Devotion.al

Tag: death

  • Living Beyond

    Matthew 16:24–28, Romans 14:7–9, 2 Corinthians 5:14–15

    “Die to self.” This phrase is often spoken in circles. When it is fully unpacked, it isn’t a bad phrase. However, it is rarely unpacked and instead just left hanging.

    The first, and primary, place in Scripture used to justify this phrase is found in today’s passage in Matthew. Here speaks about denying oneself. How do we get from denying to dying? That’s a really good question. It would seem that since Jesus is using the cross people automatically tie denying to dying. What if, however, Jesus isn’t talking about but disgrace? The cross was a place of humiliating death. Despite our cultural appropriation of the cross, in Scripture, the cross is a symbol of death, betrayal (specifically toward the government), and disgrace (you were hung up naked). In fact, it wasn’t death that was the primary issue of the cross, but the disgrace. If we take that , picking up one’s cross was tying disgrace to denial of self. That does put an interesting twist on it, doesn’t it?

    Paul provides a framework in Romans and in 2 Corinthians. It sounds similar, but it is different. Not for oneself, but living for Jesus and others.

    A healthy part of a parent/child relationship is that the parent forgoes certain things so that their children can flourish. This does not mean that the parents are to “forget” themselves, for if they do they will hamper or even endanger their children. Not that there are not times, but as a general rule this is the case. Another way to think of it is the oxygen masks on airplanes. You may have gone through the “training”. The crew tells you to take care of yourself (aimed at parents) prior to taking care of your children. It is not because people want the children to suffer, but that the parents will make better judgments (oxygen does that) when masked, and are better capable of taking their children after taking care of themselves.

    The reason “die to self” is dangerous is that it implies (or one can readily infer) that one’s very self/identity/awareness is to die. This absolutely is not the case. We are not clones. Denying oneself is very different. In the concept of progressive (growing in God’s grace and ), God started and continues to do good work in each of us. We don’t cease being ourselves, but gradually and continually become a better version of ourselves, coming closer and closer to what we would have been had the world (and us) not fallen into .

    The last, maybe most important, reason that “die to self” should cease being used is that it misses the point. We are really to live beyond ourselves. That is what we are called to do. In a cultural climate that is showing increasing amounts of nihilism (especially in the younger generations), the way we speak of a transformative life with Christ shouldn’t use the image of death. Death is all around us. Many (regardless of political affiliation) our current culture a culture of death (for different reasons, granted). Let’s not be part of the culture. Let us shine the light of LIFE with Christ.

    1) What are ways you can about LIFE with Jesus to others?

    2) In what aspect of your life are you not living for others? Why? Are you sure?

    3) How will you change how you talk about living for something greater than yourself?

  • Kingdom Come

    Psalm 102, Matthew 6:9–13, Matthew 13:24–33, John 13:1–17

    “ work” and “Work of the Kingdom”

    Often these two phrases are used when people are (rightly) trying to teach people that they can bring people to God and can be people of God at work. This is a good thing. However, there is usually a problem with this, it is an attempt to see seeding the temporal so that the crop can be reaped in the everlasting world. This is true, but it is a partial .

     Your kingdom come
      Your will be done 
      on earth as in heaven

    …on earth. We are not planting seeds for only the everlasting, but the life today. It is often hard work, and we often cannot see the growth.

    Whether it be war, violence, disease, , , selfishness, and so on, these are all things, events, realities that need the Kingdom on earth now, not later in Heaven.

    There is a world out there, my friends, that needs YOU. This is not about me, your spouse, your children, your friends, the . This is about YOU bringing the Kingdom. How, you say?

    “ is the one who does for me what I would never do for somebody else…and then he calls me to do for what I would not have done for them apart from Him and His .” —Rafael Rodriguez

    1) How can YOU make God’s Kingdom and Will present here on earth?

    2) How does Rafael Rodriguez’s words fit into bringing the Kingdom?

    3) What is one thing YOU will do TODAY to bring the Kingdom?

  • What God’s Will?

    Genesis 37:16–27, Deuteronomy 30:15–20, Matthew 12:46–50

    One of the most heartbreaking things taught by certain Christian traditions is that God wills bad things to happen to people. One of the reasons they draw that conclusion is that we are able to look back at stories like Joseph’s and say, “God knew/planned/designed this to happen.” For people who have no or have believed themselves betrayed by God, how could such a perspective bring them comfort or ? In fact, it is not surprising that they would never trust such a God.

    One of the other presumptions often followed is blind faith. Blind faith often means “following your ” without any . This is not Joseph’s faith, or at least scripture doesn’t provide that description. Part of the other problem with our looking back and imposing our own stories is that we forget or neglect a basic reality—and it certainly was Joseph’s—life is hard. What Joseph experienced is probably not that different than others experienced in the same era. We can draw that conclusion fairly easily, for selling into slavery is still a story being experienced today in many parts of the world. It doesn’t make it easy, though.

    When Moses sends off the Israelites to the promised land, he presents a choice: life or . One would think that was an easy and simple choice. As the story of the Israelites unfolds, however, we can see that it isn’t the case. Yet, again, the conclusion could be drawn that God planned that the Israelites would not choose life. Yet, that isn’t God’s intent, purpose, or God’s heart (as revealed by his prophets). Yes, God knew, and God them anyway. God knew, and he loved everyone so much that he permitted awful things, even while he cried out to them to .

    God did not seek to send Joseph to death or slavery. Joseph’s brothers had a choice. There were plenty of choices that could have been made differently, Israel (or Jacob) could have made different decisions, as could have Leah and Rachel. Joseph definitely could have made different decisions. It’s not what God directs or allows, it’s what God redeems that is the real story.

    What is God’s will for us? Well, God’s will for Joseph was that Joseph interpret dreams that God gifted him the ability to interpret. God’s will for Moses that he guide the people to the Promised Land. They both did it, but not fully and in the best way.

    God’s will for Jesus’ family was that they raise and the Messiah. They did, but as the “blooming” of the Messiah occurred, they weren’t so happy. What was God’s will for them? They partially succeeded but had a slight change of heart. Did they fully oppose God’s will? No. They just made things a little more difficult for the Messiah. Being true to form, Jesus redeemed it, teaching us what it means to be Jesus’ family.

    1) Why is “being in God’s will” so attractive? Why is the view of God controlling everything the opposite of “being in God’s will”?

    2) What is the difference between being in “God’s will” and blind faith? What are the similarities?

    3) Why is such an important piece of understanding “God’s plan” versus God redeeming our choices?

  • Grace for the Askers

    Luke 24:36–49, Matthew 28:16–20, James 1:2–18, Jude 20–25

    So, this guy you’ve been hanging out with for three years dies a brutal . A few days later, he’s alive. He was dead and buried, and now alive. Must be a ghost…except they could touch the wounds and he ate. They doubted. After some more time, they meet Jesus on a mountain. They worshipped Jesus, yet they still doubted.

    We all have doubts. Sadly, however, when verses such as James 1:6 are badly used, we can question our faith. Some even go so far as to lose their faith. People take such passages and twist them so that a person cannot question or be perceived to doubt. James’ warning is sound in so far as being about requesting things (such as wisdom) from God, but false expectations of God. In other words, don’t be surprised when God doesn’t answer your prayer and walk away from the faith.

    The grave danger is that if we take James’ words without a large measure of and , people will truly walk away. Jude’s words are to be gentle with doubters. Imagine a person who suffers with depression, and in the depths of depression doubts. Would you cast them out? What about a person in the midst of who is crying out to God? Will you shame them for doubt in the midst of their pain?

    What about the person who was raised as a non-believer and/or strict secular scientist? If they struggle with believing as it conflicts with their growing up, will you them and tell them they are unbelievers and should disappear?

    In our world, we should actually be encouraging doubt, or perhaps a better phrasing would be questioning. The world as it is needs a lot more asked. There may not be answers, but often when we ask questions aloud, the doubt and that can go with them loses much of its .

    Last, but not least, often those that seek to silence the doubt and questions of others are those who have the deepest fears. When those fears remain buried, faith, love, and can easily be lost in a flash.

    1) Do you ever doubt or question your faith? Do you feel ashamed? Why?

    2) What can other Christians do to support you when you question? What can you do when Christians their own doubts?

    3) Jesus asked his followers about the why of their doubts but did not seem to diminish them because of it. Why does it appear that James does? How do you balance that with Jude?

  • Law and Grace

    Exodus 20:1-21, Psalm 51, 2 Samuel 11:1-12:13

    The law (whether Jewish, US, or ) would seem to be pretty black and white. Yet, if you spend any time driving, you can quickly realize that while the speed limit is 60, only one lane of traffic goes that slowly, and even the state patrol passes others.

    In the movie, The Pirates of the Caribbean: The of The Black Pearl, there is a scene after a “negotiation”:

    Elizabeth: Wait! You have to take me to shore. According to the Code of the Order of the Brethren

    Barbossa: First, your to shore was not part of our negotiations nor our agreement so I must do nothing. And secondly, you must be a pirate for the pirate’s code to apply and you’re not. And thirdly, the code is more what you’d “guidelines” than actual rules.

    We often look at the “rules” (especially as we “look back” upon the Jewish rules in the time of ) as rigid and unforgiving, however, there is more to the rules, than rigidity. One of the biggest objections to the rules in the time of Jesus was that they lead to the of and soul. That hadn’t been the point. They were to be rules of .

    In the story of David and Bathsheba, David violated the following commandments: do not murder, do not commit adultery, Do not covet…your neighbor’s wife…

    Then the prophet Nathan judges David as having violated the commandment against stealing.

    So, David was guilty of violating 3–4 commandments. 2 of these violations were supposed to have earned the death penalty. Instead of death, Nathan said, “…the LORD has taken away your sin; you will not die.”

    Commentators and theologians seem to agree on why; David was contrite and repented. Death was still a consequence, just not David’s death. The first of David and Bathsheba was the blood for the violations of the law. An innocent life paid the price.

    1) Have you ever held someone to a particular standard (law), and then given yourself grace or an excuse regarding the same or similar violation?

    2) Have you ever given grace or excuse to another, while holding yourself to a higher or just more rigid standard?

    3) How do you think Jesus shows us how to walk between the two?

  • Prophet of Peace

    Jeremiah 28:1–9, Luke 12:49–56, John 14:27–31

    There is something quite jarring in Jeremiah’s response to Hananiah. Did you catch it? Only when actually comes true will a prophet who prophesied peace be considered a true prophet. If you war, famine, pestilence, , it’s all good. What?

    Think about that for a moment. The implication of Jeremiah’s words is pretty huge. It could be called a “duh” moment. In other words, it really doesn’t take much to prophesy (and be accurate) that there will be conflict and natural disasters. That pretty much comes with the territory of a fallen world.

    Yet, there was an that the Messiah would bring peace. Jesus’ words in Luke put that to the question. Not peace, but a sword? It sounds so very warlike. If we think about it, most worldly peace is “won” through blood and death. So, if Jesus is bringing a sword, then what kind of war is it, now?

    The of God is a two-edged sword. It is not just a symbol of war, but it is also a symbol of cutting.

    Separating the followers in word only from those who follow from their hearts. In other words, it is not a “peace” of we’ll all get along, but a peace that separates the ways of the world from the ways of the of God.

    When Jesus says that he will peace, but not as the world gives peace, we should be grateful. The world’s peace can be torn asunder very quickly, and often only with a spark. God’s peace passes all understanding.

    1) Jeremiah’s words about prophets are disheartening, but they should also be encouraging? Why do you think that is?

    2) We often cling to the image as Jesus as the , yet the Sword of Truth would seem to be contrary to that. How do you work that out in your mind and ? How would you explain that to someone else?

    3) How have you seen the Peace of God come into your ?

  • To Grieve and Mourn

    Jeremiah 9:13–21, Job 6:14–30, Matthew 5:4

    Yesterday, when we were talking about misery loving company, we were ultimately talking about people without grace and generosity in their hearts. Today’s misery is very different.

    For today, misery needs company. We as a and as a culture are pretty awful at mourning. We have clinicized , separating it from our lives, except for entertainment. The reason this is important is by separating ourselves from it, we have also lost the ability to mourn. We don’t even have the “professional” mourners and wailers that Jeremiah speaks of.

    Instead, many of us are like Job, feeling betrayed when our friends avoid or abandon us during our grief. You may be saying to yourself, “my friends haven’t done that” or “I have not done that to my friends”. If so, you and/or your friends have a ministry: to the and the world. The church and the world avoid those feelings of and grief. The world and the church teach it differently, but the result is the same, “suck it up, and on.”
    There is also a darker side to this, and that is when death occurs in an estranged . Many of the same responses in an estranged relationship occur in “” , for we are very much estranged from each other. In estranged relationships, there is often an “I don’t care” response. The problem is that if there are too many estranged relationships in one’s , there is also a lot of emotional baggage that often doesn’t get dealt with.

    , however, promises that those who mourn will be comforted.

    1) If you are a follower of Jesus, and Jesus says that those who mourn will be comforted, what do you think that means for you?

    2) When you have grieved or mourned have you pushed people away? If so, why? If people “ran away” from you, how did that make you feel?

    3) When is and what makes grieving or mourning healthy and unhealthy?

  • For the Opposition

    Psalm 11, Deuteronomy 32:35, Ezekiel 18:30–32, Matthew 5:43–48

    If you’ve been on social media any amount of time, you might notice that the longer you’re on it, the less you see from those who think differently. Another way to think of it is that the more you interact (click, “like”, just stare at) with a post that makes you angry or feel persecuted, the more posts of exactly that kind you will see. This is the reality of social media that was visibly part of the 2016 presidential campaign and was part of both the 2008 and 2012 campaigns, but we were all just ignorant.

    This is incredibly important to understand and needs to be used to intellectually and emotionally filter any social media or traditional media interaction you have. Why? Because are also experiencing their own confirmation bias, and it might be in tension with yours. The most disturbing part of social media is how it is reinforcing some of the basest human tendency…finding an enemy.

    There is no question that we are in a divided and an increasingly divided world. The lines are coming more rigid, and the walls between seem to be growing larger. It would be nice to be able to blame social media and the internet. Except that we are the problem.

    In both Psalm 11 and Deuteronomy 32:35, God makes it clear that it is God’s place to punish “the enemy,” yet we often try to take the place of God. God leaves people to their own demise, but we seem to want to hurry them along, often in an attempt to make ourselves feel/look better.
    Ezekiel tells us that God wants repentance and . When God leaves us to our own devices (or the result of our actions) it’s not that God wants that result for us. God never desires our or spiritual . Yet, we often are not the first to aid others, retaining our “us versus them” .

    calls us to pray for our enemies. Enemies, though, is a very emotionally laden . A better understanding would be those who are in opposition to us. The opposition could be political, differing faiths, differing denominations, differing ideas of whose grass is greener or has more weeds and crabgrass. Persecution definitely is in regards to beliefs, but, still, we are called to pray for them.

    1) changes people. Have you ever had the experience of praying for a person who “opposed” or “persecuted” you and had your heart changed rather than theirs? Do you think that is , or abnormal? Why?

    2) In the context of Jesus’ words and the first question, why does Jesus direct us to pray for opposers and persecutors?

    3) Which opposer or persecutor will you commit to pray for?