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 spiritually were superior but in fact displayed un-Christian behavior.

The writer of this letter invited the “wise and understanding” to demonstrate their faith through “works…done with gentleness”. Those who truly have “wisdom from above” show this 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 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.

Ordinary 25 / Pentecost +18

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 warrior 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. 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 of us choose to spend our time and energy in the pursuit of riches, honour and fame rather than in cultivating understanding minds. In fact it seems that wealth and success arises from a single-minded determination not to be distracted by anything else but one’s own goals. The 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.      

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 often call us into the unpopular and uncomfortable path. 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.

Ordinary 25 / Pentecost +18

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.

Transformative Grace

Rom 6:1  What then are we to say? Should we continue in sin in order that grace may abound? 2  By no means! How can we who died to sin go on living in it? 3  Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4  Therefore we have been buried with him by baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. 5  For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. 6  We know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be destroyed, and we might no longer be enslaved to sin. 7  For whoever has died is freed from sin. 8  But if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. 9  We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. 10  The death he died, he died to sin, once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God. 11  So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. 12  Therefore, do not let sin exercise dominion in your mortal bodies, to make you obey their passions. 13  No longer present your members to sin as instruments of wickedness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and present your members to God as instruments of righteousness. 14  For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.

The Grace of God is a recurring theme in the teaching of St Paul. But while Paul insists that we are “saved by grace through faith”,[1] he is at pains to show that this is not a grace without consequences. The Grace of God is a transformative process that results in change: grace allows us to move from brokenness to healing, from instability to stability, from sin to righteousness.  God’s Grace does not confer instant perfection in a person’s life, but it is expected to help that person move away from sin.

Pray for the Grace of God to transform your life into a closer pattern of what God intended you to become.         

Ordinary 24 / Pentecost +17

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] Ephesians Chapter 2

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.   

To sing:

1.      And can it be that I should gain

        an interest in the Savior'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, shouldst die for me?

        Amazing love! How can it be

        that thou, my God, shouldst 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.

        '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!

        '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.

        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.

        Bold I approach th' eternal throne,

        and claim the crown, through Christ my own.

Text: Charles Wesley, 1707-1788 

Ordinary 24 / Pentecost +17

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.

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.

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.

Use the Psalm as your prayer for today. If possible pray it with another person – reading it responsively.    

Ordinary 24 / Pentecost +17

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.

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 rather a later addition. I am suggesting 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 publicly humiliated. Jesus does not condone her actions – but instead he offers he 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 fail 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 

Ordinary 24 / Pentecost +17

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.