Troubling Words

Matthew 10:34-42 KJV; 5th Sunday after Pentecost; Christ comes before all others.

Love Mercy And Walk Humbly

Micah 6:8 KJV; The Lord has shown us what is good. Let us act with justice; love mercy and walk humbly with God. Do no harm.

Love Others Even As God Loves Us

John 4:7-16 KJV; for Christmas Eve.  As God abides and us and we in Him we love even as He loves us.

Social Justice Vs. Justice

Repent and be Baptized for the Forgiveness of Sins

And he came into all the country about Jordan, preaching the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins;

As it is written in the book of the words of Esaias the prophet, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.

Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be brought low; and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways shall be made smooth;

And all flesh shall see the salvation of God.

Then said he to the multitude that came forth to be baptized of him, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come?

Bring forth therefore fruits worthy of repentance, and begin not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, That God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham.

And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: every tree therefore which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.

And the people asked him, saying, What shall we do then?

He answereth and saith unto them, He that hath two coats, let him impart to him that hath none; and he that hath meat, let him do likewise.

Then came also publicans to be baptized, and said unto him, Master, what shall we do?

And he said unto them, Exact no more than that which is appointed you.

And the soldiers likewise demanded of him, saying, And what shall we do? And he said unto them, Do violence to no man, neither accuse any falsely; and be content with your wages.

                                                                   (Luke 1:3-14 KJV)

John the Baptist, the one who came to announce to the world that Jesus was the Christ, came calling people to change their ways and to be baptized. They came by the hoards to hear and to be baptized. 

And... they came. They heard the message about what they needed to do in regards to repentance. They heard that they were to do God's will by doing good; by doing no harm against their neighbors. 

Sadly, we (at least I) have been witnessing an uptick these last few years in not so much global animosity; but, crimes against our neighbors. Much of it seems to be out of jealousy; of not getting what we want right now. These store owners are rich so we can take their livelihood by breaking in and looting or burn their buildings to the ground. It is called, by some, social justice.  But, is there justice if a local business loses that business they have built from the ground with much hard work and long hours? Is it justice when the employees lose their livelihood?  Is it justice when a person has no vehicle and has to walk much farther to get to the grocery store or pharmacy or to get to another job? And... just because it may be a big name store that doesn't mean that it's not franchised by a neighbor at a very high cost or that the damage that's done to the business costs their employees their livelihoods as well. Is it justice when an angry person goes out and terrorizes and kills people who they may not even know? Is it justice that those who do harm to others are quickly released just to turn around and do more harm to others?

There seems to be a difference today between social justice and actual justice. The social justice of today isn't always concerned with how innocent people are caught up in the harm that is being done. Harming innocent people in any way is not justice. Real justice does no harm in word or deed.

Unfortunately, some of the harm being done has to do with the media and our government officials just stirring up animosity for ratings or political gain.  

It is past time to hear John the Baptist's call to repent and receive forgiveness for our sins. It is time to turn around and do the will of God; doing no harm. Let us give thanks that through Christ Jesus we can indeed turn around and live life in a new way helping and supporting others rather than destroying them.

God help us all to repent and be baptized into the Body of Christ that we might follow in his way by the power of the Spirit of Christ.

God's Peace - Pr. J.

No Bearing False Witness; No Gossip

In the mean time, when there were gathered together an innumerable multitude of people, insomuch that they trode one upon another, he began to say unto his disciples first of all, Beware ye of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.

For there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; neither hid, that shall not be known.

Therefore whatsoever ye have spoken in darkness shall be heard in the light; and that which ye have spoken in the ear in closets shall be proclaimed upon the housetops.

And I say unto you my friends, Be not afraid of them that kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do. 

                                                                                        (Luke 12:1-4 KJV)

Do good to others. Do no harm in  word or deed. It is too bad that there are those who would spread gossip (even if it may be partially true) to purposely put a bad light on someone's life. Gossip can destroy a person physically, emotionally, and spiritually.

The explanation of the eighth commandment in Luther's Small Catechism reminds us that we are not to harm other; but, in all things to help them. 

"Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.

What does this mean? — Answer.

We should fear and love God that we may not deceitfully belie, betray, slander, or defame our neighbor, but defend him, [think and] speak well of him, and put the best construction on everything."

We can whisper behind someone's back and think it will never get back to the one that is being gossiped about. But, I have found that in most cases the gossip is found out and inevitably causes much turmoil and stress for the target of the gossip. Gossip shared in the darkness almost always brings more darkness to both the target of the gossip and the gossiper. It may be awhile before the person being gossiped about may find out about how they have been disrespected by the gossipers; but, don't be deceived. God knows all things we say or think whether it is good or bad.

Therefore; we ought not fear those who speak behind our backs to cause us harm. Words spoken in darkness will eventually be revealed by the light. Sooner or later the closet doors will open. Sooner or later the sun will come out and the truth will be known. But, for now it is enough that God knows the truth.

Do no harm. Speak in the light of day. Speak with integrity. Speak with truth. Live in the light of Christ.

God's Peace - Pr. J

Love In Deed And Truth

"My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth." (1 John 3:18 KJV)

I have witnessed a lot of not so loving actions over the past year.  It amazes me that so many profess that we have to have more unity and love; that if we love we will strive for justice for all people. When in fact they speak of love; but, their actions show otherwise. 

Riots that included damage to personal property of others and attacks on others do not in anyway show love of neighbor nor does it show justice. Calls for unity while verbally attacking people who do not agree with one's principals or lack of principals. Verbal attacks can very well be deeds as they are attacks against the spirit. Physically or verbally attacking those who will not compromise their beliefs by encouraging harmful and or sinful behavior is not in any way a show of love. It does do much harm.

We can talk about unity, peace, justice, and love 'till the cows come home. Yet, if out of one side of the mouth we speak of these things and out of the other side comes hatred and false accusations we are only deceiving ourselves when we claim that we love. But, we are not and cannot deceive God regarding the state of our hearts. Until we actually start acting in love toward one another it is just fruitless talk and often harmful speech. 

Jesus showed his love and mercy for us by dying on the cross for us. May God help us to love one another not just with words but in deed and truth. And, may God help us to not compromise the truth. Only when we live in the truth will there be any real semblance of peace and love. We need to quit justifying our sinful behavior by trying to put the blame on others. 

A word of wisdom regarding mercy and truth from Proverbs: 

"Every one that is proud in heart is an abomination to the Lord: though hand join in hand, he shall not be unpunished.

By mercy and truth iniquity is purged: and by the fear of the Lord men depart from evil.

When a man's ways please the Lord, he maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him." 

                                                                                    (Prov 16:5-7)

A man's way pleases the Lord when he shows love by acting upon both mercy and truth.

God's Peace - Pr. J.

Love Your Neighbor

 

"Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself." (Matt 22:37-39 KJV)

Do no harm! And... don't stand by and watch anyone do harm to others. It was many years ago in Spain. One of the Marines had witnessed an assault on someone. He did nothing more but witness the event. He ended up in a Spanish prison for not going to the aid of the victim. When we stand by and do nothing but witness the harm being done to others are we also not sinning? 

When we strive to love as God loves we will not only do no harm; but, we will help and support them in any way that we can as we learned from the Small Catechism that Martin Luther wrote for us so that we might better understand the word of God.  

"Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law. For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law." (Matt 13:8-10)

Love is seen when we do all that we can to help our neighbors in time of need. But, we must be careful that we do not support anyone to further victimize others.  

"He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?" (Mic 6:8)

And... last but not the least thought for this morning:

"Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres." (1 Cor 13:4-7 NIV)

God's Peace - Pr. J.

Do No Harm

For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.

                                                                                   (Rom 13:9-10 KJV)

St. Paul wrote to the Romans that we should do no ill to our neighbors. Those neighbors include everyone and not just those who live next door. In the parable of the Good Samaritan Jesus tells us that the one who not only does no harm; but, shows mercy and helps the one in need is the good neighbor. You don't have to know them to help them. You don't have to live next to them to have mercy.

It also follows that sometimes our actions harm people we aren't even aware that we harm. Lately,  I have been hearing "Do no harm" a lot. What does this mean? For those who remember their confirmation class days you might remember that purposefully breaking the commandments does harm to others. Unintentionally breaking them does as well. But, as Christians we try not to break them even as we acknowledge we are not always successful in those attempts.

These attempts to follow the law can be most fruitless if we follow the law for the sake of the law. The law will not save us. Only Jesus saves. His love saves us. It is love for others that will empower us to do what is right and to not harm others. It was love for us that drove Jesus to the cross for us. It is his love; the spirit of his love, that empowers us to do good rather than to harm our neighbors. 

"Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love. In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another. No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us."  1 John 4:7-12) 

Do no harm. Cast off the ways of darkness and live life! Walk honestly and strive to do no harm to your neighbors both known and unknown to you. Be kind! "And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise." (Luke 6:31)

God's Peace - Pr. J.