The Church, Justice and Spiritual Maturity
Good Morning Friends,
As I am writing this morning a great horned owl is hooting in the dark and as I hear it I am convicted that this generation of which I am part does not feel as guilty about sin as we should. I would question if we had been charged with being Christians if there would be enough evidence in our thoughts, words, actions, attitudes, reactions, desires, relationships and culture to
convince anyone that we are?
Today we explore this process of our collective reasoning in faith, of our thinking, acting and feeling in ways that demonstrate our love of God and our love of our neighbors as a collective body. This devotion is about The Church,
Justice and Spiritual Maturity.
Scripture:
11When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; when I became an adult, I put an end to childish ways.
1 Corinthians 13:11 (NRSV)
If a man is righteous and does what is lawful and right— 7does not oppress anyone, but restores to the debtor his pledge, commits no robbery, gives his bread to the hungry and covers the naked with a garment, 8does not take advance or accrued interest, withholds his hand from iniquity, executes true justice between contending parties,
Ezekiel 18:5, 7-8a (NRSV)Top of FormBottom of Form
8He has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?
Micah 6:8 (NRSV)
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Then Jesus said to them, “Give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s.” And they were amazed at him. |
Mark 12:17 (NIV)
Message: It is time to grow up in love. Time to realize that responsibility comes with the gifts God gives us. It is time to realize that God expects us to do more than sit on a pew each week. His desire is for us to become useful vessels. We are to invest our gifts in kingdom service, realizing that those who risk nothing instead risk everything. Here God’s work and His Kingdom requires us to work as mature Christians to reach a lost world… to call for Justice and receive Peace in a world that is so broken. We are to invest in God making the most of our opportunities… using what God has given us for His glory. Here one can reason that our belief in God is born out of our fear of death and that this fear robs us of life unless we are somehow accepted by a God who is the author of life. One can reason that in believing we receive something that helps us to become better at living. One can reason that this all for the Christian hinges on the resurrection… that the execution of Jesus, the early accounts of the resurrection, the reality of the empty tomb and the eyewitnesses of a resurrected Christ lead us to believe. We can reason that only the truth of this amazing act of painful grace on the part of a God of love and wrath would create a movement that resulted in the church universal. But it is a matured faith that acts in love that helps us to realize that the justice of God is not born out of our reasoning judicial system but the grace of God. Friends we live in a culture that separates the government’s justice from God’s justice. And that is ok if we realize that it is not an either or proposition but an and/both situation. We are to render under the government but also to God.
Pray that our thinking process in is line with God’s true, pure, just, lovely, virtuous and praiseworthy plan. Pray we not be content with the shadows of justice. Pray that as our minds are renewed and our lives are transformed. Pray that the words we speak bring life and blessings to others, that we would meditate on them in our hearts and they would be found acceptable in the sight of the Lord. Pray that our works reveal a spiritual maturity rich in usefulness and fruitfulness. Pray that the desires of our hearts not be selfish but bring a more intimate understanding of His purpose for us. Pray we realize that if we are to walk with God we must seek His form of justice in addition to the justice of the state. Pray that we like Jesus have come to set the captives free…to challenge sin, evil, injustice and oppression. Pray our lives are filled with righteousness and justice. Pray we are never separated from God’s intention for us. Pray for those who hunger for freedom, dignity, equality and justice. Pray that this day we choose mercy even as we know the day of justice is coming. Pray we embrace the generous justice of God’s grace.
Blessings,
John Lawson
Daily Devotionals 