2 Corinthians 3:12-18

“And all of us, with unveiled faces, seeing the glory of the Lord as though reflected in a mirror, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another; for this comes from the Lord, the Spirit.” vs. 18

Paul had come a long way from his days as a zealous Pharisee. As he reflected on the old story from Exodus where Moses had veiled his face, he saw clearly how much had changed. He tells the Corinthians that in Christ the veil had been set aside and that all of them were seeing the glory of the Lord. His words are stunning! Think of it! Through the Spirit of the Lord, we are being transformed and becoming what we were created to be, the very image of the Divine Presence. This is the fulfillment of what was written in Genesis, “And God said, ‘Let us make humankind in our own image, according to our own likeness.’” Think of what this means to the people who encounter us in our daily walk! In our faces they will see the reflected glory of God and they will be touched by it. This is exciting stuff! This is what the Jesus Movement is all about! It’s not about rituals and traditions and church hierarchy. It’s about living as the image of God in the midst of hurting people and bringing into their lives the healing light of Christ. Who could ever want a more incredible calling?

Thought for the Day: How does it feel to be the image of God for others?

Psalm 99:6-9

“O Lord our God, you answered them; you were a forgiving God to them, but an avenger of their wrongdoings.” vs. 8

The psalmist had a strong appreciation for the ancient leaders of Israel; Moses, his brother, Aaron, and Samuel the prophet. They were in regular communication with the Lord and often cried out to God on behalf of the people. And the Lord God answered their prayers, and sometimes there was forgiveness, but not always! According to the psalmist sometimes God was an avenger of their wrongdoings. This isn’t the only place in scripture where we see such a picture of God. The stories of God’s interactions with Israel regularly mention that God has no patience with wrongdoing or idolatry, even Moses got hammered for his impulsiveness. It just made sense to the psalmist that God’s forgiveness was conditional…that’s generally our human experience. Unfortunately it was this image of God that was picked up by large segments of Christendom. For some reason some Christians have preferred a God who behaves exactly like we do. Sometimes there’s forgiveness…but we have to be wary. We can never know when God is going to lower the boom! Fortunately followers of Jesus know there is a better way to image God than the one presented by the psalmist. Jesus was very clear…God is holy and just, but God is also compassionate and merciful. God even shows kindness to the wicked. God has a particular passion for sinners and freely offers forgiveness…even before we ask.

Thought for the Day: Why do some people prefer an avenging image for God?

Psalm 99:1-5

“Mighty King, lover of justice, you have established equity; you have executed justice and righteousness in Jacob.” vs. 4

As homeowners we are gratified when we are able to establish substantial equity in our property. At the very least it means that when we retire we’ll have more assets than liabilities which is generally a good thing. The psalmist uses equity in a different sense while speaking about God’s intentions. He believes that God has established equity or fairness as one of the benchmarks for life in the kingdom. And in order for there to be equity there will also have to be justice. This principle was the core of prophetic preaching through all of Israel’s history and was also a central part of Jesus’ proclamation. It remains an elusive concept in today’s world. We’ve established enormous bureaucracies to ensure that the rule of law is enforced in an equitable way but most agree that our so-called justice system is riddled by inconsistencies and unfairness. Those with deep pockets can beat most any charge against them while the rights of the poor are disregarded and trampled upon. Followers of Jesus will be concerned about such things and will regularly speak out in protest about injustice whenever or wherever it occurs. The psalmist rightly reminds us that our mighty King is a lover of justice and intends for equity to be established to the ends of the earth. As God’s hands and feet in the world we have our work cut out for us…there can be no rest until there is justice for all!

Thought for the Day: Where have I experienced injustice?

February 25, 2019      

“Moses came down from Mount Sinai. As he came down from the mountain with the two tablets of the covenant in his hand, Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone because he had been talking with God.” vs. 29

As the Israelites sorted through the traditions of their ancestors they were particularly drawn to the Moses narratives, the stories told about the great leader who had liberated them from their captivity in Egypt and who had given them the law. Moses had a particularly strong relationship with the Lord that had developed during his sheepherding days in the wilderness. He regularly engaged in what we might call meditation, time spent in deep reflection, a kind of conversation with God. At this particular time he had gone up Mt. Sinai, a rugged inhospitable part of the desert, and the Lord had given him a set of commandments that would be the core of Israel’s faith. The vision had been so powerful that his appearance was altered and the people could seen that something had happened…Moses had seen the shining face of God and now his own face was shining. It’s a powerful story, one that reminds us that God encounters have an effect on us. When we draw close to God in prayer and meditation we will be changed, maybe not in the spectacular fashion recounted in the Exodus text, but there will be a difference. The Divine Presence shines forth in our words and actions and people will take note.

Thought for the Day: What do people notice when my face shines?

Luke 6:32-38

“But love your enemies, do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return. Your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High; for he is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.” vss. 35-36

Sometimes we wonder why Christians behave so despicably in light of our Lord’s clear and unmistakable instructions about how to live in the world. It’s as though we’ve never read the bible! We have embraced a judging and vengeful God and are perfectly willing to serve as that God’s agents. We’re stingy about sharing our blessings and love to build up fortunes for our own use. We have high expectations for others and quickly unfriend them if they hurt our feelings or let us down. That isn’t the Way of Jesus! He spoke of a kind and merciful God, one who loved without conditions, and then told his followers that they should be like God! These are precious words, sometimes translated as, “Be compassionate, just as your Father is compassionate.” Jesus doesn’t present this is an ideal…he wants it to be the reality of our lives. Why should we be this way? Well, we don’t have to be. We’re perfectly free to be complete jerks and still call ourselves Christians. But if that’s our choice we should at least have the integrity to say we’re not following Jesus. And if we do choose to live like Jesus? Wow, what a blessing for the world…and for ourselves!

Thought for the Day: How do I demonstrate compassion in my daily living?

Luke 6:27-31

“But I say to you that listen, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you… Do to others as you would have them do to you.” vs. 27, 31

In Luke’s Sermon on the Plain Jesus gives his followers their marching orders in words that we regularly quote but seldom take to heart. It’s just too hard to love enemies and practice the golden rule. It flies in the face of everything our cultural trend setters say and do. We only have to listen to radio pundits or cable news hosts for a few minutes before hearing vicious hateful rants against real or imagined enemies. The golden rule of nearly every politician is “Do to others as they’ve done to you.” And these aren’t just random occurrences! Day after day we’re bombarded with news reports and social media posts that stir anger and encourage hatred. It’s an unrelenting onslaught and it’s not going to stop any time soon. In that kind of toxic environment followers of the Jesus Way stand out. In this world of hate and distorted truth we will regularly show love to our enemies and do good to those who hate us. And we will treat others exactly the way we’d like to be treated. When we’re offended or disrespected we will speak kindly and gently, putting the very best construction on whatever has been said or done. We will bless those who curse us and not exact revenge. Can we live like that? Of course…if Jesus could do it so can we!

Thought for the Day: Why do so many good people ignore Jesus’ teachings?

1 Corinthians 15:42-50

“What I am saying, brothers and sisters, is this: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.” vs. 50

Paul sums up his teaching on resurrection by saying that our physical bodies do not inherit the kingdom of God, a notion that can be disconcerting to those who believe that heaven is populated by people doing eternally the things that brought them joy on earth. We hear that kind of talk regularly as folks talk about their loved ones who have died. We like to imagine that they’re enjoying perfect fairways and perfect swings, that they’re “looking down” and watching us from their new dwelling place with Jesus. According to Paul that can’t happen because they now have what he calls “spiritual bodies.” In his estimation that means that they are sharing new life with Jesus; they’ve joined him in resurrection. Some of us might wonder then if those loved ones are present to us in the same way that Jesus is. If Christ is with us always, and they are in him, then it may follow that they too are with us! For many that’s a comforting thought…they like it that the connections we have on earth continue after death. Of course there’s no way we can know such things…we don’t yet have access to that spirit world. But it doesn’t hurt to speculate…and if it brings comfort to know that our loved ones are nearby…it’s something we can go right ahead and believe!

Thought for the Day: What’s it like to sense the presence of a loved one who has died?

1 Corinthians 15:35-38

“And as for what you sow, you do not sow the body that is to be, but a bare seed, perhaps of wheat or of some other grain. But God gives it a body as he has chosen, and to each kind of seed its own body.” vss. 37-38

The Corinthians had many questions about resurrection for Paul and sometimes he gets a little testy in his answers. He thinks that if they were only logical they could figure things out. In this instance, as he attempts to describe our resurrected bodies he uses nature as an analogy. He has noted that the seeds we sow in the ground bear no resemblance at all to the mature plant. A carrot seed does not look like a carrot! God gives to each seed a new and different kind of body. For Paul it makes sense then to believe that our bodies in the resurrection will be nothing like the ones we have now. When we enter into new life everything will be different and we don’t have a clue now what that existence will be like. We know that we will be in Christ, but there’s no way for us to even describe what that’s like. We can describe a carrot seed and we do know what a carrot looks like. Obviously they are different. We know what our bodies are like in this life…but there are no words to describe what they’ll be like in the next. The best we can say is that we will know perfect peace…and really, that’s enough!

Thought for the Day: What metaphors do I use to describe life after death?

Psalm 37:39-40

“The salvation of the righteous is from the Lord; he is their refuge in the time of trouble.” vs. 39

The psalmist believed that the world contained both wicked and righteous people and it was pretty easy to tell the difference between the two. Most of us have made similar observations. Even though we have theological reasons for saying that all are sinners, in our hearts we agree with the psalmist. What was irksome in those days and in ours is that the wicked, anyone not in our camp, seem to do better than they should. The psalmist advises us to not fret about such things because in the long run the Lord will be our refuge in the time of trouble. And that’s a big deal… he calls it our salvation. Jesus, of course, went a step further and says that salvation is really for all people and not just for the righteous. In fact he went out of his way to let sinners know that God’s love extended even to them. But that doesn’t negate the promise of the psalmist for us. It is true that our salvation is from the Lord…the Lord will be our refuge in the time of trouble…which is what many of us have experienced. We’ve been at the end of our ropes with no one to turn to, and God has heard our cries for help. We’ve found the healing we crave and been delivered from adversity.

Thought for the Day: Who do I turn to in the time of trouble?

Psalm 37:1-11

“Be still before the Lord, and wait patiently for him; do not fret over those who prosper in their way, over those who carry out evil devices. Refrain from anger, and forsake wrath. Do not fret—it leads only to evil.” vss. 7-8

The psalmist speaks from experience. He’s likely had a lifetime of walking in the way of the Lord and he’s learned some things about the journey. As we overhear his words to the people of his day, we can’t help but take his insights to heart. This is advice for followers of Jesus to live by too. It’s obvious that not everyone lives as God desires…and we can’t help but notice that these rascals prosper. Often they live in the biggest houses and drive the finest cars…they always have more money than we do. And sometimes their seeming prosperity gets under our skin. We know that ultimately the way of Jesus will bring enormous satisfaction…but we’d like it to happen faster. We can even be resentful and jealous of the blessings reaped by unbelievers. The psalmist tells us not to fret! And above all he advises that we keep anger from getting a toehold in our hearts…it quickly leads to wrath and can completely destroy our serenity. He says to “be still before the Lord,” an unmistakable reference to meditation, and to wait patiently for the peace of mind that is our ultimate goal. Patience isn’t easy in this world that prizes instant gratification…but it’s the very best way to keep from fretting!

Thought for the Day: What do I fret about?