Readings

Exodus 1:8-2:10 and Psalm 124

Isaiah 51:1-6 and Psalm 138

Romans 12:1-8

Matthew 16:13-20

Devotion

Peace be with you!

We just got done talking about how the Jewish and Christian belief systems work together and the Jewish salvation mystery. But how do we work with differences within the Christian church?

Paul presents us with a new way of thinking to be in a relationship with the Triune God. We are to make living sacrifices to God (Romans 12:1). As Matt Skinner says during this week’s Brainwave, sacrifices are prone to dying, like Jesus Christ (Lewis and Skinner 2011). Set. Point. Match? No, we are not asked to kill baby animals as sacrifices to God. However, we are to make living sacrifices … But what does Paul mean by living sacrifices?

Living sacrifices describe how we live out our live. As Christians, we make living sacrifices by the way we live: the things we choose not to do and be apart of AND the things we choose to do and be apart of. It is the daily choices we make to honor God. We obey and keep the Ten Commandments and the laws Jesus gave us in order to make holy living sacrifices.

As Christians, our actions, thoughts, ideas, and etc are holy and honor God. We make living sacrifices when we choose to live a Christians and to not let the world tell us what to do. Our living sacrifices are holy, which God uses for his divine purposes on earth. God uses us, Christians, as his agents on earth to provide services to others who are in need of help.

Paul recognizes we are all different in how we express our faith, how we share the good news, and how we share our gifts. God gives each of us different gifts to do his work. Paul divides the gifts in two categories: speech and service. Under speech, there are gifts of prophecy, teaching, and encouraging an individual to do something. We give others the wisdom, knowledge, and strength to step out on a limp and take a leap of faith. Under service, there are gifts of contribute, giving aid, and acts of mercy. These gifts are giving of yourself to help others for God’s divine purposes (Hultgren 2011).

But one individual cannot own all of these gifts. It takes a community to have all of the gifts, and it takes a community with individuals who help one another for each individual to have what the things they need to live. When a family loses their home to a fire, others in the community come together to provide them shelter, clothing, and etc. The individuals in the community work together, so each individual has everything he/she needs to survive in the world.

The greatest thing is God uses our gifts for his divine purposes. No one is more or less important than other individuals. God needs each individual and his/her gifts to excavate his plan. No one person can do everything a community needs; it takes a community for each individual to have what they need to live.

Thanks be to God!

Dear Heavenly Father, Thank you for giving us a community to live in. Help us to live in a healthy community where everyone works together. Thank you for using us for your divine purposes. Amen.

Works Cited

Hultgren, Arland J. Paul’s Letter to the Romans: A Commentary. Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2011.

Lewis, Karoline, and Matt Skinner. “Brainwave 189: Lectionary Texts for the 14th of August 2011.” Working Preacher. St Paul, MN: Luther Seminary, August 14, 2011.

Reflective Questions

Please feel free to answer the reflective questions through comments.  Please agree to disagree and be respectable to each other. Please take a moment, if you have not already, to sign the covenant.  You can answer all or just one of the questions. 

1. What gifts do you contribute to your community?

2. How do others’ gifts help you?

Readings

Genesis 45:1-15 and Psalm 133

Isaiah 56:1, 6-8 and Psalm 67

Romans 11:1-2a, 29-32

Matthew 15:(10-20), 21-28

Devotion

Peace be with you!

I love crime mystery television shows, like Castle and Bones, where you follow the detectives through the investigation to catch a murder. The way each team finds the clues and puts them all together to solve the mystery is what Paul is doing. Although Paul is not investigating a murder, these past three weeks he has been trying to solve the Jewish salvation mystery. Now that Jesus has come and has been crucified, died, and resurrected from hell as the Messiah, which gives salvation to all those who believe in him. However, the Jews do not accept Jesus as their Messiah and are still waiting.

As we discussed two weeks ago, the Jewish salvation mystery has a personal effect for Paul, a pre-Jesus Pharisee who still hangs to his Jewish heritage, because his faith structure changed when he became a Christian by accepting Jesus Christ as his Messiah. The Jewish salvation mystery left him worrying about his friends and family members who still have not accepted Jesus as their Messiah. Now you have to understand Paul is at war with himself over the idea of salvation only belong to those individuals who believe in Jesus Christ as their Messiah and died for their sins. For Paul, this fact hunts him since many of his friends and family members are Jews who have not accepted Jesus Christ as their Messiah (Romans 9:1-5).

Paul is wrestling with the question: How do I accept when I go to heaven my friends and my family members may not be there?

The Israelites were use to being God’s chosen people who followed the Ten Commandments and the laws to be in a relationship with their Lord. Descendents of Abraham, the Israelites were chosen by God to be his people and to be ready for the coming Messiah. However, the Jews (the Israelites) rejected the Messiah and his message, because they were expecting him to over power the government to free them from oppression.

Now the Gentiles were being welcomed into God’s family after being disobedient by not following the Ten Commandments or the laws for hundreds of years. Because the Israelites reject Jesus as their Messiah, Jesus goes out to preach to the Gentiles who accept the good news. The Gentiles are grafted into God’s family not according to their obedience but through mercy by believing in Jesus Christ.

For Paul, the Jews and the Gentiles seem to be at odds with each other, because both nations claims God’s salvation. The Israelites (the Jews) have had claims to God’s salvation as God’s chosen people for thousands of years. They followed the Ten Commandments, and they lived by the laws, which dictated what they could eat, what livestock they would sacrifice, and how they lived. God’s salvation belonged to the Israelites.

Now the Gentiles had claims to God’s salvation. They accepted Jesus Christ as their Messiah who was crucified, died, and resurrected for the forgiveness of their sins. Since the Jews disobeyed God by rejecting Jesus as their Messiah, Jesus went out to the Gentiles to preach the good news (Romans 11:30). Through the Jews’ disobedience, the Gentiles receive salvation. The Gentiles have been grafted into God’s family by gaining righteousness through Jesus’ crucifixion, death, and resurrection (2 Corinthians 5:17) (Hultgren 2011). As Gentiles, we are grafted into God’s family when we come into a relationship with Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

So does this mean the Israelites no longer will receive God’s salvation? Paul argues no, because God always delivers on his promises. God will not abandon the Israelites, his chosen people. Matt Skinner writes that Paul leaves it up God as to who receives salvation and is merciful (Skinner 2011).

Paul has not given up hope that God will show mercy to Israelites and will give them salvation in heaven. Paul has hope God will stay true to his promises as he always has in the past and will continue to show the mercy. That is Paul’s last word on the Jewish salvation mystery: mercy. God is merciful to all those who believe. God’s mercy is for everyone, not just one nation.

Thanks to be God!

Dear Heavenly Father, Thank you for your mercy. Help us to extend your mercy to everyone we meet. Thank you for the salvation through Jesus Christ, your son. Amen.

Works Cited

Hultgren, Arland J. Paul’s Letter to the Romans: A Commentary. Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2011.

Skinner, Matt. Working Preacher. August 7, 2011. http://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?tab=3&alt=1 (accessed August 13, 2011).

Reflective Questions

Please feel free to answer the reflective questions through comments.  Please agree to disagree and be respectable to each other. Please take a moment, if you have not already, to sign the covenant.  You can answer all or just one of the questions. 

1. What does God’s mercy mean to you?

2. What does God’s salvation mean to you?

Readings

Genesis 37:1-4, 12-28 and Psalm 105:1-6, 16-22, 45b

1 Kings 19:9-18 and Psalm 85:8-13

Romans 10:5-15

Matthew 14:22-33

Devotion

Peace be with you!

Society views good people as those individuals who follow legal, moral, and friendship rules. If you lend a hand to a senior citizen crossing the street, you are a good person. If you do not kill, steal, lie, or misrepresent yourself, you are a good person. If you respect, honor, and love your friends and family, you are a good person. Rules help us group good individuals together, bad individuals together, and the really evil individuals together.

Of course, the statements above are too generalized and too black and white, but you get the idea of how rules can be used to define us as good, bad, and really evil. Yet the statements do not leave room for the grey area, which is where most, if not all, of us live. The grey area makes room for small and big mistakes, for being a foolish young person, for understanding the situation, for protecting your loved ones no matter the cost, for being human, and so much more.

Under the Jewish way of thinking, individuals who followed the laws of Moses gain righteousness. But who can follow all of the laws of Moses, except for Jesus Christ of course? What husband, father, and/or brother(s) would not attack the ones abusing the females in the family? Who would not steal food for his/her starving? So who is righteous?

The human condition (thanks to Adam and Eve) makes it impossible for us to keep all of the laws of Moses. The laws are too black and white, which leaves little room for “error” in our lives. How does God fit in our lives then?

How … oh how does God fit in our lives then? When we look down to the dwelling of Satan for God, he is not there (Romans 10:7) because he rose from the dead through Jesus Christ. When we look upward toward heaven, God appears too far away – almost as if it is a dream.

But Paul offers us a third opportunity: God through Jesus Christ is with us in the here and now (Romans 10:8). As we confess our love and belief Jesus rose from the dead, we are saved, righteous through our faith, and brought into a relationship with God the Father through Jesus Christ. Our faith allows Jesus to be in our hearts always.

There is also a grey area with the Jewish salvation mystery. Jesus Christ enters the grey area where we live for whatever reason and bring us back to God the Father through his crucifixion, death, and resurrection. God understands we are broken; God understands it is impossible for us to live according to the black and white; God understands we are sinful humans beings; God understands we want and need him in our lives; God understands he needed to provide a new way to be in a relationship with him.

God’s answer: he sent Jesus Christ, his only son, to die on the cross for our sins. God provides us a way to be in a relationship with him. Not only that, Jesus grafts those who proclaim faith into the new humanity, and he is the end of the law to make us righteous (Romans 10:4) (Hultgren 2011). God provides us with a way to be righteous by claiming us as his own. Furthermore, God now makes no distinction between Jew and Gentile; he is the Lord of all – no one is left out or behind. We are all God’s children.

But where is God? How is God close to us? God dwells in our hearts when we confess our faith in Jesus Christ. God is right here. God walks next to you when you take those long walks to solve the [whatever “it” is] that is bugging you. God sits next to you when you read the letters from your soldier who is in the theater and as you pray for him to keep him/her safe. God lays next to you as you sleep. Never forget God is right here.

And the best part is that God is a god for everyone. God is not partial to any one individual or group. God stays close to ALL of his children and loves ALL us of us equally.

Thanks to be God!

Dear Heavenly Father, Thank you for being Lord of all. Help us to understand you love all of your children equally and unconditionally. Thank you for your love. Amen.

Works Cited

Hultgren, Arland J. Paul’s Letter to the Romans: A Commentary. Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2011.

Reflective Questions

Please feel free to answer the reflective questions through comments.  Please agree to disagree and be respectable to each other. Please take a moment, if you have not already, to sign the covenant.  You can answer all or just one of the questions. 

1. What does it mean to you to be righteous through faith?

2. How do you feel God’s presence in your life?