This coming Sunday will be the Second Sunday in Advent 2016! Where has the time gone? It seems to me that just yesterday was the last day of school and the kids are out for summer break and here it is just 21 days until Christmas (Sunday, December 4!). Oh my how time gets away from us. This coming Sunday will be the Sunday of Peace. So then, my question is simply this: what have you done to offer peace in your personal life, your family, your church, our community and in the greater world? As Christians we are to be peace-makers. In the “beatitudes” of Matthew 5, we read these words, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.”(5:9NRSV) “Children of God” is an important phrase, a significant title. For one thing, fathers take care of their children and God certainly cares for His children. We read about that in Psalm 103:13. God provides for us, loves us and forgives us no matter what we do or where we go. Do we sometimes break God’s heart? Certainly we do but God loves us any way! Now one could argue that everyone is a child of God since God is responsible for every created thing and the surface meaning of that is certainly true. However, in Biblical “truth,” children of God are those who are in a right relationship with God. That is what it really means to be a child of God. My hope is that on this second week of Advent, you are in fact a child of God and that you are helping to promote peace in everything you do. If you are not (either a child of God or promoting peace) find a church to be in this coming Sunday and I can assure you they can show you how to accomplish both! Blessed are the peacemakers for they will be called children of God! Amen. This coming Sunday is the First Sunday in Advent – the Sunday of Hope! Oh my, where has time gone? It seems like just a few days ago we were in the middle of a hot summer and now here it is – the First Sunday in Advent! The Old Testament reading for this First Sunday of Advent is Isaiah 2:1-5. That passage is most certainly a passage of hope – hope for a peaceful future.
Verse four reads, “He shall judge between the nations, and shall arbitrate for many peoples; they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore.” According to the prophet Isaiah, a time is coming when nation will not rise up against nation and the people will change their weapons of war for farming implements. What a wonderful day that will be, when it happens! However, in the present climate in which we live, peace is something that is only a dream. Nation does rise up against nation and people against people. And in despair I bowed my head, there is no peace on earth I said. For hate is strong and mocks the song of peace on earth, good will to men.”(I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day – Henry Wadsworth Longfellow) That is a very true statement considering the world in which we live today! But there is still hope for peace as laid out by the prophet Isaiah. Wadsworth ends his poem with these encouraging words, “Then pealed the bells more loud and deep: "God is not dead, nor doth he sleep; the wrong shall fail, the right prevail, with peace on earth, good will to men. Till, ringing, singing, on its way, the world revolved from night to day, a voice, a chime, a chant sublime, of peace on earth, good will to men!” In God’s time there will be peace on earth. In the meantime, as Christians we find peace in our relationship with God and the Christ-child of Christmas. As we begin this Advent season, may you find peace in your heart of hearts! Amen. In 1 Corinthians 12 we read about something called “spiritual gifts.” Knowing and understanding these gifts—their purpose, what they are, who has them, etc., are paramount for churches to carry out the mission that God has set for them. Yet not many churches concentrate on these incredible gifts from God.
There are some 20 different spiritual gifts listed in four scripture passages. Two of them are in 1 Corinthians 12 (4-11 and 27-31); the others are Romans 12:6-8 and Ephesians 4:11. Of the 20 different gifts listed, all are alive and well in the church today except for one. The gift of being an apostle is the one gift which comes with some prerequisites. First, an apostle was one who had been with Jesus during Jesus’ ministry. The second requirement was that they would have had to have witnessed Jesus in his resurrected form. As far as I know, no one is alive today who can claim those things. The exception to this was Paul. Paul becomes the last Apostle after his Damascus Road conversion. The remaining 19 are all alive and well still today. Spiritual gifts are given to build up the church, to equip the church to carry out the mission God has chosen for each church. They are given by the Holy Spirit to each Christian—each Christian has at least one spiritual gift. They are also given to “form one body.” (Romans 12:5) and “so that there will be no divisions…but all its parts might feel the same care for one another.”(1 Corinthians 12:25) Show me a church in conflict and I will show you a church that has set aside spiritual gifts and has forgotten that we, the church, are to be one body. Spiritual gifts should keep the church focused on the greater good –spreading the Gospel story. Sometimes it is hard to set aside personal issues, especially when we try to do a job within the church we are not equipped to do. Paul writes about this in 1 Corinthians 12:15-26. There he uses parts of the body to show us how a hand cannot be a foot but both are important and without either one, the body does not function as God intended. So it is with spiritual gifts. Paul composed encouraging words for us today when he wrote, “But strive for the greater gifts. And I will show you a still more excellent way!” Amen. The Lectionary epistle text for this week is 2 Thessalonians 3:6-13. This letter is Paul’s second letter to the church in Thessalonica. Thessalonica was the capital of the Roman providence of Macedonia and Paul preached in the Jewish synagogue there converting some Jews and many Gentile to Christianity. Even though Paul did not spend much time there he developed a deep familial relationship with the people there and often calls them “brothers and sisters.” The second letter, probably not written by Paul but by one of Paul’s disciples, was written to encourage the people there concerning the Parousia (second coming of Christ). They all believed Jesus would return in their lifetime!
This created some problems which the author of 2 Thessalonians addresses in this text—the problem of being idle. Do we have that same problem in society today? The author of 2 Thessalonians encourages the Christians there to “keep away from believers who are living in idleness…”(v6) Apparently some who claimed to be believers were just sitting around waiting the return of Jesus. The people there are encouraged to “imitate us,” a request to DO something useful, specifically spreading the Gospel story. 1 Thessalonians is actually the first written book in the New Testament, outdating the Gospel of Mark by about 20 years. It is the first book written about the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Regardless of who wrote 2 Thessalonians, it is a follow-up to 1 Thessalonians and it is written to encourage the people (and you and me today) to keep telling the Jesus story right up until the moment Jesus does return. There is also one little verse that requires consideration—Anyone unwilling to work should not eat! (v10b) It is clear that if you are able to work and are unable to work then someone else should not be supporting you! Each one of us still to this day is called to do our part for the greater good and especially for the spreading of the Gospel. What are you doing with your time these days? Amen. I want you to close your eyes (after you read this sentence!) and imagine a dark cloud, flashes of lightning, angels blowing the final trumpet and Jesus coming back to claim His people. I can imagine that may very well be a frightening scene. In 2 Thessalonians 2 we read about what Paul and the people of that day expected to happen just any time. Yet here we are almost 2000 years later and we are still waiting, still looking toward the eastern sky, expecting Jesus to return just any day now!
What we do know is that Christ will return—when and how no one knows, not even Christ himself—only God knows. We also know that when Christ returns with him he will bring with him the final judgment. Does that thought scare you? If you are not living a life in Christ, it should scare the life out of you! Today we live in a world filled with rules. There are speed limits, laws against hurting others, laws against stealing and so on and so forth. Why do we abide by those laws? Could it be that we just don’t want to be fined or get in trouble? How do you feel when you look up and see a police car in your rear-view mirror? I don’t know about you but it makes me uneasy! Why is that? As Christians we have rules by which we are to live our lives. In this letter to the church in Thessalonica, Paul is encouraging the people there (and you and me today) to not let our faith wain; rather we are to stand firm in our faith until Christ does return. When will that be; when will God finally turn and say to Jesus, “Go bring my children home?” We don’t know but as Christians we are called to remain faithful no matter how long the second coming takes! So then, today “comfort your hearts and strengthen them in every good work and word.” (2 Thessalonians 2:17 NRSV) |
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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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