Sept. 4

Gospel for September 4, 2022

“Luke 14:28-30”
This hotel is near the airport in Saipan. It was begun, but the owner ran out of money, so it was never completed. Scaffolding still surrounds it.
[photo and description by Wayne]

START WITH SCRIPTURE:
Luke 14:25-33
CLICK HERE TO READ SCRIPTURE ON BIBLEGATEWAY.COM

OBSERVE:

What we might call Jesus’ Kingdom of God Movement is picking up momentum. Large crowds are following him — no doubt attracted in large part by the availability of bread and fish, healings and miracles. But these are only the signs of the coming kingdom.

Jesus finds it necessary to detail the cost of following him. Obviously this will be demonstrated plainly when he arrives in Jerusalem and faces the cross. Now he warns the crowds that in order to be his disciples, they must reorient themselves toward new priorities that will estrange them from their families, put their own lives at risk, and follow Jesus in the ways of sacrifice:

“Whoever comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and even life itself, cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not carry the cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.

Jesus uses parables to illustrate that whoever follows him must first count the cost. Perhaps he draws on his own experience as a carpenter when he describes the business aspects of building a tower. He understands that cost estimates for building materials and labor are a necessary prerequisite to building — otherwise the builder won’t be able to finish the project!

And then a more dangerous example — the cost of going to war without the resources for weapons and troops. Outnumbered two to one, Jesus suggests, the weaker army doesn’t stand much of a chance.

Jesus is quite pragmatic about the cost of discipleship. Those who don’t have the willingness to make serious sacrifices don’t really follow Jesus.

Just in case they missed his point, he drives it home directly:

So therefore, none of you can become my disciple if you do not give up all your possessions.

APPLY:

What does it mean to be a Christian? Does it simply mean that one has been baptized and become a church member? And attends Sunday services once in a while? Maybe even serves on a committee?

There’s nothing wrong with any of those things. In fact, I highly commend them. But they don’t make a person a disciple of Jesus Christ.

Kyle Idleman, the author of Not a Fan (Zondervan) explored the difference between being a fan of Jesus vs. a follower in an interview with CBN’s Chris Carpenter.

Click here to read Chris Carpenter’s interview with Kyle Idleman.

Kyle had discovered, in his own spiritual journey as a pastor, that he was using a business marketing model to grow his church. And he could see that while the church grew in numbers, it didn’t necessarily grow in discipleship.

I think it could be safely assumed that the crowds that were following Jesus that day when he spoke to them were fans. They loved the free concessions of bread and fish. They were thrilled to see his healings and miracles. They cheered him on when he verbally sparred with the Pharisees. And they nodded approvingly at his wise words. But they weren’t followers.

A follower gives all of him or herself to Christ. Everything that they do is potentially an act of worship or witness — at the job, in school, on the ball field, in a soup kitchen, at a food pantry, in a county jail.

The great old hymn “Take My Life and Let it Be,” captures the essence of total commitment:

Take my life and let it be
consecrated, Lord, to thee.
Take my moments and my days;
let them flow in endless praise,
let them flow in endless praise.

Frances Ridley Havergal’s hymn continues, with the total consecration of her hands, feet, voice, her lips filled with messages about Christ, her silver and gold, her intellect, all to the service of Christ. Finally, she offers all to Christ:

Take my will and make it thine;
it shall be no longer mine.
Take my heart it is thine own;
it shall be thy royal throne,
it shall be thy royal throne.

Take my love; my Lord, I pour
at thy feet its treasure store.
Take myself, and I will be
ever, only, all for thee,
ever, only, all for thee.

The bad news is, Christ wants everything we have and everything we are. The good news is that he gives us everything he has and everything he is. That’s what the cross tells us.

RESPOND:

Everything has a cost. The discipline of following Jesus costs our whole lives. But not following Jesus also has a cost. The fan may cheer in the stadium, and then go home. The follower stays out on the field and continues to strive and press on with Jesus. The fan drives home in the traffic congestion — the follower wears the gold medal.

For example, there is a cost to learning the piano — practice, practice, practice. Sitting on the piano bench when other kids are playing Xbox. But what is the cost of not taking piano lessons? Years of regret later in life, wishing you could play that Chopin etude, or Billy Joel’s “Piano Man.”

The disciplines of following Jesus — prayer, Bible study, worship, fasting, generosity, service to others — shape one’s life and character. In a sense, we become spiritual athletes who run the race that is set before us.

The old spiritual, Do Lord, captures the essence of the cost and reward of discipleship in one of the refrains:

If you don’t bear the cross, then you can’t wear the crown
If you don’t bear the cross, then you can’t wear the crown
If you don’t bear the cross, then you can’t wear the crown
Way beyond the blue.

Lord, I am grateful for your grace — but I’m also aware that you don’t offer “cheap” grace. Your grace is costly. It cost you the cross. And following you costs me my own cross as well. I trust that as I follow you, you will be at work in me both to will and work your good pleasure. Amen.

PHOTOS:
"Luke 14:28-30" by Wayne is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic license.

Epistle for September 4, 2022

START WITH SCRIPTURE:
Philemon 1:1-21
CLICK HERE TO READ SCRIPTURE ON BIBLEGATEWAY.COM

OBSERVE:

The Apostle Paul’s letter to Philemon is among the most unusual of his epistles. He is not writing to a church or a group of churches; nor is he writing to another pastor-missionary such as Timothy or Titus. In this instance he is writing a letter of reference, literally interceding on behalf of a runaway slave with his slave owner. What a minefield for the modern interpreter!

Actually, the only evidence that we have that Onesimus was the fugitive slave of Philemon is found in verse 16. Overall, the tone of Paul is that of an intermediary seeking to reconcile two Christians who are in conflict.

Interestingly, Paul writes this letter from prison — he knows what it is like to have his freedoms severely restricted.

Paul’s references are very personal. Philemon is his dear friend and co-worker. Paul sends greetings also to those who may well be members of Philemon’s household. He calls Apphia his sister, and Archippus a fellow soldier.

And we catch a glimpse of life in the early church. They met not in church buildings, temples or cathedrals, but in homes — in this case, in the house of Philemon.

Paul’s greeting is fairly standard according to his other epistles, offering grace and peace. He includes his prayers and thanksgiving for Philemon’s Christian virtues of love and faith, and his ministry to the saints. No doubt Paul’s praise is sincere — but given the entreating purpose of his letter, we may wonder if he is “buttering up” Philemon just a little.

Paul comes to the main point of the letter — he is asking Philemon to receive Onesimus back in good graces. His letter requires us to read between the lines.

Onesimus apparently has departed from Philemon, perhaps wronging his master in doing so (verse 18). Onesimus may have even been useless to his master when he was in Philemon’s service, but Paul can vouch for Onesimus’ usefulness to Paul himself in prison. In fact, Paul stresses how helpful Onesimus was and how reluctant he is to see him leave. But for whatever reason, Onesimus is now to return to Philemon.

Paul is appealing to Philemon’s good nature, based on their mutual love — however, he does invoke his apostolic authority as a little leverage:

For this reason, though I am bold enough in Christ to command you to do your duty, yet I would rather appeal to you on the basis of love—

Paul seems to be using a “carrot,” but he hints at the possibility of using the “stick” if necessary.

Paul provides a multi-layered rationale for his request:

Onesimus has become like a son to Paul during his own imprisonment (v. 10).
Onesimus has become like Paul’s own heart (v. 12).
Onesimus has proved his usefulness to Paul (vs. 11,13).
Most significantly, Paul says that Onesimus is more than a slave — he is a beloved brother… both in the flesh and in the Lord.

What Paul seems to be saying is that by virtue of their mutual faith in Christ, Onesimus and Philemon are members of the same Christian family. They are brothers in Christ, and therefore equal. So Onesimus is to be welcomed back not as a subordinate piece of chattel property, but as a fellow Christian.

Paul urges Philemon to welcome Onesimus as though he were welcoming Paul himself. But Paul does not support any injustice that Philemon might have experienced because of all of this. Paul offers to compensate Philemon for any loss:

If he has wronged you in any way, or owes you anything, charge that to my account. I, Paul, am writing this with my own hand: I will repay it.

However, though Paul doesn’t endorse “cheap grace,” he does imply that Philemon “owes” him:

I say nothing about your owing me even your own self.

Presumably, Paul is referencing the ministry that he may have offered to Philemon and his family in the past, perhaps even leading them to faith in Christ.

Paul ends on a very upbeat note:

Yes, brother, let me have this benefit from you in the Lord! Refresh my heart in Christ. Confident of your obedience, I am writing to you, knowing that you will do even more than I say.

Paul is so confident of Philemon’s good nature and compliance that he announces his plans to request Philemon’s hospitality when his own incarceration may be completed:

One thing more—prepare a guest room for me, for I am hoping through your prayers to be restored to you (Philemon 1:22).

As an interesting footnote to this passage — not a part of the lectionary reading for today — Paul ends his letter as he does so many by including greetings to Philemon and his family from various fellow Christians who are with Paul:

Epaphras, my fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus, sends greetings to you,and so do Mark, Aristarchus, Demas, and Luke, my fellow workers.

This list of fellow prisoner and fellow workers reads like a who’s who in the early church. An Epaphras is mentioned by Paul as a faithful minister to the church at Colossae (Colossians 1:7; 4:12) who is now imprisoned with Paul in Rome.

Mark and Luke are likely the writers of the Gospels who have accompanied Paul at various times in his missionary journeys. If Mark (sometimes called John Mark) is the same companion of Paul and Barnabas who also was called John in Acts 12 and 15, his inclusion may suggest that there has been reconciliation between Paul and Mark. In Acts 15:36-41, we read of a sharp disagreement that caused Paul to part ways with Barnabas and Mark. Philemon may reassure us that these early Christians practiced what they preached about forgiveness. Mark is also mentioned as the cousin of Barnabas in Colossians 4:10.

There was an Aristarchus from Macedonia who was dragged into the theater by the rioting Ephesians in Acts 19:29, and who accompanied Paul back to Macedonia (Acts 20:1-6) and to Thessalonica. He is also mentioned by Paul in Colossians 4:10 as a fellow prisoner. Demas is mentioned in Colossians 4:14, along with Luke the beloved physician. However, there is a sour note when Demas is mentioned negatively in 2 Timothy 4:10:

Demas, in love with this present world, has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica.

Even these greetings from Paul’s companions tell us something about the early church:

Christianity is a “team sport.” As John Wesley said, “Christianity knows nothing of solitary religion.”
Even Christians in the early church experienced lapses in judgment, and even suffered temptations from the culture — as we see with Mark and Demas. But we also see evidence of grace that leads to reconciliation.

APPLY:

There is the possibility that Paul’s language about slavery isn’t literal. He refers to Onesimus being:

more than a slave, a beloved brother—especially to me but how much more to you, both in the flesh and in the Lord.

An alternate interpretation to the conventional view is that Onesimus and Philemon really are brothers, and that Onesimus left home under less than friendly circumstances.

However, this seems unlikely in the light of interpretation by the early church fathers. More than likely, Onesimus was a slave. Even if he didn’t steal anything, he has technically stolen Philemon’s property by running away — he is Philemon’s property! How do we apply this Scripture appropriately in our own culture?

First, we have to acknowledge that we live in a different culture and a different time.

There have been two conflicting approaches to the interpretation of this little book in the past. Christian slave owners in the pre-Civil War South used Philemon as a prooftext to defend the institution of slavery. They argued that Christian slave owners were able to benefit their slaves, and even introduce them to Christianity.

Abolitionists, however, argued that Paul’s language did not sanction slavery at all.

Thankfully, those issues are behind us. But we are left with the troubling question — why is the Bible seemingly silent on such issues, and how does that affect social issues that trouble us today that are just as controversial?

The seeds of social revolution were being sown in the New Testament — there was no class distinction in the church. Gentiles were included in the covenant because of their faith in Christ. Women were prominent members and even co-workers with men. Slaves and the poor were welcome in the church. Some slaves even rose to serve important roles in the church. Galatians 3:28 says:

There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.

While the Scriptures acknowledge slavery as part of the culture, that doesn’t imply that slavery was an acceptable cultural norm. Ultimately, the liberty that comes from faith in Christ destroyed slavery. All Christians, whatever their social status, are brothers and sisters in Christ.

And a more general application of this passage reminds us that no matter how serious a breach there has been between Christians, we are under compulsion to seek reconciliation.

RESPOND:

Abraham Lincoln once said:

If slavery is not wrong, then nothing is wrong.

When we follow the moral trajectory of Scripture, we come to the same conclusions. And of course, in the 21st century we can assume a certain moral superiority. Slavery was abolished by the 13th amendment in the United States in 1865.

However, the consequences of slavery in the United States have left an open wound in the American conscience. This continues to be manifested in racial tensions and inequalities in opportunity and income.

The church’s responsibility is to challenge the culture to look more like the coming kingdom of God. Unfortunately, the church has too often been guilty of enabling and cooperating with racism.

In order to be consistent with the Gospel, the church must begin to look more like the picture of heaven that we find in Revelation 7:9:

After this I looked, and there was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, robed in white, with palm branches in their hands.

Our Lord, break down the walls of separation that exist because of race, or socio-economic class, or gender. Reconcile us where we have run away from one another, and remind us that we are brothers and sisters in you. Amen.

 PHOTOS:
"What is Philemon about" by Kevin Shorter is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.

Psalm Reading for September 4, 2022

START WITH SCRIPTURE:
Psalm 139:1-6, 13-18
CLICK HERE TO READ SCRIPTURE ON BIBLEGATEWAY.COM

OBSERVE:

This Psalm highlights the omniscience of God concerning the very conception, consciousness, and inner being of David, the Psalmist.

This is a first-person poem/prayer in which David marvels at the intimacy of God’s knowledge of an individual —every movement, thought, word is known even before they are enacted, thought, or spoken (verses 1-6).

The Psalmist is amazed and humbled by the capacity of God to search and know him, and deeply aware of just how transcendent God’s knowledge is of all things.

The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God (Romans 8:16)

and in Romans 8:27:

He who searches the hearts knows what is on the Spirit’s mind, because he makes intercession for the saints according to God.

While some Psalms marvel at the created order of the stars and the mountains, and the revelation of the Law (Psalm 8 and 19, and 119 and so many others), this Psalm revels in the deeply personal nature of the relationship between God and the human being.

God’s omniscience extends even to the mysterious realities of life and death. God is described as having woven the Psalmist together in his mother’s womb, and knowing him when he was yet unborn. The Psalmist is profoundly aware of just how fearfully and wonderfully made is the human body. The mysteries of human anatomy and development in themselves are a testimony to the creative powers of God.

And the Psalmist suggests that God knows each of his days before they are lived, until even the day of death.

The Psalmist marvels that God’s thoughts are precious, vast and inscrutable.

APPLY:

Consideration of the omnipotence and omniscience of God can often leave us feeling insignificant. But this Psalm reminds us that the omniscience of God is really quite intimate. God knows us from our conception to our death, our interior thoughts and even those aspects of ourselves unknown to us.

Although God is transcendent and “wholly other” as the theologians are wont to say, God is also deeply immanent (present and pervasive) and personal in his knowledge of us. We puny, finite human beings are capable of knowing and being known by the Creator of all the universe!

St. Anselm of Canterbury once wrote:

God is that than which nothing greater can be conceived.

The Psalmist illustrates that this God, above whom there is nothing greater, knows us each intimately and personally. Although our knowledge of him is limited by our own finite capacity, the great blessing is that because he knows us, we can know him.

RESPOND:

I am capable of having a personal and intimate relationship with God, not because of my capacity but because of God’s initiative. God has searched me and known my thoughts before they entered my mind, has known me from before my conception, and knows my potential and even my destiny. Like the Psalmist, I find that all this boggles my mind!

And God’s unique relationship with us from conception, through gestation and birth, and from life to the moment of death, should make us aware of just how sacred life really is.

Our Lord, how can my words begin to match the prayer of the Psalmist? That you know me intimately and care for me exceeds my capacity to understand. All my life is lived in your omniscient omnipresence. Amen.

Old Testament for September 4, 2022

Throwing Clay

START WITH SCRIPTURE:
Jeremiah 18:1-11
CLICK HERE TO READ SCRIPTURE ON BIBLEGATEWAY.COM

OBSERVE:

The Old Testament prophets were inclined to use concrete and sometimes very dramatic illustrations in their preaching. In this case, Jeremiah is instructed to watch a potter at work on his wheel. The pot that was being made collapsed in the potter’s hand and he remade the clay into a different form.

Jeremiah gets the point. The clay represents the house of Israel in the hands of their potter, the Lord. Israel is the passive object being shaped and worked by God for his own purposes.

As we see in the verses following today’s Lectionary Scripture passage, Israel is hankering after self-determination. They will hear Jeremiah’s words and declare:

“It is no use! We will follow our own plans, and each of us will act according to the stubbornness of our evil will.” (Jeremiah 18:12).

In contrast, in the Scripture the Lord’s freedom to act as he chooses is axiomatic:

Can I not do with you, O house of Israel, just as this potter has done? says the Lord. Just like the clay in the potter’s hand, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel.

The Lord points out that he can destroy a nation or a kingdom if he chooses — however, he grants nations and people the freedom to repent and turn from evil if they choose:

but if that nation, concerning which I have spoken, turns from its evil, I will change my mind about the disaster that I intended to bring on it. And at another moment I may declare concerning a nation or a kingdom that I will build and plant it, but if it does evil in my sight, not listening to my voice, then I will change my mind about the good that I had intended to do to it.

God’s freedom is absolute — although it is based on his righteousness — whereas human freedom is completely contingent on God’s permission of freedom.

Ultimately, this is a call to repentance for Judah and Jerusalem before it is too late. The chain of cause and effect has already begun, but there is still time for them to turn. Jeremiah completes his metaphor:

Thus says the Lord: Look, I am a potter shaping evil against you and devising a plan against you. Turn now, all of you from your evil way, and amend your ways and your doings.

APPLY:

The imagery of the potter molding clay while spinning his wheel seems charming — except that Jeremiah doesn’t intend it to be a cozy sermon illustration.

The imagery of the potter and the clay is intended to convey the message of God’s absolute power in our lives. We belong to him, and he can shape us in whatever form he wishes, and use us for whatever purpose he designs.

However, Jeremiah also makes it clear that God’s compassion for us is such that he does offer the freedom to turn to him in repentance.

This is one of the key arguments against double-predestination (the notion that God destines some to salvation and some to condemnation). Jeremiah’s description of the clay and the potter supports the idea that all are given the opportunity to turn to God, even up until the last moment:

The Lord is not slow about his promise, as some think of slowness, but is patient with you, not wanting any to perish, but all to come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9).

RESPOND:

Those of us who have been to the beach, or even to a sandbox, may have had the experience of building a sandcastle, or some other structure of sand. I’ve watched children diligently working on their architecture, brows furrowed and tongues slightly stuck out between their lips in their intense concentration.

I didn’t have the heart to tell them that their work would soon be dissolved — either by wind or water, or even a bully’s footprint!

This is a reminder that nothing that I build will last. The clay pottery of my life will collapse, no matter how much effort I put into it — unless my life and work are totally in the hands of the Potter.

His work will endure. Mine will not. Therefore I repent of my own efforts to establish my own kingdoms and achievements, and turn them over to God.

Lord, my life is like so much clay in your hands. Shape me and mold me into your likeness, for your purposes I pray. Amen.

PHOTOS:
“Throwing Clay” by Johnson Earls is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic license.

Gospel for September 4, 2016

START WITH SCRIPTURE:

Luke 14:25-33

CLICK HERE TO READ SCRIPTURE ON BIBLEGATEWAY.COM

OBSERVE:

“Whoever comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and even life itself, cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not carry the cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.

And then a more dangerous example — the cost of going to war without the resources for weapons and troops. Outnumbered two to one, Jesus suggests, the weaker army doesn’t stand much of a chance.

Jesus is quite pragmatic about the cost of discipleship. Those who don’t have the willingness to make serious sacrifices don’t really follow Jesus.

Just in case they missed his point, he drives it home directly:

So therefore, none of you can become my disciple if you do not give up all your possessions.

APPLY:

What does it mean to be a Christian? Does it simply mean that one has been baptized and become a church member? And attends Sunday services once in awhile? Maybe even serves on a committee?

There’s nothing wrong with any of those things. In fact, I highly commend them. But they don’t make a person a disciple of Jesus Christ.

Kyle Idleman, the author of Not a Fan (Zondervan) explored the difference between being a fan of Jesus vs. a follower in an interview with CBN’s Chris Carpenter.

Click here to read Chris Carpenter’s interview with Kyle Idleman.

The great old hymn “Take My Life and Let it Be,” captures the essence of total commitment:

Take my life and let it be
consecrated, Lord, to thee.
Take my moments and my days;
let them flow in endless praise,
let them flow in endless praise.

Take my will and make it thine;
it shall be no longer mine.
Take my heart it is thine own;
it shall be thy royal throne,
it shall be thy royal throne.

Take my love; my Lord, I pour
at thy feet its treasure store.
Take myself, and I will be
ever, only, all for thee,
ever, only, all for thee.

The bad news is, Christ wants everything we have and everything we are. The good news is that he gives us everything he has and everything he is. That’s what the cross tells us.

RESPOND:

For example, there is a cost to learning the piano — practice, practice, practice. Sitting on the piano bench when other kids are playing X Box . But what is the cost of not taking piano lessons? Years of regret later in life, wishing you could play that Chopin etude, or Billy Joel’s “Piano Man.”

The old spiritual, Do Lord, captures the essence of the cost and reward of discipleship in one of the refrains:

If you don’t bear the cross, then you can’t wear the crown
If you don’t bear the cross, then you can’t wear the crown
If you don’t bear the cross, then you can’t wear the crown
Way beyond the blue.

PHOTOS:
"Luke 14:28-30" by Wayne is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic license.

Epistle for September 4, 2016

START WITH SCRIPTURE:

Philemon 1-21

CLICK HERE TO READ SCRIPTURE ON BIBLEGATEWAY.COM

OBSERVE:

Interestingly, Paul writes this letter from prison — he knows what it is like to have his freedoms severely restricted.

And we catch a glimpse of life in the early church. They met not in church buildings, temples or cathedrals, but in homes — in this case, in the house of Philemon.

Paul comes to the main point of the letter — he is asking Philemon to receive Onesimus back in good graces. His letter requires us to read between the lines.

Paul is appealing to Philemon’s good nature, based on their mutual love — however, he does invoke his apostolic authority as a little leverage:

For this reason, though I am bold enough in Christ to command you to do your duty, yet I would rather appeal to you on the basis of love—

Paul seems to be using a “carrot,” but he hints at the possibility of using the “stick” if necessary.

Paul provides a multi-layered rationale for his request:

Onesimus has become like a son to Paul during his own imprisonment (v. 10). Onesimus has become like Paul’s own heart (v. 12).
Onesimus has proved his usefulness to Paul (vs. 11,13).
Most significantly, Paul says that Onesimus is more than a slave — he is a beloved brother . . . . both in the flesh and in the Lord.

If he has wronged you in any way, or owes you anything, charge that to my account. I, Paul, am writing this with my own hand: I will repay it.

However, though Paul doesn’t endorse “cheap grace,” he does imply that Philemon “owes” him:

I say nothing about your owing me even your own self.

Presumably, Paul is referencing the ministry that he may have offered to Philemon and his family in the past, perhaps even leading them to faith in Christ.

Paul ends on a very upbeat note:

Yes, brother, let me have this benefit from you in the Lord! Refresh my heart in Christ. Confident of your obedience, I am writing to you, knowing that you will do even more than I say.

Paul is so confident of Philemon’s good nature and compliance that he announces his plans to request Philemon’s hospitality when his own incarceration may be completed:

One thing more—prepare a guest room for me, for I am hoping through your prayers to be restored to you (Philemon 22).

Epaphras, my fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus, sends greetings to you,and so do Mark, Aristarchus, Demas, and Luke, my fellow workers.

These fellow prisoners and fellow workers reads like a who’s who in the early church. An Epaphras is mentioned by Paul as a faithful minister to the church at Colossae (Colossians 1:7; 4:12) who is now imprisoned with Paul in Rome.

Demas, in love with this present world, has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica.

Even these greetings from Paul’s companions tell us something about the early church:

Christianity is a “team sport.” As John Wesley said, “Christianity knows nothing of solitary religion.”
Even Christians in the early church experienced lapses in judgment, and even suffered temptations from the culture — as we see with Mark and Demas. But we also see evidence of grace that leads to reconciliation.

APPLY:

There is the possibility that Paul’s language about slavery isn’t literal. He refers to Onesimus being:

more than a slave, a beloved brother—especially to me but how much more to you, both in the flesh and in the Lord.

An alternate interpretation to the conventional view is that Onesimus and Philemon really are brothers, and that Onesimus left home under less than friendly circumstances.

First, we have to acknowledge that we live in a different culture and a different time.

Abolitionists, however, argued that Paul’s language did not sanction slavery at all.

Thankfully, those issues are behind us – but we are left with the troubling question — why is the Bible seemingly silent on such issues, and how does that affect social issues that trouble us today that are just as controversial?

There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.

And a more general application of this passage reminds us that no matter how serious a breach there has been between Christians, we are under compulsion to seek reconciliation.

RESPOND:

Abraham Lincoln once said:

If slavery is not wrong, then nothing is wrong.

The church’s responsibility is to challenge the culture to look more like the coming kingdom of God. Unfortunately, the church has too often been guilty of enabling and cooperating with racism.

In order to be consistent with the Gospel, the church must begin to look more like the picture of heaven that we find in Revelation 7:9:

After this I looked, and there was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, robed in white, with palm branches in their hands.

Our Lord, break down the walls of separation that exist because of race or socio-economic class, or gender. Reconcile us where we have run away from one another, and remind us that we are brothers and sisters in you. Amen.

 PHOTOS:
"What is Philemon about" by Kevin Shorter is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.

Psalm Reading for September 4, 2016

START WITH SCRIPTURE:

Psalm 139: 1-6, 13-18

CLICK HERE TO READ SCRIPTURE ON BIBLEGATEWAY.COM

OBSERVE:

This Psalm highlights the omniscience of God concerning the very conception, consciousness, and inner being of the Psalmist.

This is a first-person poem/prayer in which the Psalmist marvels at the intimacy of God’s knowledge of an individual: every movement, thought, word is known even before they are enacted, thought, or spoken (verses 1-6).

The Psalmist is amazed and humbled by the capacity of God to search and know him, and deeply aware of just how transcendent God’s knowledge is of all things.

One can’t help but wonder if this Psalm doesn’t inform St. Paul’s understanding of the Spirit of God, which is described in The Epistle to the Romans as communicating directly with our own spirits: The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children (Romans 8:16); and in Romans 8:27: he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God.

While some Psalms marvel at the created order of the stars and the mountains, and the revelation of the Law – Psalm 8 and 19, and 119 and so many others – this Psalm revels in the deeply personal nature of the relationship between God and the human being.

And there is even the sense that God knows each day of the Psalmist before it is lived, until even the day of death.

The Psalmist marvels that God’s thoughts are precious, vast and inscrutable.

APPLY:

Although God is transcendent and “wholly other” as the theologians are wont to say, God is also deeply immanent and personal in his knowledge of us. We puny, finite human beings are capable of knowing and being known by the Creator of all the universe!

St. Anselm of Canterbury once wrote that “God is that than which nothing greater can be conceived.” The Psalmist illustrates that this God, above whom there is nothing greater, knows us each intimately and personally. Although our knowledge of him is limited by our capacity, the great blessing is that because he knows us we can know him.

RESPOND:

PHOTO:
“psalm 139:16” by Rachel is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic license.

Old Testament for September 4, 2016

Throwing Clay

Start with Scripture:

Jeremiah 18:1-11

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OBSERVE:

Jeremiah gets the point. The clay represents the house of Israel in the hands of their potter, the Lord. Israel is the passive object being shaped and worked by God for his own purposes.

As we see in the verses following today’s Lectionary Scripture passage, Israel is hankering after self-determination. They will hear Jeremiah’s words and declare:

“It is no use! We will follow our own plans, and each of us will act according to the stubbornness of our evil will.” (Jeremiah 18:12).

In contrast, in the Scripture the Lord’s freedom to act as he chooses is axiomatic:

Can I not do with you, O house of Israel, just as this potter has done? says the Lord. Just like the clay in the potter’s hand, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel.

The Lord points out that he can destroy a nation or a kingdom if he chooses — however, he grants nations and people the freedom to repent and turn from evil if they choose:

but if that nation, concerning which I have spoken, turns from its evil, I will change my mind about the disaster that I intended to bring on it. And at another moment I may declare concerning a nation or a kingdom that I will build and plant it, but if it does evil in my sight, not listening to my voice, then I will change my mind about the good that I had intended to do to it.

God’s freedom is absolute — although it is based on his righteousness — whereas human freedom is completely contingent on God’s permission of freedom.

Thus says the Lord: Look, I am a potter shaping evil against you and devising a plan against you. Turn now, all of you from your evil way, and amend your ways and your doings.

APPLY:

The imagery of the potter molding clay while spinning his wheel seems charming — except that Jeremiah doesn’t intend it to be a cozy sermon illustration.

However, Jeremiah also makes it clear that God’s compassion for us is such that he does offer the freedom to turn to him in repentance.

This is one of the key arguments against double-predestination — the notion that God destines some to salvation and some to condemnation. Jeremiah’s description of the clay and the potter supports the idea that all are given the opportunity to turn to God, even up until the last moment:

The Lord is not slow about his promise, as some think of slowness, but is patient with you, not wanting any to perish, but all to come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9).

RESPOND:

Those of who have been to the beach, or even to a sandbox, may have had the experience of building a sandcastle, or some other structure of sand. I’ve watched children diligently working on their architecture, brows furrowed and tongues slightly stuck out between their lips in their intense concentration.

I didn’t have the heart to tell them that their work would soon be dissolved — either by wind or water, or even a bullies’ footprint!

His work will endure. Mine will not. Therefore I repent of my own efforts to establish my own kingdoms and achievements, and turn them over to God.

Lord, my life is like so much clay in your hands. Shape me and mold me into your likeness, for your purposes I pray. Amen.

PHOTOS:
“Throwing Clay” by Johnson Earls is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic license.