more end thoughts

Good morning brothers and sisters,
Jesus continues his discussion of the "end of the age" in our passage for today. The big take away point to me is that the end will be scary and sudden, but God also takes our needs into account. It will also be a blessing because with the end, God's kingdom comes in power and everything will be made right. We can't predict the end, and Jesus himself felt it would come sooner than it has. We know God doesn't see time the same way we do.

The important thing when we think about judgment and the conclusion of history is that God will bring it at the right time. The appropriate attitude for us is trust because the end of time is in God's hands and God is more loving than we can imagine. There's also an appropriate level of urgency for our ministry because regardless of when the end comes, each day might be our last, so there's no point in waiting to do what we know we are called to do. Also, every day people we know face the day without the hope and joy that comes from knowing Christ. Today God might put an opportunity in your path to share a glimpse of that hope and love with someone.

God bless,
Sam

Matthew 24:12-22

¹²And because of the increase of lawlessness, the love of many will grow cold.¹³But the one who endures to the end will be saved. ¹⁴And this good news of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the world, as a testimony to all the nations; and then the end will come.

¹⁵“So when you see the desolating sacrilege standing in the holy place, as was spoken of by the prophet Daniel (let the reader understand), ¹⁶then those in Judea must flee to the mountains; ¹⁷the one on the housetop must not go down to take what is in the house; ¹⁸the one in the field must not turn back to get a coat. ¹⁹Woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing infants in those days! ²⁰Pray that your flight may not be in winter or on a sabbath. ²¹For at that time there will be great suffering, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, and never will be. ²²And if those days had not been cut short, no one would be saved; but for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short.

Philippian greeting

Good morning sisters and brothers,
Today we begin the short and sweet letter of Paul to the Philippians. Right away you'll notice the intimacy and care of Paul's tone towards the church in Philippi. This is one of the letters written during Paul's imprisonment, which makes him particularly reflective about his life and ministry. You'll also notice that twice he talks about the "day of Christ," by which he means the time when Christ returns to bring history to its conclusion. For Paul and many other early Christians the assumption was that the end of time was approaching rapidly. That gives his ministry an urgency because he felt there wasn't much time to get the gospel out to people. Paul also expects the Philippians to grow in faith and become more spiritually mature. I think we often think about faith in terms of maintenance and constancy, but really our faith should change us day by day and year by year. Next year we should be stronger in our faith than we are today. What do you need to grow in your faith in this coming year?

God bless,
Sam

Philippians 1:1-11

Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus, To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi, with the bishops and deacons: 2Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.



3I thank my God every time I remember you, 4constantly praying with joy in every one of my prayers for all of you, 5because of your sharing in the gospel from the first day until now. 6I am confident of this, that the one who began a good work among you will bring it to completion by the day of Jesus Christ. 7It is right for me to think this way about all of you, because you hold me in your heart, for all of you share in God’s grace with me, both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel. 8For God is my witness, how I long for all of you with the compassion of Christ Jesus.



9And this is my prayer, that your love may overflow more and more with knowledge and full insight 10to help you to determine what is best, so that in the day of Christ you may be pure and blameless, 11having produced the harvest of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ for the glory and praise of God.

devotion and the end

Good morning sisters and brothers,
Here Paul gets into thinking outside where God has specifically led him, and he's honest about that. One of the keys to understanding Paul's perspective on practical matters like marriage shows itself here. Here, he explains his thinking, "in view of the impending crisis, " and, "the appointed time is short." What he means in both cases is that the end of history is rapidly approaching. That was a conviction that not only Paul but all of the early Christian leaders held tightly. We can see why thinking the world would end in a month or a year would change the way we thought about marriage.

When Paul talks about being single as preferable, he's thinking only about how to make the best use of the short time we have left to proclaim the good news. Today, we have to take Paul's view with a grain of salt, because two thousand years later the world is still turning and the rent will still probably be due next month. At the same time, we have a lot to learn from Paul's sense of urgency. After all, tomorrow will be someone's last day. We never know how much time we have left, so married or single, let's make the most of it for ministry.

God bless,
Sam

1 Corinthians 7:25-35

25Now concerning virgins, I have no command of the Lord, but I give my opinion as one who by the Lord’s mercy is trustworthy. 26I think that, in view of the impending crisis, it is well for you to remain as you are. 27Are you bound to a wife? Do not seek to be free. Are you free from a wife? Do not seek a wife. 28But if you marry, you do not sin, and if a virgin marries, she does not sin. Yet those who marry will experience distress in this life, and I would spare you that.


29I mean, brothers and sisters, the appointed time has grown short; from now on, let even those who have wives be as though they had none, 30and those who mourn as though they were not mourning, and those who rejoice as though they were not rejoicing, and those who buy as though they had no possessions, 31and those who deal with the world as though they had no dealings with it. For the present form of this world is passing away.


32I want you to be free from anxieties. The unmarried man is anxious about the affairs of the Lord, how to please the Lord; 33but the married man is anxious about the affairs of the world, how to please his wife, 34and his interests are divided. And the unmarried woman and the virgin are anxious about the affairs of the Lord, so that they may be holy in body and spirit; but the married woman is anxious about the affairs of the world, how to please her husband. 35I say this for your own benefit, not to put any restraint upon you, but to promote good order and unhindered devotion to the Lord.

actively keeping commandments

Good morning friends,
The thing that struck me in today's reading was right in the middle: "I hurry and do not delay to keep your commandments." Two things struck me about this line in particular. The first is that keeping the commandments is an active process. We often think of commandments in the sense of "Thou shalt not..." In other words we think of keeping the commandments as avoiding certain kinds of behavior: not stealing, not killing, etc. This passage encourages us to see righteousness and commandment keeping as things that we actively do: work for justice, love our neighbor in action, seek God's will for our decisions, and so on.

The other thing that struck me is that I have a long way to go here. I don't hurry and I often delay in keeping God's commandments. The session has been reading a great book in our meetings called I Refuse to Lead a Dying Church. The chapters each outline and important choice the church needs to make to grow strong and healthy. This last chapter is called "Choosing now over later." It gives all the excuses churches make about why the should wait to make needed changes, when in fact, often the passing of time makes those changes harder to make later than they are now. The same thing happens in our personal faith, at least in mine: I make excuses why later would be a better time to follow Christ more nearly. Maybe next year will be easier financially and I can live in a more sacrificial way then. I have a lot on my plate right now, later when things calm down I can start reading the Bible regularly. Our book shared a quote from "Martin Luther King's Letter from a Birmingham Jail" that effectively rephrases this line of the psalm and calls us to action today: "The time is always ripe to do what is right."

Amen, and may God bless our active discipleship today,
Sam

Psalm 119:57-64

57The Lord is my portion; I promise to keep your words.
58I implore your favor with all my heart; be gracious to me according to your promise.
59When I think of your ways, I turn my feet to your decrees;
60I hurry and do not delay to keep your commandments.
61Though the cords of the wicked ensnare me, I do not forget your law.
62At midnight I rise to praise you, because of your righteous ordinances.
63I am a companion of all who fear you, of those who keep your precepts.
64The earth, O Lord, is full of your steadfast love; teach me your statutes.