Good Morning Friends,
Today we consider the Lord’s Prayer and Jesus’ question to Peter about his love. And as we think about this, we contemplate the reality of the temptations of those things we think we love and the challenge of doing the will of God. And though I would not say that God leads us into temptation, some translations of the Lord’s Prayer, might imply such. What I would say is that I am quite capable of sinning on my own, but I am not very good at loving alone. I know that God does not do evil things and wants us to love, but I also know that the Holy Spirit led Jesus out into the desert to be tempted by the Devil, so maybe the real question here is about our belief in the Sovereignty of God and who holds the keys of love. Maybe the issue is about taking responsibility and whether we are going to blame or trust God and whether we are going to cross question Satan with scripture. Friends, if God wants us to learn a life lesson about this, I guess we had better well learn it and that means getting back to the scripture of the day and the backdrop for our meditation. We have Paul being tried before the court of Caesar and Peter being tried in the court of the resurrected Jesus. Both trials raise interesting questions about our temptations. Both look beyond what a person has been to what they might become and give us some insight into the whole reality of temptations and trials and what we are to be praying for and what we are to love. Both stories have advocates for the accused. And I think we all can sense God’s hand prodding the outcomes of both that might glorify God. But then we are drawn to a deep question about our believability in our own petitions and emotions and hopefully do not become serious Hedonists in exploring an answer. So, What, Or Better Yet, Who Do We Love?
Scripture: After several days had passed, King Agrippa and Bernice arrived at Caesarea to welcome Festus. Since they were staying there several days, Festus laid Paul’s case before the king, saying, “There is a man here who was left in prison by Felix. When I was in Jerusalem, the chief priests and the elders of the Jews informed me about him and asked for a sentence against him. I told them that it was not the custom of the Romans to hand over anyone before the accused had met the accusers face to face and had been given an opportunity to make a defense against the charge. So when they met here, I lost no time, but on the next day took my seat on the tribunal and ordered the man to be brought. When the accusers stood up, they did not charge him with any of the crimes that I was expecting. Instead they had certain points of disagreement with him about their own religion and about a certain Jesus, who had died, but whom Paul asserted to be alive. Since I was at a loss how to investigate these questions, I asked whether he wished to go to Jerusalem and be tried there on these charges. But when Paul had appealed to be kept in custody for the decision of his Imperial Majesty, I ordered him to be held until I could send him to the emperor.”
Acts 25:13b-21 (NRSV)
When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my lambs.” A second time he said to him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Tend my sheep.” He said to him the third time, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” Peter felt hurt because he said to him the third time, “Do you love me?” And he said to him, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep. Very truly, I tell you, when you were younger, you used to fasten your own belt and to go wherever you wished. But when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will fasten a belt around you and take you where you do not wish to go.” (He said this to indicate the kind of death by which he would glorify God.) After this he said to him, “Follow me.”
John 21:15-19 (NRSV)
No one, when tempted, should say, “I am being tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil and he himself tempts no one.
James 1:13 (NRSV)
Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness, where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing at all during those days, and when they were over, he was famished.
Luke 4:1-2 (NRSV)
And do not bring us to the time of trial, but rescue us from the evil one.
Matthew 6:13 (NRSV)
The world is full of so-called prayer warriors who are prayer-ignorant. They’re full of formulas and programs and advice, peddling techniques for getting what you want from God. Don’t fall for that nonsense. This is your Father you are dealing with, and he knows better than you what you need. With a God like this loving you, you can pray very simply. Like this: Our Father in heaven, reveal who you are. Set the world right; Do what’s best— as above, so below. Keep us alive with three square meals. Keep us forgiven with you and forgiving others. Keep us safe from ourselves and the Devil. You’re in charge! You can do anything you want! You’re ablaze in beauty! Yes. Yes. Yes.
Matthew 6:7-13 The Message (MSG)
Message: The love of Jesus for us makes success out of our failures. Our love of Jesus makes our testimony believable when we face trials and when we pray. And though Jesus does not want us to have to suffer through the temptation that he went through we all, at some time, will face them and must confront the lust of the flesh, and the pride of life. The proof text of God’s love and Sovereignty is in today’s lectionary scriptures. Here it becomes clear that God can love us, and the world can judge us, but we are not in control of some things and must submit to God’s rule. We also learn, especially in the story of Peter, that hearing our named called can be a joyful or horrible experience. It all depends on the situation. And let’s be honest about today’s stories, Peter and Paul were not at all sure the outcomes were going to be joyful experiences. Paul writes about the thorn in his side. Both are about the nudging of God and Satan. Hopefully God uses them all to get us to where God wants us to go in our lives and maybe that includes dealing with our temptations effectively. The stories of Paul and Peter are instructive here. Paul’s journey was to Rome. And Peter’s was about returning to be not just a fisher of men but also a shepherd of sheep. Both have drama, but the story that has had gotten a lot more focus over the years is that of Peter and Jesus. The exchange is profound. Peter having denied Jesus three times just before the crucifixion was not in a place of restoration with the risen Christ yet. He was like a sheep without a shepherd, and that is not a pretty sight. Peter was having a hard time forgiving himself even though his sins had been forgiven. He had been tempted and failed. Thankfully the Shepherd knows more than just our names. The revelation of Peter should therefore be a revelation for us as well. Here we see that Jesus never disowns His flock. Peter hears the Shepherd’s voice three times calling him out of the sheep pen to a purpose that would glorify God. So too we should hear the Shepherd calling us out of our sin. So, here is where all this makes a difference for us. When we say, we love Jesus, when we pray and are giving our testimony before the King our words are to be believable and backed up by actions in our lives. We must seek to love and care for others. We all have, hopefully, experienced the love of Jesus in our lives, but deep down, in addition to God’s love of us, we need to experience and express our love of God. Friends, we need to be lovers of people and for this love to be believed they need to see the love of Christ in our lives. Friends, we are to get ready for joy to come knowing that sometimes the journey takes us to unexpected places like praying in a new way. And maybe in the newness of breaking free of our habits, we can better face our temptations and actively love God with all our heart, mind, soul and strength even as we care for each other. For we are to believe but also be believable in our love. We are to realize that God will be God and we are not in charge of most things. We are to realize that there are many temptations and trials that we sadly fall into because our flesh is a natural weak, but we have a God who will not let us be tempted beyond what we can bear. We are to realize that God will provide a way out and a court of a higher status that can rule with love and purpose in ways we cannot fully understand. We are to realize that God is not evil but sometimes uses the evil for good and even redeems people like Paul and Peter for a holy purpose. We are to realize that we may not be so great at determining what is good and bad because our love is not as great as God’s.
And So, if we were to ask God what God loves, I am pretty sure God would say, “I love you.” But I am not sure people know what they really love. We say we love our favorite food and going on a vacation or a particular brand of car or a pet and certainly our grandchildren, children, and spouse and parents and maybe even our job and freedom and country. Something about these things causes us to think we love this or that or the people we call friends and family. Maybe it is a feeling inside, or the way we are raised or a mixture of things. We all are able to say what we love, but what do our actions actually indicate we love. If somebody were given an assignment to follow us around for a year and they were totally invisible to us, what report would they give on what our actions say that we love? One of the things being stuck in our homes during the pandemic has done, is that it has tested our love for each other. Many have been put to the test. And it is in being honest about who we are in the test of love that we need to remember to be patient and kind and not envious or boasting or proud. Friends, love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. During the pandemic we are getting to know a little more about love and hopefully a little more about God. At times like this we need to remember Jesus’ words when He said, not just about feeding the sheep but in loving God by keeping the commandments Jesus gave. Sometimes, because of our own actions, our love for God can at times seem all over the place and out of focus. But we have been born to make a difference for God in the year 2022 post pandemic. The most important question we still will have to answer again and again is still if we love God as a priority. Each time we say no, we will drift further from God, but each time we say yes, we will discover the purpose God has for our lives this day that spills over into the lives of others. We are to believe that love never fails.
Pray we realize that love must be shown, and we do not have to understand everything about it for it to be believable. Pray we realize that the past does not matter. Pray we realize that Jesus, the Good Shepherd does not give up on His sheep. Pray we realize that people want a leader to mobilize and lead them. Pray we realize that the power of ministry and our lives flows only from our love for God. Pray that as we follow, we have the right motive, the right assignment, and the right focus. Pray we cultivate a heart like Jesus’ worthy of leading others. Pray we realize that God will grant us enough time to complete our assignments if we heed His call and have His heart. Pray we realize that sometimes we may have to face the valley of the shadow of death. Pray we realize that our life speaks more powerfully than our words. Pray that we realize that the only thing worthy of following is the deep and committed motivation of our heart to love God. Pray we believe that God is Sovereign. Pray we believe in God’s grace. Pray we understand our love languages and those of others. Pray we have a love of God that is believable. Pray we are people of the presence.
Blessings,
John Lawson
Daily Devotionals 