Romans 12:9-15

“Do not lag in zeal, be ardent in spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope, be patient in suffering, persevere in prayer.” vss. 11-12

Having shared some difficult theological insights with the Romans, Paul moves on to a series of imperatives that he believes will guide that community’s life together. Those recommendations seem routine to us…there’s nothing out of the ordinary about any of them…but taken together they are a good description of a vibrant congregation. Imagine a group of zealous, ardent followers of Jesus united in a singular desire to serve the Lord. All of them are recognized as gifted and are encouraged to share their gifts as they live out their calling to be the Body of Christ in the world. There’s no bickering or jockeying for position. Love binds them together! As this community of faith looks to the future they rejoice in the hope they have in Christ Jesus and patiently endure whatever suffering might come their way. Above all they are united in prayer, constantly lifting up the needs of the hurting to God, praying both for themselves and for their enemies. What a blessing it is to be a part of such a congregation! Would that every baptized believer could find such a home! We give praise and thanks to God that millions of persons through the years have been nurtured and sustained in just such a faith community!

Thought for the Day: How is my community like the one that Paul describes?

Psalm 26:1-8

“Vindicate me, O Lord, for I have walked in my integrity, and I have trusted in the Lord without wavering.” vs. 1

The psalmist has lived an exemplary life, full of integrity and faithfulness, and now he would like some recognition. There’s no reason to doubt his words. Even though there’s a lot of talk about sinners and sin in the world, there are also many people who live with integrity and decency. Some of us are blessed to have friends like this, kind and gentle people whose lives are beyond reproach…not surprisingly they show up regularly in our communities of faith. It may even be that this is how others see us! Certainly there’s nothing wrong with living this way and it’s even okay to feel good about how we have lived. We never have to feel bad about having integrity in a world where it has become increasingly rare. The danger comes when we begin to think that we have a special relationship with God because we’re so good at keeping rules and doing all the right things. Jesus addressed this problem in the familiar parable of the self-praising pharisee and the mercy-seeking tax collector. The truth is that all of us…the good and the bad, the strong and the weak…stand in need of God’s grace and mercy. In the Kingdom of God even sinners are known as saints!

Thought for the Day: How do I walk in integrity?

Jeremiah 1518-21

“Why is my pain unceasing, my wound incurable, refusing to be healed? Truly, you are to me like a deceitful brook, like waters that fail.” vs. 18

Jeremiah had been thrilled to be chosen as mouthpiece for the Lord but his joy and delight quickly faded. People paid no attention to his words and it becomes apparent that the Lord’s judgment will fall on him as well as his country. In pain he cries out, accusing the Lord of being like a deceitful brook, one whose waters fail. Some of us know that feeling. We sign up to be followers of Jesus with enthusiasm and relish our baptismal call to be known by his name. But then things don’t go as we imagine. The joy and delight is ephemeral and rapidly fades. Ugly stuff happens and with disappointment comes misery. Death comes near and we find ourselves aching with the pain of loss, wounded just like everyone else, and we wonder why bad things keep happening. Healing from our wounds is elusive, God is remote, and some days it’s hard to even crawl out of bed. Even when we drink the water of life offered by Jesus, we taste only bitterness and despair…and we echo Jeremiah’s lament. And then, out of the stillness God comes to us and we hear our call affirmed. We are reminded that wounds give authenticity to our words and that the hurting will find comfort in our sharing…and so we called ones struggle on, praying that one day, all of us together will find the healing we all crave.

Thought for the Day: How have I been wounded?

Jeremiah 15:15-17

“Your words were found, and I ate them, and your words became to me a joy and the delight of my heart; for I am called by your name, O Lord, God of hosts.” vs. 16

Not only did Jeremiah have a special name (in Hebrew Jeremiah means “Yahweh exults”), but he had a special calling: he ate the words of the Lord and proclaimed them to the people. Strangely, given the content of his message and the response to his words, he found delight and joy in both his name and his calling. So even though the tone of his proclamation was doom and gloom and he never failed to irritate his listeners, he evidently liked who he was and what he did. We who so often get tied in knots about whether others like us or not can learn from Jeremiah. We too have been named and claimed. It happens in our baptisms, and we then feast on the Word every time we receive Holy Communion. This in itself is occasion for great joy and delight, but then we have the greater privilege of proclaiming a message, not of gloom and doom, but of grace and truth. It really doesn’t make any difference whether others like us or not, though it’s always nice when they do. What counts is our standing with God, and the sure and certain knowledge that we are loved and forgiven. That identity can never be taken from us…it’s ours forever.

Thought for the Day: How can I know if people like me?

Matthew 16:17-20

“I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” vs. 19

Jesus’ promise to give the keys of the kingdom of heaven to Peter has had enormous consequence in the history of the Church. Since popes have considered themselves to be the successors of Peter, many believe that they have inherited the keys, and with the keys, the power to bind or loose sins. By the time of the Reformation the papal court had figured out a way to monetize their control of the keys and had begun extracting massive sums of money from desperate sinners all across Europe through the sale of what were called “indulgences.” Ultimately this abuse led to Luther’s protest in 1517 and to the radical splintering of the Church. Obviously volumes have been written about the historical evolution of Jesus’ gift to Peter, but a more important question has to do with its significance in the lives of believers today. Put simply it means that followers of Jesus have the power to forgive sins! If they don’t forgive, those sins remain a stumbling block to community on every level. But when we do forgive, the gates of heaven are opened, relationships are restored, and we experience the joy of reconciliation. The power of the keys is one of our greatest blessings…and is intended, not to make money, but to free souls from bondage to sin.

Thought for the Day: How do I use the power of the keys?

Matthew 16:13-16

“He said to them, ‘But who do you say that I am?’” vs 15

The question that Jesus asked his disciples as they walked through the region of Caesarea Philippi was important…and it’s one that continues to capture our attention. They had an answer, one that Peter put forward as their natural leader. “You are the Messiah,” he said, probably more out of hope than certainty. We tend to struggle as we respond, trying to remember what the latest book we read about the historical Jesus had to say on the subject. Countless such books have been written, probably to satisfy our insatiable curiosity about the one we’ve been called to follow, and most authors end up with a picture of Jesus that looks a lot like their personal ideal. What they’ve done, in essence, is to remake Jesus according to their preferred image, and in the process, they’ve made it a bit harder for us to answer the question of the text. But it was a struggle for the disciples too…there were a variety of answers available to them: John the Baptist, Elijah, one of the prophets. Their answer was an act of faith…and so is our’s. Who is Jesus for us? Our answer will likely determine the direction of our lives. When we say with them that he is the Christ, we are in essence acknowledging him as the Incarnate Word of God, the one whose Spirit is our guide, our comfort, and our joy. And with Peter, we are blessed!

Thought for the Day: Who do I say that Jesus is?

Romans 12:3-8

“For as in one body we have many members, and not all the members have the same function, so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually we are members one of another.” vs. 4-5

Paul’s vision of the church is familiar to us, but imagine how revolutionary this image would have been to those who were hearing it for the first time. Using the human body as a metaphor, he tells his readers that there is one body in Christ, and that individually they were all members of that body. That means that no one of them should be thinking too highly of themselves…everyone was important, and each person was a part of the whole. No one could be the presence of Christ in the world by themselves, but together they could have an enormous impact. We’ve lost a bit of that communitarian spirit in the church as the years have gone by. Rampant individualism, nurtured by cultural impulses, has worked to disconnect us from one another. Baptized Christians feel free to do as they please, seemingly without any regard to how their absence affects the body as a whole. Still, for those who remain a part of the whole, the experience of community in the body of Christ is unparalleled. All gifts of individual members are valued and used, and when one member suffers, the whole body comes together to provide healing and comfort. As we live and work together in Christ, we are the hands and feet of God in the world.

Thought for the Day: How are my gifts used in the body of Christ?

Romans 12:1-2

“Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God—what is good and acceptable and perfect.” vs. 2

As Paul comes to the end of his letter to the Romans he has some words of insight and advice about how they should live in their challenging, rapidly changing environment. “Do not be conformed to this world,” he says, and the reminder hits home. It is so easy to be sucked into the standards of our culture and society…and it may now be worse than ever. Our social media, the sports and entertainment industry, economic expectations…where should we stop? Everyone wants a piece of us…the marketing never ends. We have hand-held communication devices that keep us instantaneously connected with our hundreds of contacts…and the smarter our phones, the dumber and more anxious we become. Uninterrupted conversations even with friends are becoming a rarity…and we seem powerless to escape…even vacations give no respite or relief. Paul says the alternative to conformity is the transformation that comes through the renewal of our minds. The object is to discern the will of God in the mixed up jumble of possibilities facing us. Only as we move in that direction will we discover what is good and acceptable, the life that is pleasing to God. And who knows, the renewal of our minds might very well start on the day we turn off our smart phones!

Thought for the Day: What would be a good way for me to renew my mind?

Psalm 138

“On the day I called, you answered me, you increased my strength of soul.” vs. 3

The psalmist is overjoyed and filled with thanksgiving. He can’t think of anything else but to bow down and worship the Lord, the One who is mighty among the nations. And what is it that the Lord has done? In the psalmist’s own words, “On the day I called, you answered me, you increased my strength of soul.” Obviously this is an answer to prayer, maybe an answer that he didn’t even expect. He didn’t get a healing or rescue from enemies, he got an increase in his strength of soul! There’s plenty of mystery in that statement…certainly there’s not an obvious meaning. But something has happened at the very core of his being, that part of himself that defines his essence, and he’s thrilled. Our soul is that part of us that gives us personality and that differentiates us from others. It’s what makes us distinct from all other persons…and sometimes we don’t feel very good about that part of ourselves. It’s easy to become downcast and imagine that we’re not worth much, that maybe even God has lost touch with us. What a blessing it is when God zeroes in and lifts us from our doldrums by assuring us that we are important and that we have significance in the kingdom. In that moment our strength of soul is increased and like the psalmist we ooze with confidence and praise.

Thought for the Day: How strong is my soul these days?

Isaiah 51:4-6

“Listen to me, my people, and give heed to me, my nation; for a teaching will go out from me, and my justice for a light to the peoples.” vs. 4

The prophet believed with all of his heart that Israel had been given a singular teaching, a message that deserved all the attention of the people, and that could be transformative for all who heard it. And it wasn’t just because the Lord wanted the nation to be great. What the community of faith had been given was an understanding of God’s justice that would be a light to all peoples. Obviously this was more than a series of laws and commandments… even having  thousands of ordinances regulating every aspect of human interaction does not ensure justice. Because of human sin, the rules can actually tend to obscure justice. What the prophet was looking for was the introduction of God’s kingly rule, what Jesus called the kingdom of God, the direct governance of God over every human heart and the reversal of values within the society and the culture. We see signs of that justice all around us and it touches us in surprising ways. Sometimes we even see the indicators in our own lives as we begin to act in ways not directly related to our own self-interest, those amazing times when we do the right thing and not just what the law requires or what we can get away with. In those moments it is we who are the light…and the whole world is blessed.

Thought for the Day: Times when I’ve been moved to act against my self-interest.