Good Morning Friends,
I imagine few people actually believe what is in the Bible. Some Ultra Conservative Bible believing churches however do seem to be doing amazingly well. But I wonder if their leaders are just exploiting the human condition of their parishioners. Still, maybe doing the exact opposite of the herd is the best course, especially during what looks like a Civil War in our nation. Thankfully the message from Jesus to each of us is always consistent but always also unique to our own lives and has an element of hope even in the face of severe challenges. For we need to live in a way that is not in conflict with God and Jesus gives us this hope that responds to our individual needs. Sometimes the message is to listen and at other times for individuals the message is to act, but it is all based on who we are, and we are all different. Peace through our response is always hoped for but the harsh reality is that controversy is much more likely in a world where the good and the bad are all jumbled up in a way that can confuse our decision-making. But even this challenge serves a purpose that prompts today’s question for some church goers have quit watching online services as many did during Covid and now have stopped going to church at all and experts predict many will never come back to traditional church services and maybe they are falling away from the faith. But I pray that somehow, they have found God at work where they are and serve God in a new and unexpected way. Hard to say. They say they are spiritual but not religious. But I think they are missing out. Maybe we need to rethink our strategies about welcoming them back. But it does prompt a question about succeeding in the game of life to renew our minds to align with God’s glory. So, When Does Contrary Cognition And Divergent Doing Serve God?
Scripture: “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; and one’s foes will be members of one’s own household. Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever does not take up the cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Those who find their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it. “Whoever welcomes you welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. Whoever welcomes a prophet in the name of a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward; and whoever welcomes a righteous person in the name of a righteous person will receive the reward of the righteous; and whoever gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones in the name of a disciple—truly I tell you, none of these will lose their reward.” Now when Jesus had finished instructing his twelve disciples, he went on from there to teach and proclaim his message in their cities.
Matthew 10:34—11:1 (NRSV)
Now a new king arose over Egypt, who did not know Joseph. He said to his people, “Look, the Israelite people are more numerous and more powerful than we. Come, let us deal shrewdly with them, or they will increase and, in the event of war, join our enemies and fight against us and escape from the land.” Therefore they set taskmasters over them to oppress them with forced labor. They built supply cities, Pithom and Rameses, for Pharaoh. But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and spread, so that the Egyptians came to dread the Israelites. The Egyptians became ruthless in imposing tasks on the Israelites, and made their lives bitter with hard service in mortar and brick and in every kind of field labor. They were ruthless in all the tasks that they imposed on them. Then Pharaoh commanded all his people, “Every boy that is born to the Hebrews you shall throw into the Nile, but you shall let every girl live.”
Exodus 1:8-14, 22 (NRSV)
Hear the word of the Lord, you rulers of Sodom! Listen to the teaching of our God, you people of Gomorrah! What to me is the multitude of your sacrifices? says the Lord; I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams and the fat of fed beasts; I do not delight in the blood of bulls, or of lambs, or of goats. When you come to appear before me, who asked this from your hand? Trample my courts no more; bringing offerings is futile; incense is an abomination to me. New moon and sabbath and calling of convocation— I cannot endure solemn assemblies with iniquity. Your new moons and your appointed festivals my soul hates; they have become a burden to me, I am weary of bearing them. When you stretch out your hands, I will hide my eyes from you; even though you make many prayers, I will not listen; your hands are full of blood. Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean; remove the evil of your doings from before my eyes; cease to do evil, learn to do good; seek justice, rescue the oppressed, defend the orphan, plead for the widow.
Isaiah 1:10-17 (NRSV)
Message: Doing the same thing repeatedly and not getting a positive response is one definition of insanity. Maybe that is why Jesus, taking the words of the Commandments — the words of God — gave them new life. Jesus said again and again, “You have heard that it was said … but I say unto you.” Friends, Jesus was a contrarian. So if you don’t fit the mold…If you’re tired of adjusting to other people’s definitions of spirituality… or the right political persuasion…If traditional spiritual disciplines just aren’t working for you…If all the standard answers aren’t enough…but your deepest desire is to be closer to God, maybe you should try it and discover what it makes us to look like on the inside as well as the outside and that could be a very good learning experience. It is good because it makes us realize that we all are sinners in need of a Savior. Now, many are jaded, but dogma did not just happen, and great relationships don’t just happen either. There is work here. But realize this, if you go to one extreme in a position to prove a point, others might just go to the other extreme in retaliation. Sounds like Washington. And maybe that is why Jesus said to love our enemies. And this is one reason why he prayed for us to be one. Maybe that is why Jesus came not to call the righteous, but sinners. Peter Marshall put it this way,” When we long for life without difficulties, remind us that oaks grow strong in contrary winds and diamonds are made under pressure.” “Confucius said, “When we see persons of worth, we should think of equaling them; when we see persons of a contrary character, we should turn inwards and examine ourselves.” Samuel Butler said, “If you follow reason far enough it always leads to conclusions that are contrary to reason.” And Jimmy Carter had this to say, “I hate to see complacency prevail in our lives when it’s so directly contrary to the teaching of Christ.” Friends if spending and saving is not getting you the desired response, try giving…try loving. Never get cynical and weary. Press on. The Bible makes it clear that God wins in the end and if it does not look like heaven yet, it is because God is not done with you and the rest of us.
And So, we are experiencing a powerful paradigm shift in the way our species operate and contrarians are in the forefront of that shift. Here rewards matter. Listening matters. Wisdom matters. Actions matter. Generosity matters. But know this, people love to play and watch games, on a world stage, but God does not want us to play a trivial religious game and God does not want us to get world-weary either. The results of such wrong actions can be catastrophic. And even if chaos is not necessarily all bad, and disruptive technology has its place, we do want to avoid disasters, especially those we tend to blame God for. But this is not some game. Playing hide and seek with God is not the answer. God is not interested in charades, or the Price is Right. Instead, God desires for us to clean up our act and say no to what is wrong and yes to doing good and working for justice and helping those in need motivated by a holy heart… a heart we cannot attain without Jesus. Thankfully God sees us for who we are, and God cares anyway, and God calls us anyway, and we are delivered so we might experience God being glorified in our lives and for us to receive some surprising rewards despite ourselves and however we might worship whether it is traditional or not. And that is why God sometimes gives us challenges that seem insurmountable. And the process is not always peaceful, but it is always purposeful, and it is no game but a way to engage in something larger than us but also honest and with integrity. Therefore we should be who God made us to be and if that is to offer some contrary thinking it might well serve God better than a status quo. Here the fullness of God’s timing, not our own, is the key. And so, if we release the things of this world, we can change the world and that is contrary to how most people think but might well be the best way to serve God and be not just spenders and savers but givers in ways that the world thinks as the wrong approach. Maybe an improvised traditional approach is more contrarian than one might first think. Regardless, keep your worship life alive and not just on Sundays.
Pray we lose our life, so we might find it. Pray we put time and energy into the needs of people seeking answers that they have not yet found. Pray we encourage people to have a relationship with God but not limit God in how this might happen. Pray we grow closer to God through Jesus and his unorthodox approach to the problems of life. Pray we become more generous in helping to meet the needs of others and helping them engage in a relationship with the divine. Pray we embrace the contrary virtues. Pray we fight with humility against pride. Pray we fight with kindness to defeat envy. Pray we practice abstinence to battle gluttony. Pray we embrace chastity against lust and patience against anger,and liberality against greed, and diligence against sloth. Pray we live in the world but not be of it. Pray we realize that making deals with God and bargaining with the divine is pointless. Pray we win at the game of life by not playing the world’s games but by being sincere with God and thinking and desiring differently and continually getting better at improvising in a world that is changing. Pray we challenge ourselves to keep getting better. Pray we are consciously aware of our surroundings and intentional about seeking what God is doing to guide us.
Blessings,
John Lawson
Daily Devotionals 