Forgiveness 5

Posted on April 24, 2018 by Don Merritt

God Forgives Us, We Forgive Others

Read Matthew 18:21-35

This passage is often called “The Parable of the Unmerciful Servant” because that servant who had received mercy (forgiveness) by the Master, refused to show mercy (forgiveness) to his fellow servant, and he experienced consequences as a result. This is one of the quintessential teachings of Jesus, along with the Golden Rule and loving your neighbor.  The whole message of the parable is to teach His followers that since they have received God’s forgiveness for their sins, they should in turn forgive others.

Is there a familiar pattern here?  Think of the love pattern we’ve already seen: God loved us, we respond by loving Him. God loves others and expects us to do the same out of our love for God. The forgiveness pattern mirrors this: God forgave us, and He expects us to forgive others out of our love for Him.

So easy to comprehend, yet so tough to put into practice!

I heard a great story about a very young associate pastor who went around the church full of enthusiasm and “wisdom.” He seemed to have a knack for reciting the commands of Christ and then finding people who didn’t measure up to them and rebuking them. The senior pastor noticed this and gave his youthful subordinate a research assignment: Go through the gospels and list every command Jesus gave. Not teachings, not parables, but imperative tense commands only and have your report on my desk by 5 pm Friday.  The young man thought this would be a piece of cake and set about making his list. After a day or two, he became discouraged; this wasn’t a piece of cake after all.

Jesus taught many things and gave us many principles to follow, but He gave very few imperative tense commands. The young associate pastor never quite completed the assignment, but he did learn his lesson, to the relief of those around him.

The commands that Jesus actually gave can summed up this way: Love God, love your neighbor as yourself, love your brothers and sisters, forgive your bothers and your sisters and make disciples. Of course, “make disciples” encompasses all of His commands and teachings in one act of love and mercy.

Jesus’ earthly ministry was nothing if not an expression of love; for in all that He did and said He demonstrated God’s love for us in action. He took away pain and suffering, granted forgiveness of sins and taught the Truth of God’s Word. He provided us with our model for living life as He went along, a model that if we follow will be very pleasing in God’s sight. Time and again Jesus brought a message of mercy saying that the time for God to judge had not yet come. If we are truly His followers, His love, mercy and forgiveness will be our hallmarks, for in this, the people around us will see Christ through us.

For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins. Matthew 6:14-15

Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. Colossians 3:13

This is a tougher concept to grasp, for it comes down to a judgment call: At what point will our refusal to obey His commands become a rejection of our covenant relationship with God? We know that when we sin, God will forgive us when we acknowledge our sins. Yet if we deliberately keep on sinning in the same way year after year, and continue to refuse repentance when will God say that’s enough?  Theologians have been arguing about this for centuries, so we aren’t likely to settle it here, but there is one thing that is very clear, and that is that if we receive God’s grace in forgiving our sins but we refuse to forgive those who have sinned against us, we are rejecting the very grace we have received ourselves. Here are a few of the verses on this subject, no doubt you can add more to this list.

And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive them, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins. Mark 11:25

Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. Luke6:37

Forgive us our sins,
for we also forgive everyone who sins against us.
And lead us not into temptation Luke 11:4

Now instead, you ought to forgive and comfort him, so that he will not be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow. 2 Corinthians 2:7

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Not of the letter

Posted on April 24, 2018 by Don Merritt

2 Corinthians 3:1-6

In these verses Paul continues the defense of his apostolic ministry. You’ll recall that at the end of the last chapter he mentioned that he, unlike some, isn’t peddling the gospel for profit, but rather he is speaking sincerely as one who is sent by God. Now, he moves a step further:

Are we beginning to commend ourselves again? Or do we need, like some people, letters of recommendation to you or from you? (3:1)

As an apostle of Christ, Paul does not need credentials and letters of introduction as people of this world do; certainly, he has no need of a letter from the church in Corinth to introduce him to anyone. The reason should be obvious: That there was a church in Corinth at all was testimony enough of his dedication to the gospel because Paul was the one who took the gospel to Corinth in the first place. Was his teaching successful? The fact that is was a success should be self-evident to anyone: Where there had never been a church before, now there was a church.

I think we can infer from this that his opponents thought that he needed some kind of introduction or credential to prove he was genuine: How silly. In fact, that is so silly, it’s the kind of thing we would expect in our time.

You show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts. (3:3)

Paul continues…

Such confidence we have through Christ before God. Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God. He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant—not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. (3:4-6)

This is an interesting statement; it was as controversial then as it is now. Paul’s assertion is that he is a competent minister of the New Covenant, as evidenced by the fact that he established a church in Corinth where the gospel had never before been preached. His competence to do so came directly from God, not from his education. Actually, when we think about it, his education, which was considerable indeed, had led him to persecute the church. God alone made Paul competent to spread the gospel, not by academics, but by His Spirit, for it is the Spirit that gives life, not letters (academics, human learning).

I would imagine that that if Paul were alive today and was applying to become a pastor in a modern church and said these things in an interview, that he would be shown the door rather quickly.

His ministry as an apostle was not conducted according to the ways of Man, but according to the ways of the Spirit… Yes but… but… how do we…how can be sure…?

It’s a tough one isn’t it?

At any rate, Paul wasn’t going along with the ways of the world, and even though he was under attack in certain places, by certain elements, he was not apologizing for it.

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TLP Living: 4/23/18

Posted on April 23, 2018 by Don Merritt

In the Stillness of the Morning

Happy Monday from the Heartland of America.

I guess that I am what you might call a morning person; I get up earlier than most. I don’t have to, I just like it. Morning is my favorite time, I like to be up long before the sun. Early morning is the time most of the posts on this blog are written, the time when the mind is clear, creativity is greatest, and when God seems so very near. I don’t want to miss such a glorious time!

I remember taking this photo six years ago. It was shortly after sunrise, the air was warm and still, and the only sound was the birds singing in the trees; it was glorious. My mind was full of praise and thanksgiving for God and His amazing creation, for His mercy, for His faithfulness.

Listen to my words, Lord,
consider my lament.
Hear my cry for help,
my King and my God,
for to you I pray.

In the morning, Lord, you hear my voice;
in the morning I lay my requests before you
and wait expectantly.

Psalm 5:1-3

Yes indeed, glorious is only word for it. I remember when I was much younger, hearing an older preacher say that everyone should rise early to pray as Jesus did. I didn’t want to do it, for in those days I was of the opinion that getting up around 7 am was pretty early.

Boy, was I wrong.

I suppose we’re all different, and God will meet us where ever we are, but for me, the early morning is by far the best time of any day…. There’s just something about it that’s hard to describe, something different, something… special.

One time I read a letter George Washington wrote to an associate in which he spoke about his daily routine. In it he made several interesting comments, things that kind of made him come alive, seem like a real human. One of them was that he always went to bed early and rose before the sun, because people who are happiest in this life, and people who are most productive in this life, skip the foolishness of the night, and enjoy God’s presence in the morning.

George Washington was a very wise man.

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TLP Inspiration: 4/23/18

Posted on April 23, 2018 by Don Merritt

Priorities

For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him,  and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.

Colossians 1:19-20

Leading up to these verses Paul gave a list of attributes that he attributed to Christ, and here, as a way of summing up he goes the next step and puts all of the fullness of Jesus Christ into perspective.  Notice that God was “pleased” to have His own fullness residing in Jesus, and to have Jesus reconcile all to Himself. If you think about it, if there was reconciliation, there must first be a conflict…

We know that there was indeed a conflict, a conflict that engulfed all Creation the moment that Adam entered into sin way back in Genesis 3. It’s a funny thing, but for most of us, we don’t really think of sin the way we should, for we tend to think of it as a violation of some sort of rule or ordinance. Yet sin is much more than a simple violation; it’s rebellion, rebellion against God. So here we are, God was pleased indeed to place all of His fullness in the Person of Jesus and to have Jesus establish reconciliation on the cross, for in doing so He paid the entire cost of the rebellion: There is now peace between Man and God.

Why should He do that?

Love.

His love was so great that He placed His fullness into His Son and sent His Son to make peace with humanity; that’s quite a thing to ponder wouldn’t you say? I realize that this statement doesn’t pay the bills, nor does it solve all of the problems we encounter in this life, but it does something much greater than simply taking away problems and circumstances. Instead it transcends the problems of the day-to-day and empowers us to see greater things, to set higher aspirations so that the complications of the here and now are put into their proper perspective.

When you come right down to it, what God has done for us through Jesus Christ puts the hassles of life where they belong… on the low priority list.

Wow!

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TLP Inspiration: Bonus Post

Posted on April 22, 2018 by Don Merritt

I came across this video and I thought I’d share it this afternoon. It is an amazingly powerful and inspiring rendition of Amazing Grace… and my old High School fight song… we were the “highlanders”.  Andre Rieu and the Johann Strauss Orchestra.

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Sunday Sermon notes: April 22, 2018

Posted on April 22, 2018 by Don Merritt

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TLP Op-Ed: 4/21/18

Posted on April 21, 2018 by Don Merritt

Have You Heard about this One?

Just when we thought that Washington, DC couldn’t get any crazier, DC Councilman Charles Allen has introduced a measure to lower the voting age in the District from 18 to 16. According to news reports, 7 of the 13 Council members have signed on to the proposal; a majority. Mr. Allen says that he was inspired to take this action by the high school students who organized and led the recent “March for our lives” that filled Washington with thousands of people protesting, mostly adults, for something to be done in the wake of the Parkland (FL) school shooting back in February.

Other members echoed Allen’s remarks and expressed their admiration for our young people who are leading the way for social change across America, as have many television commentators in recent weeks.

Should Washington go ahead with this proposal, the city would join others such as Takoma Park, Md and Berkeley, Ca in extending voting rights to children. However, unlike other municipalities that can only change voting ages in their own local elections, adoption of Mr. Allen’s proposal in the District of Columbia would enable 16 and 17-year-olds to vote in the 2020 election for president of the United States, and since that would be a violation of Federal Election Law, the whole thing might well be headed for a court showdown.

I can’t help thinking that all of this sounds so very grand, as long as one doesn’t actually use their ability to think. During the whole “March for our lives” business, I was really struck by the number of otherwise intelligent commentators who admired the students for leading and organizing the great event in Washington.

Seriously?

Are we really supposed to believe that a couple of 15-year-olds grabbed their credit cards and started booking bus charters and hotels when, at their tender young age, they are not legally competent to enter into a legally binding contract? Yep, they called the city of Washington and obtained the march permits? They booked the celebrity speakers? Of course not!

Those brilliant commentators were working for news agencies that reported the whole thing was organized by the Women’s March and several other far-left activist organizations that came together to shamelessly exploit the victims of a terrible shooting to promote their own agendas.

Even so, we can take some pride in those young people who choose to become involved in the process of promoting change, for surely change must take place to put an end to the terrible and senseless violence that many of them endured.

As for giving children the right to vote in DC elections… I suppose they really couldn’t do much worse than their parents have in choosing leaders for a city that isn’t really known for being well managed.

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TLP Inspiration: 4/21/18

Posted on April 21, 2018 by Don Merritt

 

God is My Help

Surely God is my help;
the Lord is the one who sustains me.

Let evil recoil on those who slander me;
in your faithfulness destroy them.

Psalm 54:4-5

It doesn’t sound like David was having a good day when he wrote this; he was under attack from his enemies as it happens. Most of us aren’t on the run from assassins or cut-throats, but there are times in this life when it seems like we are under assault and feel overwhelmed by our circumstances.

One thing we can take from these verses is that David knew where his help would come from, it would come from God. The only problem, was that David didn’t know when God would act or why God didn’t set things right immediately.

But he did know that God would have his back.

Like David, we don’t know God’s timing, nor do we know God’s reasoning for His timing. In fact, other than a bunch of theological abstractions, I can’t even tell you why God allows so much trouble in our lives…

Yet we do know that God has our backs.

In difficult times, God is our Rock, our strength, and in such circumstances our relationships with Him take on a whole new significance for most of us as a source of strength and hope, transcending the problems of this life.

Oh, what an awesome God we have!

Oh yes, and He’s pretty awesome when things are going smoothly too.

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Forgiveness 4

Posted on April 20, 2018 by Don Merritt

The second greatest commandment

The second greatest commandment is to love your neighbor as yourself.

Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’  This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’  All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”  Matthew 22:37-30

He answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”  Luke 10:27

“The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.  Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’  The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.”  Mark 12:29-31

We all know these verses, most of us know them by heart, but why are they so important? The answer to this question really isn’t so difficult if we remember that God first loved all of us and sent His Son to die for all of us and not just for you or me. That God would want us to share His love with our neighbor makes all kinds of sense, just as a parent would want their child to share the parent’s love for his or her siblings. In the New Testament, this love for our neighbor is carried forward as our love for one another within the church in a special way.

God loved us – We love God – God loves others – So do we

This is the cycle that makes God’s love complete in us. My brother or sister may not always be lovable, but because God loves them and I love God, I decide to love them too, in spite of their faults, for are their faults really that much greater than my own? John makes this entire cycle clear in an amazing passage, 1 John 4:7-21 and I hope you will read carefully omce again. Some of the other verses relating to this are listed below:

John 13:34-35; 14:21; 15:17; 17:23 Ephesians 1:15; 4:2 1 Peter 1:22; 2:17; 3:8; 4:8
Romans 5:5; 8:28, 35; 12:10; 13:8-10 Colossians 1:4; 2:2; 3:14 1 John 2:10; 3:11, 14; 4:7-21
1 Corinthians 8:3 1 Thessalonians 3:12; 4:9-10  
Galatians 5:13-14 2 Thessalonians 1:3  
     

This is a theme that carries throughout the entire New Testament, and it is also the very core of all Christian Theology. If you want to really take a wide view of the subject, it is also the primary purpose of the Church and can be summed up in the words of Jesus: “Make disciples.”

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Ministry, Viewpoints and Aromas

Posted on April 20, 2018 by Don Merritt

Now when I went to Troas to preach the gospel of Christ and found that the Lord had opened a door for me, I still had no peace of mind, because I did not find my brother Titus there. So I said goodbye to them and went on to Macedonia.

2 Corinthians 2:12-13

After Paul advocated forgiveness for the person or persons who caused all of the trouble in Corinth, he went on in this letter to tell about what he was up to after he left that city. It would seem that he travelled to Troas, expecting Titus to meet him there. Apparently, Titus wasn’t there, even so God opened a door for the gospel in that location, and a number of people accepted His grace upon hearing the gospel from Paul. Yet Paul didn’t stay long in that city, he was very grieved by what had taken place back in Corinth, and at the absence of Titus, and continued on to Macedonia.

But thanks be to God, who always leads us as captives in Christ’s triumphal procession and uses us to spread the aroma of the knowledge of him everywhere. For we are to God the pleasing aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. To the one we are an aroma that brings death; to the other, an aroma that brings life. And who is equal to such a task? Unlike so many, we do not peddle the word of God for profit. On the contrary, in Christ we speak before God with sincerity, as those sent from God.

2 Corinthians 2:14-17

What an unusual way to describe it! Paul breaks into a thanksgiving to God in 2:14 which follows the same structure that he will use in chapter 15 to describe the activity of his ministry, for indeed, this is the introduction to a new section of the letter that continues through 7:14 which is a defense of his apostolic ministry that is seemingly given as a response to his attackers in Corinth.

For many of us, his use of the word “aroma” seems oddly placed in these verses in describing the spread of the knowledge of Christ. That is, until we remind ourselves that “aroma” is used multiple times in the Old Testament to describe sacrifices that are pleasing to God. To put it directly, Paul is describing his work in spreading the gospel as a sacrifice pleasing to God. The spread of the gospel brings life to many, for they respond to the gospel by accepting God’s grace, but it brings death to others who reject God’s offer of grace through faith in Christ. Please note carefully that each made their own choice either to accept or reject Christ, and the blessing or burden of the result of their decision is entirely of their own doing.

Finally, notice that Paul hits his opponents rather hard as he ends the chapter: Unlike so many, we do not peddle the word of God for profit. On the contrary, in Christ we speak before God with sincerity, as those sent from God (2:17). I’d say that is a bit of an indictment, but it’s only the first as he defends his ministry as an apostle, as we will see.

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