Sunday Sermon Notes: April 29, 2018

Posted on April 29, 2018 by Don Merritt

Title: Spiritual Gifts and Love in Action

Text: Romans 12:3-21

Humble Service

Romans 12:3-8

Paul set out his proposition in verses 1-2, that we offer ourselves as living sacrifices and be transformed by the renewing of our minds as a response to grace− in verses 3-8 we have our first lesson on how to go about it: Serve the body of Christ in humility.

For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you. (12:3)

So, it would seem that the first step in the transformative process is that we adopt an attitude of humility. Right away, we can see that not being conformed to this world was something Paul was very serious about (v. 2) for in this age of “game”, “swagger” and “bling” humility is very much out of style. Verse 4 uses the metaphor of our bodies in the same way that Paul uses it in 1 Corinthians 12, another spiritual gifts passage, as he shows that each of us has a unique part to play in the Body of Christ. While this is easy enough to grasp, he takes another shot at the attitudes of this world in verse 5 when he says each member belongs to all the others. I can’t tell you how many times I have seen Christians bristle at that one.

In verses 6-8 Paul refers to spiritual gifts that each of us has received by the Holy Spirit.

I hope you will consider this carefully: In a context of humble service, a context that is not only counter-intuitive but also counter-cultural for most of us, Paul tells us to exercise our spiritual gifts in humble service to the Body of Christ. Think about the magnitude of the implication of this…

Not only are we to adopt an attitude of true and honest humility, not only are we to consider our positions as members of and belonging to the Body of Christ, but we are to serve the Body of Christ. Yet even more striking than that, we are to rely upon our spiritual gift from God in our service, which is to say that we are not to rely on our own strength, ability or talent, but on God’s grace alone.

How are we to live as Christians? We are to rely on God in all things to serve His purpose and not our own to build His Kingdom.

Put Love into Action

Romans 12:9-16

Paul continues in these verses with his discussion of our response to grace. Here, he sets the tone with verse 9: Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Our response to God’s grace must be one of love, both love for God and love for others, and this love must be sincere. It is interesting that Paul should modify this sincere love statement with the concept of hating what is evil and clinging to what is good; it would appear that in our sincere love, we are to maintain the highest of ethical standards, not allowing ourselves to misuse our new freedom.

So then, what does love in action look like in practice?

Paul begins shedding light on this question in the verses that follow, first of all with an emphasis on what we should do to put love into action:

Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves (12:10). Because our response to grace is that we love others, we should be devoted to one another, and we should put others ahead of ourselves. Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord (12:11). Because our response to grace is that we love God, we should serve Him with enthusiasm always. Because our response to grace is one of love, our attitudes should reflect that love for God and other people: Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer (12:12). Since we have a whole new attitude because of the grace we have received, our love should result in generosity toward other people: Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality (12:13).

In the next three verses, his emphasis shifts slightly, but he is still speaking of sincere love:

Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited.

Romans 12:14-16

As we read these verses, notice that they are not things that are common in this world. I’ve never met someone who blessed their oppressors, for instance; have you? I don’t always see people rejoicing with their friends who are rejoicing, for all too often a person sees their friend rejoicing while harboring resentment because their friend was fortunate in an area where they hadn’t been as fortunate. Harmony is surely lacking in our world, while pride and conceit are commonplace; and so many decline to associate with the less fortunate. Real sincere love is a very rare thing in our world, but within the church, it is supposed to be a given.

Concerning Revenge

Romans 12:17-21

In 12:1-16 Paul has discussed our response to grace with a series of short statements that stem from the theme of sincere love, but in 17 ff. he seems to focus on one particular subject: Revenge. While the previous section can be said to deal mostly with our relationships within the Body of Christ, this section would seem more (hopefully) to deal with those outside of the Body of Christ. Paul set up his new theme in verse 17:  Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone. Our natural human inclination when we have been harmed or insulted is to strike back, to get even, to Tweet, but that is not the reaction of sincere love, and it has been rendered obsolete by grace.

If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone (12:18). We are not to stir up trouble or carry on in a provocative manner with other people, we should not be tossing insults and unkindness around, nor should we be looking for disputes, for our response to grace makes that kind of living hypocritical. God has forgiven us, He has shown love and mercy to us; do we honor Him by stirring up trouble with other people?

Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord. On the contrary:

“If your enemy is hungry, feed him;
if he is thirsty, give him something to drink.
In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.

Romans 12:19-20

If we are harmed by another, even if it is a violent attack; our response is to show God’s mercy and love to the other party, it is not for us to avenge the wrong we have suffered. If avenging or retribution or punishment is required, that is God’s job, and since God has been faithful in dealing with us, He can be counted on to be faithful in the final disposition of our having been wronged.

Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good (12:21).

There, that’s the “official” lesson portion− now let’s get real.

Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

Romans 12:1-2

This is not empty talk; there are serious implications in these words. These injunctions require a response to grace, a response that brings about a whole new way of living and thinking, and more than anything else, they require that we trust God like never before. Yet God has given us His Spirit, and through His Spirit in us, we have the strength and fortitude we need to live the lives He has intended for us to live as citizens of His Kingdom. As each of us uses his or her spiritual gifts for the benefit of the entire Body of Christ, we will have not only the Holy Spirit in us to help us through, we also have the Holy Spirit at work in all of the other members of the Body to encourage, console and empower us to do our parts, to God’s great glory.

 

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TLP Op-Ed: 4/28/18

Posted on April 28, 2018 by Don Merritt

Three Things We Might Want to Remember

Every day is full of news, some real news, worthy of note, and some that is pure political clap-trap. Yet this week, there have been three things that we might really want to follow as time goes forward. As I see it, these three stories are: French President Macron’s visit to Washington, the meeting between the leaders of North and South Korea, and Bret Baier’s interview with former FBI Director James Comey and the release of Mr. Comey’s infamous memos.

Macron and Trump

Donald Trump’s rise to power has not been welcomed by most Western European leaders, in fact, it would seem that most of them have taken the CNN approach: He’s deranged, unhinged and dangerous. While that may be a fine political narrative, it isn’t actually true, although Mr. Trump seems to help it along by so often acting like a jackass. M Macron of France was elected last May, and during that election Mr. Trump unwisely voiced support for Macron’s opponent, yet from the beginning of his term, M Macron has been the one Western European leader who has approached Mr. Trump as being normal rather than crazed. The two have vastly different philosophies, yet they get along. They have different priorities, yet they find a lot of common ground. As a result, in less than a year, France appears to be rising in the International stage to replace Germany and Britain as a dominant player in Europe geopolitically.

It is altogether possible that this has a great deal to do with the fact that Macron’s political situation at home is much stronger than that of German Chancellor Merkel and British Prime Minister May who are both hanging onto power by a thread. Even so, both appear to be warming up to Trump to some degree out of necessity, but M Macron has been able to surpass them, at least for now, as a shaper of International events. I would suggest this is a development to keep an eye on going forward.

Peace Breaking Out in Korea…?

Over several months in 2017, Donald Trump beat the war drums for North Korea, causing Liberals everywhere to set their hair on fire. Cries of “warmonger” “unhinged” “deranged” and “dangerous” blasted forth from around the globe. Mr. Trump put a full court press on China to enforce new and very tough sanctions on the regime of North Korean Dictator Kim; everyone said that Kim would launch an attack…

The South Koreans grew nervous, the Japanese grew uneasy, the Chinese were irritated, and the Russians tried to find a way to take advantage.

And it looks like Mr. Kim is about to cave.

Well, let’s not be giddy just yet, there is still a long way to go. Yet no one can deny that we have suddenly come a great deal closer to peace in Korea than anyone could have predicted. In America the fight is already on: Did the apparent thaw come because of Mr. Trump’s approach to North Korea, or because of South Korean President Moon’s diplomacy? Sadly, in this toxic environment, party affiliation will probably determine your answer to the question. Yet I must wonder: Isn’t it at least possible, that what we have been witnessing is a well-executed game of good cop – bad cop?

In any case, the entire world will be watching this story.

James Comey With Bret Baier

If you are a reflexive Fox News hater, then you may not know who Bret Baier is, and you surely would never tune in to his interview with James Comey, although you can watch it at the Fox News website, when no one is looking. Don’t worry, your secret is safe with me. Bret Baier is the real deal, a journalist, and when his contract is up and he’s a free agent, I’m sure he will be much in demand. Anyway, this was not just another ‘let’s all hate Trump together’ interview; it was one of the few that involved tough questions, as all of Mr. Baier’s interviews do. It seems that Mr. Comey did intend for his memos to be leaked to the press, conflicting his sworn testimony before Congress. It also seems that leaking his memos doesn’t count as a leak unless it would be a felony, it’s just a serious ethical violation. It also seems that Mr. Comey doesn’t believe that anything in his memos could be considered classified, even though in one of them he acknowledges that his memos are usually classified from their inception. In fact, after watching the interview, it would appear that Mr. Comey wasn’t aware of much of anything.

Wasn’t it Congressman Gowdy who said the other day that Mr. Comey should stop his book tour, go home, count his book money, and lawyer-up? Sounds like good advice to me.

Since it was Mr. Comey who caused Mrs. Clinton to lose the 2016 election, along with every else in the world, I would expect any legal action against him to receive wide and entirely non-partisan support, but somehow, that seems a bit unlikely; we’ll have to keep an eye on this story as time goes on, for the implications might well turn out to be serious on several levels.

Well, there you have it, my crazed, deluded and un hinged take on this week’s events…

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TLP Inspiration: 4/28/18

Posted on April 28, 2018 by Don Merritt

Love, Justice and Our Response

I will sing of your love and justice;
to you, Lord, I will sing praise.
I will be careful to lead a blameless life—
when will you come to me?

Psalm 101:1-2a

At first this may seem to be quite simple, but look closely and you’ll see a hidden complexity that often confounds people. In the first line, we read of singing of God’s love and justice; an interesting combination. Consider for a moment His great and amazing love, so boundless, so unconditional. His love is so great that He was willing to do amazing things that we might be redeemed from our sins against Him. Yes indeed, contemplating God’s love is something we like to do. Yet in this line, we are singing of His love and justice.

Sometimes we think of justice as fairness, and that is true enough, yet we must admit that it is a little incomplete, for justice is more than just fairness because when most people apply fairness to themselves, it ends up meaning whatever they want at the moment, forgetting all about what is fair to the other person. If we consider the totality of our sin against God, what is just or fair about redemption?

Nothing, nothing at all, and that is why it is grace.

Now we can see why singing of God’s love and justice together results in praise. Of course, when we see that God’s love resulted in His paying the price for our sin to satisfy His justice, resulting in grace, we sing praises, but the next line shows how we respond to His grace; we endeavor to lead blameless lives. It makes perfect sense doesn’t it? We’ve received grace, so great was God’s love for us, so why wouldn’t we resolve to do the best we can to live lives that are pleasing to Him? This isn’t because of any rule or regulation, but it is the natural expression of our love and gratitude.

In the last line, David asked a question that we have the answer to, for He has come and He has left us with His Spirit by whom we can come into His presence any time we like; how is it that we should delay another moment entering into His presence with confidence and joy in our hearts to give Him the thanks and praise He has coming?

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Forgiveness 8

Posted on April 27, 2018 by Don Merritt

Common Misconceptions about Forgiveness

Galatians 5:13-26

A few years ago, I was working with a man whose wife had left him, in hopes of restoring the marriage. To keep a long story short, he had acknowledged that he was responsible for many of their problems through his own pride and selfishness and was committed to doing his part in reconciling. Over several months, it became apparent to all that his entire demeanor and way of living was changing… for the better. Even his estranged wife commented to me how impressed she was with his progress and indicated that she would be willing to meet with both of us to discuss reconciliation.

To be entirely fair, he was not responsible for all of their problems; not by a long shot.  She also had problems with selfishness and pride, along with a great need to be “right” in every situation.

When we got together, the session went long; our hour together grew into 3 plus. Finally, we came to the part where both parties agreed that they would forgive one another and wipe the slates clean while looking for constructive ways to resolve their remaining issues the following week. As we were all getting up to leave, she stopped suddenly and turned to her husband and said, “I hope you understand that even though I have forgiven you and wiped the slate clean, that does not mean that there still won’t be repercussions.”

As it worked out, she was willing to give lip service to forgiveness, but she had no real intention of ever forgiving him for anything. As a result, their marriage ended in divorce.

“I Must be able to Forget”

This is a common misconception about forgiveness. How can I forgive someone when I can’t forget what they did? We’ve seen quite a few verses on this notion of forgiveness in this study. Can you recall a single one that said anything about forgetting what happened? The human mind just doesn’t work that way, and let’s be honest about something here: If you actually have forgotten about an event, you haven’t forgiven the person, you forgot the whole thing. Most likely if someone reminded you, you’d be back to not forgiving. There are some things that are unwise to forget, especially those that involve abusive behavior. There is a big difference between forgiving and putting yourself or your loved ones in harm’s way. Forgiving means that you are no longer going to hold something against a person, and that you are not going to let yourself hold on to rage, anger and resentment, nor will you seek to impose punishment on the person. It does not mean that you will let them repeat the instance again.

After you forgive a person, the memory will still come back to you, but when it does, you will remind yourself that the incident is over, that you have forgiven the person and that you will let God deal with them as He sees fit, and in time, the wound will heal and the recollections will be less and less of an issue for you.

“They can’t be allowed to get away with it!”

Forgiveness really has nothing to do with whether or not a person gets away with something. Everyone will answer to God for their actions; God is the Judge of all. We are the judges of no one, and God is very particular on that point. If we seek to judge others, we will be required to answer to God for our sin. In some instances, the person who has wronged us may have consequences with the law or society, and your forgiveness doesn’t get anyone out of that consequence. What factors are really behind this misconception? Here are some possibilities you might consider:

Pride, revenge, jealousy, resentment, anger, rage, control issues, embarrassment and the like. Jesus taught us that we are not to judge others, lest we be judged. Don’t these kinds of feelings really just seek to justify our appointing ourselves to take God’s place and hand down our own judgments and punishments to those who have wronged us? Certainly, this is offensive to God.

The role of feelings and emotions

In most cases, our feelings and emotions don’t help us to make the right choices when we have been wronged. In such cases anger, outrage and hurt are normal and sensible reactions, but as experience teaches us, these fade with the passing of time, and we begin to heal. We may not always be ready to forgive a wrong at the moment of its occurrence, but within a reasonable time frame, we come to the place where we can make the choice to forgive, and we should do so. If you consider our opening verses from Galatians, I think this point should be clear, after all, does unforgiveness belong in the category of acts of the flesh, or as one of the fruits of the Spirit? Again, fully healing is a process and may take time, but it is sped up considerably after we make the choice to forgive.

“Hold on a minute, what if the person doesn’t ask for forgiveness?”

“If your brother or sister sins against you, rebuke them; and if they repent, forgive them. Even if they sin against you seven times in a day and seven times come back to you saying ‘I repent,’ you must forgive them.”

The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!” Luke 17:4-5

Some might quote this verse as “proof” that they needn’t forgive if there is no repentance… and even to justify “letting them have it.” Unfortunately, they would have a contextual problem, however. In Luke’s account, this falls into a section on the duty of a servant, you might find the full context of interest: Luke 17:1-10. I think you’ll discover that Jesus didn’t give you an “out” He gave you a command involving maximum humility. Matthew writes on the same question in Matthew 18:21-33 and follows with the parable of the unfaithful servant, the bottom line of which is forgive or you won’t be forgiven.

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Tenacity in Spite of Shortcomings

Posted on April 27, 2018 by Don Merritt

2 Corinthians 4:1-6

As chapter 4 begins, we find ourselves in the midst of a unit of the letter which is a defense of Paul’s apostolic ministry, that began 2:14 and runs through 7:4. With 4:1, we are entering into the next subsection of this unit and it runs from 4:1 through 5:10 dealing with Paul’s tenacity in spite of his shortcomings.

We begin with Paul drawing another conclusion:

Therefore, since through God’s mercy we have this ministry, we do not lose heart. Rather, we have renounced secret and shameful ways; we do not use deception, nor do we distort the word of God. On the contrary, by setting forth the truth plainly we commend ourselves to everyone’s conscience in the sight of God (4:1-2)

In chapter 2, Paul made the case that the New Covenant is superior to the Old, and that the Spirit was superior to the Law. Because of these facts, Paul will not lose heart in the face of the opposition he has received in Corinth, or anywhere else. In saying that he has not used “secret and shameful ways” he amplifies and mentions what were apparently the things he was accused of in Corinth: “deception” and distorting the Word of God. Remember, this whole unit is a defense of his ministry, and in these verses, Paul has taken quite an interesting route to come back to those allegations.

This last about speaking the truth openly and commending himself to the conscience of everyone in the sight of God is rather amazing rhetorically, for it has a dual meaning. First would be something like this: “With all of this in mind, and in the sight of God, do you really think I did anything that I’ve been accused of? Remember, God is watching you!” The other way you could take it would be: “So, you’ve seen everything I’ve had to deal with, and you know I have taken it for the sake of Christ, and why; don’t you think you should do the same?”

And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. (4:3-4)

Now Paul pours it on. An unbeliever has an excuse for not understanding the situation, for they have been blinded by “the god of this age”. Yet Paul has not written this to unbelievers, he has written it to the church; they have no excuse.

Nice.

For what we preach is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ. (4:5-6)

Again, Paul points out that he has never approached his ministry for any kind of gain or status. Instead, he has preached Christ only, and as a servant. As a result of him fulfilling his ministry in their midst, they all have Christ’s light of truth within themselves; they have the very glory of God in their midst, and at this point, it would be hard for anyone to give any credence whatsoever to Paul’s opponents.

We, as our Corinthian brothers and sisters before us, sometimes have people in our midst who seek to tear things down, rather than build things up. Maybe they want to tear down a church leader and start a whispering campaign in the shadows. Maybe they want to distort the gospel to pursue an unsound teaching of the Word of God. Maybe they just like to stir the pot, then stand back and watch the fun…

I used to deal with things like that in teaching when someone would make a comment in class just to start something. I’ve also seen it in the church, and in the blogosphere; yep, some folks think that kind of thing is fun, and if I’m honest, I’d have to admit that when I was a kid, I did too.

We are supposed to grow up at some point, both in maturity and age, and spiritually into mature followers of Christ.

I will add that there are times when a person, perhaps a leader, has said or done something that needs correction, and Scripture is quite clear on how this should be dealt with. None of that guidance includes creating dissention or gossip however, for dissention and gossip are the two most common things in churches that require correction.

I’d love to hear what you think; please feel free to join in with your thoughts!

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Forgiveness 7

Posted on April 26, 2018 by Don Merritt

The Role of Pride and Self

I don’t need to tell any of you what the Bible says about pride and self; you know already. Instead, here’s a question for discussion:

If godly love can be seen through humility and selflessness, what is demonstrated by pride and selfishness?

If a person finds him or herself in a situation where they have a real struggle forgiving another person for something they have done, hypothetically speaking, are they demonstrating godly love or could it be that pride or self may be involved?

Of course, it is certainly true that when others have sinned against us there can be many factors and variables in operation at the same time, not to mention a variety of emotions. Injustice is never easy to swallow, nor is outright violence or loss. Yet when the emotions begin to subside and healing has begun to take place, there are many times when the only thing that stands between us and forgiving the other person is pride or self, and in some cases, these are manifested by rage, resentment and/or a strong desire for retribution.

Hypothetically speaking, how do these emotions reflect God’s teaching of love, humility and forgiveness?

Do to others as you would have them do to you.

Luke 6:31

Chances are that you learned this as a child; even if you weren’t brought up in a Christian home. Since this is a lesson on forgiveness, let’s get right to the point, since we are already familiar with this verse.

If you did something that resulted in pain or harm or hurt to another person, would you want them to forgive you?

OK, nobody ever says “no” to that question.  Let’s try another one:

Are you willing to be first and forgive others who hurt you in some way, even if they might not always forgive you?

Ah, now that one isn’t quite as easy. If you said “yes,” then have you already forgiven those who have wronged you in your life? Maybe we need to take a look at that one before you answer.

We know that God has forgiven us for our sins when we become Christians. There are literally hundreds of verses in the New Testament that tell us so, in fact they tell us that not only has God forgiven us, but that He has taken our sins away completely. It isn’t as though our “permanent record” shows that we have committed infractions, and that those infractions are “paid for”. God has taken the infractions away completely; our “record” is completely clean. Thus, God’s forgiveness means that there is no record of our sins any more, and that there is no penalty or repercussions either: We have been justified before God.

What great news!

Then God tells us that just as our sins have been forgiven, so also must we forgive others. When we forgive another person, that means that we no longer reserve the right to punish them; there are no repercussions from us. If the person has committed a crime, there might be legal ramifications, and if they are not followers of Christ, they may have an issue with God, but we have acknowledged that we have forgiven them and have moved on. That doesn’t mean that we have necessarily forgotten the incident, and it surely doesn’t mean that we will put ourselves or our families into harm’s way, but we will not seek to impose sanctions ourselves, and there will be no grudges. When we do this, we gain two wonderful advantages, first, we will grow closer in our relationship with Jesus Christ, for our action is one of love and within His will for us. Second, we will have lifted a terrible burden off of our own shoulders, since we won’t have the baggage of pain and emotional trauma to carry through life any more.

So, back to the question:  Are you willing to be first and forgive others who hurt you in some way, even if they might not always forgive you?

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Glory Indeed!

Posted on April 26, 2018 by Don Merritt

Therefore, since we have such a hope, we are very bold. We are not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face to prevent the Israelites from seeing the end of what was passing away. But their minds were made dull, for to this day the same veil remains when the old covenant is read. It has not been removed, because only in Christ is it taken away. Even to this day when Moses is read, a veil covers their hearts. But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.

2 Corinthians 3:12-18

In the previous paragraph or so, Paul has presented a contrast between the letter, and the Spirit, death and life, and the Old and the New Covenants, and with this paragraph, he draws a conclusion from that discussion− that is our context.

In drawing his conclusion, Paul uses a metaphor, that of Moses wearing a veil when he came down from the mountain to address the Israelites after his summit meeting with God. The purpose of the veil, as you will recall, was to hide the glory of God that still shone on his countenance so that it would not overwhelm the people who saw it, until it faded away. His next step is to tell them that in a sense, that veil is still there, only not on the face of Moses, but upon their hearts, for it is only through Christ Jesus that we can see God’s glory clearly. Of course, what we see of God’s glory in Christ is not a bright light, at least not in the literal and physical sense.  What we see is His Truth, His salvation; His grace. In seeing this, we come to understand the difference between the letter of the Law, and the life-giving Spirit of Almighty God working in our lives.

That is, if we care to notice.

So often we might want to rely on something more tangible like… rules, regulations… the Law, and as a result, we might well miss the Spirit in our midst. I we’re honest, we’d probably say that we’ve all had that experience.

Yet, we do not need to stay in that place, for thanks be to God, He has set us free from the regulation of Law, from the regulation of worship, and from death and separation from God.

We have the Spirit of the Lord, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom, and that dear reader, is glorious indeed.

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Photo of the Week: April 25, 2018

Posted on April 25, 2018 by Don Merritt

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Forgiveness 6

Posted on April 25, 2018 by Don Merritt

Can We Love Others and Not Forgive Them?

Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.

Philippians 2:1-4

In these verses, Paul tells us what our love for one another looks like in practice. Before we go too much further, we need to consider what this love really is, because it has nothing to do with our emotions or feelings, after all how can an emotion be commanded?  The English language lacks the vocabulary to make distinctions between different kinds of love.  For example, the love a person has for a spouse is of a different sort than the love they might have for a child, a sibling, their country or for pizza. Greek, on the other hand, has five different words that reflect five different kinds of love, and the one used in all of these verses is the word agape, which is a godly and totally selfless love that puts the other first in all things. It has nothing to do with feelings, but rather involves a conscious decision to put others first.

Notice Paul’s emphasis on “being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind.” This is what our love for others should be like. Going further, he says, “. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.” Can you see the concepts of selflessness and humility at work here?  Our love for one another must be selfless in its nature, because it is the exact opposite of “selfish ambition” and “vain conceit”. Our love for one another needs to be like the love that Jesus showed for us; He is our role model. Paul went on to describe our new attitude in the rest of this passage: Read Philippians 2:5-11 now and note that after He humbled Himself and completed His mission on earth in perfect obedience to the Father, He was rewarded with glory and honor.

As you are no doubt aware, the passage above is one of many that teach us about putting others first, living selfless lives, humility and serving others in the New Testament epistles. Jesus also taught these things often, through direct statements, parables and preaching. Consider these passages that are sometimes misunderstood…

Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it. What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul? Matthew 16:24-26

Here, Jesus is talking about this same issue. Setting aside our old ways of thinking and our old attitudes, we follow Him as Christians. From the point of view of the world around us, we have “lost” our lives, for we have given up its ways to follow Jesus. Yet, we really haven’t lost much of anything, for we have gained so much more than the world can imagine in its place.

Sitting down, Jesus called the Twelve and said, “Anyone who wants to be first must be the very last, and the servant of all.” Mark 9:35

Then he said to them, “Whoever welcomes this little child in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. For it is the one who is least among you all who is the greatest.” Luke 9:48

Let’s be honest, these verses are entirely counter-intuitive and counter cultural. They certainly do not describe the attitude of our culture, nor do they describe our natural human inclinations, but they do describe what love in action looks like, for they describe a person who is willing to be set free from the desire to be “important” and assertive as this world sees these things. Instead, they describe a person who is willing to humbly serve God by serving others without expecting anything in return which is love in its purest form.

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Moving on to new heights

Posted on April 25, 2018 by Don Merritt

Now if the ministry that brought death, which was engraved in letters on stone, came with glory, so that the Israelites could not look steadily at the face of Moses because of its glory, transitory though it was, will not the ministry of the Spirit be even more glorious? If the ministry that brought condemnation was glorious, how much more glorious is the ministry that brings righteousness! For what was glorious has no glory now in comparison with the surpassing glory. And if what was transitory came with glory, how much greater is the glory of that which lasts!

2 Corinthians 3:7-11

With these verses, Paul makes the transition from defending himself, his ministry, his integrity… to proclaiming the superiority of the New Covenant over the Old. As he continues through the rest of chapter 3 and chapter 4 he sounds very much like the author of Hebrews, as so many believe him to be.

He begins with a continuance of his remarks about letters versus the Spirit, moves into letter equating with condemnation and death as opposed to Spirit and life, and ends with letters-condemnation- death: Old Covenant… contrasted with Spirit-life: New Testament… very effectively, I might add. The element that he uses here to tie this all together is glory.

He hearkens back to when Moses went up Mount Sinai to receive the Law from God noting that God’s glory had permeated him so that he had to wear a veil for a time after that to avoid overwhelming the Israelites, for God’s glory literally shown from his face… for a time. Even so, glorious though that time was, the Law ultimately brought condemnation upon Israel, for none could keep it, even though it was their great pride and glory. Sadly however, the Israelites were every bit as human as we are, and they came to rely upon their own abilities as human beings to keep the Law, while all that God ever really wanted from them was to do their best and trust Him for the rest. Sadly then, the pride of the Israelites became their undoing, and when God fulfilled His promise of redemption, they came, for the most part, to reject His Son.

Contrast that sad story with the transcendent glory of God’s grace through faith in Jesus Christ. By God’s grace we are saved not only from our sins, but from death itself, for in Christ we have inherited eternal life. We have the Holy Spirit within us, and if we will only allow Him, He will work in our lives, and through us to work in the lives of those around us to build His Kingdom. The result of this is really obvious: In days of old, the people believed that the Law was glorious, and so it was. Yet now in Christ God’s glory has so surpassed the Old that the Old has simply withered away.

That is glory indeed!

With this foundation, Paul proceed to build on this theme in the verses that follow…

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