Today is Ash Wednesday.

Ash Wednesday derives its name from the practice of placing ashes on the foreheads of adherents as a sign of mourning and repentance to God. The ashes used are gathered after the palms from the previous year’s Palm Sunday are burned on the day before.  The ashes symbolize the act of mourning that is seen in scripture, dusting oneself with ashes was the penitent’s way of expressing sorrow for sins and faults.  The ashes or dust was a reminder from Genesis chapter 3, “For you were made from dust, and to dust you will return.”

We will have a meditative service tonight at the church building, at 7pm. We will be spending time in guided thoughts, prayers, and music as we experience 8 symbols to help us keep the proper posture during Lent.  Joan Chittister says, “Lent is a call to renew a commitment grown dull, perhaps, by a life more marked by routine than by reflection.”  So this is not a service of inactivity, but a time to center and align our thoughts so that we can move from this time into a season of intent and activity in the way we are living.

Scriptures speak time and time again of what it looks like to truly worship God.  Jesus and the prophets warn us that it is not our times of worship, and the sacrifices (money, teaching, time, etc.) that we often institute as worship.  Instead worship that is worthy of God is being active in pursing areas of justice in our lives and in the world.

This year as we enter into the Lenten Season, I will be focusing on 40 days of justice.  Each day I will offer a suggestion of way in which you can help pursue justice in your life, faith, and the world around you.  I invite you experiment with them, and find the place that sets your heart racing for the things that God would have you pursue.

As we start, I invite you to join in a 30 hour fast.  It will begin at midnight on Friday the 24th, and continue throughout day, into the night until Saturday morning at 6am.  The fast is a part of a campaign that has been going on at World Vision called the “30 Hour Famine.”  Jesus said blessed are those that hunger and thirst for justice.  The fast is a call for us to remember, and to act upon those in need.  We are asking that those who do fast, to take the money that would have spent on eating during those 30 hours and donate it to World Vision.  You can do that directly on your own, or you can give your donation to the church and we’ll make it on your behalf.

I participated in the 30 Hour Famine when I started in full-time ministry twelve years ago.  When I first started the stats were that a child died from hunger and malnutrition ever 2 seconds.  Today a child dies every 8 seconds.  Through the collective efforts of many groups and organizations we have made great strides in stamping out hunger in the world.  However, a child dies every 8 seconds which means there is still more work to do.  It has been said that hunger can be eradicated in 25 years, but only if the church, the people of faith, chooses to believe so.  I would urge you to consider spending 30 hours with us in a fast, as we feel a little of the pain that billions throughout the world experience on regular basis.

In addition to the fast, we are offering a time of study, discussion, and prayer on Friday night at 7:30pm at the church building.  We’ll  also be studying and discussing the “Economy of Love.”  It will provide us the basis for a discussion about how we can shift our lives, minds, and faith so we can be continual partners as we work together to eradicate world hunger, as well as other injustices in the world both afar and right here in our community.  There is no set time on the duration of this study – we will stay as long as folks are able.

On Sunday, we will then begin a Lenten Sermon Series, “The Sayings of Jesus on the Cross.”  Come hear what Jesus said during his final hours in this life, and be encouraged to continue to make choices in your life that move you closer to being a living sacrifice for others.

During this season, you may be also experiencing your own struggles with injustice.  If that is the case, I’d like to know them and be able to pray and come alongside you in whatever way I can.

Bring us back to you.
This week we pray for a renewal of our lives.
We are beginning to be more attentive and alert.
We are trying new patterns.
The difficulties we encounter keep us humble.

Our desire is clear.
We want the “self-sacrificing love of Christ” -
which brings us mercy and healing – to be “reproduced in our llives.”
In our journey, we seek to savor the meaning of Jesus’ self-less love,
that we might reflect that love to others.
At the end of our journey, we will renew our baptismal promises.
Dying with Jesus in baptism, we have a new life in him.
Today, we desire nothing less than God’s re-creating us -
breathing new life into us.

Lord God,
you who breathed the spirit of life within me.
Draw out of me the light and life you created.
Help me to find my way back to you.
Help me to use my life to reflect your glory
and to serve others
as your son Jesus did.

Amen

Women Leadership in the Church.  Phoebe is one a common female leader in the early church.  Scholars believe she was a woman of wealth and of higher social position than many of the early disciples.  She consequently had the opportunity of helping others and the means to do so – one of which was Paul.  She is also a deaconess.  We don’t know what exactly the term meant in the early church – but no doubt it consisted of acts of charity and hospitality.  The early church gave ample opportunity for sustained activity in the encouragement of the strangers and the needy.   The spirit of fellowship was expressed through practical helpfulness.  Women were found useful in the church, and they were permitted to perform all such ministries as opportunity provided and the state of the public opinion allowed.  Paul mentions Phoebe, by encouraging the Roman church to not only the extend the expected amount of hospitality but to give her a much more cordial reception as she is worthy of it.

v.3-5 Prisca and Aquilla.  Paul continues his greetings by mentioning two more ladies.  He knew them well, they had shared in the evangelistic message of spreading the news of the gospel.  The first church was not easily built and it faced many dangers, threats, and violence.  Those who were willing to risk their lives for its sake should be received graciously, and that included the women who helped in the church’s endeavor.   They also held a congregation in their home.  They obviously had means to promote the cause of the church by offering their home as a place to convene.  Small group meetings like this were common in the early church.  They were easier to conceal from the public outcry against them.  The setting provided intimacy and understanding among those present, especially as the church drew members from various strata of society.  It is believed that the letters in the NT are written to churches like this.  Where the letter would be received and directly addressed to the situations they were dealing with.  They were meant to be read aloud among those gathered.  And read over many times to gather the instruction that were contained within.

v.5-16 Salutation to Friends.  Paul lists a number of individuals that have various backgrounds.  Epaenetus his first convert in the Asia province.  Rufus, probably the son of Simon of Cyrene who was called up to carry the cross of Jesus as he made his way to his execution.  Rufus and his brother, Alexander, were well known in the early church.   As Paul continues through the names of the relationships he has, it important to reemphasize the dominant motive of love that should direct our conduct and relationships.  Paul truly loved and appreciated each person he came across, and did not allow the new relationships that he was forming overshadow or push from memory the original relationships he had with others in his mission journey.

Holy kiss.  The holy kiss stood as an outward symbol of the love and goodwill which ought to unite the members of the church.  It represented the peace which is created only by affection one for another.  The need of some visible expression of the unanimity which rests on a deep respect for and response to one another still remains; unfortunately today we have not rediscovered a counterpart for the holy kiss.

v.17-20 Beware of Deceit.  One of the valuable safeguards against deception is keen awareness of what is going on around you.  To recognize what is happening will neither be indifferent or naive.  Apathy and ignorance are the qualities that give evil men, and evil systems the opportunity.  We must take note and be aware of our environments – know the culture, now the news, the politics, the world around us.

v.25-27 Benediction – An Expression of Good Wishes.  All of our praise rises to the One who is strong enough to make you strong, exactly as preached in Jesus Christ, precisely as revealed in the mystery kept secret for so long but now an open book through the prophetic Scriptures. All the nations of the world can now know the truth and be brought into obedient belief, carrying out the orders of God, who got all this started, down to the very last letter.

All our praise is focused through Jesus on this incomparably wise God! Yes!

v.1 The Obligation of the Strong.  Freedom may confer privilege, but it also entails obligation.  It is here that Paul reminds the Romans to be aware that they stay mindful of the problems of others, that their ignorance can allow their spiritual strength and maturity to develop into pride, and arrogant contempt for those who are in need of their help.   One translator, Moffatt, says it this way, “We out to bear the burdens that the weak make for themselves and us.”  The fact that the weak cannot free himself from his own encumbrances, is proof of the measure of his need.   We must see that as a we do sickness, we don’t dismiss a sick person because they are weak, we meet them where they are helping them with their needs.  We must subdue our egotism that seeks solicitude for our own rights, comforts, and concerns.

v.2-3.  To Seek Other’s Good.   Our behavior toward the “difficult”  assumes two alternatives: to ignore or override their susceptibilities, or to give way and yield to their demands.  Paul gives a third option.  To please our neighbors for his good, to edify him.  However Paul does not give explicit commands that should be followed in order to achieve this, this must be sought out on your own, following the power of Christ’s example for us.  An example is more forceful than an explanation: but even more important than the example is the inspiration that enables us to follow it.    Jesus bore the reproaches of the ungodly because he refused to confine his mission to those who were conventionally righteous.  His disregard of conventions and of consequences gives us the example of indifference we should have to our own well-being as we pursue redemptive tasks.

v.4 Scriptures and their use.  Paul wants to stress the importance of the Jewish texts (the Old Testament) so that they did not disclaim its importance because it was written for the Jews in history.  Scriptures contains the record of how God dealt with his people in order to accomplish through them his eternal purpose.  His story unfolded through many generations, and found completion in Jesus.  Additionally, they can educate those of faith and equip them for their task because they clearly bear the imprint of a divine inspiration.  The scriptures speak timeless encouragement to our situations today.  They display the qualities necessary for perseverance.  It is to get us through when we lose heart.

v.6 United in Life, United in Praise.  We cannot hope to glorify God as we should if we are not in agreement with others.  Where the hearts of God’s worshipers are divided, there is not true harmony in what their voices say.  Nor can we claim that our private worship is enough unless we are carried beyond our own self to a wider community of faith and fellowship.  If we do so, we forfeit an essential part of the religious experience.   History proves that religion does not promote fellowship and unity often when it is practiced.  Just as God has broken down the middle wall of partition from the holy of holies, so should we tear down our “man-made” religiosity so that man can fully come in contact with God, through the relationships that others have with us.

v.14-33 Paul’s Reason for Writing: The Marks of a Living Church.  The marks of a “true” church are: a. It’s members are full of goodness marked by inward charity and outer activity of love which produces a quality of life to which others will be drawn by virtue of its authentic spiritual persuasiveness.  They will not only be zealous in all that we usually associate with goodness, but will also naturally display a genuine concern for others that creates community – saving us from uncharity, and self-righteousness which opposes true fellowship with others and allows for deep, rich relationships (and unity, as discussed earlier).  B.  The true church will be filled with “fullness of knowledge” about the things of faith.  That those in the church will have a firm grasp of life and Jesus teachings and not be confused with emotional fervor as an adequate substitute for God.  A strong faith cannot be built on a weak understanding – those who do not struggle and wrestle with the mysteries will likely never discover the power which unravels the complexities of life.   C. Thirdly, the true church will have the ability to instruct one another.  The members of the church will have sufficient knowledge and experiences of faith that they can now communicate it with others, and gladly undertake the responsibility.  These all fit together nicely, because without knowledge you cannot teach others, and without the love and passion that the hope of faith produces you cannot speak and teach with fervor that is due to God and Christ for the grace that has been given.

What rewards await me in Heaven; isn’t getting to Heaven reward enough?

What is the difference between Protestants and Catholics?

v.1-7 Submit to the government.  Paul is not putting his carte blanche on all government actions per se, but is instead upholding the principle (13:1b) of “government and order” as an end towards responsible, peaceful living in a fallen world. When a government fulfills its functions of maintaining peace, and generally protects the welfare of its people, both against those from within and without who would threaten these things, then it is carrying out the end to which it was appointed. It must be obeyed even if some things are tough—e. g. paying high taxes. But, when it crosses these boundaries and becomes an instrument for evil, violating the explicit will of God as outlined in Scripture, then it must not be followed (i.e. obeyed) at that point. When the explicit will of God conflicted with certain authorities, Peter said we must obey God, not men (Acts 5:29). Paul accused the governing authorities of carrying out sentence without proper jurisprudence and he demanded certain actions be taken to remedy the situation (Acts 16:37).  If the spreading of the gospel is unwelcome by one’s own state, then the Christian must suffer the consequences, but nevertheless continue to obey God. There does not appear to be the possibility in Romans 13:1-7 that a Christian could take up arms against the state.

v.8-14 Submission to debt.  Dave Ramsey, a financial advisor and coach, points to Proverbs 22:7, “The rich rule over the poor, and the borrower is slave of the lender.” (Read more from Dave at http://www.daveramsey.com/article/the-truth-about-debt/).  Paul is right, when we are in debt, when we give our lives over to something such as this, we do not have control, but more importantly God cannot be in control.  We’re are forced into a pattern of “living to work” as opposed to “work to live.”  We have to work 40 hours, we need a second job, we have to earn, earn, earn – but not so we can do anything of value but to pay of the penalty of interest.   It stops us from being able to be charitable, which is central core teaching of the gospel message, 1 Corinthians 13 is not about love, it’s about charity.   The greatest of all commandments is charity – now not just financially, but with all we have.  But when we are in debt, are lives are “enslaved” to paying off debt, we are not free.

Chapter 14 – Not having to have things our way means we have to understand others, otherwise we’ll critical because they are not behaving how we think they should be.

There’s a parable about a famous tailor who made a suit fitting the style of the day for a very wealthy man. The suit did not fit in the slightest, with arms in wrong places and such. However, because of the reputation of this tailor, the man wore the suit. Riding home one day, a man exclaimed, “I knew your tailor was good, but I had no idea he could fit a suit so perfectly to someone as deformed as you!”

Often that is just what we do in the church. We get some idea of what the Christian faith should look like, and then we push and shove people in to the most grotesque configurations until they fit wonderfully! That is death. It is a hideous legalism which destroys the soul. Consider Romans 14:5: “Some consider one day more sacred than another; others consider every day alike. Everyone should be fully convinced in his own mind” (TNIV). The rest of the chapter is a perfect layout of how to counterattack the legalism that is prevalent in our churches today. In Romans, Paul requires the believer to act out of biblical conviction, not personal conviction. Personal conviction has to do with things that I like and want to be happy or satisfied.  Biblical conviction has to do with being a part of something larger, the kingdom of God, my believing community, forgiveness, grace, holy living.

Paul urges believers to terminate their criticism. It’s when differences of opinion happen concerning deeply held beliefs; our reactions are usually quite extreme. Paul’s point is that every Christian is ultimately responsible to God. And while we do have the responsibility to encourage, correct and edify each other, we do not have the freedom to take part in the work of evaluation. Only Christ has that authority.

In fact, we are to intentionally see the other’s point of view. “I know and am convinced on the authority of the Lord Jesus that no food, in and of itself, is wrong to eat. But if someone believes it is wrong, then for that person it is wrong.” (Romans 14:14, NLT). Paul says that there is nothing fundamentally right or wrong about eating certain kinds of meat, but if someone has a conviction about the meat, he should obey that conviction. Paul then closes the section in 14:23: “But those who have doubts are condemned if they eat, because their eating is not from faith; and everything that does not come from faith is sin.” Paul ends with challenging our attitudes in all that we do. That is the point. If you feel that it’s okay to have a beer, why is it okay? If you feel that it is wrong to have a beer, why is it wrong?

This is a challenge to our usual thoughts because it makes us more intentional. In the end, this is what we are supposed to do: Like Paul, we are to take every thought captive. Legalism is based on pride and personal conviction. Lordship, on the other hand, is based on love and obedience founded on Biblical conviction.

v.9 It’s the secret ingredient.  But it has its dangers – hypocrisy and sentimentalism.   The former lacks sincerity, it carries with it pretense and is antithetical to the nature of love that they cannot coexist.  The latter is unreal.  False emotion sucks the power and dynamic out of love.  In its clearest form it requires discernment which discriminates between what is right and what is evil.  It will prompt decisions that may not be easy, but when obeyed or chosen will force our decisions and life to be more true.  Love does discriminate.  While at some level love is blind, but on another level if it is not received it has no merit, no power, no truth, no righteousness.  Jesus had not illusions about this, “Those who have ears let him hear.”  Love alone can discern what is good and what is evil because love alone has the secret of the necessary insight.  Only love can be free from deceptions which mislead us in our judgments about others and their movements.

v.10-16 How’s it work?  One of the basic requisites in all right relationship is the readiness to enter sympathetically into the experiences of other people.  To be able to empathetically share joys and sorrows of live, provides a humility that delivers us from the false estimate of ourselves.  And sets us free to see the worth of others.  Envy makes us bitter when our god fortune comes to others: we prove to our own satisfaction that they did not deserve it or that it is really not as desirable as it seems.  This tendency to minimize the reality of others and to dissipate their feelings has become all to frequent today.  Within in sorrow, we often rehearsed pithy statements of consolation.  But this is not entering into others grief or pain.  But we must be aware.  Empathizing in one’s grief comes naturally, while appreciation for other’s success demands real nobility of soul.  We are apt to envy the good fortune of our friends we have no desire to displace them in their grief.  But it  s only when we are really prepared to share that grief and lift part of the weight it lays on the others that we redeem our sympathy from the reproach of conventionality.

Get to work.  It also becomes apparent in our daily vocations – be it as a parent, or as s grocery bagger, or a CEO.   We must give ourself to our work with the realization that any task, however humble, frustrating, boring, tedious, gross, etc. it is, that it may be a vehicle by which we can serve God.  This unflagging moral earnestness which marks all that he does helps to set the tone which pervades his whole life.  But this kind of “zeal” cannot come from our own natural willing of self, it must be provided by the Spirit – for there will be some days when you are emotionally, mentally, spiritually unable to perform with the true intention.  If each of us within the community that is being “a friend” to God in service then, the gifts given to the community have the ability to transform and make an impression on those around us.    “The spirit of man is the candle of the Lord.”  Proverbs 20.27  Many of us are at the mercy of our moods, and our emotional reactions are erratic and uncontrolled.  To establish this approach to life, Paul shares with us what is necessary to stay true to the Spirit: a. to rejoice in hope, b. to be patient in tribulation, and c. to be constant in prayer.

Give it away now.  Active charity is the benchmark of good will.  There comes times when charity has not meaning unless it shows some proper recognition of our duty to give appropriate help to those who need it.  The story from Matthew 25.31-46 underlines the futility of good will which ignores human needs.  To recognize need and to refuse to respond is to prove yourself destitute of the love of God.

v.14. Bless Others.  Blessings are the fixed and settled wish for the good of another.  We pray for others.  And if there is way that we can act on behalf of that prayer then we must.   This is the right attitude however it may not be natural or easy.  Instinct may prompt us to curse – to let ill will run its course and express itself in misfortune upon others.   Blessings of others forces us to step out of our complacency and step alongside other’s lives.

v.17-21 Love Regulates Our Relationships With Others.  Do not provoke others.  Paul is describing an attitude which is so aware of other people’s needs and so eager to supply them that every kind of service is joyfully accepted.  It’s not only the negative requirement of avoiding unnecessary friction, but the positive demand of an outreaching good will…this is the basic idea of peace or shalom.

v.21 Overcoming Evil.  William Barclay says this, “One of the odd things is that we spend a good deal of time discussing the origin of evil; but we spend less time working out practical methods of tackling the problem…Jesus saw the essential struggle between good and evil which is at the heart of life and raging in the world.  He did not speculate about it; he dealt with it and gave others the power to overcome evil and do the right.”

One blogger said this on the issue,

Let’s consider abortion.  Yes, abortion is a terrible, terrible thing; yes, the murder of even that doctor is still a murder and is a terrible, terrible thing.  But what seems lacking in the discussion, especially on the side of the Pro-Life movement, is consideration of a truly practical method of reducing the number of, and eventually eliminating, abortions.

Covering our mouths with red duct tape, while a powerful picture, doesn’t stop people from ending their unwanted pregnancies.  Protesting with signs has much the same effect, and even succeeds in eliciting an emotional response from the other side.  But what has protesting done?  Has the number of abortions performed decreased as a result of efforts to block the doors to doctor’s offices?  Hardly.  I use the issue of abortion merely as an example of a larger issue.  Barclay rightly points out that we, as a Christian community, do not spend a great deal of time trying to actually overcome evil.  Like doctors, we are masters in the art of covering up the symptoms.  But evil still runs rampant in the world, and has even found its way into our churches and pulpits…or even our own lives.

The sad thing is, Jesus Himself gave us the tools for overcoming evil, He even told us exactly how to do it.  And it is as simple as helping a nasty old lady carry her groceries across the street.

But to you who are listening I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. (Luke 6:27-28 TNIV)

Paul boiled this down to one simple sentence.

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

And Peter reiterates the words of Jesus.

Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult.  On the contrary, repay evil with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing. (1 Peter 2:9 TNIV)

While all of these verses are speaking in purely relational terms, I think we are right in carrying the same idea over into the realm of the spiritual.

Overcoming the evil one is simply a matter of spiritual civil disobedience.  The devil is referred to in Scripture as the ruler of this world (John 12:31).  To defeat him, we must simply oppose his rule and live in opposition to him.  When his followers insult us, we offer a blessing.  When he attacks our families’ health, we respond with praise to God for His protection.  When a young woman has an abortion, we offer her whatever it is that she may need to work through the ramifications of that decision.

We have acted too much like the Scribes and Pharisees (Matthew 23:23).  We have acted too much like the philosophers and neglected our calling to be philanthropists.  Abortion, murder, drug addiction, alcoholism, and human trafficking are evils in themselves, true, but overcoming them means we must overcome the evil systems that drive them.  This can only happen by opposing evil and living the opposition.  Or, to bring us back to William Barclay, do as Jesus did.  Stop speculating about it and actually deal with the evil in the world and overcome it by doing the right.

v.1-2.  Transformers.  We are no longer called to offer up animals as sacrifices for worship, but we are called to offer our lives instead.  Just as the Israelites knew there were walls that needed to be repaired for proper worship after they returned from Exile, there are walls in our lives that have been destroyed by sin that need to repaired before we can offer our lives completely for worship.

Conformed.  The word suggests the gradual process by which our alertness to evil is disarmed; by imperceptible stages we drift into acquiescence in the things the world demands.  Society organizes itself apart from God and imposes its own standards.  There is not greater weakness in the Christianity of our day than the fact that so many “Christians” accept without question the dominant intellectual and social atmosphere of the culture they live in.  “Secularism” eats away the imprint of grace, and instead of living in a transformative power, we are content to bow down to the conventions that our society dictates.  We are molded into something that cannot last.

v.17-21 Be noble, have honor.   Paul has a great deal of respect for the capacity for the moral judgment which ordinary men possess, and does not despise the good opinion of mankind.  Christians must not gratuitously outrage the sincerely held convictions and standards of others. He must as far as it depends upon him, live peaceably with all. We must keep anger and resentment in check with the world around us.  Additionally, we must not be angry in return, even when we are infringed upon.  Avoid avenging yourself.   Paul believe what is stated in Deuteronomy 32.35 – vengeance is mine; but furthermore that only God can is able to appropriately exercise the appropriate judgment.   Appropriate ways to “punish” an enemy is to “heap burning coals upon his head” – ie. to make him ashamed by meeting his hostility with active kindness and goodwill.

God selects his special instruments from the mass, and he chooses them without regard to their merit.  This does not mean that he takes no account of the suitability of those who will bear his name before the nations; but they never earn the right by any previous virtue.  They are “chosen by grace.”  This is common sense as well as high theology.  If grace could be earned, it would no longer be grace.

v.7-10 What of failure?  They did not fail because their hearts were hardened.  Their hearts were hardened b/c they failed.  Repeated refusal becomes a habit, and so failure grows to be the unbroken record of a people’s life.  Complete spiritual insensibility settles down upon them, and they grow dark.

v.15 Reconciling the world.   Too many who call them self “Christian” live their life and faith out with lackluster.  If you are “Christian” – not just in name but in deed – then hold firmly to your convictions and disarm the world’s criticism by the steadfastness to your convictions and beliefs.  Believe that your task is from God; that it fulfills divine purpose and advances a redemptive plan.  This is the source of authority and defense against all doubts as to what God is doing – “And we know that God causes everything to work togetherfor the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.” Romans 8.28.

v.17-21. Humility.  Humility is the virtue necessary in the life of faith, but it is the most difficult to cultivate.  Pride is the last and strongest altar of sin to destroy.   Paul returns to the danger of spiritual arrogance.   The shoots cannot boast over the branches – the branches have done very little.  What we receive is a gift from God; all gifts can be revoked, and those who prove unworthy will certainly forfeit what they now possess.  The Gentiles occupy a favored position because the Jews lost it; the Jews lost it because pride and self-reliance blinded them.  Blessings in faith and life should be guarded against pride, as if we had anything to do with it.   They should be accepted and received with gratitude; and safeguarded with undeviating humility.

v.25 Closing God in.   We must be careful to construct barriers that can keep people from fellowship with God.   For his goodness does not stop at our constructs.  This comes with two inferences.  First, we are interdependent upon his mercy.  Mercy does not someone except through others’ lives.  If it does not come through positive efforts, it can come through our negative efforts.   But it will be mediated – we are bound together in life at every point, and everything we do has an influence of the lives around us.  We must be aware of our responsibility and the ways in which we receive the gifts of life – good or bad.   Second, since we all have all missed the mark in life – humanity has “fallen” together.  Thus God can use this to achieve his purpose.  If some had missed and other had not, he would have been unjust in offering mercy to some and not to others, but that is not the case.
In faith, we can begin with what we know of God, even though it is partial and fragmented.   In our knowledge, we can admit there is goodness, love, life, wisdom, hope, community, and so much more that bless our lives.  That doesn’t eradicate the hardships, but it does give us a hope for the promise of a life beyond this world – beyond the hardships.  However they only come from him and through him and to him are all things.  To him be the glory forever. Amen.

Romans 9

We are faced with the fact of “faithful” responsibility: what we cannot win by our efforts we can lose by our negligence.   If we are unfaithful, God can and will choose other instruments through which to work his will:

Those who were not my people, I will now call my people.

And I will love those whom I did not love before.  (v.25)

Faith in a the law led down a path which can end only in failure and futility.  A legalistic religion can never bring men to the experience of salvation for they will always fail in its regards, laws, standards, and/or expectations.  Even if they do succeed in keeping the law, they become self-reliant which leads to trust in our own efforts – it crushes charity, love, compassion, consideration for others, etc.  The religious outlook is based on the choice of works instead of faith as the method by which to win God’s favor.

The law allows us to live how we want and then fix it with “sacrifices” of our life.  In the OT those were laid out through animal, grain, and other various forms.  In some churches today, we’ve made a new law that states you must “go to church” (which typically means show up on Sunday morning with a group of people for an hour, hour and half); give a “tithe” of our income, and do whatever you want with the rest (Jesus says you should give 100% in stewardship to the kingdom of God, and not just your money but all your resources, assets, talents, etc.)

The faith invites us to live with a rhythm, pattern, and discipline that he has shown us.  That we won’t do it flawlessly, but we won’t be “judged” when we make mistakes as long we allow ourselves (and more importantly others) to be start again (be reborn).  These rhythms, patterns, and disciplines that he has shown us are not faith by works, they are a Way of Life.

 Romans 10

As I read and studied 10, I found some great articles written by some contributors on relevantmagazine.com.  I thought I’d share their thoughts.   I like how they addressed the body, the eyes, and the ears – our most useful resources in being able to experience the movement of God and mimic with our lives.

The Relevant Body

The Proper Use of Eyes

Is That God’s Voice or Mine