Good Morning Friends,
Entering a debate on the revolution or reformation issue and comparing Jesus and Martin Luther will probably get me in to trouble, but the gist of what I want you to think about in this regard is how best we can love God and love others as ourselves when the deviations from the norm in society is becoming more dramatic. We know God is in charge and uses it all and we do get to be part of it if we understand some sense of humility about what the goal is and our purpose in it, but the civility and fabric of our society seems to be tearing apart. But there are signs of hope when people love. So, whether you view the modifications, conversions and adjustments happening in society as a way to a specific desired reform or hope for a result that looks more like a revolution with a payback is the issue. Here we are 500 plus and almost 2000 years later and those things that prompted Martin Luther and Jesus to protest have been reformed in part. And so today the rift between Catholic and Protestant and Jew is harder to define. But that does not mean that the work is done in outreach to the least, last and lost. We know we have different traditions; we know what our theological differences are, and we know what at least some of our failings are but if some Catholics will make it into heaven and some Protestants will make it into heaven and some Jews will make it into heaven, then what we need to focus on is what unites us rather than what divides us. And if God has truly anointed people in a community to be God’s representative to the body of believers, our collective outreach in ministry, I would think, must invest our time across denominational lines and focus on the love of the people with whom we live and work and build bridges of hope. Sure, we need to beware of false teaching and being led astray, but woe to us if we too miss the mark in our role of honoring God through the unity of love for those in need. Still, as we contemplate the work before us to rebuild what has been damaged in the wake of Hurricane Ian we ask, even at the risk of rebuke, Can We Be Changed And Justified As A Demonstration Of The Work Love Prompts?
Scripture: Woe to you! For you build the tombs of the prophets whom your ancestors killed. So you are witnesses and approve of the deeds of your ancestors; for they killed them, and you build their tombs. Therefore also the Wisdom of God said, ‘I will send them prophets and apostles, some of whom they will kill and persecute,’ so that this generation may be charged with the blood of all the prophets shed since the foundation of the world, from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, who perished between the altar and the sanctuary. Yes, I tell you, it will be charged against this generation. Woe to you lawyers! For you have taken away the key of knowledge; you did not enter yourselves, and you hindered those who were entering.” When he went outside, the scribes and the Pharisees began to be very hostile toward him and to cross-examine him about many things, lying in wait for him, to catch him in something he might say.
Luke 11:47-54 (NRSV)
Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, To the saints who are in Ephesus and are faithful in Christ Jesus: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, just as he chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless before him in love. He destined us for adoption as his children through Jesus Christ, according to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace that he freely bestowed on us in the Beloved. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace that he lavished on us. With all wisdom and insight, he has made known to us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure that he set forth in Christ, as a plan for the fullness of time, to gather up all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.
Ephesians 1:1-10 (NRSV)
Message: The Reformation began when an Augustinian monk named Martin Luther nailed Ninety-Five Theses to the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg in response to abuses, he saw in the Catholic Church. His propositions sparked a debate that eventually gave us five key Reformation doctrines, that are usually referred to by their Latin names: sola Scriptura (Scripture alone), solus Christus (Christ alone), sola gratia (grace alone), sola fide (faith alone), and soli deo Gloria (glory to God alone). But most people just do not care about theology, they care about social reform and its effect on their lives. Sure, people desire to go to heaven. Sure, they want to be part of God’s family. But for the most part they just do not want to have anything to do with organized religion and divisive theologies. But friends, what transforms us and gives us eternal life is our affirmative response to the Gospel of God’s love and like it or not that includes the church, but perhaps not in the way we typically think of church. For this is of upmost relevance for what is happening in our society. You see, we are to have a belief and faith in the gospel of Christ that strips us of foolish duplicity, heartless legalism, vain pride, false teaching, manmade religion, and false guidance. We are to have a faith in a gospel that enables to seek after and live as a faith community into true godliness. The thing is though that faith, above all, is a gift of God that is really Jesus’ faith not something of our own doing. And it is a gift that God pours out liberally on all humans. But not all respond to it. Indeed, the real issue is that God loves us, and we need to figure out what we are going to do about it. God gives faith, but we must receive it and act on the gift. Still, if we do, we cannot boast about it because even our act of acceptance requires the grace of God. By faith we believe what we cannot prove by our reason alone. Maybe we are to reason in a way that helps us come to the realization that God exists and that we owe Him our existence. Friends, God incarnate and the Holy Spirit in us are gifts of great value that can transform us and empowered us to do the works of God here on earth that makes earth look more like heaven and us collectively look more like Jesus. Friends, that is why Jesus came and not to condemn us but to provide a pathway for us to be justified. So, maybe we need to be condemning less and justifying more in our relationships with others, for it is our justification by faith through grace that is indeed God’s answer to the most important of all human questions. Friends, God loves us so much as to not leave us as we are and to honor God we must submit to the change.
And So, people generally do not like change. People want to be in charge. In fact, the only one who consistently approves of change is a wet baby. Many times, we think of change as being a bad thing, and we have seen a lot of bad changes in our lifetimes. But change can also be good, and that is especially true when it is a change made by God. The truth is that all of us need some changes in our lives, and Jesus Christ can give us the changes we need. The Lord wants to change us for the better. And today’s scripture shows us some of the God-sized changes Jesus makes when we put our trust in Him is to also be reflected in the way we live in society. We are blessed with the gift of the Holy Spirit but also spiritual gifts of grace, peace, joy, faith, and rich mercy. We are chosen as God’s children. And we have been given God’s grace. If that does not change us in a way to glorify God, we truly are lost.
Pray we use the spiritual gifts and natural talents we have been given in service to one another.
Pray we are changed in the process and justified so that we can become right with God. Pray we believe as best we can that the source of our justification is the grace of God. Pray we affirm that the ground of our justification is the work of Christ, and the means of our justification is Jesus’ faith through the Holy Spirit. Pray we both rest in the finished work of Christ for our salvation and are moved in the joy of service in good works as an affirmation of it. Pray we know we are loved and are moved to respond in love. Pray we glorify God and are transformed.
Blessings,
John Lawson
Daily Devotionals 