Jeremiah 31:31-34

“No longer shall they teach one another, or say to each other, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, says the Lord; for I will forgive their iniquity, and remember their sin no more.” vs. 34

Jeremiah prophesied during one of the most dismal periods of Israel’s history and watched as Jerusalem and the temple were destroyed and the ruling families hauled off into captivity. Many of his sermons were full of judgment and calls for repentance, but he was also able to see beyond the chaos and into a promising and hopeful future. His vision has resonated through the centuries and many hear its words as a sign of hope for our troubled and rancorous generation. He saw a time when goodness would prevail and become as natural to the human heart as breath itself, and indeed, there are moments when the Light shines and we see evidence of God’s transforming presence. Someday all people will know God, and the current mayhem and terror will be a distant memory. Sadly, it’s not likely that this will happen soon–after all it’s 2500 years since Jeremiah spoke and there’s still far too much ugliness and pain. The good news is that God is full of forgiveness and all of our sin will be forgotten–ultimately love and mercy will prevail! In the meantime we will be content with the glimpses of Light  that come our way every single day. For now they’re just what we need to maintain the dream!

Thought for the Day: Why do I remember my sin if God has forgotten it?

Luke 18:5-8

“And the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says. And will not God grant justice to his chosen ones who cry to him day and night?” vss. 6-7a

Jesus was not above using examples from the world to give encouragement to his followers. His parable reflects one of the realities of our justice and political systems. Sometimes leaders who care nothing for God and have no respect for people will do the right thing. They do it not for any humanitarian purpose but because it’s expedient. Wise followers of Jesus know this. Some of them regularly work with our legislatures and congress to put the pressure on the people with power. And sometimes those leaders can be persuaded to make good and just decisions even if they’re not good and decent people. The good news is that we don’t have to rely on such power-brokering to change the world for good. God permeates all and ultimately even the poor will have justice done for them. If God-fearing lobbyists can apply pressure on leaders, just imagine what the Christ who dwells within their hearts can do! Even our most pathetic politicians and judges are created in the image of God, hidden though that irage may be! God, who used the Persian despot, Cyrus, to free Israel from captivity, can certainly use such persons too! All of this is a reminder of the ultimate triumph of good in this world. As Jesus proclaimed, “The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe in the gospel.”

Thought for the Day: What are the important issues for Christ-filled lobbyists?

Luke 18:1-5

“Then Jesus told them a parable about their need to pray always and not to lose heart.” vs. 1

Far too often we run into intractable situations where we have little idea about what to say or do. Solutions are elusive and we can’t even give or get good advice or direction. These are prime moments for prayer–and Jesus would have agreed! In fact he told a parable to his disciples about their need to pray and not lose heart. It’s good advice but still we wonder. What shall we do in those many instances where the dilemma remains after our prayer? Nothing has happened; nothing has changed. What shall we do then? Jesus said that we should just keep on praying. He uses the example of an unjust judge who granted a woman’s request just to keep her quiet. He reasons that if bad people will do good things, then surely God, who is good, will hear our prayers and give us what we need. His reasoning is impeccable but some of us will still wonder. We’ve had enough experience with praying to know that sometimes there’s just no answer. What then? There’s no easy answer to that good question, except to say, we need to keep praying. And so we do. Day after day we make our requests known to God, not until we get an answer, but until we don’t need to keep asking. On that day, one way or another, we will be satisfied.

Thought for the Day: What intractable situations am I facing?

2 Timothy 4:1-5

“For the time is coming when people will not put up with sound doctrine, but having itching ears, they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own desires…” vs. 3

Timothy, the young pastor, is advised in this letter to proclaim the gospel with conviction in every season and to have patience in his teaching. He’s warned that there will be a time when his little flock would be tempted to wander and follow other teachers. That sort of thing did in fact happen regularly in the early church and it continues to this day. People have itching ears, and they’re susceptible to the market-driven messages they hear on radio and television, and now, on the internet. The false teachers are clever and capable and present a message that appeals to the prejudices and preferences of their listeners. Some start new congregations and ministries and use an amazing blend of music and scripture to lure folks away from their faith families. Often there’s a financial dimension to their appeal and a few have managed to use the gospel to create empires and to live like rock stars. There’s not much that can be done about such charlatans–with freedom of religion in our land, they can do as they please. Thank God for those leaders and congregations that remain rooted in the true gospel of Jesus Christ! They may not be slick and fancy but they have a connection to the truth that cannot be shaken. In their ministries, the broken are healed, the poor hear good news, and mercy abounds–in them there is hope!

Thought for the Day: When do my ears start itching?

2 Timothy 3:14-17

“All scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness…” vs. 16

Those who hold that the bible is the literal and infallible word of God often point to this little verse as their prooftext. Sometimes they miss the obvious point that this text refers only to the Hebrew Scriptures–what we call the New Testament didn’t even exist when this was written. Still their assertion deserves our attention. What does it mean to say that scripture is inspired by God? Most followers of Jesus hold that he is the Word of God and that the bible is a very human collection of books by which we come to know him. Most would also say that the bible is inspired. That does not mean that God dictated its words to the human writers or that it should be interpreted literally. What it does mean is that the bible is a reliable testimony by which we come to know the amazing grace and love of God. Two thousand years after it was written we still find it “useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness.” We pore over its pages and are alternately convicted and perplexed by the writings of our faith parents. As we study their insights and observations we gain valuable perspectives for own journeys. The bible is the most valuable book we have as followers of Jesus. We neglect it at our peril.

Thought for the Day: What’s the best bible study I’ve ever had?

Psalm 12

“Help, O Lord, for there is no longer anyone who is godly; the faithful have disappeared from humankind. They utter lies to each other; with flattering lips and a double heart they speak.” vss. 1-2

It’s hard to overestimate the gifts that the various psalmists have given us. They write from a variety of experiences and their words are a treasure trove for our reflection and meditation. Sometimes their laments seem so current that it’s hard to believe they were written 2500 years ago–it’s as though they’ve been reading our daily newspaper or watching the evening news. Today our psalmist has had enough of the lies and untruths that had permeated his world. Like us he’d come to a point where he had doubts about human nature and he lets the Lord know about it. We too see people fighting for position and power and many of us wonder where all the godly folks have gone–especially when religious leaders have joined the fray. Lying has become ubiquitous, flattery and demagoguery have won the day, and truth has been trampled. Unfortunately our psalmist doesn’t have a solution for us–but he does trust that his lament will be heard and that God will save us from the wretchedness. Perhaps it’s enough for us to continue to live with that hope–there’s not much else to do! And on our good days we know that the godly have not disappeared. There still are those who speak the truth and one day their words and actions will prevail.

Thought for the Day: Who do I trust to tell the truth?

Genesis 22:27-31

“So Jacob called the place Peniel, saying, ‘For I have seen God face to face, and yet my life is preserved.’” vs. 30

John writes in his gospel that no one has ever seen God, but that Jesus the Christ had made God known. Yet in the Genesis stories we find a different perspective. Abraham had conversations with the Lord and in this passage Jacob reports seeing God face to face. And then in Exodus we discover that Moses regularly met with the Lord face to face in the tent of meeting. Most of us probably would agree with John’s perspective, yet there’s an undeniable appeal to the old tales from the Pentateuch. We like the notion of a personal face to face encounter with the Lord, and for some people that language fits their experience. They speak of going toe to toe with God as they struggle with life’s unanswered questions. Others report intense wrestling matches in the dark of the night. Skeptics might discount such accounts as the product of an overactive conscience, a kind of internal struggle common to us all. They say rightly that God has no physical form or shape to do battle with. Such folks are missing the point. Of course the striving is internal…that’s where the Lord is! In addition to being in every part of the universe and beyond, God is imprinted in our DNA. God is the breath of life and fills us every day of our lives…and is always available for a debate!

Thought for the Day: What are my biggest unanswered questions?

Genesis 32:22-26

“Jacob was left alone; and a man wrestled with him until daybreak.” vs. 24

The accounts of the patriarchs and matriarchs in Genesis are rich with literary allusions and masterful symbolism. Full of vivid detail they made for magnificent story-telling and helped to shape Jewish identity. Jacob, from whom Israel gets its name, was his mother’s favorite and a willing participant in a heart-breaking act of fraud and deceit. Forced to flee from a rightfully angry brother he spends years in exile with his mother’s family before deciding to return home and face his brother. The night before they are to meet is filled with a nightmarish encounter with a stranger and the two wrestle until daybreak. Some of us know what that feels like. We’ve spent those hours in our beds wrestling with our inner demons–maybe we too have lived on the edge of trickery and deceit–such memories never die. Facing an uncertain future, like Jacob we crave a blessing, some sign that we’ll be okay in our tomorrows. In the darkness, where every anxiety and fear is magnified, we dream and fitfully toss and turn, wondering what the dawn will bring. Those are tough nights–it’s hard to get rest when God has us in a half-nelson! But out of the struggle a blessing does emerge. The sun rises and we limp off into a new day of grace.

Thought for the Day: What happens on my sleepless nights?

Luke 17:15-19

“Was none of them found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?” vs. 18

Even though they had common ancestral roots and faith practices, Samaritans were despised by the Jews. So when the one leper who returned to thank Jesus was revealed to be a Samaritan Jesus makes a point of it. This sort of thing happened more than once in the course of his ministry. People who had been systematically excluded became models of faithfulness in his preaching and teaching, e.g. the Canaanite woman and the Good Samaritan. We see the same sort of thing happening today. Always it seems, certain groups of people are designated as outsiders by those on the inside–it even happens in faith communities. It’s easy for followers of Jesus to categorize people of other religions or no religion as outside the family. We’re on guard in their presence and careful about our associations with them–we try hard to maintain our perceived purity or holiness. But God pays no attention to our contrived distinctions. The Holy Spirit regularly works in the lives of such outsiders to produce amazing fruit–and often their faithfulness puts us insiders to shame. They seem to have a special perspective on what God is doing in the world and are regular sources of mercy and healing for those who are hurting. One day perhaps we’ll all catch on to how God really works and begin to see all people as tools of grace! And on that day all people will praise God with one voice!

Thought for the Day: What makes a person an outsider?

Luke 17:11-14

“When he saw them, he said to them, ‘Go and show yourselves to the priests.’ And as they went, they were made clean.” vs. 14

The book of Leviticus is meticulous in laying out the ground rules for dealing with any kind of skin disease. Those who contracted the most serious of those diseases, the one known as leprosy, were ostracized from the community and forced to keep their distance. The only way to be restored was through examination by the priests. While on his way to Jerusalem Jesus encountered a group of lepers who asked him to have mercy on them. Aware of the law regarding leprosy he advises them to go to the priests–and they do! Luke tells us that as they went, they were made clean. It’s a reminder that healing in Jesus’ ministry happened in a variety of ways, most often by touch, sometimes at a distance, occasionally by command, and this time, as the lepers did what was required by the law. In fact, most of these lepers didn’t even seem to associate their healing with Jesus. We have those same experiences with healing, sometimes it’s instantaneous, occasionally miraculous, but most often as we follow a doctor’s prescribed regimen. And like the lepers we frequently don’t connect our healing with Jesus. It’s simply something that happens on the journey, and thankfully, it happens often enough that we consider it to be commonplace. However it comes though, it’s always the work of God, and worth a word of thanks!

Thought for the Day: My most amazing experience with healing.