Romans 10:5-11

“because if you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” vs. 9

Paul taught that the righteousness of God comes as a gift through faith, and not through obedience to the law. To make this clear, he describes the content of faith as confession of Jesus as Lord and belief in the resurrection. Those who have faith, as thus defined, will have salvation. When he wrote these words he could not have predicted how this simple truth would be distorted and abused. For some reason, countless Christians have turned this beautiful grace-filled affirmation into an ugly law of exclusion. They say that anyone who does not confess Jesus as Lord will not be saved and will instead spend eternity in the fires of hell. They do not seem to care that this interpretation condemns billions of people, including, in many cases, members of their own families. How can anyone even imagine that this teaching reflects the righteousness of God? Jesus himself never taught anything like this! Of course it’s good news that followers of Jesus have salvation, but to then say that nonbelievers or those of other faiths are condemned is anything but gracious and merciful. In fact it’s a hateful and divisive message, one that should be repugnant to any true follower of Jesus. It is God’s desire that all people be saved, and if that’s what God wants, that’s what God will get! Praise God!

Thought for the Day: Why is it a good thing to confess Jesus as Lord?

Psalm 85:8-13

“Let me hear what God the Lord will speak, for he will speak peace to his people, to his faithful, to those who turn to him in their hearts.” vs. 8

All of the prophets felt a call to bring the word of the Lord to the people of Israel and Judah. Most of the time it came as a warning of impending doom if idolatrous behavior didn’t come to an end. Again and again the prophet would thunder, “Thus says the Lord, ‘Unless there is repentance I will bring down my wrath upon this disobedient nation.’” The scenarios were different and the language would vary, but the tone was always one of judgment and destruction. But in this psalm the writer, using the voice of a prophet, brings a different message. There has been turmoil in the land, but now the Lord has a word of peace for the people. “Steadfast love and faithfulness will meet; righteousness and peace will kiss each other.” Thank God for prophets like this! Most of us are tired of the doomsday messages that tumble from the mouths of contemporary prophets. While perhaps necessary for us to hear, they inspire in us a spirit of gloom and hopelessness. How much more uplifting it is to hear that word of peace! Even if it seems unlikely to be true, it brings welcome relief to people of faith, and maybe that’s exactly what we need the most! Prophets of doom don’t always have the last word!

Thought for the Day: What prophets do I choose to listen to?

1 Kings 19:11-21

“and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a sound of sheer silence. When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave.” vss. 12-13a

Huddled in his cave, Elijah waited for the Lord to make an appearance. First came a great wind, then an earthquake, and finally a great fire, but the Lord was not to be seen or heard. But then there was a sound of sheer silence! Elijah left the cave and the Lord came near. For centuries scholars have wrestled with that phrase, “a sound of sheer silence,” and have proposed a variety of translations. But while theologians have wondered, ordinary folks seem to get it. It’s an almost perfect description of what we’ve gotten in return when we’ve poured out our hearts to God. It’s not just that the Lord remains hidden, it’s that the silence is deafening! We want so badly to hear even a whisper in response to our prayers but instead there’s a big, fat nothing! We can even begin to wonder if God is only a product of our imaginations, a childhood fantasy that has no place in the reality of our maturity. It’s a lonely feeling, and we can imagine like Elijah that our faith has been futile, and then, after the storms and calamities of life have swept by, and the sound of nothing is at its peak, the Lord comes near! We are not alone.

Thought for the Day: What are the sounds of silence?

1 Kings 19:9-10

“At that place he came to a cave, and spent the night there. Then the word of the Lord came to him, saying, ‘What are you doing here, Elijah?’” vs. 9

Elijah was on the run. Queen Jezebel and the prophets of Baal had forced him to flee for his life and he’d gone south into the desert mountains of the Sinai peninsula. There in a cave, isolated from his country and kindred, he spent the night, and he heard the word of the Lord, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” That’s a powerful question, one that will force us to take stock of all that we are and all that we have done. All have been given the gift of life, but before we even know that it’s a gift, the journey begins. Early on we simply react, doing what we’re told to do. We fall in love, sometimes get married, almost always find a job–and sometimes we do all these things without even thinking about what we’re doing. And then the word of the Lord comes, “What are you doing here, Elijah? What are you doing here, Elizabeth?” And we really don’t have a good answer. We’ve been born, stuff has happened, and now we’re here–sometimes we’re not even sure how we got here! Sometimes we think to ourselves, “Boy, seems to me I could have done a lot better.” In those moments it’s so important for us to remember that we are the good creation of God, and it’s not all up to us! And the Spirit has used us.

Thought for the Day: What has been the purpose of my life?

Matthew 14:18-21

“Then he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven, and blessed and broke the loaves, and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds.” vs. 19

The miracle of Jesus feeding the multitude with a few loaves of bread was a favorite of the gospel writers, appearing six times in all, twice in Matthew and Mark. And while preachers regularly ruin the story with their feeble attempts to explain how Jesus pulled it off, there is no doubt that early believers took great delight in recounting its details. For them the story called to mind what was regularly happening in every community of faith–the words are virtually identical. Jesus took the loaves, looked up to heaven, blessed and broke them, and then through the disciples distributed the bread to the crowds. This is the ritual that was central to the early church, and even today every congregation gathers regularly for the breaking, blessing, and distribution of the bread. While we most frequently connect Holy Communion to the Last Supper there’s something special in linking it to this impromptu meal on the grassy hills of Galilee overlooking the Sea of Galilee. It must have been a spectacular setting. But best of all, no one was left out. All were invited to eat, all were fed and filled, and all were satisfied. It was the best meal ever, a foretaste of the feast to come!

Thought for the Day: What is satisfying about Holy Communion?

Matthew 14:15-18

“Jesus said to them, ‘They need not go away; you give them something to eat.’ They replied, ‘We have nothing here but five loaves and two fish.’” vss. 16-17

Jesus has been curing people in the crowd who needed healing and now the disciples become aware of an even more basic need. These people needed something to eat–they were getting hungry. The disciples propose a sensible solution, one that we might have considered. Why not shift the responsibility to the people themselves? Jesus should just send them away–they could take care of themselves. But Jesus has another possibility. The disciples could feed them, and they, of course, logically protested–they didn’t have the resources to do the job. We too are good at claiming poverty when it is suggested that we could do something about the hunger needs of those at the other end of the economic spectrum. We say we don’t have enough to even make a dent in the problem, and of course that’s true when we consider the small amounts each can contribute. But there is plenty of food in the world for everyone to have enough, and there is enough money in our pockets to make it happen. We simply lack the collective will to do what is right. We seem so afraid that some person is going to get a benefit that they don’t deserve, and so we keep cutting back instead of doing more. Amazing! Perhaps one day we’ll get Jesus’ message, and use our five loaves and two fish to feed the world.

Thought for the Day: Why are people going hungry in a land of plenty?

Matthew 14:13-14

“Now when Jesus heard this, he withdrew from there in a boat to a deserted place by himself. But when the crowds heard it, they followed him on foot from the towns.” vs. 13

John the Baptist had been killed while in the custody of King Herod at Machereus, a palace east of the Dead Sea, and it didn’t take long for the news to travel to where Jesus was doing ministry at the north end of the Sea of Galilee. John’s death was a big deal–his hundreds of followers were a threat to Herod, and some believed it wouldn’t be long before he fixed his attention on Jesus. It’s not that Jesus feared Herod, but it’s likely he didn’t want to get caught up in what had become a political struggle for power. At the very least he needed a chance to collect his thoughts and take time for prayer away from the crowds. The problem is that it’s hard to hide on the Sea of Galilee–anyone could easily see where his boat was heading from the shore. So they hurried around the lake by foot and a large crowd was waiting for him when he landed. Some of us know what that’s like. We desperately need time for meditation and reflection–some sneak away on vacations–and the isolation and refuge we need doesn’t happen. Our forced busyness can drive us to distraction! Interestingly, when Jesus saw the crowd he had compassion for them, and kept doing his healing and teaching. His ministry was more important than his personal needs!

Thought for the Day: When have I gotten compassion fatigue?

Romans 9:1-5

“For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my own people, my kindred according to the flesh.” vs. 3

Midway through his letter to the Romans, after having described justification by faith in excruciating detail, Paul offers a section on Israel’s election as the chosen people of God. He tells the church in Rome that it breaks his heart that so many of his kindred, according to the flesh, had turned their backs on the gospel of Christ. There have many through the years who have resonated with Paul’s words. While we may not feel the anguish to the extent that he did, our hearts do grow heavy as we think of our own kin, our own flesh and blood, who have chosen to walk away from the faith in which they were reared. We wish that our sons and daughters, brothers and sisters, and grandchildren could have the same Jesus connection that we have grown to enjoy. It’s not that we’re afraid they’re going to hell, we know that they can never fall out of God’s love, but we do wish they could have the consolations that faith can bring to restless souls. Sometimes we may even feel some guilt and wonder if perhaps we’re responsible for their decision to walk in another way. Often there’s little we can do to change them or their choices, but we can pray, and so we do, and then take every opportunity to model the unconditional love of God. 

Thought for the Day: Why do I worry about my kindred’s faith?

Psalm 145:14-21

“The Lord watches over all who love him, but all the wicked he will destroy.” vs. 20

When we read our scriptures we are tempted to take to heart the verses that we agree with and totally discount those with which we have issues. And we’re not alone. Nearly all people are adept at cherry picking as they study the bible, loving the parts that support positions they already hold, and ignoring those that don’t.

The psalmist who tells us “all the wicked he will destroy,” also wrote, “The Lord is good to all, and his compassion is over all he has made.” Some would say that there is a kind of contradiction here–others have ways of reconciling these seemingly opposite positions. At the very least passages like this are a reminder that our bible not only reveals God, it also reflects our very human notions about who God is. Some people like the notion that the wicked will be destroyed by God. It fits their sense of justice–and certainly there are many other passages in scripture that can be used to bolster that argument. But the bible also points toward a more grace-filled perspective, one that argues that God’s compassion overrides our desires for revenge. And some folks like that.  And that’s why the bible is such an amazing book–and as long as we continue to remember it was written by faith ancestors for a lot of different reasons, we can be at peace with its contrary positions.

Thought for the Bible: What do I do when I disagree with a bible passage?

Psalm 145:8-9

“The Lord is good to all, and his compassion is over all that he has made.” vs. 9

These few words from the psalmist contain all the truth that we humans will ever need to hear, and it’s undoubtedly the best news ever, yet we find it enormously hard to believe in our hearts. Oh, we don’t mind hearing that the Lord is good to us, and that God’s compassion includes us. We actually welcome that good news, but we are reluctant to acknowledge that this gracious message is addressed to the “other,” all those folks who have managed to make it onto our naughty list. Through most of our lives our minds have become adept at such exclusion and we use a long list of categories that separate ourselves from others: race, religion, politics, criminality, poverty, refugees, the list goes on and on. We can, on our good days, acknowledge that folks of other races or religions might be loved by God, but for most of us, there is a definite line which is drawn between the “ins” and “outs,” and we’re hard-pressed to think of anything good that might be said about those on the other side of the line. That dualistic thinking, in which we have been trained from our childhoods, keeps us from celebrating the inclusive, all-encompassing love of God. But that’s not the way God is! We are all good, and we are all broken, and God has compassion for us all!

Thought for the Day: What categories of people are on my naughty list?