Category: Sermons

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Speaking the truth in love

person holding white and red book

Paul told the Ephesians that God gave different people with different gifts to equip the saints for works of ministry. This was for the building up of the body, attaining the unity of the faith, and to mature so that the saints would no longer be children tossed to and fro. Paul did not allow much room for immaturity. “Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ” (Ephesians 4:15). According to Paul, Christ holds the whole body together through its various joints.

When each part (i.e. person) “is working properly, (Christ) makes the body grow, so that it builds itself up in love” (vs. 16). In other words, we speak the truth in love, we grow up with Christ holding us together, and we then build the church up in love. We cannot build each other up in love if we are not willing to speak the truth in love. Christ set the example for us by constantly speaking the truth in love.

He was never afraid to criticize, correct, or encourage his followers. Think about some of the phrases he used: you whitewashed tombs, hypocrites, chaff, thistles, etc. Here are some other phrases: I have not seen such great faith in all of Israel, your faith has made you well, blessed are those who. . .” Jesus spoke the truth in love always, whether that was building people up or warning them to flee from their sin. Love requires us to speak truth to people and to share the gospel message of hope and salvation.

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Walking in humility

boy praying on floor

Paul gave an example of Christ’s humility and told the Philippian church to be humble like Christ. The word he uses for humility literally means “lowly mind.” The sense of the word means to not think more of yourself than you should. Having a “lowly mind” or mindset doesn’t mean you beat yourself up and have low self-esteem. Rather, it means to keep from letting your mind get inflated about how you view yourself.

Paul says, “Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus. . . ” (Philippians 2:3-5 ESV). Paul goes on to say that Christ humbled and emptied himself, coming to earth as a servant and was obedient to the point of death on a cross. He did not retaliate or use his status as the son of God to get out of punishment. Instead, he humbly served the very people who were going to ultimately take his life.

Paul agrees elsewhere. In 2 Corinthians 5, Paul says that we no longer regard anyone from a human point of view. Life is different for Christians, and the way we regard others is different too: “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation” (2 Cor. 5:17, 18). Our duty is to reconcile people to God, and to do this with all humility and grace.

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Walking as peacemakers

scrabble tiles forming the message stop war

God told Isaiah that it would come to pass in later days that a mountain of the house of the Lord would be established in the highest mountains. He was referring to Jerusalem, also known as Zion. “For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem” (Isaiah 2:3). Zion was a stronghold that David conquered and became the site of the Temple. More importantly, all nations would flow to the mountain of God and peace would reign forth from it.

“He shall judge between the nations, and shall decide disputes from many peoples; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore” (vs. 4). When Christ came, he told his disciples to lay down their swords and to be peacemakers. True peace can only be found in Christ. We are called, not to have peace, but to be peacemakers. There is intentionality behind that word.

Peacemakers are expected to contribute to the holistic wellbeing of their community. This encompases peace negotiations, reconciliation, and pursuing what makes life better for others, including justice and mercy. Jesus is the beacon of peace coming from Jerusalem. Only through him can there be peace among the people of all nations. As peacemakers, we pursue the things that bring about peace, uniting one another through Christ our savior.

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Be doers of justice

themis figurine at lawyers office

Micah 6:8 says, “He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?” The Hebrew word for justice is mishpat and it has a deep meaning. Justice was ultimately anchored in God’s justice. God is the Judge. But his people were to do justice according to God’s commandments. Justice was not only about making judgement calls but was completely rooted in speaking up for the innocent and oppressed, making sure that there was social order and freedom for God’s people.

For example, King Lemuel gave an oracle in Proverbs, using the things that his mother taught him. The king said very clearly, “Open your mouth for the mute, for the rights of all who are destitute. Open your mouth, judge righteously, defend the rights of the poor and needy” (Proverbs 31:8-9). There was not only a mandate to feed the hungry and clothe the naked, but God expected people to actually speak on behalf of the injustices the marginalized people felt.

To put it another way, we can either drop a plate of food on someone’s doorstep or we can feed them well and petition both God and society on their behalf. God commands the latter. This means that we need to take the necessary time to pray with people, to visit them, to get to know them, and listen to their needs. At the same time, we need to teach society to care for the needs of the poor at large. God calls us to be fierce defenders of the innocent, vulnerable, and the poor. We do this while walking humbly with the Lord.

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Feeding the poor is not optional

photo of a homeless man sleeping near a cardboard sign

The scriptures mandate that people who are blessed be generous to the poor. Since the beginning of time, God expects his people to feed and clothe the poor. James said, “If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, ‘God in peace, be warmed and filed,’ without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that?” (James 2:15-16 ESV). James goes on to say that faith without works is dead.

Jesus modeled this kind of living. He was poor himslef, yet daily provided the needs of large crowds. He cared for the sick, often healing them. He fed the hungry, sometimes by the thousands. He taught people that a little bit of faith goes a very long way. Deuteronomy says a lot about caring for the poor: “If among you, one of your brothers should become poor, in any of your towns within your land that the Lord is giving you, you shall not harden your heart or shut your hand against your poor brother” Deuteronomy 15:7). Strict rules were put into place by God to ensure that poor people were fed and taken care of.

We know that in the New Testament, beggars were often ignored despite the laws that were in place to care for them. Jesus criticized people for not caring for the needy and even said that God would separate people at judgement based on their willingness to help the poor. We have ample opportunity to care for the poor in our own community. That should be the centerpiece of the church’s work and it should be a joy to care for them.

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Walking in forgiveness

word sorry beside flowers on white surface

Forgiveness is a complex command throughout the Bible. It’s complexity has more to do with human behavior than God’s guidance. Relationships are complex in life, therefore forgiveness can be complex. To understand how God expects us to view forgiveness, we need to understand the biblical view. In order to recieve forgiveness, the person who wronged someone is required to repent. If they don’t, forgivness can be withheld. John 20:23 states this clearly. Jesus said, “If you forgive the sins of any they are forgiven them; if you withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld.”

There are basically two types of forgivness–divine forgivness where we seek forgiveness from God when we sin against Him and interpersonal forgiveness where we seek forgiveness from a person we sinned against. It is the latter that Jesus talks about when Peter asks him how many times we must forgive someone who has wronged us. Jesus said, “I do not say seven times but seventy-seven times” (Matthew 18:22). Jesus never implied forgiving an unrepentant person. His point is that when we forgive, forgive completely.

We know this because he then gave an example of the servant who owed money to his master. The master forgave the servant because he attempted to repay him: “Have patience with me, and I will pay you everything” (vs. 26). That servant then went out and choked one of his servants who owed him money and threw him in jail after he offered to pay back everything. Jesus’ point is that, when someone attempts to repay what they owe, we must forgive them completely because we have been forgiven. We cannot demand repayment from someone who attempts to repay us in full.

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Bringing comfort to the hopeless

heart shaped latte art on cappuccino in sabinov

Isaiah prophesied about John the Baptist coming to prepare the way for the Lord. In its context, Isaiah was talking about bringing comfort to a tattered Jerusalem: “Comfort, comfort for my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and cry to her that her warfare is ended, that her iniquity is pardoned, that she has received from the Lord’s hand double for all her sins” (Isaiah 40:1-2 ESV).

Clearly God is not pardoning sin just for the fun of it. As he prepared the way for Jesus, John’s message was one of repentance. Repentance is a central theme of the Bible, especially during Jesus’ reign on Earth. Israel had paid a dear price for their sins. They were exiled twice. Many people had fallen because of their sin. Many battles were waged against them in their own land. The Temple had been destroyed and rebuilt. War after war claimed the lives of many Israelites. Jesus came to bring hope and salvation.

There is a time for comfort, and that is exaclty what Isaiah preached. When people’s lives have been wrecked by sin, they have an opportunity to repent and to be comforted. As Christians, we have a duty to preach repentance and to comfort people who have lost much because of sin. Sin destroys. It wrecks families. It destroys life. The wages of sin is death. We know this. So we have a duty to work overtime to offer the Good News to a dying world, to offer hope. We live in a time when the harvest is ripe. We need workers to love our neighbors enough to warn them and comfort them.