Tag: understanding

Are We?

~ John Grimm ~ 1 Comment

Proverbs 2:6-8 (NRSV)

By John Grimm

The Lord gives wisdom, knowledge, and understanding.  These gifts are for the upright, those who walk blamelessly, his faithful ones.  Are we upright, walking blamelessly and faithfully?

We know we need wisdom, knowledge and understanding.  In the days ahead for the people called Methodist, we get to reach into God’s stores for these gifts.  In the days behind us, we might not have used these gifts exclusively.  It is possible to admit that we were not upright, blameless or faithful.  Our past performance does not have to dictate our future production, though.

God is guiding us through these days.  We rely on him for wisdom, knowledge and understanding.  Because God’s ways are higher than our ways, the wisdom, knowledge and understanding that we use will confound those who oppose his faithful ones.  Our desire is to be upright in how we speak with the other.  Our desire is to be blameless in interacting with the other.  Our desire is to be faithful when we see that others are not being faithful to God.

It is our hearts and our souls that benefit from God’s gifts.  In living as upright, blameless, faithful ones, we will have pleasant motives such that the other will not be considered other to us.  We will want all to pursue God’s gifts.  Yet, we recognize that not all will.  Still, we can be upright, blameless and faithful ones as we live in this world.

God, thank you for your wisdom, knowledge and understanding.  Forgive us for not drawing upon them in the past.  Renew us as we go to your stores for these much-needed gifts.  May our paths be straight as we move through these turbulent days of the United Methodist Church.  In the name of Jesus Christ, we pray.  Amen.

Recognizing the Resurrection

~ Chuck Griffin ~ Leave a comment

By Chuck Griffin

Once again, I so need Easter. I remember saying something along those lines last year and rejoicing in Easter’s arrival, and I’m doubling down this year.

It’s easy to let the world distract us from our core beliefs. Fear often is the driver behind the distractions. Fear for our health, fear for our financial futures, fear that our lives, or even our churches, won’t be exactly the way we’ve spent years imagining them. So we spend our time working, saving and planning, hoping to manipulate circumstances as best we can. What little time we have to spare we devote to “recreation,” except we seldom spend that time actually re-creating our frantic selves.

The resurrection is the cure. The resurrected Jesus was able to say “fear not” repeatedly for a reason.

Blessedly, April arrives tomorrow, and Easter Sunday is April 17, starting a season of celebration built around the resurrection. Here’s a basic challenge for us all: Let’s once again recognize the resurrection as a very real and powerful event, one that changes everything else.

Try this each morning until we reach April 17. When you first arise, say out loud, “Easter is coming, and I have hope.”

Not all in church have fully absorbed the reality of the resurrection. In a prior appointment, I once had a woman enter my office to tell me she and her husband were resigning their memberships. Naturally, I asked why.

“It’s because of the way you preach about the resurrection,” she said. I pressed further, and she went on to say that they saw the resurrection as a sort of fable (my word, not hers), one designed to help people understand they have hope. “You talk about it as if it really happened!”

All I could say was, “Well, yeah! Christ’s resurrection is the foundation for what we believe. If Jesus Christ didn’t defeat death and come out of the tomb remade, our faith is meaningless.” Paul said as much in 1 Corinthians 15:14.

They didn’t stay in that local church, but a sound definition of the resurrection remained, and people who joined after the couple’s departure said they appreciated clear words about this key event impacting our lives.

This year, let’s recommit ourselves to a solid understanding of the transformative power of a very real resurrection. Now, I’m not saying we should rush early into Easter. First, we need to experience the remainder of Lent, Holy Week, and especially Good Friday, so we appreciate the sacrifice that makes Christ’s resurrection, and our own, possible.

Let’s be sure, however, that we all play a part in making Easter 2022 very real and very glorious, celebrating like a people full of hope and eternal life.

Lord, lead us through the dark and somber days remaining in Lent, and show us the great light of Easter.

A Lesson in Changing Hearts

~ Chuck Griffin ~ Leave a comment

Acts 28:23-31 (NRSV): After [the leaders of the Jews in Rome] had set a day to meet with [Paul], they came to him at his lodgings in great numbers. From morning until evening he explained the matter to them, testifying to the kingdom of God and trying to convince them about Jesus both from the law of Moses and from the prophets. Some were convinced by what he had said, while others refused to believe.

By Chuck Griffin

I’m going to use what some think is an ugly word, even a scary word: evangelism. Before ascending into heaven, Christ called us to evangelize, but we sometimes avoid the topic because it carries some negative connotations.

All that negativity stems not from use but from abuse of the basic mission Jesus gave us. Evangelism isn’t about ambushing people with difficult questions so we feel we have discharged our duties. It is about preparing ourselves spiritually and intellectually, and then helping people find the answers to questions they naturally have.

The end of Paul’s story as he arrived to house arrest in Rome serves as a good example. Through letters and representatives, he already had built a relationship with a small group of Christians there, and his reputation allowed him to draw leaders of the Jews to his guarded home. There they heard the message that Jesus Christ is Savior, a deeply controversial idea.

Here’s what Paul did:

  1. He met his audience as the people they were. In this case, they were Jews, and he used the two godly sources they most respected, the law of Moses and the words of the prophets, to make his case. Being an educated Jew who had studied Judaism on a deep level equipped him well, of course. In short, we have to know our audience and the details of our own faith.
  2. He found a way to hold their interest and keep them in an extended conversation. It’s hard to imagine keeping people in an all-day conversation today, but we need to have a similar willingness to spend extended time with those who care enough to keep talking. Instead of a whole day, we might need to be willing to commit regular chunks of time to those who keep wanting more.
  3. He persevered despite the fact that some opposed him. Paul did all he could to make a convincing argument that Jesus Christ is Lord, and he kept trying to win the hearts of all who would listen. Acts ends this way: “He lived there two whole years at his own expense and welcomed all who came to him, proclaiming the kingdom of God and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ with all boldness and without hindrance.”

Our churches’ situations can seem very different than what Paul faced, but these basic principles of evangelism remain. What creative efforts can we make to be Paul-like to our unbelieving neighbors?

Lord, grace us with a deeper understanding of evangelism so more may enter your kingdom each day. Amen.

Clear Signs

~ Chuck Griffin ~ Leave a comment

Mark 6:45-52 (NRSV)

Immediately he made his disciples get into the boat and go on ahead to the other side, to Bethsaida, while he dismissed the crowd. After saying farewell to them, he went up on the mountain to pray.

When evening came, the boat was out on the sea, and he was alone on the land. When he saw that they were straining at the oars against an adverse wind, he came towards them early in the morning, walking on the sea. He intended to pass them by. But when they saw him walking on the sea, they thought it was a ghost and cried out; for they all saw him and were terrified. But immediately he spoke to them and said, “Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid.” Then he got into the boat with them and the wind ceased. And they were utterly astounded, for they did not understand about the loaves, but their hearts were hardened.

By Chuck Griffin

This passage reveals much about the internal confusion the disciples faced as they followed Jesus. I feel certain that many of us struggle similarly from time to time.

Just before this walking-on-the-water event in Mark, we have an account of Jesus miraculously feeding the multitudes, demonstrating that five loaves of bread and two fish will feed 5,000 men and their families when God takes direct action.

The disciples had powerful evidence at the impromptu banquet that God was in their midst, but from the later remark that “their hearts were hardened,” we can discern they were not accepting this great truth when Jesus sent them to cross the Sea of Galilee without him.

They needed another miracle, one they could interpret more clearly.

Just as they struggled with spiritual understanding, they struggled to cross the sea, the wind against them. But what impeded them was not a problem for Jesus, walking on the water and against the wind with ease.

Once he was in the boat with them, the struggle ceased―the one who made the wind and sea had rejoined them.

Jesus’ statement, “Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid,” is particularly telling. What we translate as “it is I” can also be translated as “I am,” evoking memories of God’s early revelation of himself to Moses.

It can be difficult to recognize when God is with us. If these men strained to understand, it is no surprise that sometimes we struggle. I do not fully understand why we resist the truth of God’s presence in our lives. I just know it happens.

The brokenness of the world and our need to deal with what seem like immediate, pressing problems certainly can interfere with our perception of God.

Perhaps we also have a certain level of discomfort knowing that the presence of God calls for change, and we don’t like the idea of changing.

Those responses are rooted in fear, though—fear that if we don’t control a particular situation, no one will, or fear that in being transformed, we somehow might lose something. And if we spend a few minutes thinking as Christians about each scenario, it’s not hard to see that both fears are irrational.

Jesus often said in one way or another, “Do not be afraid.” I suppose we need to take his advice to heart if we are to develop a full and complete kind of faith.

Lord, thank you for evidence of your presence. May these experiences burrow more deeply into our souls. Amen.

Toddling Toward the Kingdom

~ Chuck Griffin ~ Leave a comment

Luke 18:15-17 (NRSV)

People were bringing even infants to him that he might touch them; and when the disciples saw it, they sternly ordered them not to do it. But Jesus called for them and said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of God belongs. Truly I tell you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will never enter it.”

My colleague John Grimm, a LifeTalk contributor, wrote last Thursday about the importance of transmitting the gospel from generation to generation. And it’s clear from today’s text that Jesus sees little children as having a special ability to hear the gospel.

Over the years, I have had parents tell me of their children declaring at age 5 or 6 that they believe in Jesus. Often, the parents want to know if I think the belief is somehow “real.”

Yes, it’s real. Nowhere in the Bible does it say we have to grow to adulthood, make a comparative study of religions and take philosophy classes before we are qualified to believe. We need to grow as disciples throughout our lives, but faith in Jesus is not an intellectual exercise.

It was difficult for Jesus to go to the cross, but that’s because out of love for humanity he was doing all the work, bearing the burden of every sin committed. Salvation is simple for us because all we have to do is believe in the work’s effectiveness. Jesus loves me, this I know, and for a child, salvation is a straightforward proposition.

Theologically, we do have much to work through as we get older. Concepts like soteriology (how salvation works) and theodicy (the answer to why evil continues to persist) are enough to keep our minds busy for a lifetime. But even the complicated questions require simple, childlike faith as a starting point in the search for answers.

Blessed are the children. Blessed are all who come to Christ with childlike wonder.

Lord, help us to recover and maintain the faith of a child, even as we make our way through the complicated world of adulthood. Amen.