Are You Still Improving?
Good Morning Friends,
There is a trajectory to today’s lectionary text that is about faithfulness and holiness and continuous improvement in relationships and love and marriage and how God can be part of it all. And as it happens the text falls on the 38th anniversary of my wedding to Amy. So I, for one, am awake and attentive as to how marriage and sanctification are intertwined. Are You Still Improving?
Scripture: Finally, brothers and sisters, we ask and urge you in the Lord Jesus that, as you learned from us how you ought to live and to please God (as, in fact, you are doing), you should do so more and more. For you know what instructions we gave you through the Lord Jesus. For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from fornication; that each one of you know how to control your own body in holiness and honor, not with lustful passion, like the Gentiles who do not know God; that no one wrong or exploit a brother or sister in this matter, because the Lord is an avenger in all these things, just as we have already told you beforehand and solemnly warned you. For God did not call us to impurity but in holiness. Therefore whoever rejects this rejects not human authority but God, who also gives his Holy Spirit to you.
1 Thessalonians 4:1-8 (NRSV)
“Then the kingdom of heaven will be like this. Ten bridesmaids took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. When the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them; but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps. As the bridegroom was delayed, all of them became drowsy and slept. But at midnight there was a shout, ‘Look! Here is the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.’ Then all those bridesmaids got up and trimmed their lamps. The foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ But the wise replied, ‘No! there will not be enough for you and for us; you had better go to the dealers and buy some for yourselves.’ And while they went to buy it, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went with him into the wedding banquet; and the door was shut. Later the other bridesmaids came also, saying, ‘Lord, lord, open to us.’ But he replied, ‘Truly I tell you, I do not know you.’ Keep awake therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.
Matthew 25:1-13 (NRSV)
Message: Each of us is represented in this parable of the bridesmaids. We either have oil in our lamp or not. We either have joy in our relationships or we do not. We either have God as a partner in our relationships or we reject the Holy Spirit. Friends, when people get married they often take a vow to love, honor, cherish and obey each other. It is a promise that is part of our culture but it is also a sacrament that is part of our faith. And we all want to have a faith that makes a difference in our lives. Now some things get in the way of that and other things lead us to holiness. Some things bolster the work of the Holy Spirit…things like forgiveness instead of blame and transformation instead of information. To help us, today’s scripture from Thessalonians sets out four qualities of obedience in the first three verses and then gives examples of what this holiness looks like and does not look like in our relationships with others. We learn that obedience is about our call to walk in a way that pleases God and aligns with the work of the Holy Spirit. Obedience is to progress over time to transform us and energize us. And so, obedience is about listening for the voice of Jesus. Obedience is about our desire to satisfy God’s will… to become sanctified. Friends, God has called us to purity and sanctification and this comes through love. And this is true in marriage and it is true in the church, and it is true in the image of a relationship between God and Israel. It is even true in our expression of our sexuality but not in the way you might think. We are not all meant to be celibates. Jesus was not a prude about sexuality. The thing is that our sexuality is just part of the story. Marriage is much more. Love is so much more. Don’t settle for less than the best. Allow God to redeem all things in your life. Keep improving.
Pray we have a love that looks forward. Pray we know the love of God and all the joys of being human. Pray we glorify God in our individual bodies and collective bodies. Pray we obey God’s call to sanctification in our relationships. Pray we honor the sacrament of marriage. Pray we watch our thoughts, for they become words. Pray we watch our words, for they become actions. Pray we watch our actions, for they become habits. Pray we watch our habits, for they become our character. Pray we watch our character, for it becomes our destiny.
Blessings,
John Lawson
Daily Devotionals 