Romans 16:17-19: Truth as a Passport or Badge

I urge you, brothers and sisters, to watch out for those who cause divisions and put obstacles in your way that are contrary to the teaching you have learned. Keep away from them. For such people are not serving our Lord Christ, but their own appetites. By smooth talk and flattery they deceive the minds of naïve people. Everyone has heard about your obedience, so I rejoice because of you; but I want you to be wise about what is good, and innocent about what is evil. - Romans 16:17-19

There are people who take up an opinion, not because they think that that opinion is correct, but because it gives them an opportunity for power and significance. 

Sometimes, they will choose an wrong-headed opinion, not because it is right, but because everyone will be forced to deal with them. If I say exactly what is already being said, people can ignore me. But if I say something outrageous or wrong, they will have to-at least-react to me. 

Sometimes, they will choose to the same opinion, because the person whose opinion they share is embattled and by joining them, they will be embattled. They can take up the rallying cry and wear that badge of persecution and injustice proudly. 

In both cases, they don't care about the truth. They care about their own desires. The emotion that is fed into an issue can become the fuel that feeds their ego-on either side of the truth. This is true in peoples' lives or people's life in church. When we start to use the truth as a passport or a badge, we no longer care about the truth but what it can give me. When we start to use God as a passport or a badge, we no longer care about God but what he can deliver to me. And that is the death of truth in me.

Philippians 4:4-9: Speculating on the Possible Good

 Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.  - Philippians 4:4-9

Peace seems elusive to the people of Philippi. "...the peace of God...will guard your heart." and again, "the God of peace will be with you." Rather than deny that people are anxious, Paul tells them to go to the source of peace-God.

Why? Because God is not surprised. He is not caught off guard. He is not worried that things will not turn out as planned. Those were things that Paul experienced. Those were things that the Philippians experienced. They were not things that God experienced. But he welcomes us telling him about them, no matter how trivial or major they are. 

There are two concrete tools for people under stress: first, stay gentle. Stress is a character projector-it shows what is really inside us. Second, center on that is true. Stress is often related to a world view where God is actually not in control or doesn't have care for us. In the back corners of our minds, we can construct all sorts of fantasy explanations of why things are the way they are and they often leave God out of it.

So first, this week, when I am stressed, I want to react gently and-when I don't-to be honest about that's going on. And second, I want to re-center and speculate on the possible good in the world rather than speculating on all the world's possible bad.  

Isaiah 7:10-17: A Most Dangerous Game

Again the Lord spoke to Ahaz, “Ask the Lord your God for a sign, whether in the deepest depths or in the highest heights.”

But Ahaz said, “I will not ask; I will not put the Lord to the test.”

Then Isaiah said, “Hear now, you house of David! Is it not enough to try the patience of humans? Will you try the patience of my God also? Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel. He will be eating curds and honey when he knows enough to reject the wrong and choose the right, for before the boy knows enough to reject the wrong and choose the right, the land of the two kings you dread will be laid waste. The Lord will bring on you and on your people and on the house of your father a time unlike any since Ephraim broke away from Judah—he will bring the king of Assyria. - Isaiah 7:10-17

Why did Ahaz say that he didn't want a sign? If God spoke to me and told me that the thing I feared the most would not happen and then further told me that I could ask for anything-anything-to prove that this unlikely dreadful event would not happen, why would I turn it down?

Could it be that Ahaz had no confidence in God?  Why put yourself in a circumstance where the credit for any success would go to a God he didn't believe in.  We know that he shut down the temple of Yahweh and set up altars to the gods of Aram (2 Chronicles 28). Maybe he felt Yahweh was not a good bet and that Israel had historically allied with the weakling among middle eastern deities.  

Could it be that Ahaz didn't feel God was trustworthy? That in accepting this "sign" that God was really playing a trick on him. That God was really just waiting for a chance to pounce on Ahaz when he let his guard down.

Could it be that Ahaz didn't like God? That God was too grumpy or demanding or picky and that he had to respect God but never really liked him or loved him.

Or perhaps God asking Ahaz for a sign was a test. God spoke and said that that the feared attack would not happen. He's testing whether Ahaz's reasons for disbelief were genuine or just a smoke screen. When God answers us like this, he is giving us a chance to believe-to replace our misguided independence with a God-oriented dependence. When Ahaz refused to ask for a sign, God still gave him one-a virgin would have a child-something so off-the-charts crazy that Ahaz would know it could know it only could have come from God and also know that his own stubborn heart was refusing to acknowledge God. 

When I know the truth and I still act out the lie is the most damning sign of my sinfulness. If I do, God will still show himself powerful but the results are not pretty, unless God is merciful. Assyria was coming on the heals of Ahaz's deliverance. But (as signified by the name of Isaiah's son), Judah would survive. I don't want to play the same dangerous game as Ahaz.

James 5:7-10: The Seasons of Half-Baked Ideas

Be patient, then, brothers and sisters, until the Lord’s coming. See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop, patiently waiting for the autumn and spring rains. You too, be patient and stand firm, because the Lord’s coming is near. Don’t grumble against one another, brothers and sisters, or you will be judged. The Judge is standing at the door!

Brothers and sisters, as an example of patience in the face of suffering, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. - James 5:7-10

In the computer business, the shipments of new systems always rises in an annual cycle called "back-to-school" and "black friday".  Back-to-school (from June to September) reflects the times when students are buying systems to use for use in the next school year. Black Friday refers to the gift giving season which lasts from around Thanksgiving up through New Years.

The chips, peripherals and features of computer systems are all timed so that the systems can be built in time to meet these windows because of the huge demand that happens during that period. Computer companies adjust their earnings calendars to reflect the fact that Q1 and Q2 are cold and Q3 and Q4 are hot in terms of sales. It makes the earnings look a bit strange when viewed as a chart-low low high high.

But if you have been in the computer industry as long as I have, this cycle is as regular and expected as the planting and harvest of grain. There is a busy season and a slack season, a season when money flows easily and another when money comes hard. The key is to make best use of each season. In the computer industry, it is moving from a focus on production and delivery to a focus on preparation and evaluation.

I think that these verses are saying the same thing: see each season in life for what God intends for it, not what we would like for it. If we try to short-circuit the process, we will fail to meet God and will simply pass him by in our grumbling fretting. Why are we surprised? 

Instead we should be grateful. In the computer industry, there are a lot of half-baked ideas that need some time and thought to bring them to fruition. Likewise, there are a lot of half-baked lives that need some time and reflection to bring them to maturity. Use each season as God intended.

Luke 1:46-55: You Are Seen. Remember That

And Mary said: “My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant. From now on all generations will call me blessed, for the Mighty One has done great things for me—holy is his name. His mercy extends to those who fear him, from generation to generation. He has performed mighty deeds with his arm; he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts. He has brought down rulers from their thrones but has lifted up the humble. He has filled the hungry with good things but has sent the rich away empty. He has helped his servant Israel, remembering to be merciful to Abraham and his descendants forever, just as he promised our ancestors.” - Luke 1:46-55

How amazing it is at that moment-however brief-when it all makes sense and you know that you are right where God intended for you. Those moments don't happen very often. Our lives and our minds are cluttered. God doesn't necessarily speak often. But then it clicks, even for a little bit of time and you understand and it makes sense. Then maybe it is gone.

That's what happened to Mary. She had nothing special-no glorious back story. She lived poor, in small town on the back end of the Roman empire. She lived normal and expected to live out her life in that small town, married to a local, hard working man, have kids. But then the angel appeared and for a brief moment, she saw it all-her place in her setting under God. As she said, "the Mighty One has done great things for me." 

Her life was going to have a lot of disappointing and mundane bits to it. A few times she was going to doubt-when Jesus was acting crazy, when her other children didn't get along so well, when her husband died and when Jesus was a convicted criminal. So it was important that she remembered what God showed her in this part of her story. Here, she sings a song-a song that she remembered many years later to share with the author of this gospel. Twice in the next chapter it mentions that Mary "treasured" these moments and "pondered" them.  By being careful to remember what God showed her in these moments, she could be reassured in all of the other moments.

I think that this is true for us, too. Sure, we don't all have Jesus the Messiah as a son or receive angel-grams from on high, but we do-by grace-receive moments of clarity about God and his purposes for us and those around us. He doesn't speak directly to us often, so it is important to "treasure" them and "ponder" them, because, as with Mary, he has done great things for us and within them lie many lessons that he wants to teach us.

Isaiah 35:1-10: But God

The desert and the parched land will be glad; the wilderness will rejoice and blossom. Like the crocus, it will burst into bloom; it will rejoice greatly and shout for joy. The glory of Lebanon will be given to it, the splendor of Carmel and Sharon; they will see the glory of the Lord, the splendor of our God.

Strengthen the feeble hands, steady the knees that give way; say to those with fearful hearts, “Be strong, do not fear; your God will come, he will come with vengeance; with divine retribution he will come to save you.”

Then will the eyes of the blind be opened and the ears of the deaf unstopped. Then will the lame leap like a deer, and the mute tongue shout for joy. Water will gush forth in the wilderness and streams in the desert. The burning sand will become a pool, the thirsty ground bubbling springs. In the haunts where jackals once lay, grass and reeds and papyrus will grow.

And a highway will be there; it will be called the Way of Holiness; it will be for those who walk on that Way. The unclean will not journey on it; wicked fools will not go about on it. No lion will be there, nor any ravenous beast;  they will not be found there. 

But only the redeemed will walk there, and those the Lord has rescued will return. They will enter Zion with singing; everlasting joy will crown their heads. Gladness and joy will overtake them, and sorrow and sighing will flee away - Isaiah 35:1-10

Every investment vehicle I have ever heard of always comes with a disclaimer: past performance is no guarantee of future returns. That is: just because some investment did really well in the past doesn't mean they will do well in the future. Just because the football player did well before doesn't mean that he will do well on his new team. But there is a tiny voice inside us that says, "But, that's the way to bet."

But I will replace that tiny voice with the voice of Isaiah here: "Never bet against God." There is no comeback story like the one that God organizes. Lifeless wastelands will, tomorrow, be home to carpeting the desert floor with blooms. Crippled hands, unstable legs, sightless eyes, soundless ears and fearful hearts will make an amazing recovery. Dry, scorching landscapes will foster streams and pastures. 

But God. Failures. But God. God rewrites the story-a story trending towards the bad news segment on the evening news-he rewrites the story as a success, full of the rescued and redeemed, singing and dancing, like the ending to some Bollywood epic. Can I accept that my story was a dumpster fire without God? Can I rejoice in God's greatness, beyond my own good fortune?

Isaiah 2:1-5: Competing Claims In A Perfect World

This is what Isaiah son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem:

In the last days the mountain of the Lord’s temple will be established as the highest of the mountains; it will be exalted above the hills, and all nations will stream to it.

Many peoples will come and say, “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the temple of the God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways, so that we may walk in his paths.”

The law will go out from Zion, the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.

He will judge between the nations and will settle disputes for many peoples. They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks.

Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore.

Come, descendants of Jacob, let us walk in the light of the Lord. - Isaiah 2:1-5

One of the problems of being human is limited perspective. We are called on to judge a situation based on limited knowledge and limited insight. Claims are made based on these limitations. Setting aside selfishness and ill-will, even in the most perfect world these claims may be wrong. 

What Isaiah saw in this vision were three things: first, that people desired to hear what God had to say and live accordingly, second, that they would not use using force to make their claims and third, that God's insight would be the basis of deciding between these competing claims. The result would be a flourishing because the thought and effort that was required for war would be better used productively. Some competition  is based on ignorance rather than ill will, and still need God's good insight. 

John 18:33-38: The Comfortable Lie

Pilate then went back inside the palace, summoned Jesus and asked him, “Are you the king of the Jews?”

“Is that your own idea,” Jesus asked, “or did others talk to you about me?”

“Am I a Jew?” Pilate replied. “Your own people and chief priests handed you over to me. What is it you have done?”

Jesus said, “My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jewish leaders. But now my kingdom is from another place.”

“You are a king, then!” said Pilate.

Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. In fact, the reason I was born and came into the world is to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.”

“What is truth?” retorted Pilate. With this he went out again to the Jews gathered there and said, “I find no basis for a charge against him.  - John 18:33-38

Ultimately, it is not what you say about Jesus but what you do with Jesus that matters. You must stare Jesus in the face and decide whether you really want a world where Jesus is king.  

There were several options open to Pilate, and the truth was that he was going to disappoint someone.

1. He could disappoint the local authorities. They could make his life hell through any number of overt and covert acts of passive aggressive behavior. Many were friends with Herod. 
2. He could disappoint his boss. One way or another, Jesus was a trouble maker. Rome wanted continued submissive income from Israel, not a martyr and civil unrest.
3. He could disappoint his wife. She told him to have nothing to do with this man (Matt. 27:19)
4. He could disappoint Jesus.

In the interests of self-preservation, he disappointed the person who he felt really didn't matter for his happiness. He didn't worry about what was true, but whether the lie was comfortable. 

The truth about ourselves and about Jesus is uncomfortable, because it requires re-orienting away from self and comfort. So we, like Pilate, so often choose the comfortable lie.

Colossians 1:9-23: Why Do What God Wants?

For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you. We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives, so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light. For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.

Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation—if you continue in your faith, established and firm, and do not move from the hope held out in the gospel. This is the gospel that you heard and that has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven, and of which I, Paul, have become a servant. - Colossians 1:9-23

Why would I want to know God's will for my life? Well, Paul gives two reasons: So that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way. That is: that we could live the kind of life that matches God's own reputation if he lived it and that it makes him smile. How do we do that: four ways: 

1. Bearing fruit in every good work. God grows his own reputation when good actions lead to good results: changed lives.
2. Growing in the knowledge of God, We are following God. He is always on the move. So if we want to know him actively and not stalely then we have to move to keep up. That moving is the growth, reaching up toward him. 
3. Being strengthened with all power. The purpose is for endurance and patience, both of which imply a stick-to-it-iveness that comes from his power.  
4. Giving joyful thanks. We are qualified because God wanted us to have a part in his kingdom.

God's will leads to living for God in good works, knowledge, strength and thanks.

Ruth 2:1-13: The Wings of Refuge

Now Naomi had a relative on her husband’s side, a man of standing from the clan of Elimelek, whose name was Boaz.

And Ruth the Moabite said to Naomi, “Let me go to the fields and pick up the leftover grain behind anyone in whose eyes I find favor.”

Naomi said to her, “Go ahead, my daughter.” So she went out, entered a field and began to glean behind the harvesters. As it turned out, she was working in a field belonging to Boaz, who was from the clan of Elimelek.

Just then Boaz arrived from Bethlehem and greeted the harvesters, “The Lord be with you!”

“The Lord bless you!” they answered.

Boaz asked the overseer of his harvesters, “Who does that young woman belong to?”

The overseer replied, “She is the Moabite who came back from Moab with Naomi. She said, ‘Please let me glean and gather among the sheaves behind the harvesters.’ She came into the field and has remained here from morning till now, except for a short rest in the shelter.”

So Boaz said to Ruth, “My daughter, listen to me. Don’t go and glean in another field and don’t go away from here. Stay here with the women who work for me. Watch the field where the men are harvesting, and follow along after the women. I have told the men not to lay a hand on you. And whenever you are thirsty, go and get a drink from the water jars the men have filled.”

At this, she bowed down with her face to the ground. She asked him, “Why have I found such favor in your eyes that you notice me—a foreigner?”

Boaz replied, “I’ve been told all about what you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband—how you left your father and mother and your homeland and came to live with a people you did not know before. May the Lord repay you for what you have done. May you be richly rewarded by the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge.”

“May I continue to find favor in your eyes, my lord,” she said. “You have put me at ease by speaking kindly to your servant—though I do not have the standing of one of your servants.” - Ruth 2:1-13

I have spent the last week as a foreigner-different ethnicity, nationality, customs and language. In that sense, I am like Ruth, but unlike her I don't fear the same level of rejection. I can pay for welcome with money and I can barter with my special knowledge for acceptance. Neither of these was available to Ruth. 

She was a woman without the protection of a family-her father's family was far away, her husband and father-in-law were dead. That made her vulnerable with no recourse, something that Boaz was acutely aware of when he said that he told his men not to touch her. 

She was a foreigner, brought up in an outsider culture and religion. Israel had an antagonistic relationship with the nations around, with seasonal wars and raiding. They were always suspect of leading the Israelites astray. 

She was poor. There was no family. No land. No flocks. No business. Naomi's family had become refugees in the first place because Israel had been experiencing famine. The prospects had not been good even before and they had, in returning, had none. They had given up on their family before, or their family had given on them. That is why Naomi described her own attitude as bitter in the previous chapter. They could just scrape by because Ruth was healthy enough to glean in last place among the gleaners.  

What did she have? A relationship with Naomi. It is never fully spelled out, but Ruth had changed her identity. Boaz mentions that she left her father, mother and homeland. Ruth protested to Naomi that her people and her God would be hers as well. Something had already happened in Ruth's life either to sever her relationship at home or to glue her to her new relationships with Ruth's family or both. Boaz didn't get her and Ruth didn't get him. But Boaz recognized what she had done and acted in the same direction he felt that God would act: refuge. 

I think that is one of the best reasons to be interested in someone: when you can recognize them acting as the best version of themselves. It may be masked, hidden, obscured, but love may be kindled by the rare glimpse of that unique goodness.

1 Peter 3:8-12: The Echo Chamber of Recrimination

Finally, all of you, be like-minded, be sympathetic, love one another, be compassionate and humble. Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult. On the contrary, repay evil with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing. For, “Whoever would love life and see good days must keep their tongue from evil and their lips from deceitful speech. They must turn from evil and do good; they must seek peace and pursue it. For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their prayer, but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil."  - 1 Peter 3:8-12

Sometimes we think that we learn the proper response by watching what is done to us. For example, when I want to know what my wife considers loving in conversation, I watch what she says to me and then try to echo that tone back to her, both for encouragement and censure. Except that this doesn't work. I'm not sure exactly why, but I think it may be that if we try this approach with each other we end up with the amplification of an echo chamber and both our ears hurt.

Peter says the same here: don't repay evil with evil and insult with insult. That is: the way we learn to respond should not be learned from the way that we are spoken or or acted toward? Why? Because it an echo chamber which rapidly spirals down into the anti-fruit of the spirit: hate, anger, malice, rage and slander. The way that you cancel out a certain sound is by introducing another sound the is exactly out of phase with it. I think that the same is true of response to the bad: a response of blessing is 180 degrees out of phase from the original evil and cancels out and leaves peace. If we repay good for evil, it changes the conversation from one that escalates to one that de-escalates. When Jesus said "Blessed are the peacemakers..." (Matt. 5:9) I think this is what he had in mind and why Peter says that we "may inherit a blessing." What is the blessing that Jesus mentions? That we might be called children of God. That's a blessing I want.

Isaiah 57:14-21: Greed For The Wrong Things

And it will be said: “Build up, build up, prepare the road! Remove the obstacles out of the way of my people.”

For this is what the high and exalted One says—he who lives forever, whose name is holy: “I live in a high and holy place, but also with the one who is contrite and lowly in spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite. I will not accuse them forever, nor will I always be angry, for then they would faint away because of me—the very people I have created. I was enraged by their sinful greed; I punished them, and hid my face in anger, yet they kept on in their willful ways. I have seen their ways, but I will heal them; I will guide them and restore comfort to Israel’s mourners, creating praise on their lips. Peace, peace, to those far and near,” says the Lord. "And I will heal them.” 

But the wicked are like the tossing sea, which cannot rest, whose waves cast up mire and mud. “There is no peace,” says my God, “for the wicked.” - Isaiah 57:14-21

Greed is never satisfied-always wanting more-but it is a destructive habit. The idea that the one thing-the one goal, the one win, the one relationship-will bring me what I want and ease the sense of lack that I feel is a lie. But because it stops the clamor for a short while, I seek to perpetually stockpile a supply of that one thing and rest secure that my happiness is assured. That is greed. 

God knows that this false longing does to our soul, how destructive it is. It casts "up mire and mud" and leaves "no peace" It is toxic because we were never meant to fill that longing with a "what" but with a "who". When he sees those things pretending to be the answer to that which we most desire, he is angry. 

What is the best course for someone hooked on the drug of the insubstantial and momentary? I don't know. God himself tried many remedies for the people of Israel, but few seem to have worked, at least not for any amount of time. The punishment could not be such that it destroyed the very ones whom he loved.

I'm not sure what the solution is, because my own greed-for significance, for being right, for being secure-is a recurring theme. I think sometimes I can only pray the same prayer I prayed as a college student, "Lord, change me gently. I am weak and I am not sure I can take the breaking, so I will suffer with the slow, unsatisfying progress of someone who grows slowly." As the psalm says, "As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him; for he knows how we are formed, he remembers that we are dust." (Ps. 103:13-14)

1 Timothy 6:1-19: Content to Descend into Godliness?

All who are under the yoke of slavery should consider their masters worthy of full respect, so that God’s name and our teaching may not be slandered. Those who have believing masters should not show them disrespect just because they are fellow believers. Instead, they should serve them even better because their masters are dear to them as fellow believers and are devoted to the welfare of their slaves.

These are the things you are to teach and insist on. If anyone teaches otherwise and does not agree to the sound instruction of our Lord Jesus Christ and to godly teaching, they are conceited and understand nothing. They have an unhealthy interest in controversies and quarrels about words that result in envy, strife, malicious talk, evil suspicions and constant friction between people of corrupt mind, who have been robbed of the truth and who think that godliness is a means to financial gain.

But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.

But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness. Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses. In the sight of God, who gives life to everything, and of Christ Jesus, who while testifying before Pontius Pilate made the good confession, I charge you to keep this command without spot or blame until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, which God will bring about in his own time—God, the blessed and only Ruler, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone is immortal and who lives in unapproachable light, whom no one has seen or can see. To him be honor and might forever. Amen.

Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life. - 1 Timothy 6:1-19 

 I think that one of the most difficult transitions in life is for someone who has stuff to live with less stuff. There is a myth of progress in the Christian world that says that each stage in life should lead to both greater godliness and greater comfort. If there is a step backward in the comfort department then it leads to a crisis of confidence because we lose all sense of what it means to be godly if the other areas are falling apart. We don't say it. We don't admit it, because to do so would be to look crass and materialistic. I like to use the thought experiment: what if I had to give up my car and buy and old beater to drive around and give up my house and live in a small rented place-what would I say to my friends? Could I face them? And how would I feel about myself? Could I feel confident? Could I say, as Paul did, "But godliness with contentment is great gain." and "If we have food and clothing, we will be content with that." Could I be content to descend into godliness? I don't know. I haven't been asked that question by God and I'm afraid how I would truly answer that question.

Guided Prayer from the Beatitudes

(first used at Oak Hills Church on 9 September 2022)

Introduction

Jesus taught us to pray "your kingdom come, your will be done" because, although it was all around us, we aren't prepared for the ramifications of the upside-down ethic of God's kingdom. 

From our first breath, we learn to start building up our own kingdom of self - protecting it, reinforcing it, gaining allies for it - all for ourselves. But the kingdom of God, which overlays this world, takes ordinary people, ordinary places and ordinary circumstances and gives them eternal significance. Do we have the eyes to see? Or is our vision clouded by self, measuring every photograph, every memory, every relationship, every task by how it makes us look? [Are we content to sit around and pick blackberries from a bush that is actually aflame with the holy presence of God?]

This evening, we will take some time to pray through the Beatitudes (from the book of Matthew, chapter 5), which are all about Jesus' summary of the kingdom life-savor it and how contrary it is to our normal way of thinking

For each of the beatitudes, we will read the first half together and I will ask you to think of someone in your life who is described by the verse-some you know or someone you know of--and pray this blessing over them--agreeing with Jesus that they are indeed blessed. 

Then we will read each beatitude again, together, and conclude each with "Amen"-the word that in the Bible signals our agreement with God.

Readings

LEADER: Read with me.

ALL:  Blessed are the poor in spirit.  

LEADER: Think of someone who seems beaten up and pushed down by their situation in this world. Pray for them silently. (wait) Now read this blessing with me.

ALL:  Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Amen.

LEADER: Read with me.

ALL:  Blessed are those who mourn.

LEADER: Think of someone is living with the loss of someone who walked with them in life. Pray for them silently. (wait) Now read this blessing with me.

ALL:  Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. Amen

LEADER: Read with me.

ALL:  Blessed are the meek, 

LEADER: Think of someone is often easily intimidated and pushed around by the forces around them in this world. Pray for them silently. (wait) Now read this blessing with me.

ALL:  Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.  Amen

LEADER: Read with me.

ALL:  Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness.

LEADER: Think of someone who is frustrated with the way things are and longs for the way things ought to be. Pray for them silently. (wait) Now read this blessing with me.

ALL:  Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. Amen

LEADER: Read with me.

ALL:  Blessed are the merciful.

LEADER: Think of someone who seems able to extend grace, even when undeserved. Pray for them silently. (wait) Now read this blessing with me.

ALL:  Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. Amen

LEADER: Read with me.

ALL:  Blessed are the pure in heart. 

LEADER: Think of someone who seems genuine and innocent of deception, even in the face of manipulation and trickery. Pray for them silently. (wait) Now read this blessing with me.

ALL: Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. Amen

LEADER: Read with me.

ALL:  Blessed are the peacemakers.

LEADER: Think of someone who always tries to bring people together instead of splitting them apart. Pray for them silently. (wait) Now read this blessing with me.

ALL:  Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. Amen

LEADER: Read with me.

ALL:  Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness.

LEADER: Think of someone living with the consequences of doing the right thing. Pray for them silently. (wait) Now read this blessing with me.

ALL:          Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Amen

The Lord’s Prayer

Let us all ask God to re-orient our hearts toward the life that Jesus called blessed by praying the Lord's prayer together. 

ALL:  

Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, 

your kingdom come, your will be done, 

on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us today our daily bread 

and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.

And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.

For yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen

Luke 12:1-21: Is My Motive Just Or Just Greedy?

Meanwhile, when a crowd of many thousands had gathered, so that they were trampling on one another, Jesus began to speak first to his disciples, saying: “Be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. There is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known. What you have said in the dark will be heard in the daylight, and what you have whispered in the ear in the inner rooms will be proclaimed from the roofs.

“I tell you, my friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that can do no more. But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear him who, after your body has been killed, has authority to throw you into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him. Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten by God. Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.

“I tell you, whoever publicly acknowledges me before others, the Son of Man will also acknowledge before the angels of God. But whoever disowns me before others will be disowned before the angels of God.  And everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but anyone who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven.

“When you are brought before synagogues, rulers and authorities, do not worry about how you will defend yourselves or what you will say, for the Holy Spirit will teach you at that time what you should say.”

Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.”

Jesus replied, “Man, who appointed me a judge or an arbiter between you?” Then he said to them, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.”

And he told them this parable: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded an abundant harvest. He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’

“Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store my surplus grain. And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.”’

“But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’

“This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God.” - Luke 12:1-21

Jesus was a traffic hazard. Walking through the crowds for him was like those scenes in movies where some important person tries to get from a door to the car, with microphones attentive, cameras peering and flashes highlighting his entire path. And always voices calling out and asking his opinion, but often just to satisfy themselves that he would reinforce opinions that they themselves were previously convinced of. 

Such was the case when someone in the crowd asked Jesus to "tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me." Why did ask Jesus when you already know the answer? Because they wanted to be publicly validated in the rightness of their claim. So Jesus doesn't give a direct answer, because a direct answer would be a wrong one. Instead he speaks to the crowd and warns them about not the correctness of the claim, but of the motive for seeking the claim. It wasn't related to justice--the right thing--, it was related to the unquenchable to have more than his brother.

Under the guise of justice, this person was greedy.

What will I do when God says something to me? Will I seek for an interpretation which allows me to convince myself that Jesus shares the opinion I have already formed? Or will I allow him to challenge even the most brilliant of conclusions? And will I let him challenge my motives in concluding as I did?

That is the question I should ask.

 

1 Kings 17: When You Think You Have Arrived

Now Elijah the Tishbite, from Tishbe in Gilead, said to Ahab, “As the Lord, the God of Israel, lives, whom I serve, there will be neither dew nor rain in the next few years except at my word.”

Then the word of the Lord came to Elijah: “Leave here, turn eastward and hide in the Kerith Ravine, east of the Jordan. You will drink from the brook, and I have directed the ravens to supply you with food there.”

So he did what the Lord had told him. He went to the Kerith Ravine, east of the Jordan, and stayed there. The ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning and bread and meat in the evening, and he drank from the brook.

Some time later the brook dried up because there had been no rain in the land. Then the word of the Lord came to him: “Go at once to Zarephath in the region of Sidon and stay there. I have directed a widow there to supply you with food.” So he went to Zarephath. When he came to the town gate, a widow was there gathering sticks. He called to her and asked, “Would you bring me a little water in a jar so I may have a drink?” As she was going to get it, he called, “And bring me, please, a piece of bread.”

“As surely as the Lord your God lives,” she replied, “I don’t have any bread—only a handful of flour in a jar and a little olive oil in a jug. I am gathering a few sticks to take home and make a meal for myself and my son, that we may eat it—and die.”

Elijah said to her, “Don’t be afraid. Go home and do as you have said. But first make a small loaf of bread for me from what you have and bring it to me, and then make something for yourself and your son. For this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘The jar of flour will not be used up and the jug of oil will not run dry until the day the Lord sends rain on the land.’”

She went away and did as Elijah had told her. So there was food every day for Elijah and for the woman and her family. For the jar of flour was not used up and the jug of oil did not run dry, in keeping with the word of the Lord spoken by Elijah.

Some time later the son of the woman who owned the house became ill. He grew worse and worse, and finally stopped breathing. She said to Elijah, “What do you have against me, man of God? Did you come to remind me of my sin and kill my son?”

“Give me your son,” Elijah replied. He took him from her arms, carried him to the upper room where he was staying, and laid him on his bed. Then he cried out to the Lord, “Lord my God, have you brought tragedy even on this widow I am staying with, by causing her son to die?” Then he stretched himself out on the boy three times and cried out to the Lord, “Lord my God, let this boy’s life return to him!”

The Lord heard Elijah’s cry, and the boy’s life returned to him, and he lived. Elijah picked up the child and carried him down from the room into the house. He gave him to his mother and said, “Look, your son is alive!”

Then the woman said to Elijah, “Now I know that you are a man of God and that the word of the Lord from your mouth is the truth.” - 1 Kings 17

I guess the moral of this chapter is 'don't limit the ways God will provide.' Nothing in Elijah's plan for the future included "get feed by carrion birds" or "ask for handouts from a single mother with a kid in a foreign country" Nothing in the widow's life plan said, your husband will die, you will be desperate but daily food will come by miraculous handouts from a foreigner's God, your son will become deathly ill but life will come by miraculous healing from God.

I think this tells me not put conditions on where my life is going, because God will test that plan, to see if I am relying on it or on God. Elijah may have been thinking: 'this is my test' and I will prove my dependence on God and everything from now on will be smooth. He had a plan about how his future career would look. He thought he had it figured out. But God had more: Mt. Carmel and fire from heaven, living on the run from Jezebel in desperation and meeting Elisha. 

I'm 54. I think I've got life mapped out from now on. But this chapter says: don't be presumptous, God has more.

Luke 6:27-36: How to Learn Mercy?

“But to you who are listening I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. If someone slaps you on one cheek, turn to them the other also. If someone takes your coat, do not withhold your shirt from them. Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back. Do to others as you would have them do to you.

“If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do that. And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, expecting to be repaid in full. But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. - Luke 6:27-36

What does it mean to be godly? It means to have the character of God. What does the character of God look like? Merciful. What is mercy? It means giving good when what you receive time and time again is evil.  How do we learn mercy? By doing good to those don't do good to us and still loving them. "He is kind to the ungrateful and wicked." 

1 John 2:1-14: What Use Is A Staking A Paper Claim

My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.

We know that we have come to know him if we keep his commands. Whoever says, “I know him,” but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in that person. But if anyone obeys his word, love for God is truly made complete in them. This is how we know we are in him: Whoever claims to live in him must live as Jesus did.

Dear friends, I am not writing you a new command but an old one, which you have had since the beginning. This old command is the message you have heard. Yet I am writing you a new command; its truth is seen in him and in you, because the darkness is passing and the true light is already shining.

Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates a brother or sister is still in the darkness. Anyone who loves their brother and sister lives in the light, and there is nothing in them to make them stumble. But anyone who hates a brother or sister is in the darkness and walks around in the darkness. They do not know where they are going, because the darkness has blinded them.

I am writing to you, dear children, because your sins have been forgiven on account of his name.

I am writing to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning.

I am writing to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one.

I write to you, dear children, because you know the Father.

I write to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning.

I write to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God lives in you, and you have overcome the evil one. - 1 John 2:1-14

In the hills of El Dorado County, you could stake a claim for gold. The claim was filed with the county for up to a certain amount of land and the claim gave the miner the rights to all of the gold found in that area. Then the miner would go and drive stakes into the ground at each corner of their claim to let everyone know the boundaries of their claim: they literally "staked their claim" But the miner, all properly staked and filed, never drew any benefit from that claim until they did the hard work of actually digging for gold. They might even fight to defend their territory and exclude all others from its benefits, but the hard work of mining was required to "claim" the gold.

John was writing to people who had heard all about wispy claims of loving Jesus with their whole heard and loving their neighbor as themselves. They might even protest loudly and argue with their claims about how it was good and right and proper to do these things. But they never did the hard work of living like Jesus did and loving their brother and sister and therefore never struck gold.

And there is gold. There was forgiveness. There was knowing God. There was overcoming the devil. There was strength. But it is a only a paper claim-it is a barren, rocky soul-that will not try to get closer to the very Jesus who saved us and the very people for whom he gave his everything.

Acts 10:34-43: The Truth of God Used To Keep People Out Of The Kingdom

Then Peter began to speak: “I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism but accepts from every nation the one who fears him and does what is right. You know the message God sent to the people of Israel, announcing the good news of peace through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all. You know what has happened throughout the province of Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John preached—how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and how he went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was with him.

“We are witnesses of everything he did in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They killed him by hanging him on a cross, but God raised him from the dead on the third day and caused him to be seen. He was not seen by all the people, but by witnesses whom God had already chosen—by us who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one whom God appointed as judge of the living and the dead. All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.” - Acts 10:34-43

It is interesting to me the way that Peter describes Jesus, not in terms of the Jewish law or prophets, but in terms of the more universal expectations about God, the enemy of God (the devil), the mediator between God and man (Jesus), God's prophets, the God's justice, and forgiveness for offenses against God. In the wider pluralistic society of the Roman empire, these were ideas that were floating around. There were lots of gods and there were lots of prophets and special holy men. Each country and ethnic group had theirs. Their own laws and rituals and divine origin story that made them and theirs special over against all other peoples. So Peter was speaking language that the religious of any Mediterranean culture would have recognized.

In Cornelius' house, Peter finally grasped something that God had been trying teach since the early chapters of Genesis: God was the god of all peoples and he showed it in Jesus. It was a revolution. God's special people came out and said that their God didn't like his "special" people over any other group. "Everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins." It was a lesson that Peter himself was going to have to learn multiple times during his stint as the leader of the church, because God's people have always believed that their special insight into God's character and purposes gave them the right to dictate that to others. I have often believed that, because I have tried to gain inside into God and, having found some nugget, have felt myself qualified to speak. The very truth of God is used as a barrier to keep others out. Thus, I have to learn multiple times in my time as a disciple.

Psalm 114: Can You Imagine The After?

When Israel came out of Egypt, Jacob from a people of foreign tongue, Judah became God’s sanctuary, Israel his dominion.

The sea looked and fled, the Jordan turned back; the mountains leaped like rams, the hills like lambs. Why was it, sea, that you fled? Why, Jordan, did you turn back? Why, mountains, did you leap like rams, you hills, like lambs?

Tremble, earth, at the presence of the Lord, at the presence of the God of Jacob, who turned the rock into a pool, the hard rock into springs of water.  - Psalm 114

Sometimes when we look at the before and after of a situation, it is hard to imagine how it ever happened. When you go to a beautiful city park, full of trees and families celebrating birthdays and baseball games and then someone tells you it was once the city dump. Or when you see the wasteland of scrub and rocks and sand and then you find out it was once an Eden-like paradise. Most of the time, we don't see the inflection point-that moment where the landscape took on new shape and new prospects. 

In this psalm, the author has the privilege of seeing both the before and after: Israel went from under the control of a foreign power to under God's control. The hillside in the desert changed from a "hard rock" into "springs of water". The point is that when looking at the before, no one could have imagined the after.

That's not to say that the transition was gentle: the sea and river, mountains and hills ran away. But God's plan was not limited by 'difficult'. If we look at the impossible in this world, the situations and people who seem never to change, our imagination can conceive of a different, better reality, if we let it not be squashed by  the thought 'it can't happen'. The only question is: is that what God will do? 

What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived” —the things God has prepared for those who love him— 1 Cor. 2:9

Exodus 19:1-9: Signs to Remember

On the first day of the third month after the Israelites left Egypt—on that very day—they came to the Desert of Sinai. After they set out from Rephidim, they entered the Desert of Sinai, and Israel camped there in the desert in front of the mountain.

Then Moses went up to God, and the Lord called to him from the mountain and said, “This is what you are to say to the descendants of Jacob and what you are to tell the people of Israel: ‘You yourselves have seen what I did to Egypt, and how I carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself. Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words you are to speak to the Israelites.”

So Moses went back and summoned the elders of the people and set before them all the words the Lord had commanded him to speak. The people all responded together, “We will do everything the Lord has said.” So Moses brought their answer back to the Lord.

The Lord said to Moses, “I am going to come to you in a dense cloud, so that the people will hear me speaking with you and will always put their trust in you.” Then Moses told the Lord what the people had said.

And the Lord said to Moses, “Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow. Have them wash their clothes and be ready by the third day, because on that day the Lord will come down on Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people. Put limits for the people around the mountain and tell them, ‘Be careful that you do not approach the mountain or touch the foot of it. Whoever touches the mountain is to be put to death. They are to be stoned or shot with arrows; not a hand is to be laid on them. No person or animal shall be permitted to live.’ Only when the ram’s horn sounds a long blast may they approach the mountain.”

After Moses had gone down the mountain to the people, he consecrated them, and they washed their clothes. Then he said to the people, “Prepare yourselves for the third day. Abstain from sexual relations.”

On the morning of the third day there was thunder and lightning, with a thick cloud over the mountain, and a very loud trumpet blast. Everyone in the camp trembled. Then Moses led the people out of the camp to meet with God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain. Mount Sinai was covered with smoke, because the Lord descended on it in fire. The smoke billowed up from it like smoke from a furnace, and the whole mountain trembled violently. As the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder, Moses spoke and the voice of God answered him - Exodus 19:1-19

According to the timeline at the start of this chapter, we are only 90 days into this desert experiment and the Israelites have had doubts. When they first camped at Rephidim, there wasn't enough water for the flocks, there were dangerous people attacking them, the administration of the fledgling nation was a mess and the leadership (Moses) was having a crisis of confidence.

Now, they are preparing to head out from Rephidim toward Sinai. In many ways, the doubts that people were having were doubts in God. Grumbling was just a symptom that was given voice in their complaints. I think that it was particularly difficult because God was invisible. God talked to Moses and Moses talked to the people. But what if God wasn't really there? If it was all just a magic show and Moses was just making things up? How could the people have confidence, not just in Moses, but in God directly? 

So before this next step, God brought the people to the mountain. There they saw lightning and the clouds and the smoke and they heard the thunder and the loud trumpet blasts. And they saw Most speak and God answer. 

I think we have a similar problem with God. He is invisible. We don't talk to him like we talk to other people. We talk and then we have to read tea leaves to figure out what his answer was. How do we know that we are actually seeing God at work and not just misreading the muck at the bottom of the tea cup? How do we know that the people and circumstances that are purported to be "of God" are really "of God"? It is a tough problem. 

But maybe God listens to our complaining the way he listened to the people's complaiing, realizing that we are weak and prone to doubts and he will take a few opportuninties - not a lot, a few - to speak in such a way as to me unmistakable - the lightning and thunder and trumpets of here and Hebrews 12 - to let us know that we are believing in the right direction. And then he expects us to remember that direction and not start doubting again. Let God lead, let God show you that he's leading and then follow without looking over their shoulder. 

 

Matthew 23:1-36: The Law Is Not About Winning

Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples: “The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. So you must be careful to do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach. They tie up heavy, cumbersome loads and put them on other people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them.

“Everything they do is done for people to see: They make their phylacteries wide and the tassels on their garments long; they love the place of honor at banquets and the most important seats in the synagogues; they love to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces and to be called ‘Rabbi’ by others.

“But you are not to be called ‘Rabbi,’ for you have one Teacher, and you are all brothers. And do not call anyone on earth ‘father,’ for you have one Father, and he is in heaven. Nor are you to be called instructors, for you have one Instructor, the Messiah. The greatest among you will be your servant. For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.

“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the door of the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to. 

“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and when you have succeeded, you make them twice as much a child of hell as you are.

“Woe to you, blind guides! You say, ‘If anyone swears by the temple, it means nothing; but anyone who swears by the gold of the temple is bound by that oath.’ You blind fools! Which is greater: the gold, or the temple that makes the gold sacred? You also say, ‘If anyone swears by the altar, it means nothing; but anyone who swears by the gift on the altar is bound by that oath.’ You blind men! Which is greater: the gift, or the altar that makes the gift sacred? Therefore, anyone who swears by the altar swears by it and by everything on it. And anyone who swears by the temple swears by it and by the one who dwells in it. And anyone who swears by heaven swears by God’s throne and by the one who sits on it.

“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former. You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel.

“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean.

“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean. In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.

“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You build tombs for the prophets and decorate the graves of the righteous. And you say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our ancestors, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’ So you testify against yourselves that you are the descendants of those who murdered the prophets. Go ahead, then, and complete what your ancestors started!

“You snakes! You brood of vipers! How will you escape being condemned to hell? Therefore I am sending you prophets and sages and teachers. Some of them you will kill and crucify; others you will flog in your synagogues and pursue from town to town. And so upon you will come all the righteous blood that has been shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah son of Berekiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar. Truly I tell you, all this will come on this generation. - Matthew 23:1-36

"You shut the door of the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to." (Matt. 23:13b) For some of Jesus' contemporaries, the Law had nothing to do with a relationship with God. The Law was a way to exercise control by changing the game. 

What does that mean? It is like the geek in high school who finds that he cannot compete with the quarterback of the football team for physical prowess or popularity. So the geek changes the game so that it is about computers or sci-fi or the academic decathlon. If you can't win the game that they are winning, then change to a new game and heap ridicule on those who play the old game.

That's what the Pharisees were doing. They couldn't beat the Romans or their cronies, the Herodians, for power. They couldn't beat the Sadducees or the temple priests for religious legitimacy. They couldn't beat the Essenes for strictness or the Zealots for passion. But the Pharisees had the Law. They were masters of its intricacies . They delighted in tripping up the purest or holiest of people and finding clever loopholes with the rules, racking up points over the other teams, even if no one else was keeping score.

But they forgot God. The Law was never useful for showing our righteous victory over others or rising in the rankings of the saints. Twisting it like that makes God into a score-keeping goalie, intent on limiting the success to only the worthy. Instead, the Law showed a God who longed for a people whose heart beat faster for the things in which he delighted. Only God wins. We have to lose. Jesus said, "Whoever finds their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life for my sake will find it." (Matt. 10:39)

Hebrews 12:14-29: Holiness is a today and tomorrow choice, not a fond recollection of yesterday

Make every effort to live in peace with everyone and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord. See to it that no one falls short of the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many. See that no one is sexually immoral, or is godless like Esau, who for a single meal sold his inheritance rights as the oldest son. Afterward, as you know, when he wanted to inherit this blessing, he was rejected. Even though he sought the blessing with tears, he could not change what he had done.

You have not come to a mountain that can be touched and that is burning with fire; to darkness, gloom and storm; to a trumpet blast or to such a voice speaking words that those who heard it begged that no further word be spoken to them, because they could not bear what was commanded: “If even an animal touches the mountain, it must be stoned to death.” The sight was so terrifying that Moses said, “I am trembling with fear.”

But you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem. You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly, to the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God, the Judge of all, to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.

See to it that you do not refuse him who speaks. If they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, how much less will we, if we turn away from him who warns us from heaven? At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, “Once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens.” The words “once more” indicate the removing of what can be shaken—that is, created things—so that what cannot be shaken may remain.

Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our “God is a consuming fire.” - Hebrews 12:14-29

The holiness of God is always in front of us. There were people who look backwards for "the experience of God" and see that as the turning point in their lives. Indeed, many of the psalms and prophets recount how impressive God's actions in the lives of Israel were. But they also record how Israel is not acting like Israel. The impressive miracles of the past are just that: in the past.

But here, the author of Hebrews reminds us that what defines holiness is not reliance on what happened but on will happen. Holiness is a today and tomorrow choice, not a fond recollection of yesterday. And it is not an attribute of God that leads to diminishing returns, like a candy bar whose second bite is less tasty that the first. God increases with familiarity, unlike nearly all other stimuli that we experience, because he is a living God, a consuming fire.

Luke 22:14-30: Ambitions To Be Just Like Them, or Like Me?

When the hour came, Jesus and his apostles reclined at the table. And he said to them, “I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. For I tell you, I will not eat it again until it finds fulfillment in the kingdom of God.”

After taking the cup, he gave thanks and said, “Take this and divide it among you. For I tell you I will not drink again from the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.”

And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me.”

In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you. But the hand of him who is going to betray me is with mine on the table. The Son of Man will go as it has been decreed. But woe to that man who betrays him!” They began to question among themselves which of them it might be who would do this.

A dispute also arose among them as to which of them was considered to be greatest. Jesus said to them, “The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them; and those who exercise authority over them call themselves Benefactors. But you are not to be like that. Instead, the greatest among you should be like the youngest, and the one who rules like the one who serves. For who is greater, the one who is at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one who is at the table? But I am among you as one who serves. You are those who have stood by me in my trials. And I confer on you a kingdom, just as my Father conferred one on me, so that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom and sit on thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.  - Luke 22:14-30

Jesus told all his disciples at that last supper, "I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you..." Each of them received the cup of wine and the bread from Jesus' hands. Jesus tells them how much he wanted to be with all of them. In another passage, he goes on to strip off his outer clothing and washes all of their feet.

The disciples can sense that something is happening, but they don't really know what it is. Jesus has just healed Lazarus, a miracle which has garnered all sorts of attention. Jesus has been speaking more directly to them with fewer riddles. They have concluded that the next big act in Jesus' ministry about to begin. But ambition has seeped into their souls.

We have a tendency to put a score card over each person's head. We always have top marks on our internal report card or, if not top marks, then we have a strong asterisk describing the extenuating circumstances that have prevented us from achieving our best. So the disciples are taking a survey to see who might have missed the good mark and how the rankings may have been affected

First, they do a group check to see who are the faithful and who is the traitor.

Second, they start to rank each other based on perceived closeness to Jesus. 

Jesus looks around at them, all scrambling for his approval all the while losing it. He says, "The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them; and those who exercise authority over them call themselves Benefactors. But you are not to be like that."

Here is the kingdom of God. you hate the cruel Romans. You think the high priests are crooks. But your actions show that, even if you were to toss them all our on their collective ears, you would just replace them with your cruel and crooked selves. Is your aim really just to take their place at the top of the manure pile? Or have you really changed? I am one among you who serves. Who will you be?

We pretend that we are ambitious for all the right reasons. But Jesus is looking for someone who is willing to descend into a greatness conferred, not by his virtue, but by God's grace.

1 Chronicles 29:10-22: What To Give God, Who Has Everything?

David praised the Lord in the presence of the whole assembly, saying, “Praise be to you, Lord, the God of our father Israel, from everlasting to everlasting. Yours, Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty and the splendor, for everything in heaven and earth is yours.  Yours, Lord, is the kingdom; you are exalted as head over all. Wealth and honor come from you; you are the ruler of all things. In your hands are strength and power to exalt and give strength to all. Now, our God, we give you thanks, and praise your glorious name.

“But who am I, and who are my people, that we should be able to give as generously as this? Everything comes from you, and we have given you only what comes from your hand. We are foreigners and strangers in your sight, as were all our ancestors. Our days on earth are like a shadow, without hope. Lord our God, all this abundance that we have provided for building you a temple for your Holy Name comes from your hand, and all of it belongs to you. I know, my God, that you test the heart and are pleased with integrity. All these things I have given willingly and with honest intent. And now I have seen with joy how willingly your people who are here have given to you. Lord, the God of our fathers Abraham, Isaac and Israel, keep these desires and thoughts in the hearts of your people forever, and keep their hearts loyal to you. And give my son Solomon the wholehearted devotion to keep your commands, statutes and decrees and to do everything to build the palatial structure for which I have provided.”

Then David said to the whole assembly, “Praise the Lord your God.” So they all praised the Lord, the God of their fathers; they bowed down, prostrating themselves before the Lord and the king.

The next day they made sacrifices to the Lord and presented burnt offerings to him: a thousand bulls, a thousand rams and a thousand male lambs, together with their drink offerings, and other sacrifices in abundance for all Israel. They ate and drank with great joy in the presence of the Lord that day. - 1 Chronicles 29:10-22

What do you give to a God who has everything? What does he have need of buildings, offerings, words and praise? David must decide what he will say to God before the congregation of Israel who has contributed to the building of the temple. He can only really fall back on God knowing that the intentions of his choices and the intentions of the choices of the people were good. David says, "All these things I have given willingly and with honest intent. And now I have seen with joy how willingly your people who are here have given to you." It was really all he could give to a God who had everything. And it is really all were can give to a God who has everything: give generously from what God has given with honest and pure hearts.

As Paul said: "For who makes you different from anyone else? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not?" (1 Cor. 4:7)

Revelation 19:1-10: Waiting for Someone Worthy to Judge

After this I heard what sounded like the roar of a great multitude in heaven shouting: “Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God, for true and just are his judgments. He has condemned the great prostitute who corrupted the earth by her adulteries. He has avenged on her the blood of his servants.”

And again they shouted: “Hallelujah! The smoke from her goes up for ever and ever.”

The twenty-four elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God, who was seated on the throne. And they cried: “Amen, Hallelujah!”

Then a voice came from the throne, saying: “Praise our God, all you his servants, you who fear him, both great and small!”

Then I heard what sounded like a great multitude, like the roar of rushing waters and like loud peals of thunder, shouting: “Hallelujah! For our Lord God Almighty reigns. Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory! For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready. Fine linen, bright and clean, was given her to wear.” (Fine linen stands for the righteous acts of God’s holy people.)

Then the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb!” And he added, “These are the true words of God.”

At this I fell at his feet to worship him. But he said to me, “Don’t do that! I am a fellow servant with you and with your brothers and sisters who hold to the testimony of Jesus. Worship God! For it is the Spirit of prophecy who bears testimony to Jesus.” - Revelation 19:1-10

Sometimes saying "Yes" to one thing means saying a definite "No" to something or someone else. We hesitate to leave to God that which we are told to refrain from ourselves: namely judgment. Judgement in the Bible is not a sad occasion, it is the cause for swelling praises to God and the sussuration of the praise of multitudes. While we recognize the weakness of any human to render a verdict because of the many factors that limit us, these do not apply to God. Over and over again in the Bible, the writers call upon God to act in his capacity as judge to halt that which hurts flourishing. We need a judge who does not fail to act, but who also isn't swayed by the desires which lean us toward partiality. 

So when God judges in this chapter, the crowd erupts in praises. Judgment that has been deferred for so long and the celebration for which the entire crowd has been waiting can now begin. Will my heart rejoice in justice restored or worry about those who chose the unrepentant corrupt and oppressive course that led to the day.

2 Corinthians 5:16-21: Reconciliation on Our Relational Radar

So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. - 2 Corinthians 5:16-21

When two countries are in a state of war, the ambassador's job is difficult because every day brings new opportunities for aggravated injuries and misunderstandings. War ends and hostilities cease when each party finds the value of relationship with the other to be greater than sum of the grievances. That is reconciliation.

But maybe one side doesn't care about the relationship as much as they care about right or about being in control. Reconciliation is not on their relational radar. If we are with Christ, we have come to the point of surrendering. When we have surrendered but someone else has not, it creates an odd tension. "The old has gone, the new has come." We wonder why they haven't taken the step that we have. Are they foolish? Are they wicked? Are they slow? Our jobs as ambassadors is to understand this offer of reconciliation, the same offer that was a stumbling block for us. Literally, the job that Paul describes is as "servants" of reconciliation. If we forget the position where we started-far from God-then we run the risk of being more strict and unforgiving than God. 

Deuteronomy 7:6-14: He Loved Us Because He Wants To

For you are a people holy to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you out of all the peoples on the face of the earth to be his people, his treasured possession.

The Lord did not set his affection on you and choose you because you were more numerous than other peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples. But it was because the Lord loved you and kept the oath he swore to your ancestors that he brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the land of slavery, from the power of Pharaoh king of Egypt. Know therefore that the Lord your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commandments. But those who hate him he will repay to their face by destruction; he will not be slow to repay to their face those who hate him.

Therefore, take care to follow the commands, decrees and laws I give you today.

If you pay attention to these laws and are careful to follow them, then the Lord your God will keep his covenant of love with you, as he swore to your ancestors. He will love you and bless you and increase your numbers. He will bless the fruit of your womb, the crops of your land—your grain, new wine and olive oil—the calves of your herds and the lambs of your flocks in the land he swore to your ancestors to give you. You will be blessed more than any other people; none of your men or women will be childless, nor will any of your livestock be without young. - Deuteronomy 7:6-14

"But it was because the Lord loved you and kept the oath he swore..." This is the core message of the entire Old Testament.  Why did God do what he did? Because he loved us and did what he promised to do. Many times, the people of God thought they could buy or earn God's favor through sacrifices or obedience. But God's love was never because of us. Ever. We don't even appear in the equation of God's own motivation. "He is the faithful God."

His reasons for loving us and promising us and sticking with us comes from inside his character-who he is. I find that my reasons are not so pure, but I wish they were  

Romans 15:1-13: Helping Teaches Tangibly Our Weakness Before God

We who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak and not to please ourselves. Each of us should please our neighbors for their good, to build them up. For even Christ did not please himself but, as it is written: “The insults of those who insult you have fallen on me.” For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope.

May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you the same attitude of mind toward each other that Christ Jesus had, so that with one mind and one voice you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God. For I tell you that Christ has become a servant of the Jews on behalf of God’s truth, so that the promises made to the patriarchs might be confirmed and, moreover, that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy. As it is written: “Therefore I will praise you among the Gentiles; I will sing the praises of your name.”

Again, it says, “Rejoice, you Gentiles, with his people.”

And again, “Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles; let all the peoples extol him.”

And again, Isaiah says, “The Root of Jesse will spring up, one who will arise to rule over the nations; in him the Gentiles will hope.”

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. - Romans 15:1-13

This chapter starts with a pa-rinig. Something which is spoken as if a message about someone else, but is really a message about me, the reader. Yes, it is about how we should bear with the "failings of the weak" and how we should "not please ourselves." Sounds good. We have to mag-tiis with those who are weaker than us.

But in the next sentence, Paul shifts the object: we are no longer talking about "the weak" but rather about "our neighbors". Suddenly, "the weak" are now "our neighbors." This reminds us uncomfortably of the command to "love our neighbors as ourselves.", raising the weak to the same level as "us"

Then, the next sentence Paul shifts again, replacing the "us" and "them" with "Christ" and "us". Suddenly, "them" has become "us". We are the ones who are the weak. We are supposed to accept one another just as Christ managed to accept us. We are the weak.

In case we missed the subtle hinting, Paul drives it home with the Jews and Gentiles by quoting several verses where the Gentiles, who appreciate Israel's God, are praised. They who were far away are now close to God.

Before we call someone weak, remember that we are the weak to someone else-possibly to the very person we are called to help. We are all weak. Helping teaches tangibly how we appear before the Christ who saved.  

Matthew 10:1-10: Signs of Heaven Are Around If You're Willing to Look

Jesus called his twelve disciples to him and gave them authority to drive out impure spirits and to heal every disease and sickness.

These are the names of the twelve apostles: first, Simon (who is called Peter) and his brother Andrew; James son of Zebedee, and his brother John; Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; Simon the Zealot and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.

These twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions: “Do not go among the Gentiles or enter any town of the Samaritans. Go rather to the lost sheep of Israel. As you go, proclaim this message: ‘The kingdom of heaven has come near.’ Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received; freely give.

“Do not get any gold or silver or copper to take with you in your belts—no bag for the journey or extra shirt or sandals or a staff, for the worker is worth his keep. - Matthew 10:1-10

Jesus gave his disciples a clear message: 'The kingdom of heaven has come near.' He also gave a series of ways to show those who listened to his disciples that it was really true: 'Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons.' He also gave his disciples a clear attitude: 'Freely you have received; freely give.' 

I'm not sure if driving out demons is the way that people today would recognize that the kingdom had come near. God chooses his own signs, but God's signs always involve God doing what only God can do.  But signs are only visible to those who are looking. If I am not looking, then no sign will convince me of the presence of God. The road sign, 'Rest Area' is meant to give me advanced notice that there is a good place to stop and go to the restroom and stretch my legs. But if I am not looking for the sign of a 'Rest Area' I will never exit the highway soon enough. And why should I be looking if I am not feeling tired? Why should I be looking if I don't know the possibility of 'rest'? That is what the disciples proclaimed: heaven is around you if you are willing and interested to look. 

Isaiah 1:10-20: Serving Not to Be Served

Hear the word of the Lord, you rulers of Sodom; listen to the instruction of our God, you people of Gomorrah!

“The multitude of your sacrifices—what are they to me?” says the Lord. “I have more than enough of burnt offerings, of rams and the fat of fattened animals; I have no pleasure in the blood of bulls and lambs and goats. When you come to appear before me, who has asked this of you, this trampling of my courts? Stop bringing meaningless offerings! Your incense is detestable to me. New Moons, Sabbaths and convocations—I cannot bear your worthless assemblies. Your New Moon feasts and your appointed festivals I hate with all my being. They have become a burden to me; I am weary of bearing them. When you spread out your hands in prayer, I hide my eyes from you; even when you offer many prayers, I am not listening.

Wash and make yourselves clean. Take your evil deeds out of my sight; stop doing wrong. Learn to do right; seek justice. Defend the oppressed. Take up the cause of the fatherless; plead the case of the widow.

“Come now, let us settle the matter,” says the Lord. "Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool. If you are willing and obedient, you will eat the good things of the land; but if you resist and rebel, you will be devoured by the sword.” For the mouth of the Lord has spoken. - Isaiah 1:10-20

The religion of Isaiah's time was the religion of self-service. It had all of the trappings of religion: a god, a temple, sacrifices, festivals, worship services and holy days. Everyone gathered together, said the right words, used the correct names of god, made the proper gestures, sang the right songs and said the right prayers and brought the right offerings, but the god who they really worshiped as themselves. The temple was an edifice built for the worship of their own well-being. It must have distressed God to see people coming into a place that he had established, only to see them give their hearts and allegiance to such a pitiful deity. 

What should the one who really wants to find God do? They have to realize how much attention that their so-called worship of God has been worship of themselves and how weak and narcissistic and bad it is. It is like the one who realizes that the house where they have spent their life savings and committed to a 30-year mortgage only to realize it was a shack built on a nuclear waste site. Or the one who gets the car of their dreams and pledges to monthly payments only to find that underneath the flashy paint job is a chassis built of rust.  How pitiful. 

One test of our hearts is to learn why we do the things that we call good. Are they oriented toward God really? Be suspicious of our own motives. Do things for people who really give nothing back. Once we delight in that, we are still serving to be served. 

1 John 4: The Measuring Cup is to Love like Jesus. Do I?

Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world.

You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world. They are from the world and therefore speak from the viewpoint of the world, and the world listens to them. We are from God, and whoever knows God listens to us; but whoever is not from God does not listen to us. This is how we recognize the Spirit of truth and the spirit of falsehood.

Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.

This is how we know that we live in him and he in us: He has given us of his Spirit. And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in them and they in God. And so we know and rely on the love God has for us.

God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them. This is how love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment: In this world we are like Jesus. There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.

We love because he first loved us. Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen. And he has given us this command: Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister. - 1 John 4

"This is how love is made complete among us ... In this world we are like Jesus." When I pour out salt for a recipe, I check that the salt reaches the lip of the measuring spoon. Too much and I am saltier than I should be. Too little and I am tasteless. I know that I often don't measure up to the completeness that is Jesus. Some people must have an incredible imagination to think that their Jesus matches the attitudes that they express. I don't have that kind of creative imagination. But, as the song says, "Through some clever thinking and a strong imagination I could twist the truth into any configuration, find myself doing things that I never dreamed I could do" (CP, Almost Threw it All Away)

John doesn't let us off the hook: "Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar." I can come up with all sorts of linguistic gymnastics to say that what I am doing is not "hate", stating that my attitude is just a misdemeanor, not a "true" criminal offense. But I wonder, who am I lying to. Instead of admitting the truth of my sinful desire to hold on to my bad attitude. Instead of falling once more upon the mercy of God and grieving on it. Instead of working diligently against my own tendency to justify and never change. 

One day I will grow up. As Paul says

"I pray that you ... may have power to ... grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God" - Eph. 3:18b-19