Week
of 5 Pentecost - B
This is a Three-Year Lectionary based on the Lutheran Book of
Worship 3-year Lectionary (for public worship), "Prayers of the
Day..." (Propers), p. 13-41, Augsburg Publishing House, Minneapolis,
1978. It is based, with only minor variations, on the Revised Common
Lectionary, used by many denominations, including the Episcopal,
Lutheran, Presbyterian, and Methodist churches:
http://www.commontexts.org/
and:
http://www.commontexts.org/rcl/usage.html
The daily readings are the Propers (Lections) for the following
Sunday, so that the daily devotions can prepare us for worship.
Additional Lections are from Common Service Book of the Lutheran
Church, "Scripture lessons for Matins and Vespers," United Lutheran
Church of America, General Rubrics VIII. Scripture lessons for
Matins and Vespers, p. 299 - 304, Philadelphia, 1918.
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| First Posted July 13, 2008; | |
|
Podcast Download: Week of 5 Pentecost - B
Sunday 5 Pentecost - B
First Posted July 5, 2009;
Podcast: Sunday 5 Pentecost - B
Psalm 107:1-3, 23-32 -- Lord of Creation;
Job 38:1-11 -- The Lord answers Job;
2 Corinthians 5:14-21 -- New Creation;
Mark 4:35-41 -- Calming the Storm;
Psalm Paraphrase:
This is a call to all God’s people to give thanks for his goodness and steadfast love. God has gathered his people from the four corners of the earth (originally in pilgrimages to Jerusalem, but now into the Church throughout the world).
The Psalmist expresses thanks for God’s deliverance of his people from various dangers. Seamen had the opportunity to see the great works of God in the oceans. They recognized their dependence upon God to deliver them from the great perils of wind and wave. When they were frightened and storm-tossed, they prayed for God’s deliverance and he delivered them from their distress. “He made the storm be still, and the waves of the sea were hushed. Then they were glad because they had quiet, and he brought them to their desired haven” (Psalm 107:29-30; compare with Matthew 8:23-27 and John 6:16-21).
Job Paraphrase:
God revealed himself to Job in a
whirlwind, as he had to Elisha when he took Elijah into heaven (2
Kings 2:11). Job had questioned why God allowed misfortune to
happen to Job, because Job had considered himself righteous.
Job and his counselors all were trying
to understand God from human wisdom. They all thought they knew
God but they really only knew “about” God. All their words “about”
God darkened their counsel rather than providing the light of
insight.
Job was challenging God to defend
God’s position in allowing Job to have misfortune, but it isn’t
man’s right to question God’s motives. We need to understand that
God’s wisdom and motives are far beyond human understanding. God
is the creator of earth and sea. He didn’t need human advice to
design and create this world. God doesn’t have to account to us;
it is we who have to give account to God.
2 Corinthians Paraphrase:
Christians are guided and motivated by the love
Christ had for us (manifested in his crucifixion and experienced
personally through the gift of his indwelling Holy Spirit). Since
he died for us all (who are willing to receive his sacrifice), we
consider ourselves also as dead to sin and self-will, so that we
might live henceforth no longer for ourselves, but in new life for
him who died for us and made that new life possible.
Mark Paraphrase:
Commentary:
The people of God, whom God has redeemed from tribulation and has brought to himself from the farthest corners of the world, are invited to give praise and thanksgiving to God for his steadfast love and faithfulness. Those who have experienced God’s redemption are the ones who are called on and able to testify to that redemption. We will all experience troubles in this world. The difficulties of life are intended by God to cause us to recognize our need for God, and to cause us to seek and trust his help.
Mariners are one example of how Creation and
life reveal our need for, and dependence upon God. Humans
attempt to subdue and reap the bounty of the seas by the works of
their own strength, but ultimately face their own limitation and
may seek deliverance which only God provides.
When we come to the limit of our own
self-reliance, and turn to God for help, we learn that God is
able, willing, and faithful to deliver us. Only the Lord can truly
save us from the storms of life and bring us safely to eternal
refuge in him. When we experience his deliverance and the security
which is only in the Lord, we will rejoice and praise him and
testify to his faithfulness and deliverance to others.
Job had known “about” God but hadn’t “known”
God personally. Job’s view of God was from a distorted human,
“worldly” perspective. Job considered himself as deserving of
God’s favor, and as a near equal with God. When trouble
arose, Job sought God’s presence so that he could “prove” to God
that he didn’t deserve the trouble he was experiencing.
God did not “owe it to Job” to manifest
himself, to respond to Job’s petition, or to explain himself to
Job. God chose to reveal himself to Job out of his love and
concern for Job.
God revealed himself to Job as the Creator of
the Universe. God is far greater than we can imagine or
understand. The result was that Job came to a personal knowledge
of God, his Creator, and to an understanding of Job’s correct
relationship to God (see Job 42:1-6).
God is all-powerful and all-knowing, far above
human knowledge and ability. We get to thinking that we are equal
to God because of what we have accomplished. We begin to think
that we deserve God’s favor. This is the “worldly” point of view.
When we begin to understand our proper
relationship to God as his creatures and servants, with him as our
Lord, then we will have a personal knowledge of our Lord. When we
come to know and understand our relationship to God, we will
repent of our human arrogance, and will worship and serve him,
seeking to please him.
Human sin (disobedience of God’s Word) and
arrogance (imagining ourselves as equal to or greater than God)
alienates us from God’s presence. Jesus’ ministry was to bring
reconciliation and restoration of personal fellowship with God
through the forgiveness of our sin. When we experience that
reconciliation we are ready and able to be ambassadors of the
message of reconciliation with God, which is only possible through
faith (obedient trust) in Jesus Christ (Acts 4:12; John 14:6; see
God’s Plan of Salvation, sidebar, top right, home), to the
alienated of this world.
God has created this temporal world, but his
purpose has always been to use this Creation as the basis for a
New Creation which will be an eternal kingdom of God’s people who
willingly trust and obey God. When we begin to trust and obey
Jesus we are spiritually “re-born” (John 3:3, 5-8) to eternal
life, through the gift of his indwelling Holy Spirit, which only
Jesus gives (John 1:31-34) only to his disciples who trust and
obey Jesus (John 14:15-17). We become the New Creation. Someday we
will pass away physically and this temporal, physical world will
also pass away. But those who have been reborn to spiritual,
eternal life will go on living eternally in paradise with our
Lord. Those who have not been reborn spiritually will spend
eternity in condemnation and eternal death and destruction, with
all evil, separated forever from everything good.
Jesus calls us to be his disciples; to live in
daily fellowship with him, doing what he teaches. Jesus told his
disciples to cross the sea, and as they went, he went with them.
When the storm arose, Jesus subdued it by the creative power of
God’s Word. As Jesus’ disciples experience the creative power of
God’s Word in Jesus Christ in their daily lives, and learn to
trust and obey Jesus, they come to realize that Jesus is the Lord
of Creation and his word is the Word of God.
Who do you believe Jesus is? Is Jesus your Lord
(Matthew 7:21-23; Luke 6:46)? Are you Jesus' disciple (John 8:31)?
Are you trusting and obeying Jesus (John 14:21)? Have you received
the indwelling Holy Spirit since you first truly believed (Acts
19:2)? Are you making disciples of Jesus Christ and teaching them
to obey all that Jesus commands (Matthew 28:18-20)? Do you know
with certainty where you will spend eternity (1 John 5:11-13;
Ephesians 1:13-14)?
Monday 5 Pentecost - B
First Posted July 6, 2009;
Podcast: Monday 5 Pentecost - B
Psalm 30 -- Song of Thanksgiving;
Paraphrase:
The Lord had heard the Psalmist’s prayer for
healing, had delivered the Psalmist from sickness and death, and
had restored him to life.
The Lord’s anger (his
corrective discipline) is momentary, designed to restore us to
God’s favor which is reliable and eternal. We may suffer grief for
a short while, but we will be restored to joy again. Our grief
will be replaced by joy with the dawn of the new day (now in this
temporal world, and in the New Creation in eternity).
Commentary:
We tend to think, when things are going well
for us, that we have earned our success and prosperity ourselves,
and we don’t need security in anyone outside of ourselves. It is
God who has given us that success and prosperity. When he
withholds his favor, our success and prosperity disappears.
When we realize that God is the giver of all
our blessings and we call upon him in faith in times of trouble,
he will hear and be gracious to us and help and restore us. God
wants us to realize that our help is only in him. God is good and
our praise and thanksgiving is due him (so that others may come to
realize his blessings and receive his favor).Those who have
experienced his healing and restoration will want to rejoice in,
praise and thank him forever.
It is the fallen (sinful; disobedient) human
nature which allows us to take credit for our success, allows us
to think that our blessings are due to our own effort and ability,
and to blame God when things go wrong.
God’s Word reveals that the meaning and purpose
of life in this Creation is to seek and come to knowledge of and
fellowship with God our Creator (Acts 17:26-27). God has intended,
from the very beginning of Creation, to create an eternal kingdom
of his people who will trust and obey God.
This temporal Creation is designed by God to
allow us the freedom to choose whether to trust and obey God or
not. This Creation allows us the freedom to learn “by trial and
error” that God’s will is good and in our very best interest.
This Creation is limited by time, and our
opportunity to find God and eternal life is limited to this
lifetime. God gave us freedom in this lifetime to choose whether
to obey him or not. God knew that we would all sin (disobey God’s
Word; Romans 3:23; 1 John 1:8-10) in the process. God’s Word warns
that the penalty for sin is (eternal) death (Romans 6:23) in Hell,
separated from God, who is the giver of all good things. God is
not going to tolerate disobedience forever.
God’s only provision for the forgiveness of our
sin, restoration to fellowship with God, and eternal life, is
through faith (obedient trust) in Jesus Christ (Acts 4:12; John
14:6), by the gift of his indwelling Holy Spirit, which only Jesus
gives (John 1:31-34), only to his disciples who trust and obey
Jesus (John 14:15-17). Jesus Christ, our Savior, has been built
into the very structure of this Creation (John 1:1-5-14; see God’s
Plan of Salvation, sidebar, top right, home).
In one sense we are all God’s people, because
he is our Creator, whether we acknowledge and obey him or not. God
disciplines his people so that they can learn to trust and obey
him. Our trials in life are designed to teach us that we need God.
People can still stubbornly refuse to turn to God for help, and
insist on doing their own way, but they miss the joy and security
which only God can provide, and they will miss eternal life in
fellowship with God in his kingdom in heavenly paradise.
I personally testify, along with the Psalmist,
and all authentic “born-again” (John 3:3, 5-8) Christians, that
God hears our cry when we sincerely turn to him, in faith, in time
of trouble, and that he does heal, strengthen, restore and bless
us. We have personally experienced the joy of his presence and
salvation, and we gladly praise and glorify Jesus, so that others
may experience God’s blessings and favor which are only in Jesus
Christ by grace (a free gift; unmerited favor) from God, to be
received through faith (obedient trust) in Jesus (Ephesians
2:8-9).
Is Jesus your Lord (Matthew 7:21-23; Luke
6:46)? Are you Jesus' disciple (John 8:31)? Are you trusting and
obeying Jesus (John 14:21)? Have you received the indwelling Holy
Spirit since you first truly believed (Acts 19:2)? Are you making
disciples of Jesus Christ and teaching them to obey all that Jesus
commands (Matthew 28:18-20)? Do you know with certainty where you
will spend eternity (1 John 5:11-13; Ephesians 1:13-14)?
Tuesday 5 Pentecost - B
First Posted July 7, 2009;
Podcast: Tuesday 5 Pentecost - B
Lamentations 3:22-33 -- Godly discipline;
Paraphrase:
God has never-ending love and mercy for us. His
mercy and love are renewed and fresh every morning. His
faithfulness is great beyond measure. I have chosen the Lord as my
portion and lot in life, and therefore I will hope in him.
The Lord blesses and rewards those who seek and
wait for the Lord. It is best for one to wait quietly for the
salvation of the Lord. It is well for a person to learn the
discipline of the Lord in his youth. Let him endure in silence
alone when he is disciplined; let him humble himself before the
Lord, for there is yet hope. Let him willingly endure abuse and
insults by humans in this world.
The Lord won’t abandon him forever. Although
the Lord may cause him grief, he will also have compassion in
proportion to his abundant, steadfast love. The Lord doesn’t
willingly grieve and afflict us (he disciplines us, like a loving
parent, for our own good).
Commentary:
The meaning and purpose of life in this
temporal Creation is to seek and come to a personal knowledge of
and relationship with God (Acts 17:26-27; see God’s Plan of
Salvation, sidebar, top right, home). God has been progressively
revealing himself to us, first through the goodness of Creation.
Then God began a personal relationship with Abraham, when he
called Abraham (Abram) to be the father of God’s People (Genesis
12:1-9). Then God revealed himself and his plan for Creation in
the Bible, the record of God’s dealing with Abraham and Abraham’s
descendants, Israel, the People of God.
God further revealed himself in Jesus Christ,
the Savior and Messiah promised in the Bible, who came to die as a
sacrifice for our sins to give us eternal life. The ultimate
revelation of God to us, personally and individually, is in the
gift of the indwelling Holy Spirit which only Jesus gives (John
1:31-34), only to his disciples who trust and obey Jesus (John
14:15-17). Jesus is the only way to forgiveness of our sins
(disobedience of God’s Word), restoration of fellowship with God,
and eternal life in God’s eternal kingdom in heaven (Acts 4:12;
John 14:6; 1 John 5:11-13). The Holy Spirit is the seal and
guarantee that one is in Christ and has eternal life (2
Corinthians 1:22; Ephesians 1:13-14; Romans 8:9b, 11, 15-16).
All who come to personally know and experience
fellowship with God testify to his goodness, faithfulness, love
and mercy for us. The Lord blesses those who seek him, who make
the Lord their portion and goal in life, and wait for his guidance
and deliverance. The Lord is our good parent, who disciplines and
tests us, so that we can grow to become what he intends for us to
be.
Learning to be God’s People takes discipline
and practice. We must be willing to sacrifice our self-indulgence
and self-will, and endure discipline and training, but the goal of
eternal life with the Lord in heavenly paradise is more than worth
the sacrifice and self-denial. All discipline is unpleasant at the
moment, but later it brings rewards to those who are trained by it
(Hebrews 12:11).
How much better it would be to come to know God
and find his purpose for our lives early in life, so that we can
use our time and resources pursuing what is eternally worthwhile,
and enjoying fellowship with our Lord, than to waste our time,
energy and resources on what does not satisfy or endure! How much
better to come to the end of physical life knowing with certainty
that we have eternal life and that we have accomplished something
eternally important, than to discover that we have spent our lives
on what is worthless, and that our destiny is eternal condemnation
and suffering, separated from God and his heavenly paradise!
We don’t have to wait until we die to know
whether there is life beyond physical death. Jesus’ resurrection
demonstrated that, and every “born-again” (John 3:3, 5-8)
Christian knows and testifies that Jesus is alive within them by
his indwelling Holy Spirit. We can begin to live eternal life in
fellowship with God now, through the gift of the indwelling Holy
Spirit. Hope in Jesus Christ is the one and only hope which will
never be unfulfilled or disappoint.
Wednesday 5 Pentecost - B
First Posted July 8, 2009;
Podcast: Wednesday 5 Pentecost - B
2 Corinthians 8:1-9, 13-14 --
“Benevolence”
Paraphrase:
Paul had been collecting an offering from among
his congregations to help the financially needy Christians in
Jerusalem who were experiencing persecution. The Macedonian
congregations, who were themselves experiencing affliction and
poverty, had contributed generously beyond their financial
ability, out of their joy and thanksgiving for God’s grace (free
gift of salvation and God’s providence). Their generosity was the
result of them having first given themselves in obedience to the
Lord and to Paul by God’s will.
Titus was in charge of collecting the offering from among the churches and Paul urged the Corinthian church to demonstrate their faith, love and excellence in spiritual gifts through their contribution to this offering, not by his command but by their love and sincerity, following Christ’s example. Christ left the spiritual riches of heaven and became poor among us so that we could receive his spiritual riches.
The Corinthian church had agreed, the previous year, to contribute, but the collection had been interrupted by dissention within the congregation, which had now been resolved. The Corinthian congregation was apparently financially better-off than the Macedonian Church, and Paul reminded them that good intentions alone are not sufficient, but must be fulfilled by action.
Paul wasn’t asking the Corinthians to be unfairly burdened, but reminded them that their abundance in this situation should be used to alleviate the needs of others, and that in some other situation the roles might be reversed. The goal was that there should be equality.
Paul mentioned the example of God’s justice in distributing the manna in the wilderness so that everyone received no more or less than they needed. In the same way Titus was redistributing resources for the benefit of each member of the Church and for the wellbeing of the Church as a whole.
Titus was in charge of collecting the offering from among the churches and Paul urged the Corinthian church to demonstrate their faith, love and excellence in spiritual gifts through their contribution to this offering, not by his command but by their love and sincerity, following Christ’s example. Christ left the spiritual riches of heaven and became poor among us so that we could receive his spiritual riches.
The Corinthian church had agreed, the previous year, to contribute, but the collection had been interrupted by dissention within the congregation, which had now been resolved. The Corinthian congregation was apparently financially better-off than the Macedonian Church, and Paul reminded them that good intentions alone are not sufficient, but must be fulfilled by action.
Paul wasn’t asking the Corinthians to be unfairly burdened, but reminded them that their abundance in this situation should be used to alleviate the needs of others, and that in some other situation the roles might be reversed. The goal was that there should be equality.
Paul mentioned the example of God’s justice in distributing the manna in the wilderness so that everyone received no more or less than they needed. In the same way Titus was redistributing resources for the benefit of each member of the Church and for the wellbeing of the Church as a whole.
Commentary:
Christians who had remained in Jerusalem were
being persecuted by the Jews, so that it was difficult for them to
earn their own living. Christians who had moved out into the world
beyond Israel, were also persecuted, but not to the extent of the
Christians living in Judea.
Paul had been recognized by the Church Council
(headquarters) in Jerusalem as the evangelist to the Gentiles. He
had received an Apostolic Decree (a ruling by the Council) that
Gentiles did not have to follow the religious laws of Judaism
(like “circumcision,” etc; Acts 1-29). The Apostolic Council asked
Paul to collect an offering for the Christians in Jerusalem and
Judea (Galatians 2:1-10), and Paul had been, and was now doing so
in Corinth.
Paul used the churches in Macedonia (including
the Philippians, the Church at Philippi) as an example of a
“benevolent” (kind; generous) gift. The Macedonian Christians were
very poor, materially, but were rich in the grace (free gift;
unmerited favor) of God and the joy of God’s blessings. The
Macedonians were eager to share what they had for the relief of
the poor. The Macedonians were able to be so generous, because
they had first given themselves unreservedly to the Lord, and then
to Paul’s mission for the poor, by guidance (by the Holy Spirit)
according to God’s will.
Titus, Paul’s co-worker, had begun to collect
the offering from the Corinthians earler, but had been interrupted
by a rift in the Congregation toward Paul. Now the rift had been
resolved (2 Corinthians 2:1-3), and Paul urged them to continue
and complete the offering. The Corinthians considered their
Congregation excellent in prophetic utterance, knowledge, faith,
earnestness and love (consider 1 Corinthians 3:18-21a; 4:6-8), so
Paul suggested that they also excel in benevolence.
It was not Paul’s intention that anyone or
group be burdened so that another could be at ease, but that God’s
providence, which was intended for all, could be equitably
distributed. Natural variations in the distribution of God’s
blessings occur, so those who have abundance should share with
others who are in need. Perhaps later their circumstances and
roles may be reversed.
The Church is to give to relieve the needs of
others out of love and thanksgiving for the grace (unmerited
favor; free gift) they have received in Christ. Jesus taught his
disciples by word and example to love and care for the needs of
the poor. Jesus left the glory and riches as the Son of God in
heaven, to come to earth as a baby, with nothing, to give
everything, including physical life, on the Cross, so that we
could receive the grace of God, the free gift of forgiveness of
sin (disobedience of God’s Word) and salvation from eternal
condemnation and death, and live eternally in the richness of
paradise in heaven with the Lord.
This world is God’s Creation. God has provided
everything we need for good life, and his blessings are intended
for everyone (Matthew 5:45b). The reason that some lack the
necessities of life is because others grab more than their fair
share, and don’t share with those who have need.
People who don’t trust God to provide for their
needs fall into the trap of trying to provide security for
themselves. But security is always a little more, a little beyond,
where we are now. People who have come to know and trust God’s
providence can share what they have today with those who need it
today, confident that God will provide for tomorrow (Matthew
6:31-33).
The Philippians were able to be loving and
generous with their resources because they had recognized,
received and appreciated God’s spiritual gifts. They had committed
themselves, without reservation, to trust and obey the Lord. As
they had done so they were filled with the gift of the indwelling
Holy Spirit, and were guided by the Spirit to know and do God’s
will. They experienced the joy of the presence of the Lord within
them, and the joy of being obedient to God’s will. Their obedience
to God’s Word, and their loving concern for the poor demonstrated
that they were disciples of Jesus Christ and God’s obedient,
trusting people.
The Corinthian Congregation considered
themselves more intellectual and sophisticated, and they needed to
be convicted and disciplined so that they could grow into
trusting, obedient disciples of Jesus Christ they were called to
be.
Is Jesus your Lord (Matthew 7:21-23; Luke
6:46)? Are you Jesus' disciple (John 8:31)? Are you trusting and
obeying Jesus (John 14:21)? Have you received the indwelling Holy
Spirit since you first truly believed (Acts 19:2)? Are you making
disciples of Jesus Christ and teaching them to obey all that Jesus
commands (Matthew 28:18-20)? Do you know with certainty where you
will spend eternity (1 John 5:11-13; Ephesians 1:13-14)?
Thursday 5 Pentecost - B
First Posted July 9, 2009;
Podcast: Thursday 5 Pentecost - B
Mark 5:21-24a, 35-43 -- Jairus’ Daughter;
Paraphrase:
When Jesus returned from a trip across the Sea
of Galilee, a crowd quickly gathered around him, and a leader of
the synagogue, whose daughter was gravely ill, came to Jesus,
asking Jesus to come and heal his daughter.
Jesus came, accompanied by the crowd. As they
went, members of Jairus’ household came to tell him that the
daughter had died and that Jesus was no longer needed, but Jesus
told Jarius not to fear but only believe.
Jesus would not let the crowd accompany him
further; only Peter, James and John were allowed to continue with
Jesus and Jairus. At the house there was a great commotion from
people mourning the death of the girl. Jesus told them that she
was not dead, but only sleeping. The mourners laughed at him.
Jesus took only the father and mother into the
room where the girl was, and taking her by the hand, told her to
arise. Immediately she opened her eyes, got up and walked. She was
about twelve years old. Everyone was amazed, but Jesus told them
to tell no one; and he told them to give her something to eat.
Commentary:
Jesus is the Son of God who came to give true,
eternal, spiritual life to us. His miracles of physical healing
and feeding were intended to reveal that Jesus can heal and feed
us spiritually. Jesus’ resurrection miracles (Lazarus: John
11:1-57; Widow of Nain’s son: Luke 7:11-17) and Jesus’ own
resurrection from the dead reveal that there is life beyond
physical death. Jesus demonstrated that Jairus' daughter was truly
physically alive again and not a ghost, by having her parents feed
her (compare Luke 24:36-43).
Many of the people who gathered in crowds
around Jesus were only interested in what Jesus could do for them
physically. Jesus told the people who experienced his physical
miracles not to spread the news, because large crowds gathering
around Jesus seeking physical healing were making Jesus’ mission
of bringing spiritual healing and reconciliation to the world
difficult.
Jesus is the Word of God, fulfilled, embodied,
and illustrated in human flesh (John 1:1-5, 14). Jesus speaks the
Word of God; Jesus’ word has the creative force of God’s Word
(Genesis 1:3). Jesus commanded, and the girl rose from physical
death. Jesus was careful not to command people to believe in him,
but to allow them to reach their own belief of who he is.
In the Day of Judgment, when Jesus returns in
glory and power to judge the living and dead in both the physical
and spiritual senses, he will command the dead to arise (John
5:28-29) and they will have no choice but to obey. Those who have
trusted and obeyed Jesus and have been “born-again” by the gift of
the indwelling Holy Spirit will receive eternal life in God’s
heavenly kingdom; those who have rejected Jesus, and have refused
to obey him, will be condemned to eternal destruction in Hell with
all evil, separated eternally from God and all goodness.
Is Jesus your Lord (Matthew 7:21-23; Luke
6:46)? Are you Jesus' disciple (John 8:31)? Are you trusting and
obeying Jesus (John 14:21)? Have you received the indwelling Holy
Spirit since you first truly believed (Acts 19:2)? Are you making
disciples of Jesus Christ and teaching them to obey all that Jesus
commands (Matthew 28:18-20)? Do you know with certainty where you
will spend eternity (1 John 5:11-13; Ephesians 1:13-14)?
Friday 5 Pentecost - B
First Posted July 10, 2009;
Podcast: Friday 5 Pentecost - B
1 Peter 3:8-15a -- Unity of the Spirit
Authentic Christians follow the teaching and
example of Jesus. They are united with each other and with the
Lord by the Holy Spirit. They are sympathetic, loving,
tender-hearted, and humble. Christians are not to return evil for
evil and reviling for reviling, but instead are to bless those who
revile and do evil to them, because that is what Jesus did, and
that is what he has called us to do (Matthew 5:10-12, 21-26,
38-48).
Peter quoted Psalm 34:12-16, to show that God
blesses those who do what is right according to God’s Word (the
Bible) and punish those who do evil according to God’s Word. God’s
Word is the standard by which God will judge the world, and Jesus
is God’s Word, fulfilled, embodied and illustrated in human flesh
(John 1:1-3, 14).
Those who do what is right according to God’s
Word (the Bible, and the example and teaching of Jesus Christ)
have nothing to fear from anyone. If we are persecuted for doing
what is right we will be blessed by the Lord. Nothing, including
physical death can harm us or keep us from God’s eternal
blessings, which we have in Jesus Christ. So let us reverence
Jesus Christ as our Lord in our innermost being.
Commentary:
It isn’t those who claim to be “Christian,” who
claim Jesus as their Lord, who are saved from eternal
condemnation, but those who trust and obey Jesus’ example and
teaching (Luke 6:46; Matthew 7:21-24). Church membership and even
water “Baptism” don’t save us or make us “Christian.”
A Christian is a disciple of Jesus Christ who
trusts and obeys Jesus. If we reverence Jesus Christ as our Lord
in our innermost being we will trust and do what Jesus commands.
If we would be disciples we must come to where we can hear and
learn what Jesus teaches by word and example. We must read the
Bible*, we must seek and follow Jesus’ guidance daily through
Bible-reading, meditation and prayer. When we begin to follow
Jesus’ teaching and example in obedience, we will be “born-again”
(John 3:3, 5-8) by the gift of the indwelling Holy Spirit which
only Jesus gives (John 1:31-34) only to his disciples who trust
and obey Jesus (John 14:15-17).
A Christian disciple will seek and attend a
Bible-believing, Bible-teaching church, where there is unity among
the brethren because they are unified by the scriptural apostolic
doctrine (the authentic Christian faith as taught by the original
Apostles, including Paul, and recorded in the Bible), and by the
anointing and guidance of the Holy Spirit. Unless we have read the
Bible, we are vulnerable to all sorts of false teachers and false
doctrines, and we will have no basis for determining if a church
is accurately teaching the Bible.
As an example of the independent, unified
leading of the Holy Spirit, I currently attend a large Southern
Baptist congregation. I have no direct contact with the pastoral
staff, but my internet ministry inspired and guided by the Holy
Spirit fits perfectly with what the Holy Spirit is inspiring and
leading the pastors to do in my congregation. If we seek and
follow the guidance of the Holy Spirit in our own lives, the Lord,
by his Holy Spirit will co-ordinate us to accomplish his overall
mission.
*The average person can easily read the
entire Bible in one year. This is a great way to begin to
establish a daily practice of Bible-reading, mediation and prayer.
See Free Bible-study Tools, sidebar, top right, home.
Saturday 5 Pentecost - B
First Posted July 11, 2009;
Podcast: Saturday 5 Pentecost - B
Luke 5:1-11 -- The Great Catch;
Paraphrase:
Jesus was on the shore of the Sea of
Galilee. A large crowd had gathered, pressing forward to hear, and
Jesus was being pressed into the water. A couple fishing boats
were beached nearby and the fishermen were mending their nets.
Jesus got into one belonging to Simon (later called Peter) and
asked to be taken a short distance offshore so that he could teach
the crowd on the shore (Matthew 13:1-2; Mark 4:1-9).
After Jesus finished teaching, he
asked Simon to put out into deeper water and lower his net for a
catch. Simon addressed Jesus as Master and said that he and his
partners had fished all night and had caught nothing, but Simon
was willing to trust and obey the Lord.
When Simon had done what the Lord told
him, a large shoal of fish was caught in the net. He called to his
partners, James and John, the sons of Zebedee, on shore, and they
came out in the other boat to help with the catch. Both boats were
filled so full with fish that they were in danger of sinking.
When Simon realized what had happened,
he knelt at Jesus’ feet and acknowledged his own sinfulness and
unworthiness. Simon and his partners were amazed at the large
catch. But Jesus told them not to be afraid, and he said that,
from now on, they would be “catching” people. “And when they had
brought the boats to shore they left everything and followed him”
(i.e. Jesus; Luke 5:11).
Commentary:
Simon, James and John were experienced
fishermen. They had fished all night and had caught nothing. Their
worldly experience made them skeptical of the prospects of
catching anything. And how would Jesus know to advise them about
where and when to fish?
But Simon accepted Jesus as his
master, and trusted and obeyed Jesus’ word. As he did, he
experienced a supernatural result. Simon, James and John realized
that Jesus was more than just a man, and that Jesus’ word had
supernatural, creative power. Jesus called them to become “fishers
of men” and they left everything and followed Jesus.
Jesus (elsewhere) compared the
building of the Kingdom of God to fishing with a net (Matthew
13:47-50). The net is cast out and then hauled in with all sorts
of fish. The “fishermen” (angels) then sort the good fish from the
bad.
Jesus calls us to be his disciples. As
we accept him as our Master, our Lord, he tells us where to put
down our nets, and as we do he will cause our “fishing,” for the
establishment of his kingdom, to be productive. Without his
supernatural empowerment and guidance our “fishing” will be
unproductive. Jesus calls us to leave everything, home, family,
material possessions, and worldly career, in order to follow him,
but only by following Jesus in obedient trust can we accomplish
what is eternally worthwhile and satisfying.
Is Jesus your Lord (Matthew 7:21-23;
Luke 6:46)? Are you Jesus' disciple (John 8:31)? Are you trusting
and obeying Jesus (John 14:21)? Have you received the indwelling
Holy Spirit since you first truly believed (Acts 19:2)? Are you
making disciples of Jesus Christ and teaching them to obey all
that Jesus commands (Matthew 28:18-20)? Do you know with certainty
where you will spend eternity (1 John 5:11-13; Ephesians 1:13-14)?
