Are Your Pipes Clear?
Good Morning Friends,
Today we reflect on the ministry of Jesus Christ and connect the work he did two thousand years ago on the other side of the world to our lives today. We consider the work of the Holy Spirit and give a shot at connecting Jesus’ work of earning our forgiveness on the cross delivered through our relationship with the Holy Spirit and the baptism of fire. And it is about the comfort and conviction of what we need being provided to us. It is about the distribution but also the purpose. Let me give you some examples. When we turn on a faucet or shower and get water for a drink or bathing it is really kind of amazing. We typically do not think about how the water gets to us, but perhaps we should for there is relationship between how we get water and how we are connected to the power of the Holy Spirit. A faucet turned on for the first time after many years of being unused is usually rusty. An unused old organ pipe is likely out of tune. Sometimes the plumbing and airwaves get clogged. So too there is a connection to our very breath and the words we speak related to our very sanctification in sharing common sacraments. We do not think much about the sacraments, but we should. We do not think much about breathing until we cannot catch our breath. We do not think much about salvation until we face the baptism of fire at the foot of the Cross of Jesus. So, breathe deep so you can feed the fires of our faith. But first you may want to do a safety check. Are Your Pipes Clear?
Scripture: Then the officials said to the king, “This man ought to be put to death, because he is discouraging the soldiers who are left in this city, and all the people, by speaking such words to them. For this man is not seeking the welfare of this people, but their harm.” King Zedekiah said, “Here he is; he is in your hands; for the king is powerless against you.” So they took Jeremiah and threw him into the cistern of Malchiah, the king’s son, which was in the court of the guard, letting Jeremiah down by ropes. Now there was no water in the cistern, but only mud, and Jeremiah sank in the mud. So Ebed-melech left the king’s house and spoke to the king, “My lord king, these men have acted wickedly in all they did to the prophet Jeremiah by throwing him into the cistern to die there of hunger, for there is no bread left in the city.” Then the king commanded Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, “Take three men with you from here, and pull the prophet Jeremiah up from the cistern before he dies.”
Jeremiah 38:4-6, 8-10 (NRSV)
Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the sake of the joy that was set before him endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such hostility against himself from sinners, so that you may not grow weary or lose heart. In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood.
Hebrews 12:1-4 (NRSV)
“I ask not only on behalf of these, but also on behalf of those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one. As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The glory that you have given me I have given them, so that they may be one, as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become completely one, so that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. .Father, I desire that those also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory, which you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world. “Righteous Father, the world does not know you, but I know you; and these know that you have sent me. I made your name known to them, and I will make it known, so that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.”
John 17:20-26 (NRSV)
“I came to bring fire to the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled! I have a baptism with which to be baptized, and what stress I am under until it is completed! Do you think that I have come to bring peace to the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division! From now on five in one household will be divided, three against two and two against three; they will be divided: father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.”
Luke 12:49-53 (NRSV)
Message: In our culture today, being divisive is an insult that ranks right up there with being intolerant. Most people in our culture do not like division. That is what makes today’s Gospel from Luke hard to take. It is what makes our political system and religious institutions so off putting. In John 17 Jesus gives a high priestly prayer that sure sounds like he is praying for unity and not division. Reconciling this prayer and the words of Luke appears to be a problem, as Jesus is saying he brings division. But the problem is not with Jesus. The problem is with people who reject the unity that Jesus offers. Some people reject Jesus and His teachings. As they do this, they divide themselves from Jesus and from those who believe in Jesus. That division will not respect families or friendships or any other boundary of society. Because the Holy Spirit causes us to change our lives, and to summon our family and friends to the Christian way of life, conflict often emerges in relationships. The Holy Spirit is always alive in this tension but may not always intercede in the ways we desire to avoid pain. Sometimes fire burns down and sometimes the Gospel is not sweet and easy. Reconciling brings more tension than most can tolerate. For not everyone around the world has a Kingdom of God mentality. That is why being generically nice and radically merciful can sap one’s energy and drain us spiritually and even bring a cognitive dissonance so strong as to make us ineffective. Sometimes we need to adjust our thinking. Thankfully God knows all about this challenge and has given us a grace that is greater than the challenge before us. The bad news is that God’s grace cannot help us until we are desperate enough to receive it. And so, we oscillate in our emotions for a reason. For in our exuberance if we think we do not need grace we are doomed. Here we need to remember that there is always tension between the way things are and the vision God has for us in this life. When we lose that vision, we lose our enthusiasm and boldness but sometimes for good reason. So, know that if God has set us apart to proclaim His message, He will invite us to allow Him to work out His will in us. Do not be embarrassed. Conform to Christ’s image, learning that the Holy Spirit within us is bold, sensible and loving…comforting but also convicting us to be better.
And So, the Holy Spirit uses something a lot like pipes to deliver the holy life-giving power of Christ. The Holy Spirit is what powers us up when we need to recharge our spiritual batteries and to live victoriously for Christ’s cause. The thing is that the Spirit empowers, but also divides and so here the depletion and restoration of energy is expressed in the ways we live and how we demonstrate our faith. The problem is that people want transformation and the power of God in their lives. So, our faith needs some adrenaline in our veins for the sharing of the Gospel, for it is usually best when fired up. And yes, we desperately need to kindle the Spirit that flames the spread of the Good News with power and energy. So, consider the job of the Holy Spirit in delivering our Salvation though the Word of God in Scripture and the sacraments such as baptism and gift of the Lord’s Supper and acts of kindness and in our commitments to each other. The Holy Spirit has promised to work through all these pipes to bring us the healing fire of Christ’s baptism on the cross. That is how forgiveness gets from Jesus on the cross to us. The Word of God, Holy Baptism, and the Lord’s Supper are like great big pipelines of grace that pour God’s love and forgiveness into us.
Pray we watch out for those who cause divisions and create strife that diminishes Christ’s love and grace. Pray we piece…peace together the promise with a purpose. Pray the sacraments of our faith, in the power of the Holy Spirit, sanctify us in the fire of Christ’s baptism on the cross. Pray we reassure our heart that God is with us. Pray we respond to the needs of others. Pray that when we are tested, we fight with faith. Pray we find joy in our times of trouble. Pray we speak with words of encouragement. Pray we share the good news. Pray we fight the good fight with love and truth. Pray we wait for the power and guidance of the Holy Spirit to come and meet our deepest needs. Pray we live victoriously and are filled to overflowing in the power of Christ’s grace. Pray we are daily soaking up the truth of scripture. Pray we realize that God’s Word divides believers and unbelievers. Pray we do not delude ourselves into thinking we are in control of our own lives and our own destinies. Pray still that we would make good decisions. Pray that all the factors that influence us converge in a way so that Christ would be glorified in our lives. Pray we are sanctified. Pray we replicate holiness by identifying with Christ at his death, burial and resurrection. Pray we have peace in our hearts while we are still disturbed by the ways of the world. Pray we multiply God’s love for us by taking what is broken and divided and joining it together in a new way. Pray our pipes are clear.
Blessings,
John Lawson
Daily Devotionals 