Who is given the place of honor?

While leading a class on baptism last Sunday morning, I read a passage that describes the social structure of the Church. “You are all children of God through faith, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”  (Galatians 3) I have read that passage hundreds of times but this week it arrested my attention in a new way. God wants His Church to be without the divisions that exist in human society. Simply said, in Christ Jesus ALL of the ways that we divide ourselves are erased. We are “one” in Him when we are baptized into His Body.

Let’s be honest. While we might say “amen” to that passage, the reality is often far from the truth, isn’t it?  Christians are just as likely to favor some over others as anyone else. One of the more common ways we do it is around economic status. Wealth has always attracted the attention of others - as far back as we can track history! Money is a magnet. Access to resources gives a person power over others; the ability to buy services and influence.

This issue was a problem all the way back to the first Church of Jerusalem. James, who led that church, spoke pointedly about it.
“My dear brothers and sisters, how can you claim to have faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ if you favor some people over others? For example, suppose someone comes into your meeting dressed in fancy clothes and expensive jewelry, and another comes in who is poor and dressed in dirty clothes. If you give special attention and a good seat to the rich person, but you say to the poor one, “You can stand over there, or else sit on the floor”—well, doesn’t this discrimination show that your judgments are guided by evil motives?

Listen to me, dear brothers and sisters. Hasn’t God chosen the poor in this world to be rich in faith? Aren’t they the ones who will inherit the Kingdom he promised to those who love him? But you dishonor the poor! Isn’t it the rich who oppress you and drag you into court? Aren’t they the ones who slander Jesus Christ, whose noble name you bear?” (James 2)

The natural way to approach life is to honor those that we believe provide resources – money, leadership, skills of various types – for the Church’s existence. So, we give the guy with the fancy clothes and expensive jewelry to James’ terms, the front row expecting that he can help pay the mortgage. We justify our choice by pointing out that his donation benefits so many. But God sees it differently.  

That autistic boy who sometimes noisily disrupts the gathering is every bit as valuable to the Body of Christ as the person who is able to put a large donation in the offering every time, he enters the building. That immigrant woman who can barely speak English is as beloved by God as the eloquent preacher in the pulpit.

I love the way Russell Moore writes about this. He says “the Kingdom of God turns the Darwinist narrative about the ‘survival of the fittest’ upside down. When the Church honors the vulnerable among us, we are not showing charity. We are simply recognizing the way the world really works. … if we allow a fascination with elite forms of cultural influence – political and/or economic- we will drive away the truth of the Kingdom.”

The only way to defeat the natural (yes, sinful) choice to give preference to the rich, the beautiful, or the talented is to give the Holy Spirit full access to our minds and heart. Unless He does a deep work of transformation, we will slip into discriminatory patterns without even a conscious thought.

“The Church is not built on the rock foundation of geniuses and influencers but on apostles and prophets. This should hardly be surprising, since the kingdom is not greater than the King. When confronted by the Gospel, the natural response parallels that of those who heard about Jesus and asked, “can any good thing come out of Nazareth?”  - Russell Moore

May the humble Jesus find a place of honor in our hearts and make us like Him – filled with genuine love, without the sin of preference for supermodels and billionaires. May our churches truly be ‘the Body of Christ’ where His cross is remembered and His selfless life is our model.

The word from the Word is familiar. May it take new meaning for us all. Jesus said ^“Let me give you a new command: Love one another. In the same way I loved you, you love one another. This is how everyone will recognize that you are my disciples—when they see the love you have for each other.”  (John 13)

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Confident and Competent

Last night I watched a stage filled with students performing a musical. They were terrific! They hit their cues, delivered their lines, and sang their hearts out on some really difficult music. I loved their confidence and because I know one of the cast members well, I knew that performance was shaped by hours of training and a director who coached them to competence. They were convinced before they set foot on that stage that they were ready, that they could do it!

Are you a Christian who lives with a holy confidence, who is prepared to meet the challenges of life as a joyful person? Or, perhaps, do you feel confused, or lost, or alone?  When you pray do you “approach the Throne of grace with confidence… finding grace in time of need” as the writer of Hebrews says?

We need not wander or wander! We need not struggle to find our footing each day as a Christian IF we know the core of our hope, secure in the love and goodness of God through Christ Jesus. Paul wrote to us urging us to look beyond the approval of others, to find our security in a place higher than the commendation of people. 

“Such confidence we have through Christ before God. Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God. He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant—not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. … Therefore, since we have such a hope, we are very bold.” (2 Corinthians 3:4-12 NIV)

Our Christian hope rests squarely on Jesus’ death and Resurrection. He has provided complete reconciliation with our Creator God. His gift to us is the Holy Spirit, who lives in us and makes us ‘competent as minister (servants)” of a whole new way of life based in God’s promises. This, dear friend, is transformational truth!

Moses, the one-time prince of Egypt, left the palace after killing a man, ran off to the wilderness and disappeared into obscurity, tending the flock of his father-in-law, Jethro, for 40 years! Then, at the time when the people of Israel needed a leader God knew the right man for the job. He met Moses at a “burning bush” in the desert.  Moses’ attention was captured because though the bush was aflame, it was not burning up.

God spoke to that failed prince, now an obscure shepherd, and called him to return to Egypt and deliver his people from slavery, leading them to the land of promise. 

So did Moses say, "Great! When do I start?"   That is not the way it went. He grasped the apparent impossibility of the job, looked at his resume which included murder and flight to avoid prosecution, and asked God, “Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?”(Exodus 3:11, NIV)   In the dialogue with the Lord he points out his inability and God answers, not by reminding him of his charisma, intelligence, education, or court access. 

 God says to Moses -I'll be with you! … "The LORD said to him, “Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say." (Exodus 4:12, NIV) 

News flash! God has a calling for you and me, too.

Paul says that we are ministers of grace, given a message of reconciliation, and ambassadors of the Kingdom of God. We bring God’s light to dark places. We lead those who are captives under Satan's deception into truth. Yes, like Paul, we say, "Follow me as I follow Christ." (1Corinthians 11:1) Sounds like a job that is bigger than me or you, doesn’t it? It is! That is why Paul’s words from that text we read a moment ago ring so true – “Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves.”

If we look only to our training or our natural abilities as a qualification for living the Christian life, if we try to find confidence in our own goodness, if we attempt to gain boldness through degrees, titles, or accomplishment- we will falter, feeling fearful.

That is why we look to Christ Jesus, putting our full faith in His work on our behalf, accepting the gift of grace that we could never earn, and opening our mind and heart to the Spirit who will make us competent as ministers of a new covenant!

He is what we can never be on our own.”
He loves us where we are, as we are, and invites us to find the purposes of God.
In Him there is ‘life to the full!’ (John 10.10)

Here is a word from Word. Pray it. Own it. Secure yourself in this truth and then go live in holy boldness today!   "Thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of him. . ..   who is equal to such a task? . . . Such confidence as this is ours through Christ before God. … Therefore, since we have such a hope, we are very bold.”  (2 Corinthians 2,3)

Humbly thank God, the Holy Spirit, for empowering you for the task, then just do it. 
I have walked with Him, served Him for many years, and I am still filled with wonder about what He has done in my life. I pray you know that wonder, too!

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Living, not just Existing!

 
Just a couple of miles from my house, there is place to which I often return along the banks of the Delaware River. Whenever I walk that trail that meanders along the river, I am renewed by the sounds of the water tumbling over rocks, the rustle of the breeze in the branches, and the songs of birds. It is a place that is alive! Particularly now in the months of Spring it is a delight to see the green emerging, new life bursting even in the smallest flowers on the forest floor.

In my spiritual life I turn often to another Source of life, taking time to renew my hope in the Lord, fed by the water of the Spirit. The stress of daily life, the hot dry winds of anxiety, the uncertainties that are the common human experience all combine to sap my strength. Without that renewal, life can become hard, seemingly futile.

Jeremiah, the ancient preacher, was inspired to write the people of God during a time when they were under threat of attack from a great foreign power. Their future was dark, hope almost non-existent. Their whole way of life was in peril. Where could they turn to find renewal?

This is what the Lord says:
“Cursed is the one who trusts in man, who draws strength from mere flesh and whose heart turns away from the Lord. That person will be like a bush in the wastelands; they will not see prosperity when it comes. They will dwell in the parched places of the desert, in a salt land where no one lives.

“But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him. They will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.”  (Jeremiah 17)

In what or whom have you centered your life’s hope?

If you are hoping that a political party will secure your future, you are sadly duped!
If you think that a charismatic leader will make your life richer and fuller, you are destined for disappointment.
If you have made your job or wealth your anchor in life, you will find yourself worried by every fluctuation in the economy.

We choose to “trust in the LORD,” to make Him the Source of our confidence.

Let me be authentic at this moment. Trusting Him does not mean that you will be exempted from the difficulties of life. Good and devout people of faith still get cancer, still grow old and infirm, still find life touched by the meanness of people with whom they live. The faithful find themselves confused, hurt, and even sometimes doubtful. The question “why?” is one that we all ask in the inevitable dark days.

I have found solace many times in the words of the 73^rd Psalm. The writer finds his faith under assault and says “I almost lost my footing. My feet were slipping, and I was almost gone. For I envied the proud when I saw them prosper despite their wickedness. … These fat cats have everything their hearts could ever wish for!”  Has life been like that for you? Have you ever wondered why God seems to have forgotten you?

That song continues with this point of change. “I tried to understand why the wicked prosper. But what a difficult task it is! Then I went into your sanctuary, O God … “I still belong to you; you hold my right hand. You guide me with your counsel, leading me to a glorious destiny. Whom have I in heaven but you? I desire you more than anything on earth. My health may fail, and my spirit may grow weak, but God remains the strength of my heart; he is mine forever.”

Simply said, we choose to trust. We choose faith. We grasp the truth, supported by the Scripture and the long experience of those who walk with God, that there is purpose, that there is Eternity; that we are ‘held by His hand!’

In that faith, our lives are watered by the Spirit, finding refreshing and renewal. There is a kind of lasting beauty in the one who does not wither even in times of drought. They do not turn into grumpy old cynics. They are not full of regrets. They are not locked into some time of glory that happened decades ago. They are not hateful.

Instead, they are marked by real joy, anticipating the goodness of God, and filled with a godly compassion for others.

Will you continue to make Him your Source?
Will you trust Him in the darkest moment, steady and faith-filled?
Choose to live by the River of Life!

Take this word from the Word with you today and meditate on the promise of Jesus. “Jesus stood and shouted to the crowds, “Anyone who is thirsty may come to me! Anyone who believes in me may come and drink! For the Scriptures declare, ‘Rivers of living water will flow from his heart.’” (When he said “living water,” he was speaking of the Spirit, who would be given to everyone believing in him.)”  (John 7)

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