How Are You At Keeping The Promise Of Love?
Good Morning Friends,
After healing a man of leprosy Jesus instructed the man to go to the priest, as was required by Jewish law, but with a warning not to say anything about the miracle to anyone on the way. To our way of thinking, Jesus would want everyone to know about the miracle for it was evidence of the Messiah. But Jesus knew that publicity over such miracles would hinder His mission and divert public attention from His primary message. And in addition, a lot of extraneous interventions would detract from the authenticity of the miracle, which was a stake in the ground saying the Messiah had arrived and the promise of God was about to unfold before their very eyes. Of course, the man told everyone and perhaps that is why Jesus was greeted the way he was on his return to Jerusalem with palm branches…the sign of a conquering king. The same issue is relevant today for we are to follow the leader to a higher love. God desires us to be focused on the assurance of salvation through Jesus Christ more than the miracle of physical blessings. It is this Covenant of love…this surprising promise of purpose that we are to desire in our heart. So, How Are You At Keeping The Promise Of Love?
Scripture: When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to Abram, and said to him, “I am God Almighty; walk before me, and be blameless. God said to Abraham, “As for you, you shall keep my covenant, you and your offspring after you throughout their generations. This is my covenant, which you shall keep, between me and you and your offspring after you: Every male among you shall be circumcised.
God said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name. I will bless her, and moreover I will give you a son by her. I will bless her, and she shall give rise to nations; kings of peoples shall come from her.” Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed, and said to himself, “Can a child be born to a man who is a hundred years old? Can Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?” And Abraham said to God, “O that Ishmael might live in your sight!” God said, “No, but your wife Sarah shall bear you a son, and you shall name him Isaac. I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his offspring after him. As for Ishmael, I have heard you; I will bless him and make him fruitful and exceedingly numerous; he shall be the father of twelve princes, and I will make him a great nation. But my covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah shall bear to you at this season next year.” And when he had finished talking with him, God went up from Abraham.
Genesis 17:1, 9-10, 15-22 (NRSV)
When Jesus had come down from the mountain, great crowds followed him; and there was a leper who came to him and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, if you choose, you can make me clean.” He stretched out his hand and touched him, saying, “I do choose. Be made clean!” Immediately his leprosy was cleansed. Then Jesus said to him, “See that you say nothing to anyone; but go, show yourself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.”
Matthew 8:1-4 (NRSV)
Not that I have already obtained this or have already reached the goal; but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Beloved, I do not consider that I have made it my own; but this one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus.
Philippians 3:12-14 (NRSV)
Message: You probably have experienced growing closer to God as you seek the help of Christ in the forgiveness of your sins. You have probably experienced Jesus in prayer and praises. And you probably have become more knowledgeable in reading and trusting and applying His Word…even inspired. Jesus did not want to be known as a miracle worker. He had something much more important in mind…the salvation of humanity…his family by adoption. And now it is our pleasure and joy to draw near to God. Saint Teresa knew how it worked. When she was known as Mother Teresa, she claimed that the way starts with silence and its fruit of prayer and then prayer’s fruit of faith that challenges us to engage others and then faith’s fruit of love changes everything, for if we let it bear the fruit of service and service’s fruit of peace we have walked with Jesus. The process is the path of salvation, and it is born out in a special way with the poor and vulnerable…with lepers. Think of what Jesus did. Think of what Saint Teresa did. There is a spiritual DNA that is transferred in reaching out to outcasts. You see Jesus lived with outcasts, prostitutes, and tax collectors as family. And he taught us to carry the burden of the most outcast with a cheerful attitude. On our walk with Jesus, He teaches us to go the second mile… to turn the other cheek…to swallow pride and abandon self-interest… to be slow to anger and quick to forgive. On the journey He compels us to live by grace in the face of the unfair and sometimes unfamiliar. He requires us to be cheerfully generous to help the marginalized on the way. Friends sometimes helping requires we get our hands dirty. We are to realize that the grace we receive is not just for our benefit but also so that we might help others. The beauty is that when we draw close to God’s own, God grows closer to us to sanctify us.
And So, normally it is a good thing to spread the Word of Jesus but when this goes against Jesus’ specific directions it becomes a little bit of a problem, for opinions about who God is, what God is like, how God deals with humans and what God expects of us differ widely. Telling people that God was incarnate on the earth before the time had come set the wrong expectations. You see not everyone that begs Jesus to be healed is healed physically…spiritually yes for God forgives sins and that was why Jesus came. But it is not easy to have an accurate perspective on Jesus and Christianity. The wrong emotions get in the way of the message. You see it is not easy to be blameless as Abraham in today’s text. We must be all in the game…fully committed to the cause. Let me give you an example of what I mean about the commitment to love and the promise it brings. There is a legend about Saint Francis of Assisi who had a natural horror of lepers. One day as he was riding his horse near Assisi, he met a leper on the road. He felt frightened and repelled, but not wanting to disobey God’s command and break the law of love, he dismounted from his horse and ran to kiss him. As the leper stretched out his hand, expecting something, he received both money and a kiss. Francis immediately mounted his horse and although the field was wide open, without any obstructions, when he looked around, he could not see the leper anywhere. Friends the earthly life we lead is such as this. We are to be challenged to be perfect in our love, obedience, benevolence, and good works. So, even though this life is a puff of smoke we need to get out of your comfort zone and into the end zone. Here we might just meet Jesus focused on the promises of God.
Pray we realize that everyone needs to be touched by Jesus. Pray we are obedient Christians. Pray we have the right perspective on the promises of God. Pray we have faith in God keeping promises. Pray we are servants of Jesus and stewards of the mysteries of God worthy of the name Christian. Pray we trust God to lead us in our life to learn to love. Pray we walk in the life-giving relationship of Jesus. Pray we realize God’s preference for the poor and vulnerable and outcastes has a purpose. Pray we choose the simple path of love. Pray that we humble ourselves before God, so that God does not have to do it for us. Pray we realize that God gives grace to the willing humble. Pray we take some lessons in our laments that bring us closer to God. Pray for each other so that we might live together whole and healed. Pray Jesus’ Kingdom overcomes the world. Pray that grace draws us close to the needy and births in us a deliverance and healing that sets us free. Pray we go the distance and more.
Blessings,
John Lawson
Daily Devotionals 