Scripture Focus:

In that day, everyone in the land of Judah will sing this song: Our city is strong! We are surrounded by the walls of God’s salvation. Open the gates to all who are righteous; allow the faithful to enter. You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on you! Trust in the Lord always, for the Lord God is the eternal Rock.

Isaiah 26:1-4

Peace is the product of the certainty of God’s presence despite the circumstances. That’s important enough to repeat:

Peace is the product of the certainty of God’s presence despite the circumstances.

We’ve probably all witnessed this truth at some point. Someone we know is walking through the darkest valley of the shadow of death, yet radiating peace. Another is living in horrendous circumstances that would drive others to madness yet move through the clamor and confusion with quiet strength. And another is pulled in ten different directions – demanding work, a sick spouse, a rebellious teenager. You wonder how they keep from “flying to pieces,” and then you discover why. You know they’re being kept in peace because their mind is stayed on God.

We have a family friend, a Methodist minister’s wife, whose life is the most powerful witness I know of the peace that is the product of the certainty of God’s presence despite the circumstances.

On New Year’s Day, 1991, she and her ten-year-old daughter were headed home from celebrating the Christmas holidays with friends. She missed a turn and decided to take the next road, though it wasn’t familiar to her. She topped a hill to be greeted by a stop sign. She was going too fast to stop and went through the intersection and under the trailer of an eighteen-wheeler. Her daughter survived with minor lacerations and a mild concussion, but our friend’s spinal cord was injured and she was paralyzed from the neck down. There were broken ribs and a punctured lung. In the first week, she had three surgeries. In the beginning, she could only move her eyes.

The doctors told her husband that she would be better off dead; that if she lived, she would be bedridden, ventilator-dependent, and a vegetable. The doctors even told her husband that he was too young to be saddled with an invalid wife and offered “some solutions.” But her husband chose life for her.

The initial few years after the accident were full of pain and struggle, hospitalization, and surgery after surgery. Yet, over time, she was able to graduate to a wheelchair and a neck brace, and with a splint on her wrist she can use a telephone, a computer, and feed herself. A newspaper carried an article about her activity – her speaking in church and ministering in all sorts of imaginative ways. In a letter to my father, she described her life:

My family is like any other family. We shop, go to movies, eat out, and take vacations. I’m still a quadriplegic. But by God’s grace I’m also a pastor’s wife, a mother, a registered nurse (inactive), a Certified Lay Speaker in our church, a Sunday school teacher, and an active member of United Women in Faith. I continue to pray for physical healing, but I’m also aware of the great spiritual healing God has done in me and through me. His hand has been in my life throughout this journey. I know because I hold on to it and “walk” with God every day.

How aware are you of God’s presence in your life? As you fast and pray this week, bring to your mind a time when you felt forsaken or alone or abandoned – maybe it was an illness, or the death of a loved one, or a failure or loss of a friendship or job. In reflecting on that experience, did you feel God’s presence? How did you experience God’s presence? Even though, then, you may not have felt and acknowledged God’s presence, are the signs, in retrospect that God was there – present and working?

I will be praying that you would cultivate a keen sense of God’s presence and that you would experience the peace that comes from the certainty that God is with us despite the circumstances.

Scripture Focus:

It is good to give thanks to the Lord, to sing praises to the Most High. It is good to proclaim your unfailing love in the morning, your faithfulness in the evening, accompanied by a ten-stringed instrument, a harp, and the melody of a lyre. You thrill me, Lord, with all you have done for me! I sing for joy because of what you have done. O Lord, what great works you do! And how deep are your thoughts. Only a simpleton would not know, and only a fool would not understand this: Though the wicked sprout like weeds and evildoers flourish, they will be destroyed forever. But you, O Lord, will be exalted forever.

Psalm 92:1-8 (NLT)

Last month we focused our attention on joy, one of the fruits of the Spirit. This month we turn to peace. As we do this, we must remember that the fruit of the Spirit aren’t isolated from each other; they overlap in meaning and expression. Some have special connections. That’s the way it is with joy and peace – they go together. Neither is dependent on circumstance. Both are by-products of obedience.

Just as joy is dependent on abiding in Christ’s love, so peace is dependent on keeping our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:7 says, “you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.”

Just as the source of our joy is the fact of our salvation and the confidence that all our needs will be met, it’s the same with our peace.

In his now classic book, How to Live the Christian Life, Selwyn Hughes told of a preacher friend’s encounter with the receptionist at a doctor’s office. During the preacher’s appointment with the doctor, he invited the receptionist to visit his church. He was stunned at her response. She said that when she saw so many of his church members waiting for their weekly supply of sedatives at the doctor’s office on Monday morning, she really wondered what the church had to offer.

There were tears in the minister’s eyes as he told Hughes the story, concluding, “It hurt so much because it was true.” Reflecting on that experience, Hughes wrote:

If as Christians we claim to have abundant life, how does it happen that so many of us give so little evidence that this life is superior? We say that God is our Father and is quietly arranging all things to work to our good, yet we fly into a panic at the first approach of trouble. We claim Christ is Lord of our lives, yet when someone tramples on our rights we show by our actions who is really in command. We talk piously about peace, but when tragedy strikes, our peace goes into pieces. We preach forgiveness, but let someone injure us and see what happens. [1]

Hughes wrote those words decades ago and so much in our world has changed since then. But it seems that the more things change, the more they stay the same. The gap must be closed – the gap between what we profess and how we live. Peace is the result of our acceptance of God’s forgiveness in our lives. If that’s true – and I absolutely believe it is – then we must keep that awareness alive, and we must practice forgiveness in all our relationships.

A friend of mine told me about a misunderstanding she had with her sister over the matter of a disputed family will. The misunderstanding led to bitter estrangement between the two. She confessed that her resentment darkened through the passing years and something beautiful died within her. She wasn’t only hurting her sister; she was injuring herself. Then on a Sunday, words of Scripture in the worship liturgy took hold of her mind and heart: “If you forgive those who sin against you, your heavenly Father will forgive you. But if you refuse to forgive others, your Father will not forgive your sins” (Matthew 6:14-15).

That afternoon she wrote a letter to her sister, a letter that breathed love, forgiveness, and reconciliation. She said, “When I dropped that letter into the mailbox, it was like a thousand ‘alleluias’ singing inside me. The world was beautiful again and I felt alive for the first time in years.”

Peace and joy!

As you pray and fast, bring to your mind the most peace-filled person you know. As you know and have observed this person, what is the source of their peace? Thinking of your own life in relation to this person, what is missing from your life that perhaps is robbing you of peace? I’m praying that you will experience God’s peace, which is greater than you can ever imagine. And I’m praying as well, that His peace would guard your heart and mind as you live in Christ Jesus.

[1] Selwyn Hughes, How to live the Christian Life (New York: Seabury Press, 1982), pp14-15.

Scripture Focus:

Always be full of joy in the Lord. I say it again—rejoice! Let everyone see that you are considerate in all you do. Remember, the Lord is coming soon. Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.

Philippians 4:4-7 (NLT)

Paul was in prison when he wrote his letter to the Philippians, yet this is one of his most remarkable contributions to us Christians. From prison, and nearing the end of his life, he wrote an appealing and convincing argument for the Christian faith. It’s Paul’s most joy-filled letter. He calls on the Philippians to rejoice – not just to rejoice in one act of praise and thanksgiving, but to rejoice always.

The last two verses of his letter form the capstone and give the reason why joy is not only possible but is the logical response to the experience that is ours.

And this same God who takes care of me will supply all your needs from his glorious riches, which have been given to us in Christ Jesus. Now all glory to God our Father forever and ever! Amen.

Philippians 4:19-20 (NLT)

It’s a bold affirmation: Our God will supply our every need “according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.” One difference between happiness and joy is that happiness is tied to circumstances – what’s going on around us. Joy is much deeper – it’s not dependent on circumstances but on commitment and trust.

A big enemy of joy is self-pity. The antidote to self-pity is the confidence that God will supply our every need. However much we lack that confidence, that’s how much our joy will be limited.

Do you remember the story of Elijah in the Hebrew Scripture? He was overcome with self-pity when he began to think that God no longer cared for him. It happened when he heard Jezebel had sent her soldiers to kill him (1 Kings 19:1-2). How quickly he had forgotten. God had intervened with direct and supernatural care by responding to his request that it not rain (1 Kings 17:1), by feeding him through the ravens for an entire year (1 Kings 17:6), and by providing the support of a widow who hid him from his enemies (1 Kings 17:9). And God demonstrated his faithfulness by sending fire to incinerate the altar when all the prophets of Baal couldn’t get even a whimper from their god (1 Kings 18:38).

How quickly Elijah forgot. So, when Jezebel came after him, he gave in to self-pity. When immediate success and visible results didn’t come in his ministry, he wallowed deep in despondency: “I have had enough, Lord. Take my life, for I am no better than my ancestors who have already died” (1 Kings 19:4).

How quickly we forget!

Elijah discovered, as we need to discover, that God doesn’t always work in the ways we want God to work. But that doesn’t mean God isn’t working. Our joy isn’t in the WAY God works, but in the fact THAT God works. For Elijah, God wasn’t in the earthquake, wind, and fire, but in the still small voice.

As you pray and fast this week, reflect on a time when you knew God supplied your need. What was going on in your life? What were your needs? How were those needs met? How did you feel and respond?

Are you struggling now with particular issues and needs, wondering why God doesn’t help or intervene? Maybe you have prayed, but no answers seem to be forthcoming. How might your reflection above give you clues about how you might respond to what is going on now?

This week I will be praying that you would become ever more aware that our joy isn’t in the way God works, but in the fact that God works.

Scripture Focus:

All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is by his great mercy that we have been born again, because God raised Jesus Christ from the dead. Now we live with great expectation, and we have a priceless inheritance—an inheritance that is kept in heaven for you, pure and undefiled, beyond the reach of change and decay. And through your faith, God is protecting you by his power until you receive this salvation, which is ready to be revealed on the last day for all to see. So be truly glad. There is wonderful joy ahead, even though you must endure many trials for a little while. These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold—though your faith is far more precious than mere gold. So when your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world. You love him even though you have never seen him. Though you do not see him now, you trust him; and you rejoice with a glorious, inexpressible joy. The reward for trusting him will be the salvation of your souls.

1 Peter 1:3-9

Years ago, my father received a handwritten note from The Broadmoore, in Colorado Springs, Colorado, one of America’s premier hotels. The writer lived in Indiana. Maybe he was on a business trip of vacation. Whatever the case, he was in a reflective mood and wanted to share with my father, even though they had never met. He identified himself and told his story.

Dear Dr. Dunnam,

A little more than two years ago, out of sheer desperation, I began a spiritual journey that has transformed my life. Some of your work, especially The Workbook of Living Prayer and The Workbook of Intercessory Prayer, have been vital guideposts along that journey.

My life was lost to alcohol and I was on the verge of losing my family, joy, money, and even my life. After a series of unsuccessful suicide attempts, God intervened through a number of agencies including AA and a rehabilitation center. As a result, I came to know God, then Jesus, and finally the Holy Spirit – not overnight, but slowly, surely.

I am enormously grateful to [God] for restoring my life and returning my family, health, joy, and showing me a way to live that I never thought possible.

What would cause a person like this, a stranger, to take the time to share his joy with someone he had never met? His was the “glorious, inexpressible joy” that Peter is talking about in our Scripture passage for this week. He was full of joy that he had to share because he was receiving the reward of trusting God – the salvation of his soul. (v.9)

The primary source of our joy is the fact of our salvation. Too few of us reflect enough on this fact. That might be one of the reasons our joy isn’t “full.” If we don’t know the joy of salvation, it may be that we haven’t dealt deeply enough with our sin. There’s a connection, even a parallel, between our sorrow for sin and our joy in the Holy Spirit.

In A Diary of Readings, John Baille quotes Blaise Pascal: “The knowledge of God without that of our wretchedness creates pride. The knowledge of our wretchedness without that of God creates despair. The knowledge of Jesus Christ is the middle way, because in Him we find both God and our wretchedness.” [1]

That puts in perspective doesn’t it?

There’s a story in Luke’s Gospel (chapter 7) about a woman “who was a sinner” (some translations say an “immoral woman”) who crashed a dinner party where Simon, a wealthy Pharisee, was entertaining Jesus. It was a shocking interruption. Jesus was reclining on the floor cushions around the table and she stood behind him near his feet and began to weep. Her tears gushed forth uncontrollably – so much so that she began to bathe Jesus’ feet with her tears and dry them with her hair. It was an outrageous display in the eyes of the Pharisee and the others who were there. This woman of the street kept kissing Jesus’ feet and anointing them with costly ointment.

Simon thought to himself “If this man were a prophet, he would know what kind of woman is touching him. She’s a sinner!” (v.39) But it was quite the opposite. Jesus did know, so he confronted Simon.

He turned to the woman and said to Simon, “Look at this woman kneeling here. When I entered your home, you didn’t offer me water to wash the dust from my feet, but she has washed them with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You didn’t greet me with a kiss, but from the time I first came in, she has not stopped kissing my feet. You neglected the courtesy of olive oil to anoint my head, but she has anointed my feet with rare perfume. I tell you, her sins—and they are many—have been forgiven, so she has shown me much love. But a person who is forgiven little shows only little love. (Luke 7:44-47, NLT)

This woman was full of joy and abandoned all reserve. She took the initiative in seeking Jesus out in a place where she was not invited or welcome. With the boldness of one who knew the depth of her sin and the extravagant extent of Jesus’ forgiveness, she poured out her love and gratitude.

As you pray and fast this week, reflect on the relationship between your sorrow for sin and your joy in the Holy Spirit. Is your salvation real enough to give you joy? I pray that it is! And I pray also that you would be empowered to share that joy with others.

[1] John Baille, A Diary of Readings, Day 37.

Scripture Focus:

If you love me, obey my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, who will never leave you. He is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth. The world cannot receive him, because it isn’t looking for him and doesn’t recognize him. But you know him, because he lives with you now and later will be in you. No, I will not abandon you as orphans—I will come to you. Soon the world will no longer see me, but you will see me. Since I live, you also will live. When I am raised to life again, you will know that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you.

John 14:15-17

Mark Twain’s wife did her best to censor the more picturesque flights of her husband’s language. One story says that he cut himself shaving and cursed long and loud. When he stopped, his wife tried to shame him by repeating to him word for word all the profanities he had just uttered. Twain heard her out and then remarked, “You have the words, my dear, but I’m afraid you’ll never master the tune.”

I’ve always chuckled at that story, and it also reminds me of the sorry state of many Christians. Not as it relates to profanity necessarily, but as it relates to our faith. We know the words, but we haven’t mastered the tune. As Christians we’re recipients of the Holy Spirit. A new kind of power, a new kind of action, a new kind of joy filled life is now possible. But it’s not automatic.

It’s a great day in our lives when we discover that the Holy Spirit and the indwelling Christ are one. It’s the witness of Scripture and is clear in the words of Jesus in our passage for this week. Jesus is preparing the disciples for his death. He tells them he is going away; that he is going to prepare a place for them but will come again. He says, “When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am.” (John 14:3) As he talks about his death, he promises that he won’t leave us alone but will send an Advocate, a Comforter, one to be with us forever. And here is the key. When Jesus promises the gift of the Holy Spirit, he immediately identifies himself with the Spirit. “I will not abandon you as orphans—I will come to you.” (vs18)

Last week we talked about abiding in Christ, and that’s where the words and the tune come together. Jesus is the revelation of God and the personification of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit who gave us faith to accept Christ as Savior is the Spirit within us as the indwelling Christ. The Spirit is with us now to give us faith and the will to yield ourselves to Jesus as Lord. The Spirit is with us now to produce the “fruit of the Spirit” – the sign of Christ alive within us and our abiding in him. The words and the tune come together, and the tune is joy.

K. Chesterton said, “joy…is the gigantic secret of the Christian.” That’s so true. So many of us have the words but we simply don’t have the tune – or we aren’t living in a way that people can hear the tune. We aren’t abiding in Christ in a way that allows the stream of God’s love and joy to flow to us and through us. And yet, we are promised abundant life, a life of overflowing love and joy. That love and joy is the tune of the Christian life.

My first grandchild will be celebrating his first birthday in October. From the time he was born, I have used his picture as the wallpaper for my phone, updating it as he grows. Every time I use my phone, I see Charlie smiling back at me and my heart is filled with an indescribable joy.

In the months since Charlie was born, I’ve noticed two small, seemingly insignificant changes in my behavior. First, I find myself looking at my phone for no other reason than to see the smiling face of my grandson. I’ve also noticed that when I’m stressed or feeling frustrated, I pull out my phone, see Charlie’s smiling face, and the stress or frustration recedes as a wave of love and joy flow over me.

These experiences remind me of the stream of love and joy that flow to us from God through the power of the indwelling Spirit of Jesus. The love and joy I feel when I look on the face of my grandson mirror in a human way, the love and joy God feels for each of us. Charlie can do nothing for me, he didn’t have to earn my love or do anything to elicit my joy. The same is true with God. We cannot earn God’s love or do anything special to elicit God’s joy. It simply flows to us because of who God is.

Likewise, as we abide in Christ and live in the stream of that love and joy, the words and tune come together. Our joy isn’t dependent on our circumstances or artificially created by material goods or our cultures. Rather, as our roots go deep into the love of Christ, we experience waves of joy, even in the midst of frustration, stress, or hardship.

As you pray and fast this week, I pray that the words and the tune would come together. That the love and joy that flows from God would be yours and would in turn flow outward to others.

Scripture Focus:

When you produce much fruit, you are my true disciples. This brings great glory to my Father. I have loved you even as the Father has loved me. Abide in my love. When you obey my commandments, you abide in my love, just as I obey my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. I have told you these things so that you will be filled with my joy. Yes, your joy will overflow!

John 15:8-11 (NLT)

Though it doesn’t seem like a big deal now, back in 1997 the world was shocked to hear that Scottish cell biologists, Dr. Ian Wilmut and Dr. Keith Campbell had created the first clone of an adult mammal – a sheep which they named Dolly.

We’ve come a long way since then, but deep questions still linger. What does it actually mean to clone a living being? What are the possibilities for human cloning? What are the moral, ethical, and spiritual implications? In the age of artificial intelligence, the idea of cloning a human may seem passe, but it still remains fascinating. In the midst of debate about the strangely blurred lines created by AI, what would it mean to potentially replicate an actual adult human being?

As interesting as the question of cloning may be, and as far as we’ve come in the years since 1997, there are certain things that just can’t be cloned. Joy is one of them. It’s the unique experience of each person. Yet, no matter who we are and where we are, joy can be ours. It’s the promise of Jesus.

It’s not a matter of cloning, but of abiding – that is, abiding in Christ. Our passage for this week comes from the fifteenth chapter of John. That chapter begins with Jesus’ revealing metaphor of the vine and the branches. Jesus tells us who God is and who he is in relation to God: “I am the true vine and my Father is the gardener.” (vs. 1) Then Jesus tells us who he is and who we are in relation to him “I am the vine; you are the branches.” (vs. 5) The gardener provides life for the vine and the vine provides life for the branches, and they are all connected. So Jesus calls us to abide in him as the branches abide in the vine. If we do that we will abide in Jesus’ love and joy will be ours. “I have told you these things so that you will be filled with my joy. Yes, your joy will overflow!” (vs. 11)

Our joy is dependent on our abiding in Christ. Self-centeredness is the barrier to our abiding in him. Our basic problem is that we have dislodged God from the center of our being; self-interest, self-serving, self-worship have taken God’s place.

We were created by God with personalities that can only operate properly when fed by God’s love. When we seek to run our own life on our own terms, dominated by self-interest, we separate ourselves from the stream of love and joy that flows only from God. And yet, when we abide in Christ, allowing his love to nourish us and give life to our spirits, our world expands beyond the horizons of our own limited perspectives and we are able to experience a joy that overflows.

As you pray and fast this week, I encourage you to reflect on whether you are actually abiding in Christ. Do you really want to abide in Christ? I pray that you do, and that as you abide more and more in him, the overflowing joy that he promised will be yours.

Scripture Focus:

When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners. Now, most people would not be willing to die for an upright person, though someone might perhaps be willing to die for a person who is especially good. But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. And since we have been made right in God’s sight by the blood of Christ, he will certainly save us from God’s condemnation. For since our friendship with God was restored by the death of his Son while we were still his enemies, we will certainly be saved through the life of his Son. So now we can rejoice in our wonderful new relationship with God because our Lord Jesus Christ has made us friends of God.

Romans 5:6-11 (NLT)

In his classic book In the Grip of Grace, Max Lucado tells a story that exemplifies grace.

Once a monk and his apprentice traveled from the abbey to a nearby village. The two parted at the city gates, agreeing to meet the morning after completing their tasks. According to plan, they met and began the long walk back to the abbey. The monk noticed that the younger man was unusually quiet. He asked him if anything was wrong. “What business is it of yours?” came the terse response.

Now the monk was sure his brother was troubled, but he said nothing. The distance between the two began to increase. The apprentice walked slowly, as if to separate himself from his teacher. When the abbey came in sight, the monk stopped at the gate and waited on the student. “Tell me, my son. What troubles your soul?”

The boy started to react again, but when he saw the warmth in his master’s eyes, his heart began to melt. “I have sinned greatly,” he sobbed. Last night I slept with a woman and abandoned my vows. I am not worthy to enter the abbey at your side.”

The teacher put his arm around the student and said, “We will enter the abbey together. And we will enter the cathedral together. And together we will confess your sin. No one but God will know which of the two of us fell.” [1]

There is a sense in which this story describes what Christ has done for us. “When we were utterly helpless… while we were still sinners… Christ died for us… While we were still his enemies, our friendship with God was restored by the death of his Son.” In our Christian vocabulary, we call this grace. Story after story in Scripture paints the picture.

Hosea takes back his wife in love and forgiveness, reflecting who God is. Grace, all grace!

A son rebels against his father, leaving home to squander his inheritance in a foreign land. Yet his father waits patiently for his return; and when he finally arrives, throws a grand celebration of welcome. Grace, all grace!

Jesus refuses to allow a woman taken in the act of adultery to be stoned, because none of us is without sin and God forgives. “Neither do I condemn you, go and sin no more!” Grace, all grace!

A woman “crashes a party” where Jesus is the guest. The host would have thrown her out, but Jesus reminds him that the woman was expressing love because she knew forgiveness and pity. The host didn’t know that love and forgiveness yet. Grace, all grace!

Grace is undeserved, unearned, unmerited acceptance. The grace of God is God’s unconditional love for us. Though we may never love in God’s way, that is the standard.

As you pray and fast this week, I pray that you would experience the extravagant, unconditional love of God for you and that you would understand the remarkable and undeserved grace of God in a new way, even more aware of the reality that when we were utterly helpless, Christ died for us.

[1] Max Lucado, In the Grip of Grace, Dallas: Word Publishing, 1996, p91-92.

Scripture Focus:

If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn’t love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I understood all of God’s secret plans and possessed all knowledge, and if I had such faith that I could move mountains, but didn’t love others, I would be nothing. If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it; but if I didn’t love others, I would have gained nothing.

1 Corinthians 13:1-3 (NLT)

We sing it to a lilting tune, adaptable to most any musical instrument, but frequently accompanied by the guitar and sung around the campfires of youth camps. “They will know we are Christian by our love, by our love, yes they’ll know we are Christians by our love.”

The question is, Do they? Do the people around us know we’re Christians by our love? In many parts of the world there have been ongoing “culture wars” for quite some time. In these contexts and others, the Church seeks to make a convincing apologetic for Christian values in society, to stage a powerful beachhead against moral relativism and secular materialism.

Our militancy on behalf of values is dulled, at least a bit – or should be – when we consider the “culture war” Jesus had to deal with. The people who seemed to give him the most trouble – the people he seemed to admonish the most – were the ones who held the “right” values. These weren’t the folks who were excited about his message. The people who were most excited about the message of Jesus – the ones who flocked to him and followed him even with empty bellies – they didn’t seem to hold any of the “right” values. They were prostitutes and tax collectors, Samaritans and Zealots.

It was almost as though these “right believing” folks were no longer able to love. They didn’t want the sick to experience healing – especially on the Sabbath. They didn’t want sinners to receive forgiveness or share in the breaking of bread.

The truth we need to remember is that we can be right – and yet act wrongly. Being right and knowing it often produces loveless, calloused sermons. We can be so intent on preserving our rightness, our values, that we fail to love. When being right and being on the right side becomes our driving passion, it’s easy to forget the heart of the gospel. Jesus said that the heart of the law is to love God with your entire being and to love your neighbor as yourself. (Mt 22:37-40) And note the dramatic way Paul put it in our Scripture for this week. Without love, we are nothing and gain nothing.

Our primary task as Christians is not to make a rational apologetic for Christian values, but to participate in and witness to the gospel, which has love as its core. We need an experiential apologetic far more than we need an intellectual one. Jesus didn’t say, “All persons will know you are my disciples if you present a convincing argument or promote my agenda.” He did say, “All will know you are my disciples, if you love one another.” As we discussed last week, we demonstrate “the mind of Christ” by loving and serving as he did.

This year we’ve been exploring the notion of allowing virtue to grow in our lives – seeking to be good. As you pray and fast this week, reflect on your life of virtue – your seeking to be good. When has it kept you from loving?

I’m praying for you – that your experiential witness will be strengthened as you relate to others in love. That as you move through this week God will provide more opportunities for you to act the Christian life than talk about it.

Scripture Focus:

You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had. Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When he appeared in human form, he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross.

Philippians 2:5-8 (NLT)

Last week I encouraged you to reflect on things you might need to change in your life to have the same attitude as Christ Jesus. One aspect of Christ’s attitude was that he didn’t think of equality with God as something to cling to. It wasn’t something to be exploited. It’s not always easy to identify with this action of Jesus because we don’t see ourselves as being God or approaching equality with God. And yet, we would do well to press the issue.

In our current age of religious nationalism, where political perspectives are given religious significance, we would do well to question whether we see our relationship to God as something to be exploited. Even in more personal situations, how do we “use” our relationship to God? Do we use it to enhance our image in the community? Do we pray only when we’re pushed against the wall or when we want something?

If someone who knew you intimately wrote a biography of you, what would they write about most? What are the activities that demand most of your attention? Who are the persons to whom you give most of your time? What really excites you and gives you joy and meaning?

When the author specifically described your Christian life, what would they write about?

• what you believed and how tenaciously you held to certain doctrines?
• your faithfulness in church attendance?
• the positions you held in the church organization?
• your prayer life?
• how effectively you witnessed to the faith?

How much would they write about your lifestyle as a servant? How would they describe how you served? What would they say about whether you saw your relationship to God as something to be exploited?

The core issue is love. Love as the fruit of the Spirit must be love after the style of Jesus. As we’ve seen, this love is that of one who “gave up his divine privileges…took the humble position of a slave… humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross.” Not many of us want to be servants like that, do we? Think about the way we serve. We choose when, where, how, and whom we will serve. We stay in charge. When we serve in the style of Jesus, we give up the right to be in charge. We empty ourselves and become vulnerable. We humble ourselves and give up control. We become obedient and sacrificially offer what we have and who we are. When we cease seeing our relationship to God as something to be exploited, we lose our fear of being stepped on, or manipulated, or taken advantage of. Love becomes the power for action that gives us the attitude of Christ Jesus and thus we look like him in the pattern of our lives.

As you pray and fast, reflect on the idea of someone writing a biography of you. What might the author write about that would make you happy? What do you wish the author could say about you, but your life is “not quite there yet?” As you reflect, I will be praying that you would move ever closer to a life that is in harmony with the pattern of Jesus.