Posted on by Fred Scragg 5

You Got Served!

Mark 10.32-45

The lonely artist had made up his mind. Today was the day he would end it all for good. He climbed the tropically wooded hill behind his Tahitian hut, more alone than he had ever been. 

The now-famous French painter and atheist Paul Gauguin had failed to achieve meaningful success as a painter in his lifetime. He’d abandoned his wife and children, alienated his friends, and headed to Tahiti in search of the authentic life untouched by the poisons of conventionality, greed, and power. Now he had come to the end.

Just days before, he’d completed one last painting, intended as his final testament to the world. He’d described its philosophical ambition to a friend as “comparable to that of the gospel.” It was a massive, three-panel work depicting Tahitian women of all life phases. Moving from right to left, it showed the beginning of life in an infant and the end of life in a sad, old woman—and various stages between. In English it was titled: Where do we come from? What are we? Where are we going?

And now, having finished his greatest work, Gauguin walked up the wooded hill and swallowed all the arsenic in the tin. But he ingested too much arsenic, causing him to violently vomit the poison before it could take effect. He managed to find his way back down the hill, and would die a few years later at the age of 54.

But those three questions—Where do we come from? What are we? Where are we going?—didn’t come from Gauguin. They came from a Christian leader in France named Bishop Felix Dupanloup who drew from a much larger story than himself. 

Gauguin had studied under this dynamic Christian leader during most of his teen years. Dupanloup’s introduction to Christianity instilled in Gauguin the practice of pondering these basic questions about God, our selves, and others. Dupanloup was convinced that once these three questions get into our hearts and minds they cannot be erased—not completely anyway, particularly in this young student. No matter how far he roamed (or ran) from God—no matter how he tried to shake his past—the passionate bishop’s three questions, those he taught as more fundamental than all the others, could not leave the tormented and seemingly unyielding Gauguin. They became the substance of his final testament.

On that hilltop, when questioning the value of his own life, Gauguin had three questions for God:

Where do we come from? 

What are we? 

Where are we going?

We all have questions for God.  Some of our questions would just require answers in the form of information as an explanation.  

However, some of our questions want an answer in the form of God getting actively involved in our every day lives.

If you could ask God to do one thing for you today, what would you ask God to do for you?

Would you ask God to fix your marriage?

Would you ask God to bring back your rebellious kids?

Would you ask God to help you pass your midterm exams?

Would you ask God to increase your paycheck?

Maybe, instead of asking God to get you a pay raise, you would ask him to let you hit the lottery so you could retire immediately and live in leisure for the rest of your life.

Would you ask God to explain all of the suffering in the world—the miscarriages, the cancers, the drunken drivers that kill parents and children, the homelessness, the starvation, the wars?

Would you ask God to explain one of the harder things to understand in the Bible?  

For example, would you ask God what the unforgivable sin is?  

Or, would you ask God to tell you the day and time and Jesus was going to return so that you could make sure you are ready to meet him?

Each of us has a list of questions that we would want to ask God right now, if we were face-to-face.

In this morning’s Biblical text, chosen for us by the lectionary for this Fifth Sunday in Lent, we are going to hear two of Jesus’ disciples, James and John, ask Jesus to do one special thing for them.  

Let’s hear from our Biblical text together now.

Mark 10.32-45 says this:

[32] And they were on the road, going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was walking ahead of them. And they were amazed, and those who followed were afraid. And taking the twelve again, he began to tell them what was to happen to him, [33] saying, “See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and the scribes, and they will condemn him to death and deliver him over to the Gentiles. [34] And they will mock him and spit on him, and flog him and kill him. And after three days he will rise.”

[35] And James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came up to him and said to him, “Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.” [36] And he said to them, “What do you want me to do for you?” [37] And they said to him, “Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory.” [38] Jesus said to them, “You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or to be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?” [39] And they said to him, “We are able.” And Jesus said to them, “The cup that I drink you will drink, and with the baptism with which I am baptized, you will be baptized, [40] but to sit at my right hand or at my left is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared.” [41] And when the ten heard it, they began to be indignant at James and John. [42] And Jesus called them to him and said to them, “You know that those who are considered rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. [43] But it shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, [44] and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all. [45] For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (ESV)

We all know, well, at least most of us know, that there is a social code that makes some questions inappropriate.

For example:

Asking a friend how much money they make…inappropriate.

Asking someone at the polls who they voted for…inappropriate.

Asking a relative to give you a job over more qualified candidates…inappropriate (and illegal).

Asking your wife how much she weighs…inappropriate (and also dangerous).

In this morning’s Biblical text, two of the disciples, James and John have an inappropriate question that they ask Jesus.  

Well, to be more exact, with a detail from Matthew’s biography of Jesus that also records this event, James and John have a question that they ask their Mommy to ask Jesus for them.

Doubly inappropriate.

And, their question is “Can you make us more important than everyone else in the Kingdom of Heaven by giving us the seats directly on you left and right.  This way when everyone looks at you, their Savior, they will also see us!”

They obviously forgot what they heard Jesus teach when he said:

[7] Now he told a parable to those who were invited, when he noticed how they chose the places of honor, saying to them, [8] “When you are invited by someone to a wedding feast, do not sit down in a place of honor, lest someone more distinguished than you be invited by him, [9] and he who invited you both will come and say to you, ‘Give your place to this person,’ and then you will begin with shame to take the lowest place. [10] But when you are invited, go and sit in the lowest place, so that when your host comes he may say to you, ‘Friend, move up higher.’ Then you will be honored in the presence of all who sit at table with you. [11] For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.” (Luke 14:7–11, ESV)

With that being said, there are three main problems with the question that James and John have their Mommy ask Jesus.

First, their question shows a superficial understanding of what it means to follow Jesus.

James and John knew that Jesus was moving forward towards glory and world renown.

However, they didn’t know that the glory and world renown was going to come through rejection, suffering, pain, and death.

Jesus did tell them about this upside down path to glory and world renown in John 10:14–15, when Jesus says to us:

[14] I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, [15] just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep. (ESV)

And, later on, in his letter to the Church after Jesus’ death and resurrection, John reminds us of Jesus’ death and our responsibility to make similar sacrifices for others in our leadership.

1 John 3:16–18 tell us this:

[16] By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. [17] But if anyone has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him? [18] Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth. (ESV)

Following Jesus means doing what Jesus did—considering the needs of others more important than your own, or, sacrificing your own comfort and resources to make sure those around you have what they need for life and love.

Second, their question shows that they have an inflated opinion of themselves.

The ironic thing is that James and John want everyone to see what great leaders they are, but they don’t even have the guts to ask Jesus the question about being leaders in His Kingdom themselves.  Mommy has to do it for them.

James 4:8–10 says:

[8] Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. [9] Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. [10] Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you. (ESV)

Humbling ourselves goes against human inclination.

Because of the sin into which we are born, we enter this world and make our way through this world thinking and believing that there is no one smarter than us, no one more capable than us, and no one more deserving of a pat on the back than us.

Pastor Timothy Keller of Redeemer Presbyterian in New York City once wrote that another way to describe sin is self-centeredness.

And, that is exactly what James’ and John’s problem was when their asked their inappropriate question.  They were being selfish and self-centered, or, sinful, and thought that they were better in every way when compared to the rest of their friends and family.

Third, their question shows that they misunderstand how God measures greatness.

When James and John brought their question to Jesus, they were operating with the world’s understand of greatness. 

According to the world’s sinful understanding of greatness, greatest comes from having the most trophies, the highest grade point average, successful kids, the most money, the fanciest and most expensive possessions, going on lavish vacations, and holding the highest position of power possible within and organization which would give you the most amount of employees/servants underneath you to do your bidding.

However, in Matthew 23:11–12, Jesus tells us how God measures greatness when he says:

[11] The greatest among you shall be your servant. [12] Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted. (ESV)

Jesus is always the greatest among us.

Jesus humbled himself by dying on the cross even though he was sinless and innocent before God so that you could be rescued from death and eternal separation from God.

And, therefore, God exalted Jesus so that at one point or another, before or after physical death, every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus is Lord.  Some will do this to glory in Heaven, and some will do this to judgment and destruction in Hell.

Confess Jesus as Lord and Savior today.

Jesus puts your needs before his own.

Jesus shows you what real leadership is.

Jesus shows you that real leaders serve others in the Kingdom of God and Jesus showed you that by example in His life, death, and resurrection for you.

In a devotion that I shared with you through email and over Bethel’s social media accounts this week we heard this verse:

Who is the greater, one who reclines at table or one who serves? (Luke 22:27)

And, then, we were given this short commentary, titled, “The Servant Is Greater.”

When the Lord asked the disciples this question in the Upper Room, it seemed obvious that the one being waited on is greater. In the world, the more people you have doing what you want, the greater you are. This is what we sinners desire. But Jesus said, “I am among you as the one who serves” (Luke 22:27). He washed their feet; He fed them the Sacrament. In God’s kingdom, it’s not the one who receives service but who gives service who is greater.

God is pure, self-giving love. He did not create man to serve Him (as if He needed anything) but so that He might serve man—breathing life into His people, blessing us with the gifts of His creation, and ultimately laying down His life for us. God is glorified in giving Himself to man, not in man giving Himself to God.

We gather for worship, then, as receivers. We give God nothing except the sacrifice of thanksgiving for the mercy He freely bestows. It truly is divine service. The Lord is still among us as the One who serves—from His font and pulpit and table. The highest form of worship is faith, to receive His gifts and to reverence Him as the One who is greater, from whom all blessings flow.

In Jesus, God serves you and puts your needs above his own.

You got served by God who did what was needed for you to be forgiven of sin and given righteousness and eternal life.

Go this week, in the power of the Holy Spirit, and be the humble servant of all, demonstrating the love of God in Jesus Christ that helps not hurts.

This is the Word of God for you today.

This is the Grace of God for you today.

Amen.

Pastor Fred Scragg V.

March 17, 2024.

Prayer: Lord, grant me humility to receive Your gifts and to serve others. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Posted on by Fred Scragg 5

Love Won Another

Numbers 21.4-9 + John 3.14-21

I read once that the devil was having a yard sale, and all his tools were marked with different prices.  

They were a fiendish lot.  

There was hatred, jealously, deceit, lying, pride—all at expensive prices.  

But over to the side of the yard on display was a tool more obviously worn than any of the other tools.  

It was also the most costly.  The tool was labeled, 

“DISCOURAGEMENT.”

When questioned, the Devil said, “It is more important to me than any other tool.  When I can’t bring down my victims with any of the rest of these tools, I use discouragement, because so few people realize that it belongs to me.

We live in a broken and fallen world where it becomes very easy to fall into the trap of discouragement.  

In today’s political and economic climate, the list of worries grows by the minute:

Am I going to lose my job?

What decision is the government going to make next?  How will it affect me and my family?  

Who is going to be the President next year?

I have a family to take care of.  How will I provide for their needs?

I have bills to pay.  Where is the money going to come from to pay them?

And the list of worries grows and grows.  

And, as we worry and as life unfolds and not everything goes according to our plan, we become impatient and discouragement sets in.  

The problem with impatience and discouragement is that they lead us away from God as we try to lean on our own power and understanding instead of His.  

We only get discouraged because life does not go as we have planned it out in our own minds.

In this morning’s main Biblical text, chosen for us by the lectionary for this Fourth Sunday in Lent, we are going to visit a very interesting piece of history from the Old Testament.  

Now, to remind you, the Old Testament is the first part of the Bible that tells us everything that happened from Creation up until about 400 years before Jesus as born.

In this piece of history, found in Numbers 21.4-9, we are going to get a glimpse into a time when God was doing miraculous things for His people but, the people didn’t feel like he was doing them good enough or fast enough and became discouraged in their impatience.

Let’s look at this Biblical text together now.

Numbers 21.4-9 says this:

Numbers 21:4–9

[4] From Mount Hor they set out by the way to the Red Sea, to go around the land of Edom. And the people became impatient on the way. [5] And the people spoke against God and against Moses, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we loathe this worthless food.” [6] Then the LORD sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people, so that many people of Israel died. [7] And the people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned, for we have spoken against the LORD and against you. Pray to the LORD, that he take away the serpents from us.” So Moses prayed for the people. [8] And the LORD said to Moses, “Make a fiery serpent and set it on a pole, and everyone who is bitten, when he sees it, shall live.” [9] So Moses made a bronze serpent and set it on a pole. And if a serpent bit anyone, he would look at the bronze serpent and live. (Numbers 21.4-9, ESV)

In this Biblical text, we learn many things about how discouragement functions in our lives.

First, discouragement leads to speaking against God.

The Israelites, we are told, immediately point the finger at God the moment they become uncomfortable.  When life does not unfold in the manner that they believe it should, those whom God has shown Himself to time and time again, stare God directly in the face, raise their finger and say “You have brought us out here to die!”

When we get discouraged, we automatically forget all that God has done for us, to us, in us, and through us.  

The Israelites forgot all that they had experienced while following God—transformation from slavery to freedom, a complete unharmed escape from the largest and most powerful empire on earth, miraculous provision of food from the sky, and drinking water pouring forth from rocks in the wilderness. 

In a moment of discomfort, having to spend some time in the hot desert away from the comforts of living in a settled area, the Israelites became discouraged because this was not the life that they would have chosen for themselves.  In their self-centered sinfulness they cast God’s works for them aside and spoke against their Creator and Savior.

You may be sitting there saying to yourself “How could they forget all that they experienced while following God?”  But I am here to tell you that you do exactly the same thing!

Our speaking against God sounds something like this:

My food isn’t tasty enough…

My clothes aren’t stylish enough…

My body isn’t beautiful enough…

My house isn’t big enough…

My car isn’t new enough…

My family isn’t refined and educated enough…

My church isn’t exciting enough…

My paycheck isn’t big enough…

Instead of saying “I am thankful to God for His provision.  He has given me a job, a house, a family, clothing, food, life, and a place in the body of Christ,” we criticize everything that we have and do and go through because we want to be God and think that we could run creation in a better way.  The very second in time that life does not go the way we want, the very second people do not do what we think they should, the very second that our plan does not match God’s plan, our impatience leads us to discouragement and we ultimately end up pointing the finger at God and accusing of Him of doing things wrong.

Second, discouragement leads to speaking against God’s appointed leaders.

We are told that the Israelites spoke against God and against Moses who was God’s appointed leader.  

Moses spent time in prayer, God called Moses by name, God chose and appointed Moses to lead His people through some miraculous but difficult times, and God directed Him step by step.  

Even though Moses stood up for God’s people, protected them, and led them, when life got difficult, Moses became just as guilty as God in the people’s eyes.  Moses was actually more guilty because as God’s representative standing before them, He was tangibly and physically present.  So, the people’s discouragement with life was unloaded on Moses who was doing nothing but following God.

And each of us does the same thing.  Sin flows out clearly in our words, attitudes and actions: “I don’t like what God is allowing to happen in my life, both inside and outside the church and because you are God’s representative standing before me, leading me through this difficult time, you are guilty by association.” 

Third, discouragement leads to a false view of reality.

In one breath, the Israelites say “there is no food and no water and we loathe this worthless food.”  Well, which is it, do you not have any food or is the food you have not the food that you want?

We get discouraged because we place ourselves at the center of the world and the truth is that we are not the center of the world.  

When discouragement sets in, it becomes almost impossible to judge things objectively.  All words and actions become magnified as an attack on us personally.  We become blind to truth and reality and our sinful hearts and minds create a false world where we are always right and everyone else is always wrong.

Fourth, discouragement leads to telling lies to justify your wrong attitude and behavior.

Because we end up in a false reality where it is the world verse us, we end up lying as we describe what we believe to be going on.  

For the Israelites, they lied and said they did not have any food when in fact, God was provided food for them day after day by dropping bread from the sky.  

In order for us to always be right and never be wrong, we have to create and describe a reality in which we are perfect and know-it-all and those lies are nothing but a slap to the face of God Himself.

Fifth, discouragement leads to God’s Judgment.

Due to the impatience, lack of trust, and outright disobedience toward God demonstrated in our discouragement, God brings forth the law which shows us the guilt of our sin and sets out the method of punishment.

For the Israelites, God punished them by bringing snakes to bite and poison them.  When the Israelites saw the snakes they would have been quickly reminded of the serpent in the Garden of Eden that helped usher sin into the world by making Adam and Eve discouraged with their perfect life with God.

and because of God’s judgment…

Sixth, discouragement leads to a need to repent and be forgiven.

When the Israelites were confronted with the sin associated with their impatience and discouragement, they saw their wrong measured against God’s law and came to Moses admitting “We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord and against you.  Pray to the Lord that he take away the serpents from us.”

When God heard their repentance, He answered their prayer and cry for help in a way that exceeded anything that they could have asked for.  

The Israelites asked for the removal of the serpents, which meant that those who had already been bitten would die and suffer the penalty for their guilt.  However, God, in His grace and mercy, does not remove the snakes because their sin deserves to be punished, but God provides a way to be healed and restored to life.  

God has Moses create a pole with a serpent on it and promises that whoever realizes their sin and their need to be forgiven and looks up to the serpent hanging on the pole will immediately find themselves healed from the punishment they are receiving because of their sin.  

God places a serpent on top of the pole so that every time the repentant look at it to be forgiven, they are reminded of their sin (the serpent) and God’s grace in providing a new life in spite of their sin.

For you, sitting here in the pew today, life is hard and you do become discouraged, probably daily, and in that discouragement you do not trust in God, you speak against God, you speak against His leads, you buy into the picture of a false reality and you often try to justify all of that by telling lies to get the pity vote from others.  

However, God has provided forgiveness for you; He has lifted Christ up on the cross to receive the punishment for your sin.  

When you come to the foot of the cross and look up at Jesus who became sin for you, you are reminded of your grumbling against God but you are also shown the grace and mercy of God who provides a way out from that sin through healing, forgiveness, and restoration to life with Him.

In his book Hidden in Plain Sight: The Secret of More, author and pastor Mark Buchanan illustrates God’s love through the story of Tracy. He writes:

Tracy is one of the worship leaders at our church. One Sunday, as she sat at the piano, she talked about the difficult week she’d just been through. It was chaotic, she said—a mess of petty crises on top of a rash of minor accidents, all mixed up in a soup can of crazy busyness. It had left her weary and cranky. She got up that Sunday to lead worship and felt spent, with nothing more to give.

However, Tracy’s 8-year-old daughter, Brenna, helped her gain new perspective earlier that morning. When Tracy had walked into the living room, the window was covered with marks. Using a crayon, Brenna had scribbled something across the picture window, top to bottom and side to side.

At first, it seemed like one more mess for Tracy to clean up. Then she saw what Brenna had written: love, joy, peace, patience, kindnece, goodnece, faithfulnece, gentlnece and selfcantrol (in Brenna’s delightful spelling). 

Mark writes: “Tracy stopped and drank it in. Her heart flooded with light. It was exactly what she needed to be reminded about: the gift of the fruit of the Spirit that arises, not by our circumstances, but by Christ within us.

And then Tracy noticed one more thing Brenna had written at the edge of the window: Love one another. Only Brenna, in her creative spelling, had written: Love won another.”

As Mark concludes: “It’s what Jesus has been trying to tell us all along. You were won that way.”

And, then he quotes our second text from the Lectionary this morning, saying:

[14] And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, [15] that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.

16“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 17For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. 19 And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light becausetheir works were evil. 20 For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. 21But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.” (John 3.14-21, ESV)

Cast your discouragement aside this morning.  Admit with the Israelites “I have sinned for I have spoken against God” and come to the cross where Jesus gives you peace with God by providing the healing and forgives you need through His life, death and resurrection for you. Trust in Him whom we have seen is able to do more than you can ask or imagine.

This is the Word of God for you today.

This is the Grace of God for you today.

Amen.

Pastor Fred Scragg V.

March 10, 2024

Posted on by Fred Scragg 5

Crowned With Comfort

James 1.12-18

A few years ago, a YouTube video circulated among some of my pastor friends.

In that video, we learned about Andrew Brunson, a Christian pastor from North Carolina who spent 20 years in Turkey. 

He had a quiet but deep ministry there until 2016, when after a failed military coup, the government arrested him along with journalists, activists, military officers, and others. 

The Turkish government labeled Brunson a spy.

Brunson was held for more than a year without charges. 

He spent nearly two years in prison, often enduring long trial sessions. At one point, it looked like he could spend years or even decades in Turkish prisons. Finally, after pressure from the

United States Government, Brunson was released from prison and returned to the United States.

The video that circulated into my inbox contained a Wheaton College chapel talk in which Brunson candidly said that he did not feel God’s overwhelming presence during his stay in prison. Instead, he experienced something even deeper. Brunson said, “[After a few days in prison], I completely lost the sense of God’s presence. God was silent. And he remained silent for two years.”

When he was finally brought to trial, things were even worse. He says:

There are some who go into the valley of testing and some do not make it out … I was broken. I lay there alone in my solitary cell, I had great fear, terrible grief, and I was weeping. And the thought kept going through my mind, Where are you God? Why are you so far away? 

And I opened my mouth as I wept aloud, and I was surprised at what I heard coming out of my mouth. I heard, “I love you Jesus. I love you Jesus. I love you Jesus.” I thought here is my victory. Even if you’re silent, I love you. Even if you let my enemy harm me, I love you. [As] Jesus said, “But the one who stands firm to the end will be saved.”

What has happened in your past, or, is happening to you right now, that has you not feeling God’s overwhelming presence in your life, or, has you feeling like you lost the sense of God’s presence completely, believing God is silent?

When we experience periods of hardship and suffering (and we all do, trust me!) many questions arise for us about God’s goodness,  God’s promises, God’s presence, and God’s existence.

This was the experience of the pastor mentioned above, and at some point in life, it was your experience too.  It is only human to doubt and question God in a world filled with pain and corruption.  I say this to let you know that you are not alone this morning, even though you may think you are.

In this morning’s Biblical text, chosen for us by the lectionary for this First Sunday in Lent, we are going to hear some of what James, one of Jesus’ brothers, wrote concerning the place of hardship and struggle in our lives.

Let’s hear together from the first chapter of James’ letter as found in the New Testament section of the Bible.

James 1:12–18 says this:

[12] Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him. [13] Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. [14] But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. [15] Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.

[16] Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers. [17] Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. [18] Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures. (ESV)

Right before this section of James’ letter to the Christians in various cities throughout the Mediterranean region in the first Century following Jesus’ birth, James speaks about the testing of one’s faith.  He speaks very clearly about the times we experience fear, grief, weeping, pain, struggle and hardship.

For, faithfulness’ sake to this morning’s Biblical text, let’s read the  section of James’ letter that immediately precedes it and gives us context for what we hear James encourage us with in what we just heard.

In verse, 2-11, James says this:

[2] Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, [3] for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. [4] And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

[5] If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. [6] But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. [7] For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; [8] he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.

[9] Let the lowly brother boast in his exaltation, [10] and the rich in his humiliation, because like a flower of the grass he will pass away. [11] For the sun rises with its scorching heat and withers the grass; its flower falls, and its beauty perishes. So also will the rich man fade away in the midst of his pursuits. (ESV)

So, with all of this information, let’s ask and answer a question that arises out of this morning’s Biblical text from James 1.12-18.

Here’s the question: “Why should we feel like God is blessing us when we have difficulties and hardships in life?”

Well, according to James, when we walk through difficult moments and seasons of life and come out on the other side, our faith is strengthened because we see that God was with us the whole time, proving to us that nothing in all Creation can separate from us from his love.  

Even in the hardest moments of life, when we seemed to question everything and everyone, God did not leave us alone.  

In fact, we are reminded in Psalm 23, that God is not only with us in every moment, but he is also leading us, guiding us, and protecting us from ultimate harm.

Psalm 23 reminds us of this truthful good news when King David says:

[4] Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,

I will fear no evil,

for you are with me;

your rod and your staff,

they comfort me. (Psalm 23:4, ESV)

When the harder moments of life test our faith, our trust in God’s presence and goodness, that faith grows stronger as we learn that God is really real, really present, and really concerned for us, so much so that he would deal with the crap and filth of broken humanity, which spits in his face and denies that goodness and existence, in order to rescue and save us.

The Bible often speaks of the strength of God’s love for us and the fact that nothing in all of Creation, what has come before in our lives and what will come in the future for us, will ever be strong enough to separate us from His continuous grace, mercy, and love demonstrated most clearly in His rescue of us through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

In a specific example, the apostle Paul, when writing to the Christians gathered in the city of Rome in the first Century following Jesus’ death and resurrection, encourages believers with these words:

[31] What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? [32] He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? [33] Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. [34] Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. [35] Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword?…

[37] …No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. [38] For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, [39] nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:31–35, 37-39, ESV)

James goes as far to say that when we see, learn, and come to believe that God helps us in our times of need, we become perfect because we trust in God who is in control of all things and can do all things, instead of trusting in ourselves whom cannot control anything fully, regardless of how hard we try, and we will try, believe me.

We come to rest in the fact that God never changes.  God is always good to us.  God always acts with grace toward us.  God always acts with mercy toward us.  God always acts with love toward us.  God is always patient with us.  

The author of the Biblical book of Hebrews captures this point succinctly:

[8] Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. [9] Do not be led away by diverse and strange teachings, for it is good for the heart to be strengthened by grace…(Hebrews 13:8–9, ESV)

It is God’s will that you be forgiven of your sin so that you do not remain separated from Him forever.  And, God does everything needed to make sure that happens for you.

God gives you the good and perfect gift of Jesus Christ, His Son, who is God in the flesh, God with you, who lived the life you couldn’t live—obeying every command of God for life and love, who died on the cross to pay the price and provide the forgiveness you need for your command breaking, lawless, self-centered life, and who walked out of the grave alive after three days, defeating the power of sin and death that once kept you separated from God eternally.

And, through standing firm in faith in that good and perfect gift that is Jesus Christ, you will be given the crown of life which is your one way ticket into the eternal Kingdom of Heaven.

Speaking of his life of standing firm in faith through both good and bad times, the apostle Paul talks about the crown of life that believers will receive like this:

2 Timothy 4:7–8

[7] I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. [8] Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing. (ESV)

And, like this:

[24] Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. [25] Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable [crown], but we an imperishable [crown]. [26] So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. [27] But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified. (1 Corinthians 9:24–27, ESV)

In his final letter to the churches on earth, the disciple John, shared this vision which has Jesus speaking to and encourages Christians saying:

[10] Because you have kept my word about patient endurance, I will keep you from the hour of trial that is coming on the whole world, to try those who dwell on the earth. [11] I am coming soon. Hold fast what you have, so that no one may seize your crown. (Revelation 3:10–11,ESV)

In this life, Jesus wore the crown of thorns, or, we could say, the crown of death, so that in your eternal existence, you could wear the crown of life, having been forgiven of your Sin, made righteous in every way, and therefore, welcomed into God’s Kingdom of Heaven.

At some each of us goes into the valley of testing and it is sad to know that some do not make it out.  We are broken. We lay in bed at night, feeling all alone, with great fear, with terrible grief, and we sometimes weep. The thought keeps going through our mind, Where are you God? Why are you so far away? 

In those moments, even as you weep aloud, hear Jesus saying to you, “Do not be deceived!,” “I love you!.” “I love you.” “I love you.”

And in response, say, “I love you Jesus. I love you Jesus. I love you Jesus.” “Even if you’re silent for a moment, I love you. Even if you let my enemy temporarily harm me, I love you.”

In every instance, ask God to remind you that Jesus said, “But the one who stands firm to the end will be saved.”

With faith in Jesus, you are always blessed when you remain steadfast under trial, for when you have stood the test you will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to you who love him.

This is the Word of God for you today.

This is the Grace of God for you today.

Amen.

Pastor Fred Scragg V.

February 18, 2024

Posted on by Fred Scragg 5

Broken But Beautiful

Mark 1.29-39

“I’m one step closer to the edge

And I’m about to break.”

Back in the late 1990s, I sat in what was then called Giant’s Stadium, in New Jersey, while 80,000 people sang these words at the top of their lungs to Linkin Park’s nu-metal hit.

It was in the middle of that crowd, on that hot summer day, at that all day music festival, before the thought of pastoring ever entered my mind, that something strange happened.  As the crowd was repeating the chorus, “I’m one step closer to the edge, and I’m about to break,” I was clearly led to think, “You have to help these people!”  Compassion welled up in my heart as I realized these words were not just some random words to a well written song, they were a generation’s cry for help.

Have you ever thought the words that were being sung that day inside your mind or spoken them out loud to a loved one or therapist?

I personally have to admit that as I deal with deep dark depression most days of my life, these words are not just some lyrics to a 30 year old song.  The words, “I’m one step closer to the edge, and I’m about to break,” are a daily thought and feeling that courses through my veins.

In that almost universal cry for help in the midst of the troubles of life, a deep desire for someone to come along us and assure us that, “everything’s going to be OK,” is wanted.

It’s like our soul wants someone to say, “Come to me, you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”

Maybe you know this about me and maybe you don’t.  I love art.  I love art so much that one of my degrees is in Art History with a concentration in Gothic Architecture.

This week, while feeding the fire of that love by reading a biography of Lilias Trotter, the late 19th Century/early 20th Century British artist, who eventually set her art career aside to become a Christian missionary in Algeria, I was taken aback by the compassion for the sick, hurting, and lost that drove her daily habits.

The biographer shared this:

Lilias was thirty-four when she stepped off the boat. Her and her companions’ first ministry contact came through ministering to the women and children in the slums of Algiers.  They were the first European women many of the Algerians women had ever seen.  The place women occupied in that country at that time was not pretty.  Many were married off when they were ten to twelve years old, taken into a harem, and then discarded for younger wives once they bore some children and got a little older.  These women, many in their early twenties and with their whole lives ahead of them, became destitute.  Lilias would gather them and teach them stories from the Bible and help care for their children.  She wanted to help these women develop some kind of economic independence so they could live on their own, apart from their fathers’ and former husbands’ homes.  So Lilias provided classes to teach them remarkable skills, much like her work with the women of London.  In her mind, she wasn’t trying to start a movement; she was just trying to respond to a need she saw that was happening right in front of her.

Lilas’ aesthetic eye served her well in those early months.  She regarded the country and people of Algeria as utterly beautiful.  She wrote in her diary, ‘Oh how good it is that I have been sent her to see such beauty.’  She loved the place.  Her journals were filled with small paintings of people and places, put down for no one’s sake but her own.  She wanted to capture the beauty of those she had come to serve.”

In our Biblical text for this morning, chosen for us by the lectionary for this Fifth Sunday After Epiphany, the disciple Mark records for us a piece of history that involves Jesus looking at the people around him, seeing their great need because of their struggles, hardships, and sin, and offering them help and guidance because he had compassion on them, like Lilias Trotter had on the destitute women in Algeria.

Let’s here from the disciple Mark’s biography of Jesus now.

Mark 1:29–39 tell us this:

[29] And immediately he left the synagogue and entered the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John. [30] Now Simon’s mother-in-law lay ill with a fever, and immediately they told him about her. [31] And he came and took her by the hand and lifted her up, and the fever left her, and she began to serve them.

[32] That evening at sundown they brought to him all who were sick or oppressed by demons. [33] And the whole city was gathered together at the door. [34] And he healed many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons. And he would not permit the demons to speak, because they knew him.

[35] And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed. [36] And Simon and those who were with him searched for him, [37] and they found him and said to him, “Everyone is looking for you.” [38] And he said to them, “Let us go on to the next towns, that I may preach there also, for that is why I came out.” [39] And he went throughout all Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and casting out demons. (ESV)

Our Biblical text for his morning tells us that Jesus came into contact with many people and did many miracles to help those people that were hurting and helpless.  Jesus’ miracles turned things around for the hurting and helpless by providing healing and hope in every situation.

For those of you that were in Bible study last week, some of this is going to sound familiar.

Jesus’ preaching and miracles served four purposes.

First, Jesus’ miracles fulfilled Scripture’s prophecy.

Speaking of the things that God’s Messiah Savior would do, the prophet Isaiah says this:

[5] Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened,

and the ears of the deaf unstopped;

[6] then shall the lame man leap like a deer,

and the tongue of the mute sing for joy.

For waters break forth in the wilderness,

and streams in the desert; (Isaiah 35:5–6, ESV)

And:

[1] The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me,

because the LORD has anointed me

to bring good news to the poor;

he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,

to proclaim liberty to the captives,

and the opening of the prison to those who are bound;

[2] to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor,

and the day of vengeance of our God;

to comfort all who mourn; (Isaiah 61:1–2, ESV)

Second, the performing of these exact miracles proved that He was the Messiah Savior.

Simply put, Jesus did the things that God said He would do before Jesus did them.  This confirmed that Jesus alone fulfilled the requirements set forth by God for the Messiah Savior.

Third, the miracles brought people to faith in Him as God’s Messiah Savior.

And, fourth, they demonstrated God’s outpouring of COMPASSION and love for his people.

Jesus’ healing miracles are reminders of the restoration He brings to His fallen creatures.  Just as the lame person could walk, the blind person could see, and the deaf hear, at Jesus’ return al the ailments that afflict our bodies will be instantly healed, and we will leave before Him in perfect health in our resurrected bodies.

That why the disciple John vision and description of Heaven includes this:

[1] Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. [2] And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. [3] And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. [4] He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” (Revelation 21:1–4, ESV)

Miracles were not a magic show to, “Wow the audience.”

Miracles were a direct demonstration of God’s love for you through the person and work of His Son, Jesus Christ.

Miracles were a direct communication to you from God in which he says, “I see you.  I know your hurt, pain, and struggle.  I know your brokenness and helplessness.  But, I got you.  I am with you.  I am working in you and through you and for you always.  

Through Jesus, I will heal you and help you today, tomorrow, and forever, by forgiving you of your sin through Jesus’ death on the cross, giving you a perfect record of obeying every one of my commands by crediting Jesus’ life to your account, and I will welcome you home into Heaven through Jesus’ resurrection from the dead.  Jesus life, death, and resurrection are now your life, death, and resurrection!”

In every miracle that Jesus performs, there is compassion for the one receiving the benefits of the miracle, and there is 

compassion for you who hear about these miracles past because they point to the ultimate miracle that Jesus performed for you—

a perfectly lived life when measured against God’s standards for life and love 

leading him to be the perfect sacrifice to take your place on the cross 

to perfectly take all of your sins and give you all of his Godly perfection

and then rising from the grave to perfectly defeat the power of sin and death in order to open the gates of Heaven for you.

Everything Jesus did and continues to do demonstrates God’s compassion towards you.

As I continue to study artists and their artwork, it is common to hear that many people find themselves put off by the different forms of modern art. 

When the people witness modern art or listen to depressing modern music and am tempted to write it off (or worse, to find it amusing), we should think of the words of Francis Schaffer, the 20th Century American theologian, philosopher, and Presbyterian pastor.  He said this:

These paintings, these poems, and these demonstrations which we have been talking about are the expressions of men [and women] who are struggling with their appalling lostness. Dare we laugh at such things? Dare we feel superior when we view their tortured expressions in their art?

Christians should stop laughing and take such men [and women] seriously. Then we shall have the right to speak again to our generation. These men are dying while they live, yet where is our compassion for them? There is nothing more ugly than an orthodoxy without understanding or without compassion.”

When we view works of of art, the work is inseparable from the artist.  Art is borne out of the artists life experiences which more often than not include struggle and hardship.

Knowing this and recognizing this struggle and hardship helps us understand what the artist has produced as either an explanation of those struggles and hardships or the hope that they have despite those struggles and hardships.  Understanding the person and their needs helps us to have compassion on the things they say, do, and create.

According to an old Jewish story, once upon a time there was a four-year-old boy named Mortakai who refused to attend school and study Hebrew. Whenever his parents tried to immerse his mind in the Torah [or the Word of God], he would sneak away and play on the swing set. Every form of persuasion failed. Mortakai remained stubborn and defiant. The exasperated parents even brought him to a famous psychiatrist, but that also proved futile. Nothing changed the young boy’s heart, which seemed to grow more distant, lonely, and hardened every week.

Finally, in utter desperation, Mortakai’s parents brought him to the local rabbi, a warm and wise spiritual guide. As the parents explained their plight, pouring out their frustration and despair, the rabbi listened intently. Without saying a word, he gently picked up Mortakai, took him in his arms and held him close to his chest. The rabbi held Mortakai close enough and tight enough so the young boy could feel the safe, rhythmic beating of the rabbi’s heart. Then, still without a word, he gently handed the child back to his parents. From that point on, Mortakai listened to his parents, studied the Torah and, when it was appropriate, he also slipped away to play on the swing set.

Compassion changes a person.

In this old Jewish tale, the rabbi’s compassion made the young boy feel heard, understood, cared for, and safe.  The rabbit did this by bringing the boy close enough to feel his touch and to set their hearts in the same exact motion.

In our Biblical text for this morning, Jesus has compassion on the sick, hurting, and helpless making them feel heard, understood, cared for, and safe.  Jesus did this by drawing close to them so that they could feel God’s touch and have their hearts set into the same compassionate rhythm of their healer.

Although the world considered the troubled outcasts of society, Jesus saw a beauty in each one he had come to serve.

Through our Biblical text for this morning, Jesus let’s you know that he has compassion on you who find yourself troubled and helpless.  Jesus hears you, understands you, cares for you, and keeps you safe from being separated from God from this day forward. 

Rejoice this morning with the prophets Isaiah and Micah who exhort us with these words:

[13] Sing for joy, O heavens, and exult, O earth;

break forth, O mountains, into singing!

For the LORD has comforted his people

and will have compassion on his afflicted. 

(Isaiah 49:13, ESV)

[19] He will again have compassion on us;

he will tread our iniquities underfoot.

You will cast all our sins

into the depths of the sea. (Micah 7:19, ESV)

Although you often feel alone and different because of your troubles, Jesus sees a beauty in you, the one He has come to serve.

Jesus comes alongside of you and let’s you know that everything is going to be OK.  You are healed.  Your sins are forgiven.  And, Heaven is yours.

This week, when you cry out,

“I’m one step closer to the edge,

And I’m about to break,”

Hear Jesus who compassionately calls back to you, “Come to me, you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”

This is the Word of God for you today.

This is the Grace of God for you today.

Amen.

Pastor Fred Scragg V.

February 4, 2024.

Posted on by Fred Scragg 5

Do The Right Thing

Romans 6.1-11

Have you ever struggled to do the right thing?

Have you ever thought to yourself, “what is the purpose of doing the right thing if I am the only one doing it?”

Maybe you’ve thought, “The people that don’t do the right thing seem to be happier, more fulfilled, and are having more fun.”

The original owners of Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company had the reputation for being people of integrity. The beginning of their story reveals their commitment to do the right thing—even when it cost them:

Northwestern Mutual was founded as the Mutual Life Insurance Company of the State of Wisconsin on March 2, 1857. Originally located in Janesville, Wisconsin, the fledgling company relocated to Milwaukee in 1859. Shortly after, the company experienced its first two death claims, when an excursion train traveling from Janesville to Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, derailed, killing 14 people, two of whom were policy owners. With losses amounting to $3,500 and having funds of only $2,000, company President Samuel Daggett and Treasurer Charles Nash personally borrowed the needed funds to pay the claims immediately.

Later when asked why they didn’t simply default on the payments, they replied it would not have been the right thing to do to their fellow man. They both agreed they would rather see the company fail than neglect their obligation to those who trusted them to keep their word.

Doing the right thing can be hard.

Always choosing right over wrong can feel like a daunting task, especially in the moments of decision making.

In this morning’s Biblical text, chosen for us by the lectionary, we are going to hear the apostle Paul give us the encouragement we need to walk every day in the right and the light of our faith as defined in God’s commandments for life and love.

Let’s hear from the apostle Paul’s letter to the Christians gathered in the city of Rome during the first century now.

Romans 6:1–11 says this:

[1] What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? [2] By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? [3] Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? [4] We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.

[5] For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. [6] We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. [7] For one who has died has been set free from sin. [8] Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. [9] We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. [10] For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. [11] So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. (ESV)

Have you ever thought to yourself,

“If Jesus has already forgiven me of my Sin—my sins from the past, my sins in the present, and even the sins that I will commit in the future—why can’t I just do whatever I want right now?  After all, I am forgiven by God and will be forgiven by God anyway?”

If you have thought that at one point or another, and I know you probably have, because I have, I want you to know that you aren’t alone.

That’s how tricky sin and Satan are.  They corrupt our thinking to the point where we think we can get one over on God.

It is this exact broken train of thought that the apostle Paul had to confront in the church around 2000 years ago as witnessed by our Biblical text this morning.

Our text begins with Paul presenting the question, “What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound?”

Here, in his letter to the Christians gathered in the city of Rome during the 1st Century, Paul is not posing this question as one to be answered by the hearers. 

No! Paul is posing the question that he has heard from the Christians gathered in the city of Rome so that he can correct their thinking that is broken and corrupted by the Sin that dwells within us and seems so close whenever we want to do the right thing.

Paul sums up the way he feels, which is very often the way we feel a bit later in this same letter, that often leads to the train of thought being confronted at the outset of this Biblical text.

Romans 7:14–8.1 says this:

[14] For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am of the flesh, sold under sin. [15] For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. [16] Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. [17] So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. [18] For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. [19] For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. [20] Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.

[21] So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. [22] For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, [23] but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. [24] Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? [25] Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin. (ESV)

[1] There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. (ESV)

When theologians get together to discuss some of the finer points of theology, one of the things they discuss is the way God uses his Law in our lives.

I teach the 3 Uses of the Law to all of my confirmation classes by having them memorize the following paragraph:

The Law is that part of God’s Word which tells us what we must do and what we must not do.  It has two, possibly three uses: 1) to curb our natural tendencies by telling us what we must do under penalty of punishment or failure; 2) to convict of sin by describing where we have failed to keep the law, thus showing us our need for a Savior; and 3) to coach the believer regarding what Christ has given the believer to do.

Today’s text has Paul teaching what we would call “The 3rd Use of the Law.”

In the 3rd Use of the Law, we are told that God’s Law has an important place in the life of the believer.

This is very important to understand because there are many traditions that would call themselves “Christian,” but in fact deny that God’s Law has a place in the life of a person once they come to faith in Jesus Christ.

The wrong thinking of such heretical groups goes like this: “Jesus has done all that needs to be done for me.  I am forgiven yesterday, today, and tomorrow.  So, there is no need for me to follow any rules or standards for life and love found in the Bible.”

Those that believe that God’s Law has no place in the life of a person once they come to faith have been historically known as antinomians.

Antinomian comes from the combination of two ancient words; anti, meaning, “against,” and, nomos, meaning, “law.”

So, when you put them together, you are referring to those who are against God’s Law.

Why am I telling you all of this stuff?

I am telling you all of this stuff because it directly relates to what Paul was speaking about in this morning’s Biblical text.

Here’s the order of thought that the apostle Paul is confronting:

God’s Law shows me and the world what sin is.

When I sin, God has the chance to forgive me and show the world that he is a forgiving God.

Therefore, I should just keep sinning, or living like God’ Law doesn’t exist—living in complete disobedience to God’s standards for life and love—so that He can continue to show His love through forgiveness to me and the world.

As much as we would also confront that wrong way of thinking and behaving, we tend to think and behave in this exact way when the rubber meets the road of life.

We think differently than God who created us, forgives us, and rescues us.

And, we act differently than God who created us, forgives us, and rescues us.

[24] Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? [25] Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin. (ESV)

[1] There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. (ESV)

Jesus Christ, Himself tells us that God’s Law is important for our lives and that He didn’t come to get rid of it.

In the disciple Matthew’s biography of Jesus, Jesus says to those listening to the particular sermon that he is giving:

[17] “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. [18] For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. [19] Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. [20] For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 5.17-20, ESV)

And, Jesus’ brother, James, reminds us of the connection of faith and works, the connection that faith such inform works, or that our creeds should inform our deeds, when he says:

[14] What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? [15] If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, [16] and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? [17] So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.

[18] But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. [19] You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder! [20] Do you want to be shown, you foolish person, that faith apart from works is useless? [21] Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar? [22] You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by his works; [23] and the Scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”—and he was called a friend of God. [24] You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone. [25] And in the same way was not also Rahab the prostitute justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out by another way? [26] For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead. (James 2:14–26, ESV)

The fact that Christians are known by their love and that true believers can’t help but be pushed and pulled in the direction of doing the right thing by the Holy Spirit alive and active inside of them.

We won’t always choose the right over the wrong or the light over the dark because we continue to struggle with the brokenness and corruption inside of us, but we will know the difference and have at least a desire to move toward the right and the light.

In my study this week, I was reading some of the writing of the fourth century pastor and teacher, Cyril, who served as the bishop of Jerusalem.  He also spoke to the issue of faith informing the thoughts, words, and actions of our everyday life, or to state it again, our creeds informing our deeds.  

Cyril said this:

“In this Holy [Christian] Church receiving instruction and behaving ourselves virtuously, we shall attain the kingdom of Heaven and inherit Eternal Life;”

Cyril—300 years after Jesus, Paul, and James—makes the connection between and doctrine and practice (or, the things we say we believe and the things we do).  He emphasizes, as do Jesus, Paul, and James, before him, that our actions should flow from our beliefs. 

In an earlier lecture of his, Cyril said:

“For the method of godliness consists of these two things, pious doctrines, and virtuous practice: and neither are the doctrines acceptable to God apart from good works, nor does God accept the works which are not perfected without pious doctrines.”

He goes on to explain that is it of no value to live a virtuous life and yet not believe in God; neither is it possible to retain your faith while living an unrepentant life of sin.  

When we come to faith in Jesus Christ as our Savior—the one who saves us from our Sin that separates us from God eternally—we are untied to Jesus through baptism and are made into a new creation filled with God’s presence every second of every day through the gift of the Holy Spirit.  

It is in this place that we are given the mind of Christ to see the world as Jesus sees it—as a place that ultimately needs to be loved and forgiven to find rest, peace, and hope.  It is in this state of being that we can finally love God and love others as God commands us to do.

In 1 John 2:1–6, the disciple John writes this in his first letter to the Church:

[1] My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. [2] He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world. [3] And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments. [4] Whoever says “I know him” but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him, [5] but whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By this we may know that we are in him: [6] whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked. (ESV)

Back in 1968, a theology student published in his school’s journal what he called, “The Paradoxical Commandments.”

They went like this:

  1. People are unreasonable, illogical, and self-centered. Love them anyway.
  1. If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish ulterior motives. Be kind anyway.
  1. If you are successful, you will win some false friends and true enemies. Succeed anyway.
  1. The good you do today will be forgotten tomorrow. Be good anyway.
  1. Honesty and frankness will make you vulnerable. Be honest and frank anyway.
  1. What you spend years building may be destroyed overnight. Build anyway.
  1. People need help but may attack you if you try to help them. Help them anyway.
  1. In the final analysis, it is between you and God. It was never between you and them anyway.

This morning, rejoice, celebrate, scream, shout, and dance.  Through Jesus you are dead to sin and alive to God! 

Jesus did the right thing for you.  And, doing the right thing was hard.  He followed God’s command to give his life over to death on the cross to be the payment for your sin.  This is love.

Do the right thing this week—Walk in the newness of life that you have been given—in a manner worthy of Christ following God’s rules for life and love that He graciously gives you for your good and the good of the world around you.  This is love.

This is the Word of God for you today.

This is the Grace of God for you today.

Amen.

Pastor Fred Scragg V

January 7, 2024