Bulwark

"The church of the living God, the pillar and bulwark of the truth," 1 Timothy 3:15.

Wow! Makes a big deal out of it. This church. This assembly. This congregation. Pillar? Bulwark? of the truth!? Are you kidding? Scripture just then spoke of unassailable character of men and women in that congregation. What they must strive to become. And then it talks about a mystery. Mystery of godliness: Of being about God. What's that mystery? Jesus' own life and character. The truth of Jesus, Lord. The truth of his followers' confession and behavior. Pillar and bulwark: Living out the beatitudes. God's pretty serious about it. His household. His new world order.

Empowered by the Spirit of Christ, cleansed, we find a brother or sister today and confessing his lordship, we give thanks. Together, we commit to serving out the life of Jesus in word and deed. Real. Truth.

Pick

"To the church of God, to those made holy in Christ Jesus," 1 Corinthians 1:2.

Pick a church, any church. Got a whole deck of'em here. Any church is good as long as they ... Well, yeah, exactly! as long as they ... what? As long as they ... affirm the second person of the trinity? As long as they ... acknowledge Rome? As long as they ... are Protestant? As long as they ... do communion? As long as they ... are passionate about what they believe? As long as they ... read the Bible daily? As long as they ... don't mix with the others? As long as they ... are white (black)? As long as they ... what? When Scripture says: To. The. Church. Of. God., does it just address the deck of 52 different churches that we get to pick from as long as they ...? Or what?

Forgiven in Christ Jesus, we find a brother or sister today. We confess need to be forgiven by, and to forgive, each other, to grow in God's knowledge, to imitate God's unfathomable love for all. And, together, we give thanks.

Confession

"I will build my church and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it," Matthew 16:18.

Says the bumper sticker: Jesus Yes, Church No. Cozy relationship with God. Just me and you, God! Nobody else. Don't want to mess with messed up people. Bunch of hypocrites. Do-gooders, all smiles and self-righteous on Sundays; mean, ruthless cut-throats on Monday. Always wanting your money. Fat cat preachers. Self-important priests. That's right - talking about you, dude! ... or ... am I really talking about me? (sigh) yeah, just confessed me. The church? made up of people like me. Don't know that Jesus can handle us.

Jesus can, and does, handle us, gently, with his own scarred hands. So we find a brother or sister today and give thanks to God. And we yield our pride to believe he can, indeed, do all things. Even this. Build his church.

Bride

"The marriage of the Lamb has come and his Bride has made herself ready," Revelation 19:7.

Bride? We get that Jesus is the lamb. Every careful Bible reader gets that, no question. But the bride? Who's she? Let's start with who she's not. She's not the prostitute for whose services men paid. The prostitute who depicts the rule of men on the earth: Babylon. Man's world. What man hath wrought. The great enslaving city, persecutor of Jesus' people. The empire God judges and destroys in a day. So who is the bride? Jesus' people. God worshippers. Christ confessors. Righteous deed doers. The church. Of Christ.

With a brother or sister today we get dressed for the wedding. Clothed by doing righteous deeds: Food for children. Coat for needy. Visit for shut-ins. Shelter for homeless. Cup for thirsty. And, all together, we give thanks. Bride ready. Church triumphant.

Whence

"Who are they, and where'd they come from?" Revelation 7:13.

Good question. John doesn't know. So the old man tells him. This humongous crowd of people? They come from surviving the massive tragedy. They're from every nation, tribe, peoples, languages. Filthy clothes came out white after washing them in the blood of the Lamb. (Ever dip anything in blood?) And now they stand in front of God's throne. (The whole massive crowd!) They serve God 24/7 in God's temple. God, the one on the throne, his presence shelters them. No gnawing hunger ever again. Or parched thirst. Or overwhelming climate change. Why not? because the Lamb (yes, in the middle of the throne, too!) shepherds them to fresh, lively water. And God wipes away every single tear. That's who and whence.

Soiled souls washed in the blood of the Lamb, plunged into the water and pulled up out of that water. Died. with Jesus. Buried. with Jesus. Resurrected. with Jesus. With a brother or sister today, we set minds on lofty heights where Jesus is, seated at the right hand of God. We look through passing tragedies into eternity together. And give thanks.

Hope

"Happy is the person whose hope is in Jehovah his God," Psalm 146:5.

Happy. More religious: blessed. Either one. It's a good deal. A very good deal. So why is such a person blessed (whose hope is God)? Because this God created earth and sky and sea. And everything else. Because this God keeps faith forever. This God does justice for oppressed peoples. This God gives food to the hungry. This God sets prisoners free. This God opens blind people's eyes. This God lifts up hunkered down people. This God loves people who do right things. This God watches over sojourners, wanderers, migrants. This God holds up widows and orphans. The God of Jacob. That's why.

So we find a brother or sister today, and together we share hope. Together we give joyful thanks. Not because of just anything people call god, Not at all! Because our forever trustworthy Jehovah God.

Big Day

"We may have confidence in the day of judgment," 1 John 4:17.

Ah. Judgment day. Big day. Big, big day. Coming soon. Coming to a theatre near you. In fact, you'll be on stage. Conscience gets to explain the way you lived life. To God. Who judges whether it was wasted. Or not. Ready for it? Want to have confidence for it? Good news: the Bible gives the sure fire way to assurance. Fearless. Boldness even, on that stage. So here it is - be like God in this world. That's it. No fear. Whoa! Hold on! To be like God!? Easy peasy: Love your brother/sister. (gotta be true love, right?) Yep. That's it. Oh, yeah, and confess Jesus as the Son of God. That's it. Well, and receive God's Spirit. There you go. Oh, and abide in God. That's pretty much it.

So today we boldly go where few have gone before; we will visit with a brother or sister. And together we will give thanks to God who loves us and shows us how to love. And we live like Jesus in this world. Confident through judgment. Into eternity.

Opened

"By this we shall know that we are of the truth," 1 John 3:19.

When we love for real - not just religious words. You know, talking that sounds, well, like, stained glass. Like, Go in peace; Be warmed; Be filled. But not give what's needed. Just thin air. Has no body to it. No substance. Real love: works. Actually, works. Some thing got done. Like, see a brother's (or sister's) need and open the heart. Like, share the world's goods with them. Like, lay down lives for each other. Real. Sure. True love. By this we shall know. We are of the truth. We're of what's real. And our hearts, opened, find assurance.

Indeed, we surely believe in the name of God's son, Jesus Christ. And, so we find a brother or sister today, and we share our lives. Safe and sure, together, we give thanks. Blessed assurance.

Knowing

"We know that we have passed out of death into life," 1 John 3:14.

We know? How in the world to know this? Maybe, took a test and passed it? (Got a D-, but, hey, it's a passing grade!) Maybe, have a really good feeling about it? (Like when just before sliding into the ditch.) Maybe, just got good genes? (Just like the old horse-thieving uncle.) So how to know? Here's how: Love the brothers and sisters. That's what it says. It says, ya don't love, ya don't live. Yeah, hate that special brother or sister and we're a murderer. No life here. Other ways of knowing: confess Jesus as Lord; do good. But we don't get to pick and choose. They're all part of the knowing package. But here, mainly, love that brother or sister - Jesus gave his life for them. He asked nobody's opinions.

Affirming the knowledge of God's lively work in us, we seek out a brother or sister today. Together we live; we give thanks to our common Father, God, through our common elder brother, Jesus. He loved us to life.

Begotten

"And now, children, abide in him," 1 John 2:28.

OK. There's about a million reasons to abide in the Holy One. You know, given in Scripture. But here, why? so that you'll have boldness when he appears. So that you won't shrink in shame at his showing. Wait! why should someone shrink in shame at his showing? Well, they would shrink in shame because they didn't do righteousness. But Jesus did the right stuff, and they knew it. But they didn't do it themselves. And they knew that everyone who does good stuff is conceived by God. They knew it. And didn't do it. So they shrink in shame when Jesus shows up. But we will stand bold when he comes. So we do good stuff. Like he did. To be like him. Begotten of God. Whenever he shows up. (He's pretty close now.)

We find a brother or sister today, and together we will give thanks to God who shows the good life. And we encourage each other to love and good deeds, begotten just like Jesus.

Anointed

"The anointing you received from him abides in you," 1 John 2:27.

Anointing? God choosing you. When was that? When you heard the thing way back at the first. What thing? The teaching. What teaching? The truth that Jesus is the Christ, the son of God. Not just when you heard it, but (big deal here!) when you confessed that teaching. And, secured by the great Spirit, it came to live in you. So what? When that teaching came to live in you, then you came to life. To live in the Son (and in the Father!). So what? Eternal life. That's what. And as you received this anointing, you know the truth. What truth? Jesus is the Christ. And you don't need any other teaching than the truth you heard way back when. Which the anointing teaches you. Remember?

Today we find a brother or sister and give thanks to our God. He chose us, together, a long time ago to be born of him. And, anointed, to do good stuff.

Check

"For with You darkness is not dark, and night shines as day: its darkness just as its light," Psalms 139:12.

Dear God, you're already there wherever we go! We fly into the sky, into space, you're there. We go deep into the mine, you're there. We go way over the ocean, you're there. We go into foreign lands, you're there. You're in front, you're behind, you're all around. In your hand you hold us! Dear God, you know darkness as you know light. You know every thought we think. You already know the words we're about to speak. You differentiated every cell in our forming bodies. You designed the days of our lives before there were days of our lives. Dear God, your every thought moves us. Please check any path of evil in us, and guide us in the path of life that never ends.

With a brother or sister today, we will give thanks to our God and Savior. He's with us in present danger. He guides us. He knows us intimately. And loves us anyways.

Guiltless

"The weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness," Matthew 23:23.

Fascinating. Mercy, a weightier matter of law? We get the justice part. Sort of. And faithfulness. More or less. But mercy? As part of the law? Well, Jesus speaks of the whole Torah, all five books of Moses. Still, folks should have gotten mercy as one of the three underpinnings of the law. Should have gotten that God desires mercy over sacrifice. Hosea did. When we get that, says Jesus, then we don't go around condemning the guiltless. (The guiltless?!) Persons who break conventional religious rules developed to show God respect. When we get it, we hang out with sinners and other sick people as agents for God's healing, merciful call on their hearts.

We remember our own sin. We see Jesus hanging out for us. We hear Jesus' mercy talk. Free to us, we take in Jesus' forgiveness. We reach out to others with the same mercy. Together we say, Thank you, merciful Lord.

Worthless

"The gift of God is eternal life," Romans 6:23.

They say we value only what we pay for. The more we pay, the more worth we assign it. Or, disappointed by a gift, we might say, It's the thought that counts. Though worthless the gift to me, I value the giver's thought. (Still, the gift was pretty stupid.) But what about a thing so valuable that it becomes invaluable? So expensive you couldn't begin to price it out? Without possibility of assigning worth?  I mean, like you owned the whole world to trade with? And it still cost more? And, yeah, you needed it. To survive. You'd die without it. Not stupid at all. Well, that's what's said here. Somebody traded his worthless life for it. But to you, a precious gift, eternal life. Mercy.

God is very compassionate and merciful. With a brother or sister today, together we give thanks for life beyond measure. Having received it, in life-long endeavor we will extend to others mercy.

Appeal

"Baptism now saves you, an appeal to God, through Jesus Christ's resurrection," 1 Peter 3:21.

Lots and lots of ink about this verse wasted about how baptism does not save you. Sure, getting affused, sprinkled, plunged in a baptismal font doesn't save you. Obviously. People splash and dunk in rivers, lakes, pools, oceans all the time. And, an occasional preacher's kid plunges into a batistery. Nobody ever got saved for those efforts. Not at all. Now, a mother nurses her baby. Nobody confuses who's giving life - it's the mom. (Duh!) But if the baby does not suckle ... The verse continues to say baptism does not save by washing dirt off your body. Pretty plain. It says, rather: it's an appeal to God. Saving baptismal waters result from a heart's desperate plea for mercy. A cry for mercy through Jesus' work. A call on the name of the Lord. For mercy.

We will not confuse God's merciful baptismal conditions with earning his mercy. Never! Today, with a brother or sister, we give thanks to God. To our plunging appeal through Jesus' resurrection: He saved us. Mercifully.

Blame

"Forgiving each other if someone has blame against somebody," Colossians 3:13.

Well, now. OK. If I have to. Forgive, I mean. If they deserve it. My forgiveness. I'll forgive them if they deserve it. But it's their fault, you know. Theirs is the blame. And so on. Forgiveness challenges in that the person who did the wrong can never deserve mercy. Mercy is the kindness you get when you don't deserve it. That's what mercy means. Waiting to give mercy until they deserve it ... like waiting to give a baby its bottle until it stops crying for it. Not gonna happen. (we do want to survive the ordeal, right?) Forgiveness does not depend upon the forgivee. It depends upon the forgiver. Just like God. He forgives. Ours, the blame.

We thank God that his forgiveness righted us before deserving it. We forgive that special brother or sister today. Because God in Christ forgave us. Mercy, mercy, mercy, O God!

Counsel

"Forsaking the counsel that the old men had given him, he spoke to them according to the counsel of the young men," 1 Kings 12:13-14.

And with this counsel King Rehoboam spoke to the people roughly and lost his kingdom. Now everybody knows the moral to that story is: Listen to the old guys, not the young ones. Right? (A lesson impressed upon me as a child, not without good reason, I suspect.) But, that really misses the point of the Scripture. The point, rather, is the nature of the counsel. The counsel itself. The old guys said, Show mercy. The young guys said, Show who's boss. Then, consequences.

With a brother or sister, today, reflect on God's work in Christ among us. Together, we give thanks that mercy triumphs over judgment. And so, we choose mercy. To show it.

Terror

"When you lie down, your sleep will be sweet," Proverbs 3:24.

Solid path. Safe steps ahead. No stumbling feet. Secure passage. No fear in sudden terror. Confidence when all around gives way. And sweet sleep at night. Wow - now that's a positive picture of assurance! (No fear in terror -- how safer can it feel?) And how to get to that place? We are lifted to it by Jehovah God himself when we hold on to wisdom. That's what it says. But what wisdom, exactly? The Wisdom of God's Word. God's Wisdom Who is Christ. We are lifted to that sure place by trusting the Christ of God. Jesus: crucified, buried, and made alive for ever more. No terrors left.

Committed to God's wisdom, we are lifted by him to that fearless place. And together, with a brother or sister today, we give thanks. And will sleep tonight. Sweet.

Friend

"No longer do I call you slaves, but I have called you friends," John 15:15.

A master does not bring a slave into his confidence. A slave obeys slavishly without fellowship in the master's will. But a master shares plans and ideas with friends. A friend fellowships. Jesus tells us everything he heard from his Father. He fellowships us into his confidence. He wills that we fellowship in his mission to bear fruit. To what end? That we love one another.

Transformed, we seek out brothers and sisters. And brothers and sisters to be. We will love others like Jesus loves us. And together we give thanks. To the One who made us friends.

Ransomed

"Live free as slaves of God," 1 Peter 2:16.

We are children of the Revolution and have cast off shackles of bondage to tyranny! So what means, Live as God's slave? This: to live under the Lord's rule. Under the command of the Son of Man. And what commands he here? To submit to every human institution: kings, governors. (Seriously!?) To do good. (Always!?) To respect all comers. (Everybody!?) To love the fellowship. (Even the flakes!?) To fear God. Goodness! Man-o-man! The Lord's rule hardly sits well with a free people accustomed to self-direction. (Or, at any rate, accustomed to its delusion.) Why yield to such slavery!?

Because the Master and Teacher knelt before us and slavishly washed our feet. When we had nailed his. Consequently, together with a brother or sister today, we freely, thankfully, serve the One whose very soul ransomed the rage against our rebellion.

God-ward

"Set free from sin, you have become slaves of God," Romans 6:22.

Freedom. Folks seek it, chafing against restraint. Restraint to self-sufficiency, to self-direction. Yet, freedom remains relative to something. Free from this, but slave to that. Free from that, but slave to this. Or, perhaps, freedom arises in some choices one (freely) makes. That is, we get choose the master who will otherwise control our lives. Which is exactly what Scripture lays out for us: we may enslave ourselves to our inner selves, our passions, our unrestrained wants, our flesh. Or. We may enslave ourselves to God's own self, his passions, his unrestrained generosities, his spirit. And, having chosen our master, we get to drive to the full outcome. Which Scripture also lays out clearly: Self-ward path to rot, death, annihilation. Or. God-ward path to growth, life, immortality.

As we seek out a brother or sister today, we follow the master, Jesus, whom we have chosen freely. Chosen to love him with unperishable love, to serve him faithfully into immortality.

Duty

"When you have done all commanded you, say: We are unworthy slaves, we've just done our duty," Luke 17:10.

Who's talking here? Jesus. The Master. Who's he talking to? His disciples. His slaves. wow. Humility and perspective don't come easy, do they? I am easily impressed with my obedience, like when I grace you with my presence at church but I wanted to sleep in. Doing God a favor, here. But, here, Jesus' context: Forgiven, so do forgiveness. Duty to forgive the brother who sins against me seven times in a day. His context shows up my ugly heart in light of a despised Samaritan falling on his face to give Jesus thanks. Increasing the reach a little, Jesus' context is duty to share my wealth with needy people. His context: Slaves either of God or of Mammon (wealth). Always. One or the other. One will be master, never both. God's kingdom shows itself in real communion among his people. Duty.

Today we share amazing grace with a brother or sister and, together, we worship. We confess Jesus, Master of our lives. For whom we will do duty. Thankfully.

Slavery

"A slave of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ," James 1:1.

Don't like the word slave. Don't like being somebody's property. Don't like being bound in service without wages. Don't like being subservient to anybody. Don't like being enslaved. So let's not talk about being slaves anymore. Except for when we read the Bible. And it says we are all of us slaves. But let's not use that word. Let's say something religious instead. Something that sounds less captivating. More spiritual. Let's say ... servant ... minister. That's it! We can say minister. We're all of us ministers. Yes, can handle that just fine. But it means is, slave. Whatever we call it, it means slave.

We're free to choose the master to whom we shall be enslaved. We have chosen Christ the Lord, Master. With a brother or sister today, we thank God for opportunity of slavery to Jesus, the outcome of which slavery leads to life. Rampant life.

Calm

"I do not occupy myself with things too great or too marvelous for me. But I have calmed and quieted my soul," Psalm 131:1-2.

Worried. Anxious. Apprehensive. Fearful. Agitated. Panicked. Feelings assailing the soul when dwelling on possible calamitous outcomes. That's what it talks about when it says, Things too great or too marvelous. That is, overwhelming things over which we have little, or no, overt control. Over. Over to God. Over to Jehovah with these potential calamities. No longer fretting self with these, but quieting self with God, the able One. Confident. Calm expectation of good outcome resting in God. Our hope rests in the Lord. And the soul rests, quieted, like a child at the mother's bosom.

Today, having found a brother or sister, together we reaffirm common hope in the Lord God. And, calmed by the Shepherd of Israel, we give thanks. From this time forth and for ever more.

Stayed

"If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross," Matthew 27:40.

Here, the man. Clubbed, horsewhipped, nailed mercilessly to wooden beams. Dangling, lifted between earth and sky. Some onlookers ridicule, You uttered claims of fools: King of Israel? Sure you are! Planned a three-day effort to tear down and rebuild the temple? Save others? You can't even save yourself! You trusted in God? See where that got you! Rip your hands and feet off that cross and get down - yeah, and then maybe we'll believe, too! Others filled with sorrow at his death go home, dismayed. One onlooker, despairing of all hope, commits suicide. Pagan soldiers awestruck by the day's events say, Truly, this was a son of God!

The mockery tears at our hearts, doesn't it? Yet, Jesus had said, If I be lifted up from the earth, I will draw all men to me. And, two thousand years later, today, with a brother or sister, together we give thanks to God. Humbled that Jesus indeed trusted to God who judges justly. That he chose to stay on that cross.

Friends

"Christ reconciled both in one body to God through the cross," Ephesians 2:16.

Jesus likely didn't think of the cross as a good luck charm. Rather, the cross stands as yet another instrument of torture and death which our human culture develops nicely. Cruelly, yes, but nicely. Nails secure his hands and feet to it, blood flows from his wounds, his body hangs from the shameful device. Only really bad guys receive such execution. Like insurrectionists. Or robbers. Or blasphemers. (Occasional innocents die, but you have to expect collateral damage.) And right there! Did you see it? Right there, body hanging, blood all over the place, body dying, right there! ... all peoples, all races, all languages, all traditions, all clans, and all Hebrews become friends. Friends of God. Whoever believes such a preposterous matter.

Reconciled, brothers and sisters, together, we offer the sacrifice of lips that acknowledge Jesus, Lord, the Christ of God. And, God be praised!, he speaks to us with much more grace than we did with him.

Folly

"The word of the cross is the power of God to us who are being saved," 1 Corinthians 1:18.

Religious trinkets are OK, I suppose, given some contexts. Yet, people being saved by the word of the cross would not confuse trinkets with the power of God. Jesus' cross is no romantic hilltop silhouette against an evening sky. We know that, of course! But long ago and far away blurs the image. For modern sensibilities, a noose clears the sight. So the old hymn would sing: Must Jesus wear the noose for me, And all the world go free; No, there's a noose for everyone, And there's a noose me. Jarring, isn't it? Disgusting. Eyes turn away, embarrassed. Unlikely ever as home decor. Or of churches. But now we have big time context. The message of Jesus' cross takes the repulsive event our gut rightly abhors, and heralds our salvation through that folly.

And again, humbled, knees bent at Jesus' name, we marvel at God's capacity to take refuse and build heaven out of it. With a brother or sister today, we give thanks to God, and we declare his power, through repulsive shame, to save us.