Devotion.al

Tag: change

  • Gather Where

    Gather Where

    Exodus 3:1–6; Ezra 3:8–13; Matthew 23:37–24:8

    I visited Rome many years ago. I have never been so overwhelmed by the sheer number of church buildings. It seemed that there wasn’t a block that didn’t have one. There is a Roman Catholic church building dedicated to every country in the world, and that’s not even half of the Roman Catholic church buildings in Rome. There are also plenty of non-Roman Catholic churches and house churches.

    If one based on the number of buildings, then Rome would be bursting with faith. It isn’t. This certainly isn’t just a Roman Catholic issue.

    There are plenty of communities in the US that have a high number of church buildings, but the number of Christians is just not significant (population-count-wise). Just as in Rome, all the church buildings could indicate a place bursting with faith. Instead, the buildings are just withering on the vine.

    Moses found a burning bush. God was there. The ground was .

    Think about it, though. Moses wasn’t the first herdsman of Israel. In fact, the lineage of Israel consisted of herdsmen. Did all the herdsmen not God while they were in the fields?

    Many people do, in fact, their greatest God connection when amid God’s unspoiled . For some, it might be mountains, or lakes, or seashores, or deserts. Others will find it in cathedrals build by man. It doesn’t matter. God is there.

    The new in the midst of its rebuild, and even after it was completed, was not the impressive piece of architecture as the original. In comparison, it was a block of wood in comparison to a shining jewel. Ultimately, though, it was a place set aside to worship God, and to provide a focal point of faith practices.

    Despite the second temple being nothing in comparison to its predecessor, the people of Jesus’ day still viewed it as sacred. Jesus pointed out that it was only a building. It too would fall. While people took great offense at his statement, it was only . The world is perishing; so too would the temple.

    According to some recent numbers, 30% of churches pre-COVID will not return to their building post-COVID. For them, the building is done. For some congregations, this means that the congregation is done, and the people will join other congregations or none at all. For others, this means a new expression of the gathering: Cafe Church, Circle Church, Church in a Bar (yes, this is a non-Nazarene thing), and who knows what else people will discover as they seek to be the gathered .

    How buildings of worship will , remain, and how they will be part of our faith is still to be seen. Without question, place is very important. It can be under a tree (as many African Church of the Nazarene congregations do). It can be in a sheet metal building. It can be in a building of concrete. It can be in a house. It can be in a yard.

    ※Questions※

    1) Can you see yourself worshiping (well) in a “place” different than the “church” building? What “calls” to you?

    2) Do you think a “place” to gather in community is important? Why or why not?

    ※Prayer※

    God, you have called us to gather in community. Help us, as the world drastically changes, continue to seek ways to gather to build up one another and bring and worship to you. Amen.

  • Are You There Yet?

    Are You There Yet?

    Romans 7:15-20; Philippians 3:12–21; 1 John 1:6–2:6

    If you’ve ever been on a long trip, whether as a parent or a child, “Are we there yet,” is a common question. So common that some people can time when the next time the question will be asked. The “are we there yet” question is an event- and time-based question with an answer.

    “Are we there yet,” when asked as a spiritual question is something completely different. In a performance-based culture, such as ours, there are often attempts to assess and evaluation the successfulness of our .

    If we are not careful, this can become overwhelming, and even deadly to our spiritual growth. If we are so concerned about how we are evaluated and what the measure is, we are often tempted to meet the “requirement” of without the heart-change that we seek.

    When we perform “holiness” through tasks and checkboxes we become as overburdened as the Jews had been for so long with their Law. Thus our “holiness” becomes an of will. So, when we are tired, discouraged, down, or something else, our holiness house of cards comes tumbling down.

    Paul wasn’t there yet. In Romans, he expresses his grief/frustration/reality that he keeps missing the mark of things. He recognizes a conflict between our nature bent towards its own gratification, and our God-nature desiring to be in God’s , mercy, and love.

    He also writes to the Philippians much the same way. He knows he is “there” yet. That doesn’t stop him from reaching toward the “goal” with all his might. In many respects, Paul’s “forgetting” is key to moving forward. We are all inclined to remember our failures (especially when they are painful). It is especially important to have someone to to and be held accountable by. Oddly, that seems to help us on.

    Then there is the “confession” that has been used for generations in some traditions regarding confession and redemption. The sin is an issue. The unconfessed, unrepented, and unreconciled (can be read as unforgiven, but not entirely accurate) sin is the bigger issue. When John talks about not being in fellowship, it is the unconfessed, unrepented, and unreconciled sin that “shows” we are walking in darkness.

    Paul and John (and others) know full well that we have an advocate who is looking to judge us but to forgive us.

    ※Prayer of Confession from the Book of Common Prayer (2019)※

    Almighty and most merciful Father,
         we have erred and strayed from your ways like lost sheep.
    We have followed too much the devices and desires of our own hearts.
    We have offended against your holy laws
    We have left undone those things which we ought to have done,
         and we have done those things which we ought not to have done;
    and apart from your grace, there is no health in us.

    O Lord, have mercy upon us.
    Spare all those who confess their faults.
    Restore all those who are penitent,
         according to your promises declared to all people in Christ Jesus our Lord.
    And grant, O most merciful Father, for his sake,
         that we may now live a godly, , and sober ,
         to the of your holy Name. Amen.

  • Work-Out Regimen

    Work-Out Regimen

    Luke 7:36–50; Philippians 2:12–16

    The scorn of the Pharisees toward was pretty easy to see. They were effectively declaring that Jesus could not be an actual true prophet, because he dared to accept the anointing by the woman. “If he only knew what she was like,” they said.

    Jesus did and her anyway. He didn’t her any less or any more because of her “unclean” state or status. He loved her because she was a person made in the image of God.

    A more recent way of that exact same thinking is, “when you get yourself cleaned up, come to , and get to know Jesus.” Or (even sadder), “I’ll come to church when my act is cleaned up.” That was not Jesus’ attitude. THANKS, BE TO GOD!

    The woman came to Jesus. Jesus declared her sins pardoned. She never sinned after that. Oh, wait…

    For the vast majority of people, “getting clean” is a lifelong process. For a drug addict, “getting clean” from the drug is only step one. They then need to “get clean” from friend circles, ways of thinking, and sometimes the place they are at. It is not an easy road.

    Oddly enough, Jesus seems to forgive sins pretty easily. It’s not that the sins are minor. They are acts that separate us from God. The problem isn’t God, it’s us.

    We want to keep doing what we did because it is comfortable. Even those who seek and desire change (and are even change-agents) like comfortable.

    Paul calls on the Philippians not just to declare Jesus as Lord. Paul calls on the Philippians to be changed. Just like us, they needed to change their habits. They need to change thought processes. None of these things change . They change us.

    “…by holding firm to the word of .” There is a play on words here, for the word is the message (salvation through Jesus), the word is the Scriptures, and Jesus is the word.

    The easy answer is to hold onto Jesus for dear life. The life answer is that holding onto Jesus allows us to trust him so that we are free in our hearts and minds to remove all in our life that separates us from in him.

    ※Questions※

    1) When was the last time you were like the Pharisees? Why is that the issue that causes this response?

    2) When was the last time you were like the woman? With what did you anoint Jesus’ feet (this can be a symbol)?

    3) How and with whom are you working through your salvation? How can you deepen that?

    ※Prayer※

    Jesus, as you have brought us into the , help us to release our so that we can draw others to you. Amen.

  • Message Over Mammon

    Message Over Mammon

    Luke 10:1–9; 2 Corinthians 12:1–14

    There are many people who attract attention naturally. Some do it with mere charisma. Some do it with . do it with the words (positive and negative).

    There are others that do it out of . Whether it is to gain the attention of people or to feel power, or success (all still people-based, really), gaining attraction to puff oneself up isn’t Christ-like.

    When Jesus sent out the 72 disciples he gave an interesting direction: don’t houses. In other words, if you were invited into a house in a town, stay at that house until you leave the town. As they were representatives of the famous prophet, they would likely be treated well. It might even mean that people would compete for their presence.

    The concern with this is that the message would lose weight as the disciples would go from house to house. What gravitas would the “” have if its disciples (emissaries, ambassadors) traipsed from one place to another following the food and the sandal-licking (they didn’t have boots, then). If people competed over the fame and flattery of having one of the disciples, would they really care about the message?

    The next concern would be the effect upon the disciples. Being “wined and dined” could have a potentially huge negative effect on their spiritual growth and their . It could even lead to some of the same bullying behavior of the Jewish religious leaders. That would have been very bad.

    We see how it did evolve through Paul’s letter to the Corinthians. The “super” apostles were, it seems, spiritual abusers. They guilt-tripped people to give more money. Based on Paul’s language, the super-apostles used language that implied that the Corinthians were being spiritually blessed by them (the super-apostles) so much money.

    When Paul apologizes that he didn’t ask for money or to be taken care of, there is a realization that the Corinthians had been hoodwinked. They had bought wholeheartedly into the swindle of the super-apostles. In so doing, they lost the of the .

    By succumbing to the words of these super-apostles, they reattached the chains of bondage. Paul was heartbroken. The of the message of freedom in Christ had been lost.

  • Evangel

    Evangel

    Evangel

    28 September 2020

    Luke 1:68–80; Ephesians 4:7–16

    Many years ago, there was campaign against man-caused forest fires. The campaign “starred” a little bear cub that, while burned, survived a man-caused forest . The tagline for the campaign was, “Only YOU can prevent forest fires.”

    From a strict understanding, of course, it’s not just you that can prevent forest fires. It’s you and everyone else around whose behavior contributes to the amount of man-caused forest fires. Of course, you can only prevent forest fires when you are the contributor of the originating fire.

    That was the beauty of the campaign. Ultimately, it was just you that can prevent forest fires, it was you and your friends and everyone else working together to prevent man-caused forest fires.

    What, you may be asking yourself, have to do with Zechariah’s Holy -driven prophetic speech over an infant John the Baptist? Re-read it, and where it says, “you, child…” say, “me, [your name]…”

    Just like the campaign starring Smokey the Bear, it wasn’t just John the Baptist who was called to go before Jesus. Each and every one of us is called to “go before” Jesus in our daily lives.

    How that works in each person’s life will, for most, remain a mystery. However, when we live out a life that witnesses to the , grace, and love of Jesus Christ, we go before Jesus. Once we are asked a why or how question about our lives, then we get to announce Jesus.

    You probably never thought of yourself as John the Baptist. That’s probably a good thing, for none of us can be another person, nor did God call us to be that way. We are not called to be John the Baptist.

    You are probably not called to eat wild locusts and honey. Nor are you probably called to wear a hairy coat. We are called to follow in the “spirit of” John the Baptist by proclaiming salvation through Jesus Christ.

    When we think of evangelism, we generally think about sharing Jesus with people who don’t know Jesus as their Lord and Savior. Perhaps, however, we are just as called to Jesus with those in the Body of Christ (the church).

    wrote to the Ephesians about the varying roles within the body. The overarching goal is, “… in the and in the knowledge of God’s Son…” He wrote that to Christians.

    Our (good) desire to reach people who don’t know Jesus may well have obscured something essential. We need to continue to evangelize (i.e., tell the about Jesus) each other.

    ※Questions※

    1) Where and how do you see yourself evangelizing those that do not yet know Jesus? How about those who already declare they know Jesus?

    2) What scares you most evangelizing? Does that change depending on whether they are already or not yet believers?

    3) What are some ways evangelizing is (or should be) performed within the body of believers?

    ※Prayer※

    Holy Spirit, guide our hearts to always be evangelizing one another. Amen.

  • Who Is Family?

    Who Is Family?

    Psalm 2; Acts 13:32–41; Galatians 4:1–8

    I was Luke Skywalker for Halloween. I was attired like he was when we first see him in Star Wars (now re-titled “Episode IV: A New ”). Needless to say, I was excited to see The Empire Strikes back a few years later. Then my world was shaken. My hero, Luke Skywalker, had his arm chopped off and Darth Vader (the archetypal bad guy) reveals that he is Luke Skywalker’s father.

    (the scene of Luke trying to escape Darth Vader who reaches out his hand and says, “Luke…I am your father…,” and Luke screams, “NO!”)

    Granted, Leia was more shocked when she learned that she was Luke Skywalker’s sister and thus also the daughter of Darth Vader, whom she would have been raised to oppose (though I will say that the acting of both Mark Hamill and Carrie Fisher left a lot to be desired for that scene).

    There are likely many of us who would say they have not had such a revisionist event in their lives. If you were raised in the from childhood, coming to know Christ is not the same life-altering experience as it could have been.

    This is not the case with all, for some wandered away in their hearts while still showing up in the building and mouthing the words. walked out, cursing, drinking, smoking, or whatever other issue that some church person got all offended about. Some of these indeed did have that life-altering experience, which is why they came back to the of God.

    For those, though, whose encounter with Jesus was life-trajectory-altering this glimpse of a truly messed-up family dynamic (from Star Wars) makes sense. While not the seemingly negative of being identified with the galaxy’s number 2 most and hated person, coming to identify oneself as a child of the creator of everything is definitely a change for many.

    For those of a more intellectual bent, we can assent to Jesus being Lord and Savior, and even assent to being a child of God. The emotional switch to go from assent to embrace (mind to ) can be significantly altering.

    For those of a more emotional bent, we can have a heart that loves Jesus, and is grateful that he is Lord and Savior. Our hearts will be formed (whether twisted or beautiful) by our family/life history, and the change to embrace the fullness of being a child of God can be almost impossible as our hearts are stuck in their ways (hearts often being harder to change than minds).

    The significance of this is that many, even most, of “the church” body may not have had that experience. This makes it hard to reach people for whom this experience will have to happen for them to come and know Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior.

    Often, all we can do is pray and be ready to be there when their world shifts.

    ※Questions※

    1) Who do you identify with the most, the intellectual, the emotional, or the trajectory-altered? Why?

    2) Why is it important to understand how much of a change—just on an emotional and intellectual level—is being “asked” of those who do not yet know, or need to come back and know, Jesus?

    3) How does understanding what was a brand-new way of life, thinking, and belong meant to the early church (i.e., in Acts and Galatians) impact or should impact how we in the church today operate and think?

    ※Prayer※

    Jesus, through the power of the , and as children of God the Father, help us to gain and/or never lose the life transformational understanding of what a relationship with you means. Amen.

  • Cryptic Inheritor

    Cryptic Inheritor

    Genesis 29:16–30; Genesis 49:29–33; Galatians 3:27–29

    Having been to many cemeteries over the years, whether in the US or abroad, it can be amazing to see what people do as monuments. A war or emperor may have one. Rich and noble families would often have such a monument, collecting the family remains throughout history. It isn’t new, by any stretch. David and many of his descendants were buried near one another.

    Abraham may or may not have intended to buy a family burial plot, but it ended up being such for a few generations. What is peculiar about Jacob’s time is that his favorite wife, Rachael, was not buried there. His first wife, Leah, who wasn’t the preferred one, was the one buried there, and where Jacob would be buried alongside.

    Family land has been fought over long before walked the earth. Even today, families fight over land and property fraying (if not destroying) family ties and loyalties. In some places, the national lines that divide governments attempt to divide families, yet instead, the family ties override the national division.

    The bitter part of all of this is that people often fight over that which is dead and gone. Other times, their plans (buried with Rachael the favorite) are overridden by circumstances (buried with second best).

    All the battles and all the woes are only for a time. As much as an inheritance (even the simple family burial plot) may seem important at the time, it more often magnifies the pettiness of worldly affairs. -to-Dust.

    That has long been one of the hallmarks of the …this world is not your home. Or, said another way, your true inheritance is not here.

    calls out this inheritance as something that crosses blood, and culture, and , and class, and gender. This imperishable seed of Abraham is not just something to grasp, it has already been given.

    ※Questions※

    1) When you “inheritance” what is the first thing that comes to mind?

    2) Why do Christians often fight over earthly inheritance or when they have the imperishable inheritance?

    3) How might a daily reminder of your eternal inheritance how you interact with others in the world? What can you do to put that reminder front-and-center in your life?

    ※Prayer※

    God, may we keep our eternal home perpetually in mind, along with all those with whom we want to share it. Amen.

  • Things Change

    Things Change

    Exodus 20:1–6; Numbers 21:4–9; 2 Kings 18:1–4

    The Ten Commandments has been a political and religious hot potato for years. There are a number of times various parties have used the Ten Commandments to score political points. There have been those that state that the Ten Commandments are what the Constitution is based on. Some have even made, it seems, a political career about Ten Commandment statues and placements.

    Many Christians (cultural and actual) have claimed if we were to just follow the Ten Commandments, we would be fine. Yet, in the case of the statue above, the Ten Commandments seemed to have become more of an , rather than a definer of a with God.

    In the Ten Commandments, God directs that the Israelites should not create an object of that resembles something created. This is so that people are not deceived by stone and wood, and that their hearts pursue the God who creates all and is uncreated.

    Something strange happens later. God directs Moses to create the bronze serpent. This is an object made to resemble a created being. Depending on how one interprets the Ten Commandments, this directive violates the Ten Commandments.

    The nuance is that the bronze serpent was not meant to be worshiped. It was a symbol of God’s , , and , and a reminder that the Israelites were reliant upon God. The serpents were a punishment. The bronze serpent a tool of healing and a symbol of grace and mercy.

    However, as many good things do, the good became bad. The symbol of God’s grace, mercy, and healing became the exact kind of object that was prohibited by the Ten Commandments…an object of worship.

    There are many good things in the world. Many of them (trees, mountains, animals, etc.) have become objects of worship and have been elevated in human thinking to the level of a god. This perversion of their nature does not make them bad, just as the perversion of the bronze serpent did not make it automatically bad.

    The story of the bronze serpent, however, is a morality tale that any God-follower should pay attention to. There are many who appear to hold the Scriptures, the Ten Commandments, the in a way that is worship. This is where a non-church attender could reasonably say, “I can worship God in the middle of a stream, better than in a building with a whole bunch of hypocrites.”

    The moral of the story is that anything that was once good can become bad. Something that once led us to God can become our god instead. Something that used to us the language to talk about God can become a barrier to share the story of God.

    This is a serious matter. It also is not a new issue. One of the gifts that the Reformation gave us (along with many not-so-good things) is the concept of Semper Reformanda, always reforming. In other words, we should always be looking for anything—even the stuff we think is good—that keeps us from or inhibits our relationship with God.

    ※Questions※

    1) What does reform mean to you?

    2) What can you think of that is objectively good, but can also inhibit a healthy relationship with God?

    3) Why is the story of the bronze serpent important to your life as a follower of Jesus and a member of Christ’s Body on Earth (the church)?

    ※Prayer※

    Heavenly , help us to chisel away any hardness or edge or characteristic that prevents us from fully following and worshiping you. Amen.