Good Morning Friends,
Friends, the process by which we discern an answer to today’s question is caught up in our reaction to God’s love that can, if we let it, change us, bind us together and build us up collectively while freeing us from the boundaries in our own minds. And as I look out to the West this morning watching what appears like a setting full moon, I wonder if we have reached a tipping point in our existence that demands a Christ solution for no other will suffice to save us from ourselves. Indeed, it is in God’s universal love that we have hope in Jesus’ prayer we join with a purpose to be one that is well beyond random acts of kindness to actions of utmost and highest importance. But get this if you get nothing else…when we are called to this dance we must think in a new way. We must give up something to get something beyond access to computers, information, commerce, and entertainment. We need purpose motivated by the Holy Spirit. So, Are You Seeking Unity With Christ’s Radical Means Of Justice?
Scripture: I therefore, the prisoner in the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all.
Ephesians 4:1-6 (NRSV)
He also said to the crowds, “When you see a cloud rising in the west, you immediately say, ‘It is going to rain’; and so it happens. And when you see the south wind blowing, you say, ‘There will be scorching heat’; and it happens. You hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of earth and sky, but why do you not know how to interpret the present time? “And why do you not judge for yourselves what is right? Thus, when you go with your accuser before a magistrate, on the way make an effort to settle the case, or you may be dragged before the judge, and the judge hand you over to the officer, and the officer throw you in prison. I tell you, you will never get out until you have paid the very last penny.”
Luke 12:54-59 (NRSV)
For I know that nothing good dwells within me, that is, in my flesh. I can will what is right, but I cannot do it. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I that do it, but sin that dwells within me. So I find it to be a law that when I want to do what is good, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God in my inmost self, but I see in my members another law at war with the law of my mind, making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, with my mind I am a slave to the law of God, but with my flesh I am a slave to the law of sin.
Romans 7:18-25a (NRSV)
Message: Ever look at a brick. They are all slightly different and have little holes in them. My relatives up North made bricks in a place called Little Egypt. They were promoted as safer building material when fires burned down wooden structures. My Grandfather helped to build a church building from reused bricks, containing the blood, and sweat of the parishioners who scrapped off the mortar, so they could be placed one on top of the other connected and made straight with new mortar. The history of it reminds me that we must stick together as a team…as bricks held together with His mortar. We must build each other up as a body made up of many parts. We must be plumbed and justified to be safe and functional. But we also must be radically changed. And so, following the innovation of Christ we in our own unique development need to reflect the image of God in the Spirit of God’s sacrificial love. For it is the Holy Spirit comforting and convicting who builds community and cements unity, founded on the cornerstone that is one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all. This is about building unity in the body of believers whether it is seen or not…this is our work, and it needs a lot of love and creativity to reach the world. Friends, we have been called out as an assembly to a great hope of strength and unity in the Holy Spirit. We have been called out, so we might take our brick lives, forged in passion, and turn them into living stones bound to one another in love with Christ as the Cornerstone. Friends, only by knowing the Lord we can discern what is going on in this world and choose what is right over with is wrong…what is the way of the greater good…abandoning even the lesser evils. We must judge the world in the sense of discerning what is better and best…right and wrong and to do what is just in this world. Friends, Jesus is the light of the world, so we might see what is right. And here love and forgiveness, the innovation that Christ brings into the world, changes the status quo. And here if we are in the power and purpose of this radical innovation of existence we make meaning out of our lives, we jump over the next hurdle to new ground, we risk intelligently, we move forward in faith and our own imperfection to give Christ’s efforts a chance to blossom. Friends the world is divided into what we know and what we do not know, and the innovation of the Holy Spirit can indeed bring unity and dignity even though it can still divide and polarize people because it transforms in a way that changes the way people have been living. And so, if we embrace this relationship of change some will not like it and yet we exist for this very purpose. So, friends, discover your value and uniqueness and share it in a way that glorifies God who gave it to you in the first place…love…truth…forgiveness.
And So, our daily decisions, no matter how small, usually shape a lifetime, and wisdom here is found in making the most of each opportunity. All our decisions matter to God because they impact our lives and the lives of others. There is one struggle that all of us as Christians have. It is the struggle between knowing what is right and doing what is right. In other words, it is the conflict between good and evil. The conflict Paul is talking about in the book of Romans is a form of spiritual warfare. It is like the game of tug-of-war. As we learn to say no to sin and yes to God, we are given a renewed spirit, vigor and understanding. Paul talks about this struggle by talking about his own personal struggle. In his eyes, he failed to do any good for he could not completely comply with God’s law. God’s Old Testament law demanded perfection. He realized that the law does not save us from sin, but it does show us the character of the giver of the law-God. The problem with the law is that it reveals human weakness when compared to the law’s perfect standard. Jesus dealt with sin in a transformative way through his death and resurrection to show us how we were meant to live now. So, live this day for it is a day the Lord has made, and we are to rejoice in it.
Pray we realize that we are all a mess because there is something deeply rooted in us that takes even our efforts to do good and turns them into filthy rags. Pray we realize that we are justified only by grace through the faith of Christ in us. Pray we realize that it is the grace of the Holy Spirit that gives us the strength to love. Pray we realize that love, this act of adoration, has the power to bind us together. Pray therefore we are not so eager to judge others we hope will be in relationship with the one true God. Pray we know Jesus and mature in the one true faith. Pray we have a passion that burns in us baptizing us and forging our very souls into a community of love. Pray the One Word made flesh inform us how to portray this passion. Pray we judge the ways of the world but not the people of the world. Pray our thoughts take us the distance, with dignity and insights into alternatives to the way things are and ultimately to the way God would have them be. Pray we allow divergent information to give us new ideas. Pray we fight the good fight. Pray we seek unity in Christ’s peace. Pray we realize that Jesus is the only one who is going to save us.
Blessings,
John Lawson
Daily Devotionals 