Holy Health & Living Well

Fifty2 Sunday's ~ Listening 4 God

        My ears pricked up when I heard the sermon title "Holy Health"; I was anticipating a description of what constitutes such a state of well-being as well as possible risk factors to be aware of and poor habits to avoid.  Instead, the focus was more along the lines of what we can do to take care of our physical body.  Granted, the body is the temple of the Holy Spirit (I Corinthians 6:19) and it is important, but I had a different sermon in mind than the one I heard.  Still, the subject is a good one, deserving of additional exploration. 

        It is my contention, that there are three relationships central to our experiencing holy health; God, oneself and others; and when these are in balance; wellbeing is possible.  This squares with what is inherent in the first and second commandments: 

 "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 12:30 & 31

        In desiring to live holy well - we must commit (and recommit when we fall or fail) to strive with our whole being (heart, soul (spirit), mind and strength (physicality) to achieve a balance.  To focus on one area to the neglect or exclusion of another does not allow us to experience complete well-being and it somehow contradicts our testimony. 

Regarding ourselves:

• "Guard your heart for it is the wellspring of life"...(Proverbs 4:23)
• "Set your mind on things above"...  (Colossians 3:2)
• Keep "your whole spirit, soul and body...blameless"...  (I Thessalonians 5:23)

Regarding others:

• "Honor your father and mother”— which is the first commandment with a promise “so that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth” (Ephesians 6:2 & 3).   
• "Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure," (Hebrews 13:4a).
• "Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord" (Ephesians 6:4)...
• "Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right," (Ephesians 6:1).
• "Do not repay anyone evil for evil.  Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone.  If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone" (Romans 12:17 & 18).

      Anyone who has tried to love God, their fellow man or themselves rightly knows there are internal and external struggles and conflicts that challenge our highest resolve.  (A description of some of these can be found in Romans 7:14-25 & Galatians 5:13-26).  When we fail or fall, we should remember that God is for us (Romans 8:31) and he desires that we succeed at holy health and living well.

Testing

       Fifty2 Sunday's~Listening4God

         

        The sermon text was John 6:1-15, the well-known story of Jesus feeding the 5000 with five loaves of bread and two fish.  The minister made the point that this is the only miracle recorded in each of the four gospels.

        There are reasons to marvel at this story; the turning of the few food items into enough to feed 5000 and have some left over, the fact that Jesus did it simply by giving thanks knowing that God would multiply what was there, and the fact that everyone was satiated (John 6:11). 

        However before that, Jesus "tested Philip" by asking him 'where they would (be able to) buy bread' to feed the large number (verse 5).  Why did Philip need testing?  Had his mind or heart wandered?  Did he doubt Jesus?  I can think of a myriad of reasons that would potentially explain why Jesus tested him, but I am sure, all of them would be wrong.  Maybe Jesus was trying to help Philip apply heavenly rather than earthly solutions to the need at hand.

         The idea of testing for those of us raised in this culture, presents us with the familiar success versus failure paradigm, and many of us are uncomfortable with the possibility we might not make the grade.  Life seems to present plenty of 'tests' along with 'temptations' and both can challenge our commitment and resolve to remain true to God.  It is important to remember that God does not tempt us (James 1:13) and that his tests have a specific purpose.  Here are a few scriptures on the matter:

• Deuteronomy 8:2: "Remember how the LORD your God led you all the way in the wilderness these forty years, to humble and test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands.

• I Thessalonians 2:4: "On the contrary, we speak as those approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel.  We are not trying to please people but God, who tests our hearts."

• James 1:2&3: "Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.  Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything."

        

        May we as followers of Christ stand firm (I Corinthians 15:58) and 'finish the race' (Acts 20:24) in order that once we have passed all tests, look forward to when we will "Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, because great is (y)our reward in heaven” (Luke 6:23).

[All scriptures from the NIV.]

God of Mercy

Fifty2 Sunday's ~ Listening4God

         The sermon was not about mercy - however, one of the songs we sang was and it has stuck with me all week. I believe this was what God wanted me to hear.  Mercy defined is "compassion or forbearance shown especially to an offender or to one subject to one's power; also: lenient or compassionate treatment"(Webster's).  

        The grace of God is dependent on God being merciful.  What person living has not needed or desired the "unmerited divine assistance" of God (Webster's)?

        Mercy-the word is an easy one to say (and I like to say it aloud).  An easy prayer in any circumstance is "God have mercy".  One can never go wrong praying for mercy-because we ALL need God's mercy.  Mercy is a part of God's plan for salvation. All who have by faith accepted the debt Jesus paid for our sins on the cross are recipients of God's mercy. 

        Salvation comes from the Jews (John 4:22). The scripture says, "Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of the Gentiles has come in" (Romans 11:25b).  Gentile believers are fortunate to have been "grafted" into this promise (Romans 11:17).  However, were it not for the mercy God showed the Jews, there would be no mercy for the Gentiles.  In the same vein, the future salvation of the Jews is dependent on God's mercy toward the Gentiles (Romans 11:25-32) even though God has promised that, "all of Israel will be saved" (Romans 11:26). 

        About mercy the scripture says; “I [God] will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion” (Exodus 33:19).  God is a just God (II Thessalonians 1:6), but he determines who he shows mercy to and showers grace on (Romans :16-19; Ephesians 4:7).  Our God is not a temperamentally unstable king who one day is jovial and generous and the next day angry and partial.  

        Instead, "God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ"...is..."the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort" (II Corinthians 1:3) ... "the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows" (James 1:17) and is "the same yesterday and today and forever" (Hebrews 13:8).  Indeed, "Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning.  ... they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness" (Lamentations 3:23).  

Ordinary People

        
Fifty2 Sunday's - Listening~4~God

        

        

        The sermon was about the transfiguration of Christ that Peter, James and John witnessed.  In this situation, and as Mark writes, they saw that "His clothes became dazzling white, whiter than anyone in the world could bleach them.  And there appeared before them Elijah and Moses, who were talking with Jesus" (Mark 9:3 & 4) (NIV).  

        While listening to the sermon I started to think about the special relationship and the extraordinary experiences the three of them (along with the other disciples) had with Jesus.  Besides witnessing him transfigured, they saw the daughter of a synagogue leader being raised to life (Mark 5:35-38) and they accompanied him to the garden of Gethsemane to pray and keep watch (Matthew 26:37).  No doubt, each of these was a faith-building experience.   

      The apostles could not have known what they had signed up for or what lay ahead of them when they started to follow Jesus.  Following Christ's ascension, the apostles, as promised, received the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:1-4) that empowered and prompted them to act.  Given the things they accomplished in spreading the Gospel and establishing the church, it is easy to forget that they were just "ordinary men" (Acts 4:13).  

        We are "ordinary" people and it is our purpose to be about advancing God's kingdom and proclaiming his truth. God has planned exactly when and where we are and has gifted each for his purposes.  A few verses to serve to remind us of this fact:

• "From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands.  God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us.  For in him we live and move and have our being.” (Acts 17:26-28)  [NIV].
• "For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”  (Ephesians 2:10) [NIV].

• "Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God's grace in its various forms.” (I Peter 4:10) [NIV].
• In closing, may we “ grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever!  Amen.” (II Peter 3:18) [NIV].

Going on to Maturity

Fifty2 Sunday's ~ Listening4God

        The minister introduced the sermon saying that a new study in Philippians was beginning that day and over the course of the coming weeks, they would delve into the book with the goal of discerning what it takes to mature in Christ.  I have been thinking about the subject of growing up in Christ, so I was interested in what he would say. 

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     "...being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus"

 (Philippians 1:6)  (NIV)

        This is the tip off verse.  Just like there is a tip-off at the start of a basketball game, this verse starts the discussion about going on to maturity.  Firstly, it says that God is involved in doing a good work in me (you) and that he will not stop until it is complete.  I find this both encouraging and comforting. 

        So how do we become mature?  What is involved? 

"In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again.  You need milk, not solid food!  Anyone

who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness.  But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.”  (Hebrews 5:12-14)  (NIV)

   

    "Therefore let us move beyond the elementary teachings about Christ and be taken forward to maturity, not laying again the foundation of repentance from acts that lead to death, and of faith in God,"

 (Hebrews 6:1)  (NIV)

        

       While we never want to let go of the foundational principles of the Christian faith, in order to grow, we have to dig into the scriptures and seek out teaching and preaching that will help guide us into a deeper understanding.  Maturity will not occur, if we only "listen" and fail to apply (James 1:22) and/or if we allow "life's worries, riches and pleasures" (Luke 8:14) to stifle the wisdom that we gain.

        If there were a means test for maturation, it would have to do with the steadfastness and unity of our faith in the context of the body of Christ: 

"...so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.  Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming.  Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ."  (Ephesians 4:12-15)  (NIV)

The desire to mature - is about "attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ" (above) because "...in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and in Christ you have been brought to fullness" (Colossians 2:9 & 10).  In closing, the prayer below has the keys to gaining this fullness.  I encourage each reader to substitute himself or herself where the word 'you' is:

"I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you (me) with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your (my) hearts through faith.  And I pray that you (I), being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you (I) may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God."

 (Ephesians 3:16-19)  (NIV)

What Are We Producing?

Fifty2 Sunday’s – Listening 4 God

        In Sunday's sermon, the minister spoke about how our vocations can be an act of service to God.  The word "produce" was what I heard and that took me into the scriptures.

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         Since God told Adam and Eve to be "fruitful and multiply"- it is reasonable to say that God is concerned with productivity and not just procreation.  The ease of existing in the Garden of Eden ended with the fall; Adam was told that by the sweat of his brow he would eat (Genesis 3:19) and Eve would experience pain in childbirth (Genesis 3:16).  One could say the challenges associated with living definitely increased for Adam and Eve - but it did not change the directive they had received from God.

        It would be a tendency of modern times to reduce the conversation about what constitutes being 'fruitful' to a discussion of quantity versus quality.  The successful, accomplished person and those who have accumulated the most in worldly wealth are seen as the most productive.  We associate certain characteristics and attributes with the likelihood of such achievement.  In the work world, Type A personalities when compared with Type B, are thought to be more ambitious, organized, time-oriented and presumably productive.  [Take a test if you want to know if you are Type A or B?].  While there is no escaping the fact that most of us have to work in order to live - the sum total of our lives is not our job, the accumulation of possessions or wealth.  

        In the Bible, a word search using "produce" or "productivity" - reveals numerous verses about agricultural situations as well as those that speak to the quality of a person's life and the fruit their life is producing.  Consider the following:

• Matthew 3:8 & 10: "Produce fruit in keeping with repentance.”  ...  "The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.”  (NIV)
• Mark 4:20: "Others, like seed sown on good soil, hear the word, accept it, and produce a crop—some thirty, some sixty, some a hundred times what was sown.”  (NIV)
• John 15:2: "He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.”  (NIV)
• Luke 6:43: "No good tree bears bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit." (NIV)
• Mark 8:35: "For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever      loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it.”  (NIV)
• Matthew 16:26:"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?”  (NIV)

        We all know this world's wealth and goods do not go with us to heaven, so if we are spinning our wheels only to produce and achieve what this world has to offer, we may be disappointed to find out it does not translate to eternity.  Therefore, the wise person will focus their life on producing "fruit that will last" (John 15:16a). 

Now and Later On

Fifty2 Sundays ~ Listening 4 God

        Quite likely 'relationships' are a common sermon theme for the month of February, especially with Valentine's Day coming up.  Sunday's sermon was the first in series that will continue all month.  As the minister established the basis for the sermons to follow, there were plenty of scriptural references and insightful comments regarding the differences in the physical, emotional and relational characteristics of  men and women.  Furthermore, there were plenty of reasons to laugh throughout the sermon, which made space for the more serious points-as we all know-relationships can be full of challenges. 

     It is easy to forget-that this life is not a model for the afterlife; it is unlikely that the things that characterize life now will be the same in the eternal future.  Here and now, we are a byproduct of our history and heritage and all the things that make up our lives; where we live, our family and friends, our education and work and the many other life experiences, (etc.).  These may greatly influence who we are, what we do, but really, they are separate and apart from our spiritual identity.  Our spiritual identity, as Paul wrote, is in Christ, "There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus" (Galatians 3:28).  What follows are a few scripture references as to how things are to be later on.

• When Jesus returns: "Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope.  For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him.  According to the Lord’s word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep.  For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.  After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.  And so we will be with the Lord forever.  Therefore encourage one another with these words" (I Thessalonians 4:13-18).

• Our bodies will go through a transformation: "So will it be with the resurrection of the dead.  The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable; it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body.  If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body" (I Corinthians 15:42-45).

• We will enjoy eating: Jesus prepared a meal on the beach to eat with his disciples after his resurrection (John 21:9-14).

• We will move about freely: "A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them.  Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you!”  (John 20:26).

• There will be no marriage: “When the dead rise, they will neither marry nor be given in marriage; they will be like the angels in heaven" (Mark 12:25).

• Gain knowledge and understanding: “For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face.  Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known" (I Corinthians 13:12).

• Enjoy a new creation & forget the past: "See, I will create new heavens and a new earth.  The former things will not be remembered, nor will they come to mind" (Isaiah 65:17).
• "...a new heaven and a new earth," for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea" (Revelation 21:1).

• We will be judges: "Or do you not know that the Lord’s people will judge the world?  And if you are to judge the world, are you not competent to judge trivial cases?  Do you not know that we will judge angels?  How much more the things of this life!” ( I Corinthians 6: 2 & 3).

• We will enjoy a new order: "He will wipe every tear from their eyes.  There will be no more death' or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away" (Revelation 21:4).

            In summation, today quickly becomes yesterday as tomorrow becomes today…life here and now will someday end for each of us and the everlasting future will happen.  In the meantime, let us “… not lose heart.  Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.  For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.  So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal" (II Corinthians 4:16-18).                      

Amen.