Pandemic devotion: Do No Harm

 

Today’s Bible readings can be found at this link: Proverbs 16:1-16 & Romans 13:1-14

 Romans 13:10 Love does no harm to a neighbor. Therefore, love is the fulfillment of the law. (NIV)

 For many months, I have been strongly advocating the wearing of masks in public places in order to diminish the impact of the present pandemic. By wearing a mask, I am, like millions of others, trying to keep the number of contagions down so that our hospitals do not get overwhelmed with emergency cases. At the moment, we are in the most dangerous phase of the pandemic, so hopefully more people will graciously adhere to the wise safety precautions that our best medical people are encouraging us to practice.

 Some folks I know question these precautions because it offends their self-dignity and personal liberty. I must admit that I don’t understand this because freedom always entails community responsibilities for the common good of the whole people. Also, from a Biblical point of view, we are commanded by Jesus to love one another and, in today’s highlighted verse, the Apostle Paul endorses that by informing the Christian church in Rome that love does no harm to a neighbor and is, indeed, the fulfillment of God’s law. So, because of this, I wear a mask and encourage others to do the same. As a Christian, I see no other way of respecting and fulfilling Christ’s command to love my neighbor.

 The good news about wearing masks and following safety precautions is that we have actually diminished flu around the globe. Usually at this time, the flu season deeply impacts our communities, but because more folks have been vaccinated and are following the 5 core safety precautions, the annual flu is having a tough time of being transmitted. So, the side effect of all our precautions is that flu cases are very low. Isn’t that wonderful?

 May God bless you and keep you all safe from this pandemic. May you all do your part in fulfilling God’s law by keeping the precautions and showing Christ’s love by doing no harm to your neighbors. Wear a mask, please. 😊

 Prayer: Lord Jesus, help us to be free from our fears by graciously accepting the God-given wisdom of our health and medical professionals. Keep them safe, too, as they constantly seek to help those who are the worst affected by this pandemic. May our loving actions and compassionate responsibility successfully diminish this contagion. In Your Holy Name, we pray. Amen.

 Pastor John

Erin Presbyterian Church,

Knoxville, Tennessee.

www.erinpres.org

September 14 devotion - True Love

John 16:27    No, the Father himself loves you because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God. (NIV)

            We live in a world where many people believe that God loves everyone, therefore, we can do whatever we want and God won’t mind. Sadly, it’s the biggest misconception that good folk have, and may even be a questionable idea which promotes a teaching of false assurance. It’s very easy to embrace this impression because none of us are comfortable with the notion that some folks are not loved by God. Even as a pastor, I struggle with this one but when I see the consequences of a carefree, casual approach to faith – moral anarchy, self-indulgence, and narcissism -  I question the veracity of such a popular misconstrued philosophy.

            As usual, when I get perplexed about this, I look to the Gospels and try to focus on what Christ actually taught, as opposed to common misunderstandings of what He said and did. In today’s passage (John 16:16-33), I am intrigued by Christ’s remark that God solely loves the disciples simply because they love and believe in Jesus. As a parent, I can understand this – whenever I see my daughters in the company of good and reliable friends, I love those friends dearly for loving my daughters. I think God, as Christ’s Father, felt the same way about the disciples who truly loved, believed, and supported Jesus. This, in turn, causes me to ponder on the whole idea: does God truly love us when we faithfully love and believe His Son?

            If this is the case – and remember, it comes from Christ’s lips – then doesn’t the Church do a disservice to Jesus, as well as to the world, when we dilute the faith by presenting it as a vehicle for being nice to others rather than being true to God? As I see congregations dwindling in mainline Christianity, it makes me wonder if our one-god-fits-all message has lulled us into a false sense of security and sadly doomed many people, including our own loved ones, into being separated from God forever for not truly loving and believing in His Son.

Point to ponder

Who do I truly believe that Jesus is? Is this what God expects me to believe?

Prayer:  Lord Jesus, Your words often challenge us and Your ways confront our choices. Open up our hearts and minds to Your Gospel. Help us to read Your life story and teachings carefully, so that we may live our lives by loving You faithfully. In Your Holy Name, we pray. Amen.

John Stuart is the pastor of Erin Presbyterian Church in Knoxville, Tennessee. You can read the church website at www.erinpresbyterian.org. Come and join us for worship on Sunday mornings at 11:00 AM. You will be made very welcome :)

Today’s image is one of John’s psalm drawings based on Psalm 149. If you would like to view a larger version, please click this link: Psalm149.

A Lawful Faith

Audio Version here

Romans 3:31 Do we, then, nullify the law by this faith? Not at all! Rather, we uphold the law. (NIV)

Yesterday in Britain, five terrorists were given life sentences for conspiring to bring about a worse tragedy than 9/11 in the United Kingdom. The evidence against them showed that they were plotting to plant bombs in nightclubs, poison beer at football stadiums, and even set off a nuclear explosion in a major British city. They appear to have relished the idea that such events would paralyze Britain and hasten the downfall of Western society.

One of the shocking things about this conspiracy is that all five men grew up in the United Kingdom and seem to have lived normal lives. It was only when they came in contact with hatred spewing clerics that their lives changed forever. Instead of using their faith to uphold the law and seek peace with other people, they bought into the unrestrained fanaticism of some of their religious leaders. Thankfully, their conspiracy was discovered and no lives were lost, save those of the five who will remain in prison for a long, long time.

Our faith has had its moments of fanaticism, too, but most modern Christians, like most of their Islamic counterparts, want a peaceful, integrated world where love overcomes fear and peace extinguishes hatred. We are living in times that try our souls and wear out our spirits with worry. As Christians, we need to remain resolute to confront evil, but we also need to seek ways that will bring about a lasting peace. If we allow our faith to become a tool for fanatics, then we will also forget to uphold the law, which is a major part of our calling. If we allow ourselves to be overcome by a xenophobic zeal, we will be just as bad as our enemies.

The way to peace and freedom is an uphill climb all of the time. There is no easy answer to solving the world’s problems right now, but the path involves painstakingly walking in faith whilst upholding the law. Any other solution is just a short cut to disaster.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, we need Your peace to reign throughout the world. We know that there are people who want to destroy our faith and freedom, and who will use any tactic or device to do so. Help us to overcome evil by applying Your words and ways, especially when You tell us to love both our neighbors and our enemies. In Your Holy Name, we hopefully pray. Amen.