Good Morning Friends,
Today’s lectionary scripture from John reminds me of Jacob’s ladder which had its own wrestling story. Perhaps you share some of the same thoughts of experiencing the light of Christ. They are not necessary to be a Christian but sure make life more enjoyable even as we struggle. Of course, some scripture is more difficult to grasp. We can get sidetracked. Doubt creeps in on the issue of interpretation and frankly, the dogma can blind us. This is, after all, part of how it all works and sometimes does not work when it comes to faith and our belief in God. Life gets messy and occasionally we feel it hard to believe in a God that loves us as individuals and has our best interest at heart and still allows a war to break out in heaven and allow the Devil to roam the Earth. We can tend to believe in a dualism of good and evil here. Yet I hope Jesus changed all that through the transformation of the cross, the resurrection and the gifting of the Holy Spirit. We should get a sense of it since we were made in God’s image. Still, we wonder what the future will bring. We wonder about meeting Jesus in this life and doubt creeps in. So, Can Anything Good Come From All This Religion To Help Us Experience The Sunny Side Of Life?
Scripture: And war broke out in heaven; Michael and his angels fought against the dragon. The dragon and his angels fought back, but they were defeated, and there was no longer any place for them in heaven. The great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the Devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world—he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him. Then I heard a loud voice in heaven, proclaiming, “Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Messiah, for the accuser of our comrades has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God. But they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they did not cling to life even in the face of death. Rejoice then, you heavens and those who dwell in them! But woe to the earth and the sea, for the devil has come down to you with great wrath, because he knows that his time is short!”
Revelation 12:7-12a (NRSV)
Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found him about whom Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus son of Joseph from Nazareth.” Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.” When Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him, he said of him, “Here is truly an Israelite in whom there is no deceit!” Nathanael asked him, “Where did you get to know me?” Jesus answered, “I saw you under the fig tree before Philip called you.” Nathanael replied, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!” Jesus answered, “Do you believe because I told you that I saw you under the fig tree? You will see greater things than these.” And he said to him, “Very truly, I tell you, you will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.”
John 1:45-51 (NRSV)
Know therefore that the Lord your God is God, the faithful God who maintains covenant loyalty with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations, and who repays in their own person those who reject him. He does not delay but repays in their own person those who reject him. He will love you, bless you, and multiply you; he will bless the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your ground, your grain and your wine and your oil, the increase of your cattle and the issue of your flock, in the land that he swore to your ancestors to give you. You shall be the most blessed of peoples, with neither sterility nor barrenness among you or your livestock.
Deuteronomy 7:9-10, 13-14 (NRSV)
Message: “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” That is what Nathanael was saying about Jesus. He knew the place well. It was unimpressive. But we could ask the same question about the places we worship too. Maybe we should be asking about what is coming out of heaven. Now some reading this devotional will have very different doubts about God and have no clue why people were disparaging this small, backwoods community north of Jerusalem or why different denominations do not seem to get along. And the thing is that typically we just do not have all the facts. We are ignorant really. But Nathanael knew about Nazareth. But the problem was not that Nathanael was ignorant about Nazareth but about Jesus. Our bias can be misleading too regarding different denominations or even different political parties. We can think in the wrong way if we do not know Jesus. Thankfully Nathanael opened his mind to the possibility of Jesus being a game changer for he knew Jesus was a teacher and taught the word of God with authority. Nathanael had studied scripture under the fig tree and was a seeker and his example is instructive in that Jesus had chosen to seek him out and to open a unified heart and mind in him. He was not such a bad fellow, but still, he did not know Jesus, at least not yet. You see, the world is filled with different kinds of doubters that are not all hard-core disbelievers. Some of them in the Bible had the benefit of Jesus living in the flesh with them but still found believing difficult. Thomas is perhaps the most famous of the cynics. He was governed by his senses and was stubborn of nature, wanting firsthand proof about Jesus. He had a kind of melancholy but was honest about his distrust of others. The problem is that it is almost impossible to love if one does not trust. He questioned the claims of others wanting to see for himself. Other people in the Bible that questioned Jesus though were entangled in the ways of the world that Jesus was in the process of transforming. Consider Pilot. He had no moral depth. He was guided by wrong thinking that prompted his disbelief and this resulted in his ruin. And then other doubters are filled with self-conceit and a lack of due consideration and respect for others and their opinions. I do not know what kind of doubter you are, but imagine you have some qualms about religion. Perhaps you are like Nathanael, a sincere, relatively honest, and religious person that we might even call good. If so, come and see what scripture and other believers offer. Approach your doubts with wisdom. Wrestle with your doubts. Test your faith and let Jesus open your eyes to a relationship that is more rational than the world. Know that God can use even our doubts and that despite the apparent and compelling separation of good and evil Jesus makes us one. Friends, people are searching for meaning and satisfaction in life that can only be realize in a transformational relationship with God in the unity of love. Here is a purpose in life. Here is meaning that strengthens the being of people. Friends, with all the emptiness in this world God shouts from the heaven with an invitation to come and see a new way of being. Sure, there is going to be a struggle…even a war. But friends, the Bible teaches us that the only real meaning in life is found in a living relationship with God through Jesus Christ, we are invited by God to come and see this for ourselves by inviting Christ into our lives. For the incarnation changes everything and allows us to see the beauty of Heaven. The incarnation allows us to see the beauty of the Earth and even be filled with the Holy Spirit in ways that unify our existence.
And So, one of the greatest enemies of Christian culture is not realizing that the fight has already been won for us. Yes, we have evil in the world, and we are affected by it all the time, but especially when we divide our lives and culture into two overarching spheres of influence that we make antithetical to one another. Still, we can walk on the sunny side of life because Christ says we can. We can help change the world because Christ says we can. Evil is an unpleasant truth. Yet, there is a far greater truth than the presence of evil in the world, a truth we must never lose sight of. Friends, the Light of Jesus Christ dispels the darkness. In Christ, we shall overcome . . . because Christ has overcome. I do not know why we were made in the image of God, but we were. In the Bible, the conflict is never between physical and non-physical, public, and private. It is between righteousness and sin that can only be resolved in Christ. Most Christians realize that the Bible places great emphasis on a person’s heart. Some believe this term is a synonym for emotion, but this belief is false. The head versus the heart is a false comparison. But even if Christians understand the right definition of heart that still may be in conflict. The hope is in a Christian Culture that is a priority for society.
Pray we are blessed to learn to love like Jesus. Pray we bring others to Jesus. Pray we all discover the greatest longing of our hearts and minds is to be one with Jesus. Pray we find purpose and passion and peace in a relationship with Christ. Pray we realize that Jesus is more than a teacher. Pray we come and see but also exhibit a spark to ignite the fire of the Spirit of God to fill our lives and spill over into the lives of others on earth as in heaven. Pray we share with others that the invitation is still available today and that it paves the way to our future.
Pray we look around and realize how lucky the disciples were to be alive in the History of the world when Jesus walked the earth. Pray we realize how lucky we are to be living the dream today. Pray when we encounter skeptics, we invite them to come and see. Pray we get the facts and help others get the facts too. Pray we encounter Jesus with our fears and have them relieved. Pray we approach our doubts with wisdom and a heart that seeks the truth. Pray we do not surrender our Christian roots. Pray we do not degenerate into a radical individualism. Pray we do not worship a state that believes that God’s word has nothing to say about society. Pray we realize that our job is to seek to unify our understanding of heaven and earth so we might glorify God and enjoy life.
Blessings,
John Lawson
Daily Devotionals 