Gospel for January 21, 2024

 

START WITH SCRIPTURE:
Mark 1:14-20
CLICK HERE TO READ SCRIPTURE ON BIBLEGATEWAY.COM

OBSERVE:

Mark has a breathless, rapid-fire delivery as he tells the story of Jesus’ ministry, at least until he reaches the descriptions of the Passion and Resurrection much later in chapters 14 to 16.  He delivers the story almost like an excited child — “first this happened, then that happened, and then…”

In verses 9-11, he relates the account of Jesus’ baptism with economy of language; and then in just two verses, 12-13, he tells how Jesus was sent out into the wilderness where he was tempted by the devil for forty days.

In our passage he begins his ministry at the very moment that John the Baptist’s ministry appears to be ending.  John has been arrested by Herod for denouncing Herod’s unlawful marriage to his brother’s ex-wife.

It seems as though this is an intentional transition.  As John the Baptist says of Jesus in the Gospel of John 3:30:

 He must increase, but I must decrease.

Initially, Jesus’ message sounds similar to that of his cousin.  Like John, he also calls people to repentance.  However, there are two key differences.   John declared that one was coming who would baptize the people with the Holy Spirit. Jesus declares:

 The time is fulfilled.

He elaborates further and declares:

 God’s Kingdom is at hand! Repent, and believe in the Good News.

In just those few words, his message is distinct from John’s.  The kingdom is not in the future, it is now!  And furthermore, the bad news, that people need to repent of sin, is followed with good news that they are to believe.  The law has been fulfilled through grace.

Then Jesus begins to gather his team as he walks by the shores of the Sea of Galilee, luring fishermen from their vocation of catching fish and calling them instead to fish for people.

What is startling, as Mark tells it, is that these two pairs of brothers, Simon Peter and Andrew, and James and John the sons of Zebedee, leave their nets immediately.

Mark gives the impression that these four men drop everything, their careers, their families, their lives, to follow Jesus.

With Mark, everything is immediate.

APPLY:  

The message of Jesus is both bad news and good news.  The bad news is that we are sinners who desperately need to repent and turn away from our sin.  The good news is that in Jesus Christ, the kingdom of God has come near us, and when we believe in him we experience his presence and his kingdom.

This is a kind of “realized eschatology,” that the moment we turn to Jesus the kingdom of God has entered our lives, and we live according to that reality, not in the unreality of sin and death.  That’s why it is good news!

As we repent and believe, then we hear the call of Jesus to become fishers of people.  For Andrew and Peter, James and John, this meant leaving their jobs and leaving their families and father.  For some Christians who are called to full-time ministry, the call may mean the same thing.

But we are to remember that all Christians are called to be witnesses — even if they remain in their jobs and with their families. In fact, it may be that that is where they are to be fishers of people — where they work, where they live, and with the people closest to them.

Don’t think that because you haven’t quit your job or left your family to enter full-time ministry that you are any less in ministry.  Make your job and your family an expression of your ministry, and witness for the Good News of Jesus where you are.

It’s up to you to figure out how that witness will be expressed.

RESPOND: 

I heard this simple message many years ago:

 The time is fulfilled, and God’s Kingdom is at hand! Repent, and believe in the Good News.

I understood that for me it meant giving up my own personal dreams of writing the great American novel or becoming a journalist, and entering instead into full-time Christian ministry.  I have been trying to be a fisher of people for the past forty years.  But the call to be a fisher of people has many different expressions — it may include preaching, teaching, witnessing, counseling — but witness may come through other means as well.  Like writing a blog, for instance!

I hope to discern where I hear Jesus asking me to take up the nets and fish for people at every stage of my life.

Our Lord, your kingdom has come near in Jesus.  And when I sense your presence I must repent.  But your grace and pardon become for me a source of good news that I must share with others.  I can do no other.  Amen. 

PHOTOS:
“Repent and believe” by Cathy Stanley-Erickson is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic license.

Epistle for October 16, 2022

The Greek word here is theopneustos, which is a cognate of the Greek word for God (Theos) and for breath (pneo). The word pneuo shares an etymology with pneuma which is the word for breath, wind — but also for Spirit.

START WITH SCRIPTURE:
2 Timothy 3:14-4:5
CLICK HERE TO READ SCRIPTURE ON BIBLEGATEWAY.COM

OBSERVE:

Paul is urging Timothy to remember the Christian doctrine he has been taught from his childhood, and to continue to preach the Gospel faithfully.

Paul begins this passage with a preposition of contrast (“But”), in order to emphasize how Timothy is to be different from the evil men and impostors (2 Timothy 3:13) of the last days (2 Timothy 3:1) that are coming.

Instead, Paul urges Timothy to stick with what he has been taught, implying that Timothy’s teachers — including Timothy’s mother, grandmother, and even Paul himself — are trustworthy.

Though Jews, Timothy’s mother Eunice and grandmother Lois were early converts to Christianity — and they had no doubt used the Hebrew Scriptures to demonstrate the Messianic ministry of Jesus.  Paul is confident that the Hebrew Bible points to Jesus:

the holy Scriptures …. are able to make you wise for salvation through faith, which is in Christ Jesus.

Therefore, when we read of Paul’s strong endorsement of Scripture we are aware that he isn’t speaking of his own letters, or the Gospels, but of the Hebrew Bible:

Every Scripture is God-breathed and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.

This statement combines a high view of Scripture with an emphasis on the pragmatic nature of God’s Word.  Scripture is God-breathed. The Greek word here is theopneustos, which is a cognate of the Greek word for God (Theos) and for breath (pneo).  The word pneuo shares an etymology with pneuma which is the word for breath, wind — but also for Spirit.  What I’m getting at is that God has breathed his own thoughts into the minds of the prophets and Psalmists.

However, it is important to note that Paul stresses the pragmatic effect of the Scriptures.  Nowhere does he insist that Scripture establishes scientific or even historical inerrancy — the purpose of Scripture is to teach theological doctrine, and provide moral guidance that establishes standards of righteousness.  When the man or woman of God knows the Scriptures and applies them, then they are:

thoroughly equipped for every good work.

Paul has established the source of authority — God’s Word — and then follows that with an injunction to Timothy about how he should conduct his ministry.  Paul emphasizes the gravity of his command by pointing out that Timothy’s ministry has ultimate significance:

 I command you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead at his appearing and his Kingdom….

And what is Timothy to do?

preach the word; be urgent in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with all patience and teaching.

His preaching is to be urgent, especially in keeping with the eventual judgment that will come with the advent of the Kingdom!  And he is to be negative when necessary (reprove, rebuke) and positive (exhort).   And yet he is encouraged to be patient. 

This is not a recipe for success — it is a recipe for faithfulness.  Paul advises Timothy to preach urgently in season and out of season — in other words, whether it is popular or unpopular.  For Paul knows that the time is coming that even Christians will become fickle:

For the time will come when they will not listen to the sound doctrine, but, having itching ears, will heap up for themselves teachers after their own lusts; and will turn away their ears from the truth, and turn aside to fables.

Nonetheless, Paul admonishes — no matter what others may do, and no matter how the “crowd” wants to seek out teachers that will cater to them, Timothy is to be faithful at all times, knowing that faithfulness may come with a cost:

 But you be sober in all things, suffer hardship, do the work of an evangelist, and fulfill your ministry.

APPLY:  

How are we to be faithful in our own era as we seek to evangelize this generation?  We must begin with the same source that Timothy had — the Scriptures.  We are reminded that the Apostolic teaching that Timothy had also received from Paul and others has also been included in our canon as part of the New Testament.

We also share the same challenges — people have a tendency to look for teachings that support their own prejudices and preconceptions.  This is a very real issue in the online world today.

We are told that there are computer algorithms that read our tastes and preferences, and tend to serve up advertisements and articles that are tailored to our likes.  So, it is possible that a person may only read articles and ideas that merely confirm what they already believe!

We must remember that the Word of God isn’t a kind of “mood ring,” like kids used to wear years ago, that simply reflects our own thoughts.  The Scriptures are God-breathed.  They don’t conform to our views; we are to conform our lives to the Scriptures!

RESPOND: 

I have wrestled with the statement Every Scripture is God-breathed from the moment I acknowledged Jesus as my Lord.  Unless a person has been living on a desert island, it would be impossible to miss the fact that the authority of Scripture has been questioned and even maligned for centuries.

Yet Scripture is the primary source for our knowledge of God, the saving work of Jesus Christ, the ministry of the Holy Spirit, and the coming Kingdom of God.  If we don’t have the Bible, we don’t have the Gospel!

I was recently in a friendly on-line discussion with a skeptical non-Christian who had grown up in the church, who criticized the “bronze-age god” of the Old Testament.  I’m aware that this expression has been coined by contemporary atheist writers as a derogatory slam.

Here is my answer — St. Augustine points out that God accommodates the understanding of people where they are.  If God seems to our modern sensibilities to be a bronze age god perhaps it is because he revealed himself to bronze age people.  God accommodated the understanding of Abraham, Moses and the prophets from the so-called bronze age. 

It seems to me that God is far more pragmatic than we are when it comes to teaching doctrine and ethics.  Understanding the Trinity, the Incarnation of Jesus Christ as God and man, the Virgin Birth, and other doctrines of the Christian faith requires our very best thinking, at a very high order.

However, a relationship with God requires faith, love and obedience.  In the words of Forrest Gump, “I may not be a smart man, but I know what love is.”

Obviously this doesn’t begin to address all the questions that the modern age has about Scripture, but it does remind us that we have to ask the right questions when it comes to reading the Bible.

For example, when it comes to the Creation story, we can look to scientists and historians to tell us when, what and even how. Those are questions that scientists and historians are clearly equipped to address.  But the Bible tells us the most important question, at least when it comes to our relationship with God and the meaning of life — Who created us, and why. 

Our Lord, as I study your Word, teach me what I need to know about you in order to deepen our relationship, and how to serve you more effectively.  Amen. 

 PHOTOS:
"theopneustos" uses this photo:
"Splendor Chaos" by Chez Andre 1 is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic license.

Epistle for October 9, 2022

START WITH SCRIPTURE:
2 Timothy 2:8-15
CLICK HERE TO READ SCRIPTURE ON BIBLEGATEWAY.COM

OBSERVE:

From time to time in Paul’s epistles he presents a brief synopsis of the Gospel that he preaches, perhaps as a kind of template for his readers.  In this case, he is writing to his protege Timothy, so he is reminding Timothy of the core of the message.

The Gospel Paul presents here is Christ-centered — focusing on his death and resurrection, but also on Christ’s genealogy as the offspring of David.

We might say that Christ’s resurrection confirms his saving power; but his genealogy reminds us that Jesus has come as the fulfillment of Old Testament messianic prophecy.

Paul’s commitment to this message is absolute, which he illustrates by pointing to his hardships.  He writes this letter from prison where he is in chains as a criminal. 

However, he contrasts his own incarceration with the freedom of the Gospel:

 But God’s word isn’t chained.

Although he himself is no longer at liberty to travel and preach, the Gospel’s transmission is bigger than Paul.  That’s why he writes to Timothy, to encourage his ministry.  And we might add, it also explains his literary output while he is in chains — he writes four epistles that are called the prison epistles (Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, and Philemon) during this period.  And 2 Timothy was almost certainly written while he was in prison, perhaps for a second time.

Moreover, Paul didn’t stop preaching and witnessing about his faith even while he was under house arrest in Rome, prior to his trial:

 Paul stayed two whole years in his own rented house, and received all who were coming to him, preaching God’s Kingdom, and teaching the things concerning the Lord Jesus Christ with all boldness, without hindrance (Acts 28:30-31).

The Gospel certainly wasn’t chained!

Paul sees his own suffering as a means of grace for those to whom he preaches and for whom he is in ministry:

 Therefore I endure all things for the chosen ones’ sake, that they also may obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory.

Then, in what might be a kind of hymn or even proto-creed, he praises the work of Christ:

This saying is trustworthy:
“For if we died with him,
we will also live with him.
If we endure,
we will also reign with him.
If we deny him,
he also will deny us.
 If we are faithless,
he remains faithful.
He can’t deny himself.”

Briefly, Paul appears to sum up some of the aspects of the Christian life with and without Christ.

• Dying with Christ is a familiar concept with Paul, beginning with the symbolism of baptism — dying and being raised with Christ.  But dying with Christ also suggests the self-denial and self-sacrifice that Paul is practicing.
• Enduring suggests the ongoing process of following Christ, no matter what the circumstances may be — in chains or free.
• Paul also warns that denial of Christ in the face of persecution results in loss of salvation.
• However, even when the Christian becomes faithless, Christ is faithful.  Christ’s faithfulness to his own character, message and ministry doesn’t depend upon whether others follow him or not.

Paul impresses upon Timothy the importance of reminding his congregation of these essentials:

Remind them of these things, charging them in the sight of the Lord, that they don’t argue about words, to no profit, to the subverting of those who hear.

But Paul is also making it clear that the central, essential message of the Gospel is not up for debate.  The kind of philosophical, theological wranglings one might find in Athens is not encouraged by Paul.

This is not the first time Paul has warned about the dangers of arguing over semantics and interpretations.  He cautions against disputes over opinions in Romans 14:1. And he has already instructed Timothy about those who teach something other than the doctrine received from the Apostles:

If anyone teaches a different doctrine, and doesn’t consent to sound words, the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which is according to godliness, he is conceited, knowing nothing, but obsessed with arguments, disputes, and word battles, from which come envy, strife, insulting, evil suspicions, constant friction of people of corrupt minds and destitute of the truth, who suppose that godliness is a means of gain. Withdraw yourself from such. (1 Timothy 6:3-5).

Implicit in this warning is the instruction to Timothy that he must be a careful student of sound doctrine:

Give diligence to present yourself approved by God, a workman who doesn’t need to be ashamed, properly handling the Word of Truth.

Paul’s metaphor is clear — Timothy is to be a workman whose “building” of Christian faith and life is strong and enduring.  This requires diligence and commitment.

APPLY:  

Paul reminds us of the importance of sound doctrine in the church.  We are also reminded that heresies, heterodoxy and just plain bad theology aren’t a new problem.  There were false teachers and unfounded theological speculation even in the early days of the church.

So, Paul provides an example of sound doctrine, both in his own life and in his teaching.  He “puts his money where his mouth is” by his willingness to suffer imprisonment for the faith.  And he also offers a brief summary of the Gospel by reminding Timothy of Christ’s death and resurrection, and his continuity with the Old Testament as the descendant of David.

We must remember that the Christian faith is not simply a matter of feelings or even simply a vague “belief in the Man upstairs.”  There is a revealed content and substance in the Gospel, and we must be diligent to study the Word of Truth and apply it to our own lives.

RESPOND: 

Sometimes it seems that modern Christians don’t take their faith seriously enough.  They will study football statistics, the stock market, and the internet very assiduously — and can report in a moment what they know about those items.  But ask them to sum up the essentials of Christian, Biblical doctrine, and we might get a blank stare, or a poorly thought-through answer.

In these times, when skepticism and secularism are on the rise, it is imperative that we know what the Bible says, what the church teaches, and what we believe.  Only then will we be able to bear witness to others as we are instructed to do.  To cite another Apostle, St Peter:

always be ready to give an answer to everyone who asks you a reason concerning the hope that is in you, with humility and fear (1 Peter 3:15).

We are also to remember, though, that the ministry and mission of Christ exceeds our weak abilities to convey it.  Paul says:

If we are faithless,
he remains faithful.
He can’t deny himself.

This reminds me facetiously of a scene from Peter Pan, the film made years ago. Peter Pan has carefully explained the “theology” of fairies to Wendy when they first meet.  He tells Wendy that:

 “Every time a child says, ‘I don’t believe in fairies,’ there is a fairy somewhere that falls down dead.”

Later, when the fairy Tinker Bell has been poisoned by the evil Captain Hook, her little light has almost gone out.  Peter Pan turns to the camera and says,

“She’s going to die unless we do something. Clap your hands! Clap your hands and say, ‘I believe in fairies!'”

The Gospel of Jesus Christ doesn’t depend upon our faith to be true.  The Gospel is grounded in the historical reality of Christ’s death and resurrection.  Our response of faith to his saving work is for our sake, not his.

Lord, I pray that I might be diligent in the study and application of your Word of Truth, that I too might be a workman who needs not to be ashamed of my work in your service.  Amen.  

 PHOTOS:
"Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth." - 2 Timothy 2:15" by QuotesEverlasting is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.

Old Testament for March 13, 2022

Abraham believed God

START WITH SCRIPTURE:
Genesis 15:1-12, 17-18
CLICK HERE TO READ SCRIPTURE ON BIBLEGATEWAY.COM

OBSERVE:

This is the third of Abram’s direct encounters with the Lord.  The first was his initial encounter when the Lord directed Abram to leave his father’s home in Haran in Mesopotamia and embark for a new land of promise where he would become a great nation (Genesis 12:1-3).  The second encounter occurred when Abram and his nephew Lot parted ways and the Lord assured Abram that he would possess the land that he had been promised (Genesis 13:14-17).

Immediately preceding today’s passage, Abram has experienced some challenges.  Pharaoh attempted to take Sarai into the royal harem.  And Abram has had to rescue his nephew Lot from an abduction by a coalition of five kings.

After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, “Do not be afraid, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great.”

God seems to be reassuring Abram that he is not alone — God himself is with him and will bless him.

But Abram seems to be experiencing some doubts about the promises he has received.

The tone of Abram’s response suggests that he is beginning to question God’s promises (Genesis 15:2-3). He complains that he is childless — the promises God made in the first encounter are not yet fulfilled.

In the ancient world, a man’s immortality hinged on his family and descendants.  Since Abram still has no biological children, all the wealth he has amassed and all the livestock he owns would be inherited by his slave, Eliezer.  And Abram may also be mindful of the fact that he is not a young man.  He was seventy-five when the initial call from God came.  He’s not getting any younger!

None of the promises that God initially made have really been fulfilled yet:

• Abram is not a great nation.
• He isn’t a great name yet.
• He has no offspring.
• He is still a nomadic sheepherder — he doesn’t yet own even one parcel of the land that he has been promised in Canaan.

God’s answer is decisive.  First, the Lord assures Abram that he will have an heir. Second, he provides Abram with a kind of “celestial vision.”  God takes Abram outside his tent:

He brought him outside and said, “Look toward heaven and count the stars, if you are able to count them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your descendants be.”

God uses the heavenly skies to provide a concrete reminder of his faithfulness.  The numberless, glittering stars are proof of what God can do; and God will multiply the descendants of Abram.

Abram’s response is crucial.  At this point he firmly confirms his faith:

And he believed the Lord; and the Lord reckoned it to him as righteousness.

This is a pivotal moment in Abram’s life.  He has transitioned from doubt to faith.

Perhaps, though, there is still just a smidgen of doubt left.  God assures Abram,

 “I am the Lord who brought you from Ur of the Chaldeans, to give you this land to possess.”

Still, Abram seems to want some kind of evidence that this will be so:

 But he said, “O Lord God, how am I to know that I shall possess it?”

The Lord’s response is to invite Abram to offer a sacrifice of a heifer, a female goat, a ram, a turtledove and a young pigeon.  This is an act of worship which is accompanied by some unusual phenomena.

Abram must first protect his sacrificial animals from birds of prey.  And then he falls into a deep sleep and seems to have a kind of nightmare:

As the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram, and a deep and terrifying darkness descended upon him.

We should remember that any real encounter with the Lord in Scripture is frequently accompanied with great fear and awe — simply think of Moses and Isaiah.  And dream-visions are also a means of communication from God — think of Jacob, Joseph and Daniel.

The Lord confirms his promises to Abram not with outward signs, but deep within in his spirit.

It is difficult to know for sure what Abram saw, and how much of it was waking or dreaming. What we do know is that he is given a sign:

When the sun had gone down and it was dark, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch passed between these pieces.

And the Lord prescribes the boundaries of the land that will be given to Abram’s descendants:

On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, “To your descendants I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates.

The nation of Israel in Scripture achieves its greatest geographical extent during the reign of Kings David (1010-970 B.C.) and Solomon (970-931 B.C.), which included not only the areas of the twelve tribes but also the vassal states conquered by David, and those lands under the influence of Israel, from the Nile to the Euphrates.

However, Moses received a conditional promise from the Lord around 1230 B.C.:

If the Lord your God enlarges your territory, as he promised on oath to your ancestors, and gives you the whole land he promised them,  because you carefully follow all these laws I command you today—to love the Lord your God and to walk always in obedience to him—then you are to set aside three more cities (Deuteronomy 19:8-9).

The full extent of the inheritance is contingent on the faithfulness of Israel.

APPLY:  

It is often said that Abraham is the father of three great world religions — Judaism, Christianity and Islam.

From the Christian perspective, our spiritual inheritance from Abraham derives from this one great verse:

And he believed the Lord; and the Lord reckoned it to him as righteousness.

Our heritage from Abraham is not based on genetics, but on faith.  This verse becomes an important pillar of Paul’s doctrine of justification by faith:

 For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God.  For what does the scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness.” (Romans 4:2-3)

And in Galatians, Paul makes clear that those who have come to faith in Christ receive their righteousness from Christ alone, and are the true descendants of Abraham:

Just as Abraham “believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness,”  so, you see, those who believe are the descendants of Abraham. And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, declared the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “All the Gentiles shall be blessed in you.” For this reason, those who believe are blessed with Abraham who believed (Galatians 3:6-9).

All who believe in Christ are reckoned as righteous, and are regarded as the spiritual descendants of Abraham by their faith.

RESPOND: 

I must confess that there are times that my faith wavers.  Like the father whose son was afflicted with a demonic spirit, I sometimes have to admit to Jesus,

“I believe; help my unbelief!” (Mark 9:24)

And then I consider Abram — who was renamed Abraham later by God (Genesis 17:5).  He was called to leave his homeland and his father when he was seventy-five, and go to a land he had never visited.  He was told that his aging wife would be the mother of his heir. He was told that he would possess the land.

By the time he was almost one hundred years old, none of these things had come to pass!  And yet, he affirmed his faith that God would fulfill his promises, despite setbacks and uncertainties!

That is a reproach to me when doubts begin to arise in my mind about difficult circumstances in the world, or uncertainties in my own life.

From time to time, I remember God’s promises to Abraham, and I go outside and look at the stars and reclaim this simple truth:

And he believed the Lord; and the Lord reckoned it to him as righteousness.

Lord, your Word is full of promises that can only be claimed by faith. I do believe.  Help my unbelief!  Amen. 

PHOTOS: “Abraham believed God” by Ted is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic license.

Reading from Acts for January 9, 2022

This window with the symbols of baptism and the Holy Spirit is from St Dominic’s church in Washington DC. [photo by Fr. Lawrence Lew, O.P.]

START WITH SCRIPTURE:
Acts 8:14-17
CLICK HERE TO READ SCRIPTURE ON BIBLEGATEWAY.COM

OBSERVE:

This passage describes the very early days of Christianity when the Gospel was just beginning to transition from a Jewish sect into a world “movement.”  In a sense, this is the beginning of the fulfillment of Jesus’ mission plan, as he instructed the disciples just prior to his ascension into heaven:

” . . . you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8).

Jesus had certainly had an impact in Samaria prior to his death and resurrection, as he passed through that territory.

Later, Philip had been the pioneer in preaching the Gospel in Samaria. The Philip described in Acts 8 is likely Philip the deacon and evangelist, not the Philip that was one of the twelve disciples.

There are two key issues to take into consideration:

First, we must bear in mind the severe prejudice that the Jews typically held toward the Samaritans.

Some Jews even considered the Samaritans to be “unclean” and to be avoided at all costs.  But Jesus by his teachings [the parable of the Good Samaritan in Luke 10] and actions [the woman at the well in John 4] began to break down the walls of separation.

In today’s lectionary reading of Acts 8, the Jewish disciples of Jesus continue his work as they proclaim the Gospel in Samaria.

Second, we get the sense that though Philip has introduced the Samaritans to the Gospel of Jesus Christ, he hasn’t completed the work of discipleship.

This is the concern of the apostles at Jerusalem, who are responsible for maintaining the correct teaching of the Gospel.  They want to be sure that as the doctrine of Christ is spread that it is accurate.

Therefore:

when the apostles at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them.

Curiously, there seemed at this time to be a two-stage process of initiation into the faith.  While the Samaritans seem to have believed and been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus, there was still something missing:

Then Peter and John laid their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.

This seems to be a confirmation of the prophecy of John the Baptist, who says of Jesus:

“He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire” (Luke 3:16).

In order to experience the fullness of the new life in Christ, it appears to be necessary that the Samaritans experience the Holy Spirit as well.

APPLY:  

It is important to remember that this passage describes early doctrinal development in the church that is based primarily on the experience of the early Christians.

It seems conceivable that a person might become a believer in Christ as the risen Lord, and even to be baptized in his name, and yet still have room for a deepening experience when that person subsequently receives the Holy Spirit.

This leaves open the possibility of spiritual growth and maturity — what many Christians describe as sanctification.

Some Christian denominations may become quite technical about this experience, describing it as “the second blessing,” or “the second baptism,” or “baptism with the Holy Spirit.”

But simply put, it suggests that there is room for growth in the normal Christian experience.

RESPOND: 

Baptism can be among the most controversial doctrines in the Christian church today.  Some churches practice the baptism of infants, as a sign that they are included in God’s love and grace from the beginning.  Others insist on “believer’s baptism,” which means that baptism is only legitimate based on the decision of the believer.  Others would say that until there are clear outward signs of the presence of the Holy Spirit (for example, the gifts of the Spirit), there is no true baptism.

I know a youth minister in a church which practices infant baptism.  About the time members in his youth group get into high school, they are beginning to ask questions about their faith and especially whether their baptism is legitimate.  His answer is worth considering — The baptism that really matters is the baptism of the heart.

Our Lord, I do crave all the blessings and the power that you offer.  I claim the baptism I received as a child, and pray that you will continuously fill me with your Holy Spirit. Amen.   

PHOTOS:
"Baptism and the Holy Spirit" by Fr. Lawrence Lew, O.P. is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic license.

Gospel for January 24, 2021

 

START WITH SCRIPTURE:
Mark 1:14-20
CLICK HERE TO READ SCRIPTURE ON BIBLEGATEWAY.COM

OBSERVE:

Mark has a breathless, rapid-fire delivery as he tells the story of Jesus’ ministry,  at least until he reaches the descriptions of the Passion and Resurrection much later in chapters 14 to 16.  He delivers the story almost like an excited child — “first this happened, then that happened, and then . . .”

In verses 9-11, he relates the account of Jesus’ baptism with economy of language; and then in just two verses, 12-13, he tells how Jesus was sent out into the wilderness where he was tempted by the devil for forty days.

In our passage he begins his ministry at the very moment that John the Baptist’s ministry appears to be ending.  John has been arrested by Herod for denouncing Herod’s unlawful marriage to his brother’s ex-wife.

It seems as though this is an intentional transition.  As John the Baptist says of Jesus in the Gospel of John 3:30:

 He must increase, but I must decrease.

Initially, Jesus’ message sounds similar to that of his cousin.  Like John, he also calls people to repentance.  However, there are two key differences.   John declared that one was coming who would baptize the people with the Holy Spirit. Jesus declares:

 The time is fulfilled.

He elaborates further and declares:

 God’s Kingdom is at hand! Repent, and believe in the Good News.

In just those few words, his message is distinct from John’s.  The kingdom is not in the future, it is now!  And furthermore, the bad news, that people need to repent of sin, is followed with good news that they are to believe.  The law has been fulfilled through grace.

Then Jesus begins to gather his team as he walks by the shores of the Sea of Galilee, luring fishermen from their vocation of catching fish and calling them instead to fish for people.

What is startling, as Mark tells it, is that these two pairs of brothers, Simon Peter and Andrew, and James and John the sons of Zebedee, leave their nets immediately.

Mark gives the impression that these four men drop everything, their careers, their families, their lives, to follow Jesus.

With Mark, everything is immediate.

APPLY:  

The message of Jesus is both bad news and good news.  The bad news is that we are sinners who desperately need to repent and turn away from our sin.  The good news is that in Jesus Christ, the kingdom of God has come near us, and when we believe in him we experience his presence and his kingdom.

This is a kind of “realized eschatology,” that the moment we turn to Jesus the kingdom of God has entered our lives, and we live according to that reality, not in the unreality of sin and death.  That’s why it is good news!

As we repent and believe, then we hear the call of Jesus to become fishers of people.  For Andrew and Peter, James and John, this meant leaving their jobs and leaving their families and father.  For some Christians who are called to full-time ministry, the call may mean the same thing.

But we are to remember that all Christians are called to be witnesses — even if they remain in their jobs and with their families. In fact, it may be that that is where they are to be fishers of people — where they work, where they live, and with the people closest to them.

Don’t think that because you haven’t quit your job or left your family to enter full-time ministry that you are any less in ministry.  Make your job and your family an expression of your ministry, and witness for the Good News of Jesus where you are.

It’s up to you to figure out how that witness will be expressed.

RESPOND: 

I heard this simple message many years ago:

 The time is fulfilled, and God’s Kingdom is at hand! Repent, and believe in the Good News.

I understood that for me it meant giving up my own personal dreams of writing the great American novel or becoming a journalist, and entering instead into full-time Christian ministry.  I have been trying to be a fisher of people for the past forty years.  But the call to be a fisher of people has many different expressions — it may include preaching, teaching, witnessing, counseling —  but witness may come through other means as well.  Like writing a blog, for instance!

I hope to discern where I hear Jesus asking me to take up the nets and fish for people at every stage of my life.

Our Lord, your kingdom has come near in Jesus.  And when I sense your presence I must repent.  But your grace and pardon become for me a source of good news that I must share with others.  I can do no other.  Amen. 

PHOTOS:
“Repent and believe” by Cathy Stanley-Erickson is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic license.

Epistle for October 20, 2019

The Greek word here is theopneustos, which is a cognate of the Greek word for God (Theos) and for breath (pneo). The word pneuo shares an etymology with pneuma which is the word for breath, wind — but also for Spirit.

START WITH SCRIPTURE:
2 Timothy 3:14-4:5
CLICK HERE TO READ SCRIPTURE ON BIBLEGATEWAY.COM

OBSERVE:

Paul is urging Timothy to remember the Christian doctrine he has been taught from his childhood, and to continue to preach the Gospel faithfully.

Paul begins this passage with a preposition of contrast (“But”), in order to emphasize how Timothy is to be different from the evil men and impostors (2 Timothy 3:13) of the last days (2 Timothy 3:1) that are coming.

Instead, Paul urges Timothy to stick with what he has been taught, implying that Timothy’s  teachers — including Timothy’s mother, grandmother, and even Paul himself — are trustworthy.

Though Jews, Timothy’s mother Eunice and grandmother Lois were early converts to Christianity — and they had no doubt used the Hebrew Scriptures to demonstrate the Messianic ministry of Jesus.  Paul is confident that the Hebrew Bible points to Jesus:

the holy Scriptures …. are able to make you wise for salvation through faith, which is in Christ Jesus.

Therefore, when we read of Paul’s strong endorsement of Scripture we are aware that he isn’t speaking of his own letters, or the Gospels, but of the Hebrew Bible:

Every Scripture is God-breathed and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.

This statement combines a high view of Scripture with an emphasis on the pragmatic nature of God’s Word.  Scripture is God-breathed. The Greek word here is theopneustos, which is a cognate of the Greek word for God (Theos) and for breath (pneo).  The word pneuo shares an etymology with pneuma which is the word for breath, wind — but also for Spirit.  What I’m getting at is that God has breathed his own thoughts into the minds of the prophets and Psalmists.

However, it is important to note that Paul stresses the pragmatic effect of the Scriptures.  Nowhere does he insist that Scripture establishes scientific or even historical inerrancy — the purpose of Scripture is to teach theological doctrine, and provide moral guidance that establishes standards of righteousness.  When the man or woman of God knows the Scriptures and applies them, then they are:

thoroughly equipped for every good work.

Paul has established the source of authority — God’s Word — and then follows that with an injunction to Timothy about how he should conduct his ministry.  Paul emphasizes the gravity of his command by pointing out that Timothy’s ministry has ultimate significance:

 I command you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead at his appearing and his Kingdom….

And what is Timothy to do?

preach the word; be urgent in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with all patience and teaching.

His preaching is to be urgent, especially in keeping with the eventual judgment that will come with the advent of the Kingdom!  And he is to be negative when necessary (reprove, rebuke) and positive (exhort).   And yet he is encouraged to be patient. 

This is not a recipe for success — it is a recipe for faithfulness.  Paul advises Timothy to preach urgently in season and out of season — in other words,  whether it is popular or unpopular.  For Paul knows that the time is coming that even Christians will become fickle:

For the time will come when they will not listen to the sound doctrine, but, having itching ears, will heap up for themselves teachers after their own lusts;  and will turn away their ears from the truth, and turn aside to fables.

Nonetheless, Paul admonishes — no matter what others may do, and no matter how the “crowd” wants to seek out teachers that will cater to them, Timothy is to be faithful at all times, knowing that faithfulness may come with a cost:

 But you be sober in all things, suffer hardship, do the work of an evangelist, and fulfill your ministry.

APPLY:  

How are we to be faithful in our own era as we seek to evangelize this generation?  We must begin with the same source that Timothy had — the Scriptures.  We are reminded that the Apostolic teaching that Timothy had also received from Paul and others has also been included in our canon as part of the New Testament.

We also share the same challenges — people have a tendency to look for teachings that support their own prejudices and preconceptions.  This is a very real issue in the online world today.

We are told that there are computer algorithms that read our tastes and preferences, and tend to serve up advertisements and articles that are tailored to our likes.  So, it is possible that a person may only read articles and ideas that merely confirm what they already believe!

We must remember that the Word of God isn’t a kind of “mood ring,” like kids used to wear years ago, that simply reflects our own thoughts.  The Scriptures are God-breathed.  They don’t conform to our views; we are to conform our lives to the Scriptures!

RESPOND: 

I have wrestled with the statement Every Scripture is God-breathed from the moment I acknowledged Jesus as my Lord.  Unless a person has been living on a desert island, it would be impossible to miss the fact that the authority of Scripture has been questioned and even maligned for centuries.

Yet Scripture is the primary source for our knowledge of God, the saving work of Jesus Christ, the ministry of the Holy Spirit, and the coming Kingdom of God.  If we don’t have the Bible, we don’t have the Gospel!

I was recently in a friendly on-line discussion with a skeptical non-Christian who had grown up in the church, who criticized the “bronze-age god” of the Old Testament.  I’m aware that this expression has been coined by contemporary atheist writers as a derogatory slam.

Here is my answer —  St. Augustine points out that God accommodates the understanding of people where they are.  If God seems to our modern sensibilities to be a bronze age god perhaps it is because he revealed himself to bronze age people.  God accommodated the understanding of Abraham, Moses and the prophets from the so-called bronze age. 

It seems to me that God is far more pragmatic than we are when it comes to teaching doctrine and ethics.  Understanding the Trinity, the Incarnation of Jesus Christ as God and man, the Virgin Birth, and other doctrines of the Christian faith requires our very best thinking, at a very high order.

However, a relationship with God requires faith, love and obedience.  In the words of Forrest Gump, “I may not be a smart man, but I know what love is.”

Obviously this doesn’t begin to address all the questions that the modern age has about Scripture, but it does remind us that we have to ask the right questions when it comes to reading the Bible.

For example, when it comes to the Creation story, we can look to scientists and historians to tell us when, what and even how. Those are questions that scientists and historians  are clearly equipped to address.  But the Bible tells us the most important question, at least when it comes to our relationship with God and the meaning of life — Who created us, and why. 

Our Lord, as I study your Word, teach me what I need to know about you in order to deepen our relationship, and how to serve you more effectively.  Amen. 

 PHOTOS:
"theopneustos" uses this photo:
"Splendor Chaos" by Chez Andre 1 is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic license.

Epistle for October 13, 2019

START WITH SCRIPTURE:
2 Timothy 2:8-15
CLICK HERE TO READ SCRIPTURE ON BIBLEGATEWAY.COM

OBSERVE:

From time to time in Paul’s epistles he presents a brief synopsis of the Gospel that he preaches, perhaps as a kind of template for his readers.  In this case, he is writing to his protege Timothy, so he is reminding Timothy of the core of the message.

The Gospel Paul presents here is Christ-centered — focusing on his death and resurrection, but also on Christ’s genealogy as the offspring of David.

We might say that Christ’s resurrection confirms his saving power; but his genealogy reminds us that Jesus has come as the fulfillment of Old Testament messianic prophecy.

Paul’s commitment to this message is absolute, which he illustrates by pointing to his hardships.  He writes this letter from prison where he is in chains as a criminal. 

However, he contrasts his own incarceration with the freedom of the Gospel:

 But God’s word isn’t chained.

Although he himself is no longer at liberty to travel and preach, the Gospel’s transmission is bigger than Paul.  That’s why he writes to Timothy, to encourage his ministry.  And we might add, it also explains his literary output while he is in chains — he writes four epistles that are called the prison epistles (Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, and Philemon) during this period.  And 2 Timothy was almost certainly written while he was in prison, perhaps for a second time.

Moreover, Paul didn’t stop preaching and witnessing about his faith even while he was under house arrest in Rome, prior to his trial:

 Paul stayed two whole years in his own rented house, and received all who were coming to him,  preaching God’s Kingdom, and teaching the things concerning the Lord Jesus Christ with all boldness, without hindrance (Acts 28:30-31).

The Gospel certainly wasn’t chained!

Paul sees his own suffering as a means of grace for those to whom he preaches and for whom he is in ministry:

 Therefore I endure all things for the chosen ones’ sake, that they also may obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory.

Then, in what might be a kind of hymn or even proto-creed, he praises the work of Christ:

This saying is trustworthy:
“For if we died with him,
we will also live with him.
If we endure,
we will also reign with him.
If we deny him,
he also will deny us.
 If we are faithless,
he remains faithful.
He can’t deny himself.”

Briefly, Paul appears to sum up some of the aspects of the Christian life with and without Christ.

• Dying with Christ is a familiar concept with Paul, beginning with the symbolism of baptism — dying and being raised with Christ.  But dying with Christ also suggests the self-denial and self-sacrifice that Paul is practicing.
• Enduring suggests the ongoing process of following Christ, no matter what the circumstances may be — in chains or free.
• Paul also warns that denial of Christ in the face of persecution results in loss of salvation.
• However, even when the Christian becomes faithless, Christ is faithful.  Christ’s faithfulness to his own character, message and ministry doesn’t depend upon whether others follow him or not.

Paul impresses upon Timothy the importance of reminding his congregation of these essentials:

Remind them of these things, charging them in the sight of the Lord, that they don’t argue about words, to no profit, to the subverting of those who hear.

But Paul is also making it clear that the central, essential message of the Gospel is not up for debate.  The kind of philosophical, theological wranglings one might find in Athens is not encouraged by Paul.

This is not the first time Paul has warned about the dangers of arguing over semantics and interpretations.  He cautions against disputes over opinions in Romans 14:1.  And he has already instructed Timothy about those who teach something other than the doctrine received from the Apostles:

If anyone teaches a different doctrine, and doesn’t consent to sound words, the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which is according to godliness, he is conceited, knowing nothing, but obsessed with arguments, disputes, and word battles, from which come envy, strife, insulting, evil suspicions,  constant friction of people of corrupt minds and destitute of the truth, who suppose that godliness is a means of gain. Withdraw yourself from such. (1 Timothy 6:3-5).

Implicit in this warning is the instruction to Timothy that he must be a careful student of sound doctrine:

 Give diligence to present yourself approved by God, a workman who doesn’t need to be ashamed, properly handling the Word of Truth.

Paul’s metaphor is clear — Timothy is to be a workman whose “building” of Christian faith and life is strong and enduring.  This requires diligence and commitment.

APPLY:  

Paul reminds us of the importance of sound doctrine in the church.  We are also reminded that heresies, heterodoxy and just plain bad theology  aren’t a new problem.  There were false teachers and unfounded theological speculation even in the early days of the church.

So, Paul provides an example of sound doctrine, both in his own life and in his teaching.  He “puts his money where his mouth is” by his willingness to suffer imprisonment for the faith.  And he also offers a brief summary of the Gospel by reminding Timothy of Christ’s death and resurrection, and his continuity with the Old Testament as the descendant of David.

We must remember that the Christian faith is not simply a matter of  feelings or even simply a vague “belief in the Man upstairs.”  There is a revealed content and substance in the Gospel, and we must be diligent to study the Word of Truth and apply it to our own lives.

RESPOND: 

Sometimes it seems that modern Christians don’t take their faith seriously enough.  They will study football statistics, the stock market, and the internet very assiduously — and can report in a moment what they know about those items.  But ask them to sum up the essentials of Christian, Biblical doctrine, and we might get a blank stare, or a poorly thought-through answer.

In these times, when skepticism and secularism are on the rise, it is imperative that we know what the Bible says, what the church teaches, and what we believe.  Only then will we be able to bear witness to others as we are instructed to do.  To cite another Apostle, St Peter:

always be ready to give an answer to everyone who asks you a reason concerning the hope that is in you, with humility and fear (1 Peter 3:15).

We are also to remember, though, that the ministry and mission of Christ exceeds our weak abilities to convey it.  Paul says:

If we are faithless,
he remains faithful.
He can’t deny himself.

This reminds me facetiously of a scene from Peter Pan, the film made years ago. Peter Pan has carefully explained the “theology” of fairies to Wendy when they first meet.  He tells Wendy that:

 “Every time a child says, ‘I don’t believe in fairies,’ there is a fairy somewhere that falls down dead.”

Later, when the fairy Tinker Bell has been poisoned by the evil Captain Hook, her little light has almost gone out.  Peter Pan turns to the camera and says,

“She’s going to die unless we do something. Clap your hands! Clap your hands and say, ‘I believe in fairies!'”

The Gospel of Jesus Christ doesn’t depend upon our faith to be true.  The Gospel is grounded in the historical reality of Christ’s death and resurrection.  Our response of faith to his saving work is for our sake, not his.

Lord, I pray that I might be diligent in the study and application of your Word of Truth, that I too might be a workman who needs not to be ashamed of my work in your service.  Amen.  

 PHOTOS:
"Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth." - 2 Timothy 2:15" by QuotesEverlasting is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.

Old Testament for March 17, 2019

Abraham believed God

START WITH SCRIPTURE:
Genesis 15:1-12, 17-18
CLICK HERE TO READ SCRIPTURE ON BIBLEGATEWAY.COM

OBSERVE:

This is the third of Abram’s direct encounters with the Lord.  The first was his initial encounter when the Lord directed Abram to leave his father’s home in Haran in Mesopotamia and embark for a new land of promise where he would become a great nation (Genesis 12:1-3).  The second encounter occurred when Abram and his nephew Lot parted ways and the Lord assured Abram that he would possess the land that he had been promised (Genesis 13:14-17).

Immediately preceding today’s passage, Abram has experienced some challenges.  Pharaoh attempted to take Sarai into the royal harem.  And Abram has had to rescue his nephew Lot from an abduction by a coalition of five kings.

After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, “Do not be afraid, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great.”

God seems to be reassuring Abram that he is not alone — God himself is with him, and will bless him.

But Abram seems to be experiencing some doubts about the promises he has received.

The tone of Abram’s response suggests that he is beginning to question God’s promises  (Genesis 15:2-3). He complains that he is childless — the promises God made in the first encounter are not yet fulfilled.

In the ancient world, a man’s immortality hinged on his family and descendants.  Since Abram still has no biological children, all the wealth he has amassed and all the livestock he owns would be inherited by his slave, Eliezer.  And Abram may also be mindful of the fact that he is not a young man.  He was seventy-five when the initial call from God came.  He’s not getting any younger!

None of the promises that God initially made have really been fulfilled yet:

• Abram is not a great nation.
• He isn’t a great name yet.
• He has no offspring.
• He is still a nomadic sheepherder — he doesn’t yet own even one parcel of the land that he has been promised in Canaan.

God’s answer is decisive.  First, the Lord assures Abram that he will have an heir. Second,  he provides Abram with a kind of “celestial vision.”  God takes Abram outside his tent:

He brought him outside and said, “Look toward heaven and count the stars, if you are able to count them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your descendants be.”

God uses the heavenly skies to provide a concrete reminder of his faithfulness.  The numberless, glittering stars are proof of what God can do; and God will multiply the descendants of Abram.

Abram’s response is crucial.  At this point he firmly confirms his faith:

And he believed the Lord; and the Lord reckoned it to him as righteousness.

This is a pivotal moment in Abram’s life.  He has transitioned from doubt to faith.

Perhaps, though, there is still just a smidgen of doubt left.  God assures Abram,

 “I am the Lord who brought you from Ur of the Chaldeans, to give you this land to possess.”

Still,  Abram seems to want some kind of evidence that this will be so:

 But he said, “O Lord God, how am I to know that I shall possess it?”

The Lord’s response is to invite Abram to offer a sacrifice of a heifer, a female goat, a ram, a turtledove and a young pigeon.  This is an act of worship which is accompanied by some unusual phenomena.

Abram must first protect his sacrificial animals from birds of prey.  And then he falls into a deep sleep and seems to have a kind of nightmare:

As the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram, and a deep and terrifying darkness descended upon him.

We should remember that any real encounter with the Lord in Scripture is frequently accompanied with great fear and awe — simply think of Moses and Isaiah.  And dream-visions are also a means of communication from God — think of Jacob, Joseph and Daniel.

The Lord confirms his promises to Abram not with outward signs, but deep within in his spirit.

It is difficult to know for sure what Abram saw, and how much of it was waking or dreaming. What we do know is that he is given a sign:

When the sun had gone down and it was dark, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch passed between these pieces.

And the Lord prescribes the boundaries of the land that will be given to Abram’s descendants:

On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, “To your descendants I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates.

The nation of Israel in Scripture achieves its greatest geographical extent during the reign of Kings David (1010-970 B.C.) and Solomon (970-931 B.C.), which included not only the areas of the twelve tribes but also the vassal states conquered by David, and those lands under the influence of Israel, from the Nile to the Euphrates.

However, Moses received a conditional promise from the Lord around 1230 B.C.:

If the Lord your God enlarges your territory, as he promised on oath to your ancestors, and gives you the whole land he promised them,  because you carefully follow all these laws I command you today—to love the Lord your God and to walk always in obedience to him—then you are to set aside three more cities (Deuteronomy 19:8-9).

The full extent of the inheritance is contingent on the faithfulness of Israel.

APPLY:  

It is often said that Abraham is the father of three great world religions — Judaism, Christianity and Islam.

From the Christian perspective, our spiritual inheritance from Abraham derives from this one great verse:

And he believed the Lord; and the Lord reckoned it to him as righteousness.

Our heritage from Abraham is not based on genetics, but on faith.  This verse becomes an important pillar of Paul’s doctrine of justification by faith:

 For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God.  For what does the scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness.” (Romans 4:2-3)

And in Galatians, Paul makes clear that those who have come to faith in Christ receive their righteousness from Christ alone, and are the true descendants of Abraham:

Just as Abraham “believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness,”  so, you see, those who believe are the descendants of Abraham. And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, declared the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “All the Gentiles shall be blessed in you.” For this reason, those who believe are blessed with Abraham who believed (Galatians 3:6-9).

All who believe in Christ are reckoned as righteous, and are regarded as the spiritual descendants of Abraham by their faith.

RESPOND: 

I must confess that there are times that my faith wavers.  Like the father whose son was afflicted with a demonic spirit, I sometimes have to admit to Jesus,

“I believe; help my unbelief!” (Mark 9:24)

And then I consider Abram — who was renamed Abraham later by God (Genesis 17:5).  He was called to leave his homeland and his father when he was seventy-five, and go to a land he had never visited.  He was told that his aging wife would be the mother of his heir. He was told that he would possess the land.

By the time he was almost one hundred years old, none of these things had come to pass!  And yet, he affirmed his faith that God would fulfill his promises, despite setbacks and uncertainties!

That is a reproach to me when doubts begin to arise in my mind about difficult circumstances in the world, or uncertainties in my own life.

From time to time, I remember God’s promises to Abraham, and I go outside and look at the stars and reclaim this simple truth:

And he believed the Lord; and the Lord reckoned it to him as righteousness.

Lord, your Word is full of promises that can only be claimed by faith. I do believe.  Help my unbelief!  Amen. 

PHOTOS: “Abraham believed God” by Ted is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic license.

Reading from Acts for January 13, 2019

This window with the symbols of baptism and the Holy Spirit is from St Dominic’s church in Washington DC. [photo by Fr. Lawrence Lew, O.P.]

START WITH SCRIPTURE:
Acts 8:14-17
CLICK HERE TO READ SCRIPTURE ON BIBLEGATEWAY.COM

OBSERVE:

This passage describes the very early days of  Christianity when the Gospel was just beginning to transition from a Jewish sect into a world “movement.”  In a sense, this is the beginning of the fulfillment of Jesus’ mission plan, as he instructed the disciples just prior to his ascension into heaven:

” . . . you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8).

Jesus had certainly had an impact in Samaria prior to his death and resurrection, as he passed through that territory.

Later, Philip had been the pioneer in preaching the Gospel in Samaria. The Philip described in Acts 8 is likely Philip the deacon and evangelist, not the Philip that was one of the twelve disciples.

There are two key issues to take into consideration:

First, we must bear in mind the severe prejudice that the Jews typically held toward the Samaritans.

Some Jews even considered the Samaritans to be “unclean” and to be avoided at all costs.  But Jesus by his teachings [the parable of the Good Samaritan in Luke 10] and actions [the woman at the well in John 4] began to break down the walls of separation.

In today’s reading of Acts 8, the Jewish disciples of Jesus continue his work as they proclaim the Gospel in Samaria.

Second, we get the sense that though Philip has introduced the Samaritans to the Gospel of Jesus Christ, he hasn’t completed the work of discipleship.

This is the concern of the apostles at Jerusalem, who are responsible for maintaining the correct teaching of the Gospel.  They want to be sure that as the doctrine of Christ is spread that it is accurate.

Therefore:

when the apostles at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them.

Curiously, there seemed at this time to be a two-stage process of initiation into the faith.  While the Samaritans seem to have believed and been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus, there was still something missing:

Then Peter and John laid their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.

This seems to be a confirmation of the prophecy of John the Baptist, who says of Jesus:

“He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire” (Luke 3:16).

In order to experience the fullness of the new life in Christ, it appears to be necessary that the Samaritans experience the Holy Spirit as well.

APPLY:  

It is important to remember that this passage describes early doctrinal development in the church that is based primarily on the experience of the early Christians.

It seems conceivable that a person might become a believer in Christ as the risen Lord, and even to be baptized in his name, and yet still have room for a deepening experience when that person subsequently receives the Holy Spirit.

This leaves open the possibility of spiritual growth and maturity — what many Christians describe as sanctification.

Some Christian denominations may become quite technical about this experience, describing it as “the second blessing,” or “the second baptism,” or “baptism with the Holy Spirit.”

But simply put, it suggests that there is room for growth in the normal Christian experience.

RESPOND: 

Baptism can be among the most controversial doctrines in the Christian church today.  Some churches practice the baptism of infants, as a sign that they are included in God’s love and grace from the beginning.  Others insist on “believer’s baptism,” which means that baptism is only legitimate based on the decision of the believer.  Others would say that until there are clear outward signs of the presence of the Holy Spirit, for example, the gifts of the Spirit,  there is no true baptism.

I know a youth minister in a church which practices infant baptism.  About the time members in his youth group get into high school, they are beginning to ask questions about their faith and especially whether their baptism is legitimate.  His answer is worth considering — The baptism that really matters is the baptism of the heart.

Our Lord, I do crave all the blessings and the power that you offer.  I claim the baptism I received as a child, and pray that you will continuously  fill me with your Holy Spirit. Amen.   

PHOTOS:
"Baptism and the Holy Spirit" by Fr. Lawrence Lew, O.P. is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic license.