Lenten study 2007 - Day thirty-four
March 31, 2007
Colossians 3:15 - Let the peace of Christ be in control of your heart (for you were in fact called as one body to this peace), and be thankful.
I need to be reminded that my “natural” state is one of contentment, not of anxiety, which sneaks in so easily. Some day I should make a word study of contentment, joy, happiness, and peace. I believe there are some crucial distinctions to be made.
John 16:33 I have told you these things so that in me you may have peace. In the world you have trouble and suffering, but take courage, I have conquered the world.
It sure doesn’t seem like it at times. This is a Bible promise that I must take on faith, and having done that, consider it a done deal.
Last word: This peace seems to flood in when I most need it, when I am not in my “natural” state at all.
Lenten study 2007 - Day thirty-two
March 29, 2007
Colossians 3:14 - And to all these virtues add love, which is the perfect bond.
The “bond” here refers to the bond of love within the Christian community and in particular, the Christian congregation and family. The fact that agape love is the perfect bond necessarily means that it will always be in short supply in an imperfect world — even within the church. Perhaps especially within the church, given the high expectations of our Lord,
That the bond of love is sometimes sorely tested should not be a source of discouragement, only a cause for humility before a very patient God.
Lenten study 2007 - Day thirty-one
March 28, 2007
Continuing Colossians 3:13 - Just as the Lord has forgiven you, so also forgive others.
The world tries to convince me that Jesus is no more than a good and wise ethical teacher. As I read Scripture it didn’t take long for me to see that Jesus’ teaching goes far beyond mere ethics. Consider these words of the Teacher:
Luke 17:3-4 Watch yourselves! If your brother sins, rebuke him. If he repents, forgive him. Even if he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times returns to you saying, ‘I repent,’ you must forgive him.”
In this verse, the Master is teaching his disciples to hold each other accountable. Defying ethical common sense, Jesus told them (and tells me) to always take a Christian brother’s repentance at face value, and forgive him.
If he sins, rebuke him. If he repents, forgive him. That’s not too hard to understand.
Last word: Since God accepts my repentance and forgives me, how can I not do the same for my brother or sister in Christ?
Lenten study 2007 - Day thirty
March 27, 2007
Continuing with Colossians 3:13 - if someone happens to have a complaint against anyone else.
If? I don’t know who first said “he doesn’t suffer fools gladly,” but that shoe uncomfortably fits me. Looking back over these snippets from Colossians 3:13, I think of how Jesus patiently suffered his disciples, who were continually playing the fool.
Mark 10:35-38 Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to him and said, … “Permit one of us to sit at your right hand and the other at your left in your glory.” But Jesus said to them, “You don’t know what you are asking!
It seems to me that when I have a complaint against another I am “playing the fool.”
Last word: I hope that Jesus is as patient with me as he was with the sons of Zebedee.
Lenten study 2007 - Day twenty-nine
March 26, 2007
Colossians 3:13 - Bearing with one another and forgiving one another,
I sometimes (not too often) yearn for a monk’s life with little contact with family, friends, and neighbors. Nothing to do but commune with God . Then these words from verse 13 of Colossians 3 bring me back to reality, where I belong. Otherwise, why would Jesus say,
Matthew 5:9 “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called the children of God.”
The cross hanging at the front of our sanctuary reminds me of the two dimensions of my life hidden with Christ in God. I am to balance my vertical relationship with God with my horizontal relationship with those around me, which brings me right back to today’s verse snippet.
Last word: Forbearance and forgiveness, forbearance and forgiveness, forbearance and … . (Sigh)
The future of books
March 24, 2007
I don’t have time to digest this interesting article in the Online Economist, so I’ll just link to it here for you to read (and comment, I hope).
The future of books | Not bound by anything | Economist.com
IN SECRET locations and using secret methods, human beings are scanning lots and lots of books for Google, the world’s largest web-search company. That humans are involved is beyond doubt (fingers are visible in the corners of many pages on books.google.com) although this is uncharacteristic of Google, which has a fetish for purist technology.
… As books go digital, new questions, both philosophical and commercial, arise. How, physically, will people read books in future? Will technology “unbind” books, as it has unbundled other media, such as music albums? Will reading habits change as a result? What happens when books are interlinked? And what is a book anyway?
Book-lovers unite! What does this all mean in the bibliophilic world? (Is that a real word?)
Dave, loving his books but loving the digital world as well.
Lenten study 2007 - Day twenty-eight
March 24, 2007
Finishing Colossians 3:12 - kindness, gentleness, and patience.
These are strong, manly, attributes, as well as the marks of a mature Christian. I don’t come by these things naturally, that’s for sure. They are surely gifts of the Holy Spirit, worthy of daily prayer.
Galatians 5:22-23 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law.
It seems to me that all of the attributes are of one piece. Weakness in just one of them weakens all of them. Conversely, strength in one tends to strengthen them all in me.
Last word: May the last vestiges of unkindness, harshness, and impatience continue to diminish in my life.
Lenten study 2007 - Day twenty-seven
March 23, 2007
Continuing with Colossians 3:12 - clothe yourselves with a heart of mercy,
Just as God has been merciful to me and has touched my heart to enable me to struggle free from a world and a culture that wants to drag me down, my response, Paul says, is to be merciful in human relationships, even to those I just don’t like. I must remember that by most counts I am not very likable.
Matthew 5:43-45a “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor’ and ‘hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemy and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be like your Father in heaven, …
Nothing contrasts the Christian mind-set with the world more than this “impossible” command of Jesus. In the terms of Colossians 3:12, obedience consists of allowing God to develop within me a heart of mercy.
Last word: If I will it, God will do it.
Lenten study 2007 - Day twenty-six
March 22, 2007
Continuing Colossians 3:12 - Holy and dearly loved,
To think that I am holy and loved by God is not as supremely arrogant as it sounds at first blush. I know that Jesus dealt with my gross unholiness and my total lack of lovableness on the cross 2000 years ago. Don’t ask me to explain how or why - I can’t. But I believe it and worship God as a result.
Romans 8:1-4 There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the life-giving Spirit in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death. For God achieved what the law could not do because it was weakened through the flesh. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and concerning sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, so that the righteous requirement of the law may be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.
Last word: My wonderment never ceases, but God’s peace is real.
Lenten study 2007 - Day twenty-four
March 20, 2007
Colossians 3:12 - Therefore, as the elect of God,
Paul is writing to all of the congregation at Colossae, calling them “the elect.” Jesus himself says that not all are saved and that salvation is a personal transaction between God and man, so I believe that not every person in the congregation at Colossae was actually one of the elect.
Matthew 13:24-30 He presented them with another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a person who sowed good seed in his field. But while everyone was sleeping, an enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat and went away. When the plants sprouted and bore grain, then the weeds also appeared. So the slaves of the owner came and said to him, ‘Sir, didn’t you sow good seed in your field? Then where did the weeds come from?’ He said, ‘An enemy has done this.’ So the slaves replied, ‘Do you want us to go and gather them?’ But he said, ‘No, since in gathering the weeds you may uproot the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest. At harvest time I will tell the reapers, “First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned, but then gather the wheat into my barn.”’”
My congregation is no different from the one at Colossae. We all profess Jesus as Lord and Savior, but not all of us have been chosen by God for eternal life. We are a mixture of wheat and tares. Only God knows which are which. I do not and cannot know which, so I try to treat each one of my Christian brother and sisters as one of the elect. The day will come when God will sort us all out.
Last word: For now my role is simply to be obedient to my Lord. That’s more than enough.
