merittmusings

The Song Goes On

www.bible.com/72/col.3.16.hcsb

Ever had a song stuck in your head that just won’t go away? Yeah, me too. Those songs have catchy tunes and easy to remember lyrics. Well, guess what God has planned for us to do with the word of truth? Put it to music of course. Words and tunes come together to make it easier to remember (the alphabet song, anyone?) and be able to remember it much later. My wife tells me she could have a masters in late 80’s song lyrics. That’s how our memories work. So God has already put into place the directive to put these truths to music so that in times it struggle, we could remember.

Remember that while you worship this morning. God bless!

Where Two or Three are Gathered

www.bible.com/72/mat.18.20.hcsb

There is a running joke in my house that our County Judge Executive always seems to be present where “two or three are gathered” because he always attends any sort of public event, regardless of the crowd. We laugh because it’s often true.

However, I’ve also heard this verse to justify small gatherings of Christians, very small gatherings. If two or three Christians show up for Wednesday Night Prayer Meeting or Bible Study, this verse gets pulled out of context and employed to justify our own presence at the meeting, sometimes with an eye of condemnation for those that failed to show up.

So what does this verse mean? So in the context of Matthew 18, it is the subject of judgment within the church if someone has sinned against you, you are to confront them personally with the sin. If they are not repentant, you are to bring them before the elders, and if not then, before the whole church. If as a church, such a one does not repent, then such a person is to be excommunicated and withdrawn from the fellowship. The idea is that if even two or three are witness to this unrepentance and approving of the excommunication, Jesus is also present, as this unity of decision indicates the presence and agreement of Jesus. The passage is far darker than we usually see applied. It is a hard passage to interpret, and I’ve only given one of a few possibilities. But in short, it seems where two or three are gathered, they may act in unison and pass judgment in the name of Jesus.

It’s funny that this is not the style of church judgment we see employed by the apostle Paul, who in Galatians 2 confronted Peter publicly for refusing to be seen with Gentiles after certain Jews showed up. Peter’s sin was public, so Paul confronted him in kind. There were no private meetings behind closed doors. Public sins have to be addressed publicly?

On the one hand we have Jesus’ explicit teaching. On the other we have Apostolic example. There is something here that may get into another time, but we have enough today to get you to thinking. There are other examples, like 3 John where John tells the church to be rid of a person who was causing trouble. We have 1 Cor 5 where Paul demands the removal of a person living in public sin.

The is probably a book about this somewhere. Remember that this verse is more than about the size of gatherings or about when Jesus shows up.

God bless you and your walk today.

The Weight of the Law

www.bible.com/72/gal.6.2.hcsb

Do you know how heavy the Law is? If I read this verse right, the Law weighs exactly as much as the burdens of my fellow believers. Now, let’s break that down a little bit.

We are to carry one another’s burdens. That demands fellowship, just as I spoke about in a post a few days ago. When you participate in fellowship, you make friends, and friends share burdens, struggles and sufferings they are dealing with. Ok. So as friends, we share in the carrying of other’s burdens. That is called love. We love one another and so pray with them, weep with them, listen to their stories, offer to help as we are able, and in general try to lighten the load our friends carry with them.

Paul says that when we do these things, we are fulfilling the Law of Christ. That law is the new commandment He have to us, to love one another. The distinctive of the Christian community is that we live each other. Our religion isn’t about every person trying to be perfect for themselves and their own salvation. True Christian religion is that we give freely of ourselves for the sake of each other. We love one another as Christ loved us.

I have been in “Christian” churches where this was not the case, or better, when there were enough who ignored the law of Christ as to make the rest ineffective. But Christianity forms it’s beginning has always been about you, not about me. It has always been other-centered. Jesus didn’t die for Himself, but for the whole world. When we love and give and share, we don’t do it to earn salvation points, but because we’ve already been saved. And we simply extend that grace to others. This is why Christianity is different. It doesn’t focus on the self in its religious “duties”. It focuses on those outside of ourselves. To live our neighbor as ourselves, to love one another, especially those in the Christian community, as we love, support, and encourage.

If you don’t have a community like that in your church, I am very sorry. I would say to start one, even within the church, but it seems so foreign to many churches I don’t know where I would even begin. I feel that my own church where I attend is doing a good job at this, and I would love to invite you all to know what that feels like. You might check out http://www.betterlife.church and see what the fuss is about. But I encourage you as a fellow Christian. There are churches like this, even if you haven’t found one yet, that loves people, rather than forces them to pretend to be perfect.

God bless you today.

In a Nutshell

www.bible.com/72/gal.5.14.hcsb

The whole law, all 613 elements of it, can be fulfilled by obeying this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” So, yeah, I guess that’s it for today.

P. S. – a note about “as yourself”.

So this verse unwittingly has become the foundation of the self-love movement, as The Scripture says here to love your neighbor as you love yourself. Inherent in this understanding is the concept of self-love. But let me tell you the difference between what is call self-love and what is here in this verse.

Self-love is about satisfying the self, exalting the self, and giving place to self when other’s have needs too. I may be exaggerating a bit, but this is where the self-love movement eventually ends up.

By contrast, this verse is talking about selfishness. It’s the same as self-live because it is self-interest, which everyone has. It is a natural inclination to preserve ourselves, take care of ourselves and protect ourselves. We really don’t need any Scripture telling us to do this. Besides, Scripture is not saying we need to live ourselves here. We already do that very well. What is is saying is that we need to love others with that same level of self-interest. We don’t do that naturally and Scripture offers a boost here, a moral compulsion if you will. Our natural self-love needs to be turned outward, and as such, when we do this, we fulfill the law.

It isn’t natural. It’s supernatural. God bless!

Better Than One

www.bible.com/72/ecc.4.9-10.hcsb

I hate to have just one cookie, you know? I mean, if you are going to have a cookie, always have two. You can eat the first and enjoy it with a sense of knowing there’s another waiting. I usually power through the first one anyway. When I get to the second, I take a little more time, knowing it is the last one. Sigh.

But Solomon isn’t talking about cookies, or food, or wives. He is making an observation about life. Two people in a relationship are better than one person alone. He echoes God’s observation in Genesis 2, “It is not good for man to be alone.” Solomon. Observed that when one stumbles, the other can pick up.

Equally important, Solomon reminds us that we were not designed to be alone. We were designed for community. We need another person. Of course God solved that problem by creating a second gender, the female, to complement the male. I don’t see that necessarily here, but it is certainly possible. A man and a woman are complementary partners, and in marriage are even committed to each other’s well-being. But in view can also be fellow warriors, or best friends, or even two walking along the same road.

Who is he person in your life that fulfills this role, that picks you up when you stumble? Who do you help when they fall? We all need someone like that. As Christians, we are called to live in community, and not try to live our our faith alone. Even if it’s not in your nature, you need to make friends. I encourage you today to make as many as you can.

God bless you this morning a throughout the day!

Working Together

www.bible.com/72/heb.10.24.hcsb

Did you know you are not the only Christian? I know right? Mind-blowing! Close on heels of “do not neglect the gathering of yourselves together” is this gem, “let us be concerned about one another to promote love and good works.” Who knew there were others to “one another” about? And yet key to the Christian experience is the idea that there are others.

The greatest commandment in the New Testament is to “love one another as I have loved you.” That requires others. That requires community. You cannot be a Christian in isolation. How often do you see Christians alone in the New Testament? Where is the Christian discipline of solitude practiced? Yes, Paul did it, on the way to Athens. Once there, he preached a message, and suddenly he wasn’t alone anymore. Others believed his message and they became a community.

The medieval practice of the Christian hermit was never commanded in Scripture, and it should never be practiced today, especially when temptation abounds and we need to be accountable to one another, encouraging one another in love and in good works. Don’t be a Lone Ranger Christian. It’s not Christian. Even the Lone Ranger had Tonto.

God bless you today. Let’s get together. Love you all.

Pruning isn’t Pleasant

www.bible.com/72/jhn.15.2.hcsb

Just saying.

No, seriously, pruning your life is not a pleasant experience. It usually means losing something, maybe a job, a friend, even family members. It could be a marriage or a church. I hope it’s just bad habits or sinful behaviors. I hope. Because when the Lord starts pruning the former, you know He has serious work to do.

Maybe you have a fantastic job, but it keeps you from spending time doing the Lord’s work. Or you have a great friend, but they are leading you from your best Friend. Perhaps your marriage is amazing, but it isn’t holy. Pruning doesn’t explain all of these, nor would I say at the time of such trauma that that is what the Lord is doing, but He does prune, and it does hurt.

But when He prunes, it is so we will produce more fruit. He cuts away the extra growth that He doesn’t want or need. He may let it grow for a little while, your your conscious work on you for a bit, but only for a season. If you are trying to be a disciple, welcoming the pruning is a sign of maturity, of knowing that life is more that this world, but prep for the next.

This isn’t an easy one to write, because I’ve felt the pruning. And it always hurts. But sometimes God let’s me see what good comes from it. It takes faith to let Him prune, trust that He knows what to cut so that you will grow.

About two years ago, I was asked to step down from the pulpit and turn in my letter of resignation. That was hard. It still is. But God is showing me today some of the good. It has been a great challenge to my faith, but I still believe, because I trust Him.

God bless you through your trials today. Trust Him.

Imageo Dei

www.bible.com/72/gen.1.27.hcsb

One of the more hotly contested scriptures today. Lots of opinion what this verse means. In what way are we the image of God? A lot of deep stuff has been written about this. But I think it is important to say that God does not look like us. We look like God.

I believe another important observation here is the question of gender. The image of God, whatever it is, was created and shaped into two genders. Now I know there are those that say that God’s image resides within each of each, and there is truth there. But i also have to wonder why this phrase is added so closely to the other. God made man in His image, male and female He made them. It’s almost a parallelism, that one statement builds on the other.

While God is neither male nor female, He created both genders to reflect His image, so that the wholeness of God is reflected in the union of both. God possesses both masculine and feminine aspects, but we are to call Him Father, and so we do. But we are also to “honor your father and your mother” and that this is the first commandment with a promise. “That it may go well with in the land the Lord your God is giving you” and that you would live long on the earth.

Parents who model God in the home do well. Marriages of one man and one woman model God for their children. And should you find yourself in one of these relationships, thank God you have found her or him. For we are made in the image of God.

God bless you and your family today!

Crucifying the Flesh

www.bible.com/72/gal.5.24.hcsb

I love how Paul here understands this crucifixion to be past tense. I wish that that was true for me as well.

There is something here we ought to pay attention to. For if we have become Christian, believers is the sacred Savior who cleanses is from our sins, then that means something for our behavior, doesn’t it? We are saved just as we are, without any work on our part, for Jesus note the cross for us. He gave His own perfect life as the perfect sacrifice for sin, for there is no forgiveness without the shedding if blood. Jesus became dead for us so that we could live.

Now many today see this is a great thing. It is. That means you did not need to bring any sacrifices to the altar, nor qualify for this salvation beforehand. All your sins are wiped away, your heart is cleansed, and you are pure before the Lord. Now what?

Sadly this same multitude turn right back to the filth that made them miserable in the first place. Though they experience s temporary joy in their salvation, like washed hogs they return to the mire or like dogs to vomit.

That’s because this part of their salvation wasn’t complete. There are consequences of purity, just like there are for sin. And honestly I believe most Christians struggle with this part daily. It’s hard to be holy. I think that’s why he uses the image of crucifixion to show how difficult it is. We take up our cross daily. We die to ourselves daily. We get better at it. That’s called maturity, so that one day we can look back upon our cross and see our old crucified flesh there, withered and dead. It’s not a pretty sight, because that is the sin and death and keeps us from heaven.

Make today a day you set aside the desires of the flesh for the desires of the spirit. Let the Spirit has His full work in you. God bless you and have a great weekend.

Building on the Rock

www.bible.com/72/mat.7.24.hcsb

The wise man built his house upon the rock. The foolish man built his house upon the sand. Jesus draws on some familiar language to illustrate the idea of how you build you life. Do you want to build a life that comes to ruin? Build it on shifting principles that haven’t been tried over time to be true. Build it on popular culture. Build it on the fashionable. Build your house on what’s cool today.

Fashion trends come and go, along with fads and gadgets that are popular for a season. Many companies try to build themselves on these passing trends and go under within a month. They try to chase the wind wherever it’s blowing.

Other companies are built on solid ground, stuff or services that will always be needed, and whose demand will only increase with population, like electricity, healthcare, even the internet, which is here to stay. The key, like seeing the internet for the first time, is to judge whether something that looks like a fad will actually become a necessity (like cell phones). That’s tricky, and most people don’t get it right.

So the wise man builds his house on the rock. Of course the only sure rock is Jesus. But what he is referring to here is His message. At the conclusion of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus adds these words about the wise and the foolish. The one who has listened to His words is like the one who builds his house on rock, built to last and built to weather the storms. That tells me that that the truth Jesus tells here is rooted in Himself, because He is a rock in the sense that He can be relied upon, to be steady, but also as an eternal observer of human nature (let alone the Designer). When Jesus says that a certain action is the wise course, He means it. He defines wisdom here as living according to His word. Truer words could not be said.

Enough for today. God bless you all! Have a great Friday!