March 7, 2024

GOD’S WORD FOR TODAY:

“Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to your neighbor… [so] anyone who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work. They should be doing something useful with their own hands, that they may have something to share with those in need.” (Ephesians 4.25a, 28)

REFLECTION ON GOD’S WORD

What is it we see in the mirror as we look at our reflection? Do we see only the person of the moment? Do we evaluate and thus respond to the evaluation based on what our “eyes see and our ears hear” in that moment? Or are we wise enough to understand that in any reflective evaluation we take in the journey which led us to that moment as well as to consider the journey to which we are called from that moment forward? It is so much easier to be subjective and address only what we see in the moment without taking in, as Paul Harvey was wont to say, “…rest of the story.” And our story is not ours alone. Paul reminds each community of faith believing that Jesus is indeed the Christ, the Son of the Living God who is for us Lord and Savior, “…we are of one body upon which rests the head of Christ as the heart, mind and soul of the whole.” So, while we might take comfort in our “me-reflection,” can we truly be satisfied that we have done all that can be done and not take in our “them-reflection” with us? There is a burden of responsibility in the command which Jesus issued to all who were and might be disciples. That burden was stated clearly, but I fear even today is not fully understood nor embraced. The Church of today operates, shall I put forward, more by assumption than by “the way, the truth and the life.” By that I mean, in accordance with a teaching of Jesus concerning “judging” that we become more consumed with the fault in our neighbor than dealing first with our own. Additionally, the assumption is that by “saying” Jesus is Lord and entering into baptism in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, our fault has been dealt with. But, the truth might be that our “way and life” is disharmonious and inconsistent from one day and the rest of the week or from one moment and the rest of our lives. None of us are perfect, far from it; but we are being perfected. Sometimes we are being perfected by God whether we recognize it or not. How the potter shapes and forms the clay with the spinning of the wheel, the cupping of the hands, the touch of the finger and the sweat of the brow. We are different from the clay only in that we have a will the clay does not. How many times have we pushed back against the potter’s hand or attempted to stay the spinning of the potter’s wheel or draw back from the master’s touch or complain about the bead of sweat from another which has anointed our life? No? Will you say that this is not so for any of us, even the “saint” among us and within us?

Thus, when Paul speaks of putting off falsehood in order to speak truth to the ‘neighbor,’ it is in accord with the “new commandment” Jesus gave which said, “Love one another.” The difference between the neighbor and one another can be likened to the Jew and the Gentile to which Jesus sends His disciples into the world to do ministry to, for and with. There is an “inside” and an “outside” to the call. It is as true in our missionary efforts to evangelize all nations and make of them disciples as it is to “disciple one another in the body until we reach full maturity and grow into the stature of existence which is Christ.” You have heard it said when looking at a puppy with big feet, “Wow, if it grows into those feet it will be a huge dog.” You have heard it said when looking at a baby’s hands, “Wow, if that child grows into those hands he/she will be a giant.” Can it not be said when looking at the gospel as it reveals the height, depth, breadth and weight of Jesus of Nazareth, one born of woman, who is also the Christ, the Son of God, “Wow, if the Church grows into that head they will be a powerful body [of believers]”? So, we are called to go out but we can truly go only as far as we draw from the depth of our being which is revealed and reflected in the Word of God that is in us, upon us and working through us with faith, hope and love. The greatest attractor of others to the gospel is the image of Christ which is projected by His followers. It should never be the glitz and glamor and jazz and charity of a local congregation or those who are linked together. Sadly, there are many who believe it is the secret to fulfilling the Great Commission. No, they may be attracted as a moth to the flame to attend a worship service or an event held on campus but that is not what keeps them or fosters the depth of transition and the being of one “born again.”

The real power of conversion and transition from the outside to the inside comes with the integrity of the message of the body of faith to the body itself. How it takes care of its own and disciples them and fosters their ability to bear witness as those accepting the Great Commission as their own is the strength and true measure of the quality of the Church. Mind you, the quantity should pale in comparison to the quality. I am not saying that local congregations should not grow in number but without a strong root system even the mighty redwood would fall in the storm. The intertwining of each tree at the root and the branches at its canopy allow the tree to become a forest. Is this not a way by which we can understand “God can do all things through those who believe in Him and who are called according to His purposes”? It is not also true that “God works all things together for good“? Is Paul not speaking first to those within the community of faith to be “putting away falsehood” [that is, false teaching, pretenses, airs, ego and manipulations to promote one’s self above others] and to “speak truthfully to your neighbor” [that is the neighbor outside in equal measure to the one inside]? Dare we ignore the tumor of ill-will or false assumption or the sickness of apathy and ‘ignorance is bliss’ or the debilitating challenges of “not enough, not capable, not willing or just don’t know”? Mighty ones of God it is “by your fruit that you are known.” Not the fruit that you went out to harvest by gathering simply what has fallen to the ground but the fruit of the spirit which is “love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.” It is that fruit which is stewarded and cultivated in you by the Holy Spirit working all things together for good in those who trust in the Lord, who are called by His Name and who seize the opportunity to “take up their cross to follow Him.” We are not saved by our works but by the work of Him who gave His life as an atonement for our sin. And not works which satisfy the state of forgiveness as if proving we have been saved but works which rise up out of the gratitude and graciousness of God whose mercy and grace is sufficient to meet our needs. When we look in the mirror of spiritual reality, should we not see the old and the new transitioning more to one than the other but still bearing the marks of the past where we recognized the cross we bore and surrendered to take up the cross we are called to carry as did Jesus who is the Christ? Should we not see the new renewed every morning as we lay hold of the infinite mercy of God who calls us forward in spirit and in truth to be His people as we were and are intended to be?

I ask again, “Who do we see?”

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.