Psalm 95 reminds us that the LORD is God. He is the God far above any would be gods and he is our God who shepherds us through this life. Our only response, no matter the current circumstances of life, is worship. Worship is both an emotional and a volitional response to the realization that God is both the God and our God.
Paul tells the church at Ephesus to walk in the way of love. What does this mean and how can we do it? Perhaps the best answer comes from another letter of Paul to the church at Corinth. In his famous poem on love, Paul shows us the volitional and active nature of love that we have experience from God and that we are called to exhibit in our lives.
Central to loving another person is listening to them. When we genuinely listen to each other, we affirm our shared humanity. In an age of shouting over each other and the polarization that brings, Christians ought to lead the way in loving by listening. We listen to understand. And we listen to prepare ourselves to speak well if prompted. In so doing, we follow the example of Jesus.
Love engages other people, no matter their ideology or worldview. It means getting proximate and embracing a posture of hospitality that humanizes everyone. Jesus shows us exactly what this looks like and the societal impact it can have in his relationship with Zacchaeus. May we go and do likewise!
As Christians we are people who have been radically changed by love. God's love, ultimately displayed in the gospel, is transforming us. We cannot manufacture love on our own. Instead, we love others because we know God and have an ever deepening understanding of the gospel. And when we step out in love toward others, we join in God's transforming work of our own hearts, helping to bring it to completion.
How should Christians engage in politics, especially in this season of utter divisiveness? For us at Hope, it means the church is necessarily apolitical, while individual believers engage as best as they can following their consciences. But as a church and as individuals, we are governed by our mission to make disciples, our message - the gospel, our call to love God and others, and Jesus deep desire for unity in the church. Our allegiance belongs to Jesus, not a political party.
Humanity tends to react to our polarized world by building towers. Whether by fear or pride, we build towers around what we believe to be true and right in order to separate ourselves from the world. Towers have never been God's design. Instead, following Jesus and his calling on our lives, believers are called to be temples - bringing God close to humanity in loving pursuit.
If we are going to put on the new clothes of God's family, we have to embrace our true identity. In order to help us do that, Paul offers some important rhythms to include in our personal and corporate lives as the people of God. These rhythms foster a new creation culture for the family of God in Jesus.
As part of God's new family in Jesus, we have been given a new identity. On the basis of this identity, we are called to live a different way. Paul uses the analogy of putting on new clothes - compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. This is the ethos of our new family. And we've been given the vocation of revealing God's character to creation by living this way.
Jesus is clear with his followers: if they want to be his disciples then they need to give him their highest love and loyalty. This always means reordering priorities as well as leaving behind our past ways of doing things. To fully embrace the new family of God in Jesus means to necessarily leave behind our family of origin.
To be adopted into the family of God through Jesus means we are adopted out of the family of Adam. We are set free from the shame, rebellion and violence that characterize so much of humanity. So, the only right response is to leave behind the ways of Adam and embrace the true life found in living God's way.
To be a Christian means to be adopted by God as a son or daughter. This reality of adoption shows us God's heart of love and gives our lives a whole new trajectory. God's love and grace flow lavishly on us and we respond by reflecting his glory in how we live.
God has always seen his people as a family. But sin and rebellion have invited all sorts of blame and violence into our world. The incarnation and ultimately the resurrection of Jesus is all about new creation. It welcomes again the possibility of God's intention for humanity and our world. And thus the resurrection launches a new family.
James finishes his letter with a warning about wandering from the truth - Jesus, the gospel and its implications. Knowing that wandering can lead to death, James urges the whole church community to be alert and involved in the perseverance of the saints.
No matter the circumstances of life, our right response is prayer in dependence on God. In particular for the weary and those who are sick, James urges them to call for the elders to pray for them that they might find healing. Prayer offers healing by catalyzing God and by conforming us to his will and image.
A big part of the Christian life is patience, derived from an expectation of the imminent return of Jesus and the very character of God. On the basis of this, James reminds us to be people who wait expectantly and persevere. In order to do so, James reminds us to strengthen our hearts and be careful to groan properly. In so doing we walk the way of Jesus.
James calls out the wealthy who are hoarding, withholding, living in self-indulgence and even stealing life from those of lesser means. Wealth is not evil, but when we find our security and significance in it, we can do unthinkable things. The gospel shows us an altogether different way to live.
When we make plans, we should never do so presumptively. Rather, we should submit them to God's will, being careful to evaluate our plans so that they enable us to trust and glorify God as well as love our neighbor. In so doing, we are embracing God's ultimate plan of restoration and redemption.
Slander damages the identity and value of another person while trying to defend or regain identity and value for ourself. And when we act in this way, we are positioning ourselves not only as a judge of that person, but also over the law of God and God himself. As we are transformed by the gospel our tendency toward slander becomes a tendency toward love.
As James turns to address the hearts of his readers, he does so with a piercing accusation of spiritual adultery. They, like us, have hearts that share their affection with other gods. The result is we look just like the world around us and actually work against God. God's response to our idolatry is more grace. And the way we embrace that grace is through humble repentance.
Human wisdom leads to envy and selfish ambition. But wisdom from above is pure and promotes peace in ourselves and our relationships.
The small, the tongue has great power for good or for evil. So how do we grow in using it for good? You can't tame it. James reminds us it's never been done. Instead he calls us to look deeper into the source from which the tongue draws, namely the heart. And to engage in the battle to draw not from our broken human heart, but from the new creation heart God has given us.
Is there a such thing as false faith? With Jesus as his teacher, James reminds his readers the answer is a resounding "yes." Justification comes by grace through faith, but genuine faith always produces works of the kingdom. Faith that only hears and depends upon creeds and cultures, but fails to produce works ought to make us shutter.
Why do people tend to be partial against those with less means? Largely because we are looking for our own glory. But the glory of God is on display in Jesus, who was rich but became poor that we might be welcomed into God's family. When we embrace this gospel we realize that we are poor and yet rich and we start to do the work of loving our neighbor to display God's glory rather than gain some for ourselves.
If we are going to grow and mature in our faith, then the gospel must be central. And we must not only hear it, but we also have to do it - live by faith on the basis of it. But James understands there is an often overlooked reality that makes this possible. We must embrace the gospel - literally welcome it in. Pulling on Jesus' parable of the sower, James calls us to do the hard work of making space in the soil of our lives to implant the gospel within us. It is the implanted seed of the gospel...
While life is certainly filled with external trials, it is even more full of internal trials. James calls these temptations and warns us that they only lead to death. Our only hope in the face of this death is the good gift of new birth that God offers through the gospel. It is the joy of this salvation that sustains us when we meet trials (external and internal) of various kinds.
The reality of trials and struggle in life is a "when" not "if" reality. And James tells us that only way to sustain ourselves in them is to fight for a stabilizing joy that comes from our hope in the gospel. Single-minded maturity is the product of seeking and acting on God's wisdom. And in this race of life, single-minded means to fix our eyes on Jesus the author and perfecter of our faith.
James is a prominent leader in the church at Jerusalem writing to a scattered group of believers on the heels of great persecution. In this difficult season, he is calling them away from arrogant self-dependence and to single-minded maturity that comes from a dependence on God and his wisdom.
At Christmas we celebrate that Jesus Brings God; Emmanuel, God with us...in our flesh and in our struggles. Jesus is full life and brings light into our lives. When we make room in our hearts, he and the Father come and make their home in us, giving us light and life now and forever.
Sometimes the idyllic nature of the Christmas story, distracts us from seeing what is actually happening. A king is arriving to inaugurate his kingdom and that is a threat to many. When we see Jesus for who he really is, we are left with two choices: either we kill him or we crown him. Herod shows us what those gripping to power are inclined to do, but the magi show us the right way to receive our victorious king - in worship.
