Words and Actions

Scripture Texts: Acts 1; Psalms 41

It all started with less than one tenth of one percent of the world population. There were only about 120 believers gathered together to begin the journey of being the church. From that group, the entire body of Christ has grown.

Fast forward some two thousand plus years and the body of believers is far more than one tenth of one percent of the world population.Yet in many places not only is the church of Jesus Christ not growing and developing, it is in fact getting smaller and has less influence on the world around.

Once the apostles saw Jesus taken to sit with God, they got to work putting into practice what Jesus has taught them. The first order of business was to return the number in the group of apostles to 12, and Matthias was selected. Peaking ahead in the Scriptures we find the day of Pentecost upon the people and the continued work of God.

It seems all too often the body of Christ today is content to sit around and talk about doing something while taking very little action. Great speeches are given on all the important issues, each claiming their validity with the Scriptures and God. When the speech ends and everyone heads home, there is no action. It is almost as if we have disregarded the power we have been given by the Holy Spirit to be Christ's witness to the world. This is not only words, it is words and actions together in concert.

God has not given the gift of marriage for the sole purpose of enjoying marriage. When two people are joined together to form one, as with marriage, there is not a mere addition of the possibilities of God, there is multiplication. A married couple can be used by God to do even greater things together if they are willing to take action as witnesses for Christ.

This by no means excludes single people from taking action for Christ. It merely highlights the potential of what happens when a married couple uses their marriage as a tool to witness to the world about the love and power of Christ in transforming lives. In fact whether married or single the potential exists, and potential only matters if it is translated to action.

May we learn from the apostles in the Book of Acts and translate our faith and belief into action empowered by the Holy Spirit. Not so we can boast about our relationship with God. Rather so we can witness God doing amazing things in our midst.

The Proof of Experience

Scripture Texts:  John 20:11-31; Proverbs 8

The best way to prove the reality of a situation is by experience. If it is January and the weather on our computer tells us it is ten below zero outside, we do not need to go outside to find proof of that being cold. If you live in the northern part of the United States, you have experience that tells you ten below is cold.

Other times we are confronted by situations that are not know to us through experience. That is what happens to Thomas in the reading from John. He has had little to no experience with people coming back to life. There were the occasions during Jesus ministry where life was returned to someone but that was done by Jesus and now he was dead. No matter what the others said, Thomas was not buying it until he experienced it.

This causes us to wonder what it would be like if we trusted God more instead of always looking for proof? There are times in our lives when we are not sure about the faithful step in our lives. Far more often the case is we know but we are not willing to step out because we lack the experience. God often calls us to new territory.

Proof of a good marriage falls under the category of needing to experience it to know it. The temptation is to come up with a list of ten proofs that you have a good marriage. Reality is, the only proof is the experience you have. When we experience our marriage as good, we want to invest more deeply in it. When it is not so good we are not sure it is worth the investment.

All of the unknown of marriage can causes us to hold back and not seek for more in our marriage. If we choose to hold back, our marriage will become a self-fulfilling prophecy, we will never experience the good we are created to experience. This is where our marriages can learn from Thomas. Sure he doubted, anyone who tells you they have never doubted is a liar. Thomas did not let his doubt stop him, he kept striving for the experience of Jesus, the proof that the promise was fulfilled. We must risk and seek to experience a good, or even great marriage if we are ever going to realize what we are seeking.

No Big Secret

Scripture Texts: John 19:38-42; John 20:1-10

Both Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus were said to be secret followers of Jesus. In addition to their secrecy, the origin of their secrecy was in common. They feared the reaction of their peers. So Nicodemus visits Jesus at night, and Joseph moves quickly and quietly to care for the dead body of Jesus.

This always brings up a point of wonder, is it possible to be a secret follower of Jesus? With the evidence of Joseph and Nicodemus in hand, we can quickly say it is possible. Yet, there is something strange about being a secret follower of Jesus. It seems to go against what we have been taught. Once the Holy Spirit was given the followers of Jesus were to be witnesses to Jesus to the very ends of the earth. It is very difficult to be a witness to something we are trying to keep a secret.

Perhaps it was possible to be a secret follower in the days of Joseph and Nicodemus. Shortly after the resurrection of Jesus and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit the days of secret followers went by the wayside. We are to proclaim our relationship with Jesus to the world around us with love, grace and confidence. Still many of us find ourselves in the role of a secret follower of Jesus all too often.

If like us you have exchanged rings at your wedding there is a very outward and visible sign of the union that is your marriage. Our wedding bands declare to those around us that we are spoken for. When wearing a wedding band it is nearly impossible to be secretly married.

A bigger question might be is Jesus the best kept secret of your marriage? You may have your wedding band on so the world knows you are married, but does the whole world know that you follow Jesus with your marriage? Over the years we have made choices that have caused others to wonder about the motivation behind our choices. This most often happens when we are choosing to follow Jesus with our marriage, which in turn gives us a chance to proclaim our relationship with Christ.

Following Jesus and marriage are never meant to be done as a secret. Both are to be proclaimed to the world so that others may know to whom we belong. Our proclamation is done with a combination of words and actions, and never is secret.

Marriage Not Manipulation

Scripture Texts: John 19:17-37; Psalms 40

The religious leaders had finally won. Jesus was convicted not only by them but by Pilate as well. Hanging on a cross outside the city right where people would see him, Jesus was placed to breath his last. Even in victory the religious leaders were concerned about themselves more than the reality in front of them. They demanded the sign above Jesus head be changed so they could dismiss Jesus with greater ease.

Once Jesus is dead they want to move quickly to take his body down so they can get on to the Sabbath without another personal dilemma. It was against Jewish law to leave the dead body on the cross, and it was considered work to take a body off the cross. A very serious dilemma for the religious leaders so they want to speed things up for their convenience.

Often we like to alter the words of other people or change the timeline of events so that we can save face. Not only to save face but to have the details of everything work in our favor. It is easy to scoff at the religious leaders. however, we easily can be accused of the same thing. We try to get God to function and behave on our terms rather than on God's terms.

In a marriage relationship this is called manipulation. When we try to get our spouse to function the way we want so that life can happen as we think it is suppose to. Rather than doing the hard work of conversation and submitting to one another, we try to get the other person to see it our way.

A marriage based on manipulation is headed in a very bad direction with increasing speed. Any relationship where manipulation is the primary mode of function is destructive, especially our relationship with God. So, we are left to do the work of talking about hopes, dreams and expectations. In our relationship with God, we have a conversation about our hopes, dreams and expectations. We must remember God always knows best how to live our lives. With our spouse there is a give and take to the conversation that allows for a mutually shared direction in marriage.

The Power of Prayer

Scripture Texts: John 17; Psalm 38

It has been said that prayer is the engine that drives the life of a follower of Jesus. Several times in the Gospels we find Jesus praying. Before healing someone, after a time of ministry, before going to the cross, and here in John as Jesus prays for the disciples and all those who would believe and follow.

That means if you are a follower of Jesus you have been prayed for by Jesus himself. While here on earth Jesus took some moments before his death and resurrection to pray for each and every person who would become a part of the movement of God.

This also means that Jesus prayed for our marriages. You might think this is a stretch but it really is not. Jesus prays that the people might experience perfect unity, this is for all people including those who are married. Unity in marriage is not something that just happens, there is great intention needed to experience it.

Jesus wants people to experience unity and the first step in that has been to pray that we might experience it. This should be our first step as well. When two people pray together there is something wonderful that happens to their hearts and lives. A deeper bond is found, one with Jesus at the center as the three of you pray together.

Adding another layer to prayer together is when we pray for other people together. A unity of heart is found when we are lifting people to God together. Each night after we read the Scriptures, and write the blog, we take time to pray together. Part of that prayer is lifting before God the people we know that could use a greater portion of God's love and grace. So, if there is something we can hold in prayer for you, please let us know and we will include you in our prayers.

Happily Ever After

Scripture Texts: John 15:18-27; John 16:1-15; Psalms 37

It happens in every Disney movie, at some point all the people live happily ever after. Disney did not start this understanding in our lives, it seems to be something that is part of our wiring. We assume if we live a good life, do the right things, and treat others well that life will work out for the best. The tragedy comes when that is not how life happens. When it does not appear that happily ever after is part of our story.

Many times we think if we are followers of Jesus then our lives are on the happily ever after track. In many ways this is true as when we have placed our lives in Jesus and work to follow Jesus, we do enter into the fullness of the Kingdom of God. However, all too often we try to get to the happily ever after without going through hard times and challenges first. Jesus makes it clear we will have hard days and not everything is going to work out just because we are followers.

In fact Jesus promises we will face struggles and others will cause us troubles because of Jesus. The exact opposite of our natural inclination and a Disney education. Life in Christ is not always easy and the challenges come because we follow Jesus. This very fact is what causes many people to walk away from following Jesus.

The same applies to married life. As two people stand before a congregation and God to make their covenant of marriage all that us in mind is happily ever after. Then reality finds its way into our lives and marriage and things get hard. We learn that living with someone 24/7 is not always as easy as we might have thought. We learn that we cannot simply live life on our own terms, that as a married person someone else gets input into our life. Those are just the challenge of relationship.

There are also the challenges from outside. Job changes, death of loved ones, financial struggle, and the list goes on. All of these things that we might have thought to avoid because we are in Christ and we are married. The promise of Jesus applies, we should not presume to have a life free of challenge. Our struggles are real, and they are not a sign that we are to give up, or that we are doing it wrong. In fact they might be a sign that we are doing things right.

Marriage is hard, and requires perseverance through tough times. God has given us the Holy Spirit for help, and for the ability to stay the course. We must remember as we persevere, the only way we get to happily ever after is to live the life Christ died to give us.

Abide

Scripture Text: John 15:1-17

Human are creatures with a great capacity to love. It is not a stretch to say that we are hardwired to love. This means we will love something, and we will always find something to love. The question becomes are we making wise choices about what or who we love?

God has made a choice about who to love. All of humanity is the object of God's love. Never do we have to wonder or question whether or not God loves us. What we must regularly question is whether we are remaining or abiding in that love. Abiding is more than simply remaining, it is a matter of how we invest our lives. God invites us to abide in the love that is offered.

When we abide in God's love our lives produce fruitfulness. When we choose not to abide in God's love the result is pruning. We must be clear that pruning also happens when we abide and produce fruit. When we are not abiding, the pruning often hurts more and feels like a greater loss. To experience the fullness of life that God longs for us to experience we must abide in God's love.

As we abide in God's love, we must also abide in the love of our spouse. Remember we are going to love someone or something so we must be intentional about who and what we love. Part of abiding in the love of our spouse comes from remembering a key distinction, there are only two types of people in the world, those who are my spouse and those who are not. In order to abide we are clear about this distinction and we only seek and offer our love and affection to the person that is our spouse.

None of this is possible in its fullness unless we are first abiding in Christ. When we are making every effort to keep ourselves connected to the vine that is Christ Jesus, life simply works better. This follows through with marriage. The promise is not that it will be easy, that it will be better and more fruitful. So, we must be careful with whom we abide and who we love.