Good afternoon friends,
I hope you're enjoying this wonderful weather. Our passage today wraps up the story of the church leader's first conference to decide how to welcome gentiles into the church. Having listened to each other and decided that gentiles could become Christians without following the whole law of Moses, they send a letter to share that news with the communities of new believers. Maybe this is the first church newsletter.
God bless,
Sam
Acts 15:22-31
22Then the apostles and the elders, with the consent of the whole church, decided to choose men from among their members and to send them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas. They sent Judas called Barsabbas, and Silas, leaders among the brothers, 23with the following letter: “The brothers, both the apostles and the elders, to the believers of Gentile origin in Antioch and Syria and Cilicia, greetings.
24Since we have heard that certain persons who have gone out from us, though with no instructions from us, have said things to disturb you and have unsettled your minds, 25we have decided unanimously to choose representatives and send them to you, along with our beloved Barnabas and Paul, 26who have risked their lives for the sake of our Lord Jesus Christ. 27We have therefore sent Judas and Silas, who themselves will tell you the same things by word of mouth.
28For it has seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to impose on you no further burden than these essentials: 29that you abstain from what has been sacrificed to idols and from blood and from what is strangled and from fornication. If you keep yourselves from these, you will do well. Farewell.” 30So they were sent off and went down to Antioch. When they gathered the congregation together, they delivered the letter. 31When its members read it, they rejoiced at the exhortation.
Showing posts with label rules. Show all posts
Showing posts with label rules. Show all posts
Sunday, June 1, 2014
Wednesday, March 26, 2014
healing blindness, part 2
Good evening friends,
In today's section we see the religious leaders struggling to understand Jesus. On one hand, they see a powerful miracle, but on the other hand, they see him breaking the rules about the Sabbath that they hold so dear. They can't quite figure out how to balance it all out. At the same time, they try to control the conversation with fear. Religion shouldn't be about fear and control, but about faithfulness, community and love.
In today's section we see the religious leaders struggling to understand Jesus. On one hand, they see a powerful miracle, but on the other hand, they see him breaking the rules about the Sabbath that they hold so dear. They can't quite figure out how to balance it all out. At the same time, they try to control the conversation with fear. Religion shouldn't be about fear and control, but about faithfulness, community and love.
God bless,
Sam
Sam
John 9:13-23
13They brought to the Pharisees the man who had formerly been blind.14Now it was a sabbath day when Jesus made the mud and opened his eyes. 15Then the Pharisees also began to ask him how he had received his sight. He said to them, “He put mud on my eyes. Then I washed, and now I see.” 16Some of the Pharisees said, “This man is not from God, for he does not observe the sabbath.” But others said, “How can a man who is a sinner perform such signs?” And they were divided. 1
7So they said again to the blind man, “What do you say about him? It was your eyes he opened.” He said, “He is a prophet.” 18The Jews did not believe that he had been blind and had received his sight until they called the parents of the man who had received his sight 19and asked them, “Is this your son, who you say was born blind? How then does he now see?” 20His parents answered, “We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind; 21but we do not know how it is that now he sees, nor do we know who opened his eyes. Ask him; he is of age. He will speak for himself.”22His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jews; for the Jews had already agreed that anyone who confessed Jesus to be the Messiah would be put out of the synagogue. 23Therefore his parents said, “He is of age; ask him.”
Saturday, November 9, 2013
chafing against the rules
Good afternoon sisters and brothers,
Today's reading is also our main sermon text for worship tomorrow. It's a favorite for me because Paul gets at the heart of our religious rules (other rules too, for that matter). We often feel trapped by rules or feel like we don't need them because we know what its right. That instinct is correct: we don't need rules when we really follow our best self. The trouble is a lot of the time we know what's right but we have a hard time doing it. The rules are their to remind us when we aren't being our best self. They aren't to trap us, but to guide us, to discourage us from leaving the path that our best self wants to follow.
blessings on your walk today,
Sam
Romans 7:14-25
14For we know that the law is spiritual; but I am of the flesh, sold into slavery under sin. 15I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. 16Now if I do what I do not want, I agree that the law is good. 17But in fact it is no longer I that do it, but sin that dwells within me. 18For I know that nothing good dwells within me, that is, in my flesh. I can will what is right, but I cannot do it. 19For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do.
20Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I that do it, but sin that dwells within me. 21So I find it to be a law that when I want to do what is good, evil lies close at hand. 22For I delight in the law of God in my inmost self, 23but I see in my members another law at war with the law of my mind, making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. 24Wretched man that I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? 25Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, with my mind I am a slave to the law of God, but with my flesh I am a slave to the law of sin.
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
marriage and divorce
Good morning brothers and sisters,
This morning's reading is sort of cool for the small group reading the Bible together, because we just read the passages Jesus is quoting (Genesis 1 and 2). The religious leaders ask Jesus if one can divorce his wife for any reason (at that time a man could divorce his wife but not the other way around). Apparently there was debate among experts in the Law about whether one could divorce his wife for any reason (one scholar suggested burning dinner was enough of a reason) or if some specific threshold had to be met.
Jesus, as usual, turns the question upside down. He talks not about rules and regulations, but the purpose of marriage. The point of marriage is for two people to join their lives together permanently and share the whole journey. The rules governing divorce came because make a mess of things (especially relationships). We've changed in our thinking as a church, recognizing that there are times when a relationship hurts rather than builds us up. Jesus is uncompromising and even suggests in private to his disciples that for those who have the gift of staying single, that may be a blessing in their spiritual lives (Paul says the same thing). As a church (nationally) we have compromised on this, and that can be a good thing. The important thing is to remember that the point of marriage is lifelong commitment, but like the law of Moses recognizes, when that commitment can't work a legal divorce that protects both parties is better than putting the first spouse aside at will.
Even though Jesus seems harsh here, we also know that he welcomes everyone. Even if our marriages and other parts of our lives haven't gone according to plan, God will always give us a fresh start. God's purposes can be hard to work out in our lives, but Jesus example in going back to the root of things instead of the rules is a helpful guide.
blessings,
Sam
Matthew 19:1-15
When Jesus had finished saying these things, he left Galilee and went to the region of Judea beyond the Jordan. 2Large crowds followed him, and he cured them there. 3Some Pharisees came to him, and to test him they asked, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any cause?” 4He answered, “Have you not read that the one who made them at the beginning ‘made them male and female,’ 5and said, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? 6So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.”
7They said to him, “Why then did Moses command us to give a certificate of dismissal and to divorce her?” 8He said to them, “It was because you were so hard-hearted that Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so. 9And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for unchastity, and marries another commits adultery.”
10His disciples said to him, “If such is the case of a man with his wife, it is better not to marry.” 11But he said to them, “Not everyone can accept this teaching, but only those to whom it is given. 12For there are eunuchs who have been so from birth, and there are eunuchs who have been made eunuchs by others, and there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. Let anyone accept this who can.”
13Then little children were being brought to him in order that he might lay his hands on them and pray. The disciples spoke sternly to those who brought them; 14but Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of heaven belongs.” 15And he laid his hands on them and went on his way.
This morning's reading is sort of cool for the small group reading the Bible together, because we just read the passages Jesus is quoting (Genesis 1 and 2). The religious leaders ask Jesus if one can divorce his wife for any reason (at that time a man could divorce his wife but not the other way around). Apparently there was debate among experts in the Law about whether one could divorce his wife for any reason (one scholar suggested burning dinner was enough of a reason) or if some specific threshold had to be met.
Jesus, as usual, turns the question upside down. He talks not about rules and regulations, but the purpose of marriage. The point of marriage is for two people to join their lives together permanently and share the whole journey. The rules governing divorce came because make a mess of things (especially relationships). We've changed in our thinking as a church, recognizing that there are times when a relationship hurts rather than builds us up. Jesus is uncompromising and even suggests in private to his disciples that for those who have the gift of staying single, that may be a blessing in their spiritual lives (Paul says the same thing). As a church (nationally) we have compromised on this, and that can be a good thing. The important thing is to remember that the point of marriage is lifelong commitment, but like the law of Moses recognizes, when that commitment can't work a legal divorce that protects both parties is better than putting the first spouse aside at will.
Even though Jesus seems harsh here, we also know that he welcomes everyone. Even if our marriages and other parts of our lives haven't gone according to plan, God will always give us a fresh start. God's purposes can be hard to work out in our lives, but Jesus example in going back to the root of things instead of the rules is a helpful guide.
blessings,
Sam
Matthew 19:1-15
When Jesus had finished saying these things, he left Galilee and went to the region of Judea beyond the Jordan. 2Large crowds followed him, and he cured them there. 3Some Pharisees came to him, and to test him they asked, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any cause?” 4He answered, “Have you not read that the one who made them at the beginning ‘made them male and female,’ 5and said, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? 6So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.”
7They said to him, “Why then did Moses command us to give a certificate of dismissal and to divorce her?” 8He said to them, “It was because you were so hard-hearted that Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so. 9And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for unchastity, and marries another commits adultery.”
10His disciples said to him, “If such is the case of a man with his wife, it is better not to marry.” 11But he said to them, “Not everyone can accept this teaching, but only those to whom it is given. 12For there are eunuchs who have been so from birth, and there are eunuchs who have been made eunuchs by others, and there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. Let anyone accept this who can.”
13Then little children were being brought to him in order that he might lay his hands on them and pray. The disciples spoke sternly to those who brought them; 14but Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of heaven belongs.” 15And he laid his hands on them and went on his way.
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
Lord of the Sabbath
Good morning sisters and brothers,
This is one episode in the continuing conflict between Jesus and the religious leaders of Israel. They criticize Jesus and his disciples for breaking the Sabbath by plucking grain. His response doesn't reject the Sabbath, but it does reject rigid rules. He also claims to be Lord of the Sabbath. Following God can never be reduced to rules or check lists. We follow in freedom and integrity.
blessings on your week,
Sam
Matthew 12:1-8
At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the sabbath; his disciples were hungry, and they began to pluck heads of grain and to eat. 2When the Pharisees saw it, they said to him, “Look, your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the sabbath.” 3He said to them, “Have you not read what David did when he and his companions were hungry? 4He entered the house of God and ate the bread of the Presence, which it was not lawful for him or his companions to eat, but only for the priests. 5Or have you not read in the law that on the sabbath the priests in the temple break the sabbath and yet are guiltless? 6I tell you, something greater than the temple is here. 7But if you had known what this means, ‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the guiltless. 8For the Son of Man is lord of the sabbath.”
This is one episode in the continuing conflict between Jesus and the religious leaders of Israel. They criticize Jesus and his disciples for breaking the Sabbath by plucking grain. His response doesn't reject the Sabbath, but it does reject rigid rules. He also claims to be Lord of the Sabbath. Following God can never be reduced to rules or check lists. We follow in freedom and integrity.
blessings on your week,
Sam
Matthew 12:1-8
At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the sabbath; his disciples were hungry, and they began to pluck heads of grain and to eat. 2When the Pharisees saw it, they said to him, “Look, your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the sabbath.” 3He said to them, “Have you not read what David did when he and his companions were hungry? 4He entered the house of God and ate the bread of the Presence, which it was not lawful for him or his companions to eat, but only for the priests. 5Or have you not read in the law that on the sabbath the priests in the temple break the sabbath and yet are guiltless? 6I tell you, something greater than the temple is here. 7But if you had known what this means, ‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the guiltless. 8For the Son of Man is lord of the sabbath.”
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
law and sin
Good morning (or evening) sisters and brothers,
Paul has been talking about how the law used to bind us but now we are free in Christ. Today he anticipates a question: "Is the Law sin?" He firmly says it is not. In fact he recognizes God's law as holy and good. At the same time he also recognizes that the power of sin uses the law (like it uses most good things) to tempt us and capture us. The example he uses is coveting. He says he wouldn't even know what coveting was if it wasn't against the law. Once the law tells him that, sin leads him to desire all kinds of things that belong to others. Maybe you've had the same experience with kids: you tell them not to do something and it makes them want to do it so much more. The problem isn't that your rule is bad, but part of us wants to do things just because they are off limits. Of course the freedom we have in Christ can tempt us too, but that's a discussion for another day.
God bless,
Sam
Romans 7:7-14
7What then should we say? That the law is sin? By no means! Yet, if it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin. I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, “You shall not covet.” 8But sin, seizing an opportunity in the commandment, produced in me all kinds of covetousness. Apart from the law sin lies dead. 9I was once alive apart from the law, but when the commandment came, sin revived 10and I died, and the very commandment that promised life proved to be death to me. 11For sin, seizing an opportunity in the commandment, deceived me and through it killed me. 12So the law is holy, and the commandment is holy and just and good. 13Did what is good, then, bring death to me? By no means! It was sin, working death in me through what is good, in order that sin might be shown to be sin, and through the commandment might become sinful beyond measure.
14For we know that the law is spiritual; but I am of the flesh, sold into slavery under sin.
Paul has been talking about how the law used to bind us but now we are free in Christ. Today he anticipates a question: "Is the Law sin?" He firmly says it is not. In fact he recognizes God's law as holy and good. At the same time he also recognizes that the power of sin uses the law (like it uses most good things) to tempt us and capture us. The example he uses is coveting. He says he wouldn't even know what coveting was if it wasn't against the law. Once the law tells him that, sin leads him to desire all kinds of things that belong to others. Maybe you've had the same experience with kids: you tell them not to do something and it makes them want to do it so much more. The problem isn't that your rule is bad, but part of us wants to do things just because they are off limits. Of course the freedom we have in Christ can tempt us too, but that's a discussion for another day.
God bless,
Sam
Romans 7:7-14
7What then should we say? That the law is sin? By no means! Yet, if it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin. I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, “You shall not covet.” 8But sin, seizing an opportunity in the commandment, produced in me all kinds of covetousness. Apart from the law sin lies dead. 9I was once alive apart from the law, but when the commandment came, sin revived 10and I died, and the very commandment that promised life proved to be death to me. 11For sin, seizing an opportunity in the commandment, deceived me and through it killed me. 12So the law is holy, and the commandment is holy and just and good. 13Did what is good, then, bring death to me? By no means! It was sin, working death in me through what is good, in order that sin might be shown to be sin, and through the commandment might become sinful beyond measure.
14For we know that the law is spiritual; but I am of the flesh, sold into slavery under sin.
Monday, June 27, 2011
dead to law
Good morning sisters and brothers,
Saturday (and yesterday in worship) we read Paul talking about the freedom from sin to belong to God. Today he talks about being free from the Law to belong to God. As a devout Jew the Law of Moses played an important role in Paul's life. As an apostle of Jesus, Paul still respects the Law. At the same time he sees its limitations clearly. When we live trying to follow a set of rules we often find ourselves resenting the limitations and thinking less about the purpose behind those rules. Paul even says that by describing and forbidding sin, the law "arouses" sin in us by making us more aware of it. A lot of people who grow up in the church would see Christianity in the same way. Many people experience a bunch of rules that arbitrarily tell us what we can't do. That's not really our calling in Christ. In our baptism into Christ we died to the Law and to sin so we can be alive and free to follow God.
blessings on your week,
Sam
Romans 7:1-6
Do you not know, brothers and sisters—for I am speaking to those who know the law—that the law is binding on a person only during that person’s lifetime? 2Thus a married woman is bound by the law to her husband as long as he lives; but if her husband dies, she is discharged from the law concerning the husband. 3Accordingly, she will be called an adulteress if she lives with another man while her husband is alive. But if her husband dies, she is free from that law, and if she marries another man, she is not an adulteress.
4In the same way, my friends, you have died to the law through the body of Christ, so that you may belong to another, to him who has been raised from the dead in order that we may bear fruit for God. 5While we were living in the flesh, our sinful passions, aroused by the law, were at work in our members to bear fruit for death. 6But now we are discharged from the law, dead to that which held us captive, so that we are slaves not under the old written code but in the new life of the Spirit.
Saturday (and yesterday in worship) we read Paul talking about the freedom from sin to belong to God. Today he talks about being free from the Law to belong to God. As a devout Jew the Law of Moses played an important role in Paul's life. As an apostle of Jesus, Paul still respects the Law. At the same time he sees its limitations clearly. When we live trying to follow a set of rules we often find ourselves resenting the limitations and thinking less about the purpose behind those rules. Paul even says that by describing and forbidding sin, the law "arouses" sin in us by making us more aware of it. A lot of people who grow up in the church would see Christianity in the same way. Many people experience a bunch of rules that arbitrarily tell us what we can't do. That's not really our calling in Christ. In our baptism into Christ we died to the Law and to sin so we can be alive and free to follow God.
blessings on your week,
Sam
Romans 7:1-6
Do you not know, brothers and sisters—for I am speaking to those who know the law—that the law is binding on a person only during that person’s lifetime? 2Thus a married woman is bound by the law to her husband as long as he lives; but if her husband dies, she is discharged from the law concerning the husband. 3Accordingly, she will be called an adulteress if she lives with another man while her husband is alive. But if her husband dies, she is free from that law, and if she marries another man, she is not an adulteress.
4In the same way, my friends, you have died to the law through the body of Christ, so that you may belong to another, to him who has been raised from the dead in order that we may bear fruit for God. 5While we were living in the flesh, our sinful passions, aroused by the law, were at work in our members to bear fruit for death. 6But now we are discharged from the law, dead to that which held us captive, so that we are slaves not under the old written code but in the new life of the Spirit.
Monday, July 26, 2010
fasting and humility
Good morning all,
This morning's reading continues Paul's train of thought about finding our center in Christ, not in "elemental spirits" or in other powers. There's some uncertainty what the term "elemental spirits" means but it seems to have to do with spirits associated with stars or elements of the world (earth, air, fire, water). As we see in today's reading there also seems to have been teachings floating around in Colossae that encouraged ascetic practices (fasting, dietary restrictions, etc.).
It's interesting to see Paul's response to these ideas since he has a reputation as a pretty strict person, and elsewhere he had nothing good to say about excessive food or drink. Paul's point is that what matters is holding fast to Christ. Food is neither good nor bad; fasting is neither good nor bad in itself. The question is what leads us to lean more on Christ and to live by his light. That's a good guideline in general for us, along with how our actions impact others.
God bless you as you start the new week,
Sam
Colossians 2:16-23
16Therefore do not let anyone condemn you in matters of food and drink or of observing festivals, new moons, or sabbaths. 17These are only a shadow of what is to come, but the substance belongs to Christ. 18Do not let anyone disqualify you, insisting on self-abasement and worship of angels, dwelling on visions, puffed up without cause by a human way of thinking, 19and not holding fast to the head, from whom the whole body, nourished and held together by its ligaments and sinews, grows with a growth that is from God.
20If with Christ you died to the elemental spirits of the universe, why do you live as if you still belonged to the world? Why do you submit to regulations, 21“Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch”? 22All these regulations refer to things that perish with use; they are simply human commands and teachings. 23These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-imposed piety, humility, and severe treatment of the body, but they are of no value in checking self-indulgence.
This morning's reading continues Paul's train of thought about finding our center in Christ, not in "elemental spirits" or in other powers. There's some uncertainty what the term "elemental spirits" means but it seems to have to do with spirits associated with stars or elements of the world (earth, air, fire, water). As we see in today's reading there also seems to have been teachings floating around in Colossae that encouraged ascetic practices (fasting, dietary restrictions, etc.).
It's interesting to see Paul's response to these ideas since he has a reputation as a pretty strict person, and elsewhere he had nothing good to say about excessive food or drink. Paul's point is that what matters is holding fast to Christ. Food is neither good nor bad; fasting is neither good nor bad in itself. The question is what leads us to lean more on Christ and to live by his light. That's a good guideline in general for us, along with how our actions impact others.
God bless you as you start the new week,
Sam
Colossians 2:16-23
16Therefore do not let anyone condemn you in matters of food and drink or of observing festivals, new moons, or sabbaths. 17These are only a shadow of what is to come, but the substance belongs to Christ. 18Do not let anyone disqualify you, insisting on self-abasement and worship of angels, dwelling on visions, puffed up without cause by a human way of thinking, 19and not holding fast to the head, from whom the whole body, nourished and held together by its ligaments and sinews, grows with a growth that is from God.
20If with Christ you died to the elemental spirits of the universe, why do you live as if you still belonged to the world? Why do you submit to regulations, 21“Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch”? 22All these regulations refer to things that perish with use; they are simply human commands and teachings. 23These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-imposed piety, humility, and severe treatment of the body, but they are of no value in checking self-indulgence.
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