Loving Jesus Style

Mini Devotion for Good Friday Psalm 118:24 (NRSV) 24 This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it. Meditation: I went outside today and found a beautiful spring day. The sun was shining, the birds were singing and all I could think about was that the weatherperson had said that it was going to get colder again in a few days. That’s when God smacked me upside the head and said today is the day I have made just for you. I wanted to make you happy but I guess nothing will make you happy. Sure it will be colder in a few days, it’ll be so hot you fry and egg on the sidewalk in July, and it will be freezing again in nine months. But you don’t know that you will live to see any of that do you? So rejoice in this day because I’ve given it to you to enjoy right now, right here. As I reflected on this I thought about what Good Friday stands for. Jesus dying a humiliating death on a cross. I wondered how I was given the gift of enjoying a beautiful d...

Scripture: Matthew 27:1–61 (NRSV) Selected Verses 27 When morning came, all the chief priests and the elders of the people conferred together against Jesus in order to bring about his death. 2  They bound him, led him away, and handed him over to Pilate the governor. 11  Now Jesus stood before the governor; and the governor asked him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” Jesus said, “You say so.” 12  But when he was accused by the chief priests and elders, he did not answer. 13  Then Pilate said to him, “Do you not hear how many accusations they make against you?” 14  But he gave him no answer, not even to a single charge, so that the governor was greatly amazed. 26  So he released Barabbas for them; and after flogging Jesus, he handed him over to be crucified. 27  Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the governor’s headquarters, and they gathered the whole cohort around him. 28  They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him, ...

Scripture: Matthew 26:36–42 (NRSV) 36  Then Jesus went with them to a place called Gethsemane; and he said to his disciples, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.” 37  He took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to be grieved and agitated. 38  Then he said to them, “I am deeply grieved, even to death; remain here, and stay awake with me.” 39  And going a little farther, he threw himself on the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me; yet not what I want but what you want.” 40  Then he came to the disciples and found them sleeping, and he said to Peter, “So, could you not stay awake with me one hour? 41  Stay awake and pray that you may not come into the time of trial; the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” 42  Again he went away for the second time and prayed, “My Father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, your will be done.” Meditation:     ...

Scripture: Luke 15:1–2 (NRSV) 15 Now all the tax collectors and sinners were coming near to listen to him. 2  And the Pharisees and the scribes were grumbling and saying, “This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them.” Meditation:             I hear a lot of grumbling in the church today. I read complaints in my inbox daily about how this Christian leader or that Christian leader is eating with sinners of one type or another. It is enough to make me break down into tears. Table fellowship and peacemaking fit together like a hand in a glove. Jesus knew this that is why he invited himself to dinner with tax collectors like Zacchaeus and Matthew. Because Jesus wanted intimate relationships with those who were not religious he deliberately chose to eat with them.             So who today are the tax collectors and sinners that Jesus would have us eat with. Well ...

Scripture: Romans 2:1 (NRSV) 2 Therefore you have no excuse, whoever you are, when you judge others; for in passing judgment on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, are doing the very same things. Meditation:             I want to talk today about peacemaking and sexual brokenness. Not just about homosexuality although all that I say will likely be judged by that standard. As David Fitch and Geoff Holsclaw write in their new book Prodigal Christianity “Among Christians in North America, the issue of same-sex sexual relations has become the test case for what kind of Christian a person is. “Are you an evangelical who hates gays?” one side asks. “You must be a progressive who stands for nothing,” the other side responds. No matter what position you take, you are immediately shoved into one of these two groups and ostracized by the other. We talk past each other. And we fail many times to respond to thos...

Scripture: 1 Corinthians 13:4–7 (NRSV) 4  Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant 5  or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; 6  it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. 7  It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, and endures all things. Meditation:             These few verses from Paul’s famous chapter on Love in First Corinthians are a key to the inner life of the peacemaker. Those who desire to be peacemakers are pushed and pulled in all the same directions as the rest of mankind. The temptation to be arrogant or rude to someone certainly does not disappear just because one desires to become a peacemaker for the sake of Jesus and the Gospel.             In fact those who have walked that road ahead of us know that the temptations to ...

Scripture: Ephesians 2:1–10 (NRSV) 2 You were dead through the trespasses and sins 2  in which you once lived, following the course of this world, following the ruler of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work among those who are disobedient. 3  All of us once lived among them in the passions of our flesh, following the desires of flesh and senses, and we were by nature children of wrath, like everyone else. 4  But God, who is rich in mercy, out of the great love with which he loved us 5  even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— 6  and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7  so that in the ages to come he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8  For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God— 9  not the result...

Scripture: Psalm 34:11–14 (NRSV) 11 Come, O children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the Lord. 12 Which of you desires life, and covets many days to enjoy good? 13 Keep your tongue from evil, and your lips from speaking deceit. 14 Depart from evil, and do good; seek peace, and pursue it. Meditation:             Today’s scripture urges us to recover several very important aspects of the Godly life. These traits are essential for those who are committed to being a peacemaker. Making peace in this violent and troubled world cannot expect to come without the peace maker working toward it. Peace never comes accidentally. Today’s psalm gives us some excellent direction if we desire to make peacemaking a priority in our lives.             First, listening to God’s words about how to live a Godly and peaceful life is essential. How are we suppos...