To Dust We Shall Return

Ash Wednesday: Genesis 3:17-19; Ecclesiastes 3:16-20; From dust we have come; to dust we shall return.

And... The Children Of God Complained

And the whole congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness:

And the children of Israel said unto them, Would to God we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the flesh pots, and when we did eat bread to the full; for ye have brought us forth into this wilderness, to kill this whole assembly with hunger. 

                                                    (Ex 16:2-3 KJV)

God led Moses and the people of Israel out of bondage. And... they complained...

They complained. They felt that they would have been better off as slaves rather than wandering around free from Pharaoh. Freedom came with a price. They were without a real home for many years. They had to actually trust the Lord to provide for them. Those were just a couple of prices that were paid by the people not to be property of another human being. Even after God finally led them to their own land they had to work hard to build up that land. They had to work hard to build homes, supply their families with the things needed to sustain their lives. Many had to work for others in order to survive; in order to live life. It was not an easy way of life for all.

It is not easy for everyone (maybe not for anyone) to provide for anyone today either. It can take a lot of work to survive.  When Adam and Eve turned their back on God and decided that what he had given them was not enough they ate of the tree that the Creator had said not to eat of. The consequence given to Adam by the Lord was: "And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return." (Gen 3:17-19 KJV)

St. Paul wrote to the Thessalonians: "For even when we were with you, this we commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should he eat. For we hear that there are some which walk among you disorderly, working not at all, but are busybodies. Now them that are such we command and exhort by our Lord Jesus Christ, that with quietness they work, and eat their own bread." (2 Thess 3:10-12)

So, maybe we should just figure out that in order to eat we have to work. There are exceptions of course. There are those who cannot work due to illness or handicap or age. These the rest of us must provide for.

"Beware that there be not a thought in thy wicked heart, saying, The seventh year, the year of release, is at hand; and thine eye be evil against thy poor brother, and thou givest him nought; and he cry unto the Lord against thee, and it be sin unto thee. Thou shalt surely give him, and thine heart shall not be grieved when thou givest unto him: because that for this thing the Lord thy God shall bless thee in all thy works, and in all that thou puttest thine hand unto. For the poor shall never cease out of the land: therefore I command thee, saying, Thou shalt open thine hand wide unto thy brother, to thy poor, and to thy needy, in thy land." (Deut 15:9-11)

There are simply too many examples of Jesus reminding us to take care of the poor to begin listing them. We are expected to care for our brothers and sisters; in fact, for all of creation.

The Lord helped the Israelites escape their slavery and they complained. He fed them with manna from heaven and after awhile they complained about that too.

The moral of this blog this morning is to quit complaining; live life thanking God for what he has given you!

God's Peace - Pr. J.

How Does The Kingdom Grow?

How Does The Garden Grow?

And he said, So is the kingdom of God, as if a man should cast seed into the ground;

And should sleep, and rise night and day, and the seed should spring and grow up, he knoweth not how.

For the earth bringeth forth fruit of herself; first the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear.

But when the fruit is brought forth, immediately he putteth in the sickle, because the harvest is come. 

                                                                                     (Mark 4:26-28 KJV)

One can never tell how one little seed of truth that they share with others will grow the kingdom by one more brother or sister in Christ. We can spread the seed; but, it is God himself who gives the growth. 

It is not by our power or wit or humor or anything else that the Kingdom grows. It is by the word of God alone by the power of the Holy Spirit that it is fruitful.

So plant those seeds until the day the harvest is come!

God's Peace - Pr. J.

The LIght Of Life

And the scribes and Pharisees brought unto him a woman taken in adultery; and when they had set her in the midst,

They say unto him, Master, this woman was taken in adultery, in the very act.

Now Moses in the law commanded us, that such should be stoned: but what sayest thou?

This they said, tempting him, that they might have to accuse him. But Jesus stooped down, and with his finger wrote on the ground, as though he heard them not.

So when they continued asking him, he lifted up himself, and said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.

And again he stooped down, and wrote on the ground.

And they which heard it, being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even unto the last: and Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst.

 When Jesus had lifted up himself, and saw none but the woman, he said unto her, Woman, where are those thine accusers? hath no man condemned thee?

She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more.

Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life. 

                                                                 

                                                                               (John 8:3-12 KJV)

Advent; a season to prepare for the coming of the Lord. How shall we prepare? We began the season of Advent with John the Baptist calling people to "repent for the kingdom of God is at hand." (Matt 3:1-2) 

When the scribes and Pharisees were about to stone the woman accused of adultery, Jesus shines the light on the sins of those who are about to stone her by telling them that the person without sin ought to be the first to cast a stone against her and then stoops down to write something in the dirt. He looks up and her accusers are gone. They have been confronted with the truth and the truth is that we are all sinners living in darkness and need the light of life.

After her accusers depart he tells the woman that neither does he condemn her and that she should go and sin no more. She too has been reminded of the darkness of sin that dwells within her. 

That marvelous light, that light of life, does not shine so that we can see the sins of others around us. It shines for each of us so that we can see the darkness within ourselves. That light shines on and in us so that each of us can recognize our need for repentance; for a change; for a change of direction. It shines on us so that as individuals we can step out of the darkness to follow Jesus who is the light of life. 

Advent can be a very dark season for many of us. Not only are the hours of daylight shortened, it is a season when the world around us expects us to be celebrating; but, many are not. Many are grieving. Many are hurting. Many are hungry and homeless. Many feel less than because they do not live up to what they think the expectations of the world around them. Are we even supposed to live up to the world's expectations? Did John the Baptist live like the status quo? Did Jesus?

We cannot shine the light of Christ unto the world if we ourselves do not walk in the light. Jesus is the light of life! Live in that light and follow him! Be a light to the world.

God's Peace - Pr. J. 

Dust To Dust

And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life;

Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field;

In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.

                                                                                   (Gen 3:17-19 KJV)

We begin the season of Lent remembering that from dust we have come and to dust we shall return. We will all face death. As Adam and Eve sinned against God, so do we all. Intentionally or unintentionally we turn our backs on God and on one another all of the time. 

Our Lenten journey to the cross can be a tough one as we remember what Jesus did for us and how much God truly loves us even in our sinful states. But, the journey must be made, for without it; without these forty days, without Holy Week, without Good Friday, we would not be able to truly experience the relief and miraculous joy of Easter Sunday. 

"For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." (Rom 6:23) Thanks be to God for His great love for us!

We do not deserve life. Yet, by faith alone in Christ alone it is God's gift to us. Lent is yet another opportunity to get to know the one who lived and died and lives for us. Don't let that opportunity to get to know the one who loves more than all others do pass you by.

God's Peace - Pr. J.

A Fertile Heart

In Stony Places

Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God.

Those by the way side are they that hear; then cometh the devil, and taketh away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved.

They on the rock are they, which, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, which for a while believe, and in time of temptation fall away.

And that which fell among thorns are they, which, when they have heard, go forth, and are choked with cares and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to perfection.

But that on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience.

                                                                                  (Luke 8:11-15 KJV)

I thoroughly enjoy the scenery at Pte. Abbeye. I love the sound of Lake Superior crashing against the rocks; the view of the Huron Islands in the distance; the walk through the woods to get to the point. The woods is lush and green. However, the point itself is rock upon rock. Amazingly you will see grass and flowers growing in the crevices. They are few and far between. They are pretty; yet, they are very fragile. They are highly vulnerable to the elements. The waves get a little to big and they will be washed away. The sun beating on the rocks may cause them to wither and die. 

It is very difficult for anything to grow in rocky places. It is just as difficult for the word of God to flourish in a cold and stony heart or mind as it is for flowers to grow in a bed of rocks. 

If your heart has grown cold and stony, do not despair. There is nothing too hard for the Lord. He can turn that stony heart into a heart that is warm and ready to be sown with the seed that will produce much fruit. This is the Lord's promise:  A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. (Ezek 36:26)

May God bless you with a fertile heart so that the seed which he plants may flourish.

God's Peace - Pr. J.

Public Trial and Execution?

At dawn he appeared again in the temple courts, where all the people gathered around him, and he sat down to teach them. The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group and said to Jesus, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?” They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him.

But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground.

At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there. Jesus straightened up and asked her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?”

“No one, sir,” she said.

“Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin.”

                                                                                John 8:2-11 NKJV

I did not sleep well last night. In fact, I have been up since 3 a.m.. There were a few reasons. But, mostly it was because I grieve what I perceive to be the hard-heartedness of humankind. It is so easy for us to see the sins of others and so difficult to recognize the sin within ourselves.

In the story of the woman caught in adultery; the teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought a woman into the temple courts to be publicly judged and executed for the crime of adultery. It appears that the custom, at the time, was to depend heavily on the law and very little on grace. 

And, in comes Jesus; full of grace; full of mercy, reminding us that there is not one of us without sin (except for Jesus, himself). Because he was without sin, he was able to be the sacrificial lamb that took away our sin. Through him our sins have been washed away. "For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need." (Hebrews 4:15-16)

As the woman stands ready to die, in comes Jesus, empathizing. As he listens to the accusations being hurled at her, he silently writes on the ground and then looks at her accusers, "“Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.”  No one comes forth. The public humiliation is over. She has been forgiven her sins and told to go on her way leaving behind her life of sin.

The point of my not being able to sleep last night was not so much that she was confronted about her sin. Sin is sin and it should be confronted. But, to publicly accuse someone with the presupposed notion that the person is guilty is just a little outside of Christian authority. The story about this woman is pretty short. I'd like to see a few more details included. I'd be curious to know if any of her family and friends were there to see her abused in such a manner by the church of the day. If so, what were they thinking? How did the impending execution of their loved one make them feel? What about the man or men that she was accused of having adultery with? Were they there? Were they some of her judges or witnesses against her?

There is a lot going on in this story; enough so that it was difficult to sleep as I considered that even the church today can cast stones pretty quickly and will cast them not just in secret but publicly whether the accused is innocent or guilty.

Sin is sin and it does need to be called out so that we might have an opportunity to repent; turning back to the Lord. But, let us make sure that we're not calling it out simply in an attempt to cover our own sinful natures.

May God help us to discern whether we should call out sin so loudly and publicly rather than attempt to reconcile us to one another and to God in a more private way; one that will not bring shame to others who may very well be innocent.  

There is a procedure that Jesus outlined for us to deal with sin and perceived sin. It does not begin with public humiliation. It begins with a conversation between two people. One of those two people usually (not always) ends up being the pastor. There will be times when that conversation may lead to more action by the church. But, there will also be times during this conversation that we may find the accused not the guilty party. Conversation is important and we should all remember that something said in the pulpit is not a two-way conversation. If we condemn someone from the pulpit, we may never again have the opportunity to have that conversation with the one who has been humiliated and condemned without the conversations required by scripture in regards to church discipline.

I cannot fathom how publicly humiliating someone along with their family will ever reconcile anyone to the Body of Christ. In fact, public humiliation will only send them further away from the church. There is a process to resolve disputes, disagreements, and outright sins within the church. Many of those disputes and disagreements are sins in themselves. That process is found in the Gospel of St. Matthew, the 18th chapter, verses 15 thru 17. According to Jesus:

“If your brother or sister sins, go and point out their fault, just between the two of you. If they listen to you, you have won them over. But if they will not listen, take one or two others along, so that ‘every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.’ If they still refuse to listen, tell it to the church; and if they refuse to listen even to the church, treat them as you would a pagan or a tax collector.

May God help us to treat others with the same respect and dignity that we would have others treat us. 

God's Peace - Pr. J

Level Ground

Teach me to do your will,
for you are my God;
may your good Spirit
lead me on level ground.

                      (Psalm 143:10)

Mountains and valleys can make for a very interesting journey. They bring many challenges; many opportunities for growth. But, sometimes, especially as I grow older, I would prefer to walk on level ground. I would much prefer to sit at Jesus' feet in quiet and in peace. 

However, as Christ was crucified on a hill according to our Father's will; in order to take up our crosses and follow we should not expect that the ground will be level. It will not always be easy to traverse.

As I get older, I sometimes lament that there are still many mountains to climb and valleys to find my way through. But, I must admit the journey has gotten less chaotic. I am able to stand on level ground much more often than I was able a few decades ago. I have found much more time just to sit at Jesus' feet and that sitting for a time has made the valleys and mountains much easier to traverse.

Isaiah prophesied that every mountain and hill would be made low and every valley raised up. (Isa 40:3-4)

A voice of one calling:
“In the wilderness prepare
   the way for the Lord;
make straight in the desert
   a highway for our God.
Every valley shall be raised up,
   every mountain and hill made low;

the rough ground shall become level,

   the rugged places a plain.

                               (Isaiah 40:3-4)

God in Christ Jesus can make our journeys smooth even when we encounter the many ups and downs in this world: if we would only listen to God and follow where the Spirit would lead us.

May the Spirit of God lead you on straight paths and level ground so that you might know the peace and the glory of God.

God's Peace - Pr. J

Crashing To The Ground

"Consider Assyria, once a cedar in Lebanon,
   with beautiful branches overshadowing the forest;
it towered on high,

   its top above the thick foliage." 

“‘Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: Because the great cedar towered over the thick foliage, and because it was proud of its height, I gave it into the hands of the ruler of the nations, for him to deal with according to its wickedness. I cast it aside, and the most ruthless of foreign nations cut it down and left it. Its boughs fell on the mountains and in all the valleys; its branches lay broken in all the ravines of the land. All the nations of the earth came out from under its shade and left it. All the birds settled on the fallen tree, and all the wild animals lived among its branches.

                                                                 (Ezekiel 31:3,10-13 NIV)

Pharaoh is to be warned. Even though Egypt stands tall like a tree towering over everything; Assyria once stood even taller. But, for its pride it came crashing down at the hand of God. So shall Egypt fall.

There was a huge pine, over 80 feet tall, not many feet from our home on Huron Bay. It was a beautiful tree that towered high above all of the others. It existed until a couple of summers ago. It had grown so big and so tall that we knew that if it ever fell that there would be nothing left to our home. It had grown too big and had become a danger to us. God's people (and governments) get too big... When we become dangerous to the well-being of others we ought not be surprised if God's will is to cut us down to size or let us crash where we can do no harm to others.

Again, those who have ears, hear the warning from Proverbs: "Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall." (Prov 16:18)

God's Peace - Pr. J

Faith In What We Hope For

Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.  Hebrews 11:1 NIV

The sky is falling! The church is dying! Something bad is going to happen! None of these statements are statements of faith. One day they may all be statements of fact for some people. But, dwelling on the bad instead of the good that God has done and continues to do for us really is not beneficial to the Body of Christ.

The sun is shining! Today the Lord is going to water the ground! I love worshipping God with my brothers and sisters in Christ! I get to share the Good News of the Kingdom! In Christ I can do all things! Those are statements of faith. Those are statements that will remind us and others of all the good that God has done and continues to do for us.

Let us live in faith and with hope that we will see the Kingdom of God; the glory of God. We will see him with our own eyes and not just with the eyes of faith! But, for now that is more than good enough for God's children!

God's Peace - Pr. J

You Of This Generation, Consider The Word Of The Lord

"You of this generation, consider the

     word of the Lord:

“Have I been a desert to Israel

    or a land of great darkness?

Why do my people say, ‘We are free to roam;

    we will come to you no more’?

Does a young woman forget her jewelry,

    a bride her wedding ornaments?

Yet my people have forgotten me,

    days without number.

How skilled you are at pursuing love!

    Even the worst of women can learn from your ways.

On your clothes is found

    the lifeblood of the innocent poor,

    though you did not catch them breaking in.

Yet in spite of all this you say, ‘I am innocent;

    he is not angry with me.’

But I will pass judgment on you

    because you say, ‘I have not sinned.’"

                          Jeremiah 2:31-35 NIV                                         

Stand your ground! I read in the local news last night about a man who is appealing his conviction of murder by using the "stand your ground" defense. He claims the man he was arguing with, who was standing on his own property on the other side of a fence, was threatening him. Indeed, they were arguing. But, the man that was shot and killed did not have a weapon. The man who claimed it is was not murder but self-defense was carrying a weapon. After arguing with his neighbor, he had gone into the house purposely to get the gun to threaten his neighbor. He came out and continued to argue with his neighbor with the end result being that he shot his neighbor five times, killed his neighbor, and then claimed self-defense. He had been found guilty. Yet, he still claims that he did no wrong. He did not sin. 

Just because we think our stories will justify us does not make it so. We do a lot of justifying of our sins. We would really like our sins to not be considered sins. It would be nice if everyone (including God) smiled upon our sins and let us keep on keeping on as we were. It would be nice to be able to do whatever we want; whenever we want; to whomever we want without consequences. But, it does not work that way. There are consequences for sinning against others and there are consequences for sinning against God.

Jeremiah reminds us not only how it is that we sin against man; but, how we neglect and sin against God, as well. He reminds us to consider that there are many who would say that they worship the one true and Almighty God. Yet, they neglect and forget to give God all glory and honor; while they would never forget to put on their jewelry before they leave the house! They forget to worship the One who gave His very life, that we might drink from the waters of life; eat from the tree of life. Is the life of Christ less valuable than our jewelry? 

Yes, we are free to roam wherever we please. We can do that. But, remember that there are consequences in this world and in the next for our actions and inactions. Confess your sin and return to the LORD destroying the false gods that you worship that you might be truly justified by the blood of Christ shed for you. The lies and the false gods can do nothing good for you! They can do nothing! They are worthless! But, the One who loves you enough to save you from your sins, by dying for you, can and does do all things for the good of those who love him. Trust him!

God's Peace - Pr. J  

Spiritual Warfare

put on the armor of God

"Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes." (Eph 6:10-11 NIV)

There is indeed a battle raging. However, many in the church are not even aware of it. We go about as though we are in La La Land thinking that everything is good simply because we are the church.

I'm thinking that when everything seems to be going our way maybe we ought to consider if our way is the world's way or the Lord's Way. Have we made compromises with the world in order for the world to accept us? Maybe, we need to take the time to consider who or what it is we are actually following.

Peter's first epistle reminds us that the devil is like a roaring lion. Well, the lion can be pretty quiet when it sneaking up on it's prey and the devil is not so different. He comes from behind and works his schemes while the church seems totally oblivious to the danger it is in. The devil likes to deal in deals. He would like us to compromise the Word so that we can feel safe and secure. But, safe and secure in the devil's hands is truly an illusion and a delusion.

We must fight for our lives and not just ours. We fight for all of the children of God. Christians cannot afford to be pacifists when it comes to spiritual warfare. We must take a stand, trusting in the Lord's mighty power, against the wiles of the evil one. "For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people." (Eph 6:12-18)

May God open our eyes that we might see the lion who preys upon the children of God.

God's Peace - Pr. Judy 

Lean On The Rock

Sully

I love you, Lord, my strength.

The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer;
    my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge,
    my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.

Psalm 18:1-2

Sully is my grand-puppy. He is a huge English Mastiff and as solid as a rock. He is one of the most gentle breathing creatures that I have ever known. But, it is wise to be cautious around him. He may be a comfort to be around; but, he also likes to be comforted himself. He will lean against you in order to get a bit of extra attention when you are standing and unless your feet are planted firmly on the ground you may end up on the ground yourself.

We all need someone to lean on. We need someone to run to for refuge from time to time. There is one who is always there for you. The Lord, our God, is our rock and our fortress. This Rock of our Salvation loves you. He invites you to lean on Him not only when times are hard. Lean on Him when times are good; as well, that you might know the comforting peace that can only be found in His presence.

God's Peace - Pr. J