Mandated

Posted on by Betsy

I recently had a fun conversation with a friend from my old church about Christmas Eve services. We were a large church that became huge on Christmas Eve, and at one point we had to offer four services to accommodate all of the worshippers. Calculating the amount of people that I personally would serve at one of three communion stations, my friend estimated that I would need to say, “the body and blood of Christ given to you” several hundred times that night. At our pre-Christmas Eve dinner with church members at our favorite Mexican restaurant, somebody suggested that for the ones gathered there, I could save myself and simply say, “Here!” That got a good laugh. Unfortunately, my oldest daughter was seated at the end of the table and missed the conversation. So imagine her surprise (and displeasure!) when she came forward in Mom’s line and was met with, “Here!”

Think for a moment about the power of taking communion. I bet you have received it in many places and in many forms, from the casual retreat setting to the most formal of presentations in a church. I once took communion at Notre Dame cathedral in Paris, which may count as the most elaborate setting for communion. But probably the most profound communions I have received have been the day I was confirmed in my childhood church in Gibbsboro, N.J., the first time I served it as a newly ordained pastor at my church in Peachtree City, GA, and the communion settings of the Walk to Emmaus retreats. Communion is one of two sacraments in the United Methodist Church, and truly is the place were God meets us right where we are. I hope you feel the power and the presence of the Holy Spirit every time you receive the body and blood of Christ, given for you.

Our passage today marks the moment when the Last Supper became the Lord’s Supper for now until eternity. Read it and feast:

Mark 14 (New International Version)

12 On the first day of the Festival of Unleavened Bread, when it was customary to sacrifice the Passover lamb, Jesus’ disciples asked him, “Where do you want us to go and make preparations for you to eat the Passover?”

13 So he sent two of his disciples, telling them, “Go into the city, and a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him. 14 Say to the owner of the house he enters, ‘The Teacher asks: Where is my guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?’ 15 He will show you a large room upstairs, furnished and ready. Make preparations for us there.”

16 The disciples left, went into the city and found things just as Jesus had told them. So they prepared the Passover.

17 When evening came, Jesus arrived with the Twelve. 18 While they were reclining at the table eating, he said, “Truly I tell you, one of you will betray me—one who is eating with me.”

19 They were saddened, and one by one they said to him, “Surely you don’t mean me?”

20 “It is one of the Twelve,” he replied, “one who dips bread into the bowl with me. 21 The Son of Man will go just as it is written about him. But woe to that man who betrays the Son of Man! It would be better for him if he had not been born.”

22 While they were eating, Jesus took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying, “Take it; this is my body.”

23 Then he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, and they all drank from it.

24 “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many,” he said to them. 25 “Truly I tell you, I will not drink again from the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.”

26 When they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.

Amidst the disciples’ confusion, Judas’ betrayal, the ritual remembrance of the Passover, (when God delivered his children from death at the last plague in Egypt) and the gathering of friends for one last meal, Jesus abruptly breaks the bread and raises the cup, instituting the new covenant and the Eucharist. When we gather in our churches tomorrow night for Maundy Thursday services, we will remember this exact moment. “Maundy” comes from the Latin word for “mandate, command” and refers to the new commandment that followed this evening’s actions, as recorded in John 13:34-35 “34 “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. 35 By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

How well do we follow that new commandment? Do we live up to our communion invitation to participate in Christ by loving as he loved?

I hope you are able to attend a Maundy Thursday service. When you receive that broken body and shed blood, remember the new covenant. Then go out and be the new covenant for the world.

Come to the Table by Kitty Hawk United Methodist Church

Scripture Meditation

Posted on by Betsy

I hope that you have been practicing Lenten disciplines for the last several weeks. I want to expand on an old idea by combining two disciplines into one. We are encouraged to meditate, and we are encouraged to study Scripture. What would happen if we practiced Scripture Meditation?

This discipline involves the common practices of meditation, where we create an emotional and spiritual space in our hearts to hear and feel the Lord, while being guided specifically by Scripture to direct our thoughts to the place where that Scripture leads. Thus we would concentrate and think deeply on an assigned passage as we discover who God is and whose we are. Our objective is to arrive at a place of new understandings that lead to changed behavior as a result of our efforts.

In its simplest understanding, meditation is a process of shutting out the world in order to usher in God’s voice and obey it. Our desert foreparents had the ability to meditate day and night on God’s creation and provision. As early as Genesis, we discover that “Isaac went out to meditate in the field in the evening” (Genesis 24:63). As you are fighting traffic in your daily commute to work, or struggling with the cacophony of child rearing, this might sound ideal! Not to mention impossible! But with focus and discipline, we too can create that field for ourselves.

 In his marvelous work, Celebration of Discipline, Richard Foster presents a four-fold approach to the discipline of study that I think works beautifully in this context. If we follow these steps as stepping stones in our Scripture Meditation, our fields will reveal themselves.

Shall we try it? Let's read this Holy Week passage and then we'll unpack the four steps of Scripture Meditation:

John 12 (New International Version)

20 "Now there were some Greeks among those who went up to worship at the festival. 21 They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, with a request. “Sir,” they said, “we would like to see Jesus.” 22 Philip went to tell Andrew; Andrew and Philip in turn told Jesus.

23 Jesus replied, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. 24 Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. 25 Anyone who loves their life will lose it, while anyone who hates their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. 26 Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me.

27 “Now my soul is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour. 28 Father, glorify your name!”

Then a voice came from heaven, “I have glorified it, and will glorify it again.” 29 The crowd that was there and heard it said it had thundered; others said an angel had spoken to him.

30 Jesus said, “This voice was for your benefit, not mine. 31 Now is the time for judgment on this world; now the prince of this world will be driven out. 32 And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” 33 He said this to show the kind of death he was going to die.

34 The crowd spoke up, “We have heard from the Law that the Messiah will remain forever, so how can you say, ‘The Son of Man must be lifted up’? Who is this ‘Son of Man’?”

35 Then Jesus told them, “You are going to have the light just a little while longer. Walk while you have the light, before darkness overtakes you. Whoever walks in the dark does not know where they are going. 36 Believe in the light while you have the light, so that you may become children of light.” When he had finished speaking, Jesus left and hid himself from them."

The first step is repetition. As you contemplate each Scripture, read it several times in several different translations. Commit it to memory if you can. 

The second step is concentration. Really focus in on the setting, the dialogue, the characters in the passage and ask yourself, what is happening? Concentrate on what God is saying to you. 

Comprehension is the third step. Do you understand the context? What is the point? 

Lastly, we reflect on the Scripture. This is the critical take-away process of internalizing the message through our meditation. What did God say to you? More importantly, what are you going to do about it? 

 By using Scripture meditation this way, may we concentrate on God’s message to us and deepen our relationship with Jesus.

Heaven Sent by Cathy Lorenzo

Open Palms

Posted on by Betsy

I have an aversion to palm trees.

Not the trees themselves: Truly, palm trees swaying in the warm breezes on a sunny beach are some of the prettiest things you will ever see. But I don’t like seeing palm trees in the Outer Banks in North Carolina. Florida, yes, Puerto Rico, okay, but Colington Harbour? Nope. God did not design the palm tree to live in the harsh weather conditions of our barrier islands, and so people who plant them in hopes of making our chilly island more “tropical” end up having to create burlap blankets for them to wear all winter long and some don’t survive because they really don’t belong here.

You had no idea that I am so narrow minded, did you??

Palm Sunday is this Sunday, and it is one of my favorite days. While palm trees don’t belong in the Outer Banks, palm branches surely belong in the hands of young children as they parade up and down the aisles of our churches. The sweet smiles, awkward waving, and innocent cries of “ho-thanna” make the celebration complete. Our hearts join in on the declaration that Jesus is our king and deserving of a king’s entrance. We almost have to turn a blind eye to the fact that in less than a week, it will all turn dark. But on Palm Sunday, we rejoice.

Mark 11:1-11 (New International Version)

1 As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage and Bethany at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two of his disciples, 2 saying to them, “Go to the village ahead of you, and just as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, which no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here. 3 If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ say, ‘The Lord needs it and will send it back here shortly.’”

An unbroken colt fulfilled the prophecy of Zechariah 9:9:

Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion!
    Shout, Daughter Jerusalem!
See, your king comes to you,
    righteous and victorious,
lowly and riding on a donkey,
    on a colt, the foal of a donkey.

By choosing an unbroken animal, the Creator God in Jesus established his dominance over all the beasts of the field in one striking visual. Rather than come on a prancing stallion, as an army general might, Jesus sets the scene for the humility and servanthood that his leadership will bring.

4 They went and found a colt outside in the street, tied at a doorway. As they untied it, 5 some people standing there asked, “What are you doing, untying that colt?” 6 They answered as Jesus had told them to, and the people let them go. 7 When they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks over it, he sat on it. 8 Many people spread their cloaks on the road, while others spread branches they had cut in the fields. 9 Those who went ahead and those who followed shouted,

“Hosanna!”

“Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”

10 “Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David!”

“Hosanna in the highest heaven!”

11 Jesus entered Jerusalem and went into the temple courts. He looked around at everything, but since it was already late, he went out to Bethany with the Twelve.

The darkness that is quickly coming is prefigured in this last sentence. Jesus couldn’t stay around to enjoy his parade because “it was already late.” His appointed time was coming, shortening his moment of looking around at everything.

How will we respond to this? I suggest you take a look at your hands. Lay them open in your lap, palms up. In this position, may we ask God to give us every good gift he has planned for us as we seek the coming kingdom of our father David. And remember that in order to open your palms, you have to let go of everything else you are holding on to.

What do you need to let go in order to receive God’s blessing?

Hosanna in the Highest by Becky Strickland

Do More, Talk Less

Posted on by Betsy

We are rounding the corner toward Holy Week, when the events of Jesus’ last days will begin to cascade. I read recently that one third of what we read and know of Jesus’ ministry happens in this one week. It makes your head spin. But for today, as you read the plotting, the scheming, the indignant rebukes of men sitting in judgment, and the final betrayal plan, pay attention to the unnamed woman who speaks not a word, but provides the only moment of pure adoration:

Mark 14:1-11 (New International Version)

14 Now the Passover and the Festival of Unleavened Bread were only two days away, and the chief priests and the teachers of the law were scheming to arrest Jesus secretly and kill him. 2 “But not during the festival,” they said, “or the people may riot.”

3 While he was in Bethany, reclining at the table in the home of Simon the Leper, a woman came with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, made of pure nard. She broke the jar and poured the perfume on his head.

John identifies this woman as Mary, the sister of Martha and Lazarus. She is not to be confused with the sinful woman who anointed Jesus’ feet with perfume and then wiped her tears from his feet with her hair. (See Luke 7: 37 for that story.) In this Scripture, she is observed by others who are dining at Simon the Leper’s home, and they are highly critical of her actions.

4 Some of those present were saying indignantly to one another, “Why this waste of perfume? 5 It could have been sold for more than a year’s wages and the money given to the poor.” And they rebuked her harshly.

Now remember which Mary this is. This is Lazarus’ sister, who observed Jesus’ resurrecting her brother from the dead. This Mary rebuked Jesus for being late when she sent for him to come and heal her ailing brother, arriving after he had died. This Mary put her understanding of Jesus’ power in a very small box, thinking that once her brother was gone, it was over. This Mary then watched as Jesus called Lazarus to come out of the grave, proving that Jesus was the resurrection and the LIFE. So Mary knew what to do. She anointed Jesus’ body for the burial that was impending, in the full hope and expectation of the resurrection that he had promised.

6 “Leave her alone,” said Jesus. “Why are you bothering her? She has done a beautiful thing to me. 7 The poor you will always have with you, and you can help them any time you want. But you will not always have me. 8 She did what she could. She poured perfume on my body beforehand to prepare for my burial. 9 Truly I tell you, wherever the gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her.”

10 Then Judas Iscariot, one of the Twelve, went to the chief priests to betray Jesus to them. 11 They were delighted to hear this and promised to give him money. So he watched for an opportunity to hand him over.

Mary’s example encourages us to take action. To not waste time planning, talking, arguing, and debating (I’m looking at you, church committees!) but simply to do.

What is Jesus calling you to do today?

Don’t say a word.

Just do it.

Talk Less by Becky Strickland

To-Do Lists

Posted on by Betsy

In the year A.D. 403 a 16-year-old Christian boy from Wales was abducted by pirates and taken to Ireland where he was enslaved for five years. Eventually he escaped from this exile and joined a monastery in southern France. There he changed his name to Patrick and intended to live out his life as a monk.

But at the age of 45, God called Patrick to return to Ireland and carry the gospel to his former oppressors. Patrick went and invested the remainder of his life in serving the Irish. During the next 31 years he baptized more than 120,000 people as Christians.

In Ireland they still say of Patrick that “he found Ireland all heathen and he left it all Christian.” The church made him a saint.

While he was in his Irish exile, St. Patrick prayed for his enemies. He prayed for the prosperity of the land where he was trapped. In that exile, St. Patrick evangelized a nation. In his exile, he GOT TO WORK.

Our passage today is a letter to the Hebrew exiles in Babylon written by the prophet Jeremiah, who remained in Jerusalem. They must have been excited to receive a letter from home in their strange and foreign land! I imagine they were hoping to catch up on all the news and maybe receive a word of encouragement about God’s imminent deliverance.

Instead, they got a to-do list.

Jeremiah 29  (New International Version)

This is the text of the letter that the prophet Jeremiah sent from Jerusalem to the surviving elders among the exiles and to the priests, the prophets and all the other people Nebuchadnezzar had carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon. It said:

4 This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says to all those I carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: 5 “Build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce. 6 Marry and have sons and daughters; find wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage, so that they too may have sons and daughters. Increase in number there; do not decrease.

Wait, come again? We’re stuck here waiting for rescue and you want us to settle down? Build houses? Marry off our children?? 

To the estranged and hopeless diaspora, this letter must have come as quite a shock. Then it gets worse.

 7 Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper.”

So in the midst of their despair, Jeremiah instructs them to pray for their oppressor. To pray for their unwanted city. To pray for the people who are holding them captive. And in thus praying, they would also seek peace.

This abrupt message to the exiles is a good lesson for us today. Our communities live in exiles of their own making based on political divisions that have eroded our oneness. We don’t love our neighbors like we used to, based on the flags they fly and the bumper stickers they sport. Many are estranged from their extended families and even our water cooler chats at work are fraught with danger. What to do?

Build. 

Plan. 

Adapt. 

Pray. 

Seek peace in places that you aren’t expecting to find it.

Get to work!

At the appointed time, the exiles were returned to the comfort of their homes. At the appointed time, we too will be delivered from our political exiles. In the meantime, get to work on evangelizing like Patrick, planning like Jeremiah, and loving like Jesus.

Ospreys at Work by Michelle Robertson

Thank You!

Posted on by Betsy

As we’ve been studying the openings to the letters of Paul over the last few weeks, it is striking how every single time he begins with a word of thanksgiving for the people in his churches. He truly appreciated their support, faithfulness, their partnering in ministry with him, and their witness.

This will be a shorter devotional today, as I am celebrating a milestone that you all provided. Earlier in the week, my website at WordPress sent me this message: “Congratulations! You have just published your 1,000th post.”

How crazy is that?? And it’s all because of you. If I didn’t have your faithful support, your comments, and especially those of you who share my devotionals on your social media platforms, At Water’s Edge would never exist. Writers can’t write without readers. You are the reason I write.

You are important to me, and I thank each and every one of you.

On to the next thousand! Let’s do this together.

Philippians 1: 3-5 (Common English Bible)

3 I thank my God every time I mention you in my prayers. 4 I’m thankful for all of you every time I pray, and it’s always a prayer full of joy. 5 I’m glad because of the way you have been my partners in the ministry of the gospel from the time you first believed it until now.

God Bless you all!

Betsy

Dirty Feet

Posted on by Betsy

Have you ever participated in a foot washing? It can be a lovely and symbolic event or an uncomfortable experience, depending on your perspective. When you know it is part of the program you are attending, you are likely to think about the condition of your feet as you get ready for the event. Footwear, clean socks, pedicures, or even a quick soap and water rinsing before you leave might be part of your preparation. If a foot washing is a “surprise” part of a spiritual event, you may have experienced some anxiety in the moment. I remember attending a clergy retreat back in the day where the male leader excitedly announced that we would end our session by washing each other’s feet, causing much consternation to the women in the room who were wearing pantyhose. But in any case, the ritual foot washing we may experience in a church or retreat setting is not like the foot washing we read about the 13th chapter of John.

Of course the most striking difference is the position that our Lord took in the foot washing ritual:

John 13 (Common English Bible)

2 Jesus and his disciples were sharing the evening meal. The devil had already provoked Judas, Simon Iscariot’s son, to betray Jesus. 3 Jesus knew the Father had given everything into his hands and that he had come from God and was returning to God. 4 So he got up from the table and took off his robes. Picking up a linen towel, he tied it around his waist. 5 Then he poured water into a washbasin and began to wash the disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel he was wearing. 6 When Jesus came to Simon Peter, Peter said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?”

In that time, it was common for a house servant to provide a foot washing as soon as the guests arrived. This did not happen at this dinner, and so the disciples gathered around the low table and began the meal. Mind you, feet were extremely dirty in those days. Everyone walked everywhere in open toed sandals. The roads and passageways were less than hygienic, and it was likely that feet encountered all manner of refuse, mud, animal droppings … well, you get the picture. We also know that this meal was served at table a known as a triclinium. This was a low U-shaped table, about the height of a coffee table. Because the table was low, they didn’t sit on chairs. They leaned on pillows, with their feet behind them. Their unwashed feet were easily seen and perhaps easily smelled as well.

And so in the midst of this, Jesus quietly got up, left the room, and returned clad only in a towel. Then he went around the table and washed the grime, dirt, and unmentionable gunk from his disciples’ feet.

His actions confused the disciples and Peter objected for a while. But Jesus then gave them one of the greatest lessons of all time, which is an important lesson to us as well. It was intended to settle their previous argument about who among them was the greatest: 24 An argument broke out among the disciples over which one of them should be regarded as the greatest (Luke 22:24). Jesus showed them in no uncertain terms what “greatness” was really all about.

12 After he washed the disciples’ feet, he put on his robes and returned to his place at the table. He said to them, “Do you know what I’ve done for you? 13 You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and you speak correctly, because I am.14 If I, your Lord and teacher, have washed your feet, you too must wash each other’s feet. 15 I have given you an example: Just as I have done, you also must do.”

The Master washing the feet of the servants who wash the feet of each other. This lesson in humility is one that we seemed to have missed. The “my theology is purer than your theology” crowd would do well to read this again. Surely we grieve God with all of our denominational posturing and our holier-than-thou attitudes. You think you’re great? Try getting on your knees and washing the unwashed for a season. Then we’ll talk about greatness.

Where is Jesus calling you to humble yourself before him? Is there an act of ministry that makes you squirm, even as you recognize its vital importance to the kingdom? Have you been on a high horse about the righteousness of your beliefs?

Remember the one who truly was the greatest and how he abased himself in order to teach us how to serve and love one another. That humility enabled the Son of God to submit to his arrest, beating, torture, and death on a cross for you.

Thanks be to God. 

The Father Has Given Everything by Hannah Cornish

You Are Forgiven

Posted on by Betsy

What is the biggest thing you have forgiven? Was it a cheating spouse? A rebellious child? An unfair decision that went against you? A friend’s betrayal? A lost library book?

Wait … what?

The New York Times wrote an article on a new program that the Worcester Public Library in Massachusetts just announced called “March Meowness.” This is a program of forgiveness. Anyone who has lost a book or failed to return a book to the library is forgiven if they bring a photo, drawing, or magazine clipping of a cat and get their library card reactivated. So not only is the lost book forgiven, but the library opens the door to return by making reactivating your library card part of the deal. Now that’s forgiveness!

In the 9th chapter of Matthew, Jesus models prayer for us. This is what he said:

 Matthew 9 (Common English Bible)

Pray like this:

Our Father who is in heaven,

uphold the holiness of your name.

10 Bring in your kingdom

so that your will is done on earth as it’s done in heaven.

11 Give us the bread we need for today.

12 Forgive us for the ways we have wronged you,

just as we also forgive those who have wronged us.

13 And don’t lead us into temptation,

but rescue us from the evil one.

Look again at verse 12. It states a petition to be forgiven JUST AS WE ALSO FORGIVE. Clearly Jesus is setting up an expectation that our being forgiven is dependent on the forgiveness that we extend to others. That is a wake-up call to those of us still holding grudges and refusing to bend. You may never be able to welcome that person back into your life, but Jesus’ words make clear the need to forgive them if you expect your Lord to forgive you. Sometimes this is a bitter pill to swallow. But remember that grudge-holding makes you the prisoner, not your offender. Being able to forgive and let go of a grievance can set you free.

The trajectory that Lent takes is a sober and reflective journey toward the cross. It was at the cross that Jesus died for our sins, reminding us of that ultimate sacrifice that bought unfathomable forgiveness if we repent and return to God. Our communion liturgy contains the words “In the name of Jesus Christ, you are forgiven”. Every day the gift of forgiveness is offered to us without price. Every day we have the opportunity to offer that same gift to others in Jesus’ name.

Do you need to be forgiven today? Start by forgiving.

From Twitter

By Our Love

Posted on by Betsy

Growing up in the United Methodist Church, I spent a lot of time in VBS and Youth Group settings where singing was the norm. I like to sing, so this brought me great joy, even when the songs weren’t all that good. One in particular comes to mind: Not that the lyrics were bad, but the tune was a bit dreary and dirge-like. “And They’ll Know We Are Christians by Our Love” was written by a Catholic priest in the 1960’s and became very popular, despite its f-minor tune. Do you know this song?

We are one in the Spirit, we are one in the Lord
We are one in the Spirit, we are one in the Lord
And we pray that our unity will one day be restored
And they’ll know we are Christians by our love, by our love
Yeah they’ll know we are Christians by our love

We will work with each other, we will work side by side
We will work with each other, we will work side by side
And we’ll guard each man’s dignity and save each man’s pride
And they’ll know we are Christians by our love, by our love
Yeah, they’ll know we are Christians by our love.

Paul makes the same point to the church in Thessalonica. He encourages them to stand their ground in their faith and be strengthened in their love for each other:

1 Thessalonians 3 (Common English Bible)

1So when we couldn’t stand it any longer, we thought it was a good idea to stay on in Athens by ourselves, 2 and we sent you Timothy, who is our brother and God’s coworker in the good news about Christ. We sent him to strengthen and encourage you in your faithfulness. 3 We didn’t want any of you to be shaken by these problems. You know very well that we were meant to go through this. 4 In fact, when we were with you, we kept on predicting that we were going to face problems exactly like what happened, as you know. 5 That’s why I sent Timothy to find out about your faithfulness when I couldn’t stand it anymore. I was worried that the tempter might have tempted you so that our work would have been a waste of time. 6 Now Timothy has returned to us from you and has given us good news about your faithfulness and love! He says that you always have good memories about us and that you want to see us as much as we want to see you. 7 Because of this, brothers and sisters, we were encouraged in all our distress and trouble through your faithfulness. 

8 For now we are alive if you are standing your ground in the Lord. 9 How can we thank God enough for you, given all the joy we have because of you before our God? 10 Night and day, we pray more than ever to see all of you in person and to complete whatever you still need for your faith. 11 Now may our God and Father himself and our Lord Jesus guide us on our way back to you. 12 May the Lord cause you to increase and enrich your love for each other and for everyone in the same way as we also love you. 13 May the love cause your hearts to be strengthened, to be blameless in holiness before our God and Father when our Lord Jesus comes with all his people. Amen.

 Look again at those last two verses: “May the Lord cause you to increase and enrich your love for each other and for everyone in the same way as we also love you. 13 May the love cause your hearts to be strengthened, to be blameless in holiness before our God and Father when our Lord Jesus comes with all his people” (1 Thessalonians 3:12,13). We are immediately reminded of the fact that love is an essential mark of the Christian faith. Jesus says it succinctly: “This is how everyone will know that you are my disciples, when you love each other” (John 13:35). Without love, we have no witness. Without holiness, we have no hope. We understand holiness to be a condition of being set apart from the world and for God and God alone. Truly this church was already experiencing alienation from their community and their neighbors, who persisted in their false idol worship. But holiness requires that we don’t look, act, behave, or think like the rest of the world.

John Wesley had a lot to say about our need for holiness. He understood holiness to be part of the way of salvation that begins with God’s wooing us through prevenient grace and ending in a state of “Christian perfection,” a phrase that describes the life-long process of justification, sanctification, and holiness. Wesley defined holiness this way: “It is purity of intention, dedicating all the life to God. It is the giving God all our heart; it is one desire and design ruling all our tempers. It is the devoting, not a part, but all, our soul, body, and substance to God.”

 Paul’s encouragement to continue their work in becoming blameless in their holiness is directly connected with his encouragement about the Second Coming. It is a good reminder to us, as we strive for that same alienation from secular behaviors and temptations, to keep our eyes looking forward and heavenward to the coming of Christ.

We live in a time when un-Christian things are being done in the name of “Christianity.” Purity of heart and intention are more important than ever if we are to woo the world for the sake of Christ. Look at your own behavior: Do people know you are Christian by your love? Are we really one in the spirit? Does our unity need to be restored?

May we be encouraged by Paul’s words today to act in ways that show the love of Christ in everything we think, say, do, and post.

By His Love by Kathy Schumacher

Imitation Game

Posted on by Betsy

It is said that imitation is the most sincere form of flattery. I suppose that is true, as it means you have something so appealing, others want to emulate it and have it for themselves. In second grade, I liked my friend’s cat-eye glasses so much, I insisted to my mother that I needed glasses, too. My mild astigmatism allowed an eager eye doctor to fulfill my request, and I was thrilled. I looked sharp and I knew it! Now, when I see the school picture from that year, I wonder what in the world I was thinking!

We are going to look at 1 Thessalonians 1 again today, this time from The Message:

1 Thessalonians 1 (The Message)

2-5 Every time we think of you, we thank God for you. Day and night you’re in our prayers as we call to mind your work of faith, your labor of love, and your patience of hope in following our Master, Jesus Christ, before God our Father. It is clear to us, friends, that God not only loves you very much but also has put his hand on you for something special. When the Message we preached came to you, it wasn’t just words. Something happened in you. The Holy Spirit put steel in your convictions.

5-6 You paid careful attention to the way we lived among you, and determined to live that way yourselves. In imitating us, you imitated the Master. Although great trouble accompanied the Word, you were able to take great joy from the Holy Spirit!—taking the trouble with the joy, the joy with the trouble.

Paul’s comment that the church had become “imitators” of his work is not Paul arrogantly patting himself on the back. Indeed, their imitation of him to accept the joy that came along with suffering is a direct compliment to their work on behalf of the message they had all received and accepted. Thus his praising them for imitating him was simply a nod from teacher to students that they had learned well and aced their exams. Their actions were praise-worthy as they stood in direct opposition to the people of Thessalonica, who worshipped national and local gods. To be a people who stand against a strong cultural norm is a difficult thing.

The modern church experiences this when it calls out the idol worship of politicians, political agendas that contradict Scripture, celebrity infatuation, and social media vitriol. Is there suffering when we stand up for what’s right? Yes. Do our actions imitate our forefathers and foremothers who also stood against injustice and evil? Yes. We, like the church of Thessalonica, are invited to become imitators, not imitations. Look again at our verse 6: “You became imitators of us and of the Lord when you accepted the message that came from the Holy Spirit with joy in spite of great suffering.” Can there be any better calling than to imitate a great apostle and the Lord, empowered by the Holy Spirit? I think not.

Paul invites us to “imitate me, just as I also imitate Christ” (1 Corinthians 11:1). The Thessalonians then went on to become examples to all in Macedonia and Achaia (verse 7) and thus the imitation game continued. Thessalonica was a metropolitan trading center, giving them the opportunity to effectively sound forth the good news to every region.

Lent is a season of imitation. We wake up every morning and ponder what Jesus would do with the day. How are you imitating Christ in your life? If it were a crime to be a Christian, would there be enough evidence in your life to convict you? May we imitate him so effectively, people know to Whom we belong just by watching.

Day and Night by David Jones