Good Morning Friends,
We all are amazingly and wonderfully different. So, imagine yourself, fully aware of the unique mission and vision God has placed in you as a specific purpose to advance God’s kingdom in this world, yet, let us be honest, some of us are held hostage to phobias, irrational worries, and destructive fears of failure, harm, or rejection. In God’s accounting system, we are justified for a purpose. We are to be set free. Sure, God can do it another way. But, if you do not fulfill the mission God assigned to you, is there another you? No, I do not think so, you are unique. So, have faith even as we ask today’s question. If Not You, Who? If Not Now, When?
Scripture: What then are we to say was gained by Abraham, our ancestor according to the flesh? For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. For what does the scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness.” Now to one who works, wages are not reckoned as a gift but as something due. But to one who without works trusts him who justifies the ungodly, such faith is reckoned as righteousness. So also David speaks of the blessedness of those to whom God reckons righteousness apart from works: “Blessed are those whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered; blessed is the one against whom the Lord will not reckon sin.”
Romans 4:1-8 (NRSV)
Meanwhile, when the crowd gathered by the thousands, so that they trampled on one another, he began to speak first to his disciples, “Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees, that is, their hypocrisy. Nothing is covered up that will not be uncovered, and nothing secret that will not become known. Therefore whatever you have said in the dark will be heard in the light, and what you have whispered behind closed doors will be proclaimed from the housetops. “I tell you, my friends, do not fear those who kill the body, and after that can do nothing more. But I will warn you whom to fear: fear him who, after he has killed, has authority to cast into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him! Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten in God’s sight. But even the hairs of your head are all counted. Do not be afraid; you are of more value than many sparrows.
Luke 12:1-7 (NRSV)
If he has wronged you in any way, or owes you anything, charge that to my account.
Philemon 1:18 (NRSV)
Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father.
Matthew 10:29a (NRSV)
And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.
Matthew 6:12 (NRSV)
Message: If people like Nelson Mandela and Martin Luther King had been fearful of people more so than of God, they would never have moved the needle of human rights for others.
But we do not have to be great leaders to be in the game. We too can move the needle through small acts of love if we trust God. The problem is fear. Fear is a common human emotion and sometimes it is rational. But what people commonly fear is not always what should be causing that spike of adrenaline.
Jesus urged his disciples and us to fear God and not fear people at all. The reason is because Jesus cares deeply for those who belong to him and realizes that we need to learn the empowerment of and value of trust. For when we trust we are to be freed of our fear through faith. The gospel here is the good news that Jesus paid the penalty for all our sin. And the message is that we are to trust God always because we have nothing to fear of people because God will care for us.
We are not to be controlled by religion but released by righteousness in Christ to share our unique gifts and obey the Holy Spirit’s guidance even as we count the cost.
The righteousness of this
is not something which we can accomplish, but rather comes as a gift from God through faith in Jesus shared. Paul illustrates this in today’s text with an economics lesson. You see Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him for righteousness. The language of reckoning here relates to accounting. The same verb in today’s passage from Philemon is used by Paul when he asks that any debt owed by Onesimus be put to the Apostle’s own account. Paul here contrasts two types of income. First, there are wages, which are not because of grace, but because of an offsetting of a debt. Second, there is the gift of righteousness, which is freely given to those who believe in the God who justifies the ungodly. This does not, however, turn ‘believing God’ into a substitute for works. The focus is not on our ability to believe… our faith…but on the one in whom we place our trust. Faith is the channel through which we receive this gift of God’s grace.
And So, Paul’s argument is that Abraham was not justified by works, but by faith. The promise of growth then is not justified by the law either but through the righteousness made possible by grace through faith and love that throws fear out the window. And the passages about sparrows and hairs on our head add to the economics lesson and awareness of God in the detail of our lives. Interestingly Matthew’s Gospel, which was written for a Jewish audience, references that two sparrows being sold for two pennies. But Luke, who was expanding the message for a Gentile audience records five sparrows (five being the number of grace) being sold for two pennies. Jesus undoubtedly preached a similar message on many different occasions and sometimes noted that if you were prepared to pay the extra penny you got not four, but five sparrows. One sparrow was thrown into the bargain as having no value at all. But not even the sparrow thrown into the bargain without real book value is forgotten before God. Each of us are important and priceless for we are greater than sparrows. Friends, you are important and now is a good time to demonstrate it to the glory of God.
Pray we have a reverential fear of God that enlightens us. Pray we realize that God has authority not only over the body but, more importantly, over the soul. Pray we realize just how much God cares for us. Pray we have forgiving and generous hearts. Pray we repent of our sins now. Pray we realize that God know us better than we know ourselves. Pray we embrace the promise of Jesus.
Blessings,
John Lawson
Daily Devotionals 