It Is Time To Say NO!

I read the Old Testament reading, for Sunday Nov. 5, Micah 3 (see below).  And I had to laugh!  Not a funny laugh!  But, a personal evaluation of the state of our political world, laugh! Most especially the leadership of our country in light of the most recent news.  A system that, to say the very least, is surely opposite of what God had planned for leadership in the beginning.

Then I read a commentary in written by Tom Tate, that asked some pointed questions:*  

“… can the church look to its public-sector leaders — present and future — and imagine that they will work for biblical justice and peace?  

That they hold their constituents in the highest regard?  

That they will tell the truth, no matter what the consequences? 

At a minimum, that they will not bring shame to the nation or their community?”  

Can we envision leaders …“serving the Lord first of all and working together for nothing less than the common good?”

Excellent questions!

I am remembering a challenge I gave to the 9th grade confirmation class some years ago during an election year. I asked them to run a campaign for Jesus as their choice for President.  They did a through job with lots of facts and information covered.  When election day arrived we discussed how they thought Jesus did in the polls.  They all agreed that he would not have a chance against the other candidates. He was too honest!  He didn’t call names or hit under the belt!  He was too nice!  He cared too much for the welfare of others. The list was longer!  But I can’t remember all of their concerns. However it was clear that they felt the Jesus would not make a good President.  They meant that Jesus was too weak! 

A sad commentary on what it means to be a leader!

All of this, and much more, makes me wonder!  Will  there ever be a time when the ordinary Joes are going to rise up in objection to the all to common dishonest ways of power?  

I know!  I know, that God is in the midst of the mess!  I do know that!  However, I also know that God expects his people — that is those who believe in His will and His ways — to step up and say: “no”!  I also am aware that marches and rallies are less than effective.  In the long run that is.  It will take people going to the polls and stating their objections with a vote of “no”.  A “no vote” to all of the eight-by-ten-glossies who speak out of the wrong side of their mouths. It would also be good if TV stations  would stop covering the trashy ads that are only attempts to make the other candidate look bad. Thus make themselves look good!  I would like to see a regulation instated that the only thing a candidate could talk about — on TV or on the stage of a debate or town hall meeting — is their own  qualification, issues and platforms.  It also wouldn’t be a bad idea to stop giving press — over and over and over again —to those who chose to win by climbing to power on the backs of others. 

It is way past time to take the me out of leaders and replace the we!

Here is my truth!  Anyone who disagrees with the norm of politics has a responsibility!  And that responsibility is to stand up and voice our objection.  Because, as I understand it, God wants us to work for him on this earth!  We hear God’s call, for our responsibility, later in Micah:

8 He has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?(Micah 6:8)

Too idealistic you say?  

Well!  It is about time we started to realize that God’s request is not at all idealistic.  As a matter of fact, I believe, the majority of the people would vote for those qualities.  They would if — if — the vote affected them personally.  And my friends we are all being affected by the decisions our leaders are making today!  

I invite you to read what God thinks about political systems like our:

5 Thus says the Lord concerning the prophets who lead my people astray, who cry "Peace" when they have something to eat, but declare war against those who put nothing into their mouths. 6 Therefore it shall be night to you, without vision, and darkness to you, without revelation. The sun shall go down upon the prophets, and the day shall be black over them; 7 the seers shall be disgraced, and the diviners put to shame; they shall all cover their lips, for there is no answer from God. 8 But as for me, I am filled with power, with the spirit of the Lord, and with justice and might, to declare to Jacob his transgression and to Israel his sin. 9 Hear this, you rulers of the house of Jacob and chiefs of the house of Israel, who abhor justice and pervert all equity, 10 who build Zion with blood and Jerusalem with wrong! 11 Its rulers give judgment for a bribe, its priests teach for a price, its prophets give oracles for money; yet they lean upon the Lord and say, "Surely the Lord is with us! No harm shall come upon us." 12 Therefore because of you Zion shall be plowed as a field; Jerusalem shall become a heap of ruins, and the mountain of the house a wooded height.(Micah 3:5-12)

*’Feasting on the Word’ Year A, Vol. 4 page 242

The Faith of Stephan

Stephan is a person mentioned only once in scripture.  He is not a person that is given much attention.  He was elected to serve tables so that the disciples could do the important work of preaching and teaching.  I bring up Stephan because yesterday, after writing about how Jesus tells us not to worry, I thought about Stephan's story.  I thought of him because of his extraordinary reaction to his accusers.

We are told that as Stephan waited tables he was a most gracious and Spirit filled presence. He also did, or said, some things that offended some of the synagogue leaders.  So, is often the case when jealousy occurs, the synagogue leader conspired to get rid of Stephan.  Their methods were much like those used to get rid of Jesus. They had Stephan arrested. Then they brought in some false witnesses to prove their case. However, a strange thing happened in that courtroom.  It says that as Stephan listened to his accusers something strange occur to Stephan’s appearance: they saw that his face was like the face of an angel….

He was unafraid of their human judgment!  He was not intimidated by their treats of death.  Instead he began to speak!  And like Peter on the Day of Pentecost, his boldness was clearly evident.  He retold the Old Testament stories about Abraham, Joseph and Moses ending with these powerful words:

51 "You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit. As your fathers did, so do you. 52 Which of the prophets did not your fathers persecute? And they killed those who announced beforehand the coming of the Righteous One, whom you have now betrayed and murdered, 53 you who received the law as delivered by angels and did not keep it." 54 Now when they heard these things they were enraged, and they ground their teeth against him.

Stephan, like the prophet of old, had been speaking for God as he served the ordinary folk’s tables. And now, he like the prophets, was facing the same fate. Yet, he faced death acting on pure faith!  He must have known that his words would insight their fury.  And yet he told the ugly truth! The truth about the history of a people who had for centuries chosen the human way over God’s way.  A people that refuse to listen to those who came in God’s name.  

Stephan did not worry about what they said; or what they would do to him. Clearly he had a faith that trusted in what God was doing through him.  Listen to how he faced their jealous wrath:

55 But he, full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God; 56 and he said, "Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing at the right hand of God." 57 But they cried out with a loud voice and stopped their ears and rushed together upon him. 58 Then they cast him out of the city and stoned him; and the witnesses laid down their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul. 59 And as they were stoning Stephen, he prayed, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit." 60 And he knelt down and cried with a loud voice, "Lord, do not hold this sin against them." And when he had said this, he fell asleep.  

Stephan seemed totally in tuned to God’s presence in the situation.  He seemed unafraid, or intimidated, by those who stood before him with all their false evidence.  There seem to be no anxiousness about him.

Don’t you wish you could be that strong?

Well, the truth is we can!  We even when we have doubts and questions. We can!

(All of the references come from the book of Acts chapters 6 & 7.)

What We Think Is Smart May Not Be!

In my most recent posts I have been writing about how hard it is to trust/believe/have faith.  Well, maybe this letter Paul writes to the people of Corinth (see below) has a key to our quandary!

For God's foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God's weakness is stronger than human strength.

Isn’t that an interesting thought? 

I wonder if that is really true!  Or, is it that we don’t even understand how to understand this statement?

Surely we find faith in God through our mental capacity.  How else can we hope to know God? That is how we learn everything! Or is it??

Plus, Jesus came to teach us so that we might be able to understand.  Right??? He even made sure we could be taught. He did that by leaving us with a helper — the Holy Spirit.  Who would “guide us into all truth.” So why can’t we use our minds to understand God?  Or!  Does the Spirit have other ways to teach us?

Could it be that what this all means is human wisdom alone?  Human understanding alone — without the faith-power of the Holy Spirit -- is foolish and useless?  Could it be that left to our own thinking, without God’s Spirit, we spew from our senseless minds meaningless babble?  

It is interesting!  Because we human type creatures do tend to think that we are superior in our mental capacities. We are quite sophisticated in our power to reason and figure out.  And! I do think that God gave us this amazing ability to think and create, reason and imagine, and invent amazing things.  Things, that in most ways, make life more enjoyable and even easier.  God did create us to be the care takers of all He had made. Right?  And yet, Scripture does suggest that we just may be treading on thin pride!

"I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart."

Go figure!!!!!!

It might be helpful to know what Paul is concerned about here. It is, what I will call, the beginning of denominational divisions.  Even before the Roman Church was established the first small Christian communities showed signs of claiming allegiance to their own choice for leader of the pack.  Apparently, in the community of Corinth, some people felt that Paul was the true leader; some felt it was Apollo; other saw Cephas as the one to listen to.  Paul is reminding them that Christ is the only true leader.  And there needs to be only that one point of agreement.  That was to live in Christ.  Nothing else mattered!  Because no human mind can take Christ’s place.  He says this best at the beginning of Chapter two of this letter: “When I came to you….My speech and my proclamation were not with plausible words of wisdom, but with a demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith might rest not on human wisdom but on the power of God.” 

These wise words from Paul have a lot to do with the conflict — quandary — we find ourselves in on how and when to trust God with decision we make and/or a future we don’t always plan on.  So when we have these questions and doubts about God’s ability to guide us in ways that don’t always feel comfortable; it would be good to take time to think about stories like the Exodus, Moses, Abraham and Isaac, Jeremiah, Job and yes, even Jesus.  Or, how about Jonah?   All of those people had to walk into unknown futures with God as their only hope. God as their only source of knowing how, when and where to go!

18 For the message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. 19 For it is written, "I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart." 20 Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? 21 For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, God decided, through the foolishness of our proclamation, to save those who believe. 22 For Jews demand signs and Greeks desire wisdom, 23 but we proclaim Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, 24 but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. 25 For God's foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God's weakness is stronger than human strength.(1 Cor. 1 18-25) 

What Does Our Worrying Tell God?

Yesterday I talked about the quandary — the conflicting questions — faith creates in the human mind. This stepping out with nothing to hold on to. With no map to instruct our direction, as we attempt move into the unknown place of promise.  

This morning I offer Jesus’ advice on the subject: "So don't worry about tomorrow,...Today’s trouble is enough for today (see below).  

These words got me through many days, weeks and month as I traversed the hills and valleys of a divorce and seminary at the same time.  I found myself repeating Jesus’ words often in those days.  I still do from time to time.  It is a great reminder of God’s activity in our lives.

What we miss in this small part of Matthew 6 is the issues that leaded up to the invitation not to worry.  Where Jesus talks about all the things people spent time worrying about:  Practicing piety!  That is looking acceptable to others (my definition).  How they pray!  Do they pray to impress others?  Or do They pray to talk, and listen, to God?  Fasting is another issue.  This has to do with how graciously, or ungraciously, they lived out our call to follow Jesus by denying themselves to serve others. Jesus use the term “fasting” where I use “serving”.  And he then hops right into how needless revenge is to human nature.  Followed by a huge concern: their treasure/their money.  Most of the above mentioned could, and did, cause worry and consternation for any one. So, in the middle of his teachings he offers this wonderful bit of advise:  Don’t Worry!!

Easy for Jesus to say!

Except for the part on fasting, Jesus hits on many of the same issues that people today spend a lot of time worrying about.  Most especially when it comes to saving and spending money!  

I wonder if the cause of this attempted to strangle — the basic Greek meaning of the word worry — ourselves doesn’t come from our inability to perceive God as capable of handling such human issues? That is what worry tells God!  When we worry we are actually saying that we don’t trust God to help.  WOW!!  I don’t know about you!  But that thought causes me to sweat a bit. 

How often have we heard someone tell us not to worry?   I have said that to people more than once. So, I wonder what it would take for us not to worry?  And, I wonder why it is that we find it easier to worry than to trust?  God tells us that in our praying in his name -- that is, in trusting in his presence and offering and asking him for help, advice, comfort, adjustment -- or whatever!  That he will answer.  What is it that keeps us from believing -- accepting as truth -- God’s promise?

Can all your worries add a single moment to your life? 

Of course not.

Of course!  We all will admit that worrying does no good!  And yet, we continue to do it.

Interesting!!!!!

25 "So I tell you, don't worry about everyday life -- whether you have enough food, drink, and clothes. Doesn't life consist of more than food and clothing? 26 Look at the birds. They don't need to plant or harvest or put food in barns because your heavenly Father feeds them. And you are far more valuable to him than they are. 27 Can all your worries add a single moment to your life? Of course not." 28 "And why worry about your clothes? Look at the lilies and how they grow. They don't work or make their clothing, 29 yet Solomon in all his glory was not dressed as beautifully as they are. 30 And if God cares so wonderfully for flowers that are here today and gone tomorrow, won't he more surely care for you? You have so little faith!" 31 "So don't worry about having enough food or drink or clothing. 32 Why be like the pagans who are so deeply concerned about these things? Your heavenly Father already knows all your needs, 33 and he will give you all you need from day to day if you live for him and make the Kingdom of God your primary concern." 34 "So don't worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today's trouble is enough for today." (Matt. 6:25-34 New Living Translation)

Quandary of Faith Revisited

The Quandary of Faith!   Its so hard to trust when something seems insurmountable! Having faith is scary when it means doing something different than what you have always done/known or changing something in order to grow with God. The trick really is grace and patience - why are those 2 things so challenging??? :) 


"Trust" in the unknown is hardly ever easy!  Most especially with faith in unseeable God!  

"Scary" is part of life's adventure into better! 

"Patience" is always good.  Remembering how God's "grace" has been active in your life is better!  

Your comment reminds me of the Bible story where God asked Abraham to take his only son, who he had waited so long for, and offer him as a sacrifice on a pile of burning sticks. (see below)  I don't believe that God tests us anymore; however he does ask us to do things that seem impossible. 

Sometimes God's sense of humor does not seem so funny! 

What I am thinking is that God knows our abilities better than we do.  He can see past our comfort zones of everyday ordinary stuff.  Beside all of that, God promises to provide us with whatever we need to do what he calls us to do.  The glitch is that we don't see all of that.  Our imaginations, and knowledge of who and what we are, is so limited by what we think we know.  Our life experience, and how we have planned our life, form our thinking.  All of that becomes a stumbling block to any other possibilities.  But that doesn't mean that doing, or thinking, something new and different is impossible.  Stepping outside of our comfort zone can sometimes gift us with a richer, more rewarding, life.  

The word you used is "insurmountable"!  I don't believe that concept is among God's wide vocabulary.  We are told "nothing is impossible with God."  I truly believe that!  What is insurmountable is your ability to imagine!  I can say that with confidence because my imagination is too!  But what I have learned over the last 33 years is the more I realize who  I am, and what I have become; is nothing like who I was and what I had planned for my life when I graduated from high school.  And yes!  There were many times of doubt, challenges and pain along the way.  But here is the blessing: When you are as chronologically bless as me (-:) you will be able to look back and remember all of the hard times; and see how God lead you into a better and more meaningful place.  I am sure that you can do that even today!  You can remember a time when you thought you couldn't!  Couldn't handle what life was handing you!  But, you did!  Right?

1 After these things God tested Abraham. He said to him, "Abraham!" And he said, "Here I am." 

2 He said, "Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains that I shall show you." 

3 So Abraham rose early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and his son Isaac; he cut the wood for the burnt offering, and set out and went to the place in the distance that God had shown him. 

4 On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place far away. 

5 Then Abraham said to his young men, "Stay here with the donkey; the boy and I will go over there; we will worship, and then we will come back to you." 

6 Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on his son Isaac, and he himself carried the fire and the knife. So the two of them walked on together. 

7 Isaac said to his father Abraham, "Father!" And he said, "Here I am, my son." He said, "The fire and the wood are here, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?" 

8 Abraham said, "God himself will provide the lamb for a burnt offering, my son." So the two of them walked on together. 

9 When they came to the place that God had shown him, Abraham built an altar there and laid the wood in order. He bound his son Isaac, and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. 

10 Then Abraham reached out his hand and took the knife to kill his son. 

11 But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven, and said, "Abraham, Abraham!" And he said, "Here I am." 

12 He said, "Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me." 

13 And Abraham looked up and saw a ram, caught in a thicket by its horns. Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son. 

14 So Abraham called that place "The Lord will provide"; as it is said to this day, "On the mount of the Lord it shall be provided." Gen. 22:1-14f)

   

The Quandary of Faith!

1 What is faith? It is the confident assurance that what we hope for is going to happen. It is the evidence of things we cannot yet see. 2 God gave his approval to people in days of old because of their faith. 3 By faith we understand that the entire universe was formed at God's command, that what we now see did not come from anything that can be seen.  ( Hebrews 11:1-3 New Living Translation)

The writer of Hebrews goes on to list several examples of what he is trying to convey about this unknown quality called faith.  (You can read for yourself such references in verses 4-40 of Chapter 11.) What I would like to talk about is the quandary faith creates in the human mind. This stepping out with nothing to hold on to.  With no map to instruct our direction, into an unknown place of promise.

How is it that we have “confidence assurance that what we hope for is going to happen?"  That is what the writer is saying about faith  “It is the confidence assurance”.  Where does this confidence come from?  How do we get it?  And, if we have it, how do we know that it is enough, or correct, or based on truth?  And, if faith is assurance that what we hope for is going to happen, what happens when what we hope for doesn’t pan-out? Which is so often the case!  Are we hoping for the wrong things?

Throughout my ministry people have said to me:  “I prayer to God over and over about this and nothing seems to happen. Things are still the same as they were.”  There are big questions out there in this world of provable reality. Questions that make God’s promises seem almost fairytale like, and completely unbelievable.  So with all of the proof — seeming evidence — that God does not exist.   Or at least doesn’t really do what he is suppose to do.  How are we to have this things called faith/trust -- confidence assurance — in God?  Indeed, how are we even to begin to believe the stories in the Bible?

Because, the Bible is the nature and substance of faith.  The Bible is called the true story about God. However, very little that is written in the Bible can be proven.  Faith by definition is the point of reference.  “A belief in something for which there is no proof” (Webster’s Dictionary) -- creates  this unprovable discussion.  And yet, we are asked to have faith, trust, confidence etc.. in this God who creates; and breathes life into every living creature!  This God who is the sustainer and provider of all that exists.  We are asked to walk through this life by faith in this God who supposedly created all that exists.

For those of us who have been blessed with a life long relationship with our Creator, these questions seem a bit trite, simplistic or maybe even offensive.  However, to those who are new to faith, or who have been turned off by religion, the questions  are very real.  Questions that put up very real walls of doubt. In their struggle, to find meaning in their life, by coming to this unknown God for answers.  It is our job -- indeed our privilege -- to be their source of information. Their map, so to speak, to God through Jesus and his promised Holy Spirit who leads us into all truth.  

The trick is doing it with grace and patience!

Lady Wisdom Calls!

Rebooted June 7, 2022

1 Listen as wisdom calls out! Hear as understanding raises her voice! 2 She stands on the hilltop and at the crossroads. 3 At the entrance to the city, at the city gates, she cries aloud, 4 "I call to you, to all of you! I am raising my voice to all people. 5 How naive you are! Let me give you common sense. O foolish ones, let me give you understanding. 6 Listen to me! For I have excellent things to tell you.

Wisdom is an ever-present quality of the larger -- unlimited -- universes that somehow seems to elude our intelligence.  From the beginning this quality has instructed Creator and creation.  It was not found in The Garden’s tree of good and evil.  It is not something gained by reading, nor study, of human thoughts and ideas.  Rather, it is something given through the listening heart and mind to the motion and movement of God’s third-self.  A Wind that blows in and out of our thoughts to correct and instruct.  It is in the air we breathe that fills us with an understanding beyond all knowing.  A knowing that cannot be assessed by proof, nor measured by experimental result.  

Jesus lived and taught by this powerful quality of wisdom.  It was his one and only source of information.  It was what instructed his every word, his every action, his very nature.  And when it was time to leave this earth it was his source of strength in the terrible leaving.  

The best news, for we human being, is that when Jesus left the earthly body he didn’t take that quality with him.  He left it for all to experience in a very personal way.  Within our skin!  

16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever— 17 the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.(John 14:16-17)

1 Listen as wisdom calls out! Hear as understanding raises her voice! 2 She stands on the hilltop and at the crossroads. 3 At the entrance to the city, at the city gates, she cries aloud, 4 "I call to you, to all of you! I am raising my voice to all people. 5 How naive you are! Let me give you common sense. O foolish ones, let me give you understanding. 6 Listen to me! For I have excellent things to tell you. Everything I say is right, 7 for I speak the truth and hate every kind of deception. 8 My advice is wholesome and good. There is nothing crooked or twisted in it. 9 My words are plain to anyone with understanding, clear to those who want to learn." 10 "Choose my instruction rather than silver, and knowledge over pure gold. 11 For wisdom is far more valuable than rubies. Nothing you desire can be compared with it." 12 "I, Wisdom, live together with good judgment. I know where to discover knowledge and discernment. 13 All who fear the LORD will hate evil. That is why I hate pride, arrogance, corruption, and perverted speech. 14 Good advice and success belong to me. Insight and strength are mine. 15 Because of me, kings reign, and rulers make just laws. 16 Rulers lead with my help, and nobles make righteous judgments." 17 "I love all who love me. Those who search for me will surely find me. 18 Unending riches, honor, wealth, and justice are mine to distribute. 19 My gifts are better than the purest gold, my wages better than sterling silver! 20 I walk in righteousness, in paths of justice. 21 Those who love me inherit wealth, for I fill their treasuries." 22 "The LORD formed me from the beginning, before he created anything else. 23 I was appointed in ages past, at the very first, before the earth began. 24 I was born before the oceans were created, before the springs bubbled forth their waters. 25 Before the mountains and the hills were formed, I was born -- 26 before he had made the earth and fields and the first handfuls of soil." 27 "I was there when he established the heavens, when he drew the horizon on the oceans. 28 I was there when he set the clouds above, when he established the deep fountains of the earth. 29 I was there when he set the limits of the seas, so they would not spread beyond their boundaries. And when he marked off the earth's foundations, 30 I was the architect at his side. I was his constant delight, rejoicing always in his presence. 31 And how happy I was with what he created -- his wide world and all the human family!" 32 "And so, my children, listen to me, for happy are all who follow my ways. 33 Listen to my counsel and be wise. Don't ignore it." 34 "Happy are those who listen to me, watching for me daily at my gates, waiting for me outside my home! 35 For whoever finds me finds life and wins approval from the LORD. 36 But those who miss me have injured themselves. All who hate me love death." (Proverbs 8: 1-36 New Living Translation)

What Is the Myth?

Psalm 1 (see below) is an amazingly informative little Psalm!  It is short, but filled with wise advice.  If you wanted to just read it, without thinking of the full message,  you would say it is a Psalm about good people and bad people.  The good people are happy.  The bad people are doomed.  And you would be correct!

However if you look closer it is much more involved. According to one exegete (Pablo A, Himenez) this Psalm has three parts: 1) It is about “the quality of life of those who are just, and those who are wicked.”  2) It is about “the communities to whom the righteous persons and wicked persons relate.” 3) It is about  “The point of contrast between “the righteous persons with a tree and the wicked with chaff.”  That is, the comparison between those who are fed by God, who are nourished by God’s word, who grow healthy and strong and enjoy a full life.  And those who do not choose to be fed by God’s word who parish with the dead leave and branches of the harvest.  

The good guys prosper because they daily are connected to the will of God.  They are “happy”— I prefer the term content — in their days.  They are happy because God is their guide through life.  It tells us that those who walk in the way of the LORD — those who put their faith/hope in God — find strength!  Their lives are shaped by their faith in God.  And, for their faithfulness to God: In all that they do, they prosper.  On the other hand, those who choose the opposite road in life are not so fortunate.  They will not find a life of fruitfulness nor prosperity. 

There is of course a  huge problem with this scenario for living.  And all we have to do is to read on in the book of Psalms to find it. Because, those who choose to follow the ways of God are not — are not — always content.  They find themselves with challenges, and conflict, and pain, and all sorts of disappointments.  Whereas often the guy who is a “jerk” seems to be doing very well.  And then the question always comes: “Where is God when I need Him most?”  Or, “I prayed to God and He didn’t answer.”  And the question are many about this perfect example given in Psalm 1.  

You see, the myth is that if you stay tuned to God, if you do life right,  you will be happy and prosper. But  then when you are faced with challenges doubt creeps in.  And your faith is challenged!   

God never promised us life without pain!

I invite you to think about this: even healthy trees, nourished by plenty of water and sunlight, go through terrible storms. 

1 Happy are those who do not follow the advice of the wicked, or take the path that sinners tread, or sit in the seat of scoffers; 2 but their delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law they meditate day and night. 3 They are like trees planted by streams of water, which yield their fruit in its season, and their leaves do not wither. In all that they do, they prosper. 4 The wicked are not so, but are like chaff that the wind drives away. 5 Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous; 6 for the Lord watches over the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.(Psalm 1)

What Does It Mean "To Be Holy"

"You shall be holy,"

Just to read that line is somewhat terrifying.  Is that truly what God expects for all of his believers — to be holy?   

In the english dictionary we fine this definition of holy: “exalted or worthy of complete devotion.. as one perfect in goodness and righteousness.  Having a divine quality! Sacred!”  

How many of us can even imagine, in our wildest dreams, being “worthy of complete devotion”?

This is when it is a good thing to go back to the Greek and Hebrew to fine out what holy actually might refer to.  Researching words in scripture can open an  altogether new understanding of what we think we know. When we don’t pay attention to the ancient meanings we are tempted to interpret biblical words incorrectly. Which, by the way, leads to all kinds of misunderstanding!  Something that occurs all to often in our world today.

Here is what I found when I looked up holy in my trusty theological dictionary where the basic meaning is indeed “an object of awe.”  However when you look further you find that holy means “to be connected with God’s name, which leads to an expression of his nature” 

Now we can take a deep breathe!  

As followers of Jesus we are all connected to God’s name.  Right?  So then we need to think about what we learned in kindergarten Sunday School. That is, what Jesus taught us about being children of God.  The simplest way to put it is the golden rule: “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”  Jesus also said it one other way: “Love others as you love yourself.” I do not think that needs any further explanation!  

Being holy is to live our lives with the kind of behavior that show others of our faith in a God who loves them as much as he love us.  A life the expresses God’s compassion and gentleness!  That is holy living!

Any questions!

1 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying: 2 Speak to all the congregation of the people of Israel and say to them: You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy…..15 You shall not render an unjust judgment; you shall not be partial to the poor or defer to the great: with justice you shall judge your neighbor. 16 You shall not go around as a slanderer among your people, and you shall not profit by the blood of your neighbor: I am the Lord. 17 You shall not hate in your heart anyone of your kin; you shall reprove your neighbor, or you will incur guilt yourself. 18 You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against any of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord. (Leviticus 19: 1-18)

Is Jesus Human or Divine?

There was, and still is, a debate going on about Jesus’ nature.  It began as early in our history as 440AC.  People trying to define the nature of Jesus.  Whether he was divine or human or both.  It is quite interesting to me that we humans like to explain God.  No matter if it is just a curiosity or intellectual logic.  There seems to be a need to bring God down to something less than God.  We put restrictions and definitions, logic and reason in to the pot and stir it all up until we can say for certain who and what God is and how God thinks and works.  

The debate began with a monk named Euthyche who claimed “Jesus was not truly human. Jesus did not exist in two natures; because his human nature was absorbed, or swallowed up by his divine nature.”  Leo I of Rome debated that Jesus was both divine and human.  And that was just the beginning of this huge discussion.  It actually still goes on today.  In my unscholarly imagination Jesus is God.  God is living in the man Jesus’ skin.  We are told that when Jesus was born he was “Emmanuel” which means, “God is with us.” (Matt. 1:23)   

Now this is my simple imagination, to be sure, but just read Genesis 1 and then John 1 and see if you don’t connect what is being said. The “word became flesh and dwelt among us” (John).  “In the beginning God “said let there be…” (Genesis)  The words God spoke to create; is the word that became flesh.  

Now! Meld the two natures into three.  In the beginning the “earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep,  while a wind from God swept over the face of the waters.”  The “wind” here is the Spirit!  So what we hear is that there are three natures of God.  Not just two!

In the first chapter of Genesis, and the first Chapter of John, we have the whole definition.  The “wind” blow over the deep.”  The Spirit!  God “spoke” the creative word.  And that word became flesh.  Jesus!

There are other interesting passages as well.  Read Proverbs 8 especially verses 22-36. Or John 14, 15 (wee below) and 16.  

God is God in whatever form God chooses to be!

6 Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7 If you know me, you will know my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him." 8 Philip said to him, "Lord, show us the Father, and we will be satisfied." 9 Jesus said to him, "Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and you still do not know me? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, "Show us the Father'? 10 Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own; but the Father who dwells in me does his works. 11 Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; but if you do not, then believe me because of the works themselves. 12 Very truly, I tell you, the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do and, in fact, will do greater works than these, because I am going to the Father. 13 I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 If in my name you ask me for anything, I will do it. 15 "If you love me, you will keep my commandments. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever. 17 This is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, because he abides with you, and he will be in you. 18 "I will not leave you orphaned; I am coming to you. 19 In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me; because I live, you also will live. 20 On that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. (John 14:6-20)