Living by Faith

•June 12, 2013 • 1 Comment

How simple life would be, it seems, if there were a rule book, and we could follow the rules and everything would work out fine.

Or would it?  Because how good actually are we at keeping the rules?

In the news this past week has been conversation about how few people play by the actual rules in Monopoly – and if we can’t stick to even the monopoly rules…  I confess to being fully aware of those rules, but choosing not to play them because they don’t suit my purposes!

Galatians 2:15-21

15 We are Jews by birth and are not sinners like Gentiles. 16 But we know that God accepts only those who have faith in Jesus Christ. No one can please God by simply obeying the Law. So we put our faith in Christ Jesus, and God accepted us because of our faith.

17 When we Jews started looking for a way to please God, we discovered that we are sinners too. Does this mean that Christ is the one who makes us sinners? No, it doesn’t! 18 But if I tear down something and then build it again, I prove that I was wrong at first. 19 It was the Law itself that killed me and freed me from its power, so that I could live for God.

I have been nailed to the cross with Christ. 20 I have died, but Christ lives in me. And I now live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave his life for me. 21 I don’t turn my back on God’s undeserved kindness. If we can be acceptable to God by obeying the Law, it was useless for Christ to die.

So, doing the right thing is not enough.  Obeying the law in itself does not please God – it is the reason why we obey the law, our faith in Jesus, that counts.

That, I realise is a good thing.  If it were doing the right thing alone that counts, we probably wouldn’t get very far – because try as we might, we are not always good at doing the right thing…

However having faith in Jesus, and trying to do what he requires of us, works.  Because the emphasis is on the faith in him, and not what we can achieve alone.  By ourselves we get things wrong – in and through all that Jesus has done for us, we find forgiveness and can live in that.

We can’t do anything – Jesus has done it all.

Thank you Lord
for all you have done for me
all you give to me.

Thank you that I do not have to rely
on what I can do
– for that would be a poor show,.
Thank you
that I can live by faith
and that you live in me.

Posted in bible, calling, faith, forgiveness, God, Lectionary, Religion, theology
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The Joy of Forgiveness

•June 11, 2013 • 1 Comment

What an awesome Psalm – the weight of the burden of our sin, and the God who can take it away.

How blessed am I

Psalm 32

(A special psalm by David.)

The Joy of Forgiveness

32 Our God, you bless everyone
    whose sins you forgive
    and wipe away.
2 You bless them by saying,
    “You told me your sins,
without trying to hide them,
    and now I forgive you.”

3 Before I confessed my sins,
my bones felt limp,
    and I groaned all day long.
4 Night and day your hand
    weighed heavily on me,
    and my strength was gone
    as in the summer heat.

5 So I confessed my sins
    and told them all to you.
    I said, “I’ll tell the Lord
    each one of my sins.”
Then you forgave me
    and took away my guilt.

6 We worship you, Lord,
    and we should always pray
whenever we find out
    that we have sinned.
    Then we won’t be swept away
    by a raging flood.
7 You are my hiding place!
    You protect me from trouble,
and you put songs in my heart
    because you have saved me.

8 You said to me,
“I will point out the road
    that you should follow.
I will be your teacher
    and watch over you.
9 Don’t be stupid
    like horses and mules
    that must be led with ropes
    to make them obey.”

10 All kinds of troubles
    will strike the wicked,
    but your kindness shields those
    who trust you, Lord.
11 And so your good people
    should celebrate and shout.

Posted in bible, faith, forgiveness, God, Lectionary, Religion, theology
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Not Caring What God Wants

•June 10, 2013 • Leave a Comment

How easy it is see the things someone else has got, or to hear of what they are doing, and wish that those pleasures could be ours too.  Having wonderful things ourselves, or being happy does not always stop us.  That holiday, the new car, a special friendship…

2 Samuel 11:26-12:10, 13-15

26 When Bathsheba heard that her husband was dead, she mourned for him. 27 Then after the time for mourning was over, David sent someone to bring her to the palace. She became David’s wife, and they had a son.

The Lord’s Message for David

The Lord was angry at what David had done,

12 1 and he sent Nathan the prophet to tell this story to David:

A rich man and a poor man lived in the same town. 2 The rich man owned a lot of sheep and cattle, 3 but the poor man had only one little lamb that he had bought and raised. The lamb became a pet for him and his children. He even let it eat from his plate and drink from his cup and sleep on his lap. The lamb was like one of his own children.

4 One day someone came to visit the rich man, but the rich man didn’t want to kill any of his own sheep or cattle and serve it to the visitor. So he stole the poor man’s little lamb and served it instead.

5 David was furious with the rich man and said to Nathan, “I swear by the living Lord that the man who did this deserves to die! 6 And because he didn’t have any pity on the poor man, he will have to pay four times what the lamb was worth.”

7 Then Nathan told David:

You are that rich man! Now listen to what the Lord God of Israel says to you: “I chose you to be the king of Israel. I kept you safe from Saul 8 and even gave you his house and his wives. I let you rule Israel and Judah, and if that had not been enough, I would have given you much more. 9 Why did you disobey me and do such a horrible thing? You murdered Uriah the Hittite by having the Ammonites kill him, so you could take his wife.

10 “Because you wouldn’t obey me and took Uriah’s wife for yourself, your family will never live in peace.”

13-14 David said, “I have disobeyed the Lord.”

“Yes, you have!” Nathan answered. “You showed you didn’t care what the Lord wanted. He has forgiven you, and you won’t die. But your newborn son will.” 15 Then Nathan went back home.

David’s Young Son Dies

The Lord made David’s young son very sick.

David has been caught with his trousers down.  He saw a woman who he fancied the look of, had her brought to him, and had a very nice time with her.  When he discovered she was pregnant with his child, his solution was to arrange for her husband to be killed.  Unsurprisingly, God was angry at what David had done.  It transpires there will be consequences of David’s actions.

Nathan the prophet, comes to David with a story of a dominant wealthy man and a man who has little, but what he has is so precious.  For the wealthy man, what he has is not enough, and he takes the little the poor man has.

In the story, David can quite clearly see the injustice, and is furious.

Nathan points out to him that in taking Uriah’s wife for himself, he is that rich man, causing such pain and destruction.  And there is going to be a price to pay.

Why was David not satisfied with all he had?  Why did he want someone else’s wife?  He was fully aware of the situation.

And there are consequences.  Nathan makes it quite clear that David has been forgiven by God.  None of what happens is about punishment, but it is about consequence.  However much we are forgiven by God, there will still be ramifications of the things we get wrong.  If we live our lives as if we don’t care what God thinks, then things will happen because of that lifestyle.  That is not punishment, it is cause and effect of a world set in perfect balance.

When things go wrong, do we seek to blame God?  Or look at our own actions?

In what ways have my actions shown that I didn’t care what the Lord wants?

What am I going to do about it?

Dear Lord,
I come to you
knowing that there are times
that I have lived
as if I didn’t care.

I didn’t care what you wanted,
I didn’t care what was the right thing
I could only see what I wanted’
I didn’t see how much I already have.

Lord,
I come,
seeking forgiveness,
Longing that the lives I’ve affected
are not damaged
by my carelessness:
stray and unthought out words,
selfish actions,
self-seeking and self-centred behaviour.

Thank you Lord for your forgiveness,
and as I receive that,
may I seek to focus on you
and not on me.

Lord
help me to care

Posted in bible, faith, God, Lectionary, life, Religion, theology
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