Relevance 4

John 8:3-11

The issue of sin and membership has come up at times in our church and in our denomination. There are those who call for people to be banned from membership because they have sinned. But since all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, then everyone should be barred from membership. If we follow through on that logic we will have nothing but empty churches.

Sometimes in our zeal to be faithful we overlook what makes sense and what God wants. Today’s passage is the familiar story of a woman caught in adultery. What has the woman done? What do the religious leaders want? How does Jesus make the woman part of his “church?” What does Jesus give her?

The religious leaders in that area had found a woman who was committing a sin and they were eager to punish her. But Jesus very deftly points out that each one of us is guilty of one sin or another. Who are we to judge anyone?

And in that moment Jesus is offering that sinful woman acceptance into his fold, this flock of sinful sheep seeking shelter and a better spiritual understanding of God. And in that action Jesus is an example for us.

He doesn’t deny the sin. He doesn’t excuse the sin. He accepts the sinner and offers a chance to change. “Go now and leave your life of sin.”

Hard as it may be we are to do the same to those in the world around us. We need to first accept them and then help them leave the life of sin. In that way we are relevant to the world. But many of us have difficulty with this.

We expect non-Christians living in a non-Christian world to be able to behave in a Christian way and comprehend our Christian beliefs. We can’t always see that we have our own way of thinking and speaking and believing, and those people out in the world may not understand it.

We don’t need to give up our Christian ways. But we do need to realize not everyone is immediately ready for the life we live. And we do need to have some humility in our approach, realizing that we are sinners too. Perhaps that can help us be more forgiving to others.

DAILY CHALLENGE: How do your rules for membership compare to those of Jesus?

Relevance 3

James 1:27

Coming from a secular business background into the ministry, one of the hardest issues I have had to deal with – and still do – is getting caught up in getting things done. With an eye toward the completed project I can become frustrated when someone interrupts me because they need to talk. But that is the primary purpose of ministry – helping those in need. The neatly decorated altar, the tidy Sanctuary, the completed bulletin can and should be set aside when someone comes to me.

James condenses ministry into a very simple instruction. What is our “religion” supposed to do?

Each of us can get caught up in our “religion” – going through the motions of worship, Bible study, prayers, and so on. We can easily forget that one of the main things we are called to is helping those in need. The perfect examples in the First Century were the widows and orphans. In our community we might replace these with the homeless, working poor, drug addicts, alcoholics, AIDS sufferers.

Last week we looked at the problem of appearing to be a Christian without really feeling or thinking like a Christian. Now we look at doing the work of the Christian. We must be relevant. We must address the issues of strife and struggle in the lives of people.

To be relevant we need to be involved and engaged with our society. We cannot keep our eyes on Jesus by avoiding looking at the people all around us who need our compassion and help.

But part of our “religion,” our faith, requires that we avoid falling into the secular sinfulness of the world. James tells us to keep “from being polluted by the world.” We can not nor should not avoid the world. Real Christians work to ease the distress of others. We must, however, be cautious of the temptations of the world.

DAILY CHALLENGE: How are you “religious?”

What Would Jesus Vote? 3

Matthew 5:7-10

Today we finish with the beatitudes. And I'm not sure any of us can wrap our brains around a politician who is "pure in heart" but we'll try!

When deciding which candidate to support, whether on a local or national level, it's important that we as Christians consider all facets of our faith. So today's four comments from Jesus give us more to think about:

• Which candidates show mercy, both in the personal relationships and policies?


• Who is pure in heart (no, I did not just snort) in their desire to serve their community or nation?


• Who can we see being a peacemaker? Who will try to bring people together to have better relationships and find concensus in their solutions? Who can bring nations together to solve crises as they arise?


• Who will protect those who have been and are being persecuted?

It's hard to step outside of our political parties and personal histories and look at the candidates in various races through the eyes of Jesus. But I believe that we do have to ask ourselves the question... What would Jesus vote?

One important thing that we all need to remember as we enter the final weeks of hotly contested elections from local Sheriff to President... every person running is a child of God. Every person running... whether we agree with their political stance or not... is someone that Christ died for. It's HARD to love those we disagree with, but we are commanded to love our neighbor as ourselves. And since Jesus defined "neighbor" as the lowliest person on the Jewish totem pole, I don't think we get a pass for political disagreements!

DAILY CHALLENGE: Pray for the candidate you don't support... Pray that he or she will be guided by God in all they do.

Helper 5

Isaiah 57:15

There is a man we know, a friend of a friend, whom we encounter a few times each year at parties. The best way I can describe him is that he is a “blow-hard.” He seems to need to be at the center of attention. He inserts himself into almost every conversation, and comes across as an expert in every subject, even when he is talking to someone who IS an expert in that subject.

There is nothing really wrong with the man. We just find him unpleasant because of his attitude. If he could tone himself down, even a little, become a bit more humble, he would be much easier to be around.

Having a pushy, arrogant, or demanding attitude with people can really put others off. The same is true of God. Isaiah has a message from God for all people. Where does God exist? What will God do?

We have seen the problems of having an arrogant attitude when approaching God in the story of the Canaanite woman (Matthew 15). Jesus wants us to call on him for help, but we need to be humble.

We have been reminded that we should desire to be in the presence of God (Psalm 42). We need to seek the Lord at all times.

Now we can see what God desires.

God is not only a god of the high and lofty places. He is not only the Almighty, everlasting Lord. He is also the God who desires to be with us, His children. But it is clear that we should be humble in His presence.

God is with those who are broken hearted, those with a broken spirit, those who earnestly seek forgiveness because they are aware they have done wrong. This is the very meaning of contrite.

We are to be contrite before God, humble and penitent. If we come to God for help with an attitude of humility and need God will lift us up. It is His desire to revive us when we are oppressed with problems and troubles. It is His desire to renew our spirits, to re-invigorate our failing hearts when we are confronted by problems.

We need to remember that we should come to the Lord in our times of trouble, but we cannot approach God with arrogance. Nor can we demand His help. Rather, we need to be contrite and trust that the Lord is eager to lift us up out of our troubles and set things right again.

DAILY CHALLENGE: What is your attitude when seeking God’s help?

Helper 4

Mark 5:24-34

I hate going to the dentist. Like most people, I am afraid of the possible pain and discomfort that will come with the visit. On top of that is the fact that I have a very low gag threshold and can’t stand to have anything in my mouth that isn’t food. When I was a teenager one of my teeth became abscessed, my gum swelling and turning red, the tooth causing incredible pain. When the pain I was in got bad enough that anything would be an improvement I went to the dentist.

We have seen Luke’s version of this story when we examined pistis – faithfulness – under the fruit of the Spirit. Jesus is moving through a dense crowd when someone comes up behind him. Why does the woman touch the hem of Jesus’ garment? What is her attitude? What do you think she is afraid of (see verse 33)?

Two things seem very clear in this story. The first is that the woman is afraid. What she is afraid of is not clear. It could be that she fears speaking to someone as famous and powerful as Jesus.

Maybe she thought she was not important enough to merit his attention. Maybe she feared she would be rejected as the Canaanite woman was (Matthew 15:21-28). It could be that she didn’t want to bother Jesus with her troubles, knew that she could be healed by touching his cloak, and in so doing – being healed without asking – she was being a type of thief.

It is also possible that she was afraid because she was embarrassed by her condition. To get the healing she needed by speaking to Jesus, she would have to admit a need and, perhaps, go into embarrassing details in front of others.

The second thing that we know is that the woman was so desperate in her suffering that she was willing to risk rebuke, embarrassment or rejection to find healing.

And I wonder how many of us are like the woman, or like me and the dentist. How often do we wait until our problems are so bad that we just can’t stand it any longer before we turn to Christ for help?

I believe Jesus wants us to need him. I believe Jesus wants us to go to him for comfort and help. We shouldn’t wait until we are absolutely desperate before we go to our Lord for help. Nor should we think of ourselves as helpless or vulnerable, ashamed to admit the need.

Jesus welcomes us with open arms. He wants us to turn to him as much as we need. And we should turn to him first, before our troubles push us to desperation.

DAILY CHALLENGE: Do you have a need or worry that you should take before Jesus?

David 5

1 Samuel 24:8-12

I have had my share of adversaries in my life. Just like everyone else, there is always someone who, for some reason or another, doesn’t like me or seems to “have it in for me.” And, I must confess, some of these conflicts have stirred a fait amount of anger in me.

But, I have found that when I encounter the other person in the presence of their own family – children, siblings, parents – I come to realize that they are not entities which exist in a void, but they are people like me. That makes it a little easier to forgive and forget.

Saul has been pursuing David. While searching for him, Saul enters a cave where David is hiding but does not see him. David has the opportunity to kill this adversary, but instead cuts away a piece of cloth from Saul’s robe.

How does David greet Saul? What does David want to know from Saul? How does David prove he is not out to harm Saul? What is David’s final vow?

If any man had the right and plenty of reasons to kill another, David did. Close reading of the many chapters detailing Saul’s relationship with David indicates that this king is mentally and emotionally unbalanced, excessively jealous, and apparently unable to see reason.

David has had a great deal of torment from King Saul. Beginning in 1 Samuel 18 Saul has sought ways to kill David, and twice tried to “pin him to the wall” with a spear. Because of this animosity and jealousy David has had to live in exile and in hiding. Yet, when an opportunity to end the conflict comes, David refuses to do harm to Saul. (David spares him again in 1 Samuel 26:9.)

David has every reason to kill Saul but he will not because he respects the man, even though Saul does not deserve respect. David recognizes that, although Saul has been rejected by God, there was a time when Saul was chosen by God (see 1 Samuel 10:1).

We may be in conflict with others. We may be angry with other people, and there may in fact be those who intend us harm. But we must remember that even our enemies are children of God. Even those who will do us harm or torment us with words are loved by God.

As difficult as it may be to love our enemies, it might be easier when we remember that they are part of the family of God. If God can love them, perhaps we can too.

DAILY CHALLENGE: Pray for your enemies.