Tag Archives: Wholeness. Oneness

Saved to Serve

Lent

March 3, 2022

Scripture Reading:

Romans 10:8b-13

But what does it say?
‘The word is near you,
   on your lips and in your heart’*
(that is, the word of faith that we proclaim); because if you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For one believes with the heart and so is justified, and one confesses with the mouth and so is saved. The scripture says, ‘No one who believes in him will be put to shame.’ For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; the same Lord is Lord of all and is generous to all who call on him. For, ‘Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.’

What does it mean to be saved? We may first conjure an idea of prepaid admission into heaven. Paul’s writing tends to perceive salvation as a part of living our faith in the here and now. How to live like Christ in our everyday life. The Greek word, sózó, translated here as saved means to deliver out of danger and into safety; used principally of God rescuing believers from the penalty and power of sin – and into His provisions (safety)**. That seems to say to me that salvation allows us to be the persons we are called to be without the interference of sin. Christ, the Holy Spirit, saves us from the distractions of the world that separates us from God. We have already been instilled with gifts that are needed to carry out the work that faith requires. Being saved allows us to answer our call to serve without fear and with courage because we work within the safety of God’s love.

Prayer:
Thank You Lord For Saving My Soul,
Thank You Lord For Making Me Whole,
Thank You Lord For Giving To Me,
Thy Great Salvation So Full And Free***. Amen.

*The quote cited above at the beginning of the scripture is derived from Leviticus 18:5, You shall keep my statutes and my ordinances; by doing so one shall live: I am the Lord.

**https://biblehub.com/greek/4982.htm

***Thank You, Lord, for Saving My Soul by Seth Sykes, Bessie Sykes. See at https://divinehymns.com/lyrics/thank-you-lord-for-saving-my-soul-song-lyrics/

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.

What is Sin?

Kingdom Building

September 13, 2019

Scripture Reading: 1 Timothy 1:12-17

The saying is sure and worthy of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the foremost. But for that very reason I received mercy, so that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display the utmost patience, making me an example to those who would come to believe in him for eternal life. To the King of the ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen. –1 Timothy 1:15-17

The Greek word translated above as sinners is hamartōlós (a substantival adjective, derived from 264 /hamartánō, “to forfeit by missing the mark”) – properly, loss from falling short of what God approves, i.e. what is “wide of the mark”*. According to the above scripture Jesus came into the world to save sinners. We all meet the definitions of sinners whether falling short of what God approves or to forfeit by missing the mark. The first definition demands that we take the time to know God well enough to learn what God approves. The second seems to indicate giving up when we do not attain a goal. When I read that definition, I thought of someone competing with another to see who could shoot the most free-throws and forfeiting the win when he or she missed the first shot. I can see where the One who commanded us to forgive not seven times, but seventy-seven times might not be too impressed with us giving up doing what is right easily. (Matthew 18:22)

My mother shared that when she was a little girl, her family used an outhouse for the restroom. Making the trek several yards behind her home was no problem in the daytime but it was scary at night. Her concept of sin assumed that the devil would get her if she ever broke one of God’s laws. Since she was never sure what they all were she lived in fear that the devil would grab her and pull her down into hell in the dark as she made her way to the outhouse. She ran as fast as she could in the dark to that outhouse and back. Later she learned that God is a God of love and wants all of us to thrive in the abundance of that love.

Neither of these definitions fit my Mother’s understanding of sin from her childhood. To her sin was breaking God’s laws which is not the same as falling short of what God approves. Certainly, God gave us laws to guide our way, but what God approves cannot be contained in ten or 613 rules. We must discern how, when, and whether to apply the laws within the boundaries of our relationship with God. Christ Jesus came into the world to demonstrate how that works and ultimately gave his life to show us the full measure of God’s love for us.

Prayer: God of Love, thank you for blessing us with the life and love of Christ Jesus and help us as we struggle to learn your ways and give us the tenacity necessary to live your ways. Amen.

*https://biblehub.com/greek/268.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.

Jealousy and Faith

Eastertide
May 30, 2017

Scripture Reading: Numbers 11:24-30

Two men remained in the camp, one named Eldad, and the other named Medad, and the spirit rested on them; they were among those registered, but they had not gone out to the tent, and so they prophesied in the camp. And a young man ran and told Moses, ‘Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp.’ And Joshua son of Nun, the assistant of Moses, one of his chosen men, said, ‘My lord Moses, stop them!’ But Moses said to him, ‘Are you jealous for my sake? Would that all the Lord’s people were prophets, and that the Lord would put his spirit on them!’ And Moses and the elders of Israel returned to the camp. –Numbers 11:26-30

My ageless but withered landlord years ago, described jealous as the green-eyed monster. I did not know from where the phrase derived, but it seems appropriate.  As it turns out, William Shakespeare penned the green-eyed part in The Merchant of Venice in 1596. Much earlier than that Exodus 20:17 states:  You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or male or female slave, or ox, or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.

 The Hebrew word for coveting is chamad and means to desire, to take pleasure in*. There is nothing wrong with taking pleasure in a beautiful sunset, a loving spouse, the first word or steps of your child. The problem arises when we go beyond our boundaries and desire something that is not ours to have. Jealousy is our unhealthy response to not having what is not ours. It is a destructive disposition that sometimes hurts others but most often eats holes in our souls.

Inappropriate in our personal life, jealously regarding our and others’ relationship to God breaks God’s heart and hinders our mission to be the whole Body of Christ. In the cynical world in which we live it is very hard to trust anything. As people of God, learning to lean on God in absolute faith is the starting point for healing sin-sick souls.

There is a balm in Gilead
to make the wounded whole,
there is a balm in Gilead
to heal the sin-sick soul**.

Prayer: Spirit of the Living God, fall afresh on each of your children enabling us to trust God in all that we do, healing our fractured hearts.  Amen.

*http://biblehub.com/hebrew/2530.htm

**Refrain from There is a Balm in Gilead see at http://hymnary.org/text/sometimes_i_feel_discouraged_spiritual and also Jeremiah 8:22

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.