January 25, 2024

TODAY’S SCRIPTURE READING:

“As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.” (Ephesians 4.1-6)

TODAY’S REFLECTION ON GOD’S WORD:

In bringing this series of reflections to a close for this season, I want to share a response I offered to a Facebook post I read today. It is as follows:

So, there is a difference between “attacking” each other which is rooted in judgmentalism and discernment. Judgmentalism has one end: to judge and thus pass sentence on what is “right” and what is “wrong” and then mete out justice which is reward for what is “right” and punishment for what is “wrong.” Romans 8.1-2 “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you a free from the law of sin and death.” What is “right” then and what is “wrong”? I believe we can best determine that by the very word of God and that word is “Good.” “Good,” in the biblical understanding points our thoughts and actions, thus all our decisions in the direction of “as God purposed and intended so to be done.” We are introduced to this concept “in the beginning.” So, whether we want to judge whether something is right or wrong then we must better understand what is the sincere will of God. We are introduced to that concept in the incarnation of God’s word who is Jesus the Christ. Jesus did not judge but discern. In His discernment, He lead others to answer “what is the will of God for this, that or for that one.” His abiding rule of thumb was found in the great commandments: Love God with all we have and one another with no less intention. So, is the “attack” mentioned in the comment above rooted in judgmentalism? If so, it needs to be repented of and those who “seat themselves in judgment” should seek to be renewed and transformed by the incarnation of God’s holy word in their flesh. If, however, the “attack” is rooted in discernment, then “let those with eyes to see see and ears to hear listen.” What is the truth being pressed into and what is the message being pressed upon? Is it for condemnation, justification or for transformation in order that God’s will be revealed and “the way, truth and life” which is intended from the beginning be adopted.

What was the precipitating quote? It was presented that former President Jimmy Carter said: “Evangelical Christianity has been hijacked by people who would have given Jesus the boot if He knocked on their door.” The commentor (a friend from college) wrote “I think the church, left and right, needs to quit attacking one another. The attacks are unhealthy , unneeded, and disrespectful of diversity within Christendom. God will sort out all our theological pettiness, in the end. I can guarantee we all have gotten something wrong.” And indeed we all have gotten something wrong when we elevate our “opinion,” informed or otherwise, to the level of “gospel.” When that happens, we are proving unworthy of the calling to which we have been called. That calling, as a reminder from yesterday’s reflection, is to fulfill the Great Commission with our lives in whatever we say and do. Nowhere in the Great Commission does Jesus empower the disciples and generations of followers to come to “judge, jury and execute.” If there was any execution it was simply the execution of one’s duty to be ambassadors of the Lord Jesus Christ and Him only. He Himself was the Ambassador of His, and our, Heavenly Father. As Peter declared “What is it that He who descended also ascended.” The converse is true in that “Whatever was brought down from Heaven will be lifted up to Heaven.” Jesus said to the disciples, “Those who represent Me in this world I will represent before My Father in Heaven.” But, be alert to the simple truth that although Jesus never “judged, juried and executed,” He most certainly confronted, discerned, rebuked and offered redemptive transformation. To this end, Jesus lived a life worthy of the calling to which He had been called: “to seek and to save that which was lost.”

And I would ask you to further consider “that” calling. “That” calling was from God to Him to take up the cross upon which each person would die for their sins and make it His own. He was called to give of His live for the sake of another; for the sake of all others including His enemies which were of flesh and spirit. “That” call was in response to another call. “That” call was from the people on earth who were lost and struggling to find authentic peace, joy and abundance in their own lives. Those people who felt as if they were prisoners to the sin which so confined them there was no hope of escape from the penalty which sin would execute in their lives. Quite literally, sin would execute them and condemn them to living a death that knew no end and from which there would be no deliverance from the turmoil they experienced only in part on earth as it would be fully experienced in Hell. Just as God heard His people Israel in the land of Goshen in the Kingdom of Egypt, so He hears us. He not only hears us but listens to the petitions of our heart, mind and soul and discerns them to be worthy or a farce. It is up to us, mighty ones of God, to petition worthily though we ourselves in sin are unworthy to receive such a blessing as mercy, forgiveness, grace, redemption and reconciliation. On our own, we would remain in unworthiness. Joined together in faith with Jesus as the Christ, we shall be found worthy because we are cloaked in His love, anointed by His blood and empowered by His Spirit to abide in the only “way, truth and life” which leads to Heaven and to dwell there living in eternity.

Call on Him. Seek Him where He is found. Knock and the door will be opened to you.

TODAY’S PRAYER IN RESPONSE TO GOD’S WORD:

Father, before we were conceived in the womb, You had already formed us in Your love and by Your Spirit spoke us into being. Each one of us is blessed with the opportunity of doing right, being good and producing the fruit of the Spirit so that others may be fed the truth of that same love so that the two will become one. It is our soul’s sincere desire to embrace the oneness You have in mind that we would know that we are Your people and that You are our God. Lead us in that discovery of the truth and the manifestation of that love for us all. In Jesus’ name, we pray. AMEN.