God and Money

Posted on by Pastor Lou

Read 
Matthew 6:19-24 
“No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.”
Verse 24 (NIV) 

Reflect 
I learned a few bits of information that were new to me this week. I learned that the Roman god of love was Venus, and the god of war was Mars. To me and I am sure to many of us, those are just the names of a couple of planets. But to a Roman army, it was crucial to sacrifice to Mars and pray for victory before going into battle. And a young Roman man would pray to Venus that the woman who had stolen his heart would someday return his love. 

Most of us don’t know that the ancient Syrian god of wealth and prosperity was called Mammon. Jesus lived just across the border from Syria, and he knew about Mammon. This was a false god that represented the love of money and the material wealth and comforts and power it might buy. Jesus also knew that you cannot have any other god alongside the Creator of heaven and earth. That would be idolatry. Therefore, he said, “You cannot serve both God and Mammon.” Any of us who were raised with the King James Version of the Bible will vaguely recognize the name “Mammon.” 

Idolatry is at the root of looking at the world differently or doing business differently rather than via a Biblical norm. And gradually the idol takes over. Greed and worry which accompanies so much of the pursuit of prosperity today, replaces the moral guidelines of the Bible, and the calm trust in God’s blessing disappears along with them. The result so very often is trampled human relationships, anxiety, and sometimes even nervous breakdowns. These can be signs that, somewhere along the line, serving Mammon has squeezed out serving God. Mammon is not a god of love but a false god that leaves a trail of destruction. 

“Who are you serving today?” 

Pray 
Lord God, earning a living is an important part of our daily life. Help us to serve you alone, and to trust you for our daily bread. Amen. 

Clenched Hearts

Posted on by Pastor Lou

Read 
Matthew 5:1-12
“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” Verse 3 (NIV) 

Reflect
Make a fist and squeeze as hard as you can. After a few moments that feels uncomfortable and creates some tension in your entire body. Now imagine that your heart is like that: clenched, closed, so tense and tight that it almost hurts – but in a strange way, that tightness feels safer than letting anyone in to hurt you.

Jesus begins a powerful sermon, declaring, “Blessed are the poor in spirit …” It’s as if he’s saying, “Of course your heart wants to clench up. It feels inadequate; it is wounded and weary; it feels threatened, like it’s under attack. It wants to protect itself.” 

But we know that a clenched heart might also shut out the love of God. So, Jesus invites us to open our hearts, just as they are, wounded and weary. It’s as if he is saying, “Be real; be vulnerable, be open hearted.”  Many of us are sensitive and actually poor in spirit, but we hide that from people around us, so we clench our heart. Being poor in spirit is not something to hide, it’s a way to be blessed. 

My dad told me that if I really wanted to get to know someone well, I should find a way to work with that person on a common task. Our strictest professor at Bible College was very hard to get to know. One summer he hired me to do a significant amount of work in his backyard. The great surprise was that he decided to work alongside me. During those days, his hard exterior came down. We had some very personal discussions and we got to know each other at a different level.  

That September, back at school, I encountered the same strict, hard professor but I knew the heart of the man just below the exterior. It made for a much more enjoyable learning experience. 

Open your heart! It will bless someone else and you at the same time. 

Pray 
Lord, thank you for inviting me to come to you as I am. Help me to open my heart to others – and to show your love. Amen. 

Community is Caring

Posted on by Pastor Lou

Read 
Romans 12:3-13
We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. Verse 6 (NIV) 

Reflect 
In my many years of pastoral work I have been blessed to see the church community act and react with all of their gifts, to be the warm embrace of Jesus in our world. When a middle-aged couple lost the baby they had waited so many years for, their sorrow was unbearable. I watched as people gathered around them to console their broken hearts. I watched as older wise men sat with the husband and responded to his questions about “Where was God in this tragedy?” At the funeral, a young mother who had also lost a child sat with this grieving mom and simply offered her shoulder and an understanding of pain. For weeks following the funeral people dropped off meals, flowers, and cards with expressions of sympathy and support. The entire community cared for them in whatever way they could. 

When the apostle Paul talks about the body of Christ in Romans 12, he urges his listeners to use whatever gifts they have been given to their fullest ability. It doesn’t really matter which gifts we might have. What matters is, that we use them to the best of our ability for the good of others. That expression of caring and love makes the body of Christ strong, resilient, and attractive to those outside the community. 

In community, people care for each other. They use their gifts to help each other and to see that anyone who is wounded, or hurting, or in some other difficulty, is looked after and loved. Sometimes healing is possible. Other times mourning and support are needed when healing doesn’t take place. 

There are times when we all need to know is that someone will care for us. Having a community around us to do that is essential. 

Pray 
Father, help us to use the gifts we have been given to care for each other, and help us to receive care when we need it. Amen. 

Testing

Posted on by Pastor Lou

Read 
Judges 2:20-23 (NIV) 
Therefore the Lord was very angry with Israel and said, “Because this nation has violated the covenant I ordained for their ancestors and has not listened to me, I will no longer drive out before them any of the nations Joshua left when he died.  I will use them to test Israel and see whether they will keep the way of the Lord and walk in it as their ancestors did.”  The Lord had allowed those nations to remain; he did not drive them out at once by giving them into the hands of Joshua. 

Reflect 
I recall the time that I prayed a very hard prayer: “Lord do whatever it takes to make my friend see the error of his ways.” The next day my friend was in jail. That was not what I expected, however, the long–term result was that good fruit has been growing from my friend since those days. 

Peter writes that Christians will suffer for their faith, but unrighteous behavior or compromising the faith will also produce suffering (1 Peter 4:15). If we ignore God’s commands, we may well face consequences. As James points out, we are not to merely listen to God’s word, we are to do what it says (James 1:22). 

One author describes Israel’s disobedience with James image of the person that looks at his face in the mirror and forgets what he sees (James 1:22-25). That image also raises a question for us: Are God’s people suffering today for their faith or for their lack of obedience? 

We regularly pray for our fellow believers around the world who suffer for their faith. Perhaps we also need prayer for believers who do not or cannot yet take responsibility for their lack of obedience?   

Scripture asks every generation to examine if the testing of our faith is a result of our faith or faithlessness. Hebrew 12:7-10 instructs us to bear with suffering, regardless of the reason for suffering, because God means it for good, for growth, for an example for others. 

May our worship today provoke us to self-examination and to direct our eyes to Jesus for the sake of our spiritual health. 

Pray 
Lord, please show us and forgive us our sins – and if we suffer, may it be for Jesus’ sake. Amen. 

Bearing Fruit

Posted on by Pastor Lou

Read 
Romans 2:12-16 
If you sin without knowing what you’re doing, God takes that into account. But if you sin knowing full well what you’re doing, that’s a different story entirely. Merely hearing God’s law is a waste of your time if you don’t do what he commands. Doing, not hearing, is what makes the difference with God. Verse 12-13 (MSG) 

Reflect 
Have you ever been charged with the accusation that, “You just think you are holier than me & my friends.” I have a few times, and it always makes me feel a little sick inside. I don’t ever want to appear or act like I am better than someone else, however the truth is that if we walk with Jesus, we may appear “a little more holy.” 

Trying to be “holy” in what I do is not the same as trying to earn my salvation by aiming to be righteous. We are saved only by God’s grace. It has nothing to do with how well I perform as/or like a Christian. But once we are saved and declared righteous through Christ, there is an expectation that we will try to live a righteous life out of thanks for our salvation. Both the Old and New Testaments teach that the way I live says something about who I am and how I really understand the faith journey. Jesus taught that you can tell something about a tree by the fruit it bears (Matthew 7:16-20). 

Just doing good things is not really Paul’s point. The question is whether or not the good things I do come from a heart that belongs to Jesus. Is the fruit of my life reflecting that I am grafted into the tree of life (Proverbs 11:30)? Do all the things I do reflect that my heart belongs to him? 

I also do bad things, because I am still a sinner. But God wants me to have integrity; God wants my faith connected with all I think, do, and say. And God’s Spirit helps me to live that way. God wants to shape me from the inside out. When I belong to him, that’s what I want God to do as well. 

Pray 
Lord make me a bearer of good fruit that I might reflect you in my life. Guide me in my walk for your name’s sake. Amen.