April 23, 2024

GOD’S WORD FOR TODAY:

“Find out what pleases the Lord. Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to Himself as a radiant church without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless.” (Ephesians 5.10; 25-27)

REFLECTION ON GOD’S WORD:

Just think with me for a moment as to the full measure of the following observation: What if we were loving others, especially our spouses, the way we love the Church? What if that testimony of observation was then the measure of how we love Jesus? Imagine it: one day a week for a couple of hours that day; perhaps another day of the week for a couple of hours; with passing prayers at meal time and at the beginning and end of the day with more lament than gratitude; and acknowledging that we spend more time, energy and intentionality on the other hours of the days of our lives than we do pursuing being better, stronger, wiser, more powerful, faithful and spiritual for the glory of God and the good of those within our circles of influence. Now, I am not judging nor condemning. I am merely supposing and inviting all mighty ones of God who are sharing in this reflection to consider the height, depth, breadth and volume of our submission to God’s Word as the Church and as individual members of it.

What if when we discern and evaluate the call of God’s Word to “love one another as you love yourself” we are doing exactly that but to the extent of “how much and how and why do we love ourselves the way we do” when the rubric of authentic love is established unquestionably in the incarnation of the Word of God who is Jesus the Christ? Are we willing to let the proverbial “as iron sharpens irons so one person should sharpen another” (Proverbs 27.17) be alive and active and defining as it is meant to be as we use our “gifts, talents and abilities to strengthen one another in being built up into the full measure and stature of the body of Christ? Have we considered for more than a moment in time the very body of Christ as it was for 33 years in Israel from north of Caesarea Philippi near the headwaters of the Jordan River to Alexandria, Egypt, in the south to the desert beyond the Jordan to the east to the region of Nazareth to the west? How about from the heights of Mount Hermon, Mount Tabor and Mount Zion to the depths of the Jordan and the Valley of Hinnom? How about from the height of Calvary to the depth of the grave whose bottom is Hell? And I am not speaking of His appearance as we know with certainty of His cousin John the Baptizer apart from what the prophet Isaiah declared. No, I am speaking of the condition of His body as a reflection of His heart, mind and soul. When I speak of His stature and the measure of His life, I am looking at His posture and posturing, the fruit of the Spirit and the submission of His will to His Father’s Will. How do we match up in our quest to “be like Jesus”? I am not speaking so as to put any down. No, I am speaking as a challenge lifted up as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness. We are lifted up. We are to be lifted up as we lift up Christ before all the world so that they might see the hope and the path of their salvation.

Mighty ones of God, it is the appearance of the Church as the manifestation and incarnation of God’s Word which is Jesus the Christ which ought to define our own appearance in spirit and in truth. I am not alluding to the outwardness of our appearance as the Temple in Jerusalem was fashioned as a city set on a hill which cannot be hidden. I am speaking of the inwardness where the measure of integrity and fidelity to God’s Word exalts and exposes the glory of God in transformative measure. When Jesus breathed His last breath on the cross of Calvary, the Temple curtain was torn in two from top to bottom and the Holy of Holies was exposed to any who would look upon it. And even if there were only a few, the opportunity to do so is what was the message of that moment. God was no longer shrouded. His sorrow and angst was not clouded. His desire for His people to be members of “the priesthood of all believers” was not hidden nor eclipsed. In that moment and from that moment forward, no one would be under the threat of “looking upon God and dying.” Because of the appearance of Jesus on the cross, Jesus in the grave and Jesus in the Upper Room following His resurrection spoke volumes to all who would listen that God desired a people who would “walk by faith and not by sight.“

I speak now to the mighty men of God who are husbands, fathers, servants of God and friends of all those whom God has lovingly offered the gift of eternal life. This is the true measure of our manhood. I will not profane that title with the common vernacular of “personhood.” The Kingdom of God is not fraught with the desire to rid people of their created identity as male and female. If God had determined our identity to be anything else in this world other than what He created, then He would say so and make it so. Instead, He has called us to bear witness of our identity as the body of Christ to hold fast and stand firm to who we are. We must assist each other to discover that identity not on “human” terms which reflect a broken image like a cracked mirror. No, as the apostle Paul said to the Christ Community of Faith in Corinth: “We look as in a mirror dimly but suddenly there will be such clarity that we will see Him, Christ Jesus, face to face.” We are called to be identity claimers not identity charmers. We are called to be pleasing to God not people pleasing. If we believe this world is not our home, then why are we becoming more and more at home in the world? We are to present to God our circle of influence as “holy and blameless” as Christ will of the Church. Tough order? Challenging business? Without the grace of God, the teaching of Christ and the blessing of the Holy Spirit it would overwhelm us. But, claim these three gifts and become the overcomer of this world as Jesus said He was on the night before He took our place on the cross of shame, guilt and death! Submit yourselves to God in Jesus’ name and open your heart, mind and soul to the indwelling of the Holy Spirit which shall make all things new!

*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 brought 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.