Divided

Monday, October 16, 2023

But you, my dear friends, must remember what the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ predicted.  They told you that in the last times there would be scoffers whose purpose in life is to satisfy their ungodly desires.  These people are the ones who are creating divisions among you. They follow their natural instincts because they do not have God’s Spirit in them.  But you, dear friends, must build each other up in your most holy faith, pray in the power of the Holy Spirit, and await the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will bring you eternal life.  In this way, you will keep yourselves safe in God’s love.  Jude 17-21

Jude warns that divisions in the church would be a constant threat to the spiritual health of Christians because war-like conditions are brought about when selfish ambition takes over.  If you have followed Christ, and been part of the church, you understand; despite the smiles on Sunday, there are spiritually shell-shocked believers in every pew.  And, the truth is coming to the surface, no matter how much we learn about interpersonal relationships and personally-toxic behavior, and no matter how many sermons are delivered on unity and kindness, the division in humanity is growing deeper, breaking-up more homes, closing the doors of more churches, and spewing hatred into every seam of life’s fabric.  

According to Jude there are two characteristics that are present in a human being who causes division of any kind:

1.    Selfish ambition – people who honor their personal desires above any person or sense of morality.  They only care about themselves.

2.    Ichabod – the Hebrew word which describes the absence of God’s Spirit.

These two telltale signs are related and always bound in the heart of the ungodly.

Jude says the antidote, or immunization from this condition is to build each other up in [our] most holy faith.  This is the open door to patience in prayer, the willingness to let the lesser things of personal ambition fall by the wayside, in favor of progress in God’s Kingdom.  That, says Jude, is the only way to remain spiritually-safe, living-into God’s love.  So then, what does it mean to live-into God’s love?  Glad you asked.  I grew-up in the 1950’s-60’s.  It was the heyday of Billy Graham’s crusades.  The whole emphasis on church growth was personal salvation…the revivalist mode.  We cannot in good faith deny the need for that; it is the entry door to God’s house and family.  However, being born-again presents the picture of a new infant.  In matters of the Spirit that is good, and it can be disastrous.  It’s necessary and wonderful to be born, but to stay an infant means a lifetime of dependency.  Arrested growth is not desirable; it is a death sentence to God’s blessing of maturing in your relationship with Christ and others.  Infants have a milk diet, but not forever; they graduate to adult food…with good reason:

Like newborn babies, you must crave pure spiritual milk so that you will grow into a full experience of salvation….You are coming to Christ, who is the living cornerstone of God’s temple.  He was rejected by people, but he was chosen by God for great honor.  And you are living stones that God is building into his spiritual temple.  1 Peter 2:2-5

The grown-up baby stones, gathered, and strategically-placed together by the Master Builder, become stronger by the support and strength of communal effort.  A common slogan you’ll hear these days is Together We are Stronger.  That’s true in any sense, but it is critically-vital for the church, and God’s Kingdom.  Without denying-self and personal ambition, in favor of taking-up Calvary’s cross, the church will be as empty as more promises from Washington, D.C.

For You Today 

Discipleship – growing into a mature relationship with Christ and other believers, is what’s on the agenda today, and every moment until God calls us home.

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day!

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There are about 2,600 devotional posts and 400 sermons in the Rocky Road library.

Title Image courtesy of Pixabay.com Images without citation are in public domain or cited via weblinks.  

Unless noted, Scripture quoted from NLT^©   

A Life with Focus

 

Tuesday, December 7, 2021

By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life.  We have received all of this by coming to know him, the one who called us to himself by means of his marvelous glory and excellence.  And because of his glory and excellence, he has given us great and precious promises.  These are the promises that enable you to share his divine nature and escape the world’s corruption caused by human desires.  In view of all this, make every effort to respond to God’s promises.  Supplement your faith with a generous provision of moral excellence, and moral excellence with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with patient endurance, and patient endurance with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love for everyone.  The more you grow like this, the more productive and useful you will be in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.  But those who fail to develop in this way are shortsighted or blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their old sins.  So, dear brothers and sisters, work hard to prove that you really are among those God has called and chosen.  Do these things, and you will never fall away.  Then God will give you a grand entrance into the eternal Kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  

2 Peter 1:3-11

I watched a TV show recently where one of the main characters, a lawyer, gets a middle-age wakeup call.  As an opportunity of a lifetime to advance her career presents herself, she hires a campaign strategist to test the waters for a run at public office.  Eventually the idea is scrapped because the strategist discovers the “likability factor” just isn’t there.  To be “electable” these days, the public wants more than just competence; a candidate must have personality.  The strategist probes deeper, and forces the lawyer to face what her life is really like.  She has almost no friends, does not travel, go to events, or “have a life” outside of her immediate family.  As for “public appeal” she is just part of the landscape.

With Peter, the likability factor wasn’t even an afterthought.  For the outspoken Apostle, the more important focus in life is godliness.  He informs his flock that God has placed in their toolboxes everything needed to turn their lives in a godly direction, to find the pathway to a life of moral excellence.  This aspiration to focus on building a life that is focused on pleasing God (rather than the acclaim of personal glory), is fueled by God’s own promises. 

Peter lays-out a road map that will take you to the Promised Land of godliness, the growing of our faith which produces mature, fruitful disciples of Christ.  Notice the progression from moral excellence to the application of love:

Supplement your faith with a generous provision of moral excellence, and moral excellence with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with patient endurance, and patient endurance with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love for everyone.

Like the other apostles Peter was once concerned with seeing Jesus have an earthly kingdom.  Somewhere in the travels and trials, Peter finally got what Jesus said about a kingdom that is far greater than any earthly public office or acclaim.  He got a glimpse of the Kingdom of God.

For You Today

So, what is the focus of your life?  And what kingdom and King holds your heart? 

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day!  

[1] Title and Other Images:  Pixabay.com  Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation^©   

For other posts on this text see the SERIES  “Conversations with Peter”  Episode # ONE  TWO  THREE  FOUR   FIVE  SIX  SEVEN   EIGHT   

The Sons of Zebedee

 

Wednesday, May 6, 2020

As Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, he took the twelve disciples aside privately and told them what was going to happen to him.  “Listen,” he said, “we’re going up to Jerusalem, where the Son of Man will be betrayed to the leading priests and the teachers of religious law.  They will sentence him to die.  Then they will hand him over to the Romans to be mocked, flogged with a whip, and crucified.  But on the third day he will be raised from the dead.  ”Then the mother of James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to Jesus with her sons.  She knelt respectfully to ask a favor.  “What is your request?” he asked.  She replied, “In your Kingdom, please let my two sons sit in places of honor next to you, one on your right and the other on your left.”  But Jesus answered by saying to them, “You don’t know what you are asking!  Are you able to drink from the bitter cup of suffering I am about to drink?”  “Oh yes,” they replied, “we are able!”  Jesus told them, “You will indeed drink from my bitter cup.  But I have no right to say who will sit on my right or my left.  My Father has prepared those places for the ones he has chosen.”  When the ten other disciples heard what James and John had asked, they were indignant.  But Jesus called them together and said, “You know that the rulers in this world lord it over their people, and officials flaunt their authority over those under them.  But among you it will be different.  Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first among you must become your slave.  For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many.”                         Matthew 20:17-28

From our perspective (on this side of the cross) there is nothing unexpected in what Jesus said; for James,John and their Mom, it turned everything on its ear.

It wasn’t odd for an ambitious mother to ask a favor for sons; nor was it unusual for the sons to claim they were up to the task, and probably deserved what their mother requested.  What was odd (at least to the disciples at that moment) is that Jesus, the one they understood to be the next CEO of the world, said it wasn’t within his power to select his vice-presidents. 

And then the real bomb dropped; he told them if they wanted to reach the top in his organization the boys had to start in the mail room.  That’s right – go to the bottom, do the grunt work…then just trust me.  It was not exactly the expected insider treatment, where knowing the right person at the top gets you special favors.

But the most tragic part of this scene is the context; Jesus has just announced what was going to take place, arrest, flogging, crucifixion and death…and the sons of compassion start arguing about who’s in control.  To make matters worse, Jesus corrected Mama Zebedee and her boys loud enough for the other 10 disciples to hear.  They throw a hissy-fit, and the first church fight is on!  And we’ve been messing up the stew ever since.  Power, prestige, and the purse…not much changes.

Except, somewhere in this messy mix called the church, there are disciples who get it.  And when they get it they also roll-up their shirt sleeves, get their hands a little dirty, and get the work of the kingdom done, proclaiming the Good News, feeding some hungry kids, clothing the naked ones, visiting the lonely prisoners, and carrying plenty of cold cups of water in the name of God’s Son. 

There are some who manage to figure out its not about the position you hold, it’s about the people you hold up.

For You Today

I recall a sermon Dr. Tony Campolo once preached he called Titles or Testimonies?  The whole point was, as a believer in Jesus, do you want to have people put you on a pedestal and say all sorts of nice things about you?  Or do you want to have some real fruit of your labor to lay at Jesus’ feet when it’s your time?  Do you want a position and a title…or would you rather have the testimony of a faithful servant?

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road today!

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Title Image:  Wikimedia Commons  

Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation©

For another post on Matthew 20 see Christmas Pony Prayers

Chasing the Wind

[1]

Tuesday, August 6, 2019

Unless the Lord builds a house, the work of the builders is wasted.  Unless the Lord protects a city, guarding it with sentries will do no good.   It is useless for you to work so hard from early morning until late at night, anxiously working for food to eat; for God gives rest to his loved ones.  Psalm 127:1-2

Then I observed that most people are motivated to success because they envy their neighbors.  But this, too, is meaningless—like chasing the wind.  “Fools fold their idle hands, leading them to ruin.”  And yet, “Better to have one handful with quietness than two handfuls with hard work and chasing the wind.”  Ecclesiastes 4:4-6[2]

When I was a child I had no trouble sleeping; my parents rarely had to enforce bedtime curfew.  Somewhere along the way things changed.  These days if I sleep more than 6 hours I get up with aches in places I didn’t even know I had places!  Chalk it up to age, the weight of responsibilities, or just habit…I get up early and try to hit the ground running at what I do. 

With trial and error, you learn some things.  Some of us have enough error to build a library of knowledge.  One such treasure of understanding is the futility I’ve seen in the act of empire-building.  Solomon’s chasing the wind (vanity) is the way he describes the endless merry-go-round of life’s pursuits, with grabbing the brass ring as the prize.  Solomon (the richest man in the world at that time) learned that the brass ring was tarnished and was never that great to begin with.  He figured out that life, your God-given time on this planet, with even, and particularly, the work to which you give your time and energy was to be enjoyed, not a utilitarian quest to build a bigger pile of stuff than the next guy.    

Here’s the way Jesus put it:

Then he said, “Beware! Guard against every kind of greed. Life is not measured by how much you own.”  Luke 12:15

Much of the world’s problems spring from ignoring this basic life-principle:

·      The dynasty syndrome…grabbing and trying to hold onto power.

·      The record-breaking syndrome…not keeping up with the Jones’ but being the best Jones there ever was.

·      The extending of influence…taking what the Jones family possesses

Solomon eventually recognized that having it all was grasping at the wind.  It meant nothing but heartache, the heavy hand of materialism realized. 

Focus on the Family psychologist, James Dobson tells about when his children were little.  He and his wife purchased a play set of swings and slides for their back yard.  James put the behemoth together, all 735 screws, bolts with nuts, and assorted pieces, part A inserted correctly into part B.  When he was all done he read the final instruction:  for the safety of the children who use this set make sure to check and tighten each, screw, bolt and nut every two weeks.  James discovered the deep pit of hell in trying to own things – you don’t own anything! But that which you think you own…owns your time and peace of mind.  And the more you have, the deeper this pit becomes.

For You Today

If you are not satisfied with one handful of stuff, what makes you think two will be enough?

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day.

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[1] Title Image:  Pixabay.com        Unless otherwise noted, Scripture used from The New Living Translation©

[2] For another post on this topic see:  Chasing the Wind & Stubbing Toes

What About Him?

[1]

Thursday, December 27, 2018

A third time he asked him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?”  Peter was hurt that Jesus asked the question a third time.  He said, “Lord, you know everything.  You know that I love you.”  Jesus said, “Then feed my sheep.  “I tell you the truth, when you were young, you were able to do as you liked; you dressed yourself and went wherever you wanted to go.  But when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and others will dress you and take you where you don’t want to go.”  Jesus said this to let him know by what kind of death he would glorify God.  Then Jesus told him, “Follow me.”  Peter turned around and saw behind them the disciple Jesus loved—the one who had leaned over to Jesus during supper and asked, “Lord, who will betray you?”  Peter asked Jesus, “What about him, Lord?”  Jesus replied, “If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you?  As for you, follow me.”  John 21:17-22(NLT)

If you’re following Jesus as His disciple, there are a lot of questions that are valid and welcome.  You can ask:

·      Where do you want me to go?

·      What do you want me to do?

·      When, and even Why are on the table

These are all questions that help give us direction and understanding to the scope and urgency of Christ’s mission.  The one question you want to avoid is something that smacks of idle curiosity about someone else’s service. 

Perhaps Peter just couldn’t help it; his natural curiosity wanted to probe deeper and know what was in store for John.  It doesn’t mean Peter wasn’t sold on Jesus being the Messiah, Son of God; that much isn’t in question.  It’s just that, who can resist the impulse to question if someone else is getting a better deal than you?  Peter wanted to probe the possibilities while the conversation was still on the table.  Jesus told him to mind his own business and do what Jesus had set out for him…not John.

It’s like that with humans.  Even when we have a clear view of what God wants us to do, we can’t help questioning if there’s something better, easier, higher-paying, more gratifying, upper-level kind of thing for us; we want what we want!

Peter became the chief preacher among the disciples, and I can tell you from experience a preacher that spends his days dreaming of having a bigger church, with a much more prominent pulpit than he or she currently serves is one of Satan’s most successful tools for tearing churches apart.  When someone who’s supposed to be a shepherd caring for sheep, takes his eye off the ball of being a shepherd and wants to climb mountains of fame and prestige – that church is in for a nosedive, and the shepherd is going to wind up in the woodshed.  Jesus said, mind the business I gave you; don’t worry about what I want your neighbor to do!

For You Today

So, now that I’ve bared the soul-trouble of status-seeking preachers (and probably alienated any of my fellow pastors who read this), how’s it going in the pride and social-climbing department for you?

We’re still a few days away from the deadline of writing those resolutions for the new year.  You could add a little holy contentment to your list.

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day.                                                                                                                     

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[1] Title Image:  Pixabay.com

The Ambition of Humble Servants

[1]

Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came over and spoke to him.  “Teacher,” they said, “we want you to do us a favor.”  “What is your request?” he asked.  They replied, “When you sit on your glorious throne, we want to sit in places of honor next to you, one on your right and the other on your left.”  But Jesus said to them, “You don’t know what you are asking!  Are you able to drink from the bitter cup of suffering I am about to drink?  Are you able to be baptized with the baptism of suffering I must be baptized with?”  “Oh yes,” they replied, “we are able!”  Then Jesus told them, “You will indeed drink from my bitter cup and be baptized with my baptism of suffering.  But I have no right to say who will sit on my right or my left.   God has prepared those places for the ones he has chosen.”  When the ten other disciples heard what James and John had asked, they were indignant.  So Jesus called them together and said, “You know that the rulers in this world lord it over their people, and officials flaunt their authority over those under them.  But among you it will be different.  Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first among you must be the slave of everyone else.  For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many.”  Mark 10:35-45(NLT)

Have you ever played darts?  If you have, you know the idea is to hit the center of the target.  Some places on the target are worth lots of points, and some are worth little. 

When you play darts, you don’t aim at the low scores!  But that is a great problem many Christians have; we fear the cost of hitting the center of the target, because we might not be “worthy”.

Not so with James and John.  They asked Jesus for a promotion, and Jesus told them they’d better think twice, because they really didn’t know what they were getting into.  He reminded them of times he’d forecast persecution and hardship. 

The question was:  are you able to bear that?  They said “yes,” but they really didn’t understand; their eyes were glued to the prize of being right and left hand men to the King.  They pictured Jesus being crowned king; James and John wanted in on that glory! 

Jesus was opening the Kingdom of Heaven before their eyes, and all they could think about is cabinet positions; James wants Secretary of State, and John’s heart is set on being Secretary of War.  They’re grabbing for the prize without an understanding that it’s not a prize to be grabbed.  Jesus plainly tells them God the Father will determine who is appointed to what honor. 

And the reason they missed this target by a mile is they weren’t listening.  Jesus had been talking for days about suffering, hardship, and death; all the dynamic duo can think about is crowns, thrones and power.  Had they listened closely they might have sensed the importance Jesus placed on the cross. 

A colleague[2] of mine pointed out you should consider the two positions James and John asked for (to be on the left and right of Jesus) eventually were filled by two thieves who died with Jesus not too long after this conversation.  The two disciples really didn’t have a clue!

However, Jesus did have plans for the disciples that would include honor – they just couldn’t see it yet.  In fact, when the other disciples heard about James and John’s promotion bid, the anger and jealousy explosion caused Jesus to call a board meeting. 

Jesus used the occasion to lay out a prediction and an instruction.

The Prediction

Jesus told the 12 that they were indeed going share in his cup of suffering.  And so they did!  The disciples died violent deaths, persecuted for Christ; the sole exception was John, and he died in exile at hard labor in the coal mines of Patmos.  That was hardly a job “perk”!

The Instruction

…was to live for others out of love for Him…it is Christ’s great commandment to love others just like He loved us, and not just for a moment, or a brief period when it is convenient.  Jesus wants us to develop a lifestyle of loving that is consistent, unselfish, and intense enough to make a difference in our culture, and in ourselves:

So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other.  John 13:34(NLT)

The Jesus Principle of Magnanimity

The whole letter to the Hebrew Christians speaks of the sacrifice of our great High Priest, Jesus, and shows us the incredible upside-down-ness of the Kingdom of God:

·      the first is last, and the least become most

·      the meek are the real mighty ones 

·      the King dies for the sinner, and

·      the Master serves the slave. 

In Mark’s Gospel, Jesus’ instruction to His followers is to be magnanimous; He wants them to throw their life’s darts at the center of the target. 

Jesus says to them: 

If you’re going to be great, learn humility; serve… 

and start with each other

The One Ambition of a True Servant is to Serve

Serving others, while living in a society that says forget others – get what you can, means you will swim against the tide.  That takes work.  If you’re going to live the way Jesus taught the disciples you will have to wage war on your own tendency towards pleasing self.  We have to fight that battle every day. 

Consider:

·      When you take a course in school – do you set your sight on learning…or do you just want a grade; a promotion?

·      When you go to work – are you building, producing, adding to value in society…or are you there for a paycheck?

·      When you consider the family from which you have come – do you aim to bless the family name and its contribution to mankind…or do you look to just take up space until your ship comes in?

·      When you are asked to be a leader or worker in the church organization – do you take it seriously, or is it just allowing the committee to plant your name in one more slot?

The choice is ever is to be a magnanimous servant or just settle for whatever comes your way that pleases you!

Application – Be a Kingdom person

To follow Jesus magnanimously means you must keep the Kingdom of God as priority.  Jesus did, and the writer to the Hebrews said Jesus became the source of eternal salvation. 

For us, individually and corporately as a church body, it means we probably need to scrap most of our schedules and to do lists in favor of what Jesus told the crowd gathered on the Olivet hillside:

Seek the Kingdom of God above all else…Matthew 6:33(NLT)

That’s what a kingdom person, a true follower of Jesus Christ does.  It’s the one ambition of a humble servant.

In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; Let the church say “Amen”!

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[1] Title Image: © José Luiz Bernardes Ribeiro / on Wikimedia

[2] Rev. Alan R. Bevere, Pastor, First United Methodist Church, Ashland, Ohio, How the Greatness of Life is Measured