Devotion.al

Tag: grace

  • Deceptive Holiness

    1 Timothy 4:6–16, Colossians 2:1–23

    : usually a traditional story of ostensibly historical events that serves to unfold part of the world view of a people or explain a practice, belief, or natural phenomenon.

    Myths are powerful. Often the struggle of myths is their competition with one another. Focusing on “…explain a practice, belief…”, we all know that there are plenty of practices and beliefs in church that people have. Many of these have been built up to such a point that the seems to lose to “the way things must be.” The Church of the Nazarene is no different (we’ll try to be careful walking on eggshells). The first Church of the Nazarene was “born” on the streets of Los Angeles’ Skid Row (or its equivalent). There was a huge problem with alcoholism and alcohol in general. So, one of the principles was no drinking, and it makes perfect sense. The Christian life was held up as an example to live up to, and one of the ways to escape the path of destruction was to stop drinking. Having a religious and social “contract” created a place of restoration and health.

    However (you knew this was coming), the rationale became a litmus test for . If you consumed, sold, or make alcohol, you were obviously not holy. This sounds a little over the top, doesn’t it? Does that mean generations of Christians (including Paul’s successor, Timothy) were not holy? Of course not! There is an argument (questioned by many) regarding the alcohol content difference between Biblical wine and today’s wine, but that really isn’t the issue. If we took things to the extreme, we would only be holy if we were monks or nuns (or the Protestant equivalent). That seems pretty silly, too.

    Let’s be clear. We can look around us and see alcohol (and many other things) are a significant problem. Alcohol (and those other things) can easily lead one away from family, church, and God. On the other hand, many of these things should not be presumed to do this. Do many of the troublesome things lead us away from ? Absolutely! God is full of grace and mercy, and still constantly calls us to him, and away from those things we find tempting.

    Alcohol is an easy one. What about the ? The internet has enabled the destruction of many families and churches. There are many people addicted to the internet (or something on it). The church isn’t calling for the banishment of the internet (okay, there are probably local churches that are). In fact, the internet may be the greatest evangelism tool we’ve had since the printing press. Alcohol, the internet, food, all have the potential to destroy humanity.

    With that being said, then, what are we to do? Holiness isn’t just personal. John Wesley noted that holiness is only truly found in social holiness. That means we are all to be holy to/with/for each other. The rules of holiness, just like the rules of the Jews, are shadows of things to come. We are called to walk with each other toward Jesus. We are to study , pray together, weep together, praise together, worship together. We are called to live as . Rules are easier than holiness. Rules are a checkbox to complete. Sadly, often when we complete the checkboxes we think we’re done. Until we’ve gone through the veil of , we are never done walking the road of holiness toward Jesus.

    1) Have you ever accused or thought of someone not being “holy” or living the “Christian Life”? Why? Was it a “rule”, or was it Scriptural?

    2) Who are you walking with on the road of holiness? Are you actually talking to them about your holiness journey and theirs?

  • Repentant Worship

    Jeremiah 44:15–23, Hosea 14:1–7

    The “tale” told in Jeremiah is a sad one. The people of Israel knowingly and willing worshiped gods that were not theirs. As we read their tale, they saw wealth, prosperity, and security as the of their gods, when it was God who protected them. Now that God is calling them to face the consequences of not being the People of God, they blame God for their circumstances. They were warned that their continued of other gods would be punished, but that there was another way. They were stubborn. They knew what was “right”. That old God didn’t mean anything to them.

    If there had been one or two worshiping other gods, things might not have turned out the way they did. We can draw from the verses, however, that a large proportion of the population was worshiping these other gods, and most of the remainder were complicit in allowing it. In other words, it wasn’t just the worshipers of other gods that were in the wrong, it was the worshipers of God who did nothing who were wrong, too.

    The consequences could have been avoided. Hosea’s words show that God is always open to repentant hearts. The requirement for repentance is often too hard for many…pride. There is another portion for whom repentance is hard not because of pride, but because they see themselves in such a poor , that repentance is pointless, for God would never accept them.

    1) Do you know someone that thinks too little of themselves? What can you do to show and explain the depth of God’s , , and ?

    2) In a multi- like the States, we are not called as a nation for the purity of worship that the Israelites were called to. However, as a body, we are. What are some tensions you have experienced, whether now or earlier, where purity of worship has been an issue? What is purity of worship?

  • Evaluating Value

    John 8:2–12, 2 Corinthians 5:10–15

    Before we go any further, this story in John is an odd one. It does not show up in the earliest manuscripts that we currently have, however, the story does show up soon (time-wise) after the earliest manuscript. What is also unusual (in comparison to stories) is that it doesn’t show up in exactly the same places. The very early attested to the accuracy of the story, as do most scholars. However, because of its appearance later, there is probably a note in your bible about it. Again, this does not put the story in dispute.

    The story is interesting, as many people have put their own spin on what Jesus was writing in the dirt. Could it have been a line? Was it a list of sins the men committed? Maybe it was as simple as, “ God; love others.” Many creative sermons have been delivered over what was written in the dirt, but not written in the . The real question is judgment. Based on the context (setting Jesus up) and the lack of a male participant (who should have been stoned, too), there was no following the Law in or . Even literally the law wasn’t followed (again, the lack of the man).

    The Law, or the law (as in US jurisprudence) can be judged insofar as being evaluated and found regarding the preponderance of evidence as guilty or innocent of the charge. That is not the judgment in this instance. It is a judgment of value. This woman was judged to be less valued for she was a woman and an adulteress. The man involved was skipped over. Why was one granted mercy and grace (presumptive), while another was not?

    Paul reminds us that we all will stand before the throne. Yes, if we’ve accepted Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior we will be spared the judgment. However, what if we stood before the throne and experienced the entirety of the emotional, spiritual, and of our sins (including what we have caused others). This would not be out of a desire to inflict pain, but for us to Truly understand the grace and mercy given to us.

    1) Have you ever judged and/or condemned a person, then found out you were wrong? What was that like? Did you make amends? If not, why not?

    2) We may be quick to judge the sins of others. What should we from the lesson of Jesus?

    3) Paul speaks of the “ of God”. How should that affect our views of judging others?

  • Stone to Grace

    Exodus 28:15–30, Ezekiel 36:24–30, Luke 3:7–9, Luke 19:37–40

    “I’ve done too much.”

    “God would never forgive me.”

    “I would be [struck by lightening/catch on /combust/die] if I walked through the doors.”

    “If you (or God) knew what I had done…”

    Have you heard any of these statements from people?

    It is so completely human to not understand God’s amazing grace. It is even more human to not accept it.

    The stones representing the tribes of Israel were only a mere representation. Yet, as the story of Exodus continues into Lamentations into Judges, the people of Israel often seem to have brains and/or hearts of stone. How sad! We all, at times, have hearts of stone. Look how we treat one another. Our hearts could easily be stone (metaphorically, of course).

    The metaphor of a of stone has a couple of facets. The first, facet is that stone does not “live”. The implication being that we aren’t as God intended. We are dead. The second facet is a heart that does not feel. One of the biggest struggles that humanity faces is compassion and grace. As the comments at the beginning show, we often have neither compassion nor grace for ourselves, and then we treat the same. The third facet and God’s greatest concern is that a heart of stone has no active part in God or God’s will.

    Ezekiel’s words were intended to show that God was willing (and planning) to things up. The Holy Spirit was coming.

    John’s words to the descendents of Israel alluded to Ezekiel’s words but even touches on the place of the stone tablets upon which the 10 commandments were . For the descendents, there would also be an attack on their pride. THEY were the chosen of God. John pokes a huge hole in their pride. God doesn’t need them (he still wants them). The stones the walk on could be as worthy as them. They would have felt that in their bones.

    During ‘ triumphal entry into Jerusalem, stones come up again. Instead of merely being prideful due to heritage, Jesus talks about stones giving praises to God. Were the hearts of the leaders so dead that they could no longer and to God? That’s the implication. Yet people wonder if God has a place for them? If God can make stones into “true” descendants of Abraham and into people who praise and glorify God, then why not?

    1) What lies have you heard people tell you (but mostly themselves) as to why God would not accept them?

    2) What can you do to change the narrative about God and the overwhelming grace of God?

    3) What do you do to keep your heart from being so concerned about “God’s work” that your heart becomes hard toward God?

  • 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 Jesus 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 death 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, (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?

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

    A healthy part of a parent/child 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 sanctification (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 sin.

    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 of a transformative life with Christ shouldn’t use the image of death. Death is all around us. Many (regardless of political affiliation) call our current culture a culture of death (for different reasons, granted). Let’s not be part of the culture. Let us shine the 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 how you talk about living for something greater than yourself?

  • Power to Divide or Unite

    Matthew 5:3–12, Romans 13:1–10

    Authority is an issue. Authority is not the same as . Plenty of people have power. In fact, most of us have power. We may not be aware of it, but we have it. One of the greatest powers we have on earth is our vote. It often doesn’t seem like it. Politicians, traditional media, social media all try to convince that we need to make the right choice, and then tell us how our vote doesn’t count because someone else has the power to our vote or take it away.

    Often we confuse power and authority. Power can make people do things. Authority, however, is the right (as in ) to orders, commands, and make decisions.

    We have a mutual agreement between our fellow citizens here in the United States. It is actually a mutuality of submission. We don’t think of it that way. We think of it as our “rights”. Through that mutuality of submission, we give authority to .

    As much as we may not like politicians we still, collectively, elected them. We don’t like that . It doesn’t change it though. In comparison to the era in Paul wrote, we do have power and authority in regards to our government. As much as we feel we have no control, in comparison to Paul, we do.

    When Paul tells us to submit it’s not quite the same for us. Yet, there is a truth. We are not called to beat our chests or shake our fists. We are called to reach out with open hands. The sad part is that right now the two “sides” have split Christians. Both sides (the parties are a completely different issue) have ideals that are Christian. We have allowed ourselves to be divided.

    1) Politics and religion are two “bad” topics in social settings. How can we talk about them with the that we are to have through the Spirit?

    2) Why do we allow ourselves to be torn apart by politics, especially when we are called into unity by Jesus Christ as his (the church)?

    3) How can we balance the and responsibility we have as citizens of the United States with the submission to authority that Paul calls for?

  • Failing In Grace and Faith

    2 August 2019
    Genesis 6:5–8, Romans 7:15–20, Galatians 5:16-26

    depravity is nothing new. The cleansing of the Earth by the flood made that abundantly clear. Yet, to this day, one of the common of humanity is why is there so much bad? We’re not talking about . We’re just talking about the basic undeniable reality that humanity needs some improvement.

    Depravity really is a loaded concept in theology. Depending on one’s theological framework, its meaning changes. A basic way to think of is that state of humanity both embodied and moral that is on a different path than God. There is an additional tone from the that hint at decay. As decay is an ongoing process, it fits well into the appearance that humanity, on many levels, is getting worse. In certain theological traditions, depravity goes along with the concept that humanity is completely incapable of doing anything positive (i.e., God-oriented). Sounds pretty depressing, doesn’t it?

    However, that is not our perspective. While we do agree that there is a strong human tendency (both morally and embodied) away from God, we believe that God went before and poured (and pours) grace into our lives. We this Prevenient Grace (i.e., grace that goes before us). There is also another key piece to our understanding. God provides prevenient grace to everyone, not just a few.

    When we read ‘s passage in Romans we can sympathize with Paul. We get it. However, we could also despair. Paul understands that without God’s grace that when he fails there could be no hope. Especially now that the Law (that he once lived by) is no longer.

    When Paul writes that he walks by the , he still falls by the flesh. None of will not fall. The grace of God continues to pick us up.

    1) Do you beat yourself up when you fail/fall? How do Paul’s words to that?

    2) Paul’s story in the poster for God’s grace that goes before. Where in your have you seen God’s grace go before you?

    3) The fruits of the Spirit are the opposite of the “depravity” of the flesh. Where do you see them “fighting” in your life?

  • Beyond A Name

    Isaiah 43:1–4, 1 Peter 1:13–23

    Do you know somebody’s ? Of course, you do. You know yours. You know the names of loved ones. You know the names of friends. You probably know the names of people that are not that close. We sometimes dismiss the importance of names. If we thought about it, though, if someone doesn’t address us by name, we wonder if they really know who we are. We wonder if they care.

    God’s words to Isaiah tell us that God knows our name. God calls us by name. The Creator knows you by name. There is a relationship there. Once we acknowledge the relationship, then what?

    Peter reminds us what is fully responsive and reciprocating relationship with God is. Sober-minded. Some immediately attached to this. It really is about being firmly rooted in Christ, and not inclined to bounce around. Peter explains it as hope in God’s complete and utter grace.

    God doesn’t just call us by name. God calls us into a of . The 5 below are a modified version of John Wesley’s questions for . They are good for self-reflection and are best in a small trusted group of the same gender.

    1. How is it with your soul?
    2. What are your struggles and successes?
    3. Any to ?
    4. Anything you want to keep secret?
    5. How might the Spirit be speaking and moving in your life?

    You are called to a life of holiness. You can live it when surrendered to Christ.