Welcome to the July 2025 Archive. You are welcome to read the entire archive, or find a topic on the list below that is of interest to you. Just click the link, and you will be taken directly to the day it was written. Enjoy, and may you know God's peace as you read His Word.
You are welcome to use these writings or pass them on. All we ask is that in all things you remember the Author and give Him the glory, and remember this vessel which He has used to bring them to you. Peggy Hoppes
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Scripture on this page taken from the World English Bible which belongs to the public domain.
A WORD FOR TODAY, July 2025
July 1, 2025
“I command you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead at his appearing and his Kingdom: preach the word; be urgent in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort with all patience and teaching. For the time will come when they will not listen to the sound doctrine, but having itching ears, will heap up for themselves teachers after their own lusts, and will turn away their ears from the truth, and turn away to fables.” 2 Timothy 4:1-4, WEB
There is a commercial on television that shows a woman working at a computer who receives a telephone call with a caller ID from the power company. When she answers, the voice at the other end told the woman that a power bill was overdue. “I thought I paid that” she answered. A red flag pops up on the screen with the word “Pause.” The caller then warns that the power would be turned off that day if she did not take care of it. A red flag with the word “Reflect” pops up on the screen. The caller then offers help, “I can take care of that for you,” he says. A red flag with the word “Protect” pops up on the screen, and the woman knows without a doubt that the call is a scam. “Not today, thank you,” she says and hangs up the phone. She understood the red flags and stopped herself from making a terrible mistake.
The whole point of the commercial is to help people (especially seniors) make better decisions, help them learn how to discern what is good and helpful versus what might be harmful. The commercial ends with the encouragement to “Spot the Red Flags,” which is good advice for us all. I don’t know about you, but I have noticed an upswing of new tactics by scammers. There is a way to make the caller ID show whatever number and identification show whatever the caller wants it to show, and they have been faking with real numbers and IDs to get people to answer the phone. They have been very creative in finding new ways to fool people. Spot the red flags and save yourself from the hassle and dangers of the scammer.
The Little Golden book called “Tootle” was one of my favorite childhood books. Tootle was an anthropomorphized young steam engine learning how to be a Two-Miles-a-Minute Flyer. He has to learn all about the rules of being a flyer which includes the most important rule: Staying on the Rails No Matter What.” Another rule was “Stopping for a Red Flag.”
The problem is that Tootle likes to play in the meadows. He loves to sniff the flowers and chase the butterflies. Of course, we know that trains can’t play in the field, but the lessons of the story are helpful for children. The story doesn’t teach them specific rules, but to see that everything is better when we follow the rules that have been established. In the end, Tootle became the train he was meant to be because he learned to follow the rules, and then he became an inspiration to the new, younger trains who willingly listened to his advice.
It didn’t come easily because Tootle really liked to play in the meadows. Tootle really wanted to become a Two-Miles-a-Minute Flyer, but he just had to run and play. He promised to practice following the rules every day, but he jumped the tracks every time he was in the field. He thought that he did it in secret, but the townspeople, including the mayor, always saw him frolicking and the train workers noticed odd things about Tootle, like grass in his wheels.
The townspeople decided that they needed to do something about Tootle's daily wandering, so they made a plan. Since Tootle seemed to understand stopping for red flags, everyone hid in the meadow with a red flag. When Tootle jumped the tracks to play in the meadow, he discovered it wasn’t very much fun because everywhere he turned there was a red flag. Finally, he saw the station master Bill standing on the tracks with a green flag and realized that it was better for him to stay on the tracks. He learned his lesson and it led to his maturity as a flyer.
Red flags are understood as a something that makes us “STOP” doing something we should not be doing. In the case of the television commercial, it was about keeping us from doing something that can harm us. The same is true for Tootle, but it is even more important to remember that when we do something that we should not do, whether it is for our safety or to keep others from harm. See, that’s why Tootle needed to stay on the rails no matter what; jumping the tracks could harm those who rely on the train. Unfortunately, the scammers who try to fool us are jumping off the rails to the detriment of people who don’t recognize the red flags.
We see the caller ID on the phone and think that we are smart enough to recognize the scammers, but every day they get more and more creative. We don’t want to believe that people would try to take advantage of us, and we really don’t want to judge people negatively, but we are reminded that we are meant to be good stewards of everything God gave us, so that we will use it to His glory. When we fall for the scammer, we have less to use to serve our neighbor.
We have fallen into the trap of thinking that “judge not” means we shouldn’t point out one another’s wrongs or do the things that will protect us. When we see the red flags, we will pause, reflect, and protect ourselves and those around us. The townspeople knew that Tootle would never learn to be a Two-Miles-a-Minute Flyer if they hadn’t taught him to do what is right by raising the red flags. It is up to us to help one another be the best we can be, particularly by teaching each other to recognize the red flags that will stop us from doing what is not good, right, and true according to the word of God. We may have to reprove, rebuke, and exhort our neighbors, but let us always do so with grace.
Lectionary Scriptures for July 6, 2025, Fourth Sunday after Pentecost: Isaiah 66:10-14; Psalm 66:1-7; Galatians 6:1-10, 14-18; Luke 10:1-20
“Come, and see God’s deeds - awesome work on behalf of the children of men.” Psalm 66:1-7, WEB
I saw a post from a theologian that offered a question that offered a question that should be asked of every page in the Bible. It might seem to us that the Bible is too broad in its scope to be able to answer a question so narrow, but there is one thing: “How is Christ speaking of Himself?” This might seem to some to be a ridiculous question because Jesus Christ was not even born until the book of Matthew. Yes, the Old Testament is a prophetic voice that points to the Messiah, but Jesus speaking on every page? After all, there are many people who think that God in Old Testament and New Testament has a very different character.
Too many people reject God as He is revealed in the Old Testament because they prefer to worship a God of love, not wrath. They refuse to believe in a God that is not what they want Him to be. They forget that He still demands justice and righteousness, and that’s why we need Jesus. The more you study the Old Testament, however, you realize that it is not really any different, because Jesus is on every page of the scriptures.
God has not changed. The difference between the Old and the New is that Jesus paid the price by experiencing the wrath we deserve so that we can receive the benefit of God’s grace. We are saved by His blood. This was the promise that was given to God’s people for thousands of years, which was fulfilled in Jesus. The Old Testament people - the patriarchs, the judges, the kings and the prophets - all pointed to the coming of the Messiah. They planted the seeds of faith into God's people. They spoke about the promise to come. Those seeds had been growing in the hearts of God’s people even as weeds of misunderstanding were developing. Jesus came at just the right moment, the moment when God’s work would be harvest. He was the first fruits of God’s ultimate salvation.
The seeds of faith were taking root in the crowds who followed Jesus. There were many who believed, although some of Jesus’ lessons were hard. In the end the crowds were not ready for the cross. They were not ready to see the answer to their prayers hung from the tree and they abandoned Him. That wasn’t the end of the story, however. Jesus sent the disciples out to continue His work, and the people truly began to believe. The stories of the early church show us that people were coming to faith as entire families and villages. Three thousand were added to their numbers at Pentecost! And more believed daily from then until today.
Jesus was just beginning to have an impact during His three years of ministry. The Twelve believed and left everything to follow, but it wasn’t just the Twelve. Jesus had a wider following of devoted disciples from the beginning. In today’s Gospel message, we see that He sent seventy out to share His Good News. The field was ripe! Jesus was just one man and could not possibly speak to every single person. He needed help, so He sent the disciples and gave them the power to do what He had been doing. “There is so much to do and so few of you to do it.” They were sent to reap the harvest that had been planted during all those thousands of years.
We are just part of the process. Seeds are planted. Faith grows. People are saved. The Word transforms. We might be the one to plant the seeds, nourish and water the faith, to help other believers grow into the people God has called them to be. We are blessed to rejoice with them as their names are written in the book of life. We are partners with God in the Gospel. Even so, the workers are still few because the work is very, very hard.
Jesus told the disciples how to recognize if the fields are ready to be harvested. Jesus said, “Into whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace be to this house.’ If a son of peace is there, your peace will rest on him; but if not, it will return to you.” It is almost as if the disciples could tangibly sense the coming and going of peace. It is never easy, and at times it is dangerous.
People who have been called to missionary service far from home are sharing the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. Our church sponsors several missionaries and missionary organizations around the world, and some are in places so dangerous that we can’t know or talk about their locations. The world is filled with people who are determined to stop the Gospel. There are too many stories about persecuted Christians around the world. Unfortunately, there are even some who claim to be Christian persecuting other Christians.
There is a group in China called the Church of Almighty God or Eastern Lightning. This group has been banned by the Chinese government for its anti-government stance, but it continues to grow and spread, not only in China. It is thought that there are three to four million members. They have even moved their headquarters to the United States. Those of us in the west might think a growing body of “Christian” evangelistic faith is a good thing, but this group is a theologically heretical cult that is more terrorist than missionary.
These cultists believe that we are in a third era of time: the Old Testament is the first, the Age of Grace is the second, and the Age of the Kingdom is the third. They claim a woman is the embodiment of Jesus Christ, that His second coming has happened and it is her. They deceive other Christians by infiltrating their fellowships. They gain trust and convince ministers to go to other villages to share the Gospel. Once apart from the body, the missionaries are kidnapped, beaten, and killed, leaving the established village churches without leadership. There is one story about four missionaries that were convinced to split up to do more ministry. “If you each visit separate villages, more will hear the Gospel.” It did not go well, because they were more vulnerable when they were alone.
Jesus sent His disciples on mission trips in groups of two or more. The reason for this is two-fold. First, they are safer with a friend. The dangers of the road were great for anyone traveling on foot, including (or especially) those who are taking a message of faith into the world. Even more importantly, two witnesses sharing the Gospel confirm what is spoken. Two disciples together provide the physical, spiritual, and emotional support needed so that they can witness boldly for the Lord.
J. Hudson Taylor wrote of his own experiences in mission to China in the book “To China with Love.” When he heard the call from God, it made him sad because obedience meant that he would need to leave his mentor and friend to respond to that call. He rejected the call until one day he heard the hymn “The Missionary Call” which speaks of giving up friends willingly for the sake of God’s Kingdom. With tears, Hudson shared his call and his unwillingness to go. His friend, Rev. William Burns, answered those tears with the joyful news that he too had been called to ministry in China and that he had the same feelings. They served the Lord together.
There are many that feel so alone in this world, as if they are the only ones able to accomplish the work of the Lord. They feel like islands in the sea. Yet, we know that no man is an island and that God does not send us to minister alone. We have the support of our brothers and sisters in Christ, through prayer, encouragement, and even correction. We have the protection of God our Father, but even Jesus warned the disciples to be careful as they traveled because there would always be people who sought to stop the expansion of the Kingdom of God.
The disciples were sent out into the world to do something new. They were preaching a message that was built upon that which they knew, but it was different. They talked about forgiveness and grace. The Gospel is a message for the whole world, although at first it was given to the Jews. They had heard about the promise fulfilled by the Gospel for thousands of years, but forgiveness and grace was getting lost in the law. Jesus is found on every page of the Bible, but the people in His day missed that He was the Messiah that they sought. The same continues to be true in our day. We know we have been called to be witnesses to the Gospel, but sometimes we are afraid. We are afraid in part because we don’t think we are good representatives for Jesus.
My family went out to lunch after church on Sunday. Now, I know many people do the same, and it isn’t always a good thing for the people who have to work. We have all heard stories from servers who have not been treated well by groups of Christians. Sadly, we have a reputation of being rude and cheap. Many servers claim that Christians are the worst tippers. I always try to dispel that myth with my own generosity, but we all have bad days.
Our waitress on Sunday was very sweet, and though the service began slow, she took care of our needs and she deserved a decent tip. I tend to pay in cash, so she brought out bill and I gave her the money. “Keep the change” I happily instructed her. I also gave her a “Little Jesus,” as is my habit, making it obvious we were “after church Christians.” Unfortunately, I was not having a good day, and my math was way off. Instead of being generous, I was ridiculously stingy. I knew I had to do something. It doesn’t do any good to be a witness for Jesus in word if we are not going to be a witness with our resources. So, nudged by my conscience and the Holy Spirit, I went back to give her the right tip. In the note I wrote, “I know Little Jesus can’t pay your rent, so I hope this makes up for my mistake.” What could have been a horrible witness, I pray, became an even greater witness not only for her, but for the rest of the employees at that restaurant.
For twenty-four hours, however, I gave those workers reason to believe that Christians are rude and cheap. I could have let it go, but I couldn’t. God would not let me. I had to humble myself for the sake of the Kingdom.
Unfortunately, too many of us are too timid to share the message. We are afraid. We don’t want to offend; we don’t want to be rejected. We are afraid that we will make a mistake that will do more damage to the Kingdom than good. We would rather live out our Christian faith quietly and privately, doing good deeds and letting God deal with hearts. It is His job to change those hearts, but He has chosen us to help. He has sent us to reap the harvest, to bring His people to His throne to worship Him forever. We can’t do that if we are too timid to be witnesses that are willing to take the risk to do what is right.
We are reminded in the pages of the Bible that it is never our power or words that save, but God’s alone. I tell the stories about my own ministry in the world, not because I think I have done anything special, but as an example to those who struggle to know how to do God’s work in the world. Thankfully, we have the words of the scriptures to show us how the disciples carried on Jesus’ work, but we also are blessed to have generations of stories of the saints who came before us. We know people in our own little corner of the world who are excellent examples that help us grow in our faith. They’ve planted seeds, watered and shined light. They have rebuked, corrected, and exhorted us. They have risked much to share with us their successes and their failures, so that we can go in faith without fear, knowing that God helps when we do it right and when we fail.
Paul wrote, “But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.” The successes of our ministries do not give us reason to rejoice. We rejoice in the salvation that comes from faith in Jesus Christ. We rejoice that our names are written in His book. Our mission is to help others find their names there, too.
We are going to face times of difficulty. The world does not work the way we do.
I once had a visit from a vacuum salesman. He came to the door at a bad time in our life; we were financially strapped with no extra money for an expensive vacuum. I was honest with the guy from the beginning. I told him that it did not matter how wonderful his product was, I could not afford to buy one at that time. He assured me that he would not pressure me, but if he just showed me the machine it would help him win the contest. I reminded him that it would be a complete waste of time, but I let him in. He was a sweet looking young man, only about twenty years old. He was very polite and very talkative. He was also very observant and used what he saw in our house to ply on my feelings, including my faith and our military connection.
Throughout the two-hour demonstration, he told me all sorts of stories about his family and friends and how much they love their vacuums. He described his own pets and his daughter and how the vacuum keeps them healthy. He let me try to vacuum and told me that he was glad that it was so easy to maneuver because he didn’t want his live-in girlfriend to work too hard. He showed so much concern for everyone and offered his vacuum as the solution to every worldly problem.
I repeatedly told him that I could not afford the machine, but he talked about the financial savings I would ultimately have, claiming that the vacuum would take care of my carpet so that I would not have to replace it in a few years. When I was obviously not falling for his sales pitch, he went a little deeper. With each swipe of the vacuum he came up with a pad filled with dust and cat hair. He wondered what I felt about all the dirt and then asked what my husband would think if he saw all those pads. Eventually, his boss came by to see how things were going. He asked many of the same questions, each one designed to guilt me into buying this amazing machine for the sake of my family. I could certainly find a few dollars a month, couldn’t I?
I held firm, my financial status was exactly as I had told him in the beginning: I could not afford even a few dollars a month for a two-thousand-dollar vacuum. Sure, I wanted one, don’t we all want the best of everything? I was getting quite bored and disturbed by their “non-aggressive” sales pitch. It was obviously deceitful. At the end, the young man even tried to feed on my compassionate nature by thanking me for taking him one step closer to winning the contest. “I only need three hundred demos. Of course, fifteen sales would win it for me.” His boss was not quite so considerate. I was patient for a time, but their attitude eventually made me angry. In the end I had to threaten to call the police to get them out of my house.
This kid and his boss were not evil. They were doing their job, but their methodology was exactly the way Satan does his job in this world. They played on feelings, tried to make me seem uncaring, played on guilt, and suggested I had a negative self-image. I think they took so long because they were waiting for my husband to come home so they could pull their tricks on him. It wouldn’t have happened because he was out of town.
I told the salesman from the beginning that he should not waste his time, but in his arrogance, he was sure that he could convince me I needed this vacuum. The most ironic thing was that ultimately it was his deceit that lost him a possible future sale. I was going to ask for literature, to consider a purchase a few months later when things settled down financially. I later learned that those vacuums are not as dependable as the salesman wanted me to believe. They don’t last forever. They break down just like the cheap ones. We need to be discerning in this world because deceit is not only bold-faced lies. Sometimes deceit is subtle, packaged as goodness.
Paul wrote, “Don’t be deceived. God is not mocked, for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. For he who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption. But he who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.” All too many people think they can fool God. They do good things, but their hearts are evil. They do not live truthfully. Instead, they try to manipulate the world around them to fit their own desires. Yet, in the end everything works for the good of those who love God. Deception pays off negatively, honesty will ultimately be rewarded.
The salesman misread the situation. If he had given me a twenty-minute spiel on the facts, I would have taken his literature and considered it for later. But he lost my interest because he took two hours of my time and tried to manipulate me into buying something I could and ultimately would not buy. He lost me completely when he talked about being a Christian, insinuating that I should help out a brother in Christ. I questioned whether his “testimony” was sincere because of the other things he shared during our conversation.
Those who try to fool God will be surprised. He knows the hearts of men and sees beyond our words and deeds. He knows our motivation, is familiar with our deepest lusts and needs. He knows those who claim to be Christian but do not live in a way that glorifies Him. The things of the flesh will perish just like that expensive vacuum. But that which is of the Spirit is eternal, so that our life lived in faith will reap joyous blessings in Christ Jesus.
In the Old Testament lesson, we are confronted by the image of a ruined city. The people had been exiled for some time and were returning home. They remembered the glory of Jerusalem and expected to see gleaming stone and strong walls. God saved them, but when they got back to Jerusalem, they discovered that it had been destroyed, they found only ruin. Their hope for safety and peace in a strong, safe city was shattered.
Yet, the message from Isaiah offered hope to the people. “You will see it, and your heart shall rejoice, and your bones will flourish like the tender grass. Yahweh’s hand will be known among his servants; and he will have indignation against his enemies.” God will deal with those who rejected those whom He sends. God will provide His people with peace. “Behold, I will extend peace to her like a river, and the glory of the nations like an overflowing stream; and you will nurse. You will be carried on her side, and will be dandled on her knees. As one whom his mother comforts, so will I comfort you. You will be comforted in Jerusalem.” When we face the dangers of this world, when we experience rejection and worse, there is still hope. God is in control.
Isaiah promised that they would see the day when God’s promises would be fulfilled, there was no reason to feel hopeless. It is easy to feel like the whole world has fallen apart, especially when it seems like so many things and people want to do us harm. We know that we can’t overcome it on our own, and we don’t know why God isn’t doing everything we ask. We are witnesses to God’s incredible power, but we fall into a trap when we believe that we have something to do with it. The disciples thought the hope rested in their ability to overcome the devil.
Jesus reminded them that they would not overcome the devil in this life. They would suffer persecution, but in Christ they have a greater hope. They have eternal life in Christ; His blood bought the salvation that would guarantee eternal life.
Instead of voicing our joy over our good works or exhibiting pride in our accomplishments, it would do us well to join the psalmist singing praise to God. “Make a joyful shout to God, all the earth! Sing to the glory of his name! Offer glory and praise!” There is plenty of work for us to do, and He is sending us out into the world to proclaim that He is near. With pen in hand, He’s ready to write more names in His book.
We are all guilty of taking pride in what we do, pride in who we are, pride in what we think makes us different, perhaps even better, than our neighbor. That’s why it is so important that we stay in fellowship with other Christians. Paul encourages us to help one another keep our focus where it belongs. “Bear one another’s burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ.” This is why Jesus sent the disciples out two by two, so that together they could do the work, encourage one another, discern together the good and the bad, and keep each other on the right track so that together we might take in the harvest of souls that God has grown in the world.
We might find ourselves called into a situation that is not comfortable, sent into the world without the things we think we need to do the work that God commands. Let us ever be mindful of the fact that God prepares the way; He goes before us and makes everything ready. He is with us in rejection, and He draws us together in peace. But most of all: let us never forget that it isn’t our words, ministry, or peace that we take into the world. It is His. And He is faithful. He is in control. Our successes are His glory, and our failures will be overcome by His grace. In this we can rejoice, remembering the deeds He has done which give us the confidence to live in the expectation of His promises.
“Continue steadfastly in prayer, watching in it with thanksgiving, praying together for us also, that God may open to us a door for the word, to speak the mystery of Christ, for which I am also in bonds, that I may reveal it as I ought to speak. Walk in wisdom toward those who are outside, redeeming the time. Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one.” Colossians 4:2-6, WEB
On July 2, 1776, two-hundred and forty-nine years ago, the Continental Congress voted to declare independence from Great Britain, a key step towards the official Declaration of Independence on July 4th. The Declaration was officially adopted two days later, establishing the independence of the thirteen colonies. We celebrate Independence day every year on July 4th, and plans are already being made for the Semiquincentennial (two hundred and fifty years!) Celebration next year. The reality is that the Declaration was just the beginning of the fight for freedom. The armies had already been at war, but it lasted for seven more years. Though the British surrendered at York in 1781, the war continued until he Treaty of Paris was signed on September 3, 1783.
One of the commentators I heard yesterday talked about how the real anniversary of our independence is actually the day when the Congress voted, July 2nd, and he wondered why we actually celebrate on the 4th. This was a question that has been asked throughout our history, including by some of the founding fathers at the very beginning. When I heard the commentator talk about the two days, I wondered about the day in between. Was there a reason for waiting? What happened on July 3rd, 1776?
A quick google search shows one thing of note: John Adams wrote to his wife Abigail, reporting to her the vote from the previous day. John and Abigail had an incredible relationship. They were married for over fifty years, and Abigail was more than just a wife. She was one of John’s closest advisors, especially during John’s political career. They had a profound love and wrote to one another often. There are more than a thousand letters, which grant us a unique look into their lives, their thoughts on the revolution and the early years of the new nation. It is not surprising, then, that the letter John wrote on July 3rd would give us a glimpse of his ideas about what happened a day earlier.
John wrote that things might have been different had they voted for independence months early, some of which would have been “great and glorious.” They might have been able to form alliances and affect foreign affairs. The vote was put off because many had the hope that there could be reconciliation and that war could be averted. He thought suggested that a quick vote might have saved the lives of many soldiers who died of pestilence during the fight. John then revealed the other side the argument, pointing out the advantages of the wait. The loss of hope in reconciliation was actually a good thing, because it built a common bond between those who disagreed about the future of the nation. The nation, and those arguing for and against independence, had time to mature. They could all learn through discussions in newspapers and pamphlets. The fears dissipated and a new hope grew. By 1776, the declaration was adopted by the whole people, not just a slight majority (except New York, which abstained.) John wrote, “This will cement the Union, and avoid those Heats and perhaps Convulsions which might have been occasioned, by such a Declaration Six Months ago.”
Then he wrote, “But the Day is past. The Second Day of July 1776, will be the most memorable Epocha, in the History of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated, by succeeding Generations, as the great anniversary Festival. It ought to be commemorated, as the Day of Deliverance by solemn Acts of Devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with Pomp and Parade, with Shews, Games, Sports, Guns, Bells, Bonfires and Illuminations from one End of this Continent to the other from this Time forward forever more. You will think me transported with Enthusiasm but I am not. -- I am well aware of the Toil and Blood and Treasure, that it will cost Us to maintain this Declaration, and support and defend these States. -- Yet through all the Gloom I can see the Rays of ravishing Light and Glory. I can see that the End is more than worth all the Means. And that Posterity will tryumph in that Days Transaction, even altho We should rue it, which I trust in God We shall not.”
While we only have this letter from John Adams to Abigail from July 3rd, I imagine that the other members of the Continental Congress were having similar thoughts about what they had done the previous day. The vote was taken, the deed was done, but they had this in-between day. John Adams sounds very confident in his letter, but the reality for those members was not easy. They had committed treason from the perspective of the British Crown. They risked death. The nation was already at war. Men were dying. People were suffering. But this day two-hundred and forty-nine years ago was day when those men had a chance to encourage one another, share the good news, build up their courage for what would have to be done on July 4th. Some, if not all, would have spent the time in prayer and thanksgiving.
We all have periods when we are between times. The disciples had to wait between the crucifixion and the resurrection, between the ascension and Pentecost. There are moments when we have to wait for something to happen. Today we stand between the promise of eternal life and the fulfillment of all God’s promises that will happen in God’s time. We are in the “already but not yet.” What do we do during the “in-between”? Paul tells us to continue in prayer, thanking God, walk in wisdom, speak with grace. During this time God will build our faith and courage. He will give us what we need to do whatever He intends us to do. It isn’t easy. It is even dangerous. We have work to do as we wait, sharing the Good News with those who will hear.
“Brothers, be imitators together of me, and note those who walk this way, even as you have us for an example. For many walk, of whom I told you often, and now tell you even weeping, as the enemies of the cross of Christ, whose end is destruction, whose god is the belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who think about earthly things. For our citizenship is in heaven, from where we also wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will change the body of our humiliation to be conformed to the body of his glory, according to the working by which he is able even to subject all things to himself.” Philippians 3:17-21, WEB
I read a great article by a Christian theologian named Chad Bird that talked about our Christian response to the Fourth of July in the United States. The writer acknowledged our citizenship in this country, our responsibility to be a good citizen, and our privilege to celebrate the holiday that remembers the beginning of our great nation. It is fun to celebrate the Fourth of July, to watch the fireworks and enjoy burgers from the grill. Millions of Americans are enjoying the summer sun at parks and the seashore. We are attending parades, picnics, and other festivities this weekend. It is wonderful that we can rejoice in our many blessings, most particularly our freedom.
The article went on to remind us as Christians that we have a greater citizenship. While we are blessed by our time on earth, our true home is in heaven, in the Kingdom of God. The writer quoted the Epistle of Diognetus (second century, translated into English by Michael Holmes), “For Christians are not distinguished from the rest of humanity by country, language, or custom. For nowhere do they live in cities of their own, nor do they speak some unusual dialect, nor do they practice an eccentric way of life. This teaching of theirs has not been discovered by the thought and reflection of ingenious people, nor do they promote any human doctrine, as some do. But while they live in both Greek and barbarian cities, as each one’s lot was cast, and follow the local customs in dress and food and other aspects of life, at the same time they demonstrate the remarkable and admittedly unusual character of their own citizenship. They live in their own countries, but only as nonresidents; they participate in everything as citizens, and endure everything as foreigners. Every foreign country is their fatherland, and every fatherland is foreign.”
We have responsibilities as citizens of our home nation, but we have an even greater responsibility as citizens of God’s Kingdom. We respect our government, but we are ruled by someone even greater: the Lord God Almighty. He is the source of everything we have and everything that we are. Martin Luther emphasized that Christians are free from earthly constraints yet simultaneously called to serve others out of love, reflecting a paradox of Christian freedom. We are to live in God’s grace, doing what He has called us to do. He blesses us to be a blessing.
Many might suggest that the people of the United States are special people, and God has blessed this nation with many gifts so that we can have a positive impact on the world. We truly have been blessed and have done many good things throughout the two hundred and forty-nine years of our history. However, we have also made many mistakes. We are not special; we are not perfect. The United States, and every nation, is made up in imperfect, sinful human beings. The key for us to remember on this Fourth of July, our Independence Day, is that we belong to a greater Kingdom with the Almighty King as our ruler. This will keep us on the right path, a path that glorifies Him in all we do. It is good for us to repent of our failures and do what we can to make things better and then go forth in faith to glorify God in whatever we do from today forward.
All of us, those in the United States celebrating this Independence Day, and readers from all over the world who are Christians, are to remember this day and every day that we have a great responsibility because we are people of faith. Jesus Christ saved us from sin and death and given us incredible gifts so that we can have a real impact on the world. It is very easy for us to be proud of our nation, to celebrate our accomplishments, to have a fun and festive day of fireworks and barbeque but let us always remember that our time in this place and time is limited, but the promise of life from God our King is eternal. We are called to spend this time walking in faith, serving our neighbor, all in the love, joy, grace, and peace of God. Jesus Christ calls us to be role models when He makes us citizens of heaven, to live according to His ways so that others will be drawn into His presence and find salvation in His mercy.
“For everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted; a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; a time to seek, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away; a time to tear, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; a time to love, and a time to hate; a time for war, and a time for peace.” Ecclesiastes 3:1-8, WEB
Our hearts are moved to compassion when we see a natural disaster wreak havoc on the other side of the world. We want to do something, but we are usually only able to send money or support organizations that are sent in to help. Our hearts are moved to compassion when we see a natural disaster wreak havoc on the other side of the country. We want to do something, and it is usually a little easier to have some sort of impact. We still donate to organizations, but many of us find a way to travel to those places to lend a hand. Our hearts are moved to compassion when we see a natural disaster wreak havoc closer to home. That’s what happened to us this weekend as the Hill Country of Texas was flooded. We are far more able to help with our hands as well as our wallets, although we often have to wait for the right time. It can be frustrating when we want to do something today, but we are encouraged to stay out of the way while first responders are still doing search and rescue work.
The closer you are to a natural disaster, the more you can do. Even if it is in your own backyard, however, we can’t stop life as we wait for the right opportunity. This is probably the hardest part of seeing people suffer: how do you laugh when people are crying? How do you celebrate as people mourn? How do you go on living when your neighbor’s lives have come to a sudden and desperate stop?
This thought came to a head during an incident at our church yesterday morning. It was time during worship for us to receive the bread and wine of communion. The serving team was gathering around the table when one of the members suddenly fell and hit her head. Thankfully, we have a well-trained emergency team that reacted immediately. When they were in place helping, our pastor continued the meal, serving the rest of the congregation. What would you have done? One the one hand, it seems dispassionate to go on. On the other hand, how much worse would have been to have a congregation staring at the group as they helped the woman. (We all breathed a sigh of relief when she was able to walk to her seat in a few minutes.) We never stopped caring. As a matter of fact, I’m certain that everyone in that congregation spent their time in prayer as they waited their turn to take communion. Life had to go on even when we were holding our breath for our friend.
I thought about the importance of life going on during the weekend as I watched too closely the events in the Hill Country. It was the Fourth of July, an important holiday for those of us in the United States. While I was watching videos of intense flooding, praying for those in the way (including friends), I also saw posts from friends who were celebrating the holiday. I did not begrudge them their fun, after all my life went on when those natural disasters happened so far from home. It was a little harder in my neighborhood. We live about an hour, and we received only a few inches of rain, so there was no direct impact on our neighborhood. People continued to have barbeques. People continued to shoot fireworks. Life went on even while our neighbors were suffering.
This does not mean that those neighbors did not care. We are so close that we all know someone who knows someone who was directly affected. Some of us even know someone. I am sure that those people who celebrated already did something. Our church made flood buckets. We took a collection. We are organizing other ways to help. It takes time. Those who have dealt with natural disasters in the past know that the clean up and restoration will take weeks, months, and years. While the lives of those directly impacted have at a standstill, we need to continue to live. This doesn’t mean that we forget or ignore, but that we pray and support as we can until it is our chance to step in to help.
Solomon wrote, “For everything there is a season...” It is hard to go on living when others are suffering, especially when they are so close to home, but we are reminded by this text that there is a season to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance. We can continue to celebrate even while our hearts are moved to compassion. Suffering often lasts a long time, and there will be plenty of time to be a helper in whatever way is possible in this season for our neighbors, whether they are right around the corner or on the other side of the world. In the meantime, let us go on living in hope and peace, with grace and mercy, with prayer and compassion.
“He said, ‘I called because of my affliction to Yahweh. He answered me. Out of the belly of Sheol I cried. You heard my voice. For you threw me into the depths, in the heart of the seas. The flood was all around me. All your waves and your billows passed over me. I said, “I have been banished from your sight; yet I will look again toward your holy temple.” The waters surrounded me, even to the soul. The deep was around me. The weeds were wrapped around my head. I went down to the bottoms of the mountains. The earth barred me in forever; yet you have brought my life up from the pit, Yahweh my God. When my soul fainted within me, I remembered Yahweh. My prayer came in to you, into your holy temple. Those who regard vain idols forsake their own mercy. But I will sacrifice to you with the voice of thanksgiving. I will pay that which I have vowed. Salvation belongs to Yahweh.” Jonah 2:2-9, WEB
God spoke to Jonah and told him to go to Nineveh to warn the people to repent and turn to the LORD. Jonah did not like the people of Nineveh, for they were his enemies, and he wanted them to be destroyed. So, instead of obeying the Word of God, he ran away by hiding on a merchant ship that was going to Tarshish, which was the opposite direction.
It is impossible to hide from the LORD. God sent a storm so terrifying that even the sailors were afraid. Jonah knew that the high waves rocking the boat were a punishment for his disobedience. He told the sailors that the storm would stop if they threw him overboard. They did not want to have his blood of a man on their hands, so they tried to row back to shore. They were unable, so they cried out to God asking that He not make them accountable for Jonah’s life. Then they threw him over the side of the boat into the raging ocean. The storm stopped and the ocean became calm. They feared the power of the God of Jonah so much that they offered Him sacrifice and worshipped Him.
God sent a big fish to swallow Jonah. Jonah sat in the belly of this great fish for three days and three nights; he prayed the prayer in today’s passage, repenting and seeking forgiveness. With this prayer, God made the fish spit Jonah out and renewed the command to Jonah to go to Nineveh. Jonah went reluctantly and preached a message of repentance to the people. They believed God and responded immediately. Even the king tore his royal clothes, put on sackcloth, and sat in the dust to mourn. He issued a decree for the city to fast, give up their evil ways, and turn to God in the hope that He will forgive their sins and stop the destruction.
God had compassion, forgave the people of Nineveh, and did not send destruction to Nineveh. Jonah was angry at God for his compassion and told Him that was the reason he ran away in the first place. “I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity.” Jonah asked God to take his life, because even death was better to him than seeing his enemy in the favor of God.
Do we ever feel this way? Are there any people who are like enemies that you would rather see perish than share the Gospel? Did you run away from God’s command? God commands us to go and preach the Good News to the world. Sometimes that means going to people we’d rather avoid. We can’t pick and choose those we want to call to repentance so that they might be saved. We must go and do according to God’s Word. If you try to hide from God, you might just end up like Jonah, in the belly of a big fish.
We aren’t different than Jonah. Sometimes we fail to walk as God commands, ignoring or rejecting the work He is calling us to do, refusing the share the Gospel with those we don’t want to be saved. Thankfully God’s grace is for everyone, even us when we fail. Like Jonah, we can receive God’s forgiveness and sing His praises, knowing that His grace comes with repentance and our willing commitment to do His work.
Lectionary Scriptures for July 13, 2025, Fifth Sunday after Pentecost: Leviticus (18:1-5) 19:9-19; Psalm 41; Colossians 1:1-14; Luke 10:25-37
“He said, ‘He who showed mercy on him.’ Then Jesus said to him, ‘Go and do likewise.’” Luke 10:37, WEB
It is hard to think beyond the news that is happening right down the road from me. Our hearts are with those who are suffering, grieving, and working hard to overcome. It has only been days, but it seems like weeks. There have been so many miracles and stories of good-hearted moments, but there have also been stories of heartbreak. Sadly, I’ve already heard the warnings that people are beginning to prey on the victims. There is always someone who will take advantage of the situation.
There was a story a few years ago following a major hurricane. A man owned a trailer that was vacant in the storm ravaged area, and he offered it to a family who had become homeless because of the storm. Soon after moving in, the couple decided to sue the Good Samaritan to gain possession of the trailer. The couple were legally considered squatters, so according to state law, so the man could not evict them. He tried to turn off the electricity they were not paying for. They borrowed a child to live with them and because of a state law meant to protect the welfare of children, he was required to keep the electricity turned on. Something that started as an act of compassion turned into an act of injustice.
It is heartbreaking to think that similar things could happen to the people who are trying to help during any of the disasters that our neighbors are experiencing. These times are dangerous for both the helpers and the suffering. Unfortunately, there are always people that dwell who are determined to harm to their neighbors. This is not the way God intends for us to live.
I once attended a lecture with Keith Bowden the author of “The Tecate Journals, Seventy Days on the Rio Grande.” He began the speech with tales of his youth and his intense dislike of school. He dropped out as soon as he turned sixteen and he set out to travel around the country. He ended up in Florida and hung out with some other transients he met along the way. They worked as farm hands, picking oranges for $7.00 a day. They lived day to day, partying with their paycheck every night, never thinking about tomorrow. One morning they overslept and missed the truck to the farm. They had no money for food, so they went to the local grocery store where they had already spent so much money. They decided that they had already spent so much money there that they could use the five-finger discount to eat whatever they wanted. When Keith opened a carton of milk and began drinking from it right there, he was arrested for shoplifting. He said that he thought it was unfair because he deserved that food.
There are homeless and hungry people who need our help and God has called us through faith to act as His hands to provide mercy and justice to those who are suffering in our world today. Unfortunately, there are always people who abuse the systems that have been created to protect. Stories like the one with the mobile home make good Samaritans hesitant because they are afraid that their kindness will be turned against them. The stories coming out of natural disasters also make victims wary of those who claim to want to help.
The world in which we live is much different than the world of those who followed Moses to the Promised Land, who lived by the rules in Leviticus. Do farmers still leave some of the harvest on the edges for the poor and the foreigner to use? Do they leave the gleanings? We know it is wrong to take something from our neighbor, and yet we steal and deal falsely with our neighbors in so many ways that are acceptable in our society. We lie. We even justify our lies as being for the sake of those to whom we have lied, even though the truly merciful thing is always to tell the truth. We know it is wrong to oppress our neighbor or rob him, and yet we do not always realize that the things we do have the same effect on our neighbors as blatant theft and oppression. Employers no longer pay wages on a daily basis; sometimes we have to wait a week or two, or sometimes even longer, to receive the payment due for our work.
Justice has been skewed. We favor people for what they can do for us, and do not do what is right if it doesn’t fit our agenda. And we slander one another in so many ways, particularly when discussing the heated issues of our day. I have seen far too many examples of misinformation coming out of the disaster here in my backyard. Why? For some it is a way to get “clicks’ which is how they get money. Others use this type of disaster to destroy reputations. Some are trying to take advantage of others.
Sadly, we have lost our way. In verse 15, God says, “You shall do no injustice in judgment. You shall not be partial to the poor, nor show favoritism to the great; but you shall judge your neighbor in righteousness.” Like Keith in the grocery store, those who do not live according to the standard God intends, set their own standard. “I deserve this,” they think, so they steal a trailer from a good Samaritan, walk out of the grocery store with a gallon of milk, or take advantage of those who are suffering.
We do not live the life of holiness that God intends. How did it start? I do not know. It is a vicious circle that human nature travels. We show favoritism to the rich and then the pendulum swings to the opposite extreme where we show partiality to the poor. We know and understand the rules that God has given us, but we never quite seem able to walk the right path God has called us to live. So, how do we live that life of holiness? How do we act in good, right, and truly just ways? And most importantly, how do we really love our neighbors as ourselves?
We understand that rules are necessary and that they are given because God knows the best way for us to live, but those rules do not always seem very practical to us. My son went to college a few hours from home and the drive was through farmland, mostly cotton. During one trip that happened at harvest time, I noticed there were some plants at the edges of the field that were not cut. Did those farmers leave those plants because of the biblical injunction to leave some for the poor? What good is a tuft or two of cotton for a passerby? I doubt those farmers would appreciate me picking their cotton for my personal use. Many would stop me with a shotgun. I suspect most of the leftovers and the gleanings left behind by the harvest are just buried under by modern machinery or burned to the ground because it isn’t worth enough to spend the time to harvest it by hand. Cotton may be a bad example because we don’t eat cotton and it takes so much to be usable, but farmers do not leave the edges of other fields like corn or wheat and there are no gleanings because modern machinery is too efficient. Do farmers no longer care for the poor or foreigner, or do they find other ways to meet the needs of their neighbors? Is this an impractical command from God for our day?
God does not make laws to burden or oppress us, but to help us to be the best we can be. Martin Luther’s perspective on the Law is that it is meant to help us see how unable we are to keep it so that we will turn to Jesus Christ. This doesn’t mean that we have no responsibility to be the person God wants us to be. We are expected to live a life that takes care of others. There are different ways for us to do so today. How many of us are even farmers? Does that mean that we don’t have to ensure that the hungry are fed, the grieving are comforted, the naked are clothed, and things are made right for those who suffer from injustice.
The rules might seem impractical to us today, and we certainly are not living by them, but it is our responsibility to look at the way we are living our lives and make sure that our choices and our actions will not harm others. We have to look at the world through God’s eyes. How will our words and actions affect others? Do they seem harmless? There is no such thing as a victimless sin. When we do something wrong, someone suffers, even if it seems insignificant. Sin always has an impact.
Sometimes the hardest scriptures we use in the lectionary are the ones that have become too familiar to us. The story of the Good Samaritan was taught to us as small children. As a matter of fact, my husband and I are going on a mission trip and the lesson we are teaching the children and youth we are visiting is this story as part of a series on the fruits of the Spirit. We chose it because it shows kindness. This is a common story at Vacation Bible School and in Sunday School. Every Christian school teaches it at least once a year. It is in every children’s bible. It is a good story with a positive message, and it sums up God’s intent for our life as given to us through His Law: to love Him and our neighbors by showing mercy.
The familiar stories illustrate how God’s word is embedded in our hearts and our mouths. We can retell the story, almost verbatim. We can repeat the lessons with confidence. Yet, I wonder if we even listen to it anymore. When the passage is read on Sunday morning, will we actually hear the words, or will we think to ourselves that we’ve heard it all a million times already and tune out for a minute. Will we pay attention to the sermon since we know what the pastor is going to say? Will we actually read the text or just skim over the words, remembering what we have heard before without listening for what God has for us today?
In our modern point of view, we might wonder if those robbers were simply lost souls who happened upon the man o steal his things so that they might have enough money to eat and drink for another, perhaps like Keith in the grocery store. Yet, one commentator about this text suggests that the band of robbers was probably more sophisticated than that. The road on which this story takes place was used by many, including the rich and powerful. The priest and Levite used the road. The Samaritan was probably a wealthy merchant. We don’t know anything about the man who was beaten, but was he someone of importance? So, the commentator suggested that the robbers were something like Robin Hood who organized on that road to do more than steal a few dollars. Was the beaten man someone of consequence, perhaps someone that targeted Samaritans for being half-breeds? In that case, the Samaritan not only took care of a stranger that he happened to find on the road, but he took care of an enemy.
When we hear this story, we often think in very small terms. The Samaritan found one person who needed help, and he did what he could to help. That is the way our faith leads us into service, one person, one day, one problem at a time. Yet, when we look at the problems in our world we often do so in a much broader sense, overwhelmed by the scope of the problem. When we look at hunger, we think globally and wonder how we will ever be able to overcome the problem, forgetting that the child next door hasn't had a decent meal in days because her mom's paycheck ran out before payday. We look at the damage that is happening by flash floods not only in Texas, but also in North Carolina and New Mexico. The impact in just one very small town is overwhelming. How will we ever help everyone who needs us?
Our church often fills buckets with a list of cleaning products that are kept in a warehouse for moments like this. We were preparing to have a workday to fill a bunch of new buckets, so our supplies were already in stock. This meant we could immediately, even while the flood waters will still high, create a bunch of buckets that were delivered Monday morning. More, many more, will be needed, but in thirty-five minutes more than a hundred people worked to fill three hundred. In a moment when everyone needed to “do something,” we did something. It was simple and seemingly insignificant when so many were doing the hard work of search and rescue, but it was something. No one can do everything, but everyone can do something.
The Samaritan was humble; humble because he saw the need and took care of it without trying to be the one to solve the root of the problem. He didn’t try to find the gang or seek vengeance for the man’s injuries. He helped the man. Too many people were trying to solve the problem of why the floods happened, playing the blame game, ignoring the real work that needed to be done: feeding the hungry, comforting the grieving, clothing the naked, and keeping those that would take advantage of the victims and the good Samaritans from doing whatever evil they might have planned.
There is a place for us to work together to take care of big things in this world, but we can always do something much smaller. We can serve the needs of our neighbor and have mercy on them. Humbleness and love of God makes us more aware of the small needs that we can solve on a daily basis even while we are joined together with others trying to solve the bigger problems.
The people in Colossae had accepted what had become common as real. The people had been heard the Gospel message of Jesus Christ from a man named Epaphras. We know that Epaphras was a good leader, a sound teacher and a faithful minister because of Paul’s words in this passage. The message they had been given was the message of faith, love, and hope. Paul knew they had been given that message of truth.
Yet, things in Colossae were not perfect. Other messages were making their way into the thinking and faith of the people in that community. False teachings had become part of their message. Ritualistic requirements, mandatory self-denial, angel worship, diminution of Christ, special knowledge, and reliance on human wisdom, Jewish or Gnostic, were becoming the norm in the congregation. Paul was concerned that the message of Christ was being lost to the fallible human message that was being integrated into the Gospel.
Paul’s letter lifts up the faith of the people in Colossae. He doesn’t thank them for being faithful, he gives all the credit to the One who deserves it: God. He thanks God for their faith, their love and their hope. He prays that God will continue to fill them with knowledge of Christ and keep them worthy to walk with the Lord. He lifts up Christ, reminding the people of Colossae that He is supreme and that it is by Him, through Him, and for Him that we are saved.
The Leviticus text reminds us not to hate our neighbor. Hate, in the Jewish understanding, is not like it is defined in our world today. Hate has an angry or violent connotation, but in Hebrew the word means something perhaps even stronger. We should not separate ourselves from our neighbor, which is what we do when we ignore the poor or gossip about our neighbors. We separate from our neighbors when we treat them with unrighteousness.
It is easy to talk about loving our neighbor, but I’m not sure it is quite so easy to live according to our words. When Jesus asks us what the scriptures say about how to inherit eternal life, we easily say, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.” But, like the lawyer, we want to justify our actions and we ask, “Who is my neighbor?”
There were people that the Jews should hate according to the Law as it was defined in Jesus’ day. There were people from whom the religiously “righteous” should be separated: the sick, foreigners, the grieving, and women at certain times of the month. This was especially true for the leaders; the rules set them apart to keep them clean, to make them right before God. If they touched someone who was unclean, then they could not do the work they were called to do.
The lawyer wanted to justify himself and he thought he knew his neighbor according to God’s Word. The lawyer knew the law and knew that the law separated God’s people from foreigners and other outcasts. Holiness meant living according to those expectations. Jesus’ parable shows us just how much they had twisted God’s instructions into a set of rules that did not fulfill the intent of His Law. Jesus told the story using extremes to make a point that could not be disregarded. He chose the characters on purpose: a priest, a Levite and a Samaritan. The requirements for the priest and Levite to remain active in their jobs made it impossible for them to do any good for the beaten man and the Samaritan was as far from acceptable as Jesus could get. Jesus’ point was not to lift up the Samaritan and make it seem as if he were the better man, but to show the lawyer that God does not see the sacrifices but the mercy we share with those in need.
The parable shows us that our neighbors are anyone who is in need, no matter what it might mean for us. The Samaritan was willing to give above and beyond the call of duty, even to the point of making a covenant with an innkeeper so that the man would receive all the care he needed.
The priest and the Levite did not do anything wrong according to the Law. As a matter of fact, they were doing exactly what they believed was expected of them. I don’t think it was easy for them to pass by, after all even the hardest hearts can be compassionate, but they had to remain clean to serve the people of Israel in the Temple. Helping the beaten and dying man would have made them unacceptable for their work. They could not serve God. They did not pass by because they had no compassion. They passed by because they had interpreted God’s Law to mean that they could not risk their holy position and the people of Israel for the sake of one dying man. They may have been motivated by self-preservation, but they might also have been thinking about the bigger picture. Mercy for one would mean that they could not provide mercy for the masses. It is sometimes hard to know just what we need to do. How would we have responded if we were in their shoes? Can we really say we would be like the good Samaritan?
How do we know what to do? We pray and listen. God will answer. He will give us the courage to do what we should do. The priest and the Levite did not listen for God’s voice; they were too busy listening to their interpretation of the Law, ignoring a neighbor in need. They missed the opportunity to live God’s commandments in a positive way. They missed the opportunity to live that life of holiness that God was calling them to live.
That’s why Paul talked about praying for the people of Colossae. He’d heard of their faith. He knew that they wanted to do what is right, to glorify God in their works. He knew they wanted to be good stewards and to be obedient to God’s Word. Paul wrote, “...that you may walk worthily of the Lord, to please him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God, strengthened with all power, according to the might of his glory, for all endurance and perseverance with joy...” Doing what is right according to God’s Word will always lead us to joy.
As Christians we are called to lives of mercy. Mercy shows itself in many different ways. It shows itself in the way we deal with those who make us angry, with how we deal with difficult circumstances, with how to deal with our relationships. It is easier to make God’s Law into a long list of specific rules we have to obey so that we will be perfect in our actions because we know what is expected of us. It is tempting to use those rules to keep ourselves separated from those who we don’t want as our neighbor. It is tempting to justify our actions based on our interpretation. Jesus told the lawyer to go and be like the good Samaritan. This is holiness: to be humble before God and merciful to our neighbors.
The greatest example of the Good Samaritan is, of course, Jesus Christ. We are the ones who have been beaten and robbed, left on the side of the road to die. Our enemy is sin and the devil, but Jesus is willing to sacrifice everything to make us well. Unfortunately, we are not only those who are left on the side of the road. We are also those who pass by those in need. We ignore the needs of our neighbors.
The psalmist wrote, “Blessed is he who considers the poor. Yahweh will deliver him in the day of evil.” We like the sound of that, but we know that it doesn’t mean that we will never suffer. We will face natural disasters like flash floods. We will get sick. We will be hurt by other people. We will experience hardship. We may be the one left to die at the side of the road. God doesn’t promise that our life will be happy all the time. He promises we will be blessed. I tend to shy away from the “warm fuzzies” of faith, but only because our feelings, good and bad, should never be our motivation. Our motivation is always to glorify God. But the icing on the cake, so to speak, is that we do feel good when we help someone in need. We are blessed to be a blessing, and then we are blessed when we are a blessing.
“But you followed my teaching, conduct, purpose, faith, patience, love, steadfastness, persecutions, and sufferings - those things that happened to me at Antioch, Iconium, and Lystra. I endured those persecutions. The Lord delivered me out of them all. Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution. But evil men and impostors will grow worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived. But you remain in the things which you have learned and have been assured of, knowing from whom you have learned them. From infancy, you have known the holy Scriptures which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. Every Scripture is God-breathed and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for instruction in righteousness, that each person who belongs to God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.” 2 Timothy 3:10-17, WEB
We visited Hadrian’s Wall when we lived in England during a trip to Scotland. The wall was built by the Romans to keep the ancient people of Scotland out of England. I tend to buy books when we travel so that we can remember the places and people where we have been. In one shop I found a cookbook describing the foods and cooking methods of the ancient Romans. They used mostly earthenware jars, which has seen a resurgence in modern kitchens. The Romans ate plenty of fruits and vegetables, seafood, beef, and pork. They used strong sauces and herbs to hide the taste of the meat, particularly when it became rancid from storing too long. The cookbook had some recipes for typical Roman food, some of which had unusual ingredients. This book included a recipe for snails with instruction on how to fatten the snail with milk before frying it. This was a delicacy for the men and women who ate it. I don’t think many people purchase that book with the expectation of living as the Romans lived. I still have the book but have never once tried any of the recipes.
Quite frankly, I don’t use recipes very often. I like to throw things in a pot and hope for the best. Of course, I do have some I use regularly, and I have a bookshelf full of recipe books. I often download recipes that I see on Facebook, and I have tried quite a few. Most of those recipes have worked out just fine. When you purchase a cookbook in a bookstore or find one on the Internet, you expect them recipes to be accurate so the food will be edible. The integrity of the author is at stake, so the recipes are usually tested and tasted to be sure the food is good.
A few years ago, I created a cookbook with recipes from my husband and my mothers for their grandchildren. It was a daunting task, especially since some of the recipes were very old, hard to read, and included ingredients I could not identify. How much is 15 cents worth of saccharine? It doesn’t help that their generation often kept incomplete recipes! I confess that I didn’t test every recipe before including in my book, but most of them were so well used and beloved, we had already eaten those foods many times.
The author of the cookbook included a disclaimer telling the readers that he did everything he could to ensure the recipes were accurate, but the chefs who helped him edit the book refused to taste a few of them, like the one for the snails, so he could not guarantee the results for those who might try them.
The Bible is our recipe for life. Inside the pages of God’s love story for us are the directions for living a life which is in harmony with Him, so that we might be part of His Kingdom as we were created to be. To understand and follow the directions in this book, we must read and study it on a regular basis and follow the directions. Throughout history, the words in this book have been tried and tested and have been found to be the Truth. In his second letter to Timothy, Paul encourages us to listen to his teaching, to follow the ways that God us through him. He reminds us that there are people who try to twist God’s Word, to manipulate people with it to get their way. But he assures his readers that the scriptures are the foundation of our salvation and our life in God’s Kingdom. We know God’s word from a lifetime of reading the Bible, but it is like an old recipe we return to over and over again, certain and delicious for us to consume.
Do you follow a regular pattern of scripture reading? The pastor at our church has encouraged us to do “the first fifteen,” a time of prayer and scripture reading to start our day. It is good to include a devotional such as A WORD FOR TODAY, but do you do more? Do you read the scripture used in context and ask God what it should mean in your life today? Do you have His Word written on your heart so deeply that you are able to share it with those who are placed in your path? It doesn’t do much good to have a cookbook in which the recipes are never tried. Neither does it do much good to have a Bible whose spine is never cracked. Get out your Bible today. The words within have been tried and tested over the ages and are Truth. Read it, then live it. That’s how you will be equipped to do the work God is calling you to do.
“See how great a love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God! For this cause the world doesn’t know us, because it didn’t know him. Beloved, now we are children of God. It is not yet revealed what we will be; but we know that when he is revealed, we will be like him, for we will see him just as he is. Everyone who has this hope set on him purifies himself, even as he is pure.” 1 John 3:1-3, WEB
Drew Barrymore was just nine years old when she starred in a film called “Irreconcilable Differences.” It was not her first film when it was released in 1984. She filmed more than twenty films before she turned twenty. It is not surprising since she comes from a family of notable performers that goes back to the 19th century. She had her first paid part in a dog commercial when she was just eleven months old. She admits that she struggled with substance abuse, went to rehab, and was institutionalized at thirteen because she was exposed to the pressures of fame at a very early age. Was this the life she wanted for herself or was she forced into the business? It was not necessarily the life that Drew wanted. Children are dependent on their parents for their early days, and sadly, parents do not always do what is the best for their children.
The movie “Irreconcilable Differences” was about a young girl who was the daughter of two famous people who were in the business (a novelist/screenwriter and producer). They spent too many hours away from home and barely knew their child. The housekeeper was much more like a mother to the girl. She decided to divorce her parents so that she could move in with the housekeeper and live a normal life with a parent who was willing to give her the love and attention she needed.
We might think this is just a problem with the rich and the famous, but it is a problem in many average families today. Many parents from humble households do not spend enough time with their children, leaving them to fend for themselves. This is not just about finding food to eat or clothes to wear. Many parents leave children to find their own beliefs and moral understanding. We live in a time when many families need two paychecks just to survive, so children are left in the care of daycare and then school. Even stay-at-home mothers can get caught up in life that they forget to spend time with their family. I confess that I did this when my children were young; I justified my work by claiming it was for the children, for their future. The parents in the movie thought they were doing their best, giving their daughter everything she could possibly want, but all she needed was time as a family.
This happens in every household to some degree, but I think it is more difficult for those in positions of authority or jobs that are in demand. Actors spend months away from home filming television shows or movies. Corporate executives fly all over the world to inspect their facilities or to cut deals. Entertainers spend night after night on the road going on tour from city to city to perform. Military members are sent around the world to serve. These parents do not see their children on a daily basis, often rushing the reunions as they prepare for another trip.
I have heard stories lately about stars who have made the conscious decision to leave their hectic world behind having realized that the hustle and bustle of their job leaves no room for raising their children. I saw an interview with Celine Dion. She talked about how difficult it was to be on the road so much. She decided to make a long-term commitment to sing at a casino so that she could spend her days with her daughter, while working only a few hours each evening. She said she just wanted to drive her daughter to school. She was more interested in her daughter than working hard to give her the things she did not really need.
The character Drew played in the movie did not feel like a daughter to her parents anymore. They were never around, they never listened to her problems, and they never saw her achievements. She didn’t want the big house and the best toys; she just wanted the love of the people who she loved. Sadly, there are people who feel that way about God, particularly at times when it seems like the world is falling apart around us. Where is God? Is He too busy to care about my problems?
God, our heavenly Father, is not like the parents in the movie. Even though He is the King of Eternity, the Creator of all things, He has time to take each of us by the hand, sit us on His lap and love each of us personally. He is with us through everything: the good and the bad, calm and the chaos. We, who are nothing more than specks compared to the wholeness of the universe in time and space, are called children of God. He is with us, transforming us into His image, manifesting Himself through our lives. As we grow in the hope of that which is to come, we are changed to become more and more like Him. He wants us all to be His children, for us all to look to His grace for our lives. This is why it is so important for us to constantly work on our faith and help others see God’s grace, beginning with our children, so that they will see that God is always near, that He is active in our world, and that He is always working to make all things right according to His good and perfect Word.
“For which of you, desiring to build a tower, doesn’t first sit down and count the cost, to see if he has enough to complete it? Or perhaps, when he has laid a foundation and isn’t able to finish, everyone who sees begins to mock him, saying, ‘This man began to build and wasn’t able to finish.’” Luke 14:28-30, WEB
I follow a page that watches houses that have been put on the market that are interesting or unusual. Many of them have “gone wild.” They make me laugh, cringe, and dream. Some are spectacularly decorated, huge homes worth millions of dollars. Others are homes that have a reputation of some sort. Yet others are surprising in their lack of concern for the people looking for a house. Most realtors will advise sellers to remove personal décor that would not interest others, like the “Star Trek” room or the pink bathroom with flamingo fixtures (I confess I would probably like that one!) On another site I saw a home with a full size above ground swimming pool in the living room.
I once saw an article about all the things you should not do if you are trying to sell a house. The article had photos of homes that would make any home buyer run in the other direction. The first house had holes in the walls, odd brown stains, and blankets used as curtains. The second house used mood lighting to make the house look nicer, but it only made me wonder what they were hiding. The third house seemed to be a storage unit, with boxes everywhere, clothes hanging from the furniture, multiple televisions and other electronic equipment. All three used nice sounding terms in their ads that were red flags. Do you really want a “great opportunity” or something that needs “just a little TLC”? The sad part is that most of those houses might be good, but you can’t see the bones under the clutter, dirt, and unusual personal tastes of the sellers.
I’ve been there. Most of our moves were done by the military, so we simply packed our stuff and moved one. However, thirteen years ago we sold one house to buy another. There was so much work to get ready for the market. Our realtor did a walk through and suggested that we begin packing, to remove as much as we wouldn’t miss as we invited buyers into our home. They tell you to remove that wall of family pictures, lighten up the bookshelves, get rid of the nicknacks and clean the children’s rooms. We even had to tidy our closets. Realtors want buyers to imagine the home as their own, not as you love it. It is hard to put away your life, emotionally and physically, but it really does help. Realtors will also help you decide what work should be done to upgrade or repair the home. The house with the holes in the walls and brown stains would have looked much better with some patching, paint, and a carpet cleaning. I didn’t want to put too much money into my house, but I did make sure that the obvious imperfections were fixed. The houses in the article might have been more work than the people could either afford or accomplish, but why would anyone think pictures like those would sell their house?
At least we know that they are being honest with their photos. When we were house hunting, we saw examples of how realtors can use photography to the best advantage. You don’t see the details when you are looking at pictures. You don’t see the grout that is coming out from between the tiles or the dirt in the corners. The realtor doesn’t photograph that corner with the crack or the side of the house that has a dying tree. They angle the photos to hide the ugly furniture and use lighting in creative ways. I’m not sure I would call it dishonest, but it can be deceptive. I learned how deceptive it was I visited the houses that looked fantastic in pictures.
We visited one house that was a dream. It was very affordable (a red flag, I suppose) but had some fantastic features. We called to arrange a viewing but was told the house was not locked (another red flag) and we could visit it anytime. We could tell from the photos that the house would need a little work, but it seemed as though the shell was good. I still laugh about that visit. We drove up to the end of the driveway, which ended with a large drop in the asphalt. The garage was 20 feet away. There were bird nests in the trellis that served as the roof over the back porch. The front door was a little dirty, but it was lovely, although the carport over the circular drive in front of the house looked unstable. It was so wobbly that a major storm a few weeks later with high winds knocked it over.
The house originally had a spiral staircase that went upstairs to the master bedroom. That stairway was gone, so there was no way to go up to see what it was like on the upper level. We could see that the door to the balcony was wide open. We’ll never know because we couldn’t get up there, but there was probably water damage, and possibly critters living up there. On the main floor, it appeared as though someone was trying to flip the house but was stopped mid-flip. The work was poorly done. Tile was not evenly spaced. The paint colors were outrageous. The kitchen would have to have been completely redone because the cabinets were halfway removed. No attention was paid to acoustics, to lighting, to traffic flow. The roof would probably have had to be replaced. It was not a “great opportunity” or a house that needed “just a little TLC.” The house may have been cheap, but we would have had to take a huge loan to afford to make it livable.
I was disappointed. I fell in love with the potential I saw in the photos but when I saw the reality I knew that it was impossible. The cost would have been too great. We could not live in the house while it was being repaired. The work was beyond our scope, so we would have to have hired a contractor. We would have to sell our other house before we could afford the new one. Where would we live? How would we deal with the kids and the cats? We had to count the cost before we could buy the house. Somehow houses like those in the article are eventually sold, although usually for much less than it would have been worth if the people had put some time into preparing the space.
I like to look at the photos of those houses on that Facebook page, but I would think twice (or more) about ever purchasing them. The big, beautiful houses might be wonderful, but I couldn’t afford to furnish them and I’d never have the energy to clean that much space. Could I live with the attention those homes with a reputation experience? I would probably be frustrated by everything that is left behind in those homes with unusual décor or disgusting messes. We have to consider the cost of our decisions. Can we finish what we began? Can we make it livable? Can we make it a home that will bring joy and peace to those who walk through the doors?
“For there are also many unruly men, vain talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision, whose mouths must be stopped: men who overthrow whole houses, teaching things which they ought not, for dishonest gain’s sake. One of them, a prophet of their own, said, ‘Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, and idle gluttons.’ This testimony is true. For this cause, reprove them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith, not paying attention to Jewish fables and commandments of men who turn away from the truth. To the pure, all things are pure, but to those who are defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure; but both their mind and their conscience are defiled. They profess that they know God, but by their deeds they deny him, being abominable, disobedient, and unfit for any good work.” Titus 1:10-16
Anne Robinson was the host of a BBC game show called “The Weakest Link” from 2000 to 2012. The show was a cross between Jeopardy! and Survivor. The contestants answered difficult questions to earn cash, working together as a team to build as large a prize as they could, but only one team member went home with the cash. After each round, the contestants voted for the person they consider the weakest link who was then kicked off the show. The people are interviewed throughout the show, and the answers are often mean-spirited and offer blame and accusation against the other members of the team. It was cutthroat, but it was popular both in the UK and in the United States.
Ann was both praised and criticized for the way she hosted the show. Between rounds, Ann addressed the contestants and asked questions about their performance. She was particularly hard on the contestants who failed to answer questions that reflected aspects of their lives. An actress who could not answer a question about the Oscars was targeted. A math teacher who missed a question about multiplication was put in the spotlight. Ann used a variety of synonyms for the failures of the team such as pathetic, pitiful, wretched, or miserable. She asked questions like, “Is there a village missing an idiot?” It seemed like she considered the most important part of the job was to run down the contestants and make them feel worthless. She was called the “Queen of Mean” and many other names. She seemed to be a very cruel person.
It has been said that she is actually a very nice person, that she didn’t have that hard-edged look off camera and spoke with a soft voice. She was once a consumer advocate, a job that meant she had to be strong to fight, but soft to gain the confidence of her clients. When she was interviewed, she was often relaxed, pleasant and kind. The image she portrayed on the show was simply an image, created to make the show exciting to watch. She has said that she wasn’t meant to be a mean host. She was supposed to look like she knew all the answers, then she was to ease the contestants’ disappointment when they had to leave. Then she met the type of people who would compete in the show, who were themselves cutthroat.
In an interview, Ann said, “I remember one rehearsal, in a shabby room at the BBC where I asked a man why he was voting off a woman called Janet. He said: ‘Anyone who can’t name the Teletubbies shouldn’t be here.’ That put a light on in my head. I thought: ‘Great! I can be myself! I can look at the contestants and say what people on the sofa at home are thinking: why are you so fat? You’ve got an annoying laugh. Were you on medication when you bought that top?’” Ann has said that it was much more fun to be tough, rude and acerbic, rather than cheesy! While opinions differ about her offstage persona, she loves her family and has been an ambassador for eye health.
She isn’t much different than the rest of us. We often put on a different face for our own situations. If we have a job that requires us to be hard-edged, we put that on during working hours, then act much differently at home with our family and friends. Unfortunately, we put on masks that cover up our true feelings and actions. This use of masks can sometimes work the other way, however. We all know people that act sweet and kind but who are ruthless behind people’s backs. Some Christians even put on a mask, but their actions are far from being Christ-like. They go to church on Sunday mornings, but they lie, cheat, and steal when they go out into the world on Monday morning. They talk of love and peace, but they hate in their hearts and the cause dissension among people. This problem is not new; Paul dealt with this in his letters to the early churches.
Paul has harsh words in his letter to Titus, who was an overseer at the church in Crete. It was written for people who were not living according to the life of Christ in them. We read words like these and think about people in our lives who act that way. One thing I have learned, however, is that when we point our fingers at others, we need to look to our own lives. Are we sweet at church but cutthroat in the world? As Christians we know that though we are imperfect and we do make mistakes, we have been and will be forgiven. However, we also know that there is a standard by which we are called to live. It is by that standard the world sees us and sees Christ in us. If you are like the Cretans, you are rebellious and must turn from your wicked ways. Seek God, in prayer and study. Be transformed by His loving touch and incredible power. Be the child that God has created you to be: loving, obedient, and fit for every good work of God, without any masks, but true to God’s intent for your life.
Lectionary Scriptures for July 20, 2025, Sixth Sunday after Pentecost: Genesis 18:1-10a (10b-14); Psalm 27:(1-6) 7-14; Colossians 1:15-29; Luke 10:38-42
“One thing I have asked of Yahweh, that I will seek after: that I may dwell in Yahweh’s house all the days of my life, to see Yahweh’s beauty, and to inquire in his temple.” Psalm 27:4, WEB
Meryl Streep plays Miranda Priestly who is the editor-in-chief of an important fashion magazine. Anne Hathaway is a journalist named Andy Sachs who is trying to break into the world of publications. She doesn’t think that the work of a fashion magazine is worthwhile, but she is hired as an assistant to Miranda. It is, apparently, the “job every girl would die for.” Andy sees it as a steppingstone for a “real” journalistic position at one of the big news publications. Miranda is demanding and cruel (this the “devil” in the title). Andy detested the job at the beginning, but eventually got caught up in the world, even to the point of losing herself.
There is a scene where Miranda is hosting a party for important people in the industry as well as in politics. Andy and the other assistant Emily (played by Emily Blunt) are working hard to make Miranda look good. They were required to study the guest list, with pictures and biographies, and stayed with Miranda every moment. When someone approached, they whispered information in her ear so that it would appear that Miranda knew intimate details about them all. The ruse was a success, and Miranda appeared to be the perfect hostess.
This isn’t surprising in our culture of hospitality today: it often matters who you are and if you are somebody, you are treated better than people who are nobodies. We go out of our way to ensure important people are comfortable and that all their needs are met, while ignoring the needs of those who have no wealth, power, or authority. We plan dinner parties and work hard to make sure everything is perfect. Would you invite a stranger that comes to your door and feed them on the spur of the moment?
It is impossible to be ready for unexpected guests! I like to say that my door is always open, but I have to admit that my house isn’t always perfectly ready for guests. My floor usually needs to be vacuumed, and the furniture dusted. I doubt I could come up with a hearty snack. I certainly could not be as good a hostess and Abraham and Sarah were to their unexpected guests. I have to admit that sometimes I forget to offer my unexpected guests even a glass of water. It was second nature to the people in Abraham’s day. Abraham and Sarah were semi-nomadic; they lived in temporary dwellings and moved with their livestock. They didn’t stay in one place for very long.
Hospitality was vital in their world. The roads were dangerous, and there was not a McDonalds or Starbucks on every corner. Some travelers might go for days without access to fresh water or food. The nomads or semi-nomads settled, even briefly, in places where good water was available to take care of their needs and the needs of their animals. Travelers passing by were always welcome, and they were received with grace and hospitality.
Hospitality was the cultural norm of the day, but Abraham was more than hospitable. He was willingly and willfully humble before his guests, extremely generous with his resources and patient with their visit. Abraham was a man of great wealth, power and authority despite his nomadic existence. After all, kings honored him. He had servants and herds so large that even when divided they were vast. Yet, when strangers came to his tent, Abraham ran to greet them, bowing down before them to honor their presence. He invited them to rest and to wash their feet. Then he ran to prepare a feast, first asking Sarah to use the finest supplies to make bread and then choosing a fine calf to roast. This meal must have taken hours to prepare. Then, as they ate, Abraham stood nearby, as if waiting to serve their every need with just a word. Abraham would not let the men leave until he served them a meal.
The passage begins, “Yahweh appeared to him by the oaks of Mamre, as he sat in the tent door in the heat of the day.” Abraham recognized the LORD and gave Him the honor and attention He was due.
Where was Sarah? Sarah was not quite so grace filled. She worked hard to prepare the meal that Abraham served his guests, but she didn’t even greet them. The couple was old even by our standards. She was probably tired and depressed; she thought she had nothing to show for her life. She had no children, no grandchildren. She had a strained relationship with Hagar and Ishmael’s presence was a constant reminder of her failure. She had no reason to be happy. She worried that she was to blame for her troubles. She had no hope. How could she ever show her face to the world? It is no wonder she hid in the tent, staying busy with the meal.
She did overhear their conversation, though. Sarah was around eighty-nine years old when the three men came to their camp. She was eighty-nine years old when a twenty-five-year-old promise was renewed, a promise that was already past hope the first time it was given. Yet, these men told Abraham and Sarah that the promise would finally be fulfilled within a year. Sarah would be ninety and Abraham a hundred years old. How could they possibly parent a child at such a great age? How could they live long enough to see that child become a man, find a wife and have children? How would they ever experience the joys of being grandparents?
Abraham believed. Sarah laughed.
Sarah laughed within herself when she heard the promise. I think I would, too. It wasn’t a hearty, joyful laugh. It was a laugh of cynicism; the promise was ridiculous. Even if her failed and failing body could finally bear a child, how could she ever be a mother? How would she have the energy to keep up with a toddler? How would she live long enough to see him grow? She laughed within herself because it was too late. How could she ever enjoy being a mother at this late age?
Who were these men who would speak such ridiculous words to a tired old woman?
It was almost cruel for the men to say such things, to respond to her hospitality with teasing. She was so caught off guard by the LORD’s Word that she even denied laughing. God’s Word is not cruel, but it doesn’t always make sense, and so we often receive it with skepticism and doubt. Sarah’s pain was so deep that she could not see that that Lord had come to reveal that it was time for the promise to be fulfilled. It was unbelievable; she probably let go of the hope of the promise long before that day. Abraham honored the Lord with humble service; Sarah received the LORD with uncertainty and fear.
There is so much more we could discuss in this passage. Who were the three men? We know that the Lord appeared before Abraham, but were the others angels? Were the three men a picture of the three-fold character of God? Did Abraham really see God, since human eyes cannot see God and live? What about Sarah? She reacted to the idea that she would be a mother with laughter, though she was not joyful. She was incredulous. When the men confronted her about the laugh, she lied. There is so much to be said about our human reaction to the presence of God. We don’t believe it; we don’t believe what God says to us and when we are confronted about our doubt, we lie.
Though there are so many themes in this passage, I think for this season of Pentecost that we need to see the example of Abraham’s servant response to the visitor. How often do people cross our path that we ignore because we don’t think they are important enough? Abraham may or may not have known that the visitor was the LORD, but as Christians we are called to see Christ in the faces of every stranger. When someone approaches, are we willing to run to them, honor them, and serve them, no matter who they are? We do not know when we might just be running to, honoring, and serving the Lord.
It is interesting that we have this story of Abraham and Sarah serving those who came to their tent, yet there seems to be such a different perspective in the Gospel lesson. Martha was serving Jesus and the disciples, as was her responsibility, but it was Mary, sitting at Jesus’ feet, who was honoring Jesus.
One day at church, our pastor asked my daughter and I to help with the children’s sermon. We were supposed to be as much of a distraction as we could be. So, when he called the children up, we slipped into the front row. He asked the children to pay close attention to the story he was going to tell and then we got started. I made a paper airplane which I threw toward the kids. We discussed an article in our church magazine. I tore out a page, made a ball and threw it at the pastor. We called out to Zack who was serving as acolyte that day and trying to be as well behaved as possible. It is pretty hard when your mom is being so silly.
Needless to say, we did our task well. Pastor finally had to stop telling the story and ask us to stop. Then he talked to the children about how distracted we can be by the things around us when we should be paying attention to more important things, like God’s word. When the service was over, several people suggested that perhaps I was having way too much fun being a distraction that morning, all in good humor of course.
It was fun, but I have to admit that even though it was what I was asked to do, my silliness even became a distraction for me. It took several minutes after it was over to stop giggling and I might have missed a bit of the sermon as my mind wandered thinking about things I could have done. The point of the lesson was quite clear, however. We don’t listen very well. Either we let the world around us become a distraction or we simply focus inward, and we do not hear what others are saying.
When my daughter and I were playing during the children’s sermon, we fulfilled the task that our pastor asked us to do. However, in the process of doing it, we also missed out on the story ourselves. Every day we go out into the world in faith doing what God has called us to do: to serve Him by loving our neighbor. However, sometimes our good works can become so self-centered that we miss hearing Him as He speaks into our lives. We get burnt out because we begin to think we are the only ones who are doing all the work.
Whenever we hear this story, we are tempted to think Jesus is lifting Mary above Martha and teaching us to be like her. The reality of this story, however, is not that we should spend all our time sitting at the feet of our Lord, but that we should not worry and fuss over the distractions of this world that keep us from hearing Him. A balanced life of being Mary and Martha, listening and doing, is the way Jesus calls us to live. We can’t know God’s will if we don’t hear His voice, and once we hear His voice, we can’t help but go out and do His will. In the meantime, we are to focus our attention on what really matters, Jesus and His Word, so that we might live in His grace to His glory.
Today’s Gospel lesson is a relatively short passage, much shorter than I remember. It seems to me that we spend a lot of time studying this story, particularly women’s Bible studies. We always ask the same question: Are you a “Mary” or a “Martha”? And then spend our study time comparing the two women. We generally conclude that most of us are more like Martha and that this story is a reminder not to worry so much about things. Isn’t it amazing that we spend so much time on five brief verses of scripture. Yet, perhaps for women, it is the very story we need to hear often.
I taught a workshop on spiritual gifts a few years ago. We did an assessment, and I tried to prepare the women for the surprises they would see in their results. “You might just have the gift of pastoring” I said, which shocked and even upset a few. They didn’t want that responsibility. They didn’t realize that they didn’t have to become an ordained minister to use the gift, it is a special gift given by the Holy Spirit to certain members of the church to assume a personal responsibility for the spiritual welfare of a group of believers; to shepherd, counsel, and encourage believers and to give them food from God’s Word, to feed by teaching; to nurture others in truth; to equip the saints. It is about shepherding people in a good, godly direction, helping them to be the people God has called them to be. This gift sometimes leads people into ordination, but no always. Unfortunately, most of the women at the workshop rejected any gift that was not “hospitality.” They served in the kitchen, making coffee and organizing potlucks. They didn’t see how they could use their other gifts in that setting.
In the Old Testament lesson, Abraham was lifted up for being a servant to his guests. He was praised for honoring those strangers with a place to rest and a meal fit for a king. He jumped to his feet when he saw the visitors, bowing before them and offering them hospitality. While they eat, he stood nearby, as if waiting to meet their every desire. As we compare these actions to our Gospel lesson, it seems like that was exactly what Martha was doing. She was trying to provide the best hospitality to their friend and teacher, to meet His every need.
It made me ask some questions. Was Martha really put down for her active service? Did Martha really mean to put down Mary as lazy? What is the difference between the story of Abraham and the story of Martha? Why is service approved in one and disapproved in the other?
The problem was not that Martha was actively serving Jesus and the disciples. The problem was her worry. She was concerned about doing everything right, making everything perfect. She was concerned about the image that her family was portraying in front of Jesus. Mary appeared lazy. Without Mary's help, the meal might not be satisfactory. She was afraid that she could not accomplish the work and that Jesus would be disappointed. Her service was not centered on Jesus' need – thought it might have appeared that way. Her service was self-centered, focused on her need to please, her fear of failure. It was not a humble approach to hospitality, but a demanding and vain attitude. Abraham, on the other hand, was a man of substantial means who willingly and willfully humbled himself before his guests for their comfort. It did not matter who they were or what they wanted, he gave them his best.
Another thing that I see in the texts for this week is the idea that when God is revealed to us, we “see” Him with our own eyes. In the Old Testament lesson, we see that the LORD appeared to Abraham and then in the next verse it says, “He saw three men.” Martha saw Jesus as a man who had needs. It did not matter that Jesus was able to feed more than five thousand on a hillside one day. She saw Him as someone to help, someone to serve. Paul wrote that Jesus is the image of the invisible God. We can’t see God, but we can see Jesus. He is the tangible: the flesh, the Word, the touch of God. With these texts we might ask ourselves the questions, “How is God visible in our world and in our life? How do we see Him?” And, what do we do when we realize His is in our presence?
Have you ever been on a mountain road that seems endless? These hills are so long that it is difficult to see the top. Modern cars are built to sustain power, but you can feel the difference as you get closer to the top. Sometimes you even wonder if your car will make it, your vehicle struggles and you lose speed. It seems nearly impossible for larger vehicles, which slow down so much that you wonder how they don’t end up going backwards down the hill at any moment. There are times when I think I’ve made it because the road seems to disappear as if it is headed back down, but then I realize it is just a brief break before the journey continues upward again. You can’t ever be sure that you’ve reached the top until you are actually headed down the other side.
There was a story called “The Little Engine that Could.” It is about a little steam train without much power that has to climb a very big hill. He’s not sure he can make it, but with encouragement he tries. He builds up steam and speed as he approaches the hill, and then begins the ascent. At first the climb is easy, but the journey becomes more difficult with each passing moment. He loses steam, and nearly loses hope, but he is encouraged to go on. He puffs to himself, “I can do it, I can do it...” I’ve driven on some roads with the same hope. “I can do it. I can do it...” I think.
Have you ever thought about how difficult it is to live as a Christian in the world? I don’t just mean in our day and age, because Christians throughout history have dealt with difficulties far worse than anything we can imagine. However, even in a society where a vast majority of people claim to believe in some higher power and moral code, the life of faith is like trying to drive up that mountain. Just as we think we have reached a pinnacle, we discover that the hill continues just beyond the crest.
We follow a God that is invisible. We believe in the Christ who is physically beyond our grasp. We can’t really hear Him, as we might hear our neighbor and if we do the world considers us insane. We can’t be entirely sure of our interpretation of the events and the words that have been given to us because we are biased by our own needs and desires. It is no wonder that so many people are atheist or agnostic. How can we be certain of something that we can’t see? How can we trust someone that is invisible?
I once attended a workshop where the teacher was discussing the passage from Paul. He said that when scientists first discovered the atom and learned about the miniscule parts of the atom, they found that there is an unknown force that held it all together. We see an atom drawn on a piece of paper with lines and walls and we think that's how it really looks. Actually, the atom just seems to “magically” hold itself together. The teacher said that when the scientists saw this, they called that “magical force” the “Colossians force” based on verse sixteen, “for in Him all things hold together.”
We make it up the mountain road because we know that it has to end and then we’ll be able to coast down the other side. Sometimes it is difficult. Sometimes we think our car is going to overheat or that we will end up going backward back down the hill. But we persevere and complete the journey. That’s how it is with our Christian journey. Sometimes it seems impossible. We don’t actually see the end and at times it is hard to believe there is another side. It would be easy to say that eternal life is a myth and that none of it is real. Yet, by faith we persevere. We believe in God and keep going, by His grace saying, “I can do it.” He holds us all together. He is the force that gets us over the top.
Paul wrote, “He is the head of the body, the assembly, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.” Abraham gave his attention to the Lord. He is our focus, the one thing we need wherever we go or whatever we do. With Him there is no reason for concern. With Christ comes a hope that reaches beyond the physical needs of our body. As we live in that hope, we are better able to discern the needs of those for whom we are sent to serve. There are indeed a great many people who need us and our gifts. Yet, we must remember at all times that God does not need us to do the work. He calls us to join with Him in humble service.
Before we serve, we need to look to Him. The psalmist wrote, “When you said, ‘Seek my face,’ my heart said to you, ‘I will seek your face, Yahweh.’” Mary chose the good part. That doesn’t make Mary better than Martha; it simply means that Mary found peace in the presence of God. She had work to do, too, but she approached it without fear or worry because she spent time at the feet of Jesus and her eyes were on Him.
There is one thing that is needed: eyes that see the image of God in Jesus Christ. God came to us. He revealed Himself so that we might know and experience His grace. He is faithful and will fulfill His promises even when we have lost all hope. We can’t chase after Him. We can’t give Him anything He does not already have. He does not need us. He calls us to sit at His feet, to share His grace, and to live in the hope that keeps us from ever being shaken.
This week’s lessons remind us to become more aware of the presence of God. We are encouraged to listen to His voice and to pay attention to His Word. Abraham received the LORD with humble faith and Mary sat at Jesus’ feet as He proclaimed the Good News. God is not physically present for us, but we do have Him in our hearts and in the scriptures. We may have moments like Sarah and Martha, distracted by the cares of the world, but we should not worry or be afraid. God calls us to seek Him, that we might dwell in His house forever. As we live in faith and the hope of Christ, we will not be worried or fearful but will go to do His work in joy and peace.
“I exhort therefore, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercessions, and givings of thanks be made for all men, for kings and all who are in high places, that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and reverence. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and come to full knowledge of the truth. For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all, the testimony at the proper time, to which I was appointed a preacher and an apostle - I am telling the truth in Christ, not lying - a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth.” 1 Timothy 2:1-7, WEB
We say prayers for a lot of reasons. Many prayers ask God for help. These prayers of supplication (when we pray for ourselves) and intercession (when we pray for others) address the issues and experiences that concern us, like our health, jobs, and relationships. We ask Him to intercede in the world so that life will be a little better.
Another type of prayer is that of thanksgiving. We recognize that our blessings are given by God’s hand, especially when we see the answers to those prayers of supplication and intercession. I’m not sure we are very good at praying about our blessings when we are comfortable, but we certainly do thank God when His hand is obvious in our lives.
I wonder, however, how many of us pray on a regular basis for the salvation of those in the world who have not yet heard the good news. This is not about praying that our enemies will fail at their evil deeds, but that God will reveal to them the wonder of His grace and mercy. “The Message” translates part of today’s text this way: “He wants not only us but everyone saved, you know, everyone to get to know the truth we’ve learned: that there’s one God and only one, and one Priest-Mediator between God and us - Jesus, who offered himself in exchange for everyone held captive by sin, to set them all free.”
Is everyone saved? No, not today, but God wants everyone to be saved. He wants to welcome all people into His Kingdom and into His forgiveness. He wants to have mercy on those people whom we consider outside His grace. He wants to shine His light on the darkness of their lives. He wants to transform them into children, just like us. And most of all, He wants us to pray for them.
If we pray for someone, especially someone who is our enemy, and even more so someone that we do not consider worthy of God’s grace, we will see them through God’s eyes, as yet another person that He wants to save. If we pray for them, God will transform us into people willing to share the Gospel message with them, even if we are afraid. We know that our enemies and uninterested neighbors do not want to listen. We know that those lost in darkness do not even know they need to be saved. Our natural response is to let them wallow in their own refusal to receive God’s forgiveness.
But Paul understood that his job is to share that Gospel message with all, and he encourages us to do the same. It all starts with prayer. “First of all...” he wrote. He knows that we can’t do anything without first kneeling before God’s throne, especially this most important task. In that posture we are humbled to recognize that we were once among those whom God wished to see saved, but when we were enemies, someone prayed and spoke the Gospel to us, too. How can we ignore that God loves them and desires them to be a part of His Kingdom?
So today, let us begin to pray for the unsaved and ask God to guide us to speak His light and forgiveness into their life. Perhaps one day soon they will no longer be enemies, but will be brothers and sisters in Christ. It will never happen if we do not begin with prayer, and then God will make amazing things happen.
“How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!’ But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, ‘Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us?’ So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.” Romans 10:14-17, WEB
Yesterday I wrote, “So today, let us begin to pray for the unsaved and ask God to guide us to speak His light and forgiveness into their life. Perhaps one day soon they will no longer be enemies but will be brothers and sisters in Christ. It will never happen if we do not begin with prayer, and then God will make amazing things happen.” We begin every work for God’s Kingdom with prayer.
My husband and I are leaving tomorrow morning with a team for a mission trip to another country. We will be serving a community that cares for young people who are in crisis, particularly girls. We will be renovating a building that the community plans to make into a preschool and ministering to the women and children who live there. We will attend a couple of festivals where we will share God’s grace with people who live in a nearby village. While most of the people who live in the community have faith in Jesus, we will meet people who are unsaved. It will be up to us to hear God’s voice and reach out according to His good and perfect will. We will not “save” anyone, but perhaps we will be able to touch them so that they will see His light and experience His forgiveness so that they will believe in Jesus.
This is why prayer is vital. We have to take time to hear what God has to say, to understand how God plans to use us in a situation beyond our comfort zone. It is not possible for everyone to take a mission trip to a foreign country. It takes time and resources. Thankfully, we have been well supported by so many people who have made donations of gifts for us to take. We have been in prayer for months as we have made decisions and as we have struggled with some challenges. We leave early tomorrow morning, confident that we are prepared, not only to do the work we have planned to do and to listen to God when we face the unexpected opportunities to serve Him during our trip.
On the mount when Jesus was transfigured, Peter thought he knew what was happening. He thought Jesus was being anointed to be king of the Jews. He thought that they were seeing the beginning of the final harvest of salvation, but his idea of salvation was not what God intended. Peter saw a glimmer of the glory that Jesus would have one day, but he did not understand God’s timing. He thought this glory proved Jesus would not have to die. He was wrong. At that most incredible moment, Peter interrupted what God was doing and told Jesus it was good they were there. He offered to build tabernacles for Moses, Elijah, and Jesus. While Peter was still talking, a cloud descended over the scene and God spoke. He said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!”
God said, “Listen to Jesus!” It was time for Peter to stop interrupting him with his own ideas. Peter, James, and John were terrified by the experience, but Jesus touched them and told them not to be afraid. We like to be in control; we like to make our own decisions. We are good about praying for those who need help from God, but we aren’t quite as good about asking God to guide and direct our steps.
Jesus speaks through His Church, through believers who share the Good News of God’s love and forgiveness through Jesus Christ. We do this in word and deed. It is tempting for us to interrupt God’s plan with our own ideas, just like Peter. However, we must pray and listen, follow Jesus’ lead as we go out into the world to share His Good News. I have to confess that while I’m not “terrified” like the disciples, but I do worry whether I can do what God is calling me to do. We will face so many obstacles as we do ministry this week. I just need to remember every day that Jesus is with us, He gives us everything we need, we just need to listen to Him. The key for us this week is to remember that the only way strangers will ever meet Jesus is if we willingly share our faith with them.
*** Please note, I will not have time or access to write and post A WORD FOR TODAY this week. I will return on July 28th, hopefully inspired with lots of stories and insights into God’s grace. Please pray with us during this week for traveling mercies, for courage to speak the Gospel, for God’s protection and provision. Please pray also for all those who will hear the Gospel that they might believe in Jesus and experience God’s forgiveness.
“Yahweh executes righteous acts, and justice for all who are oppressed. He made known his ways to Moses, his deeds to the children of Israel. Yahweh is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abundant in loving kindness. He will not always accuse; neither will he stay angry forever. He has not dealt with us according to our sins, nor repaid us for our iniquities. For as the heavens are high above the earth, so great is his loving kindness toward those who fear him. As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us. Like a father has compassion on his children. so Yahweh has compassion on those who fear him. For he knows how we are made. He remembers that we are dust.” Psalm 103:6-14, WEB
I once saw a video that began with a guy grumbling about everything. A kid rode by on his skateboard as the guy was trying to leave his driveway. He struggled to cross a busy intersection. A woman took the parking space where he was about to park. The line at the coffee shop was really long. A guy jumped in front of him for a cookie. His coffee took a few minutes because the shop was so busy. He sat down to wait and he was approached by an ominous looking man who handed him a pair of glasses. He put them on and they revealed the secrets of everyone he saw. One woman was lonely. The barista was battling addiction. The kid on the skateboard just needed someone to listen..
He was overwhelmed at first. He made excuses. He did not think it was possible to help any of the people who crossed his path. What could he do to make life better for everyone else? He wore the glasses all the way home, seeing the troubles and needs of his neighbors in their cars, but when he parked he wanted to remove them from his face. As he opened the glass case he saw the words “Get it?” He looked up and saw the boy. In the beginning of the video, he wanted to tell his parents that he was being annoying, but then he realized that the people about whom he had been grumbling had their own troubles. He realized his troubles weren’t that important after all. Instead of complaining to the parents, he gave the boy a few minutes of his time. Instead of being an annoyance, the boy gave him purpose. The glasses helped the man to see the world through God’s eyes.
I did not need glasses to see the world through God’s eyes during our trip to Honduras last week. There is always a bit of culture shock when you visit another country, even if that country is in some ways the same as many that are considered first world countries. Trips I have taken to France, Belgium, and Germany included the language hurdles. The money is different. The food is different. The people have a unique character based on their heritage and resources. Still, there is much about those countries that are similar to what we have in the United States.
The differences are more conspicuous when you travel to a country like Honduras. It is interesting because it is not considered a third world nation, but it is not yet a first world nation. Some call it a developing nation, and though there is much left to do, I noticed that there was much first world influence, particularly in the cities. We passed fast food places and convenience stores. The gas stations were name brands we recognized. The grocery store shelves were filled with many of the same products we see every day. The culture shock was more intense in Honduras, though. The poverty is evident everywhere. There might be Hondas on the road, but there are also oxen driven carts. Most houses are cinder block boxes with no central air and often no electricity. The most surprising difference is in the plumbing. We could not flush toilet paper down the toilet, not even in the most developed areas of the country. We complain about road construction, but in Honduras we drove on roads that were washed out and barely passable.
When I came home, someone asked me about the differences, and I admitted that we are spoiled. This is true for the least of us, really. Can you imagine living in a place where the sewage system is so bad that you can't flush the paper down the toilet? We talked about being grateful for our blessings, but besides being grateful, I think those of us who live in first world nations must consider whether our abundance is really a blessing. While I saw the needs of those we served during our mission, I also so the many blessings of their lives in their communities. Children who ate only one meal a day were happy, playful, intelligent, grateful, and inspiring. We delivered a truck load of clothes, shoes, toys, and household items to a school where the children ran to help, not realizing that those donations were given to them.
We think, “Oh those poor children” but the reality is that our abundance will never make us happy and content. We saw a man leading a cart drawn by oxen talking on a cell phone. We laughed at the absurdity of the picture, but we learned that though most people do not have electricity, they all have cell phones because it is the only way to communicate. Many of the homes had small solar panels, which were used solely to charge those phones. We might wonder how they could afford cell phones, but the reality is that they are a necessity in a country that is quickly changing around them.
Can you imagine what our lives look like from God’s perspective in heaven? We are poor compared to the abundance of God’s kingdom, yet Jesus deemed it right to come to earth to identify with us where we are, living in our world to show us how to live in love and compassion for our neighbors, whether they annoy us or not. We are to see everyone through those God glasses, to realize that we see their actions negatively, but we are no different. In today’s Psalm, God gives us an example of the way we should imitate Him with our neighbors.
The joy of living a life in our Lord Jesus Christ is that He transforms us and gives us the strength and courage to see the world in a different way. is patient and long-suffering, helping us to see the world through His eyes so that we will treat our neighbors with kindness. We live in the Spirit of God, a gift from our Lord Jesus Christ. Kindness keeps us in step with His Spirit, setting aside the grumbling about our troubles as we acknowledge that our neighbors might be dealing with difficulties we cannot see. Then, as we treat them with kindness, following God’s example, we will glorify God an example of His love and grace for others.
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith, gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ have crucified the flesh with its passions and lusts. If we live by the Spirit, let’s also walk by the Spirit. Let’s not become conceited, provoking one another, and envying one another.” Galatians 5:22-26, WEB
Today’s scripture was the focus for our evening devotions while we were in Honduras. Each pair used stories and activities to teach the girls about the fruit. Bruce and I talked about the fruit of kindness. We used the story of the Good Samaritan, who went out of his way to be kind to a man who was beaten and left for dead on the road. We brought Jesus bandages and had the girls bind (pretend) wounds on each other’s arms. They even put bandages on Bruce and me. It was a chance to show compassion, even if it was pretend.
We had a relatively drama free week, although the day after our lesson with the girls, Bruce fell and hurt his head. He’s fine, though he required a bandage. That evening, when the girls came for dinner, we let them bind Bruce’s wound with more Jesus stickers. His head was covered with them. It was fun and silly, but it augmented the lesson from the previous day.
The thing about teaching is that the teacher often learns more than the students, not only in the preparation, but also in the responses from the children. They gave us ideas of ways to be kind and made us more aware of the needs around us. The same is true of the other fruit of the Spirit. We became more aware of opportunities to practice joy, peace, patience, goodness, faith, gentleness, and self-control. And all these are founded in love.
Christ’s commandment is that we love one another and lay down our lives for our friends. We are commanded to bear fruit, lasting fruit, fruit built on love. His command is that we live as He lived, in selfless, sacrificial love. Sacrifice means giving up something, perhaps even something we love or something we have earned through our own suffering. It means changing our ways. But when we practice sacrificial love, we do not experience a sense of loss or emptiness because those things are no longer for us to enjoy. We find the real joy in the relationship we have with Christ through our obedience to His command. The grace of God does not come to us because we are obedient. Instead, we receive God’s grace which fills us with His love. As we abide in love, we can do nothing but be obedient. in God’s love is a life of joy, even when it means sacrifice.
Faith means change. It means transformation. It means living differently than the world. A mission trip always leads to some change in our hearts, our minds, our ideas, our understanding. As Christians, we are to obey God, live by His commandments, and show the world our gifts. We’ll face many people who do not understand our faith and they will respond with anger and bullying. Thankfully we were always received with hope and peace, but some mission trips are dangerous in ways we don’t expect. Yet, when we love as God has commanded us to love, the world will see the light of Christ and experience the reality of life in faith. Our love, or Christ’s love in and through us, might just help others see that life is much better when lived in love and hope and peace.
It always comes back to love. Jesus commanded that we love one another as He loved us. John tells us that we love because God loved us and His love has given us new life. We are reborn in faith by the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, by His blood and through the waters of baptism. We are given His Spirit and called to take His Word into the world and to call all those who are lost and dying to Him, where they will experience forgiveness, grace, new life, peace and His joy. We are the Church, sent into the world to invite all nations into our fellowship, to make them part of us, so that they will benefit from God’s mercy, be transformed and filled with the gifts of His fruit.
Lectionary Scriptures for August 3, 2025, Eighth Sunday after Pentecost: Ecclesiastes 1:2, 12-14, 2:18-26; Psalm 100; Colossians 3:1-11; Luke 12:13-21
“Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise. Give thanks to him, and bless his name.” Psalm 100:3, WEB
My favorite photos from our trip to Honduras were moments I captured of the adults, both team members and moms, interacting with the children. I am a people watcher, and it was such a pleasure to see the love and joy in their faces. I spent several minutes watching one of the moms playing with a small boy who is in her care. She lifted him up, swung him around, tickled his belly, and spun him around and around. He giggled with every new movement. On another occasion, that same mom was bouncing on the trampoline with him. He wanted her to do all the work, and she happily complied. They laughed and laughed. It made me happy to watch their joy. It was a simple pleasure that I experienced during a week that was filled with intense physical, spiritual, and emotional moments.
What are the simple pleasures that bring joy to your life? Who are the people that make you smile? What makes you laugh? Have you ever had the experience of discovering something you remember from your childhood as you were going about your day? Do you stop to smell the roses or watch the birds at a birdbath? Do you people watch at the mall and see how moms and children interact? Do you see the dad playing football in the yard? Does any of that remind you of the simpler times and old friends?
It is so good to be thankful for those simple things, but it is even better to be thankful for the greatest gift. We are God s people. That doesn’t seem like much, especially to those who do not believe that there is even a God. However, God is active in our world today, continually creating and recreating the world for His glory. In relationships, flowers and birds, and our memories, God manifests His love for us in tangible ways we can see and experience with joy. When we look for God in the simplest of pleasures and sing for joy with thanksgiving and praise, we’ll experience the grace that God has for us in the most unusual places.
Sometimes it is hard to see joy, because there isn’t always a reason to rejoice. Solomon knew that truth, and today’s passage from the book of Ecclesiastes doesn’t seem very hopeful. The New International Version translates Ecclesiastes 1:2, “Meaningless! Meaningless! Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless.” It is so hard for us to think that everything we do has no meaning at all. We work hard to accomplish our goals in life, to feed our families, to ensure that we have a roof over our head and clothes for our bodies. We practice our hobbies and sports to become accomplished. We read books to gain knowledge, follow the news to stay informed. We create friendships so that we will not be lonely in the hope that we will be happy and content. We don’t think any of this is meaningless; it all means something to us.
Yet, we are reminded that everything comes to an end. We retire from our jobs and others take our place. Our children grow up and move into their own lives. We hope that they will retain some of the things we have given to them, but they do not hold on to everything. Many in my generation lament that our children do not want the things we have collected. Our traditions die because they create new traditions. Sometimes they see the world from a different point of view, and they take a path we would not take. Our hobbies come and go as our interests change with the trends of the day. Our memories fade and knowledge changes as researchers find other possibilities. Even our friendships end as we move on to other places or people.
Sometimes it takes a trip to a foreign country to realize how differently people see the world. Everyone has a passion, a point of view from which they direct their lives, and establish their priorities. I saw in the interactions of those who lived on the farm we visited that their priority is community. Each mom had children who lived in their house, but when they cared for every child when they gathered on the playground or for dinner. They were focused on the people in their lives. Sadly, those of us in first world countries often focus on our accomplishments and our goals, with relationships being secondary and sometimes even distracting. Some are on a spiritual quest, while others are firmly planted on the ground. Some see the world as being “a glass half empty” while others see it as “a glass half full.”
As we look at the pursuits of others, we wonder why they work so hard at chasing after all the wrong things. However, we too are caught up in the pursuit of meaninglessness. We see other perspectives and points of view as invalid or less important than our own. In the end, we learn that it was all meaningless.
The teacher in Ecclesiastes laments that everything he has worked for will be given to the next generation that did not earn it, and yet so many of us have worked our lives so that we have something to leave to our children. Those who have lost someone they live, especially their parents, have had to deal with the material goods they left behind. After Bruce’s parents were gone, I had to ensure that the grandchildren had something with which to remember them. I sent photos of all my mother-in-law’s jewelry to all the granddaughters; each chose certain pieces. We did the same with my father-in-law’s ties. There were many pieces they did not want, and I had no idea what to do with them.
Younger generations are not really interested in having the things that we loved and collected over the years. They don’t want antiques. They don’t want collections. They don’t want superfluous stuff. This attitude of theirs made me think about what I have in the house. Those porcelain figures we collected as investments are not worth what we paid for them, and they are now not much more than dust catchers. We think we are leaving jewels to the next generation, but they’ll probably put them out in an estate sale or yard sale and get a dollar for them despite their real value.
I was thankful that the grandchildren did want a piece of their grandparents’ lives to remember them. They were kind and respectful about allowing one another to keep their favorites. This is not always true when dealing with inheritances. Families have argued and even separated over the stuff left behind, each heir demanding their due with no respect for everyone else’s desires. I’ve even heard stories of family members raiding the home of the person who died, removing everything for themselves, leaving nothing behind for the others. Many cases are complicated because the loved one’s wishes were not properly documented, or the papers were not legally acceptable. The fight can go on for years.
The teacher fears that everything he has worked for will be squandered away by those left behind. This happens all too often. I once read a story about an heiress who wasted her family wealth chasing after worldly pleasures and abusing the advantages she had inherited. Her troubles were widely reported, with constant commentary about her actions and the consequences of her actions. She was even imprisoned for illegal behavior that was a danger to herself and others. This is the way of life for many who have been given the benefit of wealth; they ruin many lives by chasing after their hedonistic obsessions. Unfortunately, the wealthy, young socialite learned that her behavior would have yet another consequence: her inheritance was taken away and was given to a charity that was more worthy to receive the money.
Most modern estates are divided equally between all children, but in ancient times the estate was typically divided between the sons, with the eldest receiving a double portion. This meant that if a man had two sons, the first born would receive two thirds of the estate and the younger just a third.
In the story from today’s Gospel lesson from Luke, two brothers approached Jesus about a probate case. This was not unusual, rabbis were authorized to judge this type of case and Jesus was seen as a rabbi. The brothers wanted an official verdict for their dispute. Jesus answered, “Man, who made me a judge or an arbitrator over you?” Jesus refused to become involved with their dispute, but He did not leave the question open. He used it as an opportunity to give the crowd a lesson in greed.
Jesus warned the crowd to be careful about greed, “Beware! Keep yourselves from covetousness, for a man’s life doesn’t consist of the abundance of the things which he possesses.” The parable tells of a man who had more than he could ever need. He had more than he could even store. He decided to build bigger barns to hold it all. Then he felt that he could relax, eat, drink and be merry. God spoke to the man, telling him that it was that day that he would die. “The things which you have prepared - whose will they be?”
We do not always know what will happen to our worldly goods when we die. Many families hold sales to get rid of the stuff that was held most dear by the departed. There are those, however, who battle over every penny. How many parents would want to leave wealth to their children if they knew it would destroy the family?
We fight with our brothers and sisters over perishable things because we are greedy. Most of us aren’t looking to have more than others, we simply want our fair share. We want things to be equal, at least equal to our benefit. For most of us the motive is good – we want security for the future. We want to know that we will be safe tomorrow, that we’ll have enough to eat and all that we need to survive. We like the thoughts of having a big home and a nice car, but for most of the intent is to ensure a comfortable life. We want to be happy. We want to feel secure.
It is good for us to share our possessions with those who came after us, and I hope my children will save at least a few of my memories. It is important that we prepare the paperwork to make it an easy process for our heirs. Our scriptures this week remind us, however, that the material possessions that we work so hard to collect are perishable and it is meaningless for us to put all our energy and focus into building up these things. We are meant to ask ourselves, “Where will I store all these things?” but the answer should be different than the man’s answer. Will we hide our grain and goods in a bigger barn, or will we dedicate it to God and for His use in this world. In this way we will store treasures in heaven, treasures that will last.
It is hard to believe, but it is nearly time for the children to return to school. This was always one of my favorite times because I love shopping the back-to-school aisle. There’s something about a new pack of pens or a notebook filled with crisp unmarked pages. My children are long grown, but I can still shop to donate. While there, I’m bound to buy something I don’t really need for my own office. I probably already have too much of whatever I might buy buried in a drawer! One year as we were preparing for the children to go back to school, I cleaned out my office supplies and discovered a pile of book covers, more than enough for several years. I bought those book covers every year, but my children didn’t use as many as I bought. I didn’t buy any that year, focusing my shopping on more important items.
We always bought some new clothes for going back to school. I can remember my own childhood and how exciting it was to get a new outfit to wear on the first day, plus new underwear. One year as we did our shopping, my son told me, “I have enough clothes.” In Texas they don’t need blue jeans or sweatshirts until later in the year, and it was always in November that we realized that he had outgrown the clothes for cooler weather. In August it was unnecessary to buy new clothes, but by November it was time. He had a good attitude about our shopping: why buy clothes when you have a perfectly good wardrobe for the circumstances of that moment? Why have dozens of pants that fit when there are only seven days in a week?
We like to have choices, whether it is our clothing or office supplies. We like to know that we can choose between wide ruled or college ruled paper. We like knowing that if we want to wear a purple shirt that there will be one in our closet. We feel secure because we have choices, but we also think we will find happiness if we can satisfy our immediate desires. When we wake up in the morning with a closet full of clothes, we seem to have control and power over our lives.
Yet, we learn in our scriptures this week that we do not find peace in the accumulation of things, even if they are things that we need like shelter, clothes, and school supplies. As a matter of fact, such accumulation often makes our lives more complicated. While we might like having a choice in the morning when we get dressed, it is so much better to know that you have a clean and comfortable outfit for the day. Too many of us own so many clothes (me included) that we never get around to wearing everything. A story is told about how a man discovered a lovely, brand-new nightgown his wife had bought, specially wrapped with the tags still on and the receipt in the box. He found it as he went through her personal possessions after she died; she hid it away in a drawer, saving it for a special occasion. She never found that perfect moment.
We do not know when we will die and everything we accumulate will be given to the next generation. Why do we waste so much time chasing after things that are meaningless? We build up cabinets full of supplies that we’ll never need and buy so many clothes that we will never have the chance to wear. We buy bigger houses and work hard to keep them just to store all the things we have gathered. In the end we can’t take it with us, and in our quest to gain more we often lose sight of what is really important. That’s what I saw in the community in Honduras. I realized that so much of what we do here at home is vanity.
What is vanity? In modern speech, vanity is an excessive belief in one’s attributes, usually physical but it can also be used in terms of abilities or accomplishments. Vanity is boasting without humility about one’s greatness. Carly Simon had a song with a chorus that went, “You’re so vain, you probably think this song is about you. You’re so vain; I'll bet you think this song is about you. Don’t you? Don’t you?”
Historically, the word “vanity” had a slightly different understanding, without the self-centered focus. It meant something more like uselessness, or meaningless, as the NIV translates the word. The last words in today’s Old Testament lesson seem to say that the hard work and toil of life is without worth, “a striving after wind.” This is a rather depressing thought. Why do we bother if everything we do is meaningless? We cannot come to that conclusion based on the passage. Solomon teaches us that everything done apart from God is meaningless. Chasing after our selfish desires is vanity. Pursuing our own agendas is futile. Promoting our own greatness is a striving after wind. We are nothing without God.
There was a cartoon called “Coffee with Jesus” which showed Jesus having coffee with a variety of characters that had questions for Him. He offered some down-to-earth, heavenly advice. The cartoon was not always comfortable because the artists challenged our understanding of faith, life, and relationships. Sometimes they made me laugh. Sometimes they made me think. Sometimes they made me angry. But there’s something very real about the conversations Jesus has with the characters in the comic strip.
One episode showed a man named Carl asking Jesus about His favorite Christian singer. Jesus answered that He enjoyed listening to a woman from a small village in Thailand who sang with her whole heart all day long. Carl said, “Oh. So, no one anyone’s ever heard of.” Jesus answered, “She won’t be touring the church circuit anytime soon, Carl, but she’s famous where I come from.” Carl never heard of the woman in Thailand who sang with her whole heart, and we will never get to hear her praise songs, but Jesus knew and the angels rejoiced when she sang. Our own successes and failures will never be reported on the news, but Jesus knows, and He celebrates our accomplishments and cries over our pain. He’d rather hear us sing “Jesus loves me” than attend a concert with every RIAA Diamond Certified Artist. The list is filled with extraordinary musicians, but Jesus loves to hear you sing and He is in the front row every time you raise your voice in praise to God.
Vanities of vanities, all is vanity. At times it seems like this is true. The passage seems without any hope at all. Yet, as we are reminded of the truth that our pursuits are meaningless in the greater scheme of things, we are also reminded that there is a greater scheme. We look beyond ourselves, our points of view, our passions, and we see that there is hope. Though our toil is in vain, our days are full of pain, and everything we do in this life will either pass away or be given to another generation to waste or ruin, our hope rests in something much greater than ourselves. In knowing, and living, this truth, we will see that His purposes and pursuits are not so meaningless.
You will have to work for the things you have: the food on your table, the roof over your head, the clothes in your closet, but do it with songs of joy and praise on your lips. Perhaps our work is meaningless in the greater scheme of things, but loving God is never in vain. Sing of His glory and His love. Hum the tunes of your favorite hymns and break out in the words of “Jesus loves me” once in awhile. God has written His Word on our hearts, and we can easily reach for those words in the songs that we hold dear. In our singing, we keep God close to us, remembering His truth and sharing them with the world. Shout for joy and sing joyful songs, give Him thanks and praise His name!
It doesn’t matter if we are rich or poor, high or low. We will all die and everything we have accumulated will be given to another. It may be used for good, but history tells us that human nature is more likely to fall into the traps of evil. The kings of Israel were given the good things which God had assured for His chosen people, and they used it to honor and worship the false gods. They led the people away from the one true God, into lives that were truly meaningless and empty.
We are called to be rich toward God. There are many ways that can manifest in our lives. We are given gifts and talents, opportunities and relationships that God uses to make His will happen in the world. We have material possessions that can be shared with our neighbor. We have knowledge and wisdom that can make life better for others. The Gospel story does not tell us that we can’t have wealth, but that we are to use our wealth for the sake of the world. The wealth we have, whether it is our possessions, our time and our abilities, is given to us to be used to the Glory of God. We were blessed to be able to use our resources to share God’s grace with the people in Honduras, but we were also blessed because they shared their lives with us, and we saw God’s grace in the love and joy they exhibited through their relationships.
Paul wrote, “Set your mind on the things that are above, not on the things that are upon the earth.” We are called to live a life that rejects the attitudes and actions that are vanity. Paul lists so many negative traits which are idolatrous and disobedient like sexual immorality, uncleanness, depraved passion, evil desire, and covetousness. He added anger, wrath, malice, slander, and shameful speaking out of your mouth. These traits are self-centered and a striving after wind. But God has made us new. In Christ we are transformed into a new creation, gifted and called to live for Him. Paul reminds us that we are not alone in this, that all those who believe, no matter who they are, become part of Christ and will share in His glory. This is why we were created; this is our reason for life. This is where we will find joy.
The fruit of our toil, when used solely for ourselves, is meaningless and vanity. Yet, money itself is not bad. When we are rich toward God, we give the fruit of our labor to honor Him. The same is true of our time and talents. The life lived well is the one that is lived for Him. “When Christ, our life, is revealed, then you will also be revealed with him in glory.” Instead of rushing through life filling our barns with grain that will eventually spoil, joy is found when we go forth in faith and do God’s work in the world. This is our purpose, the reason for our blessings. Your calling will be different than mine. You may never have the opportunity to travel to a different nation to share the Gospel with strangers, but you can enjoy the simple pleasures of life in God’s Kingdom wherever you are and praise Him for them.
“Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher; vanity of vanities, all is vanity.” It doesn’t have to be. The life lived in praise and thanksgiving of God is the life that experiences true joy. The psalmist writes, “Make a joyful noise unto Jehovah, all ye lands. Serve Jehovah with gladness: Come before his presence with singing.” We all know that our work is not toil when we are doing something we love with an attitude of joy. So let us all praise God every moment of every day, living and working for His glory. This is not vanity or a striving after wind; it is a gift from God’s own hand.
“Be sober and self-controlled. Be watchful. Your adversary, the devil, walks around like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Withstand him steadfast in your faith, knowing that your brothers who are in the world are undergoing the same sufferings. But may the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a little while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you. To him be the glory and the power forever and ever. Amen.” 1 Peter 5:8-9, WEB
Some friends were holding a Bible study in a public chat room on the Internet, when a stranger joined the group. He greeted the group and wondered if he could ask some questions unrelated to the study. The group welcomed him and his questions. He began by asking, “If Lucifer is God’s most beautiful angel, where did the horns and pitchfork come from?” This shocked and upset the members of the study but one member answered that they were talking about God, not Lucifer. The visitor became upset and left in a huff.
The feeling about this visitor was that either he was a Satanist causing a disruption to the study or some kid playing games. As he left, he tried to make everyone feel bad for not taking up his challenge, as if he was a person asking a very genuine question. Yet, my friend was certain that if he had been allowed to continue, he would have manipulated the group and destroyed the study.
The visit brought up an interesting question. How did Satan become a foolish looking creature? The modern image of the devil is a dude wearing red tights, with horns and a tail. He seems more like a myth or legend than a very real force in this world. Many Christians even laugh at the mention of his name, because they no longer believe he exists. He certainly has this world fooled, doesn’t he?
Satan doesn’t devour people by eating them or causing them to do horrible evil things. Rather, he roams the world looking for people who can be manipulated away from the word of God. It doesn’t take much; just a slight twist of the truth sets us on the wrong path. If you read Genesis 3, you can see how easily it can happen. “Did God really say?” he asked Adam and Eve. “Surely you won’t die,” he continued. He twists God’s words while trying to convince us that he doesn’t really exist and that it’s ok to do things we know we should not do. There are many things that are acceptable in our society that the Lord has warned us to avoid. Satan’s job is to tempt us to do those things. He doesn’t do it by force, but by manipulation.
James tells us to resist the devil, and he will flee (James 4:7). The visitor to the Bible study did flee when he was resisted. He did not leave quietly, trying until the last moment to instill feelings that are inappropriate for Christians. Yet, the group stood firm in their faith and told him to leave. We should listen carefully to inspired words of Peter, to be self-controlled and alert. Satan is here, and the closer you are to the Lord, the more he will seek to devour you. Resist all his temptations and stand firm in your faith in Jesus Christ.
We can face those times of temptation and manipulation with the assurance that God is always near, even when it seems like He is far away. We may experience times of trouble, but God always uses our difficulty to build us up, give us courage, teach us what we need to know, strengthen our faith, guide us in the right path, and ensure us that everything will be right according to His Word. Our lives are meant to be lived to glorify Him in everything we do.