worship
Celebrating Our Risen Lord
By Linda Rex
May 4, 2025, 3rd Sunday in Easter—This past Sunday, at our Grace Communion congregation here in Big Sandy, TX, we gathered together to joyfully celebrate our resurrected Lord, and to take communion together. It was fitting that we also celebrated a confirmation and several baptisms on Resurrection Sunday. What a profound statement about how Jesus has brought us new life!
As I was reading the New Testament passage for the third Sunday in Easter, Revelation 5:11–14, I noticed the apostle John used a lot of dramatic language to describe the joyful celebration which goes on in the presence of our heavenly Father. The vast multitudes offered praise to him and to his Son, who as a willing sacrifice offered himself as a Lamb for our sakes. The magnitude of heavenly celebration was beyond John’s ability to easily convey. He pulled in words like “myriads” in the Greek because he didn’t have anything larger than that to show what in our language, we would call millions and billions. Overwhelmed with the number of angels giving praise, he then saw our entire universe respond with even more praise to the Father and the Lamb of God, Jesus Christ.
But how did Jesus, the Lamb of God, come to be worthy of such praise? Within the passage, we see that Jesus is worthy of all praise and honor and glory because, as the Son of God, he came and laid down his life for us. This speaks to our need to follow the Savior’s lead when it comes to the sevenfold collection of praiseworthy items mentioned by John: power, riches, wisdom, strength, honor, glory, and blessing. He uses the number seven to remind us it is complete and ultimate. And he shows that Jesus is worthy of all of these things. What makes this divine human so worthy?
Too often our focus in this life is on acquiring and having these very things. In and of themselves, these are not necessarily bad things. We like to have the power to make decisions and have them honored. We like to have wealth, because we believe it opens up opportunities for us. Wisdom is a good thing to have—it helps us make good decisions and have better lives. It feels good to be justly honored for the things we have done. And performers, when they take the stage, would love to have the glory that comes with the approval and admiration of their fans. And most people I know would love to receive some sort of blessing from those around them.
But the path to having these things in their ultimate completeness is the path the Son of God took: human life, death by crucifixion, followed by resurrection and ascension. Jesus was willing to go to the bottom of all our human experience, even into death itself, in order to bring humanity with him home to his Father in the Spirit. And Jesus said, if we are to be his disciples, we are to deny ourselves, pick up our own cross (whatever that may be), and to follow him, wherever he goes (Matt. 16:24; 10:38; Mark 8:34). And in the case of the first disciples of Christ, that was to the cross—not that they hung on the cross themselves, but that they participated with Jesus in his sacrificial offering on behalf of all humanity. And one day, for most of these disciples, that participation actually included their own sacrificial self-offering. It is said that Peter, at death, refused to die crucified like Christ—he asked his captors to crucify him upside down instead.
Speaking of Peter, we are drawn to the Gospel passage for this Sunday, John 21:1–19, where Peter takes six other disciples out to fish following the resurrection of Jesus Christ (notice John’s use of seven again). Did they feel at loose ends, not knowing what was going to happen next? I’m pretty sure that Peter’s last encounters with the Lord, including his rejection of Jesus, were playing through his mind as he cast one more net into the sea. I love Jesus’ sense of humor, for he once again asks them to cast their net on the other side of the boat when he hears they haven’t caught anything. And they actually did it! It is no wonder, that when their nets began to fill up to overflowing, that John says to Peter, “It is the Lord!” How could anyone forget their initial encounter with Jesus when he did this very thing for them!
Notice the quiet humility and grace with which the risen Lord meets with his disciples and reconciles with Peter. This Lord is worthy of all power, honor, glory, and blessing, and here he is, baking bread, frying fish, and feeding his disciples. Even in the supreme glory of his risen majesty, Jesus comes to humanity as a servant, a loving mentor, and a friend. In the heavenly glories, Jesus is celebrated as the slain Lamb of God, while we, here on earth, know him as the indwelling Christ by the Spirit—the One who is ever present and available, caring and concerned. May we freely participate in the praise and worship of Jesus, God in humanity, who is Lord of all, both now and on into eternity. And by the Spirit, may we faithfully participate fully in his humble service and grace toward others, and in his freely offered sacrifice on behalf of all, in his name. Amen and amen.
We celebrate you, Father, Jesus, Holy Spirit! How awesome and wonderful you are! You are worthy of all power, riches, wisdom, strength, honor, glory, and blessing. Heavenly Spirit, may we humbly and faithful truly reflect your triune glory and majesty, in your name, Jesus, now and forever. Amen.
“Then I looked again, and I heard the voices of thousands and millions of angels around the throne and of the living beings and the elders. And they sang in a mighty chorus: ‘Worthy is the Lamb who was slaughtered—to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and blessing.” And then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea. They sang: ‘Blessing and honor and glory and power belong to the one sitting on the throne and to the Lamb forever and ever.’ And the four living beings said, ‘Amen!’ And the twenty-four elders fell down and worshiped the Lamb.” Revelation 5:11–14 NASB
See also John 21:1–19 NASB.
ON A PERSONAL NOTE:
Dear friends and spiritual family,
I have come to the place that I must step away from actively writing, recording, and posting a sermon blog, questions, and video each week, so that I can fully participate in our local Grace Communion Big Sandy ministry as Hope Avenue champion, and care for my family, my community, and my health. I also have writing, copyediting, and seminary responsibilities to fulfill. I simply cannot do all that is being asked of me.
Over the years, I have created an archive on the Our Life in the Trinity Studies page (https://ourlifeinthetrinitystudies.wordpress.com) where you can find questions, blogs, and video sermons for each week according to the Revised Common Lectionary three-year cycle. Weekly video sermons with playlists according to the lectionary year and season are on the YouTube channel (https://www.youtube.com/@ourlifeinthetrinity). I encourage you to check these out and make use of them in your studies and preaching.
Thank you for your support and encouragement and prayers over the years. I am very grateful for each and every one of you who has joined with me along the way. I wish you all God’s best. I am still available via the contact information on the site and on Facebook, should you need to reach out.
Blessings, Linda
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Offered Once For All
By Linda Rex
October 27, 2024, Proper 25—As we have been touching down here and there in the book of Hebrews, we have been learning about Jesus Christ serving as our high priest now that that he has risen from the grave and ascended into heaven. We’ve looked at Jesus and his intercessory role in our lives, and how he ever offers our worship and praise to our Father, and offers the Father’s gifts, his Word, and his love and grace to us in the Spirit.
Perhaps you’ve heard that old phrase, “There’s nothing so certain as death and taxes.” In our New Testament passage for this Sunday, Hebrews 7:23–28, this book’s author notes that in the original tabernacle which we read about in the book of Exodus and Leviticus, the high priest was appointed according to the law. This high priest would eventually die, and another would be appointed in his place. This meant that as time went by, the role of high priest was continually being filled by different people. Death limited the ministry of those who offered this service of high priesthood to God and the people of ancient Israel.
Jesus Christ, on the other hand, while in his human flesh did die, but then he, being the Son of God, rose from the grave. Because he remains both God and human, Jesus lives forever and will never die. Jesus has been appointed our high priest according to the Father’s promise, which will never be broken. We can take comfort that nothing, not even death, can separate us from Jesus and his love for us (Rom. 8:38–39). There is continuity in Jesus’ ministry to us in the Spirit, and we can rest assured that he will always be there for us, offering us grace in our time of need, as we draw near to him.
As our high priest, Jesus offered up the perfect sacrifice—himself. He does not need to continually offer up new animal sacrifices like the ancient high priests were required to. No, he simply offered himself, in our place on our behalf, just once, and offers himself continually on our behalf, in every moment, on into eternity. Jesus has no sin in himself that needs to be dealt with through sacrifice as the ancient high priests constantly had to concern themselves with. Rather, Jesus is without sin, holy in character, and flawless and undefiled. So what he offers—himself—is the perfect sacrifice. Not only did his self-offering only have to be done once, it also was an offering that includes all people, and all that God has made in and through Jesus, and it lasts forever.
Because of who Jesus is as the Creator and Redeemer of all things, his sacrifice has tremendous power to redeem, restore, and renew. We celebrate the wonderful gift of new life that Jesus gives us, and we rest in his faithful intercession in our place on our behalf before his Father in the Spirit. Jesus is constantly at work making all things new—this is his word to us through the apostle John (Rev. 21:5; 2 Cor. 5:17). And we look forward to when Jesus will return in glory and renew all things as he ushers in the new heaven and earth. What a glorious hope we have in Jesus!
Now, if you thought that is good news, just consider how wonderful it is that we do not have to try and work things out with a distant, uninvolved, uncaring God. This Jesus Christ who we trust in is the Son of our heavenly Father, with whom he lives in close relationship in the heavenly Spirit. There is an eternal relationship of love and grace that Jesus brought humanity right up into. And within that relationship of love and grace, we get to share by the Spirit in Jesus’ own sonship, in face-to-face oneness with his Father. We are not left trying to figure out some way to make ourselves right with God, or trying to make ourselves good enough or acceptable enough to be worthy of God’s love, attention, or grace. Instead, we are simply able to rest in and revel in the joy of participating in Jesus’ own oneness with his Father in the Spirit, as we trust in Jesus’ finished work. This motivates us to live a life of gratitude and obedient service to the Lord who both created us and redeems us. Praise God!
Dear Jesus, thank you for the amazing gift you have given, in giving yourself so generously and freely in our place on our behalf. Thank you for ever interceding for us and for bringing us home to our Father to be with him forever in the Spirit. We praise you for your glorious work! Amen.
“The former priests, on the one hand, existed in greater numbers because they were prevented by death from continuing, but Jesus, on the other hand, because He continues forever, holds His priesthood permanently. Therefore He is able also to save forever those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them. For it was fitting for us to have such a high priest, holy, innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners and exalted above the heavens; who does not need daily, like those high priests, to offer up sacrifices, first for His own sins and then for the sins of the people, because this He did once for all when He offered up Himself. For the Law appoints men as high priests who are weak, but the word of the oath, which came after the Law, appoints a Son, made perfect forever.” Hebrews 7:23–28 NASB
“The fact that there were so many priests shows how frequently they died and had to be replaced. But there will be no successor to the Priesthood of Jesus because he remains forever. Through him mankind’s approach to God is forever secured; he continues to communicate the full accomplishment of their salvation. As our High Priest he towers far above every other priestly system in conspicuous prominence and in holy character. His guileless, flawless life on earth was never compromised by sin, and he himself was exalted above the heavens where he occupies the highest rank of authority in the eternal realm. Unlike the previous high priests whose system of daily sacrifices was a constant reminder of their own failures, he had no need to sacrifice on his own behalf. The sacrifice he offered was himself for all; a sacrifice never to be repeated. Under the law, men were appointed as high priests regardless of their weaknesses. The word of the oath, which succeeded the law, appointed the son in perpetual perfection.” Hebrews 7:23–28 Mirror Bible
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Because of Christ
By Linda Rex
August 4, 2024, Proper 13 | After Pentecost—As I was reflecting upon the New Testament passage for this Sunday, Ephesians 4:1–16, it occurred to me that many people today do not see or understand the value and significance of participating in a spiritual fellowship such as a church. Churches, and their accompanying denominations, have received a lot of criticism and ridicule in recent years. And many of us are too busy with life elsewhere to be actively involved in a church, or we have no interest in anything having to do with matters of faith.
This is understandable, considering our human history and how often we as human beings within the body of Christ have fallen so short of what Christ called us to be. The reality is that when the Spirit brings people together and unites them in Christ, these people are still learning and growing, and are in the process of maturing into Christ. Our purpose in joining in fellowship with others of like mind and heart is not to be or become perfect people, but to grow up in Christ and to serve God and others, in love and unity.
The apostle Paul stressed the importance of unity within the body of Christ, a unity which is only possible in and through the work of Jesus by his Spirit. Jesus led the way and brought us up into his own union and communion with his Father in the Spirit, and he is the head of his body, the Church (speaking of the universal, all-encompassing, cross-denominational and cross-distinctives body of Christ). God brings together in Christ by his Spirit people from all walks of life, all different sorts of people who may or may not like one another or understand one another.
I thought I would share some bullet points on this passage. I think they say well what we need to learn from Paul about being the body of Christ, the Church:
- Because Christ has given us his fullness in the Spirit and made us one with God—we are to maintain our unity in Christ. We are to beware of any attempt to cause division within the body of Christ. We are all one in Christ Jesus. We may worship differently, we may have a relationship with God that is different than someone else, but we are all one in Christ Jesus. We are to keep Christ at the center and we will have room for one another.1
- Because Christ has given us his fullness in the Spirit and made us one with God—we offer ourselves in works of service. How has he uniquely gifted each of us? In what way can we serve others the way Christ serves us? No one is left out of Jesus’ generous gift of grace or of his calling to serve others. What would Christ have us do to participate with him in building up his body?
- Because Christ has given us his fullness in the Spirit and made us one with God—we participate in equipping or being equipped. Has God called us and gifted us uniquely to act as a ligament or joint in his body, to hold it together by serving as an apostle, prophet, evangelist, pastor or teacher? Then we are to do the work of service Christ has given us and diligently equip others for service. If we were not called to be a joint or ligament, then God called us and gifted us to do works of service in some other part of the body.2 We are to allow the Spirit to empower us to serve with Christ’s heart of service. We are to allow ourselves to be equipped by those God has gifted to equip us. We are to stay grounded in Christ and grow in our knowledge of the Son of God.
- Because Christ has given us his fullness in the Spirit and made us one with God—we are to speak the truth in love. Christ is the fullest expression of love and is the truth of our human existence, having lived our life, died our death, and risen for our salvation. He himself is the fullness we all are to grow up in until we reach maturity. He is the truth we speak in love.3 4
- Because Christ has given us his fullness in the Spirit and made us one with God—we are to grow up in Christ. We are to stop being childish, easily swayed and distracted by every new spiritual fad that comes our way. We are to turn from anything that distracts us from Christ or from being busy doing the works of service he has called us to do. We are to participate with him in building up his church and maintaining its unity as members of his body.
As you read these bullet points, what stood out to you? Is there some way in which the Lord is wanting you to reframe your view of the body of Christ, the Church? How is the Lord is calling you to join with others in service to him and his people? Take the time to be still before God and to invite Jesus to speak to you about this. What does he have to say to you? Are you listening?
[1] Sproul, RC, The Purpose of God, An exposition of Ephesians. Scotland (Christian Focus Publications via Logos Software, 1994), Eph 4:7-16.
[2] Wiersbe, Warren W., Wiersbe’s Expository Outlines on the New Testament. USA (SP Publications, Inc. via Logos Software), Eph. 4, section I.
[3] John 14:6.
[4] Stone, Sam E., ed., Sermon Outlines on Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians. Cincinnati, Ohio (The Standard Publishing Company, 1995), The Unity of the Spirit—Ephesians 4:1–16.
Dear Father, Jesus, Spirit, you draw us together into union and communion with you and others, growing us up into the full maturity of Christ. Grant us the grace to hear your call and to respond obediently, by participating fully within your body of believers, the Church, through Jesus and by your Spirit. Amen.
“Therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord, implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another in love, being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all. But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ’s gift. Therefore it says, ‘When He ascended on high, He led captive a host of captives, and He gave gifts to men.’ (Now this expression, ‘He ascended,’ what does it mean except that He also had descended into the lower parts of the earth? He who descended is Himself also He who ascended far above all the heavens, so that He might fill all things.) And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ; until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ. As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming; but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ, from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love.” Ephesians 4:1–16 NASB
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The Wisdom of Christ’s Cross
By Linda Rex
March 3, 2024, 3rd Sunday in Preparation for Easter or Lent—Do you believe that people are able to change? I don’t mean just losing ten pounds or learning to drive a car. What I mean is, are people truly able to experience a significant life-changing transformation such as that of Ebenezer Scrooge in Charles Dicken’s story, A Christmas Carol?
One of the things I have heard over the years is people saying to me, “That’s just the way he is. He’ll always be like that.” Once a person is put in a particular box, some people refuse to consider the possibility that perhaps, this person may at some point in their life experience an epiphany or a revelation that so transforms their outlook and way of being, that they begin to form new values, new behaviors, and new goals and ambitions. The person begins to change significantly, much to the surprise of those around them. Sometimes people don’t like this change and begin to oppose it, resisting even good changes because the person is leaving behind their personal “normal,” and this makes those around the person feel uncomfortable.
The thing is, that Jesus came to us for this very reason. He came to facilitate our transformation and renewal, as those who were meant to be image-bearers of Christ who live in right relationship with God and others. In the New Testament reading for this Sunday, 1 Corinthians 1:18–25, the apostle Paul explains that apart from God’s self-revelation in Jesus Christ, no human being can ever come to know God and have a right relationship with him. Humans have for millennia attempted to seek God out, to understand and worship him, but they all failed to grasp the depths of God’s love and grace. Humans have often relied upon do-it-yourself methods of salvation, and have tended to worship the things of our own hands rather than loving the God who loves us so much, he did not want to be God without us, and so came to us to bring us home to himself.
The apostle Paul shows us that human philosophy and reason do not enable us to truly know God for who he really is. This is something God reveals himself in his own way, through Jesus in his life, death and resurrection. The wisdom and power of God is found in a crucified Christ, a Suffering Servant Messiah, a humble God in weak human flesh, through whom Jesus died and rose again, rather than in a powerful human sovereign over a temporary human kingdom. The wisdom and power of God is found in our crucified Christ—in death there is new life, because of Jesus! What we view as foolish, God views as wise. What we view as weak, God views as dynamic and powerful.
As the New Testament reading for this Sunday, John 2:13–22, shows, God’s great wisdom was that he would take on human flesh and in the process of doing so, drive out (as he drove out the animals and cleansed the temple) all of that which gets in the way of our face-to-face relationship with his Father in the Spirit. As human beings, we often clutter up our inner selves, as well as our outer lives, with a transactional mentality, a user and abuser method of relationship, and tend toward a self-absorbed and self-centered way of being. It is significant that in John’s gospel, Jesus forms a type of “scourge” as he empties out the temple, for before his crucifixion, he would experience an even more painful and dramatic scourging of his own flesh by the Roman soldiers. But his pre-crucifixion scourging, his death and resurrection were all apart of the process necessary to our salvation.
It is instructive that just as the Corinthians were focused on either receiving signs and miracles, or on the other hand, human wisdom and success, the ancient Jewish leaders in the temple wanted a sign from Jesus as proof that he had the authority to decide who could be in the temple and who couldn’t. Jesus didn’t give these leaders the satisfaction of a straight answer, but pointed them to his upcoming death and resurrection. He indicated that the place of worship, the center of our human encounters with God, would no longer be a building or a particular worship system, but would be centered in Jesus Christ.
Christ is now our place of worship, and he has forged within our human flesh through his life, death, and resurrection, the capacity for face-to-face union and communion with his Father in the Spirit. He has created, in our human flesh, a naos, or sanctuary, where we may through him, worship God in Spirit and in truth. As we trust in and participate in this spiritual reality, we experience renewal and transformation. As long as we are in this human flesh, we will still struggle and fall short of our true identity in Christ, but God’s love for us and his grace toward us is not altered by our failures and shortcomings. Rather, he reaches out compassionately, and continues to draw us to himself through Jesus and in his Spirit. And that is the good, good news!
Heavenly Father, thank you for drawing us to yourself, and for doing all that is needed through your Son and in the Spirit so we might live now and forever in right relationship with you and one another. Thank you, Jesus, for so powerfully driving out evil, sin, and death through your humility and sacrificial self-offering. Lord, grant us the grace to allow you to do whatever is necessary by your Spirit to cleanse us, fill us with your presence and your love, so we may be poured out in loving service and giving to others, just as you were for us. In your name, amen.
“For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written, ‘I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the cleverness of the clever I will set aside.’ Where is the wise man? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not come to know God, God was well-pleased through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. For indeed Jews ask for signs and Greeks search for wisdom; but we preach Christ crucified, to Jews a stumbling block and to Gentiles foolishness, but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.” 1 Corinthians 1:18–25 NASB
“The Passover of the Jews was near, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. And He found in the temple those who were selling oxen and sheep and doves, and the money changers seated at their tables. And He made a scourge of cords, and drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and the oxen; and He poured out the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables; and to those who were selling the doves He said, ‘Take these things away; stop making My Father’s house a place of business.’ His disciples remembered that it was written, ‘zeal for Your house will consume me.’ The Jews then said to Him, ‘What sign do You show us as your authority for doing these things?’ Jesus answered them, ‘Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.’ The Jews then said, ‘It took forty-six years to build this temple, and will You raise it up in three days?’ But He was speaking of the temple of His body. So when He was raised from the dead, His disciples remembered that He said this; and they believed the Scripture and the word which Jesus had spoken.” John 2:13–22 NASB
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It’s a Mystery
By Linda Rex
December 24, 2023, 4th Sunday in Advent, Christmas Eve—I don’t know about you, but I love a good mystery, the old-fashioned kind, like in an Agatha Christie novel. As you read the text, you try to pay attention to the clues and guess who the villain is before the author unveils the truth at the end of the story. A good author throws about lots of red herrings to distract us or divert us from the truth, and sends us down rabbit trails which keep us from seeing the true perpetrator of the crime.
I wonder if the reason we love mysteries so much is because God loves a good mystery. Indeed, God is the One who set us all in the middle of life’s greatest mystery, and the apostle Paul refers to this mystery in his letters. In our passage for this last Sunday in Advent, Romans 16:25–27, Paul refers to this mystery at the end of his letter to the church in Rome, as he closes with a doxology of praise to God.
Paul says that “the mystery which has been kept secret for long ages past” has been revealed. The prophetic word gave us many clues about this mystery, but it was not fully disclosed until the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. In Eph. 3:3–9, Paul calls it the “mystery of Christ” which the Spirit revealed to the prophets and apostles, and that it was for many generations, he says in Col. 1:26, hidden in God but was now made manifest to his holy people.
What is this mystery? In Colossians 1:26, Paul puts it this way: “this mystery among the Gentiles [non-Jews], which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.” This is why in Ephesians, he calls it “the mystery of Christ.” The “revelation of the mystery” was the fulfillment of the promise God made over and over, beginning in the garden and on through many centuries to his people ancient Israel, that the Messiah would come and save them.
Even though his people believed this salvation had something to do with land and an earthly kingdom, the Scriptures pointed to a Messiah who would usher in the age of the Spirit, when God would free his people from their proclivity to sin and turning away from him. What was overlooked as well was the many passages which pointed to the redemption and salvation of the nations—people from all nations would be saved and come to worship the Lord.
The mystery revealed to us in Christ is that Father, Son, and Spirit, before time began, determined that all humans God created would be able to share in the divine life and love, and that this would require the self-giving of the Son of God through incarnation, crucifixion, and resurrection. This free gift of love and grace was always in God’s plan for every human being, and even though we as human beings did not know this gift was planned for us, God gave us lots of clues along the way, and when the time was right, fulfilled his plan in and through Jesus Christ. Looking again at our passage in Romans, we see that the ability to see this mystery is given to us as a gift. It requires a revelation that only God can give us, and he does this through Christ by his Holy Spirit. We receive it through repentance and faith in Christ.
What you believe about who Jesus Christ is, is important. To see and acknowledge Jesus Christ for who he is as both Lord and Savior opens the way for us to comprehend the mysteries of the kingdom of God, and enables us to grasp this greatest mystery: God has come to us in Christ, joined us in our human flesh, shared an authentic human existence with us, died the death we all die, and rose again, bringing our human flesh into the divine life and love, and sending the Spirit so we all can individually begin to participate in God’s life and love by faith in Christ. As we come to faith in Christ, which is a gift God gives us by his Spirit, we begin to see more clearly all the clues that led to the revelation of this mystery, and we grow in our understanding of the mysteries of the kingdom.
This Christmas season, my prayer is that you experience in a way you never have before, this mystery of Christ in you, the hope of glory. May you have a profound personal revelation of this mystery and begin to share this good news with others. Merry Christmas!
Our Father, thank you for the gift of your Son and you Spirit by whom we may come to share life with you now and forever in your love and grace. Grant that we may see in a way we never have before that Christ is in us, and we are in Christ, and Christ is in you, by your heavenly Spirit. Amen.
“Now to God who is able to strengthen you according to my gospel and the proclamation of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery that was kept secret for long ages but is now disclosed, and through the prophetic writings is made known to all the Gentiles, according to the command of the eternal God, to bring about the obedience of faith—to the only wise God, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever! Amen.” Romans 16:25–27 NRSV
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Giving the Gift We Are
by Linda Rex
August 27, 2023, Proper 16 | After Pentecost—Recently my son and I took a trip out of state to a part of the United States I had not been in before. On our way home, we drove for a while down the Blue Ridge Parkway simply as an opportunity to see God’s creation and enjoy the view. The scenery was beautiful and worth seeing, but the roads were full of snakelike curves and sharp corners. As we got four hours into the trip, I began to wonder if the scenery was worth the effort we were putting into just trying to stay on the road.
Sometimes we make decisions about our everyday lives which don’t take into consideration the long-range view we ought to have. There are times when we forget the spiritual realities which are meant to guide our choices. The apostle Paul in the passage for this Sunday, Romans 12:1-8, reminds us of where our focus needs to be when it comes to our everyday lives. Having spent much of the earlier part of his letter to the Romans explaining our common need for grace and the generous, undeserved gift of mercy and inclusion in God’s life and love which we all have been given, Paul goes on to explain the impact this is meant to have on the way we conduct our lives.
Since grace is a gift we are given by God, we respond in gratitude by giving our lives away in service to God and others. Paul says this is our “spiritual service of worship” (NASB, NRSV, ESV), our “true and proper worship” (NIV), or our “reasonable service” (NKJV). In other words, rather than offering up animals in ritual sacrifice through death, we offer ourselves to God alive from the dead through Jesus’ own sacrificial offering. Instead of having to die ourselves, we die to ourselves by offering ourselves and our lives to God to do whatever he asks of us.
Determining what God asks of us means renewing our minds or our way of being so that it coincides with the truth of who we are in Christ. We focus on Jesus Christ, learning from him, and opening ourselves up to the Spirit’s guidance and direction. Since Jesus Christ lived our perfect human life as we were meant to, in right relationship with his Father in the Spirit, he becomes for us our own right relationship with God by the Spirit. We rest in him, not in our human efforts to get things right. Elsewhere the apostle Paul reminds us to keep our mind on things above, not on things on this earth, and to place our affections on things above, not on earthly things. We want to grow up into the fullness of Christ, but we won’t get there if our focus is upon human standards, rituals, ways of conducting our lives rather than on Jesus.
Paul goes on to say that as we grow up in Christ and are transformed by the renewing of our minds, we not only offer ourselves to God, but we also offer our lives in service to one another. God, by his Spirit, has through Christ given us new life. He has taken our human flesh through a change similar to what a caterpillar experiences when it becomes a butterfly—something entirely new being made out of the old. We stop eating leaves and start drinking nectar. We stop walking everywhere and start flying. Whatever we have turned away from to follow Christ no longer is our focus. Rather, we are focused on God’s agenda in this world—on the restoration, renewal, transformation, and healing of all things. We are focused on pointing others to the present and future reality of the kingdom of God here on earth as it is in heaven.
The grace God has given us in Christ poured out on and in us by his Spirit comes with gifts of service meant to be a gift to others. Just as we are united with God through Christ in the Spirit, we are joined with one another in such a way that each of us is an essential part of the body with gifts that are meant to be a blessing and service to others. This means our everyday lives become a place where we pour our lives out in love, generosity, compassion, and service to everyone around us, whether family, friends, neighbors, strangers, or even our enemies.
This elevates our human experience to a new level of participation with Jesus Christ in what he is doing in the world. We are no longer self-absorbed, self-centered, or self-willed. Rather, we are Spirit-absorbed, Christ-centered, God-willed—living as we were always meant to, in right relationship with God and one another. We live in other-centered, self-sacrificing, service to God and others.
You and I both know that this is an ideal we rarely seem to experience in this life. This is why our everyday life is a matter of daily sacrifice—of offering ourselves once more to God in gratitude and thanksgiving. Just as Jesus deliberately and willingly walked the long road to the cross, voluntarily offering himself up for us all, we choose each day to offer ourselves up as well. Our gifts and abilities are not ours to be used for our own pleasure, but for the will of God—how he would like them to be a blessing to himself and others. Whatever the result of our efforts—it is all of grace. We rest in Christ’s faithful obedience to his Father, not in our own perfect offering.
As we do this each day, we may be surprised to discover after a while that our sacrifice is no sacrifice at all, for we, in Christ, end up doing what we were originally created for and best gifted at. And our life is given meaning and value in a way we’ve never experienced before. And we no longer waste our time in futile, self-destructive pastimes, while instead, we find ways to enjoy life and relationship which are healthy, joy-filled and productive. We discover we are living God’s kingdom life right now, in fellowship with God and each other as we were always meant to. For God always meant this for us, even before any of us or our cosmos even existed.
Thank you, dear Father, for your faithful love and boundless grace. Enable us to freely offer ourselves this day, and every day, in loving service to you and others. Open our eyes to see how you have gifted and called us to service, and grant us each day the grace to do so faithfully, in Jesus’ name and by your Spirit. Amen.
“Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect. For through the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think; but to think so as to have sound judgment, as God has allotted to each a measure of faith. For just as we have many members in one body and all the members do not have the same function, so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. Since we have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, each of us is to exercise them accordingly: if prophecy, according to the proportion of his faith; if service, in his serving; or he who teaches, in his teaching; or he who exhorts, in his exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness.” Romans 12:1–8 NASB
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Talking to the Air
by Linda Rex
July 30, 2023, Proper 12 | After Pentecost—When I talk to some people about praying to God, they get extremely uncomfortable, especially if I mention Jesus or the Holy Spirit. For some people, doing this is the equivalent of having a tooth filled or being asked to give an impromptu speech before a stadium full of people. One believer said it was totally awkward talking to the air as though someone was there that they could not see—it felt weird and psycho. Other people I know believe prayer is best done at church, and saw no reason that it should be done at any other time. After all, this religious stuff is only for when we’re in church and has nothing to do with our everyday lives, right?
I’m sure you realize I am being facetious, and not serious. Jesus told the Samaritan woman at the well that it’s not about getting our location of worship correct—it’s about worshiping God in Spirit and in truth (John 4:21-24). Jesus brought it out of the realm of religiosity and ritual into the space of personal relationship. Jesus, in his life, death, resurrection, and ascension brought all of us up into his own union and communion with his Father in the Spirit, and by the Spirit we participate in their inner life and love. The apostle Paul teaches that our bodies are the temple of the Spirit of God corporately and individually, with the indwelling Spirit enabling us to freely participate in intimate fellowship with God and each other as God always meant for us to do.
The apostle Paul in our reading for this Sunday, Romans 8:26–39, reminds the believers in Rome that in Jesus Christ the incarnate Son, the elect chosen One, all persons are elect and chosen, “predestined to be conformed to the image of [God’s] Son” (v. 29). In our gospel reading for today, Matthew 13:31–33, 44–52, Jesus’ parables point not only to the catholicity (the universal or cosmic scope) of the gospel, but also to the reality that God does all the heavy lifting. What we do is participate in what Jesus has already done, is doing today by his Holy Spirit, and will do when he returns in glory.
Paul explains that rather than working so hard to justify ourselves, we rest in the reality of God justifying us and glorifying us. Rather than trying to get ourselves right with God, we accept the reality that Jesus made/makes us right with God. Jesus interceded for us and continues to intercede for us as our advocate with the Father in the Spirit. And when we can’t seem to come up with the words we need to say, the Spirit intercedes for us, enabling us to commune with the Father through his Son Jesus and find healing and restoration. In this whole scenario, we find the triune God—Father, Son, and Spirit—bringing us into right relationship with himself, doing the hard work of uniting us with himself.
Our joy in all this is that the triune God—Father, Son, and Spirit—are for us. In other words, who can stand against us if the God of all stands in our place, advocating on our behalf, defending us and reconciling us? And our other joy is that nothing—in heaven or on earth—can separate us from God’s love. Not even the worst possible thing this world could possibly come up with. Not even the evil one or his demons.
So, we are invited to talk with our triune God, in every circumstance, in every situation, at all times. We are encouraged to speak to him as Father, as brother, as friend, and as mother. We are asked to give him our attention—to listen to him to hear his response, whether by written Word of God, or the myriad ways in which the Spirit finds to communicate with us through books, conversations, podcasts, videos, devotionals, worship music, spiritual disciplines, or the inner still small voice of the Spirit.
Having a conversation with God may require the use of what Larry Hinkle of Odyssey in Christ calls our “sanctified imagination.” It may mean stretching ourselves a little out of our comfort zone to try something new and scary, that may feel a bit weird at first. But in time, we may discover that it has become as normal as putting on clothes in the morning, or sending a friend a text. We may be surprised to find that it has actually become a part of who we are, something we always were meant to do as a part of our everyday life as God’s beloved children. And we will also discover that we are beginning to look just a little more like Jesus in the process.
Dear God—Father, Son, Spirit—thank you for loving us so much that you have done all that is needed for us to be in right relationship with you. Thank you, Jesus, and thank you, Holy Spirit, for interceding for us so faithfully. As we begin to take steps toward deepening our relationship with you, enable us to see with the inner eyes of your Spirit, and to hear and obey your Word to us, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
“In the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words; and He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren; and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified. What then shall we say to these things? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things? Who will bring a charge against God’s elect? God is the one who justifies; who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us. Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? Just as it is written, ‘For Your sake we are being put to death all day long; We were considered as sheep to be slaughtered.’ But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8:26–39 NASB
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Zeal for God’s House
By Linda Rex
March 7, 2021, 3rd SUNDAY IN PREPARATION FOR EASTER OR LENT—While taking a walk with my son this week he surprised me by showing me a colony of herons who were nesting high in a tree over the Cumberland River. On our walk we also saw a couple of deer next to the path, squirrels hunting nuts, and many other types of birds flitting here and there. The frogs in the water-covered ground were singing their hearts out. It almost felt like springtime.
I love being out in creation, and am truly grateful God gave us so many marvelous gifts when he made everything. One of the books I’ve been reading lately is called “Care of Creation” and is a collection of articles centered on the topic of the stewardship of God’s creation. In recent years, I have been learning about stewardship in a lot of different aspects of life—finances, health, creation, and personal belongings are some of these areas. Stewardship recognizes that we are not the owners of what we are caring for, but are merely stewards or caretakers of what we have been given by God.
In the gospel reading for this Sunday, we find Jesus entered into the area of the temple where there were moneychangers and people selling animals to be sacrificed. He drove the animals out, overturning the tables and telling the people to stop making his Father’s house a place of business. Mark, the author of the gospel, wrote that this fulfilled an Old Testament scripture which said, “Zeal for your house will consume me.” Jesus’ actions in the temple were on behalf of his heavenly Father.
As stewards of the temple, the place of worship, the Jewish leaders had allowed people in to do what they believed were necessary transactions to accommodate the worshippers. But what happened was that making money at the expense of the people became more important than facilitating worship of Israel’s God. Jesus’ indignation was well-founded, as his Father was not being honored, since worship of God was being supplanted by greed and extortion.
We do not want to be like these Jewish leaders of that day who were more concerned about what authority Jesus had to do these actions than they were about the “whitewashed tombs” they had become (Mt. 23:27). They did not seem to realize they were needing to have the greed and other sins in their hearts driven out—and this is why Jesus was there among them. Temple sacrifices did not remove sin from the human heart, and our proclivity to return to sin even when we have forgiveness offered us shows that we need something deeper and more permanent. Jesus removed sin by one sacrifice for all time for all. His death on the cross permanently removed all sin, therefore all need for sacrifices (Heb. 7:27).
The leaders asked Jesus by what authority he drove out the money changers and he simply told them, “Destroy this temple and I will raise it in three days.” It wasn’t until after the crucifixion and subsequent resurrection that the disciples understood that the temple Jesus was talking about wasn’t Herod’s temple, but Jesus’ own body. When Christ told the Samaritan woman that the day was coming when true worshipers of God would worship him in spirit and in truth, he was meaning this very thing. The place where we go to worship God would not be a building, but a person—Jesus Christ.
Jesus forged within our humanity a space for true worship, where the Holy Spirit comes to dwell in human hearts, transforming us from the inside out. Jesus lived our life, died our death and rose again, sending us the Spirit so we could participate in his own intimate relationship with the Father. When we turn to Christ, trusting in his finished work, we are joined with Jesus and begin to experience the reality of God dwelling in us by the Spirit. When we worship God, Jesus stands as the high priest, mediating between us and the Father in the Spirit, so that all our worship is received and accepted by God.
The temple of the Spirit today is not only each of us individually, but more specifically the body of Christ, the church. God indwells the community of believers—those who follow Christ, leading and directing them by his Spirit. As believers gather for worship and to serve others, they are brought together by the ministry of the Spirit. What is the focus of our attention as we gather together? Specifically, worship is to be Christ-centered and Trinitarian in focus. And our discipleship is also designed to draw us in relationship with others more deeply into the life and love of the Trinity.
What Jesus forged for us is a place in human hearts for God to dwell in by the Spirit. At this time of year, we can ask the Spirit to show us those things we have introduced into our lives and hearts that have supplanted the place meant only for God himself. We can invite Jesus to chase the usurpers out of our hearts, making more room for the Spirit to work in our hearts and lives.
If we do this, though, we need to realize that it will require us participating in the process Jesus described to the Jewish leaders—destroying the temple and rebuilding it. There may be things Jesus asks of us—denying ourselves, picking up our cross, and following him. We trust in Jesus’ death and resurrection—symbolically participating ourselves once through baptism, and then in an ongoing way through taking the bread and wine in communion. We receive what God has done for us in Jesus, allowing the Spirit to form Christ in us. Stewarding the new life God has given us in Christ involves our full participation in Christ’s death and resurrection, living and walking in the Spirit, trusting in the finished work of Jesus and allowing him to do as he wishes with us and our lives.
A good question to contemplate as we move toward remembering the crucifixion, death and resurrection of Jesus is, what consumes us? Is it zeal for the presence of God in us and in our lives? Or is it something a whole lot more self-centered and temporal? Perhaps it is time to reconsider how well we are stewarding the gift of eternal life God has given us in Jesus Christ his Son.
Heavenly Father, thank you for demonstrating your great grace and love by giving us your Son and your Spirit. Enable us to faithfully steward these gifts. We offer ourselves to your transforming touch, Jesus—drive out anything that does not belong here. Fill every corner of our hearts with your very presence, precious Spirit, for Christ’s sake. Amen.
“For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” 1 Corinthians 1:18(–25) NASB
“His disciples remembered that it was written, ‘Zeal for your house will consume me.’” John 2:17 (13–22) NASB
Fasting to Be Heard
By Linda Rex
February 17, 2021, ASH WEDNESDAY—As a congregation, we have been seeking God’s face, participating as a group in prayer and fasting. Ash Wednesday inaugurates the Lenten season, a season of preparation for Holy Week when we celebrate the last supper, Jesus’ crucifixion, death, and resurrection. During this season, many of us will choose to fast in some way, whether by ceasing to eat certain foods, or stopping the use of certain items, or restricting our participation in certain activities.
It is good to participate in spiritual disciplines such as fasting and prayer. But the question we need to attend to is, why are we doing it? How are we doing it? And what do we hope to gain from such an activity?
When we practice the spiritual disciplines—and there are a wide variety of disciplines we can choose to practice—we must remember that we do not do them to try to get God’s attention or earn his love. Praying more, studying the Bible and memorizing scriptures, and going to worship services do not earn us brownie points with God—he gladly receives our devotion to him, but it is not necessary to his happiness. Neither does practicing spiritual disciplines alter his love for us. God loves us apart from our actively seeking his face—he sent us Jesus long before we ever thought to say a single prayer.
However, there are times when we acutely feel the distance between us and God. Aren’t spiritual disciplines helpful to bring us closer to God? Absolutely, but not in the way we often seem to think they do. They do not change God’s mind or heart toward us but rather, they bring about a change in us toward God and others. What spiritual disciplines do is open us up to the work God wants to do in us by his Holy Spirit. Spiritual disciplines such as prayer, fasting, meditation, service, humility, and even self-care and care of creation, are ways of placing ourselves in God’s presence and inviting him to do whatever he wants to do in us and in our lives.
There is a distinction we must observe between simply being pious and devout for the sake of trying to move or control God and others, and sincerely laying ourselves out before God in open submission and surrender to his will. Doing the first means performing actions which merely give people the impression of our being good and holy while doing very little to bring about healing and wholeness in us or in our relationships with others. The second is profoundly different, for it is a deep personal interaction with God that can be life-changing, and can move us to begin to live in new ways, offering ourselves to God in whole-hearted love and obedience that is demonstrated by loving our neighbors and ourselves as we ought.
Through the prophet Isaiah God took his people to task for doing their humble fasting to be noticed by God. The reason was because in the midst of their religious practices, they were still mistreating people, neglecting the poor and needy, and not caring for their own families. Jesus himself took the religious leaders, who were so pious, to task for doing these things as well. What good is all our religious ritual and practices if we are unwilling to actually love those people who are already in our lives?
Sadly, it is often we as followers of Jesus who are the worst at being critical and condemning of one another. We are most often the ones who are guilty of deceit, denial, sexual promiscuity, greed and gluttony. We cannot get along with one another, it seems—there are so many things we disagree on. And so often we refuse to allow others the freedom of being guided by the Spirit in some direction that is different than the way he is guiding us.
As a congregation, we have had many opportunities to serve and help those who are poor, needy, and homeless, along with those who were simply struggling to get by. Let us not lose heart in our service to those God places in our lives—we have a calling and a gift, a grace to share with each one. In our seeking after God, our following Jesus, let us allow the Spirit to move in our hearts and minds, giving us Abba’s heart for each of his children. Let us continue to open up our hearts to receive his love and grace that we might share the good news of Jesus with others.
The Word of God took on our humanity, to share in our struggles, so that through his life, death, resurrection and ascension, he might bring us up to share life with him now and forever. In his second letter to the Corinthians, the apostle Paul enumerated a great number of ways in which he and those in ministry with him suffered and struggled as they shared the good news with others (2 Cor. 5:20b–6:10) In Christ and in Paul, we see the willingness to simply go to whatever ends were necessary to share the good news of God’s love.
Paul tells his readers, “Don’t receive the grace of God in vain.” There is a cost to the good news of Jesus Christ—he gave up the glories of heaven to become sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God in him. What a precious gift of grace! With this gift in mind, our participation in spiritual disciplines arises, not from a sense of neediness or desperation, but from a sense of gratitude and thankfulness, an appreciation for the gracious gift of eternal life we have been given in Jesus. And our lives will reflect our understanding and appreciation for the gift God gave to us in Christ.
Drawing close to God, then, by practicing spiritual disciplines becomes an expression of thanksgiving, and an opening up of ourself in grateful worship and praise to do whatever God’s will may be in our lives. God has given us so much—so our fasting and prayer, our worship and service, and other disciplines become a laying down of ourselves, a response of love and appreciation to the God who has loved us so thoroughly and so well. The result of genuine spiritual disciplines then will be an even greater desire to share with others what has so freely been given to us and a life which is a fuller expression of Christlikeness, in which pouring ourselves out in service to others is our daily practice.
Dear Abba, thank you for your gift of your Son Jesus Christ and your Spirit. Open us up more fully to you and renew in us a passion for your will and your ways. Give us your mind and heart so that our lives more fully reflect your goodness and love, through Jesus our Lord. Amen.
“‘Why have we fasted and You do not see?
Why have we humbled ourselves and You do not notice?’
Behold, on the day of your fast you find your desire,
And drive hard all your workers.
Behold, you fast for contention and strife and to strike with a wicked fist.
You do not fast like you do today to make your voice heard on high. …
Then you will call, and the LORD will answer;
You will cry, and He will say, ‘Here I am.’
If you remove the yoke from your midst,
The pointing of the finger and speaking wickedness,
And if you give yourself to the hungry
And satisfy the desire of the afflicted,
Then your light will rise in darkness
And your gloom will become like midday.” Isaiah 58:(1–12) 3–4, 9–10 NASB
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