Who is wise?

James 3:13  Who is wise and understanding among you? Show by your good life that your works are done with gentleness born of wisdom. 14  But if you have bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not be boastful and false to the truth. 15  Such wisdom does not come down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, devilish. 16  For where there is envy and selfish ambition, there will also be disorder and wickedness of every kind. 17  But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without a trace of partiality or hypocrisy. 18  And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace for those who make peace.

This letter was written in AD49 (just before the Council of Jerusalem described in Acts 15) to Jewish Christians living in Gentile communities. It was written to challenge the hypocrisy of those who thought that they were spiritually superior – who in fact displayed un-Christian behavior.

The writer of this letter invited the “wise and understanding” to demonstrate this through “works…done with gentleness”. Those who truly have “wisdom from above” show their faith in being “peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits”. This is an invitation to abandon the hypocrisy born of spiritual arrogance, and to instead become peacemakers.

The challenge of our era is for Jesus-followers to abandon the notion that this makes us spiritually superior, and instead to cultivate a gentle spirit of service to our community.

Let me love and not be requited.
Let me serve and not be rewarded.
Let me labor and not be remembered.
Let me suffer and not be regarded.

I know not how far the future lies ahead.
On this path of no retreating I am led.
So, Lord, let me now learn from Your perfect pattern,
Suff’ring wrong, no resentment in return.

Translated from Watchman Nee 1903-1972

Ordinary 25

47 Wise Stewards

The Scripture passage for the day is drawn from Reuben Job and Norman Shawchuck, A Guide to Prayer for Ministers and other Servants, (Nashville, The Upper Room 1983), 287.
This reflection is from my own devotional exercises for the day.

An understanding mind….

1Kings 3:3  Solomon loved the LORD, walking in the statutes of his father David; only, he sacrificed and offered incense at the high places. 4  The king went to Gibeon to sacrifice there, for that was the principal high place; Solomon used to offer a thousand burnt offerings on that altar. 5  At Gibeon the LORD appeared to Solomon in a dream by night; and God said, "Ask what I should give you." 6  And Solomon said, "You have shown great and steadfast love to your servant my father David, because he walked before you in faithfulness, in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart toward you; and you have kept for him this great and steadfast love, and have given him a son to sit on his throne today. 7  And now, O LORD my God, you have made your servant king in place of my father David, although I am only a little child; I do not know how to go out or come in. 8  And your servant is in the midst of the people whom you have chosen, a great people, so numerous they cannot be numbered or counted. 9  Give your servant therefore an understanding mind to govern your people, able to discern between good and evil; for who can govern this your great people?" 10  It pleased the Lord that Solomon had asked this. 11  God said to him, "Because you have asked this, and have not asked for yourself long life or riches, or for the life of your enemies, but have asked for yourself understanding to discern what is right, 12  I now do according to your word. Indeed I give you a wise and discerning mind; no one like you has been before you and no one like you shall arise after you. 13  I give you also what you have not asked, both riches and honor all your life; no other king shall compare with you. 14  If you will walk in my ways, keeping my statutes and my commandments, as your father David walked, then I will lengthen your life."

Solomon has large shoes to fill: He succeeds two warrior kings – Saul and David. These were the leaders who used their military prowess to carve out a new national pride for the people of the Covenant. Now Solomon takes over the throne of David and offers prayers for his success. But instead of asking to become a mighty man of military skill and bravery, he asks for “an understanding mind” to govern the people well. The writer tells us that God grants him “a wise and discerning mind”, adding that this can lead to many other attributes as well – including “riches and honour”.   

I am struck by how many leaders pursue riches, honour and fame as a sign of their good leadership. Rather than wanting ‘understanding minds’, we are cursed with leaders who indulge in the single-minded determination not to be distracted by anything else but their own goals. Such a purpose-driven life excludes values like understanding and empathy for the needs of others.

Those who follow Jesus can learn from King Solomon: to desire “a wise and discerning mind”, that we might walk in the ways of God.      

Ordinary 25

47 Wise Stewards

The Scripture passage for the day is drawn from Reuben Job and Norman Shawchuck, A Guide to Prayer for Ministers and other Servants, (Nashville, The Upper Room 1983), 287.
This reflection is from my own devotional exercises for the day.

Seek the words of a wise man

Ecclesiastes 9:13  I have also seen this example of wisdom under the sun, and it seemed great to me. 14  There was a little city with few people in it. A great king came against it and besieged it, building great siege works against it. 15  Now there was found in it a poor wise man, and he by his wisdom delivered the city. Yet no one remembered that poor man. 16  So I said, "Wisdom is better than might; yet the poor man's wisdom is despised, and his words are not heeded." 17  The quiet words of the wise are more to be heeded than the shouting of a ruler among fools. 18  Wisdom is better than weapons of war, but one bungler destroys much good.

Wisdom is an elusive quality that many admire, but few achieve. The writer of Ecclesiastes aptly reminds us that we are all too easily dazzled by the grand words and visionary promises of the rich and the powerful – while the words of the wise are often unnoticed. And even when the words of a wise man are heeded, they are claimed by the powerful, while “no one remembered that poor man”.

The invitation for today is to push past the clamorous words and the noisy distractions of powerful people to listen for the quiet words of the wise.

Drop Thy still dews of quietness,
Till all our strivings cease;
Take from our souls the strain and stress,
And let our ordered lives confess
The beauty of Thy peace.

Breathe through the heats of our desire
Thy coolness and Thy balm;
Let sense be dumb, let flesh retire;
Speak through the earthquake, wind, and fire,
O still, small voice of calm.

Words: John G. Whit­ti­er, in the At­lan­tic Month­ly, Ap­ril 1872.

Ordinary 25

47 Wise Stewards

The Scripture passage for the day is drawn from Reuben Job and Norman Shawchuck, A Guide to Prayer for Ministers and other Servants, (Nashville, The Upper Room 1983), 287.
This reflection is from my own devotional exercises for the day.

We do not find God!

Eph 2:8  For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God-- 9  not the result of works, so that no one may boast. 10  For we are what he has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life.

......

Eph 2:17  So he came and proclaimed peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near; 18  for through him both of us have access in one Spirit to the Father. 19  So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are citizens with the saints and also members of the household of God, 20  built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone. 21  In him the whole structure is joined together and grows into a holy temple in the Lord; 22  in whom you also are built together spiritually into a dwelling place for God.

I am tired of people claiming to have “found Jesus”. This is theological nonsense. As the writer of Ephesians reminds us: our relationship with God is “not your own doing; it is the gift of God”.  The fact is that we do not find God – but rather “he came and proclaimed peace to you who were far off”. 

Let us give up the search for the newest spiritual experience, and accept that we are already loved by God: We do not find God – instead God finds us.   

1.          And can it be that I should gain

            an interest in the Saviour's blood!

            Died he for me? who caused his pain!

            For me? who him to death pursued?

            Amazing love! How can it be

            that thou, my God, should’st die for me?

              

2.         'Tis mystery all: th' Immortal dies!

            Who can explore his strange design?

            In vain the firstborn seraph tries

            to sound the depths of love divine.

            'Tis mercy all! Let earth adore;

            let angel minds inquire no more.

3.         He left his Father's throne above

            (so free, so infinite his grace!),

            emptied himself of all but love,

            and bled for Adam's helpless race.

            'Tis mercy all, immense and free,

            for O my God, it found out me!

             

4.         Long my imprisoned spirit lay,

            fast bound in sin and nature's night;

            thine eye diffused a quickening ray;

            I woke, the dungeon flamed with light;

            my chains fell off, my heart was free,

            I rose, went forth, and followed thee.

            

5.         No condemnation now I dread;

            Jesus, and all in him, is mine;

            alive in him, my living Head,

            and clothed in righteousness divine,

            bold I approach th' eternal throne,

            and claim the crown, through Christ my own.

            Text: Charles Wesley, 1707-1788 

Ordinary 24

46 Beyond Forgiveness

The Scripture passage for the day is drawn from Reuben Job and Norman Shawchuck, A Guide to Prayer for Ministers and other Servants, (Nashville, The Upper Room 1983), 282.
This reflection is from my own devotional exercises for the day.

The Thinking Person’s Prayer

Psalm 25 is one of nine alphabetic psalms.[1] Each verse begins with one of the letters of the Hebrew alphabet, and was probably written in this way as an aid to memory. What is significant about this particular Psalm is that its pattern is repeated in Psalm 34.[2]

This is a prayer to God for protection, guidance, pardon and deliverance – all underpinned with a theological reflection on the nature of God. In many ways this is an extended soliloquy with God in mind. This is an invitation for a thoughtful reflection on our spiritual connection with God. It is an opportunity to put our private fears, uncertainties, and attempts at faith into words.

I am suggesting that this is a spiritually useful conversation:

Psalm 25:1  Of David.

To you, O LORD,

 I lift up my soul.

Psa 25:2  O my God, in you I trust; do not let me be put to shame;

 do not let my enemies exult over me.

Psa 25:3  Do not let those who wait for you be put to shame;

 let them be ashamed who are wantonly treacherous.

Psa 25:4  Make me to know your ways, O LORD;

 teach me your paths.

Psa 25:5  Lead me in your truth, and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation;

 for you I wait all day long.

Psa 25:6  Be mindful of your mercy, O LORD, and of your steadfast love,

 for they have been from of old.

Psa 25:7  Do not remember the sins of my youth or my transgressions;

 according to your steadfast love remember me, for your goodness' sake, O LORD!

Psa 25:8  Good and upright is the LORD;

 therefore he instructs sinners in the way.

Psa 25:9  He leads the humble in what is right,

 and teaches the humble his way.

Psa 25:10  All the paths of the LORD are steadfast love and faithfulness,

 for those who keep his covenant and his decrees.

Psa 25:11  For your name's sake, O LORD,

pardon my guilt, for it is great.

Psa 25:12  Who are they that fear the LORD?

He will teach them the way that they should choose.

Psa 25:13  They will abide in prosperity,

 and their children shall possess the land.

Psa 25:14  The friendship of the LORD is for those who fear him,

and he makes his covenant known to them.

Psa 25:15  My eyes are ever toward the LORD,

 for he will pluck my feet out of the net.

Psa 25:16  Turn to me and be gracious to me,

 for I am lonely and afflicted.

Psa 25:17  Relieve the troubles of my heart,

 and bring me out of my distress.

Psa 25:18  Consider my affliction and my trouble,

 and forgive all my sins.

Psa 25:19  Consider how many are my foes,

 and with what violent hatred they hate me.

Psa 25:20  O guard my life, and deliver me;

do not let me be put to shame, for I take refuge in you.

Psa 25:21  May integrity and uprightness preserve me,

 for I wait for you.

Psa 25:22  Redeem Israel, O God, out of all its troubles.

Additional reflection on this prayer:

This Psalm seems to be two prayers woven together into a lament. This is both the prayer of a suffering individual who cannot find God, and as well as a communal expression of trust in God’s guidance. This Psalm has emerged over time as a prayer used in worship by the people of God. It allows us as individuals to bring our fears and distress to worship – while being held by the faith of the community.

.    

Ordinary 24

46 Beyond Forgiveness

The Scripture passage for the day is drawn from Reuben Job and Norman Shawchuck, A Guide to Prayer for Ministers and other Servants, (Nashville, The Upper Room 1983), 282.
This reflection is from my own devotional exercises for the day.

---

[1] The others being Ps. 9, 10, 34, 37, 111, 112, 119, 145

[2] They both omit a couple of letters, misplace one letter, and repeat a letter. This psalm repeats vs 18-19. 

Praise loudly & Blame softly

John 8:2  Early in the morning Jesus came again to the temple. All the people came to him and he sat down and began to teach them.3  The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery; and making her stand before all of them, 4  they said to him, "Teacher, this woman was caught in the very act of committing adultery. 5  Now in the law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?" 6  They said this to test him, so that they might have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground. 7  When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, "Let anyone among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her." 8  And once again he bent down and wrote on the ground. 9  When they heard it, they went away, one by one, beginning with the elders; and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him. 10  Jesus straightened up and said to her, "Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?" 11  She said, "No one, sir." And Jesus said, "Neither do I condemn you. Go your way, and from now on do not sin again."

 This is a ‘disputed’ passage of Scripture: it was not in the original text, but is instead a later addition. That said - I believe that even if this story was not told alongside the others, it should have been because this is so central to everything that Jesus represented: Here is a woman who is ‘caught out’ and is publically humiliated. Jesus does not condone her actions – but instead he offers her an opportunity for a new beginning:  “Go your way, and from now on do not sin again." 

One of the great challenges in life is to hold each other accountable to Godly moral and ethical standards – while helping those who fall to get back on their feet.  I have discovered that the best way is to remember my own moral failures, and the many, many times I have had to pick myself off the floor and dust myself off ....and begin again. This motivates me to offer the same encouragement to others.

"I praise loudly. I blame softly" :   Catherine the Great 

Rescue the perishing, care for the dying,
Snatch them in pity from sin and the grave;
Weep o’er the erring one, lift up the fallen,
Tell them of Jesus, the mighty to save.

o    Refrain:
Rescue the perishing, care for the dying,
Jesus is merciful, Jesus will save.

Frances J. Crosby, 1869

Ordinary 24  

46 Beyond Forgiveness

The Scripture passage for the day is drawn from Reuben Job and Norman Shawchuck, A Guide to Prayer for Ministers and other Servants, (Nashville, The Upper Room 1983), 282.
This reflection is from my own devotional exercises for the day.

Do you want to be made well...

John 5:1  After this there was a festival of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 2  Now in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate there is a pool, called in Hebrew Beth-zatha, which has five porticoes. 3  In these lay many invalids--blind, lame, and paralyzed. 5  One man was there who had been ill for thirty-eight years. 6  When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had been there a long time, he said to him, "Do you want to be made well?" 7  The sick man answered him, "Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up; and while I am making my way, someone else steps down ahead of me." 8  Jesus said to him, "Stand up, take your mat and walk." 9  At once the man was made well, and he took up his mat and began to walk. Now that day was a sabbath. 10  So the Jews said to the man who had been cured, "It is the sabbath; it is not lawful for you to carry your mat." 11  But he answered them, "The man who made me well said to me, 'Take up your mat and walk.'" 12  They asked him, "Who is the man who said to you, 'Take it up and walk'?" 13  Now the man who had been healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had disappeared in the crowd that was there. 14  Later Jesus found him in the temple and said to him, "See, you have been made well! Do not sin any more, so that nothing worse happens to you." 15  The man went away and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well.

This bears all the signs of a well crafted – and often told – story:  

Here we have a sick man who desperately holds onto the forlorn hope of finding healing in the magically stirred water.  We are told that he had been there ‘a long time’. And just when he feels himself giving up hope – Jesus crosses his path with these words “Do you want to be made well?”  What a question! Of course he wants to get well. But this question asks if he wants to be well badly enough to trust Jesus.

Following Jesus is more than a curiosity to occupy a few spare moments - following Jesus is an absolute commitment to trusting his ways.

Ordinary 24

46 Beyond Forgiveness

The Scripture passage for the day is drawn from Reuben Job and Norman Shawchuck, A Guide to Prayer for Ministers and other Servants, (Nashville, The Upper Room 1983), 282.
This reflection is from my own devotional exercises for the day.

But I say to you ... do good

Luke 6:27  "But I say to you that listen, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28  bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. 29  If anyone strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also; and from anyone who takes away your coat do not withhold even your shirt. 30  Give to everyone who begs from you; and if anyone takes away your goods, do not ask for them again. 31  Do to others as you would have them do to you. 32  "If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. 33  If you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. 34  If you lend to those from whom you hope to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, to receive as much again. 35  But love your enemies, do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return. Your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High; for he is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked. 36  Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.

Jesus is unapologetic in insisting that his followers were expected to show more love, more compassion, and more mercy than anyone else. The central thrust to this is that his followers were to reflect the quality of God:  “Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.”  Jesus invites his followers: “Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you.”

Clearly the teachings of Jesus are easier to read in the Bible than they are to practice in our lives.  A case in point is the American desire to bomb foreign countries: We watch how a Jesus-following President of the United States of America – and a God-trusting USA - flat-out ignores Jesus’ injunctions to find an alternative to violence.  It is disturbing how easily we Christians choose violence as the answer to the problems of our world. The greatest challenge of being a Jesus-follower is to have the will and stamina to relentlessly pursue non-violent ways of securing peace and justice in our world.  Jesus asks us to go further than anyone else – to raise the bar on our practice of love and mercy.    

  

Peace, perfect peace, in this dark world of sin?
The blood of Jesus whispers peace within. 

Peace, perfect peace, by thronging duties pressed?
To do the will of Jesus, this is rest. 

Words: Ed­ward H. Bick­er­steth, Jr., 1875. 

Ordinary 23 

45 Forgiveness

The Scripture passage for the day is drawn from Reuben Job and Norman Shawchuck, A Guide to Prayer for Ministers and other Servants, (Nashville, The Upper Room 1983), 276.
This reflection is from my own devotional exercises for the day.

Leadership

2 Corinthians 2:3: 

And I wrote this very thing to you, so that when I came I would not have sadness from those who ought to make me rejoice, since I am confident in you all that my joy would be yours.

Paul visits Corinth for the first time, spending about 18 months there (Acts 18:11). The second time he visited the Corinthian church this was a "painful visit" (2 Corinthians 2:1). Paul reassures the people of Corinth that they will not have another painful visit because of the love he has for them.

Here is a leader who cares for his people enough to visit them, write to them, and when necessary - speak bluntly to them about difficulties. We all can learn from his combination of compassion and straight talking. Good leaders are able to speak truth and take tough decisions without sacrificing compassion and caring.

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,   

    Or walk with Kings—nor lose the common touch,

............ you’ll be a Man, my son!

Rudyard Kipling 1865–1936. Source: A Choice of Kipling's Verse (1943)

Ordinary 23

45 Forgiveness

The Scripture passage for the day is drawn from Reuben Job and Norman Shawchuck, A Guide to Prayer for Ministers and other Servants, (Nashville, The Upper Room 1983), 276.
This reflection is from my own devotional exercises for the day.

The test of true religion.....

1 John 2:1  My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; 2  and he is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world. 3  Now by this we may be sure that we know him, if we obey his commandments. 4  Whoever says, "I have come to know him," but does not obey his commandments, is a liar, and in such a person the truth does not exist; 5  but whoever obeys his word, truly in this person the love of God has reached perfection. By this we may be sure that we are in him: 6  whoever says, "I abide in him," ought to walk just as he walked. 7  Beloved, I am writing you no new commandment, but an old commandment that you have had from the beginning; the old commandment is the word that you have heard. 8  Yet I am writing you a new commandment that is true in him and in you, because the darkness is passing away and the true light is already shining. 9  Whoever says, "I am in the light," while hating a brother or sister, is still in the darkness. 10  Whoever loves a brother or sister lives in the light, and in such a person there is no cause for stumbling. 11  But whoever hates another believer is in the darkness, walks in the darkness, and does not know the way to go, because the darkness has brought on blindness.

Sometimes it feels like following the Christian faith has been reduced to the same level as believing in Father Christmas – that no matter how bad you have been, Father Christmas will still pat you on the head and bring you presents.  This passage of Scripture is a timely reminder that Christian faith is not simply a matter of “believing in Jesus”.  Those who follow Jesus are also bound to obedient living: “Whoever says, ‘I have come to know him,’ but does not obey his commandments, is a liar, and in such a person the truth does not exist”  

Our lives as followers of Jesus are informed by the teachings of Jesus – to both believe and do that which is loving. Belief without action is hollow, and so becomes false faith. The claim to be a “believer in Jesus” is tested by the actions that follow this claim. A person cannot claim the love of Jesus and exhibit nastiness and spite. A person cannot claim the forgiveness of Jesus for themselves while refusing to show the same forgiveness for another person.

Those who claim to be Jesus-followers shall be tested by the love and joy they bring to their community.  

Ordinary 23

45 Forgiveness

The Scripture passage for the day is drawn from Reuben Job and Norman Shawchuck, A Guide to Prayer for Ministers and other Servants, (Nashville, The Upper Room 1983), 276.
This reflection is from my own devotional exercises for the day.