Daily Devotions: Promise U

Our church kids put on a Christian musical yesterday called “Promise U.” It was amazing. They put a lot of practice into their performances and it was wonderful to watch them sing and act, dance and quote scripture throughout the entire show. I’ve very proud of all of them, and I just love to see them expressing their faith in beautifully creative ways.

Podcast version here

I’ve baptized most of the children, and I feel as though the congregation has fulfilled part of its commitment to bring them up in the faith and encourage them to get to know Jesus. Many people from the church, not just parents, are involved in the show. Our hope is that our kids will learn to love the Lord and pass on their faith to their own children through positive experiences and creative ways.

Not all of the kids belong to our church. Indeed, some of them have no church connection at all because their parents are not believers. When we first set up the Creative Expression teams, we felt it was important not to place any barriers upon any kids who wanted to take part in the shows. We still feel that way, and this year, for one wee girl in particular, the Sonshine Kids Company has been a godsend. Her family are not church people, but the girl is a friend of one of our own church kids. She came along to a practice one Wednesday night and has been a regular ever since. She now comes to Sunday school and loves being in church. Her folks might never make that kind of commitment, but it seems to me that the Lord really loves that wee unchurched girl.

Bible Verse of the Day

Romans 4:14 For if those who live by law are heirs, faith has no value and the promise is worthless.

If our church had been legalistic and cold hearted, we could have put up a membership boundary that would have prohibited non-church members from attending the practices. But the church belongs to Christ, and He is the One who said: “Let the children come to Me.” It’s amazing how His grace works, and it’s what Paul is emphasizing in today’s verse from Romans. If we all had to follow the rules to become heirs to the kingdom, then faith, grace, and hope would be replaced by duty, legalism, and perfection. In other words, we would have to earn our way into heaven and Christ’s work of salvation would be totally ignored and never needed. If that wee girl had to earn her way into our children’s creative program, she would have been held back by her parents’ non-commitment. Thankfully, through the grace and wisdom of God, she has found a place where she can truly belong.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, You have paid the price for our sins, our imperfection, and our unworthiness. We could never do enough good things to offset the sins that we continue to commit each day in our lives. Thank You for sacrificing Your Life and for going to Cross in order to pardon all of our sins and win us back for God’s Kingdom. In Your Holy Name, we gratefully pray. Amen.

Unyoked

Audio version here

2 Corinthians 6:14 Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness? NIV



Sometimes Paul reminds me of Ezra and Nehemiah in the Old Testament. They were the messengers of God who ‘purified’ the Jewish people by casting out foreigners from their community. Men, women and children were all thrown out of Jerusalem if they did not have “pure” blood in them. Paul does the equivalent here by insisting that unbelievers and Christians should never be partnered or yoked together. Paul wants to keep the faith pure; he doesn’t want any ‘outsiders’ influencing the church.

Over the centuries, this scripture has been used to shun outsiders and isolate the church from the popular community. It’s been emphasized by spiritual elitists who have used it to promote racism, abuse, and intolerance all over the world. Whatever Paul originally intended, his words have been used to justify lynching blacks, destroying families, killing Jews, and even promoting White supremacy. I wonder if Paul realized what his words would one day represent, would he have retracted them from this letter?

It seems to me that Jesus had a different mission from Paul. Jesus was constantly surrounded by unbelievers, sinners, and outcasts. His ministry tended to reach out to those who were unholy and He sanctified them (made them holy) with His love, mercy, and grace. There was nothing elite about Jesus; there was nothing that suggested supremacy. In fact, we are constantly reminded by Paul of all people that Christ humbled Himself to come among us. The Sinless One came to save sinners. The Perfect One came to die for the imperfect. The Holy Son of God came to make unholy people sons, daughters, and heirs of God’s Kingdom.

Today, we are all going to meet other people. When we do, let’s try to reach out with grace and love, tolerance and mercy. It’s not going to be easy, especially when we come across folk who are radically different from us, but with practice we will learn the art of tolerance, love, unity and peace. And aren’t those goals worthy of our Savior? Aren’t those qualities why the Church exists?

Prayer: Lord Jesus, help us to get out of our spiritual comfort zones and reach out to those who are on the ‘outside’ of Your church. Grant us the courage to get along beside them to offer them help in times of trouble, cheer in times of gladness, and love in times of fear and uncertainty. Remind us that we were all unbelievers at one point in our lives and that without someone reaching out to us, we would never have known of Your acceptance, forgiveness, grace, and love. In Your Holy Name, we pray. Amen.

Accepting the Unacceptable

Acts 15:8 God, who knows the heart, showed that he accepted them by giving the Holy Spirit to them, just as he did to us. NIV

When I was at High school, I worked in a store that sold both work clothes and fashion items. It was owned by a Jewish family, the Freedmans, who had been in the business for a very long time. Mrs. Freedman, who was widowed, and her eldest son, Joe, ran the store. My job was to initially look after the stock, wash the floors, and lift the heavy wire grates from off the windows first thing in the morning. At the end of the day, I had to re-mop the floors, tidy the stock, and put the grates back on the windows.

Eventually, I also got to sell items to customers and discovered that I had a knack for making sales. The Freedmans were good people to work for; they believed in an honest day’s work for an honest day’s pay. Mrs. Freedman taught me a lot about dealing with people, especially difficult or fussy customers. Much of what she impressed upon me has helped me throughout my years of ministry.

She also taught me about Judaism and engendered a great love of things Jewish within me. When I went to university to become a minister, she was delighted. And when I let her know that I was studying Hebrew, she was ecstatic. It was almost as if I was the son who became a Rabbi that she never had. Her acceptance of me as a teenager and her respect for me as a minister were two gifts that I will always cherish.

Our denominational church is deeply troubled and divided right now. There seems to be an atmosphere of antagonism and intolerance on both sides of the ordination debate. Each side claims to be right. Each oppose the other vehemently. Acceptance is unacceptable. Toleration is intolerable.

It seems to me that Peter faced the same kind of issues way back in the past. Some of the Jewish Christians wanted the Gentile Christians to follow their own traditions. But Peter spoke out against intolerance and expressed a great truth that we seem to have forgotten: God, who knows the heart, may be more accepting of others than we are.

It is my fervent prayer that God grant our church the gift of discernment, that is the ability to know, understand, and accept these things according to His ways, and not our own.

Prayer: Lord God, the church has always struggled with itself, but throughout the ages You have given guidance about who or what is acceptable to You. During these restless days, grant us Peter’s courage to declare that where there is evidence of Your Spirit, there is acceptance by You. In Your Holy Name, we pray. Amen.