Tag: Good Samaritan

A Need to Relate

~ Chuck Griffin ~ Leave a comment

This Sunday’s sermon at Holston View United Methodist Church will explore Genesis 2:18-24. If you cannot be with us in the sanctuary Sunday, you are welcome to join us online at 11 a.m., or view a recording later.

Today’s focus text: Matthew 22:36-40 (NRSV)

“Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?” He said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.”

By Chuck Griffin

Sunday, I will explore the specific plan God has for relationships between men and women, a plan rooted in what we now think of as Christian marriages. And beyond marriage, we are made to relate to one another in all sorts of holy ways.

That shouldn’t surprise us. God made us in his image, and even before God began to create our cosmos, he was mysteriously able to relate to himself, never alone. While God is one, we also understand God to be triune, capable of relating within as Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

You know how the song goes: “God in three persons, blessed Trinity.” 

Such a state of being would likely render humans insane, but for the holy, perfect God, this internal dynamic is perfectly normal and manageable. God didn’t create because he needed friends; as best we can tell, he created simply because he is creative.

For humans to experience “other,” we need other people. Even if marriage isn’t right or timely for us, we still are made for community, for the love of neighbor.

For many of us, the most painful part of the pandemic has been a reduction in communal interaction. We may not be truly alone, but we may have a sinking feeling we are being pushed in that direction.

I say all of this today to encourage something simple. Be sure you are experiencing all the holy relationships you need right now, even if they have to be maintained through technology rather than in person. And certainly, be sure your neighbors haven’t become isolated, remembering Jesus’ expansive definition of “neighbor.”

It is God’s plan that we be together.

Lord, keep us from loneliness, and give us clear visions of those who may feel isolated. Amen.

Psalm 119, Day 1

~ Chuck Griffin ~ 1 Comment 
By Chuck Griffin
LifeTalk Editor

Let’s take a portion of a psalm familiar to many, Psalm 119:105-112, and meditate on it line-by-line for a few days. The first line is the basis of a well-known song, “Thy Word,” written by Amy Grant and Michael W. Smith. They were working from the King James Version; I think I will use one of my favorites, the New Living Translation. I pray the brief thoughts I have will trigger some thoughts of your own.

Your word is a lamp to guide my feet, and a light for my path.

I spend a lot of time emphasizing the importance of Scripture. I feel obligated to do so; too often, the incredible wealth of information about God and God’s plan to rescue humanity from sin is ignored or distorted, despite God’s word being more available now than ever.

Frankly, I’m tired of hearing this sentence, sometimes uttered by churchgoers: “Well, I don’t know what the Bible says about [fill in the blank], but I know what I think.” Christians, we should always base our thinking on what the Bible says. This Spirit-driven revelation goes back not just decades or centuries, but millennia. The most important truths found here are timeless.

I prefer to light what can be a very dark path with a lamp that has proven effective for uncountable generations. Certainly, we can receive a word from God now, through prayer and meditation, or through someone speaking prophetically, filled with the Holy Spirit. But what we hear in those instances will not conflict with what we find in the Holy Bible.

I’ve promised it once, and I’ll promise it again: I will obey your righteous regulations.

As Christians, we have to process this line a little. Obviously, we don’t follow Jewish law to the letter anymore. The bacon cheeseburger I recently had for lunch is proof enough.

We are a people who understand that Jesus Christ focused on the deeper intent of the law, encouraging us to seek a kind of holiness that penetrates our very souls rather than simply restraining our actions. When asked to summarize the law, Jesus made it fairly simple: Love the Lord with all your heart, soul, mind and strength, and love your neighbors as you would love yourself. In the Parable of the Good Samaritan, Jesus also made sure the definition of “neighbor” is quite broad.

We also have to develop the ability to discern the scriptural context of regulations. Were they meant for a specific time and community, or are they universal, tied to the very fabric of God’s creation? We focus upon the latter regulations, of course.

Tomorrow, we’ll consider what this psalm tells us about the burdensome aspects of life.

Lord, may your word guide us this day, and when we find ourselves in the dark, may we boldly explore Scripture for enlightenment. Amen.