Tag Archives: Caring for One Another

Hope and God’s Peace

Living in the Spirit

August 8, 2021

Scripture Reading:
John 6:35, 41-51
Jesus said to them, ‘I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.

Then the Jews began to complain about him because he said, ‘I am the bread that came down from heaven.’ They were saying, ‘Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, “I have come down from heaven”?’ Jesus answered them, ‘Do not complain among yourselves. No one can come to me unless drawn by the Father who sent me; and I will raise that person up on the last day. It is written in the prophets, “And they shall all be taught by God.” Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me. Not that anyone has seen the Father except the one who is from God; he has seen the Father. Very truly, I tell you, whoever believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life. Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats of this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.’

When I hear the word flesh, I think of skin. The Greek word, sarx*, translated flesh above, has a much broader meaning, the physical body. Thus, when Jesus says, and the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.’ He is foreshadowing his bodily death on the cross. This whole scripture is a discourse on things spiritual and carnal. He is talking to first-century people who probably are more comfortable with separating the two than perhaps our generation is. Their minds went immediately to the story in the Hebrew Bible about God providing the manna from heaven for the Israelites who found themselves in the desert with no food after fleeing Egypt. When Jesus states that he is the bread that came down from heaven, he essentially says that he is the people’s savior. That was a significant threat to the religious leaders of that time, but words of hope to the people hearing it.

Hope seems in short supply as we grimace that the Delta variant is causing COVID to spread more rapidly. People tend to respond to such threats in ways that are not necessarily helpful. We are seeing a lot of denial with people still not getting vaccinations. Careless behavior is cropping up again with large gatherings, no masks, and no space for social distancing. We must never forget that God is always with us, Jesus is the source of all hope, and the Holy Spirit can and will calm our beings to face whatever comes to us with the grace of God’s Peace.

Prayer: Lord, we are scared and frustrated that all we can do is take a shot or two, wear masks, socially distance, and wash our hands. We are somewhat like the Israelites leaving Egypt. Help us remember that you provided for them just as you can and will conquer our anguish and help us make good decisions not only for ourselves but for all the people with whom we come into contact. Amen.

*https://biblehub.com/greek/4561.htm

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.

Balm for the Soul

Kingdom Building

November 7, 2019

Scripture Reading:
2 Thessalonians 1:1-4, 11-12
Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy,
To the church of the Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ:
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

We must always give thanks to God for you, brothers and sisters, as is right, because your faith is growing abundantly, and the love of every one of you for one another is increasing. Therefore we ourselves boast of you among the churches of God for your steadfastness and faith during all your persecutions and the afflictions that you are enduring. To this end we always pray for you, asking that our God will make you worthy of his call and will fulfil by his power every good resolve and work of faith, so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.

My mother’s family lived in Springdale, Arkansas while we lived on a farm almost in the middle of Oklahoma about 200 miles away. We made a couple of trips to see them each year and my Grandmother would come by bus to spend a week or so with us every year. Long distance telephone calls were for important business or reporting very serious news like a death in the family. It was a different world than we have today with cell phones and the Internet. Driving on four or six lane interstate highways is also much faster than driving on two lane roads circling up the Ozark Mountains behind a slow-moving truck. My mother was thus a dedicated letter writer as was her mother and her two sisters. I remember running to the mailbox after seeing the mailman drive up the hill from our house. When there was a letter from “home” for my Mom, I knew she would stop everything she was doing and read it immediately, often more than once savory every word and bit of news. There was always a returning letter on our mailbox the next day with the red flag set in the upright position so the mailman would be sure and take the outgoing mail.

The time span between letters was far greater than a week when Paul was writing to the church at Thessalonica, but I feel confident the receipt of the letter was cherished not unlike my Mother’s letters from home. I also am sure those words of greeting Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ were a welcome balm as the Thessalonians dealt with major problems. While much of our work in being the Body of Christ in the world today is oriented outward, we must always remember that we are also called to care for one another and strengthen one another.

Prayer: Lord, help us to be balm to the souls of our fellow sojourners in Christ. 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.