Philemon is a very interesting and compelling “letter.” This short letter, only 25 verses long, is most definitely one of the seven “undisputed” letters Paul wrote. (The other six are Romans, 1 and 2 Corinthians, 1 Thessalonians, Galatians, and Philippians) This letter was written to Philemon the owner of a slave named Onesimus. For some reason that we are not told, Onesimus has left Philemon which was against the law and could result in Onesimus’ death!
However, Paul has befriended him and Onesimus has become very important to Paul. Paul writes to Philemon asking that Onesimus be set free and he goes on to say that if Onesimus has caused Philemon any loss that Paul would be responsible for that loss. What we see in this letter is a great example of Christian love and how the relationship between Christians should be. I wonder how much better this world would be if we all treated each other the way Paul is asking Philemon to treat Onesimus? We, as Christians must look for reason to forgive rather than reasons to not forgive. Churches split over this very issue – the inability to forgive. We are right, they are wrong—the end of the story (and a lack of Christian love). God never expects us to be robots, all believing and doing exactly the same thing. We are made individuals with a freedom to choose. I believe we become so hung up on things that are not important (like the details as to how we are to interpret scripture and how we are to treat others) that we forget what is really important – proclaiming Jesus as lord of our lives and really meaning it. Here we go again with the word “lord.” What God wants is for us to make Christ the “lord” of our life as in the master of a slave. He does not want us to confess the Jesus is God – that is much different! When we really make Christ “lord,” we take the position of a slave or servant to Christ. We set aside petty differences and we concentrate on what it means to love one another as Christ has loved us. When we do that, we begin to practice true Christian love and we do become one body with Christ as the head of that body. My hope is that you are experiencing that kind of true Christian love. If you are not, find one of the area churches this Sunday and they will help you find that kind of deep and pure Christian love. Amen. If I were to define “water bottle,” you might say that it is a bottle with water in it! You also might say that it is a square, red rubber bottle one could fill with hot water to warm a cold bed or ease pain in an aching back! The way you would define that term would probably depend on your age! (I am old enough to view it as a red rubber bottle!) However, today, people carry water bottles with them lots of the time. We hear so much these days about the necessity to stay “hydrated” or, in the negative context, to keep from becoming dehydrated. Dehydration can actually become fatal!
Today, it is actually recommended by the Kansas High School Athletic Association that students participating in Fall sports be allowed water breaks every 15 minutes or so (recent volleyball lecture from KSHSAA). Why is that so important? Our bodies are filled with water. In fact, according to Nestle Waters, the average human body is 60% water! That is a lot of water! Now, by now you are probably wondering where this is going, but there is a point! In Jeremiah 2: 4-13 (the Lectionary Old Testament text for this week) we read some interesting charges against the nation of Israel. Through the prophet Jeremiah, God asks a hard question in verse 5: “What wrong did your ancestors find in me that they went far away from me?” Could God be asking that very same question of us today? In the end of this passage God says that the people have committed two evils. First they have forsaken God. How many times today do we hear that we are NOT a Christian nation? How many times does freedom of religion become confused with freedom FROM religion? It seems to me that more and more even our courts will always rule against Christianity. The second evil is that the people have “dug out cisterns for themselves, cracked cisterns that can hold no water.” There is the connection to the water bottle! Today, do we hold the spiritual water that is spoken of often in the scriptures or do we need a little “spiritual re-hydration?” I think I know the answer to that question and I bet you do too! I would encourage you to seek out that spiritual re-hydration before it is too late! Amen. n Luke 13:10-17 we find a most interesting story. Jesus encounters a woman who is crippled by a “spirit” for eighteen years. Did I forget to mention that this took place in the synagogue on a Sabbath as Jesus was teaching those gathered there? (That is of utmost importance to this story!) Jesus noticed that she could not stand straight and he did two very simple things that healed her. First he said to her, “Woman, you are set free from your ailment.” The second thing he did was to simply put his hand on her and immediately she stood up straight and began to praise God.
Two things jump out at me about this story. First, is how this woman knew that her healing had come from God and she praised God immediately. This is in stark contrast to the story of the rich fool (Luke 12:13-21) where the “successful” farmer never gives credit to God for his bountiful crop nor his success. How many times today do we forget from where our blessings come? And yet when things go wrong we either blame God or complain to God about our maladies! This woman never blames God and she recognizes exactly from where her healing came! The second thing is the issue which quickly arises from the leader of the synagogue. Remember that this took place on the Sabbath? The synagogue leader chastises the woman for coming to be healed on a Sabbath; after all, there are six other days that she could have chosen to come! He addresses this to the crowd and my guess is he feared that more would want to be healed as well and he would lose control of his synagogue. But doesn’t the synagogue belong to God? I think that sometimes we forget that our church buildings are not ours—they are God’s house and we should always give God the glory for what goes on inside! This was not the case with the leader of this synagogue! He was losing control and he did not like it. What work did Jesus actually perform on the Sabbath? He simply spoke to the woman and then laid his hand on here. In the most strict adherence to Jewish Sabbath Law, Jesus did nothing wrong. Today, too many times we chastise people in church instead of being glad that they are in God’s house to begin with! The church is NOT a place just for saints—sinners must be welcomed there as well. If the church you attend does not welcome sinners, maybe you should find a church that belongs to God. There is a story about a man who came to a church on Sunday dressed in jeans with holes in them (worn out holes!). He was told to go pray and ask God what he should wear. After a couple of weeks he came back still dressed in his worn-out jeans. When asked what God had told him he should wear to church, his response was, “Well, I asked God what I should wear to this church and He said he had no idea because he had never been in this church!” Let that sink in and remember, our churches must be a place for God where sinners and saints worship together! Amen. There is a story about a minister who was attending a minister’s conference. He was from a very small town. During one break, he was standing in a group of ministers whom all were from large cities. One of the ministers noticed he was from a small town so he asked, “How many churches are in your town?” His response was, “Well, there used to be two, we merged into one, now there are five!”
The Gospel reading from the Lectionary this week is Luke 12:49-56. In that passage, Jesus shocks his disciples by saying that he did not come to bring “peace on earth and good will to men!” Instead his coming was going to bring division—father against son, son against father. Mother against daughter and daughter against mother and so on and so forth! Why is that, what makes Jesus be divisive instead of uniting? Jesus came offering to ANYONE who will accept him as “lord of their life” (Romans 10:9). He came paying a debt for sins, all sins, that we cannot pay ourselves. And yet God’s family is divided. If we were all together, with one mind (specifically the mind of Christ) then there would not be divisions and there would be only one church. Unfortunately, that is not the case. Show me a church in conflict and I will show you a church that has taken their eyes off of Christ and has turned inward! We humans have the propensity to want to always have things our way. We like to say things like, “If you don’t interpret the scriptures the way I do, you are just wrong. My sins aren’t nearly as bad as yours!” Truth is there is no list of sins that says any one sin is greater than another! All sin, any sin separates us from God but God’s love and grace forgives all our sins! As the author of Luke’s Gospel brings this passage to a close, he points out that we know the signs, signs from nature and we had better not miss them! Is the second coming just right around the corner? It could be, but the bigger question is “are you ready for it when it does come?” I hope you are but if you are not, do something about it before it is too late! Amen “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.”(Hebrews 11:1 NRSV) That is a great definition of the word “faith,” and faith is imperative in living the Christian life. We, as Christians just don’t hope for life-after-death – we have the assurance of the words of Christ that IF we are “saved,” (really in a right-relationship with Christ) we know that there is life-after-death.
That is the conviction of things not seen. Conviction—that is another great word. IF we take that word to the judicial system, when a person is “convicted” that means that a jury of their peers believed that there was enough evidence against them to be sure, without a shadow of a doubt that they are in fact, guilty. So then, if you were arrested and charged with being a Christian, would there be enough evidence to “convict” you? I certainly hope there would be. But, let’s not get side-tracked here – this is about faith. Why is it we, as Christians trust our life-after-death to something that is unseen? Why is it that after the crucifixion, Jesus appeared only to those whom had believed in him prior to his death? The answer to both those questions is the same – because we are to come into a belief in Jesus as “the Christ, the Son of the living God,” through faith and not through proof. Faith is the assurance given to us from God through Jesus that if we “believe in your heart and confess with your mouth that ‘Jesus is lord,’ you will be saved.” (Romans 10:9 paraphrase mine) However, from what will we be saved? We will be saved from spending eternity in Hell! There is a better reason though. To live a life that is in a right relationship with Jesus, we can experience the kingdom of God right here, right now. We can enjoy all the fruits of being a Christian before we die—God promises it. So then, how is your faith doing these days? Do you know for sure that you are in fact a Christian? I certainly hope so. If not, find a church this Sunday and they can show you how to be sure! Then, go and enjoy life in God’s Kingdom right now! Amen. |
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This blog consists of reflections written by the minister each week for the Sunday bulletin. We hope that you enjoy the musings! Archives
January 2020
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