Tag Archives: Being a Disciple

Faith and Hope

Living in the Spirit

November 2, 2021

Scripture Reading: Isaiah 25:6-9

On this mountain the Lord of hosts will make for all peoples
   a feast of rich food, a feast of well-matured wines,
   of rich food filled with marrow, of well-matured wines strained clear.
And he will destroy on this mountain
   the shroud that is cast over all peoples,
   the sheet that is spread over all nations;
he will swallow up death for ever.
Then the Lord God will wipe away the tears from all faces,
   and the disgrace of his people he will take away from all the earth,
   for the Lord has spoken.
It will be said on that day,
   Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, so that he might save us.
   This is the Lord for whom we have waited;
   let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation.

There is a feeling now in our world that a shroud is cast over all peoples. The COVID virus is undoubtedly taking its toll. About the time we seem to get it under control, it rears its ugly head again. Scriptures like the one above were, most likely, written to give people hope in what seemed like a hopeless situation. God knows we need hope now. Hebrews 11:1 says that faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. A lesson I have learned from studying the history of God is that God is rarely if ever, magic wane waver. Jesus, on occasion, healed by touch and forgave immediately, but he added things like pick up your bed and walk (John 5:8-16) or go and sin no more (John 8:7).

We most often think of Jesus’s primary task being our salvation, but he spent most of his time while on earth training disciples to carry on his work when he was gone. Once I read the first chapter of Acts, which is essentially a board meeting making plans to further Jesus’s work, I followed immediately by reading the second chapter, which describes the arrival of the Holy Spirit. Faith is the knowledge that God is with us in all we do, especially in bringing forth God’s Kingdom on earth, but God always expects us to do our part.

Prayer: Thank you, Lord, for your abiding presence. Help me clearly see the task you set before me and complete them to your glory. Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.

Called as a Disciple

Epiphany

January 19, 2020

Scripture Reading: John 1:29-42

The next day John again was standing with two of his disciples, and as he watched Jesus walk by, he exclaimed, ‘Look, here is the Lamb of God!’ The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus. When Jesus turned and saw them following, he said to them, ‘What are you looking for?’ They said to him, ‘Rabbi’ (which translated means Teacher), ‘where are you staying?’ He said to them, ‘Come and see.’ They came and saw where he was staying, and they remained with him that day. It was about four o’clock in the afternoon. One of the two who heard John speak and followed him was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. He first found his brother Simon and said to him, ‘We have found the Messiah’ (which is translated Anointed). He brought Simon to Jesus, who looked at him and said, ‘You are Simon son of John. You are to be called Cephas’ (which is translated Peter). –John 1:35-42

When I was a child as far as I knew, everybody went to church. Well there was the occasional reprobate that was the exception to every rule. Ours was a homogeneous group of farmers and businesspeople who supported farmers. There were three churches in my hometown: Christian, Evangelical United Brethren that eventually united with the Methodists, and Lutheran. The little church on the corner of my grandmother’s farm, which closed when I was five was my first church. It was served by a Baptist minister. He preached one Sunday a month at four different rural churches and we all got together on fifth Sunday with each church taking a turn at hosting what were called Fifth Sunday Sings. When it closed my family started attending the Christian church. I have since determined that the EUB were one set of families who migrated from Germany in the 1880’s and the Lutheran’s were another set of families who also migrated from Germany and both groups ran in the runs that opened settlement to non-Indians in the heart of the land set aside for the Indian Removal. In my case other cultures came to me. I was unaware of any real differences in beliefs. I attended Bible school at all the churches but the Lutheran Church; don’t think they had Vacation Bible school. I did learn a vast number of hymns from this ecumenical involvement.

My experience was not unlike that of the first Christians who were formed from the homogeneous peoples of Galilee and Judea. They were under Roman rule, I guess that is a major difference. Their call to be disciples was the bridge toward the remainder of the world learning about the love God has for all God’s people. It is still our call today only the world has grown a lot smaller and more diverse. There remains much to learn as we share the love of God from our doorsteps to the ends of the earth.

Prayer: Lord, lead us in understanding one another so that we might work together building your Kingdom of Love. Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.