Show me your faith apart from your works, and I by my works will show you my faith. (James 2:18)

We, the church of Jesus Christ, were never intended to be solely about “spiritual matters.” Though we have heard this rhetoric, and it kept us warm through much of the past century, we lost an essential part of ourselves in its telling.

Jesus did care about the soul of a person – but only as a part of the whole person. This is, in fact, an ancient Jewish notion: that the body and soul and spirit (or breath) were always intended to be together. They are inextricably linked. It was the ancient Greek religion that introduced the thought that flesh is evil to the Christian faith. And oh the woes we have caused ourselves ever since.

Our bodies and souls and breath were made by God’s own self to love and be loved. All of it. Every part of us was intended to be good. Though evil may creep into our beings, it usually comes much faster into the soul, where darkness can easily reside without notice for a great long while.

Why does all of this matter?

We are living in a time when we need to reclaim what it means to truly follow Jesus Christ. This occurs not only within our walls as we care for one another and learn and grow and even worship – but just as, if not more, importantly beyond our buildings and campus.

To follow means to care about the whole being of others around us. All others. No exceptions.

To follow means consciously choosing to care when the world casts someone out, decides they are unimportant, or silences them altogether.

To follow means to display Christ’s love in our everyday lives – not just in church on Sunday.

As we head into Labor Day weekend, when we give thanks for the memory of those who fought to see others cared for in our own nation’s history, may we find ourselves once again renewed in our walks of faith to become those who work hard so that all of the people around us will find the wholeness God desires for them.

Blessings,     Janie

This summer, we have spent the past few months diving deep into the words and meaning of the Lord’s Prayer. We may say it every Sunday (hopefully every day), but few of us have taken an extended period to consider all of its facets. So we took the last weeks and did so.

What have we learned?

Well, for one thing, the prayer that we all know by heart is not the prayer given to us in scripture – at least not precisely. Instead, we use a combined version that has been developed by the body of Christ throughout the centuries and passed down to us. This does not remove it’s authority, but should make us pause to consider what else we might learn from the originals.

Second, it is debts and trespasses and sins. In fact, all three are accurate translations of the Greek word in either Luke or Matthew (the gospels from which the Lord’s Prayer comes). So, whichever way you feel comfortable praying – if you are using one of those three options, you are correct.

Lastly, that the prayer’s foci mirrors and echoes the focus of Jesus’ own work in the world. Put simply – that the kingdom will come, God will be honored, and evil will be overcome. Along with that, though, comes a side to the prayer that we often don’t want to talk about.

Prayer is not just to deepen our connection with God. It is to take part in the transformation God offers to us – one that will make us more like God, a little bit every day. And if we become more like God, Christ, and the Spirit that guides us, we will find ourselves living as they do: loving others, serving everyone, giving their life for even those who do not deserve it.

This is the part of our learnings that will make many of us uncomfortable. We want to just say our rote words, get the “Jesus points” and be done for the day. But God desires our whole lives to reflect the glorious life of God.

Whatever you have learned this summer, I hope you will take with you an enlivened sense of God’s presence each time you pray Christ’s prayer. I hope that you will hear God speak to you anew in words you have spoken your entire life. I hope that you will take the bold next step of allowing God’s Spirit to shape you into a follower of Christ who does not merely seek the love of God, but also seeks to love our neighbors.

Blessings,     Janie

For the Lord gives wisdom… It will save you from the way of evil, from those who speak perversely, who forsake the paths of uprightness to walk in the ways of darkness, who rejoice in doing evil and delight in the perverseness of evil; those whose paths are crooked, and who are devious in their ways. (Proverbs 2:6, 12-15)

When we speak of evil, many of us already have a picture in our minds of what evil looks like. For most of us, the leaders of the Third Reich come to mind, along with Stalin and several other dictators who did terrifying things to their people.  That is blatant evil. It is easy to identify that perverseness has so infiltrated a human’s thought process and way of being that they almost cannot choose anything other than the most frighteningly pain-provoking option.

What we do not like to admit is that we also want to paint other people as evil. Those who look, believe, speak, act, and think differently than we do – some of them must surely be under the influence of evil, too… Right?

If we remember that sin is to break God’s commandments – specifically Jesus’ two commandments to love God and love our neighbor as ourselves – then how does evil fit in? Evil is the piece that goes beyond mere sin to an insidiously sneaky and overpowering level. A basic definition is that evil is what is against God.

That being said, there are some provisos that should be considered.

The main caveat is that all people – yes ALL – are made in the image of God. All of us were created good. Though the fallen world may infiltrate us from a very young age, no human being is ever truly evil. Systems are evil. Actions and words can be evil. But humans cannot be in their inmost nature that reflects the God we serve.

Why does this matter? Because we are human and we are always looking for someone to blame. The easiest target is the great Tempter himself – but note that neither Job nor Jesus blamed Satan for his influence or trials. They understood their own agency in their decisions.

The next simplest target are fellow humans that are different than us. Now, some people do purely represent the vision Proverbs will depict in our passage this weekend – those who have allowed evil to become so intricately interwoven into their souls that they will always be prone to be perverse, crooked and devious. Most of the time, though, we want to blame any number of groups of people who are not like us.

The short response to such thoughts, words, and actions on our part is: STOP it. It is sin to do so. And it is evidence of how much we have resigned ourselves to the evil infiltrating our own beings.

What God has called us to do is to take responsibility to see perversity, crooked ways, and devious dealings eradicated. In short, we are to take part in the battle against evil. But never by turning on one another.

One of my professors and Civil Rights Activists, Dr. James Lawson, once said, “Love is our only weapon.” We are to do all things in love. To hold one another and our leaders accountable for the hurt we cause. To love those who the world and especially the church casts out. To stand with the oppressed and to comfort those in need. We are to do these things and more because as followers of Christ, our job is to live into the very best of who we are and to fight against the very worst we can become.

As we tackle the problem of evil this Sunday in one of our last installments of our Summer Sermon Series on the Lord’s Prayer, my hope is that we will all be open to God’s presence at work among us.

Blessings,     Janie

“To you I will give their glory and all this authority… If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours.” (Luke 4:6-7)

Several years ago, this quote appeared in a daily calendar of bible quotes. On the surface it looks quite appropriate and even useful. Very tempting.

In reality, this is a quote spoken by Satan as he is tempting Christ.

This Sunday, we will be exploring the line of the Lord’s Prayer, “lead us not into temptation.” As a part of our exercise, we will include the passage from which these verses come – the temptation of Jesus from Luke. Why? Because temptation is more complex than we like to admit.

It is a hot topic upon which I have often been asked to teach, especially to teenagers. However, when someone asks me to teach about temptation, to any audience, they are wanting me to give fix-its for how to avoid “bad behaviors.” This is an unhealthy attitude toward temptation and life, because it knocks all our actions down to a laundry list of dos & don’ts.

Temptation is about sin. And sin is about breaking relationships – with God, with others, with ourselves. To talk about the way the world entices us requires that we rethink not only what, but how we think. How we make decisions. What it means to prevail over sin’s entrancing grip will look different in different situations. To say it is a one, two, or three choice list of how-to’s will get us into trouble.

The goal for followers of Christ is to remember that temptation is an inevitability. Sin, in this life at least, is the reality. We will never be perfect at this and frankly, to tell ourselves that we can or should avoid temptation is unfair to even our very best selves. Given that they are a part of life, the way we overcome those things that tempt us is to keep our focus where it should be.

Our lens, through which we check everything else we do, is the love of Christ. This is part of our Reformed heritage. When we are offered an opportunity to take advantage of someone – does this display the love of Christ? What about a way to cause harm to the bodies God has given us? And, key of all the questions, will this action support or injure my relationships with those closest to me?

At the end of the day, the way we treat others and ourselves is the way we are treating God. So moving past temptations is not about avoiding things that we are told are “bad,” but engaging them with the things that are “good.” We should seek to love God and others and ourselves in all that we do. We are meant to find ways to do this rather than simply avoiding things that have a negative impact upon us and our relationships.

So seek positive engagement with those things that tempt you to be anything other than who God has called you to be. Once you know better, be better. And whatever you do, do everything in the name of Jesus Christ, giving thanks to God through him.

Blessings,     Janie

Above all, clothe yourselves in love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in the one body. (Colossians 3:14-15)

In this passage, the writer gives a vision of a world truly ruled by God’s purposes and guidance. Harmony rings from every mountaintop and peace reigns throughout the many valleys. All are one.

Would that the world truly reflected such a beautiful visage.

The world is not so simple. It is broken. It is hurting. It is full of forces that are in direct opposition to these purposes of God. The discordant tones of hatred, violence, and death beat stridently against our souls. The world is falling apart. What can we do?

This is where this passage actually matters.

We are invited to clothe ourselves in love – to let it fully envelope us so that every part of who we are might display God’s love to the world. This includes not only our physical bodies (how our hands reach out in grace and our feet run to bring peace), but also our minds, our hearts, and our spirits.

To aid us in the challenging journey ahead, the author prays that the peace of Christ, which surpasses all understanding, would dwell within us in order that we might remember this essential part of who we are: we are one.

This is not uniformity, but it is unity. Everything that happens to one person effects everyone else. The ripple effect is real. And it is only together that we will find the way we can serve our God who has called us to ensure everyone knows they are part of the fold.

Not just everyone we think of, but every one of God’s children. All of them. No exceptions.

We are called to be welcome, home, and friend to all people. To seek a better world. To ensure that all have enough and live in safety. And to let love be a force that pours down like waters and engulfs the world like a rolling stream.

Picture that world. Now… make it so.

Blessings,     Janie

“So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own. Today’s trouble is enough for today.” (Matthew 6:34)

This rather famous quote comes from one of our passages for this coming weekend as we will be considering the line in the Lord’s Prayer – give us this day our daily bread. The passage from Luke we will explore focuses on the importance of sharing our resources with others in need. This passage from Matthew takes a different trek through the importance of trust in our faith.

Every day, we must make the conscious decision to once again accept our role in God’s kingdom. For some of us, that role comes through our specific profession. For others, it comes through our hobbies and outside interests. For everyone: God has ways we can serve the kingdom, here and now, right in our midst.

As we look to that vocation, it should not surprise us that sometimes the cares of the world – and specifically simply having enough daily resources – can weigh on us. We worry that we will not have enough for the days, weeks, months, or years to come. These are completely understandable, realistic, and important concerns.

Jesus is not saying, in this passage, that if we just trust in God and sit on our tails then everything will get done for us. There are countless jokes about that misunderstanding for a reason.

On the contrary, as the old saying goes, “faith can move mountains, but don’t be surprised if God hands you a shovel.”

The promise of this passage is that if we are trusting in God and seeking to fulfill our role in God’s kingdom – as the sparrow fills hers – then we do not worry about what we will need. In the work, God will provide opportunities for the resources we need and opportunities for good stewardship of those same resources over time. Our daily bread will be there if we are about God’s kingdom (which is a constant work in progress).

Jesus is also pointing out that worrying does not make our day any better. It is a distraction that taxes our minds, bodies, and spirits of the strength we need to fulfill our vocation. Focus on what challenges we can or need to grapple with – tomorrow’s can wait.

One final piece to this puzzle: this passage is the basis for the beloved hymn, “His Eye is on the Sparrow,” which has been inspiring several generations by poignantly expressing how close our God is to us in our living. May this arrangement of it be a moment of inspiration to you as you press on towards the goals God has set before you.

Blessings,     Janie