The observant Christ

RE Verse reading–Luke 21:1-4, 1 Timothy 6:6-10, 17-19  (day two)  “He looked up and saw rich people putting their gifts into the treasury”  (Luke 21:1)  A perfect end to a summer series on generosity, the story of the widow’s mite is powerful wisdom for those of us who will reflect on it.  It reveals a Savior who is VERY aware of how people give and why.  Knowing what is at stake,  Jesus makes it His business to watch how believers use money.  Mark’s underscores the deliberate intention.  “And He sat down opposite the treasury, and began observing how the people were putting money into it”  (Mark 12:41)  A lesson in itself.  The Lord is watching us give (or not give).  Not as a critic but as a life coach, Jesus knows that disciplines re. money will have a powerful effect (either negative or positive) on our souls.  Financial records are often (and wisely) kept secret.  Not from Jesus.  Physicians check temperature.  Christ observes our giving.

Great gain

RE Verse reading–Luke 21:1-4, 1 Timothy 6:6-10, 17-19 (day one)  “Of course, there is great gain in godliness combined with contentment.”  (1 Timothy 6:6)  The gospel is not entirely self-denying.  None of us can follow Christ without denying self. (Luke 9:23)  However, having said No to the lordship of our ego, there is much that we gain by following Christ.  The word is porismos.  It meant “to procure what is needed, to be supplied”.  Paul pairs it with the word megas. (mega church, mega vitamin) which meant large in size.  We lose nothing of value when we follow Christ.  We gain much that we need and that lasts for eternity.  “Whatever things were GAIN to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. . .I have counted them as rubbish in order that I may GAIN Christ”  (Philippians 3:7-8)  Following Christ costs much as we begin.  It repays much as we continue on the road.  There is laid up for me a crown. . .

The manifold grace of God

RE Verse reading–1 Corinthians 12:4-31, Ephesians 4:11-16, 1 Peter 4:10-11 (day seven)  “As each one has received a special gift, employ it in serving one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God”  (1 Peter 4:10)  When Peter thought of spiritual gifts and the amazing grace he had seen operating in people’s lives since Pentecost, he chose the word “manifold”–poikilos, “many colored”.  Perhaps he had in mind how many colors of fish can be hauled up in a net. Old fishermen never die. Maybe he imagined a modern kaleidescope–brilliant colors, endlessly changing shape and pattern.  Beautifully true word. When the Spirit of God fills the human soul, He manifests Himself in rich diversity–personality, gifts, assignments, experiences, races, genders, ages.  As we gather for worship this morning, I hope you will look around the room and say with wonder, “These people are different from me”.  God does not make everyone/anyone the same.  There are no copies.  We should never expect it, nor be ungrateful.

The church that can be

RE Verse reading–1 Corinthians 12:4-31, Ephesians 4:11-16, 1 Peter 4:10-11 (day six)  “until we ALL attain to the unity of the faith, and the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man. . .according to the proper working of EACH individual part. . .for the building up (of the body) in love”  (Ephesians 4:13, 16)  The Scripture has a revolutionary expectation of the church.  Every believer will become spiritually mature.  Every believer will understand what it means to be “unioned” with Christ–in surrendered, super-natural life.  Every member of the church will enjoy an intimate friendship with the Lord and will make a unique and strategic contribution to the growth and success of the fellowship.  Revolutionary!  Sadly, not what is normally seen.  Who can deny that vast numbers of believers are immature and univolved?  Who can ignore the people who sit in pews week after week without progress or concern?  What can be done?  The world is not seeing the church that can be.

The very words of God

RE Verse reading–1 Corinthians 12:4-31, Ephesians 4:11-16, 1 Peter 4:10-11 (day five)  “Whoever speaks must do so as one speaking the very words of God” (1 Peter 4:11)  “Truth through personality” is Phillips Brooke’s famous definition of preaching.  Famous, at least, with seminary students.  It allows that a preacher’s personality must always, and should, impact his message.  His outlook, his integrity, his experiences, his discipline–all are factors that the Lord uses to communicate the divine message.  Peter’s definition places the emphasis on the first part of the equation.  A sermon must be truth.  In order to “speak the very words of God”, a preacher must wait before the Lord, listen to the text and the Spirit and the needs of his people.  He must crucify any desire to communicate his own message or justify him own position.  To say “Thus saith the Lord” is a high, hard and holy responsibility.  Every spiritual gift is.  May the Lord inspire us to serve others well!

Catastrophic comma

RE Verse reading–1 Corinthians 12:4-31, Ephesians 4:11-16, 1 Peter 4:10-11 (day four)  “He gave some as apostles, some as prophets, some as evangelists and some as pastors and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry”  (Ephesians 4:11-12)  Old story.  When the Bible was being translated by the King James committee, the translators put a comma in vs 12 after the word “saints”.  It divided the sentence into two separate ideas.  Clergy (apostles, prophets, evangelists and pastor/teachers) were to equip the saints, AND do the work of ministry.  Years later the idea was challenged.  The work of ministry does not belong exclusively (0r even mainly) to professional ministers.  Paul’s original sentence should read “to equip the saints for the work of ministy”.   No comma.   All believers are ministers.   Peter agrees.  “As each has received a gift, employ it for one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace”. (1 Peter 4:10)  Ministry/service (same word) is every Christian’s responsibility/privilege.  To forget this is a catastrophe.

Can we see the Spirit?

RE Verse reading–1 Corinthians 12:4-31, Ephesians 4:11-16, 1 Peter 4:10-11 (day three)  “To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good” (1 Corinthians 12:7)  Strange question.  The answer will seem even stranger.  Yes, we can see the Spirit at work. . .or we should be able to.  Jesus said as much in John 3.  “You hear the sound of it” comparing the Spirit’s presence to the wind.  He uses hearing rather than sight, but the idea is the same. Paul reasons in similar fashion that we will all be given a manifestation of the Spirit.  Some observable indication of His power and presence.  It is strong encouragement for us to abandon the thought that the Spirit is only and always an invisible and unnoticed influence in our affairs.  Not true according to scripture.  We cannot see the Spirit, but we ought to see the evidence of His ministry.  Boldness. . .joy. . .ministry effectiveness. . .we should be observably different because He fills our lives.

Common good

RE Verse reading–1 Corinthians 12:4-31, Ephesians 4:11-16, 1 Peter 4:10-11 (day two)  “To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good”  (1 Corinthians 12:7)  Christ is the end of our self-centerness.  When we follow Him, when we receive His extravagant love, we become obligated to give ourselves in return, to spend our lives for His purpose, His people.  Our gifts from God (spiritual and material) are not intended for individual gain or glory, but for “the common good”  The word is sumphero. Literally “to carry together”  The idea is of logs lying separate with limited potential for combustion.  When carried to a central place, when stacked together a new possibility is born.  Fire!  Warmth!  Light!  The Holy Spirit does the same for us.  He carries us together and sets us on fire for the glory of Christ.  No wonder He is so grieved by disunity.  His power is perfected when we lose our self-centeredness and work together for the common good.

Very different from each other

RE Verse reading–1 Corinthians 12:4-31, Ephesians 4:11-16, 1 Peter 4:10-11 (day one)  “Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of services, but the same Lord”  (1 Corinthians 12: 4-6)  Occasionally, I meet someone who believes that the Holy Spirit’s power is missing from the lives of many.  I agree.  Sometimes,  these friends want me to believe that the filling of the Spirit is always/usually marked by “sign gifts” such as speaking in tongues, miraculous works of healing etc.  I disagree.  The clear testimony of scripture is that the Holy Spirit will make His presence and power known to us in a fascinating variety of ways. Filled with the Spirit we will all be very different from each other. Not one of us is the whole enchilada.  The body needs more than just more of me.  Hmmmmm. . .  For all the challenge it is to our pride, everyone does not have to be like us to be ok with God.

Let love continue

RE Verse reading–Colossians 3:12-14, Hebrews 13:1-8, 14-16 (day seven) “Let love continue. . .do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God”  (13:1, 16)  It is like an email that says “send this to someone else, don’t let it stop with you”  Like that, only better.  Every Christian generation has a choice– to spend the love of God or to give it away.  If we turn selfish, if we don’t love each other passionately and practically, if we forget that love is the Lord’s highest expectation, if we talk about it but don’t do it, we lose the powerful evidence that love gives to the unbelieving world. More neglect than anything.  We fail because we forget. “By this will all men know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another”  (John 13:35)   Gathering for worship today, may this be our highest goal–that love will continue and that God will be pleased.