beings so often live in opposition to or in ignorance of it. When the incarnate Christ stood there in the presence of those people and said, “the kingdom of God is here,” he was speaking the truth. For those who stood in the presence of Jesus Christ were standing in the presence of God in human flesh, the One by whose word all things were created and were being sustained even in that moment. To say “the kingdom of God is here” is to say that in Jesus Christ, God is present and real, and has brought us into loving, gracious relationship with himself in spite of our rejection and crucifixion of him. The Son of God, the king Jesus, allowed nothing to come between us and God, but brought us home to the Father, and sent the Spirit for our salvation.

Even now, as the Spirit is present and at work in this world and in our lives, we are in the midst of the kingdom of God. We live in opposition to it, or we embrace it. We deny it or we acknowledge it. There are only two possible responses to the spiritual reality of the kingdom of God present in Jesus Christ by the Spirit—and it is important that we come to terms with our own personal response to this reality. And it is equally important that we share this good news with others.

That the kingdom of God is present and real is the message Jesus gave his followers to share with everyone they met. He told his followers to pray that God’s kingdom would come and God’s will would be done here on earth as it is in heaven. Today, as the Spirit lives in and through believers, we begin to see glimpses of the kingdom of heaven at work in this world, becoming a reality in our ordinary lives. We can ignore this, resist this, or participate in this reality. God gives us the freedom to experience the results of our choice.

When we look at all the difficulties and struggles in our everyday lives, it may be hard to believe that God’s kingdom is present and at work in this world. This is understandable. But, look at it this way. One day we will experience supreme joy because the kingdom of God has arrived in its fullness; all suffering and struggles will be over, and all tears wiped away. In the meantime, we experience a divine joy and peace in the midst of our suffering and struggles. Our ordinary existence becomes extraordinary when we recognize and live within the reality that this is not all there is—there is so much more going on that what is merely seen and touched.

What we need to realize is that we are held in the grace and love of God in Jesus Christ by the Spirit even now. We are never alone. We are not powerless any longer, but have been given the presence and power of God to overcome anything that threatens to destroy who we are as God’s beloved children. We are given the capacity to care for others, to fight evil and disease, and to minister to the lonely, forgotten, and excluded. The reason we take our stand in grace is because the kingdom of God is here, present in the person of Jesus Christ by his Spirit. We have nothing to fear, for in Christ, our relationship with our Father is secure, our place in his kingdom is assured, and our future will be full of everlasting joy. Hallelujah!

Heavenly Father, today we pause in humility, asking for the grace to see, acknowledge, and participate fully in your kingdom even now as your beloved children, to recognize and submit to Jesus as king of all, and to allow your Spirit full reign in our hearts and lives. Enable us to take our stand on the grace we have in your Son, as your Spirit floods our hearts with love, through Jesus our Lord. Amen.

1-2“Since then it is by faith that we are justified, let us grasp the fact that we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have confidently entered into this new relationship of grace, and here we take our stand, in happy certainty of the glorious things he has for us in the future. 3-5This doesn’t mean, of course, that we have only a hope of future joys—we can be full of joy here and now even in our trials and troubles. Taken in the right spirit these very things will give us patient endurance; this in turn will develop a mature character, and a character of this sort produces a steady hope, a hope that will never disappoint us. Already we have some experience of the love of God flooding through our hearts by the Holy Spirit given to us. 6-8And we can see that it was while we were powerless to help ourselves that Christ died for sinful men. In human experience it is a rare thing for one man to give his life for another, even if the latter be a good man, though there have been a few who have had the courage to do it. Yet the proof of God’s amazing love is this: that it was while we were sinners that Christ died for us.”     Romans 5:1–8 PHILLIPS

[Printable copy: https://lifeinthetrinity.blog/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/olittaking-our-stand-on-grace.pdf ]

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