TLP Inspiration: 10/30/18

Posted on October 30, 2018 by Don Merritt

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Flesh, Life and Spirit

Posted on October 30, 2018 by Don Merritt

So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.

Galatians 5:16-18

Paul is taking another swing at the Law, but then that’s the whole point of his letter.  He does so here in an interesting way as he points out something so fundamentally obvious to even a brand new Christian that it should be impossible to argue with.

Living by the flesh is in conflict with living by the Spirit.

Anybody surprised by this revelation?  I didn’t think so. Some time back, I called living by the Spirit “counter-intuitive” and so it is.

I come from a doctrinal background that has traditionally relegated the Holy Spirit to theoretical status. “The Holy Spirit speaks to us in God’s Word” is the policy. Of course, I would never deny that the Holy Spirit speaks to us through the Word; after all, the Word is the mind of the Spirit, as they say.  But is that it?  Doesn’t the Spirit lead us in other ways? I’m thinking that He does, since Paul just said so.  Oh, wait, what’s that?  That’s the Word that’s saying that?

OK, maybe you got me on that point, but… when Paul wrote that, he couldn’t possibly have intended it to be taken that way, since there was no New Testament at that time.  Did something change?

Yes, dear reader, these are the words that begin the debate…  My doctrinal background, the one that relegated following the Spirit’s leading to an academic exercise ended up debating itself to death, and split up over the style of music more than a hundred years ago; can you imagine anything so silly? I highly doubt that the Spirit was leading anybody to that end, either in or out of the Word!

You might well know some other past errors that you could bring up here.  What I think is important for us to understand is that we can overcome all this foolishness fairly easily.  First, love your neighbor as yourself.  Second, live by the Spirit, follow His leading, yearn for His presence and ask Him to help you discern.  He will not let you down!

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TLP Living: October 29, 2018

Posted on October 29, 2018 by Don Merritt

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Love ’em All

“You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’  But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

Matthew 5:43-48

This is one of the most often quoted passages of the New Testament, and for good reason. So much has been written, and no doubt many who read this have written on it at some point, so rather than commenting on it and trying to explain this or that, maybe defining a Greek word or trying to sound wise, I’ll just give you some reflections of my own. Maybe they will include something worthwhile, and if that is the case for you, then that’s great. If not, then by all means toss my wanderings out… or have a good laugh!

What kind of people does God love?

“Well certainly not the kind of people you’re hanging around with; you’ve fallen in with the wrong crowd young man!”

Maybe I was hanging around the wrong crowd, and maybe that wasn’t a good idea for me, but don’t ever think, not even for one minute, that doesn’t love them too. God loves… all of ‘em, even the naughty boys and girls. OK fine, you caught me, I never said anything like that to my mother; do you think I’m crazy?

That would be more like something my sister would have done.

Yet it doesn’t take away the fact that God really does love everybody, the good, the not so good, the sinner and the saint, the black and the white, the rich and the poor, the Jew and the Gentile, the Christian and the Muslim; even the Democrats and the Republicans.

It pains me to say so, but it also means that God loves my enemies, and expects me to do the same.

I’m not going to lie to you and say that this is always easy, because it isn’t. Yet, it is always the right thing to do anyway, and we can do it if we decide to.

This is what it means to live in the Kingdom, for the Kingdom that Jesus proclaimed was a community of love, where all are equal in the eyes of God. Of course in this evil age, not all people have chosen to enter into His Kingdom just yet, and we have been appointed to seek them out, even if they don’t seem lovable at first, just as Jesus did. They may say yes and they may say no, they might even call us names and throw rocks at us, but it isn’t for us to condemn them for their response or shun them for their ways and manners; it is enough for us to invite and welcome, God has the rest.

Sometimes Christians like to talk together about how wonderfully blessed we are to have entered relationship with the Lord, we talk about how great His mercy is, and all that He did to save us, and then we wonder at those who don’t see it. What is the matter with them? Yet once upon a time, someone reached out to me with an invitation to join together with the followers of Jesus, and much to my amazement I said yes to that invitation.

Who would have ever expected that?

So now here I am, so many years later; the torch is now in my hand, as it is in yours; will we deny some poor naughty child of God the chance to say yes to our invitation?

May it never be so.

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TLP Inspiration: October 29, 2018

Posted on October 29, 2018 by Don Merritt

Good morning from the Heartland!

I came upon this staircase recently, take a quick look…

You can see from the photo that it leads to a dark and shadowy world down there, but what you can’t tell from the photo whether I’m looking forward to my destination or backward to where I’ve been.

Hmmm…

Any one of us may find ourselves in a spot like this on any given day; are we going back or moving forward?

Temptations are all around us and they often exert a pull on us; do we follow them down the stairs or shall we turn our backs on them and move forward?

See to it, brothers, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God.  But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.  We have come to share in Christ if we hold firmly till the end the confidence we had at first.

Hebrews 3:12-14

Do we descend those stairs back into darkness?

No way!

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Sunday Sermon Notes: October 28, 2018

Posted on October 28, 2018 by Don Merritt

Title: Little Children and Rich Guys

Text: Mark 10:13-31

Jesus has now left Galilee behind and crossed into Judea, and the crowds are large. In the first part of this passage, the Pharisees attempt to trap Him with a question about divorce. Surely they are aware of His teaching on the subject in the Sermon on the Mount, in which Jesus took a tough stand on the subject, saying that divorce is not permissible except for “unfaithfulness”. Pleas recall that “unfaithfulness” is a covenant term, and not always a sexual term.  Apparently, the Pharisees hoped to catch Jesus in a legal trap, since divorce was permitted under the Law of Moses, but as you might expect, they were no match for Him.

Then there is the incident of the little children being kept away from Jesus by His disciples, and Jesus’ displeased reaction much as we have seen before. Then Jesus has a visit from a rich guy, a visit that brings the first two incidents into sharp focus.

It seems that this rich guy was quite a righteous man, and Jesus had an interesting reaction:

Jesus looked at him and loved him. “One thing you lack,” he said. “Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”

At this the man’s face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth.

Mark 10:21-22

The man told Jesus that he had kept the commandments since he was a boy, and Jesus looked at him and loved him. I highly doubt that Jesus loved the man because the man had somehow “purchased” His love by keeping commandments; clearly the man had a good heart and desired to follow God. Yet in the end, he goes away sad, for he was very wealthy. Before we continue, I must point out that the text does not say that the man didn’t do as Jesus asked, it only says that he was sad.

In verses 23-26, we see the reaction of the disciples to all of this, and Jesus’ teaching on the subject. The disciples were surprised that it is difficult for the rich to enter the Kingdom, Jesus underscores the point with a little bit of hyperbole:  “Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.” I can’t tell you how many times I have heard people cite this and claim the rich are all going to hell, but that is foolish talk, and more about modern-day politics than Jesus’ teaching… this is hyperbole to make a point: It’s hard! The disciples ask how anyone can be saved, and Jesus gives the answer that sums up this section:

Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God.”

Mark 10:27

Neither you nor I can force our way into heaven, but with God we can get there. We are imperfect, we mess up, we stumble around and struggle with rule books and traditions and the things of this world, but God makes all things possible through Christ. This rich guy had a great deal of earthly wealth, and that is hard to walk away from, and the same is true today. If a person is homeless, with nothing to their name but the shirt on their back, they have nothing to lose in following Christ, but someone with a great deal…? They have a great deal to lose. Yet for each one of us, there is more in following Jesus than leaving money or wealth behind, for these are only physical things; we are called to leave self behind, and that is hard for any one of us to do, no matter what our balance sheet may say.

But with God, all things are possible!

Then Peter spoke up, “We have left everything to follow you!”

 “Truly I tell you,” Jesus replied, “no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age: homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields—along with persecutions—and in the age to come eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and the last first.”

Mark 10:28-31

The disciples had left their livelihoods and careers behind to follow Jesus, many will be called to do that, and others may need to leave their families behind, but all will receive much more both in this life and in eternity, and when we are willing to follow Jesus and leave all of the old ways behind, our God is ever-faithful to keep His promises. It is true that many will say we’re crazy, for setting self aside for this is not the way of this world, but it is God’s way; it is the line that separates those who are in Christ from those who refuse to follow Him.

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TLP Inspiration: 10/23/18

Posted on October 26, 2018 by Don Merritt

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Love is the Answer

Posted on October 26, 2018 by Don Merritt

You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love. For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” If you bite and devour each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.

Galatians 5:13-15

At this point in the letter, we see a more conventional Paul than we have thus far. He points out, as if summing up the previous discussion, that our calling as followers of Jesus Christ is a calling of freedom, but there is a warning.  When Paul says “the flesh” in his writings, he is talking about a life that is centered around the needs of the body, things like food, possessions, luxuries, desires, lusts and self-centered wants. He is not talking about the human body itself, the human body is fearfully and wonderfully made in God’s image, it is not in and of itself evil or bad.

If we should live our lives as others do, simply filling our days by attending to selfish desires and physical sensations, we are not living in freedom despite what many would suggest.  Freedom in Christ means that we can move far beyond such an empty and shallow existence so that we can do something meaningful and eternally significant, which is to serve one another in love.  Again, he refers to the Law, but this time he does so in the positive, reminding his readers that the entire Law is fulfilled in one command, to love God and to love our neighbor as ourselves.  Thus, the requirements of the Law can actually be kept without its condemnation entering into our lives: Love is the answer.

On the other hand, if we fight and squabble amongst ourselves, we will all be devoured.

I am always struck by the fact that for so long we have taken the whole “love” angle as a sort of academic, theoretical, abstract concept, rather than simply putting it into practice.  What is so hard to understand here; ‘love’ is simplicity itself! Yet, at the same time that we have complicated “love your neighbor,” we have spent the greater portion of our time pointing fingers of condemnation at one another: To what purpose, I’d like to know. Has anyone’s life been made better? Has anyone received blessing and reward for their efforts? Not according to Paul!

Love your neighbor as yourself; serve one another in love.  Everybody benefits, the Kingdom is built up, and we can live free of chains.  I don’t know about you, but that’s the path I’m choosing!

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TLP Inspiration: October 25, 2018

Posted on October 25, 2018 by Don Merritt

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Freedom in Christ

Posted on October 25, 2018 by Don Merritt

It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.

 Mark my words! I, Paul, tell you that if you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no value to you at all. Again I declare to every man who lets himself be circumcised that he is obligated to obey the whole law. You who are trying to be justified by the law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace. For through the Spirit we eagerly await by faith the righteousness for which we hope. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.

Galatians 5:1-6

Paul continues into the fifth chapter making his case for two distinct covenants.  He opens with the statement that Christ has set us free and then moves into an exhortation for us to remain free in Christ, and never to go back again to slavery under the Law. He states it so very clearly in verse 2: “mark my words…” Entering into the Law will do no good, carrying the sign of an already fulfilled covenant will do no good.  Stronger still, he tells us that if we seek to reenter the Law, we will be “alienated from Christ” and “fallen away from grace.”   Quite frankly, it seems incomprehensible to me that anyone can read these words and be confused about their meaning.

In the final line, he comes to the crux: The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.

You were running a good race. Who cut in on you to keep you from obeying the truth? That kind of persuasion does not come from the one who calls you. “A little yeast works through the whole batch of dough.” I am confident in the Lord that you will take no other view. The one who is throwing you into confusion, whoever that may be, will have to pay the penalty. Brothers and sisters, if I am still preaching circumcision, why am I still being persecuted? In that case the offense of the cross has been abolished. As for those agitators, I wish they would go the whole way and emasculate themselves!

Galatians 5:7-12

The Galatians had gotten off to a good start, but somewhere along the path, somebody “cut in” to divert them to a different path; this kind of teaching is not from God.  Paul’s reference to yeast goes back to the Old Testament imagery of yeast as sin, thus a little sin makes its way through the entire group.  Then, Paul seems to be saying that he is confident that the Galatians will not listen to them anymore, yet he still isn’t quite finished with his rant…

He points out that these false teachers will pay the price for their actions, and lest anyone should think that Paul was behind these teachings, he reminds them that if he were teaching circumcision, the Jewish authorities wouldn’t still be persecuting him. Finally, he makes one more statement.  It seems to me that Paul has tried several methods to make his case against the teaching of first becoming a Jew, and then and only then receiving Christ.  He has chided, reasoned, encouraged and exhorted.  In case anyone hadn’t gotten the point yet he has one more thing to say, this time of a rather personal nature.

You might ask why it is that Paul is so passionate about this issue.  Why did he go to such lengths and give the Galatians such a chewing out?

You’re free to disagree with me of course, but I think that the answer is really simple.  When someone adds to, or subtracts from the Gospel, that person is perverting the Gospel.  Since the Gospel is the “power of God to salvation,” this kind of perversion undermines the very eternal purpose of God. As a consequence, it is not merely a different interpretation or a differing opinion; it is rebellion against God all over again.  Its source, as Paul has clearly stated, is not God.  With that in mind, let’s ask ourselves what the source might be, if it isn’t God.  Could it be a simple misunderstanding, or would it really come from a more sinister origin?

I’ll let you be the judge of that one, but I would add one more question: Who stands to gain by perverting the “power of God to salvation”?

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Photo of the Week: October 24, 2018

Posted on October 24, 2018 by Don Merritt

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