merittmusings

Growing in Love

www.bible.com/1713/php.1.9-10.csb

Love needs to grow. Love can begin as naive and impressionable, it it needs to grow in knowledge and discernment. A Christian it seems ought not to love indiscriminately. To what end? So that we know whom we should not, and whom we shouldn’t? No, it seems the discrimination comes in the objects of love, those which are superior, pure and blameless, especially as revealed on the Day of Christ.

So what kinds of things are we talking about here? I know I am to love all people, especially those that are in the faith. I am to “love one another” as Jesus has loved us. So I don’t think we are talking necessarily about people here. We know we are to love God, but that seems to be a given, as we know He is superior, pure and blameless. So maybe this applies to godly people? Or godly activities? Since the verse calls out “things” specifically, what kinds of things are godly?

What is a godly thing? The Bible is a godly thing. The kinds of the things the Bible counsels is to do are godly things. Worship is a godly thing, as is prayer. A church can be a godly thing. Going there doubly so. It seems there is no shortage of godly things to do. Working to help your neighbor is godly, and is witnessing to them about what Christ has done for you. Standing up for faith in your community is a godly thing, as is being persecuted for it.

Love must grow and develop godly discernment, to know the difference between what is ungodly and what is godly. Pride and live stand at opposite ends. Love pursues that which opposes pride and self. Pursue love.

Thank you Lord for showing be a better way. Thank you that I am not lost in my self, but have your motivation and strength to hep me see a better life. I pray that I may grow in love, and pursue its ends over my own. In Your Name I pray, Amen.

The New Command

www.bible.com/1713/jhn.13.35.csb

On this Easter Monday, we return to the everyday and the ordinary life of Christians. We get up. We go to work. We make a little money, earn enough to buy our bread, and go to bed, just to do it all over again tomorrow. `If you think about it too hard, you start to ask yourself questions, like, “Is this all that I am? Is there nothing more?” It is my favorite line from Star Trek the Motion Picture, because it is true. It is the question we must ask ourselves, because if we are not asking this question, we aren’t really living.

If you are content to doing the same thing every day, then you have achieved what few have. But if you think you were meant for more, then welcome to the awakened. No maybe what you do is fairly complex, and you come home mentally exhausted. There are days I come home and I am wore out, asking myself if I can get out there and do it again tomorrow. But then I also ask myself the question if this is what I want to do the rest of my life.

Someone asked Brother Lawrence how he could wash dishes and sweep floors at the monastery day in and day out. His reply was simply that in everything that he did, he did it in prayer, as unto the Lord. He applied a spiritual dimension to everything that he did. For life, life was never dull after that. Every act was a work of wonder. I think we forget about this. We forget what a wonder life is, how even the act of getting up and going to work is an amazing process. If you’ve lost work or have had to find work recently, you know how grateful you are when you have a steady job that you can go to every day.

But to answer the question, “Is this all that I am?” the answer is NO. There is more to you than the everyday, more than the commonness of everyday living. And that more is the application of the Holy Spirit. What is your job, your life when the Holy Spirit is applied to it? What is your job when you consider this new command that Jesus gives His disciples? If you practiced “love one another as I have loved you,” what does your average, ordinary job look like then? If you practiced the kind of sacrificial love for your co-workers and your friends that Jesus did for His, what would that look like?

For me, Easter Monday is a new day. It takes all the lessons of Easter, the resurrection, the newness of life, the joy and celebration that Jesus is ALIVE, and applies it to the drudgery and normality of Monday. What does your life look like with Jesus in it? Can you allow Jesus to fill you in such a way that life is not drudgery and ordinary, but every day is a new experience? Every day is a new joy, “For his mercies are new every morning.” This Easter Monday morning, despite being rainy and dreary here this morning, is full of hope and life because Jesus is here. He is the life of the party!

Heavenly Father, thank you for a new morning. Thank you for a new day in the Lord. Every year I have this reminder on my calendar of just how important it is to celebrate the resurrection, because Jesus is alive. Jesus isn’t just a person from history, but a real, living, present Savior who lives in us today. I would be free from the burden of sin and the ordinary. Help me to see the extraordinary in what you have in store for me today. Help me to realize the power of the resurrection in my Monday life. In Your Son’s precious Name I pray, Amen.

He is Risen

www.bible.com/1713/mrk.16.6.csb

Christ the Lord is risen today, allelulia!

That quiet morning two thousand years ago was disturbed by an event unparalleled in history. While all the authorities were resuming work, the religious elite were pleased with themselves that they had saved their faith from a known revolutionary. The Romans were satisfied they had quelled another potential problem. The disciples of Jesus were huddled together, sleeping fitfully because they were terrified of what would happen to them since they lost their Rabbi, especially how they lost Him. Would Judas rat them all out?

But a few women, who braved the early morning air carrying spices, went out to the tomb. Perhaps to see Him one last time before His flesh rotted away, their topic of conversation on their way was how to roll the stone away. Did they know of the armed guard placed over the tomb? Were they worried they might have to convince a handful of guards to stand aside and let them minister their defeated Master?

But the sight that greeted them that morning was not a closed and guarded tomb.

I’ve always wondered why the gospel writers never talk about the actual event of the resurrection. There is no grand depiction of the stone rolling away, or the great moment when Jesus sits up, or when he peels off the grave wrapping. In an echo of Lazarus’ resurrection, there is no moment in the gospels where we see the risen Lord walk out of the tomb. No, by the time the gospels catch up to the event, it has already passed.

The women come upon an empty tomb, with the stone rolled away, the guards fled, the angels standing there over an empty pallet which once held the body of Jesus. The woman are told calmly and peacefully, “He is not here. He is risen just as He said.” There is a gentle scolding in that statement. Oh faithless followers, didn’t you believe? Didn’t He say He would rise again? Why did you not believe?

The women fled the tomb to tell the others, especially Peter, especially Peter, who of all the disciples most sorely needed to hear this message. Mary of Magdala still didn’t understand, and stayed behind, grieving, how could someone have taken the body? Of all the insults their “leaders” could have played on them, now they desecrate the body of the Lord? That is until the “gardener” shows up for work that morning. Maybe he knows what happened? But when she pours out her concerns to him, he responds with the most beautiful word she could ever hear, because it comes from the lips of the One she loves most, “Mary.” She falls to her feet and grasps them. The angels were right, He is RISEN! He’s ALIVE! Death could not hold Him. Their enemies could not defeat HIM. By the time John and Peter arrive, Mary has already left with her instruction to tell the others. John rushes into the tomb while Peter is still trying to grasp what he is seeing. John’s witness to the empty tomb includes the fact that he saw the graveclothes laid aside, with the facecloth folded up by itself. Jesus’ resurrection body passed through the graveclothes without needed to unwrap them. This is our first clue that Jesus isn’t what He used to be.

Over the course of the day, we see Jesus making various appearances to credible witnesses in diverse situations. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15 that one appearance was to His brother, James. James didn’t believe in his brother. He didn’t believe in His mission, and thought he was crazy. No doubt he mourned the loss of his brother, but probably thought Jesus got what was coming to Him. He didn’t expect Jesus to appear to him. I wish I was a fly on the wall during that conversation. But the transformation to James was night and day. James not only becomes a believer (and perhaps one of the first converts after Jesus’ resurrection) but becomes a leader in the Jerusalem church and an author of a New Testament book, The Letter of James.

The Day of the Resurrection of Jesus changed everything. His followers were no longer down and out, but out and proud, proclaiming the work of God through His Son Jesus Christ. Jesus wasn’t just a country preacher, but the very God of very God, the Son who speaks the words of God. In Jesus we could all put our faith and our hope, for His return was very soon. We could have hope for the future. Since He rose from the dead, we can rise from the dead. In Jesus is all the hope we will ever need. All of this because of that Easter morning two thousand years ago. I look forward to the future, no matter how bleak the present, because He LIVES!

Sorry Saturday

www.bible.com/1713/psa.30.5.csb

What always strikes me about the events of the Passion is the disbelief of the disciples. None of them believed Jesus would rise from the dead. None of them believed that this one final prophecy of His would come true. No one stood outside the grave waiting for His appearance (except the Roman guards of course). No one anticipated His return, or prepared for it. In fact, the only preparation you see is the women, taking more spices to the tomb early on that Sunday morning, in further preparation of the body, and probably to see his face one more time before corruption set in.

All of the disciples huddled together in that Upper Room. While other families were together and celebrating the Passover, doing as families do, the disciples were afraid. They were scared that they would be found out. Who knows where Judas went. I don’t think at this point they knew what had happened to Judas since they saw him in the garden two nights ago. Maybe Judas was going to betray them all?

Imagine the self-recrimination taking place. If only I had known Judas better. If only we spent more time talking to him. How could he betray Jesus? Did Jesus know? I can imagine a lot of Monday morning quarterbacking going on in that room on that Sabbath day. There would have been angry words, short tempers, and we would probably have seen these disciples at their worst, but bonded together by their fear. They surely wouldn’t separate now, because someone else might be a traitor too. They wouldn’t dare let each other out of their sight.

There would have been discussion about what to do next. Peter might have been the first to suggest to go back to Galilee and resume the fishing business. Their might have been some remembrances and stories told. “Remember the time Jesus said, …” They might have laughed and chuckled at a familiar event or too, or when they remembered the consternation of the Pharisees and Sadducees just a few days ago, only to remember it was those same that condemned Jesus to death, and then all would be quiet again.

They were all mourning. They were grieving at the loss of a man who had done nothing wrong. He had in fact been more right about more things than all of them. And was He really the Son of God? There was probably some discussion about that subject. How could the Son of God allow something like this to happen to Him? There might have been the topic of leading an insurrection, no doubt lead by Simon the Zealot, but then they would remember that that wasn’t Jesus’ way. Peter would point out his incident in the garden with Malchus, the High Priest’s servant and his ear. ‘Those who live by the sword will die by the sword,” even though they had the two swords.

Sorry Saturday would not have been a lively day, but it certainly prepared them. They all needed the rest, and their hearts were being prepared for what was coming by a Heavenly Father and a Holy Spirit who was reminding them of the things Jesus said. They were receiving comfort in the midst of their sorrow, because the Father was still there with His Son’s chosen, keeping them safe until the Plan could be put into effect.

Like those disciples, we don’t know what’s coming. Though we’ve been told over and again that Jesus is coming back, it’s been so long that we are no longer certain. But Jesus has not left us. His presence is always with us. unlike those disciples, we know the end of that story, and the Living Jesus is with us today. His return is not just promised, but certain. His presence is always and forever. We need not wait for the end of the world to preach a risen Lord. He is risen, and today we have hope because of it.

Lord Jesus, we are reminded those millennia ago that there was a day when the world wasn’t sure You were coming back. We are glad You did. And may we continue to worship You today because You are Living and Active, You are present and working in us today. Thank You Jesus for rising from the dead and being our Savior. May wherever I go be a time I am with You. In Your holy Name I pray, Amen.

Good Friday

www.bible.com/1713/psa.22.1-3.csb

As Jesus hung upon the cross, this Psalm was on his mind, “My God, My God, Why have You forsaken me?” As lonely as this quarantine feels, it isn’t nearly as lonely as Jesus was upon the cross. His friends had nearly all abandoned Him. Only John, His mother, and a few of the women stood at the foot of the cross to be with Him. Despite some that would spend this time with Him, He alone would suffer for the sins of the world.

I’ve wondered what it would have been like standing at the foot of that cross. What did it mean to John, who had witnessed miracles, amazing wisdom, and the sheer power and presence of the Son of God, now to stand at the foot of this cross and watch Him die. What was that like? To think at any moment, the authorities who look his way and possible add him to the roster of those crucified that day.

What was it like to be there on the cross and see yourself surrounded by hosts of haters, catcalling and insulting you, mocking you, when you had all the power in the world to call down 12 legions of angels at any moment, both to rescue and execute judgment?

What was it like to be His mother, seeing the boy you raised hanging there and helpless to do anything about it?

There is a famous painting, I don’t remember the artist or the name of the painting, but it was a painting of the Crucifixion. Remarkable about the painting was that the artist included himself in the crowd. I think everyone single one of us was in that crowd. Each of us has passed judgment on the Son of God, and each of has mocked Him for the futility of His sacrifice, that is, until we knew how much He loves.

Standing at the foot of the cross on this Good Friday, I see all these things, the crosses, the guards, the mocking crowd, and the weeping friends and family. And I find my voice alternates between joining the crowd and weeping with His friends. He is dying for my sins, as well as for the sins of the world. Upon His shoulders lay my misdeeds and malfeasances. Upon Him, my sins are laid, to be paid for by His blood. I too survey the wondrous cross. I too grieve at what my sins have done to my Lord and my God. But what love is that that would shed this blood so freely? What love would give so generously for me? I know who I am and what I am worth, and I am not worth the spilling of this blood. Thankfully, His opinion differs from mine, because in His eyes, stained with tears and sorrow, saw me standing there, and paid for my sins.

Dear Jesus, I cannot repay what gift you’ve given to me. I cannot return to you an equal gift. But what I have is yours. If you would have me. All that I am is yours. It’s all I have. Thank You Jesus for giving Your precious perfect life to save someone like me.

May God bless you this Friday.

Flesh is Weak

www.bible.com/1713/mat.26.41.csb

Some of the strongest people I’ve ever met were dying. Her name was Virginia. She taught Sunday School at the church I pastored many years ago. She was a little lady who had fought many battles. I can still see her face. And I will be looking for her when I get to Heaven. While short in stature, she had great faith. She was kind and generous. I wish I’d spent more time talking to her. She and her husband attended the church, and she had been getting progressively more ill. After a long time of this, she finally went to the hospital for a bowel blockage. As we stood in her room before her surgery, I prayed with her. We prayed for her healing and quick recovery, and she prayed right along with us. After the prayer was over, we went to the waiting room to wait out what was going to be a routine surgery.

A while later, one of the surgeons came out to us tell us how things were going. To our shock, they were not going well. She wasn’t going to survive surgery. When they opened her up he explained, they found the bowel blockage, and it was advanced cancer.

How could any of us had known that the last words we spoke to her were the words of prayer and encouragement at her bedside? How could we have known?

A few days later, I preached her funeral. It was the only funeral I’ve ever preached where I can honestly say we had live birds. I kid you not. I don’t really remember what I said that day, but I remember the birds. I remember where the cemetery is. I remember it was a sunny day. And from time to time, I remember her life and her faith.

Our flesh is weak and prone to failure. But God is good. And in Him we find our strength. If you find that your flesh is weak, take heart. God is strong, and He will lend freely all that you need. May you have a blessed day today. Be strong in the Lord.

New Covenant

www.bible.com/1713/luk.22.20.csb

Today is Maundy Thursday on the Church calendar, the day before Good Friday, and the night of the Last Supper, which makes this verse appropriate today. This verse comes from Jesus’ words around the table that night, whilst the disciples were celebrating a traditional Passover, Jesus had in mind something different, and made what is old new again. Instead of a celebration of the Israelites’ liberation from Egypt, Jesus offered a new liberation, a new covenant with Israel and with all who would follow Him. This was liberation from bondage to sin.

We don’t think about that very much, our bondage to sin. Sin never seems like bondage when you first get into it. It just seems a pleasant alternative to doing things the “right way”, shortcuts if you will to getting what we want. Fornication is a shortcut to sex without the tedium and work of marriage. Drinking and drugs are shortcuts to pleasure that we would normally get after working all day and finally getting to rest and have some peace. Foul language is a shortcut to incisive argument, where we don’t actually have to do the work of research and thinking to come up with something important to say. I could go on. Cheating and shortchanging others is a shortcut to the hard work of acquiring wealth. You get the idea.

But while these things don’t seem like bondage at first, if you’ve had any practice at them, you find yourself in chains soon enough. What happens when that girlfriend has a baby? Or your creditors know you’ve been cheating them? Or you can’t stop using curse words in your daily conversation? What started as a choice became a habit, and a habit became a behavior, and a behavior, bondage. And like the Jews in Egypt, we found ourselves in sore bondage.

What Jesus offers is liberty, freedom to the captives. He offers your freedom, not through a self-help program, or weight-loss gimmick. He offers a change of heart, because that’s where sin has taken root. He offers a change of soul, a cleansing of heart and mind that only He can achieve through the sacrifice of the New Covenant, in His blood. But this isn’t something automatic. You must choose it. And it isn’t a one-time choice, but a daily walk. Sin is always crouching at the door, always waiting for a weak moment to strike. Always alluring, always present to offer you an easier way, a quicker way to get what you want. It’s a trap. Jesus’ calls us to a harder way. He calls us to the narrow path. But He offers eternity in exchange. He offers transcendent joy. He offers belonging, relationship, wholeness, well-being, all the joys I could want, found simply and fully in Him. He offers stable relationships, healthy marriages, kids who help heal your heart rather than break it. He offers all that you really want, but don’t know how to get right now. Why? Because He loves you.

Lord help me to embrace Your more difficult path, Your tougher path because I know in my mind and my heart that the rewards are far more fulfilling than the passing pleasures of sin. I know there is joy there, and peace. Grace and mercy to be had for the asking. Help me Lord to know you and all You are worth. In Your Name I pray, Amen.

Humbled to Death

www.bible.com/1713/php.2.7.csb

He humbled himself, by becoming obedient to the point of death – even death on a cross!
(Php 2:8)

These two verses form a chain of progression, from heaven to the cross along the path of humility. Jesus, who lived in heaven, humbled Himself by becoming a man, and then as a man, humbled Himself further by being obedient to the will of His Father and submitted to the cross. It was no light thing He did. Each step was taken with careful deliberation and certainty of will. Jesus knew the stakes. He knew how much of a bet this was to convince men and women to believe in Him for eternal life. He knew how risky it would be putting His own life on the line to show His love, His Father’s love for the whole world. And this was in the days before the internet, before mass media coverage, before newspapers. He knew that what He was doing would be so profound, so meaningful, so impactful, that we would still be talking about it and celebrating it 2000 years later.

What other events from ancient history do we celebrate every year? The Jews celebrate Passover (the liberation of the Israelites from Egypt 3500 years ago), Hannukah (the oil in the Temple that continued to burn while a new batch was being prepared, about 2200 years ago) and some others. But the rest of the world? We celebrate the founding of our nation 250 years ago. We celebrate and remember events from recent memory, like 9/11 or maybe Pearl Harbor. We celebrate Christmas not because Christ was born, but that He died and was resurrected.

Celebrating Easter is our connection to the ancient world, a time when swords and sandals won the day, when the Romans ruled the world, and a small group of Jewish men and women celebrated the return of their Rabbi from death, the Son of God. This one event, in a Roman backwater, far from the seats of power and influence, has changed the whole world. We don’t remember the name of the Roman Caesar of that day (Tiberius) as well as we do the name of Jesus. What man sees as insignificant, God plans for His glory.

As we prepare our hearts for Easter this week, Whether alone or with family, lift up the name of Jesus in your conversation. Lift up the name of Jesus in your work. For this Jesus who died is alive again. He was crucified, but He has risen. Let us rejoice and praise the name of Jesus!

Lord Jesus, let me not forget what Yoru resurrection means. Though we are separated from the events of that morning by two millennia, Your Name still rings in our ears. May we ever sing Your praises, Amen.

A Kingdom Awaits

www.bible.com/1713/mat.5.10.csb

Have you ever gotten in trouble for doing something right? Maybe it’s because you decided not to lie for someone else. Maybe you’d had enough of someone else’s lies and finally told the truth. Maybe you were trying to help someone else out, only to find out you were in over your head. Strangely enough, it’s not that hard to get in trouble for doing something good.

So imagine what it must be like for those who follow the Truth. Standing out in front of abortion clinics, making a stand in public forums, speaking up at town halls and county meetings. As a Christian, your ideals are far higher than what others see as good. Are you able to stand up to the strain?

What I find as I get older is that I am finding it harder to care what others think. In truth, no one really cares what you think, because most people are concerned about their own lives. Most people just want to live life in quiet and in peace. Anything that disturbs both is cause for concern, but if left alone, most people just go on.

Strange then that as Christians, we have an agenda, to introduce others to the gospel, the life-saving gospel. We must both help people understand that they have a serious problem, and tell them about the solution. This is a special kind of evangelism, since it requires both parts to work. If people don’t believe they have a problem, then they won’t be interested in the solution. So you can shake a Bible at them all day and they will not care. You can quote Bible verse to them and they will not listen. You must first introduce the problem. So what is it?

People are looking for purpose. They have pursued pleasure all their lives, and come up empty. Life for many is empty. Life means only pain and suffering, which leads to depression. In this nation, depression, purposelessness, and emptiness is our greatest plague. Why? Because they have no hope. Hope is what drives us and helps us move forward. If there is no hope, no vision, the people perish.

So when we frame the problem in this way, we have an answer. You were created with a purpose. You may not believe in a Creator, but you know hopelessness. You know that your life isn’t fulfilling. And I can tell you how to find purpose again. That gets people’s attention.

When you are stuck in a difficult evangelism situation, remember that Bible verses are not the only tool in our tool box. We ought to practice discernment as well, to discern the nature of someone’s problem, help them explain in words, so that we apply Truth where it’s needed.

Help me Lord today help others see their problems, to identify them so that they will be open to the gospel message. Grant me discernment, wisdom, and direction to find them. Thank you Jesus, Amen.

Selah

www.bible.com/1713/psa.24.10.csb

You will see this word occasionally in the Psalms. I have heard it described variously as a pause, a dramatic interlude, or a guitar solo. I think it works best as a moment, a pause to reflect on what was just said. These are some pretty weighty words.

Any king of any age would crave this kind of laud and honor. To be the King of glory. Woah. All would wish to a glorious kings, but to be the King of glory, now that’s something else. But few would pursue the road that would take them to this kingdom. As pictured above, that road goes through the cross.

Jesus is the King of glory, the Lord of armies. Both before and after the cross He could command 12 legions of angels, the fiercest warriors you could ever hope to face. They make SEALs look amatuerish. One angel can kill over 100,000 by himself in one night. 12 legions, well, I’ll let you use your imagination.

On the one hand we would be right to experience fear from this Lord of hosts. He is a fearsome character, and One from whose throne we receive judgment. We ought to fear Him and respect that power and authority above all others. He is the one who commands this virus. He commands life and death. We are subject to Him always, alive or dead.

But this same Lord also came to live among us, to teach us a path of love, and demonstrate that love for us, His love for us, by His death on the cross. And He demonstrates His love by rising from the grave in resurrection. This is love. As powerful and fearsome His power, so is His love. And those 12 legions don’t stand against us, but to defend us from the hordes of Hell. We are His chosen, His brethren and His sisters. We are His if we choose His life over death.

As He rode into town 2000 years ago, He rode in to accolades and applause. Hosanna to the King, the Son of David! Hosanna to the King. May He be Your King today.

God, help me rise in faith to Your Kingdom. May I respond in faith to Your command, that I may be Yours. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.