Author: Betsy

Babbling

Posted on by Betsy

A recent trip to France allowed me the opportunity to practice my very limited and rusty French speaking skills. I had a wonderful teacher for four years in high school and took the required college levels for my degree. This teacher was insistent that we practice the proper accent and cadence of the language, imitating the “lilt” that native French folks use when they speak. A lot of that came flooding back to me as I interacted with people, and it didn’t take long before words were popping up in my head that I hadn’t thought about in years. One tour guide was very complimentary and invited me to stay and practice more. That emboldened me to carefully order lunch in a different town the next day (after practicing in my head for a few minutes) only to have the waitress respond to me in English. She asked me if I was Canadian. Mon Dieu!

Have you ever wondered how the different languages evolved? Why is it that we don’t all speak Adam and Abraham’s Hebrew?

Genesis 11 (The Message)

11 1-2 At one time, the whole Earth spoke the same language. It so happened that as they moved out of the east, they came upon a plain in the land of Shinar and settled down.

3 They said to one another, “Come, let’s make bricks and fire them well.” They used brick for stone and tar for mortar.

4 Then they said, “Come, let’s build ourselves a city and a tower that reaches Heaven. Let’s make ourselves famous so we won’t be scattered here and there across the Earth.”

5 God came down to look over the city and the tower those people had built.

6-9 God took one look and said, “One people, one language; why, this is only a first step. No telling what they’ll come up with next—they’ll stop at nothing! Come, we’ll go down and garble their speech so they won’t understand each other.” Then God scattered them from there all over the world. And they had to quit building the city. That’s how it came to be called Babel, because there God turned their language into “babble.” From there God scattered them all over the world.

These were the descendants of the Ark, years after the great flood. God had given them the direction to scatter throughout the earth and fill it (Genesis 9:1) and so their gathering to build themselves a city was in direct disobedience to his word. The mortar that they used was the same type that was mentioned in Genesis 6:14 as the type Noah used in building the Ark. It is also mentioned again in Exodus 2:3 when Moses’ mother used it to waterproof baby Moses’ little basket. So if people who are the progeny of the post-flood era truly believed the promise that God would never again flood the earth, why are they building themselves a waterproof tower? They demonstrated their unbelief.

God spotted the potential for rebellion here, and in his mercy, scattered them and confused their language so that they could never “gang up” again. The Tower of Babel is where we take the phrase “to babble,” or speak nonsense. God slowed their rebellion for a time in what amounted to a holy time-out, but if you know your Old Testament history, they would soon enough find other ways to rebel against God’s word.

As do we.

Think about how much of your day is filled with the non-sensical babble of political pundits vomiting their opinions in place of actual facts. Think about how much of your day is spent babbling with people on social media posting vapid meme after meme. Think about the babbling of a world that has turned away from God in an ever increasing cacophony of secularism. Are we much different?

God, in his mercy, is always ready to “come down” and dwell among us if we only ask and are ready to listen. May we covenant to build towers of testimony to his grace so that all may hear in one language that Jesus Christ is Lord.

Bon Soir, Paris

Rainbow Promises

Posted on by Betsy

Did you know that earth is the only planet that has rainbows? Astronomer Guillermo Gonzalez recently noted that we’re on the only planet in the Solar System to get them. Rainbows form from suspended water droplets in the atmosphere that are hit by the direct sunlight when the sun is located between the horizon and 42 degrees altitude. This typically occurs just after a thunderstorm has passed and small droplets are still in the atmosphere, and the sky is clearing in front of the sun. No other planet has enough sunlight and moisture to produce the rainbow effect. We get amazing rainbows in the Outer Banks.

From a biblical perspective, God set the rainbow in the sky for one reason: To anchor his promise of a covenant relationship with us: 

Genesis (Common English Bible)

9 12 And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant I am making between me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all generations to come: 13 I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth.14 Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, 15 I will remember my covenant between me and you and all living creatures of every kind. Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life. 16 Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth.”

This Scripture is a beautiful reminder to us that God is near when our hope has dried out. This Scripture is a beautiful reminder to us that God is near when our wisdom fails us. This Scripture is a beautiful reminder to trust that God is always near! When we feel helpless and find ourselves at a loss for what to do next, when some aspect of our joy has flamed out and we can’t reignite the spark anymore, and when something has truly died in us, that is when we need to remember that God can bring anything back to life by simply saying the word.

Your dead dreams, your lifeless marriage, your dry relationship with your teenager, your wasteland of a career, your hollow bank account, your terminal battle with addiction … even the division that daily is destroying our country … God can breathe life into all of these places. Jesus, the Word that was with God in the beginning, the Word that was God, is where we can place our hope and trust. Jesus’ resurrection from the dead ensures our eternal life. Because he lives, we shall live also.

So the next time you feel as though all the light has gone out of your life, look up. God can and will breathe new life by the power of his word into whatever you’ve lost. You can count on his promises.

From Heaven to Earth

Only by the Word

Posted on by Betsy

Today’s Scripture from Ezekiel 37 is the famous “dem bones gonna rise again” passage. Ezekiel faced a difficult task because he was called to prophesy to the Jewish people at one of the lowest points in their history. The small nation of Israel had been under siege for years and had been conquered by the mighty army of Babylonia. Jerusalem lay in ruins; the Temple in Jerusalem was destroyed. Ezekiel, along with thousands of other Jews, was forced into exile to the capitol city of Babylon which was in modern day Iraq. Ezekiel was told by God to prophesy to the Jewish refugees about the future of their nation. God showed him a vision of a valley filled with dry dead bones as far as the eye could see. God asked Ezekiel if he thought the bones could live, and Ezekiel replied, “Oh God, only you know.”

Ezikiel 37 (Common English Bible)

37 The Lord’s power overcame me, and while I was in the Lord’s spirit, he led me out and set me down in the middle of a certain valley. It was full of bones. 2 He led me through them all around, and I saw that there were a great many of them on the valley floor, and they were very dry.

3 He asked me, “Human one, can these bones live again?”

I said, “Lord God, only you know.”

That was a really good answer. There are three things to take away from his response. First, Ezekiel had no hope in the bones, but his response demonstrates great hope in God. Second, he certainly would never presume to know what God was planning to do with the bones, acknowledging that God’s ways and thoughts are much higher than ours. And third, while he didn’t know, he was confident that God had a specific plan in mind. I think those are important lessons for us today. Hope, wisdom, and trust are the lessons Ezekiel learned. 

So let’s talk about hope. I think that many, many people live in the valley of dry bones today. Some live in that valley for a long time, and the truth is that all of us visit it for at least for a season. Mary and Martha were in that valley when their brother Lazarus died. They sent for Jesus as soon as he fell ill, but Jesus was delayed. Now Lazarus had been in the tomb for four days. “Lord,” said Mary, “If you had been here, my brother would not have died.” Then she began to weep. Her tears were so moving that Jesus began to weep as well. For a time Mary and Martha were living in the valley of dry bones. It is a valley of grief and hopelessness. Some of you have been there. All of us will be in that valley at some time in our lives. I am counseling a woman whose husband is fighting cancer for the second time. The outcome does not look good. Every time we meet, she wrestles with the same question. If he dies, how can I go on living?

There in that lonesome valley we will find ourselves asking, Is there any hope? Can I go on? Can these bones live again?

The answer is a resounding yes. There is hope. You can go on. These bones can live again. The question, then, is how? How can we find hope in the midst of desolation, courage in the face of impending collapse, comfort in our hour of ultimate distress? The answer is by the word of God.

God told Ezekiel: `Prophesy to these bones, and say to them, O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord.'”

The answer is in the Word of the Lord. Remember, it was with a word that the world was created. “And God said, `Let there be light,’ and there was light.” (Gen. 1:3) It was by the Word that God revealed the fullness of His love for humanity, “And the word became flesh and dwelt among us…” (John 1:14) And it was by a Word that Christ brought Lazarus back from the dead, “Jesus cried with a loud voice, `Lazarus, come out.’ The dead man came out, his hands and feet bound with bandages, and his face wrapped with a cloth.” It is by the Word of the Lord that we live and move and have our being.

Our hope is in the word of the Lord. THAT IS WHY THE SCRIPTURES ARE SO IMPORTANT TO OUR LIVES. That’s why you need to be reading your Bible every day and participating in a small group or Sunday School class here at your church.

It’s hard to have hope in the word if you don’t know the word. (Read that again.)

Many of you have been reading these devotionals since the beginning, in 2018. You agree with me that daily immersion into Scripture is vital for living, and I thank you for that! It’s why I get up every morning and reach for my laptop (and strong coffee). My fervent prayer is that you are also engaging in a group study and weekly worship.

How about it? Do you know the Word? It’s our only hope.

Monet’s Garden

Insomniafests

Posted on by Betsy

Have you ever wished to go back to your childhood so that you could sleep with your stuffed animal and feel the instant security and peace that your old friend would bring? Somehow just pulling that fluffy thing into your chest as the lights went out made all the scary things go away. A warm feeling of not being alone replaced the fear of separation from parents, Watching children cradle their “lovies” gives a parent a sense of security too, as we reluctantly close the door and whisper goodnight to the two friends snuggled together.

It is our fervent hope that the safe haven of their sleep won’t be interrupted by night terrors. Night terrors are common in childhood and are thought to be the way the subconscious expresses daytime fears and stress that found no voice. Watching a child have one is just as terrifying for the parent.

Typically we grow out of night terrors, but they seem to be replaced in adulthood by a similar sleep disruptor: night guilts. Night guilts occur when your overtired brain lays its weary head down, only to immediately begin to replay everything you didn’t get accomplished that day, every harsh word you said (or heard), every feeling of failure, worrying about everything, the oppression of “unfinished business”, etc. Throw in a little stress about tomorrow’s list of things to feel bad about, and you are in a full blown night guilt insomniafest. Bring out the jugglers. Oh, wait, did I remember to hire the jugglers?? What will they wear, should I coordinate my outfit with their costumes?? Rats, why didn’t I hire the dancing elephant instead?

And this all gets stuck on “replay” in a continuous loop.

Next time you find yourself reaching for the light switch at 3AM, read this:

Psalm 91 (English Standard Version)

“He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say to the Lord, “My refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.”

“For he will deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from the deadly pestilence. He will cover you with his pinions, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness is a shield and buckler. You will not fear the terror of the night, nor the arrow that flies by day.”

When I’m worried, and I can’t sleep, I try to drive out all those unprofitable, useless, stupid sleep-stealing mind guilts and imagine myself hidden and secure under the Father’s wings. I feel the strength of his pinions protecting me from the incoming arrows of my negative thoughts. His shield bounces away every worry from causing permanent damage to my psyche, and these imaginings help in quieting the insomniafest that rages within me.

“Because you have made the Lord your dwelling place—
    the Most High, who is my refuge

no evil shall be allowed to befall you,
    no plague come near your tent.

For he will command his angels concerning you
    to guard you in all your ways.
On their hands they will bear you up,
    lest you strike your foot against a stone.
You will tread on the lion and the adder;
    the young lion and the serpent you will trample underfoot.”

So tonight, when you fall into your bed, hear God saying this to you:

“Because you hold fast to me in love, I will deliver you;
    I will protect you, because you know my name.
When you call to me, I will answer you;
    I will be with you in trouble;
    I will rescue you and honor you.
With long life I will satisfy you
    and show you my salvation.”

Isn’t that so much better than a teddy bear?

Monet’s Garden

“GOD IS WITH ME”

Posted on by Betsy

Every time I go to the hairdresser, I learn something new. The conversation at my salon yesterday revolved around “automatic thoughts”. These are unbidden images or words that flash into your mind in a seemingly random occurrence. One person described having an automatic thought on the way to work as she was driving. She instantly “saw” a big wreck where she watched herself running to a burning car to help. Anyone who has ever driven the Bypass in the Outer Banks on a Saturday in the summer can relate to this sudden image while driving. It’s dangerous out there, folks!

Automatic thoughts can be negative or positive. I find in times of great concentration or stress that my mind will conveniently supply an automatic thought of someplace I’d rather be. Suddenly I’ll flash on walking around the lake in a beautiful town called Celebration in Florida, or seeing a spectacular sunset from my back deck. Those images will creep up without warning, giving me a five-second respite from my work. When automatic thoughts are negative and related to emotional triggers, they can be problematic. Help can be found in working with a cognitive therapist to untangle the auto response. In the case of the car wreck image, it made the person drive more carefully and be alert to other drivers, which is a good thing.

I have always longed for a way to help people develop an automatic thought response that brings the peace, hope and contentment. That is why I began writing these devotionals six years ago. When folks are in a deep hole of despair, the stress of their situation only pulls them farther and farther down. It is in times like these that the automatic thoughts can be most harmful. Sad, hopeless, and despondent thoughts just continue to spiral in times of trouble. I want to be able to help them manufacture a positive automatic response that would focus on thoughts that uplift them and rebuke the darkness.

I often wonder if that was what the Psalmists were doing. The Psalms were written as songs for the journey. They describe great challenges, intense pain, and life threatening situations, but they are balanced with great anticipation of God’s activity and presence. The positive images far outweigh the negative, serving as point-counter-point to the dark. Look at Psalm 23, one of the most beloved Psalms:

Psalm 23 (New International Version)

The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing.

He makes me lie down in green pastures,

he leads me beside quiet waters,

he refreshes my soul.

He guides me along the right paths

    for his name’s sake.

Even though I walk

    through the darkest valley,

I will fear no evil,

    for you are with me;

your rod and your staff,

    they comfort me.

You prepare a table before me

    in the presence of my enemies.

You anoint my head with oil;

    my cup overflows.

Surely your goodness and love will follow me

    all the days of my life,

and I will dwell in the house of the Lord

    forever.

David wrote that, and David had trouble. Most of it was a result of his own activity, but he had trouble indeed. And yet in his darkest moment, he forced himself to counter his trouble with a positive auto response and wrote “Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me.”

Today, let’s try to create an auto response like David. When the negative thoughts try to intrude, say back to them, “GOD IS WITH ME.” When bad images flash unbidden in your mind, shake them off and say, “GOD IS WITH ME.” If you feel yourself slipping into the deep, stand up and yell, “GOD IS WITH ME.”

Go in peace. God is with you.

Norway

Pounding Sand

Posted on by Betsy

Growing up on the East Coast allowed me to experience the Atlantic Ocean from many vantage points. We were campers, and every summer weekend and the long awaited, blessed two-week vacation (cue the Doxology!) saw us hauling a trailer anywhere from Canada to Florida. But our favorite place was a small campground on the Indian River Bay in Delaware called Sandy Cove. My memories of those days are filled with laughter, sunlight, fresh seafood that we caught ourselves, and my mother.

Most days we piled into the car and drove a few short miles to the ocean. After settling in with umbrellas, chairs, blankets and towels, my mother and I would walk the beach, sometimes for miles. We camped with a group of families, and these private walks were a moment of respite for both of us. We explored, gathered seagull feathers and shells, tickled our toes in the cold water, but mostly we talked.

We planned my college days and my wedding on that beach. We dissected what was wrong with other members of the family … never US, just the rest of the gang. She taught me about life, love, and politics. Every walk was a history lesson as my brilliant mother put the world into context for me. Those moments with her are forever woven into my memory, my personality, and maybe even my DNA.

My mother is gone now. There is no more wisdom to glean, but the part of her that loved the beach and those precious mother-daughter times lives on in me.

Now, I walk with Jesus. I am daily reminded of his promise, “Do not let your heart be troubled, and neither let it be afraid. I will not leave you orphaned.” Losing my parents made me feel like an orphan, but Jesus reminds me that he is always present and has prepared a room for all of us. My parents are there, and Mom is waiting for me to come and pound the sands of heaven with her someday.

John 14 has beautiful words of assurance for all who wait. Jesus was speaking to his disciples, getting them ready for his death and departure. Of all that is precious in that chapter, this might just be my favorite part:

John 14 (New International Version)

“Peace I leave with you. MY peace I give to you, I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and neither let them be afraid.”

Where is Jesus speaking peace into your life today? Don’t be troubled. Jesus is here.

Walk With Me

Trampling the Needy

Posted on by Betsy

Today’s lectionary passage is a bleak and resonant warning about neglecting the poor and need in our communities. Amos was called to rebuke and prophecy against this societal downfall. He was an 8th Century prophet who had been a fig farmer and shepherd before his calling. Israel had split into the Northern (Israel) and Southern (Judah) kingdoms by this time and he warned the people of the impending fall and destruction that was about to occur to both. He called out the ungodly practices that the people were engaging in with a denouncement of the breaking of God’s Law and God’s will.

In this passage, God’s instructions in Deuteronomy to take care of the poor and needy are specifically addressed. The people had become callous to those who lived on the fringes of society, whining and complaining about not being able to make money during the New Moon festival or the Sabbath. Their greed extended into cheating people by changing the weight of ephahs and shekels, deceiving folks with false balances on the scales.

Amos 8 (Common English Bible)

    Hear this, you who trample on the needy and destroy
        the poor of the land, 5 saying,
    “When will the new moon
        be over so that we may sell grain,
        and the Sabbath
        so that we may offer wheat for sale,
        make the ephah smaller, enlarge the shekel,
        and deceive with false balances,
6         in order to buy the needy for silver
        and the helpless for sandals,
        and sell garbage as grain?”

7     The Lord has sworn by the pride of Jacob:
        Surely I will never forget what they have done.

The message is clear: God watches, God sees. And God will not forget. Indeed, both Israel and Judah fell to the Assyrians and the Babylonians, and many generations passed before they were restored to the land.

Now before we think more highly of ourselves than we should (to quote Paul), take a look again at this passage in The Message translation and see if any of it fits today’s society:

Listen to this, you who walk all over the weak,
    you who treat poor people as less than nothing,
Who say, “When’s my next paycheck coming
    so I can go out and live it up?
How long till the weekend
    when I can go out and have a good time?”
Who give little and take much,
    and never do an honest day’s work.
You exploit the poor, using them—
    and then, when they’re used up, you discard them.

7-8 God swears against the arrogance of Jacob:
    “I’m keeping track of their every last sin.”

Does God swear against us as well? Are we guilty of focusing on our Friday paycheck for our weekend indulgence while we ignore the poor around us? Are we as a people walking all over the weak and using up the poor just to discard them? What does this say about migrant workers, people on welfare, our funding of Medicare, and our care of the vulnerable?

God’s word is clear. He is keeping track.

Osprey Watching Over Colington

Pulitzer White

Posted on by Betsy

A few years ago my husband and I were on a trip in Florida, visiting a very posh hotel. We were having dinner there one night and as we made our way across the ornate lobby, I realized that the Florida air-conditioning was close to unbearable and somehow I had forgotten to pack my parka. We passed one of those fancy boutique shops with fancy boutique clothing and my husband said, “Why don’t we just go in here and buy you a sweater or something?” I looked at the selection of things in the window and surmised we couldn’t even afford to walk over the threshold of the store, but he insisted. Lo and behold, there was a sales rack of Lilly Pulitzer things, and further lo and beholding, there was a perfect white sweater with pockets. (And all girls know how amazing it is to have pockets!) Still protesting, I gave in and let him buy it, figuring it would be a good travel sweater, and I would get lots of use out of it, because, you know … pockets. I suppose he considered it a bargain just to not have to listen to me whine about freezing for the rest of the evening.

A few months later I was taking said white sweater out of my suitcase after another trip and was horrified to discover that a blue ball point pen had dumped its contents all over the pure while Lilly. I was distraught. After many washings with stain sprays applied, all I had managed to do was tune the dark blue ink into medium blue ink. This is why I shouldn’t have nice things.

My husband kept suggesting I just bleach the whole thing since it was all white. Bleach Lilly Pulitzer??? Are you kidding? The first rule of Lilly is “thou shalt not bleach my fine apparel!” But I obviously couldn’t wear it with ink stains, so I washed it in bleach. It came out white as snow.

Today we are reading Psalm 51, the famous and beautiful psalm of penitence written by King David after Nathan had confronted him about his adulterous affair with Bathsheba and the murder of her husband Uriah. David was agonized by his sins, and the power and wealth of his kingdom could not touch the depth of despair that his depravity brought. Only God could help.

Psalm 51 (Common English Bible)

 Have mercy on me, God, according to your faithful love!
    Wipe away my wrongdoings according to your great compassion!
2 Wash me completely clean of my guilt;
    purify me from my sin!
3 Because I know my wrongdoings,
    my sin is always right in front of me.
4 I’ve sinned against you—you alone.
    I’ve committed evil in your sight.
That’s why you are justified when you render your verdict,
    completely correct when you issue your judgment.
5 Yes, I was born in guilt, in sin,
    from the moment my mother conceived me.
6 And yes, you want truth in the most hidden places;
    you teach me wisdom in the most secret space.

David reminds us that by seeking God every day, by praying, worshipping, studying, and serving, we can encounter God’s wisdom and truth in the most secret space of our spirit. We, too, are invited to “come clean” through confession and repentance and ask God to wash us whiter than a bleached sweater. Only God can restore our joy.

7 Purify me with hyssop and I will be clean;
    wash me and I will be whiter than snow.
8 Let me hear joy and celebration again;
    let the bones you crushed rejoice once more.
9 Hide your face from my sins;
    wipe away all my guilty deeds!

Is today the day you will submit to God’s will? Do you need to be washed by the refining forgiveness that God offers you? May we pray with David this morning:
10 Create a clean heart for me, God;
    put a new, faithful spirit deep inside me!

Amen.

SnOBX

Your People

Posted on by Betsy

You know the kids have been especially bad when you come home from work and your spouse says, “You won’t believe what your daughter did today!” Not “our” but “your.” This verbal distancing of parent from child is always an indicator that punishment must be meted out. A mom recently told me that she came home from work to discover that her recently potty-trained three year old had taken a plastic bowl into her closet to practice going potty and painted the walls with the results. That is a scenario where nobody wants to claim this kid! Gross!

Today’s Scripture starts the same way. After their miraculous delivery from slavery in Egypt, the people of Israel grew bored and discontent. When Moses had a prolonged stay up on the mountain to receive the ten commandments, they fashioned for themselves a golden calf idol to worship.

God had had enough. He commanded Moses to go down and straighten things out with “your people.” Not my people, your people.

Exodus 32 (Contemporary English Version)

7 And the Lord said to Moses, “Go down, for your people, whom you brought up out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves. 8 They have turned aside quickly out of the way that I commanded them. They have made for themselves a golden calf and have worshiped it and sacrificed to it and said, ‘These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!’”9 And the Lord said to Moses, “I have seen this people, and behold, it is a stiff-necked people. 10 Now therefore let me alone, that my wrath may burn hot against them and I may consume them, in order that I may make a great nation of you.”

God threatens to destroy them and let Moses remain so that he can start over again, much like he did with Noah. Every parent knows the burning hot response of a threat they have no intention of carrying out, but sometimes it provides relief to express it anyway.

11 But Moses implored the Lord his God and said, “O Lord, why does your wrath burn hot against your people, whom you have brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand? 12 Why should the Egyptians say, ‘With evil intent did he bring them out, to kill them in the mountains and to consume them from the face of the earth’? Turn from your burning anger and relent from this disaster against your people. 13 Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, your servants, to whom you swore by your own self, and said to them, ‘I will multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have promised I will give to your offspring, and they shall inherit it forever.’” 14 And the Lord relented from the disaster that he had spoken of bringing on his people.

Notice that Moses quickly intervenes on behalf of his people. He appeals to God’s sense of compassion and even a bit to his ego, making the case that the Egyptians would then get to say, “See! God only brought them out to destroy them anyway!” Moses’ brief intercessory prayer on their behalf was a prayer of strength if not length. Sometimes God will put us into a position of intervention to see if we will pray in that strength. This is what happened to Moses. God put him in this position and Moses reflected God’s love and mercy back to God, reminding him of his promise to make Israel as proliferate as the stars of heaven, living in the land of plenty. And so God did not act on his threat.

Are you in a position of intervention right now? Are you praying in the might and power of the Holy Spirit for something to happen? Don’t back down. Don’t give up! Remind God, and yourself, of God’s love, mercy, and compassion. God’s promises are forever.

Orbs by Becca Ziegler

What’s Your Sign?

Posted on by Betsy

There is a sign that you sometimes see being held up in large gatherings. I’m sure you’ve seen this sign at major sporting events and professional wrestling venues. You might even spot it at a public community event, a graduation, or even a protest gathering. I see it frequently at the corner of Colington Road and the bypass, being held up by a very enthusiastic member of “Team Jesus.” This particular sign stands in opposition to the signs that groups like the Westboro Baptist “Church” hold up. You remember that group: they used their 1st Amendment right to free speech to burn flags, show up to soldiers’ funerals to spread the hate message “Thank God for Dead Soldiers,” and display other violent homophobic and antisemitic rhetoric. What is the sign that stands in opposition to this hate? It is a sign about the ultimate love we will ever know. John 3:16: “For God so loved the world, he gave his one and only Son, that whosoever believes in himself shall not perish but have eternal life.”

Let’s take a look at the full passage today.

John 3: 16-17 (Contemporary English Version)

16 God loved the people of this world so much that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who has faith in him will have eternal life and never really die. 17 God did not send his Son into the world to condemn its people. He sent him to save them!

Jesus said this in response to Nicodemus, a teacher and ruler of the Jews. He was a Pharisee and part of the Sanhedrin who was impressed by Jesus’ signs, i.e. miraculous acts, and sought Jesus out at night to learn more. It is notable that this exchange happened in the darkness. My guess is that Nicodemus feared the judgment and condemnation of his fellow Pharisees and couldn’t seek Jesus out in the light of day. But he acknowledged that Jesus was from God based on his signs. Jesus immediately responded that no one would see the kingdom of God unless they are “born again.” That one sentence shattered centuries of Jewish expectation. Jews had always believed that being born of Abraham’s lineage, their birthright would grant them automatic entrance to the Kingdom of God. But Jesus now taught that the Law, their heritage, their old birth, and their racial identification would not be a free pass into Eternity. Instead, Jesus continued, only those born anew by water and the spirit would see God.

Then he went on to shock Nicodemus further by asserting that in fact, God loved the whole world (not just Israel) enough to send his only begotten Son for their salvation. Everyone is offered the hope, rescue, and healing of Christ’s salvation equally. Salvation, not condemnation, is what Jesus brings. Hope and refuge are his gifts, offered to all. The only condemnation the world faces is the self-condemnation of those who refuse to believe and prefer to walk in the darkness.

If only those who hold up hate signs would just read the rest of the Scripture. If only those who use religion to justify hate and condemn others would just read the rest of the Scripture!

What’s your sign? Is it a sign of open acceptance and love? Is it a sign of hope? Is it a sign that you read the rest of the Scripture?

May we be a people of John 3:17 in everything we do, say, paint onto cardboard, and post.

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