Tag: truth

Path Lighting

Joshua 4:1–7; Joshua 8:30–35; Proverbs 27:17

What do you remember? What “traditions” or practices do you remember from your childhood? What did that teach you?

Over the years, the church universal developed many practices to teach the faith to its people. It often had a hard journey, as it had to teach people from varying walks of life to be one with each other. It often had to surmount the lack of general education for centuries.

Many of these practices are no longer used. Many have lost the intent, and even the instruction that went with them. They became empty words. Valuable Truth was lost because people failed to teach well.

As we each go to church, whether online or in person, or whether we only listen to sermons or we add life groups, we each have a responsibility to learn and to teach. Often, we look to experts to train us. However, the experts are, well, experts. Experts often get lost in their expertise and then they can no longer translate their expertise to the non-expert.

In many respects, from a personal perspective, that may be part of the current state of the church. Perhaps we have left too much to the experts and not sharpened ourselves.

Of course, there is danger in such freedom. There is a balance of some sort between expert and non. We may well be in a place and time where we need to discover together what that balance is.

The passages from Joshua are just 2 passages where something was done to teach. The first was the pile of stones from the middle of the Jordan river. Yes, 12 stones pulled from the bottom of spring flood raging river. This pile of stones became a physical place of teaching.

“Look at that river! God made it so our ancestors could cross it on dry land.” Imagine a young child overcome with the vision of the waters being told the story of the stones while seeing that river. That would certainly be formative. This is the kind of thing ideal in the informal settings of Life Groups.

The second passage is Joshua repeating the Law that they had been given. It was a reminder of who they were. The Law wasn’t just rules and regulations, it was their identity. In many respects, this is the more formal aspect of preaching and Sunday School.

The question that we each need to ask ourselves: is our faith important enough to us to learn?

2020-11-05
Wall Repair

Ezekiel 13:1–16; 2 Peter 2:1–3

If you ever lived in a dorm or rented an apartment (especially a college one), you may have been “enlightened” by friends or acquaintances about tricks to get your deposit back. One of the biggest items has always been holes in the walls, whether nails, tacks, pushpins, or anchors.

The “great” suggestion is to use toothpaste instead of spackle (because spackle is expensive?). Toothpaste is definitely not spackle. Spackle bonds to drywall, almost (sort of) like new.

Toothpaste and spackle may seem strange to bring up. Toothpaste holds up for a time, but ultimately it will not last; just like whitewash lasts only for a time on a broken wall.

Ezekiel’s words to the people of Israel were pointed straight at the prophets and priests. The imagery of a broken wall was specifically not the walls of a house, but the defensive walls of the entire city. In other words, the walls may have looked pretty, but the plaster and whitewash just covered over the cracks and holes.

The vision is that the people of the city were deceived by the apparent “protection” of the pristine walls. They thought they were safe from enemies.

The city’s walls were symbolic of the people’s faith, understanding, and relationship with God. Perhaps, we ought to say the prophets and priests have done nothing except deceive the people so that they thought they had the “right” faith and that they were following the “right” god.

God disagreed.

By the time Peter wrote this letter (2 Peter), the false teachers had already started showing up. He was warning the people that they needed to be aware and be prepared. They couldn’t be like the people that Ezekiel spoke to that had already been led astray toward destruction.

Peter was concerned not just about any kind of false doctrine/teaching. He was concerned about destructive false teaching. Peter seemed to divide between two types of false teaching, the kind that is wrong/unhelpful and the kind that will lead to false gods or false understanding of God.

What heresies Peter was concerned about exactly is unknown. It may have been a general concern or just a reality of the human experience and knowledge of the Israelite experience.

The deepest issue is that the implication in the text is that the false teachers would come in knowingly with false teaching. Most of us would be puzzled were a pastor, for example, were to do that. It has been known to happen. It is where the pastor or other influencer changes their mind/understanding about critical issues. We aren’t just talking about knowingly false doctrine. We are also talking about presumed truth that is false when it comes to God.

※Questions※

1) Peter wasn’t just talking to leaders. He was talking to everyone. What does this mean for you?

2) What kind of plaster and whitewash are you seeing around you?

※Prayer※

Lord, open our eyes to see your Truth and not ours. Amen.

2020-10-29
Foundational

Matthew 19:16–26; Hebrews 9:1–14; Romans 10:8–13

The story of the rich young ruler, in my experience, has always been presented in one way…he cared too much for his stuff. This is true…to a point. Is the conclusion that we have often been led to actually correct? Or perhaps we, too, are missing which point Jesus was trying to make.

The opening question by the man was about eternal life. Jesus gives the Great Commandments as the response, plus a few ones that had been problematic with the religious elite. We could question the truth of the man’s statement but note that Jesus didn’t.

Yes, Jesus could have just been condescending, however, Jesus’ words were not particularly sharp, which tells us that he accepted the man’s words. There was likely a have-been/continue-to-do-so tension, meaning that it was an ongoing practice, not just a past one.

This is significant as by straight reading the man had lived in such a way as to have eternal life. We who follow Jesus might question that, but that Jesus gave such a response is critical. For those who might conclude that this is a universalist response, the man was still a Jews, and thus one of the chosen.

However, was eternal life really the question? The man believed that despite the seemingly positive response he still lacked something. Jesus let him have it. Yet was that really the answer? We conclude so because the man walked away. It could be truly a matter of the heart.

Our earthly responses often seem to affect our response to the security of our salvation. The writer of Hebrews noted that much had to be done on a regular basis by the Temple priests to keep things “okay” between God and man (this is by the Law, not relationship). The writer of Hebrews goes on to explain that Jesus is the perfection of restorative relationship. Jesus’ mere presence in Heaven (and as part of the Trinity) is a perpetual “offering” on our behalf.

In the heart of the man is a question I hear from many people, and in my darker moments, I ask myself. “How do I (really) know that I am saved?”

It is through the author of Hebrews and the words of Paul that we get this answer. These words are first laid upon the solid foundation that is Jesus Christ, whose grace, mercy, love, and faithfulness are truer than we are capable of understanding.

※Questions※

1) What do you understand from our passage in Hebrews that applies to the sureness of (y)our salvation?

2) What do you understand from our passage in Romans that applies to the sureness of (y)our salvation?

3) Why do you think it is so hard for us to accept the truth revealed by the Scriptures regarding our salvation?

※Prayer※

Triune God, you created us. You gave us life. You gifted us salvation. You graced us with eternal life. Help us to seek that it is not our works that save us, but you alone. Amen.

2020-10-27
Monuments to What

Ecclesiastes 1:10–11; Matthew 23:25–32; Luke 11:47–54; Acts 7:44–58

You have probably heard George Santayana’s famous quip, “Those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it.” Perhaps the writer of Ecclesiastes phrased it differently. The reality is that human behavior (especially, selfishness, greed, and hatred) has a tendency to repeat itself.

Jewish history is full of faithful followers of God being mistreated by their blood relatives. Whether it being cast into cisterns, having to hide in caves, being openly killed, it happened. We have the words and/or lives of some of these followers in Scripture.

Based on the general summary of the Old Testament, it is highly likely that there were many, many more that we don’t know about. The people of God were often more the people of the Enemy. Even with Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection, it still seems to be the case.

I have read this passage in Luke many times, contemplating it. The harsh truth was that the Jews decorated and maintained the tombs of the people their ancestors had killed. Instead of feeling shame for what their ancestors had done, they applauded themselves for taking care of the tombs. They celebrated that they cared for the tombs of those their blood had murdered as if it was the honor of the dead to be cared for by them.

This comes to mind as there is a reckoning happening in the US. Statues of famous people are being removed. Buildings named “in honor of” famous people are being renamed. Even a whole university was renamed.

These famous people brought light and/or heroics in US history. All of them had parts that most of us today cannot support. They were, without a doubt, the product of their times. Even celebrated religious leaders in various denominations, including our own, had preferences or opinions that we would not today celebrate or endorse.

I was raised in a “Northern” household and a “Southern” household. Needless to say, the Southern household had a lot to say about the “War Between the States” (i.e., the Civil War). Not all of it was accurate, as I would learn. On the other hand, some of the behavior of the “heroes” was equally abhorrent as the defense of slavery, as I also learned.

All were products of their time. They did what they thought was right or did wrong to uphold a “higher” purpose. Sherman’s destructive march through the South comes to mind. Sherman was a military man. He was there to win the war. That was the higher purpose. Later, he was a leader during the Indian Wars (a horrific wiping out of First Nations peoples). This, despite being named after a famous First Nations chief.

The church too, as a whole, has similar shades of darkness in it. As the nation wrestles with its future, it also wrestles with its past. The church has much of the same work to do.

For the church to be what it called by God to be—a light unto the darkness—its people need to be diligent in cleansing, repenting and reconciling its past and current wrongs so that it can be the spreader of hope for a world that desperately needs it.

※Question※

What people and issues come to mind in this? What will/can you do to be Christ’s light in the darkness?

※Prayer※

Father of justice and mercy, be kind and merciful to us as we learn what justice really means, and how to apply it to our lives. Amen.

2020-10-14
Veritas

Acts 21:34–22:28

Have there ever been times in your life when you knew speaking the truth would, at best, keep things the way they were? And, at worst, make things horribly wrong? Or, have you had the experience that no matter how much you speak the truth, others only hear lies?

These scenarios might seem far-fetched, yet, that was exactly what Paul experienced.

“You speak Greek?”

“Aren’t you the Assassin leader?”

“You speak Aramaic?”

“You’re a Roman citizen?”

Yes, one the first is a literal question. The other 3 are just summarizations of other verses. Yet, the entirety is that Paul was dismissed. He wasn’t worthy.

People could share plenty of false information (that’s what started the riot, after all). Why bother to inspect the truth?

We are in a weird time. Truth is questioned. Truth is questionable.

Before you throw politics into this, understand that the Truth of our faith remains steadfast. It is the only Truth.

Paul spoke the Truth. He did not speak the truth that people wanted to hear. This is the same thing that we are seeing now. It is place (schools, homes, churches, governments) agnostic.

Many of you may have experienced those first questions when you think about spiritual/faith conversations you have had.

Who are you? A child of God

What is Truth? That God loved you so much that he sent his son to die to reconcile God’s lost Creation to himself.

No, the Truth is not comfortable to many, or even most, people. Sharing the Truth will only become harder.

※Prayer※

Father of all Truth, may we have the courage of our faith to share your Truth in love with a world that does and doesn’t want to hear it. Amen.

2020-10-01
Ever Cleaning

Matthew 12:43–45

Have you ever had a guest (or guests) coming, and all of a sudden you realize your house is a mess? Maybe you go a little crazy cleaning the house up-and-down. You might even draft the spouse or kids to “help”.

The guest(s) then come. The event/time comes and probably went just fine. Then you don’t clean the house until the next guest. You just leave it. The toilets and sinks turn foul. The dust and hair build on every surface and in every crevice. Food crumbs are being walked out of the house by ant trails. You just let it all go until the next guest, right?

Of course not! Granted, you may not clean as minutely as when a guest comes. You won’t let it all go, though.

This passage of Jesus is not quite the same as cleaning the house for the guest. It’s cleaning the house to get rid of the bad guest. It also about why one cleans the house.

The “evil generation” wanted the Messiah to come and make everything better…without changing what they were doing. They wanted the Messiah to refresh, but they really didn’t want renewal.

On the other hand, there are aspects to this parable that apply to our own lives.

Often, when we first come to Jesus it seems as if a huge burden (the bad guest) had gone away. Yet, for many people what ends up happening is that for a short time things are great, but all of a sudden all the habits or addictions or struggles that appeared to be conquered all come back with a vengeance. Kind of like the 7 new spirits.

The house in the parable is empty of presence. No spirits. No Jesus. No Holy Spirit. That means an unHoly party is quite possible.

Once we accepted Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we still need to keep the house somewhat clean. Yes, with Jesus and the Holy Spirit present we don’t get a complete unHoly party, but we certainly don’t have a peace-filled house if we allow the evil spirits to still live there.

There is no “one time” cleansing of the house of our soul. There is passing the deed from the world to us, then to God. That doesn’t mean we can stop cleaning the house.

Reading the Scriptures helps to fill the space with God’s word. Confessing our sins helps to fill the house with grace. At all times, God wants to fill the house with love…we just need to accept it.

※Questions※

1) What do you do to regularly “clean” the house that is your soul?

2) Have you ever been told that once you know Jesus, everything will be fine? What is the problem with that? What is the truth in that?

3) Why is it important to recognize that all Christians need to be regularly “cleaning” their soul?

※Prayer※

Holy Spirit, guide us to the corners and even the closets of our lives that need to be cleaned. Help us to regularly look to you and your people for guidance in that. Amen.

2020-09-21
Protected

Protected

6 September 2020

Amos 7:10–17; Habakkuk 2:2–17

Critique and criticism sound very similar. They are often confused and misused. That they have the same root certainly doesn’t help. Critique and criticism, however, have different intents.

Critique is a thoughtful analysis of something with pointers provided for improvement. The pointers are intended to perfect one’s craft and are meant for self-improvement by the recipient.

Criticism is often less thoughtful and often a more emotional commentary of something. Unlike critique, the starting point is negative and is less about improving the other and more about lifting up the self.

The harsh words of the prophets were often viewed as criticism. Though there was anger and grief in the words (for God was angry and grieving), the intent was never the destruction of the Israelites or Jews. The intent was always to have them improve by throwing away their false worship and disregard of God.

The harshness came from the constant ignoring that occurred. The Israelites and Jews never seemed to be convinced by gentle and loving words. Before we criticize them, however, we need to critique ourselves.

One of the traits of humanity is the automatic assumption that critique is criticism. This is more a reflection of our own tendencies to criticize rather than critique. This is an important thing to recognize, for this also means we are often not open to improvement.

Our Christian walk is significantly impacted by this, as it means we are not open to even the Holy Spirit guiding us into all Truth, let alone feedback from our faith community. Our progressive sanctification (becoming more holy, or more like God) hinges on the surrendering of our will, and, perhaps more importantly, our ego and super-ego (to use Freud’s terms).

The human tendency is to protect our ego and super-ego. We don’t want to change. We want others to change, but not us. Any change we experience, we want to be without pain.

We all understand intellectually that this is unreasonable while we still seek to protect ourselves. In egotistical self-defense, we will assume that any critique is actually criticism and an attempt to harm us. We can look at social media, normal media, and see that exact behavior played out.

The Israelites were no different. They wanted to grab onto a dream the Jerusalem and the Promised Land were protected spaces and that they would come to no harm. They held onto this despite the surrounding threats.

By sending the prophets, he sought to help them see the error of their ways. Instead, they tell Amos to not prophesy against Israel. Habakkuk announced their egotistical ways and they opposed him.

※Prayer※

Lord Jesus, as we read about the lives of others in the Scriptures, help us to see our own failures in a brighter light than theirs, and guide us into the righteous life with you. Amen.

※Questions※

1) Think of the cultural issues currently surrounding us. Are we really all that different than the Israelites?

2) If the things around are being allowed by God, how should we be viewing them?

3) Thinking of critique and criticism, how can you improve your ability to receive and deliver critique, especially concerning spiritual matters?

2020-09-05
Crossing the Line

2 Chronicles 7:12–22; 2 Kings 21:1–17; 2 Corinthians 4:7–17

A great tragedy occurs every day, babies and children are abandoned. In all grace and truth, many of the parents are truly afraid of the responsibility and their inability to fulfill it. Some of these are abandoned at hospitals in the same way as babies used to be left at the doors of orphanages.

If you are a parent, you probably can only imagine the heartache and life circumstances that a parent could ever abandon their child.

Society is at a point where adult children are remaining in their parents’ home longer, whether it is due to jobs, education, lack of opportunity, or lack of romance. The attitude of people is changing as this is becoming too common for it to be solely an individual issue. Parents are looking at their children, wanting the best, but not desiring to abandon them to the world.

No matter how much a parent loves their child (or children) however, there can be limits to a peaceful home. There are always rules and boundaries. At some point, violating the rules and crossing the boundaries becomes too much.

Think of God. His children (of Israel) had abandoned God by actions and by heart. They willingly walked away from their “parent”. They knowingly and willingly violated the rules and crossed boundaries that God had set in place to protect them.

From Moses’ speech in Deuteronomy to God’s admonition to Solomon, God was quite clear that there were consequences. In the admonition to Manasseh, we get the feeling though…abandonment. In the CSB version, “I will abandon the remnant of my inheritance and hand them over to their enemies.”

Yes, God was angry. Yet, abandon is not a small word. It is also not as if God was going to leave them there. However, for a time, it would be as if God were not with them.

Would God’s heart be breaking? Yes. Would the Israelites be in misery? Yes. Would the Israelites learn from this? Yes. Did the lessons stay with them? Not so much. The lessons, however, remain with us.

The Great Commandment is to love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength; love your neighbor as yourself.

This is the boundary that we must not cross, for wouldn’t we want people to love us, too?

※Prayer※

Jesus, let your light of love shine in us so that we may shine your light into the darkness. Amen.

2020-08-23
Speed Check

Isaiah 56:1–8; Ezekiel 2:1–10

When you’re driving, do you continue to check your speed? What do you do when you check a speed limit sign?

A speed limit sign cannot make you stop speeding. A speed limit sign cannot make you speed up. A speed limit sign can only tell what the authorities have set as the maximum speed for the area.

The law enforcement agency in charge of that area may have some grace about being a little over. If a lot of people are going over, they might let it go. If a person is weaving in and out of traffic and going over the speed limit, they may likely end up with a citation.

While the Scriptures are the word of God, they are also similar to speed limit signs. There is guidance and wisdom in the Scriptures. There are many warnings. People can (and do) choose to do their own thing.

God is not looking for rote obedience, obedience for obedience’s sake, or obedience for a reward. God desires obedience out of love.

Take the eunuchs. In Deuteronomy 23:1, eunuchs were banned from joining the assembly of God. That doesn’t mean that they could not (or did) not worship God, but that they could not participate in any Temple aspect, including the sacrificial offerings.

At the time, this was likely a response to the cultures (such as Egypt) that had eunuchs as ministers and in charge of harems. This would further separate the Israelites from other peoples.

By the time of Isaiah, things hadn’t really changed in the surrounding cultures. Also, people would often seek power and influence or were sent (e.g., political hostages) to foreign powers and were made eunuchs. Isaiah overthrows the concept of Deuteronomy, insofar as relationship with God is primary.

In Jewish tradition, Isaiah is sometimes elevated over Moses and Isaiah (according to Jewish tradition) reduced the 10 Commandments to 2, justice and mercy. A faithful eunuch who pursued justice and mercy would give true life to others. The ability to produce children was outweighed by a faithful heart.

The eunuchs, then, were those who saw the speed limit signs and obeyed, rather than those that Ezekiel (and Isaiah) spoke of/to that disregarded the ways of God.

This is, in some small way, a foreshadow of the Gentiles. The Gentiles could not add to the tribe of Israel (for they weren’t of the blood). However, they could add to the Kingdom of God by living for God.

※Prayer※

Holy Spirit, guide us into all Truth. Especially guide and guard us in regard to justice and mercy. Amen.

※Questions※

1) Take any issue (not a person or political party) right now. What would be just and merciful in that situation? If there is more than one side to that issue, what would be just and merciful all sides?

2) Taking that same issue, trying (and it’s hard) to look at it from God’s perspective, what might God’s idea of justice and mercy be? Which “side” of the above does that match? Which “side” are you on?

3) Why is the concept of giving Godly/spiritual life—rather than biological life—rated so important?

2020-08-15
Using Ways

Luke 16:1–9

This is one of those interesting parables.

I knew a small business owner who taught a Sunday School lesson on this passage. He was quite honest that he hated it. As a small business owner, he could not understand the apparent praise for a person who reduced what was owed.

This is understandable. He viewed this as stealing by the manager and by those who owed the rich man. In most respects, he (the small business owner) was right.

The rich man is more the vehicle of the story. The first thing to recognize is that the rich man received an accusation. That’s it. In Jewish law, it took 2 or 3 witnesses to convict.

Jesus tells the story in such a way that we understand that there is truth to the accusation. Of course, the manager freaking out pretty much made it clear that there was a lot of truth in that accusation.

There are two really important things to learn from this particular parable.

The first is Jesus’ admonition to use the ways of the world wisely to gather friends. This does not mean that Jesus is suggesting theft or unGodly methods. Jesus is suggesting using the world’s ways (i.e., books, TV, radio, the internet) to make friends and to influence others.

This is good advice. In fact, without being open to the world’s ways, we often have no common ground with which to open conversations that lead to God. The world’s ways include business, politics, education, and pretty much everything. Yes, let’s use it all to bring people to God!

The second piece is often overlooked. I have certainly overlooked it.

The rich man and even the manager are successful in the world. We often focus on that, which shows our own hearts.

The people for whom the manager reduced the debt were the poor. We have to remember that our concept of middle-class is historically a pretty recent one. Most of these people owed debts that they may never be able to pay.

They would be, effectively, owned.

Why is this important? Well, the underlying implication is that the poor will have the eternal dwellings (i.e., heaven), and the only way the rich man or (specifically) the manager will have a place in eternity is through those that he gave mercy.

The concept of “class warfare” predates Karl Marx by centuries. While this passage and conclusion would seem to reinforce such a concept, at the same time, all things are possible with God, especially with a contrite heart.

※Prayer※

Heavenly Father, may we—your children—be always looking for ways to use the world’s ways to expand your family, kingdom, and glory. Amen.

※Questions※

1) What do you think of the rich man and his response to the manager’s initiative?

2) What ways of the world can you think of that you can use to bring people to God?

2020-08-04