Good Morning Friends,
Jesus tells us to look to some rather unusual places to find his blessing while also providing us with a list of warnings in today’s scripture from Luke’s writings we call the Beatitudes. Now you may think you are blessed and perhaps you are but think more deeply about whether Christ is at the center of that joy for you. If not, there is a problem. So too our passage from Paul’s letter to the Colossians makes is clear that if we are all in for Jesus, Jesus will indeed bring a unity of renewal that is in all. And so, we ask each other, Are Our Hearts Touched By God?
Scripture: Then he looked up at his disciples and said: “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. “Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you will be filled. “Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh. “Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude you, revile you, and defame you on account of the Son of Man. Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, for surely your reward is great in heaven; for that is what their ancestors did to the prophets. “But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation. “Woe to you who are full now, for you will be hungry. “Woe to you who are laughing now, for you will mourn and weep. “Woe to you when all speak well of you, for that is what their ancestors did to the false prophets.
Luke 6:20-26 (NRSV)
So if you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth, 3for you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4When Christ who is your life is revealed, then you also will be revealed with him in glory. 5Put to death, therefore, whatever in you is earthly: fornication, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed (which is idolatry). 6On account of these the wrath of God is coming on those who are disobedient. 7These are the ways you also once followed, when you were living that life. 8But now you must get rid of all such things—anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive language from your mouth. 9Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have stripped off the old self with its practices 10and have clothed yourselves with the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge according to the image of its creator. 11In that renewal there is no longer Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave and free; but Christ is all and in all!
Colossians 3:1-11 (NRSV)
Message: Friends, we can go kicking and screaming into God’s service… we can be whining and complaining, or we can go willingly and immediately with enthusiasm and joy because we love doing things that please God. The Bible is filled with examples of people who did not want to answer the call of God. We can say yes, or we can make excuses. I think Paul wanted to make sure we did not have any reasons to say no to the call. The example we are to emulate is a John the Baptist…a Peter…someone like Jesus, not a Jonah. We are to think of the right things. So, today’s question is not about qualification for ministry but a question about priorities and the desires of our hearts, for we are all called to this work. And we as the laity may think we are engaged and involved in missions, but few are all in. Success here hinges on the heart. Having a heart that is open to the things of God means that we also have a heart that is open to the people God wants to reach. Eugene Peterson put it this way in The Message Bible from another letter of Paul’s:
I do want to point out, friends, that time is of the essence. There is no time to waste, so don’t complicate your lives unnecessarily. Keep it simple—in marriage, grief, joy, whatever. Even in ordinary things—your daily routines of shopping, and so on. Deal as sparingly as possible with the things the world thrusts on you. This world as you see it is on its way out.
Friends, the saints were all involved in a great ministry and while we are here on this earth we need to be engaged too. It is that simple. So, let us check our hearts today and realize that Jesus called us, to be a part of His great ministry of Salvation. For some of us it might mean jumping out of the boat and leaving the fishing to someone else. And the thing is that Jesus has called you and me personally. Jesus has called us to the same salvation as the disciples, so we had better get to the work at hand.
And So, whether we think this experience of life is a miracle or not is insignificant. What is significant is whether we are touched by God. So, friends, know that the happiness we seek out of life is a matter of the heart. If it were not for the message of mercy and pity in Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, it would be so much harder to be a human being. So how is your heart this morning? How many of us would give the response today that we are blessed? Maybe all of us because “blessed” seems like a pretty “churchy” thing to say, right? But if we gave it some thought, what would you look to see if we were really blessed? Maybe you would quickly take inventory of what’s going on in your life. You might think about your health and wealth and living conditions and friends. But what if all those things were taken away, would you still consider yourself blessed? This morning, Jesus teaches us where to find his blessing. And like many of Jesus teachings, he turns things upside down. While the world tells us to look in one direction to find the Lord’s blessing, the Lord completely turns us around and points us in the opposite direction. The way is of repentance and forgiveness and peace and joy, and love found in the message of the Beatitudes and the sermon on the mount. The simplicity and beauty of this is captured in the divine liturgy sung by three sopranos in this musical offering by Vladimir Martynov at the following link. It is sung in Russian but think the scripture and you will get the idea, then come back to finish the devotional in a moment of prayer.
Pray we wake up to the work of Jesus. Pray we keep it simple. Pray we have prayers that heal our hearts. Pray that Jesus is in our relationships. Pray our prayers are heartfelt.
Pray we move beyond head knowledge and let Christ reach our hearts. Pray we have a vision of faith that changes our behavior for the better. Pray we look up, we look out, we look in, and we look around for Christ. Pray we break free from the past. Pray we have confidence in Christ. Pray we become new creatures in Christ. Pray we choose the things of God. Pray we realize that the purpose of Jesus’ promises and warnings in the beatitudes is always to lead us back to the one place where real and lasting blessings come from…the cross of Christ and the richness of his love, the satisfaction of his forgiveness and his confidence in life eternal. Pray we can say we are blessed because Christ’s love has touched our hearts.
Blessings,
John Lawson
Daily Devotionals 