Are You Ready For Something New And Profound?
Good Morning Friends,
We do like the comfort of sameness. But sometimes radical change is needed. Honesty and transparency are what we hope for. Perhaps because it is such a rare commodity. So today we ask a question usually reserved for New Years devotionals. But here in between Passover and Pentecost we explore the nature of creation and the role of Christ and the Holy Spirit in the process of what we call church. Are You Ready For Something New And Profound?
Scripture: After they had proclaimed the good news to that city and had made many disciples, they returned to Lystra, then on to Iconium and Antioch. There they strengthened the souls of the disciples and encouraged them to continue in the faith, saying, “It is through many persecutions that we must enter the kingdom of God.” And after they had appointed elders for them in each church, with prayer and fasting they entrusted them to the Lord in whom they had come to believe. Then they passed through Pisidia and came to Pamphylia. When they had spoken the word in Perga, they went down to Attalia. From there they sailed back to Antioch, where they had been commended to the grace of God for the work that they had completed. When they arrived, they called the church together and related all that God had done with them, and how he had opened a door of faith for the Gentiles.
Acts 14:21-27 (NRSV)
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “See, the home of God is among mortals. He will dwell with them as their God; they will be his peoples, and God himself will be with them; he will wipe every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; mourning and crying and pain will be no more, for the first things have passed away.” And the one who was seated on the throne said, “See, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this, for these words are trustworthy and true.”
Revelation 21:1-5a (NRSV)
When he had gone out, Jesus said, “Now the Son of Man has been glorified, and God has been glorified in him. If God has been glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself and will glorify him at once. Little children, I am with you only a little longer. You will look for me; and as I said to the Jews so now I say to you, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come.’ I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
John 13:31-33a, 34-35 (NRSV)
Message: Today’s lectionary scripture guides us to remember our preparation for the coming of the Holy Spirit as part of the unfolding of creation. It is about the holiness of Christ’s first coming and the newness associated with the coming of Jesus’s Sprit of Truth into our lives through love. It is about Jesus creating and judging and a Heaven that awaits those who love Him. It is about the Book of Life and how God writes us into the story that matters.
And the reality is that not just heaven but life itself has gotten a lot of bad press by those that do not know the promises of God. People see heaven as sitting on a cloud wearing a halo, while little angels play harps as they float in the sky. Others see it as an unending church service, or just singing hymns forever. Some think of it as a celestial retirement city. No wonder many secretly ask if that is all there is… it seems so boring. Where is the life in that? All this sounds more like purgatory than heaven. So too on this day there is an eager expectation that creation itself will be liberated from its bondage. In this life and the next we are looking for something new. Today we have a call to action by Christ in the form of a question about love and creation. It is not a sentimental feeling. It is not a suggestion to love because we have been loved. It is a non-optional command! As a follower of Christ Jesus, we must love! And we get this…we are to love as Christ loved looking us square in the eye with a commitment to take it the distance. Jesus is saying to love each other in the same way he loves us so that others will know that we are disciples of Christ. Sure, there will be times when we are not loving, and we are angry and fearful. But in those very moments we need to dig deeper to understand what prompts those feelings, so we might show forth love to others when they and we need it the most. What Christ calls us to is not a feeling but an action. Love for a Christian is not a second-hand emotion. The cross is the standard by which we must love so others might be saved. We are to show forth love even for our enemies.
And So, we are left with a question that faces us in the mirror. If we are Christians, we are to be in love and we are to show it. We are to trust and obey this commandment that supersedes all the rest. For the key to Christian morality is not one of self-protection but the utmost of self-giving as the dynamic of the love of Christ. The problem is that our world is really into lust, not love. God’s kind of love is all about giving, doing what is best for the other person and Jesus is the best model of that and the very definition of it. It is only because of the love of Jesus that love can flow through us to a needy world. And that is a deep love that remains in the Spirit of Christ after Jesus has gone where we cannot yet go. And so, the world will judge Christianity by the way we treat each other as Christians but also how we treat those who have yet to believe. Pray we respond to the souls of others as children of God. Pray our words are kind and calming as a mother’s comforting words. Pray our touch is as a father’s strong embrace and our countenance is reflective of a friend’s laugh. Pray our love is telling the souls of others that they are not alone in this world for we travel together in the unity of the Spirit of Christ.
Pray we have a love that prompts us to learn more about life even as we overcome our fears. Pray we realize that love in the form Christ challenges us to embrace is not just noble and eloquent but is also amazingly original. Pray therefore we seek the best for one another with no thought of what we might receive in return. Pray we have a love that help us to face the reality of our own death. Pray we walk with an altered nature in the footsteps of Jesus by loving in the way Jesus loved. Pray we are known for glorifying God because we demonstrate loving actions for each other even though we might feel something less than loving.
Pray with praise for God’s good creation. Pray we are good stewards. Pray even now, that we have the right motives. Pray we realize that we too walk on Holy Ground when we have Jesus in our hearts. Pray we understand we are to worship the Creator but honor as good stewards His creatures and creation. Pray He call us and proclaim His sovereignty in us and sends the Spirit, the wind of His wisdom to guide us. Pray with praise for the Lord and this glorious creation He has made. Pray we live the message of healing, comfort and peace that Jesus came to proclaim. Pray that our love of God not be compromised by a selfish love for ourselves and the things of this world. Pray that we realize that justice will be realized in this world or the next. Pray that we come home at last to what we have been looking for …working toward…all our lives. Pray we prepare for the newness Jesus brings. Pray for the day when Jesus becomes our advocate before the Father. Pray for the day when we have a new home in heaven.
Blessings,
John Lawson
Daily Devotionals 