Shipwrecks and Survival

Posted on by Betsy

Littered every five to seven miles along the coastline, the Outer Banks’ famous Lifesaving Stations stand tall as reminders of a long ago era of shipwrecks and survival. Known as the “Graveyard of the Atlantic,” this area of the North Carolina coast is particularly hazardous for ships. The confluence of the warm waters from the Gulf of Mexico mixing with the cold Labrador Current makes the sea here particularly turbulent. Add the hidden sand bars, rough shoals, and unpredictable weather, and you can see what makes this part of the coastline treacherous.

In the days before electronic communication and GPS navigation, ships depended on the efforts of coastal lighthouse keepers and rescue surfmen stationed at these places to stay alive. The Outer Banks has a rich maritime history that includes famous shipwrecks, pirates, Civil War activity, World War II German U-Boats, sunken ironclad ships, and the like. Many people died off this coastline, but many others were saved.

Take a look at this passage from Paul where he reveals part of his own lifesaving strategy:

1 Corinthians 9 (NIV)

Paul’s Use of His Freedom

19 Though I am free and belong to no one, I have made myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible. 20 To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law. 21 To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God’s law but am under Christ’s law), so as to win those not having the law. 22 To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some. 23 I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings.

I have always loved how Paul used all the facets of who he was to woo others to who Jesus is. To the Jews, he was a Jew, to the Gentiles, a Gentile, to the Romans, a Roman citizen…..all in his attempt to live in and serve a culture in order to preach the gospel of salvation and be heard.

This scripture reminds us that Lifesaving Stations look different depending on the people who need saving, but they all perform the same function.

Some look like houses of worship.

Some look like rehab centers.

Some look like inner city homeless shelters.

Some look like pastors’ and counselors’ offices.

Some look like dorms that house addiction recovery groups.

Some look like AA, NA, and AL-ANON meeting rooms.

Some look like prayer ministries.

Some look like Bible Studies and small groups.

Some look like home.

God is in the lifesaving business and his opportunities for helping you are endless. Most of the challenge is to admit that you need saving. Getting to a Lifesaving Station is the next step. It can be scary, humiliating, difficult, embarrassing, expensive … and can heal you and make you whole.

There is a Lifesaving Station near you that is ready to help. How much longer will you drown?

Save yourself and get to one today.

Dare Challenge’s Life Saving Station via Facebook

Smoke and Mirrors

Posted on by Betsy

According to the CDC:

• Secondhand smoke is smoke from burning tobacco products, such as cigarettes, cigars, or pipes.

• Tobacco smoke contains more than 7,000 chemicals, including hundreds that are toxic and about 70 that can cause cancer.

I am a victim of second hand smoke. My parents both smoked cigarettes when I was a child, and I have strong and unpleasant memories of a care-giver who watched me while my mother worked. She was a chain smoker. I remember riding in her car in the New Jersey winters with all the windows shut, breathing in her cigarette smoke as we ran errands in her VW bug.

I have had respiratory issues all my life. Coincidence or exposure?

It occurs to me that there are other ways of encountering second hand smoke, as in the kind of smoke that comes with mirrors, or the smoke that someone tries to “blow up your chimney.” In this context, smoke is understood as “the obscuring or embellishing of the truth of a situation with misleading or irrelevant information.”

Does this sound like the news? On any platform?

Essentially we are all victims of second hand smoke and mirrors. Nobody delivers the news any more. Nobody is telling the truth. It is all opinion, innuendo, and click-bait. Where is Walter Cronkite when you need him? The truth is obscured, misleading, and irrelevant. Today’s news can make you heart-sick. 

And it is definitely toxic.

So what is truth? Truth is that which is consistent with the mind, will, character, heart, and the very being of God. Truth is God, expressed.

Psalm 25 New International Version (NIV)

In you, Lord my God,
    I put my trust.

2 I trust in you;
    do not let me be put to shame,
    nor let my enemies triumph over me.
3 No one who hopes in you
    will ever be put to shame,
but shame will come on those
    who are treacherous without cause.

4 Show me your ways, Lord,
    teach me your paths.
5 Guide me in your truth and teach me,
    for you are God my Savior,
    and my hope is in you all day long.

God alone is our only source of truth.

God alone is our savior.

In this age of constant confusion, lies, misdirection, second hand smoke, and cracked mirrors, our only hope is for God to guide our path, teach us truth, and to show us the way.

1 Corinthians 15 The Message

If there’s no resurrection, there’s no living Christ. And face it—if there’s no resurrection for Christ, everything we’ve told you is smoke and mirrors, and everything you’ve staked your life on is smoke and mirrors. Not only that, but we would be guilty of telling a string of barefaced lies about God, all these affidavits we passed on to you verifying that God raised up Christ—sheer fabrications, if there’s no resurrection.

But the truth is that Christ has been raised up, the first in a long legacy of those who are going to leave the cemeteries.

That’s the truth. You can stake your life on it. All the rest will all pass away. The troubles, trials, and fabrications of this world will all bow down to the truth of Christ-resurrected.

When that time comes, do you think anyone will care about today’s headlines? What is trending on TikTok? What is going viral on Facebook or YouTube?

Nope. All that will wither away in the face of truth.

So stop spending your day inhaling the toxic fumes of untruth of what is currently playing on the news. Quit logging in to the shattered mirror of social media. Turn your eyes instead upon Jesus. 

And the truth will set you free.

Smoke by Michelle Robertson

We Saw What We Saw

Posted on by Betsy

In Malcolm Gladwell’s marvelous book Blink,he shares a story of a statue sold to the Getty Museum for ten million dollars. The museum spent fourteen months authenticating the statue. It met every standard of a sixth century BC kourous,a Greek statue of a nude boy standing with his left foot forward and his hands to his side. Less than 200 kouroi exist today, and most are in very poor condition.

The statue went on display and a group of museum experts from around the world were invited to the opening. Suddenly, there was a problem. It didn’t “look right” to some of the guests. An Italian art historian who served on the Getty’s board of trustees, a foremost expert on Greek sculpture, and the former director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York all agreed that something was “off” with the sculpture.

It was sent to Athens for further authentication, and immediately experts there had the same reaction. George Despinis, the head of the Acropolis Museum in Athens, said that he thought it was a fake because when he first saw it, he felt an “intuitive repulsion.”

Further testing was done and it turned out that the statue was a fake.

Gladwell calls the ability to make a snap judgement “adaptive unconscious.” He points out that our intuitive response to things, and how we come to a conclusion with little information in the first seconds of seeing something, is a gift we have but don’t use. I bet you’ve been in a situation where a truth is finally revealed and your first thought was, “I knew something was wrong!” Yet for some reason, you diverted your mind away from seeing the reality in front of you. Adaptive unconscious is a God-given ability that we somehow don’t trust.

As God reminded Job, the gift of insight comes from God alone:

Job 38:35-38 Living Bible (TLB)

36 “Who gives intuition and instinct? 37-38 Who is wise enough to number all the clouds? Who can tilt the water jars of heaven, when everything is dust and clods?”

And Paul encourages us to seek God’s gift of spiritual knowledge and insight:

Philippians 1 Living Bible (TLB)

9 My prayer for you is that you will overflow more and more with love for others, and at the same time keep on growing in spiritual knowledge and insight, 10 for I want you always to see clearly the difference between right and wrong, and to be inwardly clean, no one being able to criticize you from now until our Lord returns. 

I think we see, and then don’t want to see, so we look away. I have done this. I saw signs and symptoms of a problem that didn’t immediately add up. My gut told me one thing, but I couldn’t see what I was seeing. I was manipulated into a state of unbelief until the truth was revealed, and I realized, “I knew something was wrong.” I wish I had trusted my adaptive unconscious response and allowed God to show me the truth sooner. It might have averted some genuine pain later.

God calls us to a higher knowledge. God equips us with a Holy Spirit-informed insight. I think we look away because it’s too painful to see what is right in front of us.

What is staring you in the face right now that you are refusing to see? Where is God sending you signals and signs of warning? What is the truth you refuse to acknowledge?

Allowing God to speak truth by the power of the Holy Spirit through your insight will enable you to clearly see the difference between right and wrong, and to be inwardly clean. So open your eyes. Open your mind. Keep on growing in spiritual knowledge and insight.

And don’t blink.

Clouded Vision by Becca Ziegler

Time to Thaw Out

Posted on by Betsy

Did you survive the storm? This massive ice/snow/rain/beast of disruption has finally come and gone and yet people are still without power, stuck in their homes, trying to fly places after massive airline cancelations, frozen in place … hurry up, spring!

I was reminded of a verse from one of my favorite hymns this weekend as the storm progressed across America.

In the cold and snow of winter, there’s a spring that waits to be! Unrevealed until its season…something God alone can see.

These beautiful words from Natalie Sleeth’s Hymn of Promise speak of all kinds of good things. They remind us that cold Januarys turn into sunny Junes. They speak of change. They offer promise. They speak of God’s ability to see our potential when all we see is failure. They tell us about growth. Most of all, these words speak of the promise of the resurrection.

I can remember the first time I sang this song. It was at a funeral in my church in Georgia. I recall standing in our sanctuary on Windgate Rd. and looking out at the people who had gathered to say goodbye to their loved one. Sleeth’s imagery in the midst of death struck a chord with me that day that has reverberated each time I have sung it, as it speaks to a reality of life and death that we would rather not consider. 

Consider the final verse:

In our end is our beginning; in our time, infinity; In our doubt there is believing; in our life, eternity. In our death, a resurrection; at the last a victory…

Sleeth is echoing the truth found in scripture regarding the resurrection:

Romans 6 (The Message)

5 For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his. 6 For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin—7 because anyone who has died has been set free from sin.

8 Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. 9 For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him.

 10 The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God.

I think the idea of dying paralyzes us, and we become frozen-in-place. 

But maybe even more so, the idea of living is just as paralyzing. Just the idea of making necessary changes to the way we live freezes us in fear. The thought of letting go of anger, quitting drinking, releasing a long-held grudge, ending an affair, starting chemo, offering forgiveness to someone who hasn’t asked for it and doesn’t deserve it … like icicles suspended from a rock, we become immobilized in our determination to not have to alter how we live in any way.

God wants so much more for us than that. This passage sets forth a challenge: We die with Christ and we also live with Christ … but the life he lives, he lives to God. So should we.

We are stuck in cocoons of unhealthy habits and thoughtless words, but Sleeth likens us to butterflies who will soon be set free. We live in the darkness of our selfish behavior, but she reminds us we are just the ”dawn that waits to be.” In Sleeth’s poetry, we are a potential of something only God can see in us. 

It’s time to thaw out. It’s time to warm up and become the people God intended us to be; loving, giving, full of promise, ready to grow in him, and ready to be set free.

What will you do today to respond to God’s call to unfreeze your life? Where is God calling you to make changes that will reveal your hidden promise? How can you be like Jesus and live your life for God? 

How about we start today? Let’s get moving.

…unrevealed until its season, something God alone can see!

Sand Dune Flowers by Kathy Schumacher

“Be” Attitudes

Posted on by Betsy

You may have noticed that I tend to use the Common English Bible a lot in these devotionals. I read each Scripture in at least three or four different translations, but I usually settle on the CEB. There is a very practical reason for this: I am a contract writer for the Cokesbury Publishing House where the CEB is mandated for all Adult Bible Studies and Daily Bible Devotionals. I find it easier to stick to that version as I do my daily devotionals just for expediency’s sake. But occasionally I bump into a word or phrase that gives me pause, and today is a good example of that. Before we go farther, let me ask you this: what is the difference between being blessed and being happy?

Today’s lectionary passage is the marvelous Sermon on the Mount. Jesus gave this speech while sitting on a mountainside surrounded by hundreds of listeners. Imagine that moment: He had an opportunity to say and teach important things to a captive audience who actually wanted to hear what he had to say. I have preached many a sermon to a captive audience, but I assure you, not everyone in the room wanted to hear what I had to say. I envy Jesus for his receptive audience!

Given the importance of this speaking opportunity, Jesus chose to deliver what we refer to as “The Beatitudes.” The word beatitudes translates into “blessings.” To be blessed is to be happy, to be sure, but it is a different kind of deep, godly joy. From the Greek word makarios, “blessed” is not a comforted and entertained type of happiness, but a serene and untouchable joy that can’t be shaken by current politics or situations.

But more importantly for me, using the word “blessed” as we see here in the New International Version translation signifies the real lesson. God is the giver of all blessings. We can be happy on our own, but only God can bless us. So when the Common English Bible uses the words “happy are those” instead of “blessed are those” it slightly misses the mark for me. Happiness is the result of a blessing, which is a gift from God.

Jesus’ goal in this sermon was to teach his disciples (note the use of small “d,” as all of the followers were disciples in this moment) how to behave. It is a mandate for ethical behavior and a list of rules for daily living. Jesus gave direction for how our ‘attitudes should be’ in this list of beatitudes. It was his declaration of the Kingdom of God. As you read through these verses, think about how radical they would have sounded to the people of Israel who expected a messiah who would come and break the Roman yoke by military force. This was not the messiah they were expecting.

Matthew 5 (New International Version)

5 Now when Jesus saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, 2 and he began to teach them.

He said:

3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit,
    for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4 Blessed are those who mourn,
    for they will be comforted.
5 Blessed are the meek,
    for they will inherit the earth.
6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
    for they will be filled.
7 Blessed are the merciful,
    for they will be shown mercy.
8 Blessed are the pure in heart,
    for they will see God.
9 Blessed are the peacemakers,
    for they will be called children of God.
10 Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
    for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

11 “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. 12 Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Verses 9, 10, and 11 were probably difficult to hear. Maybe at this point Jesus’ audience wasn’t as receptive as they were in the beginning. I’ve been there, Jesus. Listeners who were longing for a leader to rise up against the oppressive government were probably quite disappointed to realize that Jesus’ way was one of peacemaking. To be told to rejoice in persecution rather than fight back must have been confusing and disheartening. But Jesus assured them that blessing would come to those who chose this path.

Jesus’ words call us to higher accountability and a better way of living. So if you find yourself poor in spirit, mourning, feeling meek, or hungering for righteousness in this life, be glad. If you are merciful and pure in heart, be happy. If you are being insulted and falsely accused of evil for your faith, rejoice.

You, indeed, are blessed.

Looking for a Lent Devotional resource? Check this out.

“Be” Blessed by Michelle Robertson

Home

Posted on by Betsy

I have a fond memory of a sermon I once heard about the value and comfort of “home.” The pastor described a particularly harrowing day when he was called to a busy hospital Emergency Room to be with a church family whose son had just been killed in a car accident. The son had been riding with another teenager from our church who was in emergency surgery, so the pastor had to do double duty in the waiting room, trying to console the inconsolable parents of the dead boy while attempting to shore up the hope of the parents of the boy in surgery. Many hours into the night later, the surgeons finally came out to tell the hopeful parents that their son had survived and was in recovery. And then the unthinkable happened. It turned out that in the urgency of getting both boys extracted from the car and rushed to the hospital, their identities had been switched. The hopeful parents who had been told their boy was in surgery were now told that it was their boy who lay freezing in the hospital morgue.

I don’t know how anyone gets through nights like those.

The pastor continued in his sermon to talk about the following days and how they unfolded for both families. A funeral was held, the one boy recovered, and everyone was changed by the experience. In his final remarks, the pastor shifted gears and began to talk about the comfort of coming home to his family every night of those gut wrenching days. I recall him saying that as his headlights hit the garage doors when he pulled into his driveway, he felt the release of everything terrible and was able to walk into the warmth of his house, fragrant with the smells of a home cooked meal, and find his equilibrium. He could enjoy the excitement of his kids and his dog running to greet him at the door and felt soothed by the peaceful smile of his wife as she did what she could to unburden him from his heaviness. Home was an instant cure to what ailed him.

Where is home to you? What place or experience enables you to let go of the weight of the day and find shelter, protection, and security? Is home a physical location or a relationship?

For King David, it was the temple. In our psalm today, he expressed his deep longing to be in the house of the Lord where he felt protected and sheltered. We looked at this psalm a few days ago, so let us re-read it with a different focus today.

Psalm 27 (Common English Bible)

The Lord is my light and my salvation.
        Should I fear anyone?
    The Lord is a fortress protecting my life.
        Should I be frightened of anything?

It is unusual to see the word “light” in a direct application to God in the Old Testament. We see so many applications of light directly pointing to Jesus in the New Testament, especially in the book of John. Here, David prophetically perceives the light, salvation, and strength of God which will be made manifest in the life of Jesus. Jesus is our true home, our one light, and our forever fortress.

4     I have asked one thing from the Lord—
    it’s all I seek:
        to live in the Lord’s house all the days of my life,
        seeing the Lord’s beauty
        and constantly adoring his temple.
5 Because he will shelter me in his own dwelling
    during troubling times;
    he will hide me in a secret place in his own tent;
        he will set me up high, safe on a rock.

This visual picture of being set up high on a rock is especially fitting for Israel and the rocky hills that surround the desert. During pilgrimages to the Temple, bandits would wait atop the rocks to jump down and rob the pilgrims. Being set higher than those outcroppings meant that nobody could assault David from a hidden precipice. David could see everything from his safe perch on the highest rock.

6 Now my head is higher than the enemies surrounding me,
    and I will offer sacrifices in God’s tent—
        sacrifices with shouts of joy!
    I will sing and praise the Lord.

Responding to God’s safe haven with shouts of joy and songs of praise is the least we can do. Has God ever saved you from something terrible? Does he keep your chin lifted up in times of trouble? Sing praises!

7 Lord, listen to my voice when I cry out—
    have mercy on me and answer me!
8 Come, my heart says, seek God’s face.
    Lord, I do seek your face!
9 Please don’t hide it from me!
    Don’t push your servant aside angrily—
        you have been my help!
    God who saves me,
        don’t neglect me!
        Don’t leave me all alone!

This last section is a call to seek God’s face in every season of life. David sought God and spent a great deal of time in his presence. He never felt left alone because he knew all he had to do was seek God and God would be present. Those who seek God will be the beneficiaries of his special blessing and protection.

Like coming home, God is always there, waiting to console and comfort. Won’t you come home to Jesus today?

Home

One Thing

Posted on by Betsy

If you had one thing you could ask of God, what would it be? Now mind you, this question comes with the same constraints as the genie in the bottle, so you can’t ask for more wishes to be granted. Some of us would ask for financial relief and wealth, so that money would no longer be an issue. Some of us would ask for a miracle cure for ourselves or a loved one who was dealing with a terminal illness. Some of us might ask for an impossible reconciliation to be granted with an estranged loved one. Some might ask for material things.

David asked to be allowed to enter God’s home.

In our psalm today, David made it clear that the only thing he wants, needs, and seeks is to live with God for the rest of his life. It is a good ask, when you think about it. In God’s house, all riches are ours and economic insecurity does not exist. All illnesses vanish and we are made whole. Every relationship is restored in heaven, so there is no estrangement. And all material needs are met daily, so we never go without. It is a good ask!

Psalm 27 (Common English Bible)

    I have asked one thing from the Lord—
    it’s all I seek:
        to live in the Lord’s house all the days of my life,
        seeing the Lord’s beauty
        and constantly adoring his temple.
5 Because he will shelter me in his own dwelling
    during troubling times;
    he will hide me in a secret place in his own tent;
        he will set me up high, safe on a rock.

David was always in some kind of trouble, and while we don’t know the exact dating of this psalm, we can intuit that he was under siege once again from an enemy and longed for the protection of God’s shelter. Do you ever feel that way in troubled times? I feel that way every day when I wake up and read the news. Our present generation has never lived in such troubled times and I, for one, long for the shelter of God’s secret place. Deliver us, Lord!

6 Now my head is higher than the enemies surrounding me,
    and I will offer sacrifices in God’s tent—
        sacrifices with shouts of joy!
    I will sing and praise the Lord.

7 Lord, listen to my voice when I cry out—
    have mercy on me and answer me!
8 Come, my heart says, seek God’s face.
    Lord, I do seek your face!
9 Please don’t hide it from me!
    Don’t push your servant aside angrily—
        you have been my help!
    God who saves me,
        don’t neglect me!
        Don’t leave me all alone!

Here is the good news. There is never a situation or circumstance that would cause God to not hear you when you cry out. There is never a time or reason why God would hide God’s face from you. There is nothing you can possibly do that would cause God to neglect you or leave you alone. Remember what Paul wrote in Romans 8:

Romans 8 (Common English Bible)

31 So what are we going to say about these things? If God is for us, who is against us? 32 He didn’t spare his own Son but gave him up for us all. Won’t he also freely give us all things with him?

33 Who will bring a charge against God’s elect people? It is God who acquits them. 34 Who is going to convict them? It is Christ Jesus who died, even more, who was raised, and who also is at God’s right side. It is Christ Jesus who also pleads our case for us.

35 Who will separate us from Christ’s love? Will we be separated by trouble, or distress, or harassment, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? 36 As it is written,

We are being put to death all day long for your sake.
    We are treated like sheep for slaughter.

37 But in all these things we win a sweeping victory through the one who loved us. 38 I’m convinced that nothing can separate us from God’s love in Christ Jesus our Lord: not death or life, not angels or rulers, not present things or future things, not powers 39 or height or depth, or any other thing that is created.

If God is for us, who can be against us?

Amen.

The Secret Place by Kathy Schumacher

Pitch-Dark

Posted on by Betsy

I love sunsets in the Outer Banks until they start coming too soon. By some anachronistic turn of fate, Daylight Savings time comes along to steal our days right out from under us. As we approach the Winter Solstice, daylight becomes a vanishing commodity and pretty soon it is pitch black around 5:00 PM. Do you want to know what my favorite day of the year is? The day after Winter Solstice, around December 21 or 22. That day marks our march toward longer hours of daylight and later sunsets, and I can immediately feel its encouragement and warmth as the sun makes its annual comeback. Like the star that she is, you can’t keep her down for long.

There is an exhaustion that has overcome our country right now. People have lost their affordable care credits and are facing impossible health care costs. We seem to be watching a government that has forgotten its mission to serve the people and are acting outside of every normal parameter, creating confusion, lawlessness, and violence. We awaken to news every day of the unthinkable, and it isn’t letting up. We are walking in darkness. Do you feel that? Are you in distress as well? Take heed. Isaiah, lovely Isaiah, speaks directly into our pitch-dark situation.

Isaiah 9 (Common English Bible)

Nonetheless, those who were in distress won’t be exhausted. At an earlier time, God cursed the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but later he glorified the way of the sea, the far side of the Jordan, and the Galilee of the nations.

2 The people walking in darkness have seen a great light.
    On those living in a pitch-dark land, light has dawned.
3 You have made the nation great;
    you have increased its joy.
They rejoiced before you as with joy at the harvest,
    as those who divide plunder rejoice.
4 As on the day of Midian, you’ve shattered the yoke that burdened them,
    the staff on their shoulders,
    and the rod of their oppressor.

God can and will help us shatter the yoke of burden and the rod of our oppressors. We live in a pitch-dark land, but light … a great light … will dawn. God can and will make this nation great and increase our joy, but we must do our part.

Give generously.

Serve humbly.

Vote wisely.

Tomorrow’s sunrise is up to us.

Winter Sunset by Stacy Murphy

Recruitment

Posted on by Betsy

Have you ever been involved in recruiting people for a specific task or group? Have you ever been recruited? Recruiters are like match makers. They have a task or need to fill and they seek people with the gifts and graces that will satisfy that requirement. Back in my Navy wife days, I once worked with a recruiter to find a job in the new area to which we are being assigned. She found me a position that I absolutely could not have found on my own, as the company only worked with recruiters. I was only a few years out of college with no resume to speak of, and I was terrifically blessed to land this opportunity, thanks to her. It remains one of my favorite jobs of my pre-pastoring life to this day. It was a match made in heaven.

We continue our discovery of John’s profound words from the first chapter of his gospel today. John described the recruiting effort make by our Lord as he set about to gather up his disciples. As you read it, you may be surprised at how quickly it happened. Do you suppose the Holy Spirit was involved?

John 1 (Common English Bible)

35 The next day John was standing again with two of his disciples.36 When he saw Jesus walking along he said, “Look! The Lamb of God!” 37 The two disciples heard what he said, and they followed Jesus.

John was very focused on this “Lamb of God” descriptor of Jesus. So many other words could have been used: messiah, rabbi, healer, teacher, miracle giver … yet John focuses our attention on the sacrifice that pure, unblemished Jesus came to bring to the world. He wanted these recruits to understand what they were being asked to do from the very beginning. They would accompany the Lamb of God as he performed many acts of ministry, traveling and recruiting others to come and see. Their mission would end with his death as he fulfilled the greatest part of his legacy. That was exactly what the Lamb of God was sent to do.

38 When Jesus turned and saw them following, he asked, “What are you looking for?”

They said, “Rabbi (which is translated Teacher), where are you staying?”

39 He replied, “Come and see.” So they went and saw where he was staying, and they remained with him that day. It was about four o’clock in the afternoon.

Come and see. Jesus had them with that invitation. Think about the unchurched people in your family, neighborhood, workplace and community. What might happen if you invited them to come and see?

40 One of the two disciples who heard what John said and followed Jesus was Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter. 41 He first found his own brother Simon and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which is translated Christ ). 42 He led him to Jesus.

This is one of my favorite passages in the gospels. Andrew followed Jesus first and immediately went to his brother Simon to invite him to come and see also. It was an act of pure sibling love. Simon Peter became quite the hero in the gospel stories, but Andrew? Not so much. Maybe your role is to bring a superstar to the Lord, if not to become one yourself. Might we start with our own family, as Andrew did?

Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon, son of John. You will be called Cephas” (which is translated Peter).

And thus, Simon was changed and Peter became the rock upon which the entire church was built.

Are you being recruited for some task by the Lamb of God? Are you recruiting others to join you? May the Holy Spirit guide all that we say and do as we invite others to come and see the one who gave up his life for the world.

Come and See by Kathy Schumacher

Sacrificial Lamb

Posted on by Betsy

One of the joys of watching an engaging series on television is the familiarity of the characters and setting. From Downton Abbey to Friends to Law and Order, our understanding of time and place serves as a shortcut to the unfolding plot line. For example, remembering Lady Mary’s indiscretion with the Turkish envoy Mr. Pamuk in the first episode of Downton Abbey sets the scene many seasons later for her reluctance to accept the possibility of a happy life with Matthew. Story threads like that give the viewer a sense of being woven right into the narrative along with the perfect table place settings and the growls and scowls of Mr. Carson. We instantly get the reference and feel included in the tale.

Hearers of the proclamations of John the Baptizer when he testified to the nature of Jesus would have felt the same kinship with the story. He described Jesus as the “Lamb of God,” a reference to the figure of the sacrificial lamb that appeared in many parts of the Hebrew lexicon.

John 1 (Common English Bible)

29 The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!30 This is the one about whom I said, ‘He who comes after me is really greater than me because he existed before me.’ 31 Even I didn’t recognize him, but I came baptizing with water so that he might be made known to Israel.” 

There was a lamb in the Garden of Eden that lost its life providing clothing so that Adam and Eve could cover their original sin. There was a lamb offered by an angel to Abraham to serve as a substitute sacrifice in Isaac’s place. A lamb provided the Passover blood that marked the homes of the jews in Egypt, protecting them from the slaughter of the angel of death who had come with the final plague against Pharaoh. The Levitical practices of altar sacrifices required many lambs to give up their lives. Isaiah prophesied about the lamb born to be shorn and slaughtered for the sins of the nation. Sacrificial lambs were a familiar trope for the Hebrew nation, and John the Baptizer used that institutional knowledge to point to Jesus as the one and only Lamb of God, who will take away the sins of the world once and for all.

32 John testified, “I saw the Spirit coming down from heaven like a dove, and it rested on him. 33 Even I didn’t recognize him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘The one on whom you see the Spirit coming down and resting is the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ 34 I have seen and testified that this one is God’s Son.”

We’ll be reading from The Gospel of John for a few weeks, so let’s pause for a moment and consider this marvelous book. John’s gospel presents the story of Jesus in a much different manner than the other three synoptic gospels. They are aligned in sequence, frame, and form, while John’s Gospel takes a different approach to the same story. John does not include a birth narrative, Jesus’ baptism, the wilderness temptation, the parables, the Last Supper, the agony in Gethsemane, nor Jesus’ ascension. While Matthew, Mark, and Luke focus on Jesus’ ministry in Galilee, John takes us straight to Jerusalem. He emphasized Jesus’ miracles and gave us eyewitness testimonies, like the one we read today. Note that John does not record the baptism itself but offers John the Baptizer’s eyewitness account of the event.

Who is the Lamb of God to you? What sin does he come to take away forever from your life? Will you allow his sacrifice to make you clean? What is your testimony about Jesus?

We don’t want to miss the point. In every iteration of the sacrificial lamb, God allowed its shed blood to provide safety, protection, a new start, and freedom. Like the representative body and blood of communion, we are offered an opportunity to accept Jesus’ sacrifice and be made new. How will you accept that gift today?

This is My Blood, Poured Out for You by Kitty Hawk UMC