A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another." (John 13:34,35 ESV)
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The hard thing about doing church is that it is a group activity. From the time of the desert monks it was seen by many people that it was easier to at least feel holy if you did not have to interact with other people. It is easy to love human kind and not be able to stand people.
It is in that dynamic fellowship of different personalities, cultures, genders, philosophies, options, tastes, outlooks, and experiences that we are tested to have healthy, caring, compassionate, honest, encouraging, and challenging relationships. This is what makes up the fellowship of the church. A group of diverse strangers striving to live as the family of Messiah Jesus.
The only thing we have in common is our Messiah Jesus. That connection to Him is suppose to be enough to allow us to connect to each other in caring, compassionate, gentle, and healthy ways so that we can help, encourage, and nurture each other towards becoming more like Messiah Jesus and doing His will on earth together. Being "in Messiah Jesus" is to make us united and one.
Any reading of the New Testament points out how hard this was. The Jews did not respect the Gentiles. The Gentiles could hate the Jews. Women were seen as inferior to men in the Roman empire and women could want to disrespect men in the new freedom offered in Christ. Rich Christians could fear that the poor Christians were trying to take advantage of their relationship with Christ and the poor Christians could judge the rich Christians as lacking in compassion when they did not respond to their needs.
The Apostles themselves struggled to find a practical answer on how to overcome the culture wars between Jew and Gentile in the church (see Acts 15). At the very least many of the followers of James and Paul saw the two men having different solutions to the "Gentile problem." Paul will have friends and co-workers such as Hymeneus and Alexander (1Ti_1:19, 1Ti_1:20) and Demas (2Ti_4:10) who will have their faith ship wrecked. Peter and Paul will have conflict as well because Peter will act in a hypocritical manner. (Gal 2).
Christians in the New Testament struggled with still practicing sexual sins, gossip, self righteous judgement, taking each other to court, splitting up into cliques, forming personality cults, bringing pagan ideas into the church, forsaking sound doctrine, getting involved in strange views of prophecy, misuse of spiritual gifts, rebellion against leadership, and leaders abusing those who followed. These problems which are all recorded in the New Testament we see continue after the age of the Apostles and repeated all during church history. The continued moral brokenness of Christians manifest itself in the practical fellowship of believers making it hard to show love for each other.
The Messiah Jesus actually makes success in loving each other the mark by which the unbelieving world is suppose to be able to tell if people are disciples of the Messiah. When the world sees sacrificial love within a fellowship of people who claim to follow Messiah Jesus then they can know they have found the "real"thing. Messiah Jesus makes real love the way people can know the genuine disciples from those who only claim discipleship. This raises loving each other to the top priority for the church.
But how to practically do that when each of us is so broken and has so much baggage is a hard problem to solve. Many Christians do not know how to have healthy human relationships in any aspect of their lives and so there is little likelihood they will succeed in "loving" Christians at church where they have less connection to than their family and friends. So the failure of the church to be a community of love is easier to understand than when it succeeds.
Now, by the grace of God the church has shown Christ like love to each other. The New Testament believers took care of widows and orphans, made sure that no poor Christian went without food and shelter, overcame the cultural differences between Jew and Gentile with wisdom, and gathered together in a communion of truth and good works (Acts 2:41-47). This would lead to the ancient world commenting on the early church "We are amazed at how they love one another." Therefore, at a practical level, with all the imperfections, the early church did demonstrate substantial love that was recognized by the world. We must always remember to look at the glass half empty and half full when we strive to understand the church. Never perfection only direction.
In my life I have seen Christians love each other in profound ways. I have seen people sacrifice time, money, and life to help others. I have seen the body of
Christ demonstrate real and amazing love towards others and myself. Such times fill my heart with joy even now.
However, it seems that over long periods of time it is hard for Christians to remain in a fellowship or church without this love breaking down. Social politics, personalities, failed dreams, desire for power and control, different opinions, cliques, gossip, judging each other, lack of respect, poor communication, unresolved conflicts, envy, competition, and desire to dominate; all begin to surface more and more, eventually breaking up friendships and fellowships; sometimes in some very ugly ways. It seems hard to establish long term healthy and committed relationships in the body of Christ.
It is hard to do church well. What can we do? We must become aware of how hard it is to really practice love. We need to look for ways we can increase in our love for each other. How are my actions hurting other Christians? In what way am I falling short of loving others as Messiah Jesus loved me? How can we maintain and increase unity with each other? How can we show respect for leaders? How can we give encouragement to followers? How can we do the church well and really love one another? That is one of the greatest challenges of our lives.
Showing posts with label compassion. Show all posts
Showing posts with label compassion. Show all posts
Monday, January 11, 2010
Tuesday, December 08, 2009
Manna From Heaven
Exo 16:17 And the people of Israel did so. They gathered, some more, some less.
Exo 16:18 But when they measured it with an omer, whoever gathered much had nothing left over, and whoever gathered little had no lack. Each of them gathered as much as he could eat.
2Co 8:13 For I do not mean that others should be eased and you burdened, but that as a matter of fairness
2Co 8:14 your abundance at the present time should supply their need, so that their abundance may supply your need, that there may be fairness.
2Co 8:15 As it is written, "Whoever gathered much had nothing left over, and whoever gathered little had no lack."
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The people of Israel had complained and the Lord had heard their complaint. He had provided for them bread from heaven. In response to "Give us this day our daily bread" the Lord provided manna. But to get this bread it had to be gathered. So the people of Israel went out as a community to gather the bread of heaven. Some were able to gather more and some were able to gather less. Yet all gathered since without the bread they would die. They were in a wilderness that had no means to support them. They were totally dependent upon God providing manna. They had to gather or they would die.
But the manna as it was gathered was brought into a central place. There at that central place, what was gathered was measured into a "OMER” which was about 7 1/2 pints. Each family was given about two quarts for every person their family so that none would go hungry.
The process here was clear. God provided the manna, all worked to get the manna, and everyone received from the community effort the food they needed. No one went hungry regardless of how little manna they were able to bring in that day. Some gathered more and some gathered less, but all benefited the same.
Now these were unique circumstances. Without the manna, people would die. God would not allow the manna to be stored so there was no way to get a surplus of manna. God literally supplied day by day and only on the day before the Sabbath did God allow more to be gathered and stored. There was no other source of economy or food. Survival depended on God providing and on the manna being gathered. God had also dictated the means of distribution. None would go hungry and none would be a glutton. Every aspect of their economy was being dictated for the common good and reflected total dependence upon the LORD of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
People were motivated out of fear of starvation to work to bring in the manna. Most of us have never had supper and then not one morsel of food in the house for the next day. That creates a unique sense of need in a person.
The people of Israel did not do well under these restrictions. There was an attempt to create a manna savings account but God made the food stink and become infested with worms. There was an attempt to work seven days a week to increase security and productivity but God refused to provide the manna on the Sabbath. The people eventually had to accept God's economy and provision. They had to rest in the process that God had set up for them by which He would provide for their needs.
Paul uses this passage to reinforce his urging the Corinth Church to provide for the Jerusalem Church during a famine. The Christians in Corinth lived in physical abundance and the Christians in Jerusalem were suffering from a famine. The Corinthians had pledged support to help them and now they had to gather to a central place what they were giving so that the Christians in Jerusalem would be fed.
From Paul's perspective the Church is the new people of God. We are now spiritual Israel. Everything that every Christian has is God's manna from heaven. Today the Corinthian Church has been able to gather more and the Jerusalem Church less, but to be "fair", the Corinthians need to make sure that none of the Jerusalem Christians go hungry. Perhaps next year they will have a famine and then the Jerusalem Church will have to meet their needs. Or perhaps the Jerusalem Church being more mature spiritually may send teachers to share the spiritual bread of the Word of God while the Corinthian Church provides the physical bread that is needed to survive. The idea was that God wants His people to divide what He provides to make sure that none goes hungry. That is how Paul applied this passage in the New Testament.
A modern day example of a person with this type of perspective is found in the book God Owns My Business by Stanley Tam. Dr. R. Stanley Tam, founder of United States Plastic Corp. Dr. Tam and his wife decided that they would be content to live on $50,000 a year regardless of how successful his business became. Regardless of how much money the company earned they took only what was needed to live a modest middle class life and the rest they gave to charity. Dr. Tam actually made God the owner of his business legally. Stanley and Juanita have been able due to this decision to give $100 of millions for the work of the Lord. As Stanley likes to put it: "I like to think of having been a student in the University of Experience....with a minor in business and a major in soul winning.
It is not God's desire for any Christians to go hungry. God has provided enough to make sure all the needs of His children will be met. However, God has also made it that some will gather more and some less. God's desire is to make sure that everyone's family is feed.
Now our circumstances are much more complex. We have credit cards and mortgage loans. We need to remember that the scripture also says that if any refuse to work they should not eat. Laziness is not to be rewarded. The fear of starvation is a powerful motivator to work. All of these factors need to be put into the equation.
Yet, at the end of the day we need to seek God's wisdom about how we might use that which He has given us to help those who have less. It was only because Jesus the Messiah was willing to give up the richness of heaven and become poor for us that we now share in His kingdom. So for us who have received everything we have by grace how can we not be moved to be merciful in how we use our physical wealth. Let us remember that all we have is God's manna. Let us remember ultimately that Jesus the Messiah is God’s manna to us (John 6). Let the gospel guide our giving.
Exo 16:18 But when they measured it with an omer, whoever gathered much had nothing left over, and whoever gathered little had no lack. Each of them gathered as much as he could eat.
2Co 8:13 For I do not mean that others should be eased and you burdened, but that as a matter of fairness
2Co 8:14 your abundance at the present time should supply their need, so that their abundance may supply your need, that there may be fairness.
2Co 8:15 As it is written, "Whoever gathered much had nothing left over, and whoever gathered little had no lack."
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The people of Israel had complained and the Lord had heard their complaint. He had provided for them bread from heaven. In response to "Give us this day our daily bread" the Lord provided manna. But to get this bread it had to be gathered. So the people of Israel went out as a community to gather the bread of heaven. Some were able to gather more and some were able to gather less. Yet all gathered since without the bread they would die. They were in a wilderness that had no means to support them. They were totally dependent upon God providing manna. They had to gather or they would die.
But the manna as it was gathered was brought into a central place. There at that central place, what was gathered was measured into a "OMER” which was about 7 1/2 pints. Each family was given about two quarts for every person their family so that none would go hungry.
The process here was clear. God provided the manna, all worked to get the manna, and everyone received from the community effort the food they needed. No one went hungry regardless of how little manna they were able to bring in that day. Some gathered more and some gathered less, but all benefited the same.
Now these were unique circumstances. Without the manna, people would die. God would not allow the manna to be stored so there was no way to get a surplus of manna. God literally supplied day by day and only on the day before the Sabbath did God allow more to be gathered and stored. There was no other source of economy or food. Survival depended on God providing and on the manna being gathered. God had also dictated the means of distribution. None would go hungry and none would be a glutton. Every aspect of their economy was being dictated for the common good and reflected total dependence upon the LORD of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
People were motivated out of fear of starvation to work to bring in the manna. Most of us have never had supper and then not one morsel of food in the house for the next day. That creates a unique sense of need in a person.
The people of Israel did not do well under these restrictions. There was an attempt to create a manna savings account but God made the food stink and become infested with worms. There was an attempt to work seven days a week to increase security and productivity but God refused to provide the manna on the Sabbath. The people eventually had to accept God's economy and provision. They had to rest in the process that God had set up for them by which He would provide for their needs.
Paul uses this passage to reinforce his urging the Corinth Church to provide for the Jerusalem Church during a famine. The Christians in Corinth lived in physical abundance and the Christians in Jerusalem were suffering from a famine. The Corinthians had pledged support to help them and now they had to gather to a central place what they were giving so that the Christians in Jerusalem would be fed.
From Paul's perspective the Church is the new people of God. We are now spiritual Israel. Everything that every Christian has is God's manna from heaven. Today the Corinthian Church has been able to gather more and the Jerusalem Church less, but to be "fair", the Corinthians need to make sure that none of the Jerusalem Christians go hungry. Perhaps next year they will have a famine and then the Jerusalem Church will have to meet their needs. Or perhaps the Jerusalem Church being more mature spiritually may send teachers to share the spiritual bread of the Word of God while the Corinthian Church provides the physical bread that is needed to survive. The idea was that God wants His people to divide what He provides to make sure that none goes hungry. That is how Paul applied this passage in the New Testament.
A modern day example of a person with this type of perspective is found in the book God Owns My Business by Stanley Tam. Dr. R. Stanley Tam, founder of United States Plastic Corp. Dr. Tam and his wife decided that they would be content to live on $50,000 a year regardless of how successful his business became. Regardless of how much money the company earned they took only what was needed to live a modest middle class life and the rest they gave to charity. Dr. Tam actually made God the owner of his business legally. Stanley and Juanita have been able due to this decision to give $100 of millions for the work of the Lord. As Stanley likes to put it: "I like to think of having been a student in the University of Experience....with a minor in business and a major in soul winning.
It is not God's desire for any Christians to go hungry. God has provided enough to make sure all the needs of His children will be met. However, God has also made it that some will gather more and some less. God's desire is to make sure that everyone's family is feed.
Now our circumstances are much more complex. We have credit cards and mortgage loans. We need to remember that the scripture also says that if any refuse to work they should not eat. Laziness is not to be rewarded. The fear of starvation is a powerful motivator to work. All of these factors need to be put into the equation.
Yet, at the end of the day we need to seek God's wisdom about how we might use that which He has given us to help those who have less. It was only because Jesus the Messiah was willing to give up the richness of heaven and become poor for us that we now share in His kingdom. So for us who have received everything we have by grace how can we not be moved to be merciful in how we use our physical wealth. Let us remember that all we have is God's manna. Let us remember ultimately that Jesus the Messiah is God’s manna to us (John 6). Let the gospel guide our giving.
Friday, September 05, 2008
Love is the answer
Devotions
Reading
NLT Romans 12:9 Don't just pretend that you love others. Really love them. Hate what is wrong. Stand on the side of the good. 10 Love each other with genuine affection, and take delight in honoring each other. 11 Never be lazy in your work, but serve the Lord enthusiastically. 12 Be glad for all God is planning for you. Be patient in trouble, and always be prayerful. 13 When God's children are in need, be the one to help them out. And get into the habit of inviting guests home for dinner or, if they need lodging, for the night. 14 If people persecute you because you are a Christian, don't curse them; pray that God will bless them. 15 When others are happy, be happy with them. If they are sad, share their sorrow. 16 Live in harmony with each other. Don't try to act important, but enjoy the company of ordinary people. And don't think you know it all! 17 Never pay back evil for evil to anyone. Do things in such a way that everyone can see you are honorable. 18 Do your part to live in peace with everyone, as much as possible. 19 Dear friends, never avenge yourselves. Leave that to God. For it is written, "I will take vengeance; I will repay those who deserve it," says the Lord. 20 Instead, do what the Scriptures say: "If your enemies are hungry, feed them. If they are thirsty, give them something to drink, and they will be ashamed of what they have done to you." 21 Don't let evil get the best of you, but conquer evil by doing good.
Meditation
Paul here defines what a life of genuine love would be like. He compares and contrasts the actions and attitudes that would reflect a sincere love. This love comes from a sincere faith that Jesus has died for our sins, was buried, and now is raised to glory to seal our forgiveness and redemption. Faith and hope in the true gospel creates love for God and others in our hearts.
Paul calls on to have an inward reality where we are sincere in our love and not pretending to be nice. He wants us to really hate what is evil and be passionate for taking the side of good. He wants our love to be an emotional experience and an intellectual value. We are to be enthusiastic in our lives. We are to actually feel delight in lifting others up and speaking well of them. We are to have gladness for God’s plans for our lives regardless of our circumstances as we patiently wait and pray in the midst of trouble. We are to be able to rejoice in when others are happy and weep when they are sad. Our hearts are open to have real and healthy empathy with what others are feeling. We are to be humble and aware of our ignorance. We are to guard our hearts from the attitude of revenge and vengeance which come from unresolved anger. We are to nurture a attitude of seeking and desiring peace and harmony in all our relationships as we seek to love our enemies.
This inward reality which is a fruit of faith in the gospel is to have practical application to specific activities. We are to be hard workers in whatever we do. We are to be ready to meet the needs of others with practical help to meet those needs. Our homes are to be open to having guests and we need to be ready to share our table with others. We are not to act better than others and put on airs of importance. We are to take actions that will lead to peace and harmony instead of conflict. Our actions are to be above reproach and we are not to do evil for good reasons. We are to give to our enemies what they need and to have a strategy of defeating evil by overwhelming it with acts of kindness and mercy.
Our modern world often asks what relevance faith has to modern life. Here we see that if every Christian sought to live this type of life on a daily basis that no one would ask that question. Paul has outlined a dynamic lifestyle of faith which would be powerful in its impact in the world. May God give us the faith to live such a life.
Christocentric: This life Paul has outlines is really a blue print of what it means to be like Jesus. Jesus was the one who was the incarnation of sincere love. While hating evil he loved His enemies. He was the ultimate peace maker and conquered ultimate evil by doing the ultimate good on the cross. This passage not only tells us what we should be like it tells us what Jesus is like.
Moral: Love is the ultimate moral demand. We are to love God sincerely with all our hearts and love others without hypocrisy. Love produces a moral life. Immorality at its core is a failure to love God or others as we ought to love them. The greatest moral responsibility we have is to love.
Eternal: Heave will be where we feel and experience only love. We will love God and God will love us. We will love everyone and everyone will love us. The true joy of heaven is that we will be swimming in love, acceptance, harmony, and peace.
Prayer: Lord pour out your love into my heart by having the Holy Spirit increase my faith in the gospel. Lord let my faith grow that my love might grow. Give me the gift of a loving heart.
Contemplation: I am love
Action: Let me seek an opportunity to take positive and practical action which reflects Christ like love today. Let me overcome evil today by an act of sacrificial love in my daily life. Lord give me an opportunity to show your love today in a concrete and real way.
Reading
NLT Romans 12:9 Don't just pretend that you love others. Really love them. Hate what is wrong. Stand on the side of the good. 10 Love each other with genuine affection, and take delight in honoring each other. 11 Never be lazy in your work, but serve the Lord enthusiastically. 12 Be glad for all God is planning for you. Be patient in trouble, and always be prayerful. 13 When God's children are in need, be the one to help them out. And get into the habit of inviting guests home for dinner or, if they need lodging, for the night. 14 If people persecute you because you are a Christian, don't curse them; pray that God will bless them. 15 When others are happy, be happy with them. If they are sad, share their sorrow. 16 Live in harmony with each other. Don't try to act important, but enjoy the company of ordinary people. And don't think you know it all! 17 Never pay back evil for evil to anyone. Do things in such a way that everyone can see you are honorable. 18 Do your part to live in peace with everyone, as much as possible. 19 Dear friends, never avenge yourselves. Leave that to God. For it is written, "I will take vengeance; I will repay those who deserve it," says the Lord. 20 Instead, do what the Scriptures say: "If your enemies are hungry, feed them. If they are thirsty, give them something to drink, and they will be ashamed of what they have done to you." 21 Don't let evil get the best of you, but conquer evil by doing good.
Meditation
Paul here defines what a life of genuine love would be like. He compares and contrasts the actions and attitudes that would reflect a sincere love. This love comes from a sincere faith that Jesus has died for our sins, was buried, and now is raised to glory to seal our forgiveness and redemption. Faith and hope in the true gospel creates love for God and others in our hearts.
Paul calls on to have an inward reality where we are sincere in our love and not pretending to be nice. He wants us to really hate what is evil and be passionate for taking the side of good. He wants our love to be an emotional experience and an intellectual value. We are to be enthusiastic in our lives. We are to actually feel delight in lifting others up and speaking well of them. We are to have gladness for God’s plans for our lives regardless of our circumstances as we patiently wait and pray in the midst of trouble. We are to be able to rejoice in when others are happy and weep when they are sad. Our hearts are open to have real and healthy empathy with what others are feeling. We are to be humble and aware of our ignorance. We are to guard our hearts from the attitude of revenge and vengeance which come from unresolved anger. We are to nurture a attitude of seeking and desiring peace and harmony in all our relationships as we seek to love our enemies.
This inward reality which is a fruit of faith in the gospel is to have practical application to specific activities. We are to be hard workers in whatever we do. We are to be ready to meet the needs of others with practical help to meet those needs. Our homes are to be open to having guests and we need to be ready to share our table with others. We are not to act better than others and put on airs of importance. We are to take actions that will lead to peace and harmony instead of conflict. Our actions are to be above reproach and we are not to do evil for good reasons. We are to give to our enemies what they need and to have a strategy of defeating evil by overwhelming it with acts of kindness and mercy.
Our modern world often asks what relevance faith has to modern life. Here we see that if every Christian sought to live this type of life on a daily basis that no one would ask that question. Paul has outlined a dynamic lifestyle of faith which would be powerful in its impact in the world. May God give us the faith to live such a life.
Christocentric: This life Paul has outlines is really a blue print of what it means to be like Jesus. Jesus was the one who was the incarnation of sincere love. While hating evil he loved His enemies. He was the ultimate peace maker and conquered ultimate evil by doing the ultimate good on the cross. This passage not only tells us what we should be like it tells us what Jesus is like.
Moral: Love is the ultimate moral demand. We are to love God sincerely with all our hearts and love others without hypocrisy. Love produces a moral life. Immorality at its core is a failure to love God or others as we ought to love them. The greatest moral responsibility we have is to love.
Eternal: Heave will be where we feel and experience only love. We will love God and God will love us. We will love everyone and everyone will love us. The true joy of heaven is that we will be swimming in love, acceptance, harmony, and peace.
Prayer: Lord pour out your love into my heart by having the Holy Spirit increase my faith in the gospel. Lord let my faith grow that my love might grow. Give me the gift of a loving heart.
Contemplation: I am love
Action: Let me seek an opportunity to take positive and practical action which reflects Christ like love today. Let me overcome evil today by an act of sacrificial love in my daily life. Lord give me an opportunity to show your love today in a concrete and real way.
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