Jesus says in Matthew 5:5 "Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth."
This is a powerful, upside-down announcement by Jesus. The people of Israel hearing this for the first time would not have normally thought the meek would inherit the earth. Their world was being concurred by the Romans, who were not very meek. The world today still seems to belong, not to the meek, but to the strong, the assertive, those willing to cut corners. But Jesus says the meek will inherit the earth.
I think his message is a reminder that his ways, the ways of God's kingdom, are what will last. And we see this message in Psalm 37 where this Beatitude seems to be taken in verse 11. The big picture of Psalm 37 is that the ways of the world, which include schemes, swords, and selfishness, will wither away like grass. However, the characteristics of the meek will last for eternity. The meek characteristics found in Psalm 37 are trust in the Lord, generosity, doing good, taking refuge in God, among others. And as we grab onto these characteristics they pull us closer to God.
I want to recommend two ways to grab onto these characteristics. The first one is to be sure you have a group of Christians you connect with. This group is not just for fellowship, but for studying God's Word together, sharing your struggles with, and supporting others in the group. Fellowship is nice, but if that is all the deeper our Christian relationships go then we are missing an important piece of Christian community.
When we openly share with other Christians our struggles, our learning, and our joys we will notice that God does work in meek ways. When we see someone who is meek being blessed by God and having God provide for them, it will become easier to trust God will do the same in your life.
My second recommendation is to get into reading God's Word for yourself. We all need to have some personal reading time to hear God's voice. Hearing someone else talk about God's Word is not bad, but we all need to hear straight from God.
And to help you with reading this week I want to invite you to read with me through Psalm 37 for the next 5 days. Each day I will invite you to look for something different. (And you can post what you find in a comment back to me.)
Day 1 (Today): Read the psalm to get the general idea.
Day 2: Read the psalm and count the number of times the "wicked" are mentioned. I highlighted each time this word appeared in my Bible, which is NIV. How many times did you find it? What does that tell you?
Day 3: Read the psalm and notice the characteristics of those who are considered "wicked." What stood out to you in these characteristics?
Day 4: Now read the psalm and notice the characteristics of the meek, those who are not wicked. Which characteristics surprised you? Which ones encouraged you?
Day 5: Read the psalm and notice how many times "inherit" is used. Who will receive an inheritance from God?
Join me as we seek to be meek.
Monday, April 11, 2011
Monday, April 4, 2011
Poor in Spirit
"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." Matthew 5:3
The poor in spirit are those who consider themselves unworthy of God's love. The poor in spirit are convinced that God's blessings, love, and grace is not meant for them. But Jesus says blessed are those who feel they do not deserve to be blessed.
This is a great message for us to remember that we are called as the Body of Christ to participate in this announcement. We are called to bless those who feel unworthy of blessing.
I believe as we live out this Beatitude we are building treasure in heaven. In Matthew 6 Jesus calls us to not store up treasures on earth, but to store up treasure in heaven. The treasures of this earth will fall apart, get lost or stolen. These earthly treasures are temporary. Jesus says strive for storing up things that will last for eternity.
However, in that chapter he does not tell us how to store up treasures in heaven. So I looked in Matthew 19 and Luke 12 where Jesus does tell us how to store up treasures in heaven. In those chapters Jesus tells us that we build treasures in heaven by giving to the poor. This is not the only way to build treasure, but it is the way Jesus shares with us.
I do believe that as we serve the financially poor, the less fortunate, that our treasure is being built, but I also believe our treasure grows as we serve the poor in spirit. We are doing God's work and building the treasures of heaven as we live out this Beatitude, as we bless those who feel they do not deserve to be blessed. (Not that we only do this for the reward, but it is a nice byproduct.)
This Lent I hope you will join me in blessing the poor in spirit. We do this by expressing God's love and grace to those who feel they do not deserve it. We give the poor in spirit our time and attention. We give them invitations to join us in community. We let them know we do not deserve God's love either, yet he loves us anyway. This is the Gospel of Jesus, and the character of God. God's love and blessing is for all of us.
If you are poor in spirit, know God does want to bless you. God wants to touch all people with his love and grace. If you are not poor in spirit, then it is your task to give to the poor and the poor in spirit, so that they might know the love of God.
The poor in spirit are those who consider themselves unworthy of God's love. The poor in spirit are convinced that God's blessings, love, and grace is not meant for them. But Jesus says blessed are those who feel they do not deserve to be blessed.
This is a great message for us to remember that we are called as the Body of Christ to participate in this announcement. We are called to bless those who feel unworthy of blessing.
I believe as we live out this Beatitude we are building treasure in heaven. In Matthew 6 Jesus calls us to not store up treasures on earth, but to store up treasure in heaven. The treasures of this earth will fall apart, get lost or stolen. These earthly treasures are temporary. Jesus says strive for storing up things that will last for eternity.
However, in that chapter he does not tell us how to store up treasures in heaven. So I looked in Matthew 19 and Luke 12 where Jesus does tell us how to store up treasures in heaven. In those chapters Jesus tells us that we build treasures in heaven by giving to the poor. This is not the only way to build treasure, but it is the way Jesus shares with us.
I do believe that as we serve the financially poor, the less fortunate, that our treasure is being built, but I also believe our treasure grows as we serve the poor in spirit. We are doing God's work and building the treasures of heaven as we live out this Beatitude, as we bless those who feel they do not deserve to be blessed. (Not that we only do this for the reward, but it is a nice byproduct.)
This Lent I hope you will join me in blessing the poor in spirit. We do this by expressing God's love and grace to those who feel they do not deserve it. We give the poor in spirit our time and attention. We give them invitations to join us in community. We let them know we do not deserve God's love either, yet he loves us anyway. This is the Gospel of Jesus, and the character of God. God's love and blessing is for all of us.
If you are poor in spirit, know God does want to bless you. God wants to touch all people with his love and grace. If you are not poor in spirit, then it is your task to give to the poor and the poor in spirit, so that they might know the love of God.
Monday, March 28, 2011
Peacemaker
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God. (Matthew 5:9) Jesus elaborates on what it means to be a peacemaker in Matthew 5:43-48. In those passages Jesus says, “you have heard it said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.”
When Jesus says we are to be peacemakers he is calling us to bring people together instead of divide people. And yet the world around us continues to try to divide. You are either for us or against us. You are either with us or with them. We assume everyone has to choose sides. This is not new, Jesus said in 1st century Israel they had been taught to love neighbors, hate enemies, that is choosing sides.
However, Jesus says, don’t choose sides. Love your neighbor and love your enemy. It is not much of a choice when there is only one option. Our only option is to love. It would be nice if it were that easy, but it takes focus and intentionality to really love as Christ calls us to love.
Our youth shared the message in our worship services yesterday and one suggestion they had was to not look at people as a group, but as individuals. When you see a group as Iowa fan or Iowa State fan, Democrat or Republican, Conservative or Liberal, it can be easy to divide and label someone. However, when you get to know an individual you start to look past the labels and get to know this person who is also a Child of God.
When I was moving along the ordination process I was assigned a group to meet with. Several of the people in the group were not people I would have chosen to meet with because their theological perspective was different than mine. As we met regularly, I got to know these people and not their perspective and became good friends. We still do not agree on everything, but we love and respect each other.
Jesus says we are blessed when we are peacemakers. We are blessed when we do not divide, but instead draw people together. Pray for God's help to love all people, including our "enemies." This is the calling of all those who follow Christ.
When Jesus says we are to be peacemakers he is calling us to bring people together instead of divide people. And yet the world around us continues to try to divide. You are either for us or against us. You are either with us or with them. We assume everyone has to choose sides. This is not new, Jesus said in 1st century Israel they had been taught to love neighbors, hate enemies, that is choosing sides.
However, Jesus says, don’t choose sides. Love your neighbor and love your enemy. It is not much of a choice when there is only one option. Our only option is to love. It would be nice if it were that easy, but it takes focus and intentionality to really love as Christ calls us to love.
Our youth shared the message in our worship services yesterday and one suggestion they had was to not look at people as a group, but as individuals. When you see a group as Iowa fan or Iowa State fan, Democrat or Republican, Conservative or Liberal, it can be easy to divide and label someone. However, when you get to know an individual you start to look past the labels and get to know this person who is also a Child of God.
When I was moving along the ordination process I was assigned a group to meet with. Several of the people in the group were not people I would have chosen to meet with because their theological perspective was different than mine. As we met regularly, I got to know these people and not their perspective and became good friends. We still do not agree on everything, but we love and respect each other.
Jesus says we are blessed when we are peacemakers. We are blessed when we do not divide, but instead draw people together. Pray for God's help to love all people, including our "enemies." This is the calling of all those who follow Christ.
Monday, March 21, 2011
Thirsty
(Back to blogging after a week off due to my grandma's funeral)
This Lent I am focusing on the big idea of changing our mindset from allowing our past to give us direction into the future, and instead grabbing a hold of our future and allowing that to pull us towards Christ. When we put our faith in Christ he has already made us saints of God by his sacrifice on the cross. So we need to grab a hold of that future and be pulled towards the saint God has made us to be.
We are using Jesus' Sermon on the Mount from Matthew 5-7 to learn about how Christ has called us to live out our sainthood. We will be connecting the Beatitudes from Matthew 5:1-12 to other passages of the Sermon on the Mount to put some flesh on what to grab a hold of in our future.
This week I want to connect Jesus' calling for us to be the "salt of the earth" (Matthew 5:13) with Matthew 5:6, "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness." I wondered if part of Jesus' calling for us to be salt is for us to make people thirsty because if you eat a lot of salt you do get thirsty. The reason I found that we get thirsty is because our bodies need a certain balance of salt and water in our blood and cells. When we eat a lot of salt that increases the salt level in our blood, which then needs more water to get back into balance or equilibrium.
Since salt makes people thirsty, I wonder if Jesus would tell us to help people hunger and thirst for righteousness. The definition of righteousness I would use is the Hebrew idea of shalom. Shalom means peace. However this peace means more than just the absence of war or violence. This peace is about wholeness. It is about having everything as God would want it to be. It is about balance with everything in its right place. So we are called to thirst for this shalom to fill the earth.
In America, and especially in Williamsburg, it can be easy to look around and feel that we are not too far from shalom. Yet we need to become more aware of what is going on around us in the world. I went looking at some ministries that are thirsting for righteousness and found some realities that make me thirsty, and I thought they might make you thirsty also.
Looking at pictures and hearing information about the recent tsunami in Japan makes me thirsty. The lives of thousands, even hundreds of thousands, are out of shalom. Estimates are the over 18,000 people have died and the destruction is horrific. How does our thirst call us to respond? (new.gbgm-umc.org/umcor)
Another ministry is called Living Water International. They are thirsty to get clean drinking water to those who do not have access to it. They say there are 2.5 billion people who do not have clean drinking water. This is the leading cause of death in under resourced countries where 1.8 million people die each year from water born illnesses. This includes 3,900 children each day. (www.water.cc)
I also was thirsty for righteousness when I heard that there are more slaves today then ever before. There are 12.3 million people caught in human trafficking. These people are forced into slave labor and prostitution, while those who sell them make $32 billion a year. International Justice Mission is thirsty to rescue people and prosecute the offenders. (www.ijm.org)
Of course there are many other places and lives that do not know God's shalom. I believe Jesus calls us as the salt of the earth to inform people and help them get thirsty to make a difference. As we thirst together, we can offer God's shalom to others. We can do it halfway around the world, but also in our own neighborhoods if we will just thirst for righteousness and keep our eyes and hearts open to see those who have lost shalom.
This Lent I encourage you to grab onto hungering and thirsting for righteousness as a way to be drawn towards the saint Christ has called you to be.
This Lent I am focusing on the big idea of changing our mindset from allowing our past to give us direction into the future, and instead grabbing a hold of our future and allowing that to pull us towards Christ. When we put our faith in Christ he has already made us saints of God by his sacrifice on the cross. So we need to grab a hold of that future and be pulled towards the saint God has made us to be.
We are using Jesus' Sermon on the Mount from Matthew 5-7 to learn about how Christ has called us to live out our sainthood. We will be connecting the Beatitudes from Matthew 5:1-12 to other passages of the Sermon on the Mount to put some flesh on what to grab a hold of in our future.
This week I want to connect Jesus' calling for us to be the "salt of the earth" (Matthew 5:13) with Matthew 5:6, "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness." I wondered if part of Jesus' calling for us to be salt is for us to make people thirsty because if you eat a lot of salt you do get thirsty. The reason I found that we get thirsty is because our bodies need a certain balance of salt and water in our blood and cells. When we eat a lot of salt that increases the salt level in our blood, which then needs more water to get back into balance or equilibrium.
Since salt makes people thirsty, I wonder if Jesus would tell us to help people hunger and thirst for righteousness. The definition of righteousness I would use is the Hebrew idea of shalom. Shalom means peace. However this peace means more than just the absence of war or violence. This peace is about wholeness. It is about having everything as God would want it to be. It is about balance with everything in its right place. So we are called to thirst for this shalom to fill the earth.
In America, and especially in Williamsburg, it can be easy to look around and feel that we are not too far from shalom. Yet we need to become more aware of what is going on around us in the world. I went looking at some ministries that are thirsting for righteousness and found some realities that make me thirsty, and I thought they might make you thirsty also.
Looking at pictures and hearing information about the recent tsunami in Japan makes me thirsty. The lives of thousands, even hundreds of thousands, are out of shalom. Estimates are the over 18,000 people have died and the destruction is horrific. How does our thirst call us to respond? (new.gbgm-umc.org/umcor)
Another ministry is called Living Water International. They are thirsty to get clean drinking water to those who do not have access to it. They say there are 2.5 billion people who do not have clean drinking water. This is the leading cause of death in under resourced countries where 1.8 million people die each year from water born illnesses. This includes 3,900 children each day. (www.water.cc)
I also was thirsty for righteousness when I heard that there are more slaves today then ever before. There are 12.3 million people caught in human trafficking. These people are forced into slave labor and prostitution, while those who sell them make $32 billion a year. International Justice Mission is thirsty to rescue people and prosecute the offenders. (www.ijm.org)
Of course there are many other places and lives that do not know God's shalom. I believe Jesus calls us as the salt of the earth to inform people and help them get thirsty to make a difference. As we thirst together, we can offer God's shalom to others. We can do it halfway around the world, but also in our own neighborhoods if we will just thirst for righteousness and keep our eyes and hearts open to see those who have lost shalom.
This Lent I encourage you to grab onto hungering and thirsting for righteousness as a way to be drawn towards the saint Christ has called you to be.
Sunday, March 6, 2011
Answered Prayers
You may or may not know that Christianity in America seems to be declining or at least struggling. There are fewer and fewer people who attend worship in Christian churches. However, I believe there is still a spiritual hunger among people inside and outside the church. With that spiritual hunger comes many prayers lifted up to God. Some may recognize their requests to God as prayer, while others may just recognize it as hope or a desire for something more.
As people lift up those prayers we have an opportunity to reach out with the love of God. We can be the answer to those prayers. God can respond to prayers in miraculous ways, but most often God responds to prayer through ordinary people like you and me. God uses us when we respond to prayers with action.
When someone is lonely, we can be a friend. When someone is depressed, we can be an encourager. When someone is in need, we can be generous. We can respond to many of the prayers out there if we will respond to the prayers of people.
Remembering that I can be an answer to prayer for other people helps me to watch for what God is doing each and every day. There are so many people that need an answered prayer, and you never know how that answer may make all the difference in the world to that person. So I encourage you as we move from a Season of Prayer to a Season of Action to hold in your heart the prayers we have been lifting up, but also look for ways to act and respond to those prayers. God will use us to answer the prayers of those around us if we hear his voice and take action.
As people lift up those prayers we have an opportunity to reach out with the love of God. We can be the answer to those prayers. God can respond to prayers in miraculous ways, but most often God responds to prayer through ordinary people like you and me. God uses us when we respond to prayers with action.
When someone is lonely, we can be a friend. When someone is depressed, we can be an encourager. When someone is in need, we can be generous. We can respond to many of the prayers out there if we will respond to the prayers of people.
Remembering that I can be an answer to prayer for other people helps me to watch for what God is doing each and every day. There are so many people that need an answered prayer, and you never know how that answer may make all the difference in the world to that person. So I encourage you as we move from a Season of Prayer to a Season of Action to hold in your heart the prayers we have been lifting up, but also look for ways to act and respond to those prayers. God will use us to answer the prayers of those around us if we hear his voice and take action.
Monday, February 28, 2011
Answering Machine
There are some Scripture passages that kind of make God sound like an answering machine. Now I don't mean like your phone answering machine, but more like a vending machine for answers to prayer. Luke 11:9-13 is one of those passages. Jesus says there, "Ask and it will be given to you. Seek and you will find. Knock and the door will be opened to you." On the surface this seems to say that I just ask God for whatever I want, push the right buttons, and I will get what I want in my prayers.
However, in reality most, if not all, of us have prayed for something we did not get. So how do we wrestle with the difference between Jesus' teaching and what we experience? Why is it that some prayers are answered and others are not?
One scholarly response is that this teaching from Jesus was prophetic hyperbole. This means that in order to teach a message about God Jesus exaggerates his point. He did not literally mean everything you ask for you will get, but he was encouraging us to always ask. He was reminding us of the power of prayer.
A more practical response takes me to Luke 22:42 where Jesus prays, "Father, if it is your will, take this cup from me." Jesus is praying that God would not have him go to the cross and die. Of course, Jesus did go to the cross and die. So even Jesus knows what it is like to not have his prayer answered the way he wanted.
This tells me that getting the answer we want in prayer is not about how much God loves us. We may feel less loved by not getting the answer we want, but God still loves us the same just as he loved Jesus the same. It also does not mean we do not have enough faith. Jesus had plenty of faith.
I believe the "answer" to unanswered prayers is to keep on asking, keep on seeking and keep on knocking. We need to continue to pray in the good times and the bad and God will be with us no matter what the answer is.
Let me know if you have other thoughts on this question or even more questions on this question.
However, in reality most, if not all, of us have prayed for something we did not get. So how do we wrestle with the difference between Jesus' teaching and what we experience? Why is it that some prayers are answered and others are not?
One scholarly response is that this teaching from Jesus was prophetic hyperbole. This means that in order to teach a message about God Jesus exaggerates his point. He did not literally mean everything you ask for you will get, but he was encouraging us to always ask. He was reminding us of the power of prayer.
A more practical response takes me to Luke 22:42 where Jesus prays, "Father, if it is your will, take this cup from me." Jesus is praying that God would not have him go to the cross and die. Of course, Jesus did go to the cross and die. So even Jesus knows what it is like to not have his prayer answered the way he wanted.
This tells me that getting the answer we want in prayer is not about how much God loves us. We may feel less loved by not getting the answer we want, but God still loves us the same just as he loved Jesus the same. It also does not mean we do not have enough faith. Jesus had plenty of faith.
I believe the "answer" to unanswered prayers is to keep on asking, keep on seeking and keep on knocking. We need to continue to pray in the good times and the bad and God will be with us no matter what the answer is.
Let me know if you have other thoughts on this question or even more questions on this question.
Monday, February 21, 2011
Reflection of Prayer
In Matthew 6:9-13 we have a major portion of what we call the Lord's Prayer. It is called the Lord's Prayer because the Lord Jesus gave us these words when asked how we should pray. As a Christian I take seriously the words and instructions Jesus gives, so I took some time to reflect on this prayer.
In my reflection time an image of a mirror came to my mind. I think this image can help us grow in our prayer time. The mirror came to my mind as I thought the words of the Lord's Prayer seem to be a prayer for earth to be a reflection of heaven. It is a prayer for God's kingdom to be on earth as it is in heaven. I believe this begins to happen through prayer.
When we pray we need to use prayer like a mirror in a couple of ways. First, most of us will look in a mirror to notice imperfections. We will check a mirror to make sure our hair is the way we want it or to make sure there is not something stuck in our teeth. When I have quality prayer time I often begin to notice my imperfections. I notice the areas of my life that God would like to adjust if I am going to be a resident of God's kingdom on earth. For instance, when I pray for someone else who I think has a hard heart, I hear God ask if I have looked in the mirror? Then I start to pray about my hard heart.
A second use of mirrors is like your rear view mirror in your car. We use mirrors to see other people that are out of our line of sight. We need to find those people that are normally out of our line of sight and pray for them. A major group we often forget to pray for are those who do not have a relationship with God or those who do not have a church they call their home. These folks need to be regularly lifted up in our prayer times. When you pray check your mirrors for those you do not always see at first and allow God to show you other people to pray for.
As God's kingdom is reflected on earth more and more people will be coming into a relationship with God. God loves all people and wants everyone to know about his love, so as we pray for others to know God, we are praying your kingdom come.
So your assignment for this week (I had someone who regularly reads this blog tell me last week that they need assignments to know they did something about the message, so I thought I would give one here) is to be sure you are checking your mirrors in your regular prayer time. I would encourage you each time you pray to spend some time reflecting on what God might want you to learn. Pray about how God might want to work in you, so that you can represent his kingdom here on earth. Then also schedule a time regularly to lift up other people you may overlook. For instance, every Monday pray for those who do not know God. Then pray every Thursday for those who are looking for a church home. Spread out those prayers so it does not get too routine. You may want to pray about other general requests about earth reflecting heaven and space those out during your week as well.
Jesus teaches us to pray for God's kingdom to come on earth as it is in heaven. We can pray for this to happen in our ourselves and in others.
In my reflection time an image of a mirror came to my mind. I think this image can help us grow in our prayer time. The mirror came to my mind as I thought the words of the Lord's Prayer seem to be a prayer for earth to be a reflection of heaven. It is a prayer for God's kingdom to be on earth as it is in heaven. I believe this begins to happen through prayer.
When we pray we need to use prayer like a mirror in a couple of ways. First, most of us will look in a mirror to notice imperfections. We will check a mirror to make sure our hair is the way we want it or to make sure there is not something stuck in our teeth. When I have quality prayer time I often begin to notice my imperfections. I notice the areas of my life that God would like to adjust if I am going to be a resident of God's kingdom on earth. For instance, when I pray for someone else who I think has a hard heart, I hear God ask if I have looked in the mirror? Then I start to pray about my hard heart.
A second use of mirrors is like your rear view mirror in your car. We use mirrors to see other people that are out of our line of sight. We need to find those people that are normally out of our line of sight and pray for them. A major group we often forget to pray for are those who do not have a relationship with God or those who do not have a church they call their home. These folks need to be regularly lifted up in our prayer times. When you pray check your mirrors for those you do not always see at first and allow God to show you other people to pray for.
As God's kingdom is reflected on earth more and more people will be coming into a relationship with God. God loves all people and wants everyone to know about his love, so as we pray for others to know God, we are praying your kingdom come.
So your assignment for this week (I had someone who regularly reads this blog tell me last week that they need assignments to know they did something about the message, so I thought I would give one here) is to be sure you are checking your mirrors in your regular prayer time. I would encourage you each time you pray to spend some time reflecting on what God might want you to learn. Pray about how God might want to work in you, so that you can represent his kingdom here on earth. Then also schedule a time regularly to lift up other people you may overlook. For instance, every Monday pray for those who do not know God. Then pray every Thursday for those who are looking for a church home. Spread out those prayers so it does not get too routine. You may want to pray about other general requests about earth reflecting heaven and space those out during your week as well.
Jesus teaches us to pray for God's kingdom to come on earth as it is in heaven. We can pray for this to happen in our ourselves and in others.
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