Good Morning Friends,
Maybe we are deceiving ourselves by a misreading of history in the belief that it will not repeat itself. The connecting thread though it all is God’s love pit against the wisdom of every age that considers faith in Christ a folly or perhaps worse something to be used to manipulate people and control more earthly power. The only promise Christ made about this life is that we would be blessed even if persecuted for our beliefs. For that promise and the song of unity it prompts we must give thanks, even as we offer particularly prays for those Christians who are suffering today because of their witness to the Gospel and in the reality that we too might have to face the same. And so, I wonder this morning and ponder this question: Is Our Fate To Be Persecuted For A Spiritually Unique Purpose?
Scripture: For this reason, since the day we heard it, we have not ceased praying for you and asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of God’s will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so that you may lead lives worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, as you bear fruit in every good work and as you grow in the knowledge of God. May you be made strong with all the strength that comes from his glorious power, and may you be prepared to endure everything with patience, while joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has enabled you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the light. He has rescued us from the power of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
Colossians 1:9-14 (NRSV)
Once while Jesus was standing beside the lake of Gennesaret, and the crowd was pressing in on him to hear the word of God, he saw two boats there at the shore of the lake; the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets. He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little way from the shore. Then he sat down and taught the crowds from the boat. When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch.” Simon answered, “Master, we have worked all night long but have caught nothing. Yet if you say so, I will let down the nets.” When they had done this, they caught so many fish that their nets were beginning to break. So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both boats, so that they began to sink. But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man!” For he and all who were with him were amazed at the catch of fish that they had taken; and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. Then Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching people.” When they had brought their boats to shore, they left everything and followed him.
Luke 5:1-11 (NRSV)
Now I would remind you, brothers and sisters, of the good news that I proclaimed to you, which you in turn received, in which also you stand, through which also you are being saved, if you hold firmly to the message that I proclaimed to you—unless you have come to believe in vain. For I handed on to you as of first importance what I in turn had received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures, and that he was buried, and that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers and sisters at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have died. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me. For I am the least of the apostles, unfit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me has not been in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them—though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me. Whether then it was I or they, so we proclaim and so you have come to believe.
1 Corinthians 15:1-11 (NRSV)
In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lofty; and the hem of his robe filled the temple. Seraphs were in attendance above him; each had six wings: with two they covered their faces, and with two they covered their feet, and with two they flew. And one called to another and said: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory.” The pivots on the thresholds shook at the voices of those who called, and the house filled with smoke. And I said: “Woe is me! I am lost, for I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips; yet my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!” Then one of the seraphs flew to me, holding a live coal that had been taken from the altar with a pair of tongs. The seraph touched my mouth with it and said: “Now that this has touched your lips, your guilt has departed and your sin is blotted out.” Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” And I said, “Here am I; send me!”
Isaiah 6:1-8 (NRSV)
Message: Today we look at the connection of being a disciple of Christ and following the wise ways of growing in our faith of God in purposeful relationships with others knowing that there is just one of you and only one of me. The lectionary text is about growing up in Christ and embracing a new identity that is not only reformed but transformed. Of course, we naturally are to wonder what we are transforming into and perhaps even the role of persecution in our molding. And so, we look at our own distinctive lives and ask about Jesus’ call for us to follow. I think in this regard we should examine our lives to see if we are exhibiting the characteristics of a people pleasing God but not get so legalistic about it to fail to enjoy life nor so fearful that we avoid all persecution because we did not take a stand for Jesus. And perhaps the first place to work on this is being who we are and knowing who we are and being ok with who we are to become. This is part of the goal of the Christian life. But it is also a goal to see if our spiritual labors are producing God-pleasing characteristics in the lives of others and practical results as we go fishing in the deep waters of faith. That is what Jesus is getting at with the disciples. That is what Paul is praying for in the lives of the Colossians and writing about in his letter to the Corinthians. Perhaps the first thing we are to realize is that we will be known by our fruit of the Spirit and by this, I mean love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. But not everyone is patient and kind and gentle by nature. You see, true disciples of Christ bear fruit that glorifies God. And this means picking up our crosses, abiding in Christ and the Word and as a priority living for Jesus sharing the love and forgiveness we have received. So, we are to evaluate our lives. We are to grow in unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature spiritually but also spiritually unique as the history of the world unfurls. And So, in this history, I think, we will be strengthened in a way that God can use to improve the lives of others. We will not become Christ exactly, but we will become and be aware of who God made us to be… heirs of God with more of the mind of Christ each day. So, Discipleship is more than teaching truths about the Bible. It is being involved in people’s lives and recognizing their pain and anxieties. The Lord gives us this blueprint, in the form of nudges to help us to grow, and to help others grow in spiritual maturity as disciples. And He commands us to make disciples, repeating the process that he first began in the lives of his own disciples. Friends, the plan for our salvation and growth is found in the example of Jesus but also in excepting and being honest about who we are in relationship with God and others.
And So, the wisdom of any secular age considers the Christian faith to be folly. The reason for this is that the wisdom of a given secular age is focused on how to attain pleasure, status, or power. Think of the story of Kublai Khan and Marco Polo, think of China and Russia today in their systematic positioning of power in the world. Maybe you saw the opening ceremonies of the Winter Olympics and were taken aback by the militaristic message of unity. Most claims to power are essentially centered on the magnification of the self. How to get more property, more adulation, more money, more influence over others, so that one can feel better and enjoy life more. This is not something new. You can see the result all around us. People have more of everything, and still the suicide rate is at historic highs, even among the people who have more of everything. When you have been on the way up and up, and just one little decline causes you to feel like you have lost everything something is wrong. The wisdom of God in regard to this reality is not a theory or a lifestyle. The wisdom of God is Jesus Christ, His Son who poured Himself out for all human beings. He emptied Himself of His status, His property, His power so that He could be one of us in all things except sin. And by doing so, all the way to the cross, He became the human being that God had intended all along and enables us to become the human beings that God had intended for us to be as well. Friends, we are to be self-giving, selfless, and if called to a purpose empowered with the gifts of the Holy Spirit. In a word, saints. We can see this power and greater purpose in today’s Gospel. Peter and his crews had been fishing and were cleaning their nets. The implication is that they had caught little or nothing. But the Word of God, Jesus, then began teaching the word of God from their boat. This is the word of power, the word of self-giving. So, when Jesus told Peter to put out for another catch, although Peter told Him there were no fish to catch just a little earlier, he had been inspired by the word of God and obeyed at Christ’s word. And the catch was overwhelming. This is the background to Jesus’s summons to these first apostles to come and catch men with the word of God. But when we are caught, when we fall in love with the Blessed Redeemer, then we are not trapped, we are truly free to do good and avoid evil and be one with all other believers even if persecuted.
Pray we discover a ministry that produces spiritual growth not just in ourselves but overflows in the lives of others. Pray we realize that we are each unique as Christianity is unique. Pray therefore we only boast of the power of Christ who comes to us when we submit to follow the path of freedom. Pray we give thanks to God in a way that produces a harvest of thankfulness connected to the Holy History of God’s plan not our own. Pray we develop the type of spiritual maturity that occurs only by discerning God’s will for us to act in good faith and good will with a goal of a purpose that glorifies God. Pray we apply the truths that we learn into acts of obedience in our lives. Pray we share in the inheritance of the saints. Pray we receive the blessing of a changed life. Pray we grow mature spiritually as we follow the way of Jesus. Pray we experience the uniqueness of our Christian neighbors as a way of becoming and making disciples as we glorify God. Pray our logic is sound and that our heart is pure especially when we are persecuted for our worship of God. Pray we be a Body of believers in whose consciousness we live, move, and have our very being. Pray we recognize the divine presence. Pray we surrender to the hidden purposes of the divine.
Blessings,
John Lawson
Daily Devotionals 