Do You Have The Right Friends?
Good Morning Friends,
The election of people to public offices is heating up in Mexico and in Haiti and even here and Florida and the thing is that it can get nasty and ugly. In these situations we often trust our families and friends. We trust our government in all sorts of ways too and the common element among family, friends and the government is that sometimes they fail our trust. Confidences are shattered, tears are shed, and feelings are hurt. In the book of Job, Eliphaz the Temanite, a friend of Job, tries to assure the suffering Job. And in one of the poet’s many comments to him, he shares today’s scripture. It is interesting that Yellow Cab Driver Apostle Willie-Whiting Jr. shared this scripture from the King James Version as he was driving my friend, who is running for office to the Capital Building in Tallahassee from the Airport earlier this week. Do You Have The Right Friends?
Scripture: 22Receive instruction from his mouth, and lay up his words in your heart.23 If you return to the Almighty,* you will be restored, if you remove unrighteousness from your tents,24 if you treat gold like dust, and gold of Ophir like the stones of the torrent-bed,25 and if the Almighty* is your gold and your precious silver,26 then you will delight in the Almighty,* and lift up your face to God.27 You will pray to him, and he will hear you, and you will pay your vows. 28 You will decide on a matter, and it will be established for you, and light will shine on your ways.
Job 22:22-28 (NRSV)
Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. I have sworn an oath and confirmed it, to observe your righteous ordinances. I am severely afflicted; give me life, O LORD, according to your word. Accept my offerings of praise, O LORD, and teach me your ordinances. I hold my life in my hand continually, but I do not forget your law. The wicked have laid a snare for me, but I do not stray from your precepts. Your decrees are my heritage forever; they are the joy of my heart. I incline my heart to perform your statutes forever, to the end.
Psalm 119:105-112 (NRSV)
15I do not call you servants* any longer, because the servant* does not know what the master is doing; but I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from my Father.
John 15:15 (NRSV)
But I say to you that listen, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. 29If anyone strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also; and from anyone who takes away your coat do not withhold even your shirt. 30Give to everyone who begs from you; and if anyone takes away your goods, do not ask for them again. 31Do to others as you would have them do to you. 32’If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. 33If you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. 34If you lend to those from whom you hope to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, to receive as much again. 35But love your enemies, do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return.* Your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High; for he is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked. 36Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.’
Luke 6:27-36 (NRSV)
Message: The thinkers of old Israel like the speaker in today’s scripture from Job were supremely serene and confident men, but they were not the best of friends. Still there is some wisdom in recognizing the need for humble submission to God’s will in the face of life’s enigmas. Evil and tragedy were present in the life of Job…evil and tragedy are present in election campaigns and political systems. Still there are divine favors for the righteous but why point it out to Job. Why would a cab driver point it out to my friend running for political office? Maybe we need the best of friends who has called us to love all people, not just those we would call friends. Maybe even politicians are called to love even when their first instinct is of revenge…to give when the first instinct is to horde. Friends, perhaps we are just called to demonstrate the transformational powerful of God in our lives as we discover what God has in store for us. You see, Jesus is sad when He sees us comforted by the world. Jesus is sad when He sees us make decisions that keep us from doing what is best. When the passage from Job is combined with a passage from the Sermon on the Mount, we see Jesus is teaching, his disciples, the Pharisees and even us that rational arguments do not change people. Only our changed lives change the lives of others and in turn change the world. Here the meek inherit the earth. Here, blessed are the poor in spirit. Here it is woe to the rich and well fed. This is tough stuff, but if you have ever had a problem of others dominating you in your mind and grown tired of it, you just might find as I have, a solution in today’s scripture. If your success in life seems to be missing significance, the missing pieces might well be a lifestyle of stewardship and a reorientation of emotions and values. Money, anger and perspective are usually our last hold outs when it comes to our walk with God. Our view of money as we cling to hate is often the last thing we want to change. We individually and corporately surrender them last because we treasure them so much. But finally, when we leave the judging to God…finally when we realize that all our resources are only on loan from God; when all of our debts have been paid and we have been freed to move forward, then we have to decide if we are going to be happy in the world’s way, or in Christ’s way.
Pray for those who suffer. Pray for politicians. Pray we bless those who curse us. Pray we do not rub salt in others wounds but experience the transformational joy of having our anxiety reduced through a kind word. Pray for those who mistreat us. Pray that our very act of prayer takes the sting out of our anger. Pray that we realize that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us…Pray that we realize that Jesus loves us even though we are often His enemy. Pray that our actions demonstrate in a powerful way that we belong to Christ. Pray we gain all we can, save all we can and give all we can. Pray we say yes to life. Pray we say yes to our gifts. Pray we say yes to the Kingdom of God. Pray we say yes to the needs of opportunities that surround us. Pray we hear the cries of the poor and give. Pray we are comforted by God and not the world.
Blessings,
John Lawson
Daily Devotionals 