Practice Sabbath
Wilderness Wanderings
Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy (Exodus 20:8). Sabbath is an important theme in the Scriptures. We neglect it to our peril. I will not advocate that we go back to Old Testament Sabbath keeping, nor to the fierce definitions of what qualified as work and rest that we once engaged in. However, Sabbath rest is essential for Christian spirituality. Let us recall how Israel was instructed in Sabbath keeping. There was the rhythm of a weekly rest day. It was so essential that while in the wilderness, God provided two portions of food on the sixth day, so that...
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Sincere Love
Wilderness Wanderings
Love must be sincere (Romans 12:9a). This little phrase, “Love must be sincere”, is the heart of Romans 12. Everything that has come before--the stuff about personal transformation: “…in view of God’s mercy…offer your bodies as a living sacrifice to God…be transformed by the renewing of your mind…discerning God’s good, pleasing and perfect will…” and the stuff about the relationships within the church, “Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment…in Christ...
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God, the Wealth Producer
Wilderness Wanderings
But remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your ancestors, as it is today (Deuteronomy 8:18). Last Monday, we reflected on God’s creation of humanity as working beings. We work under God’s care and direction. Let’s reflect on this some more. It is so easy to ignore God while at work or at least to think that he has little interest in such mundane matters. But the Bible will have none of that. Wealth production is the work of God himself. Most of us have some sort of job description, even if...
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God's Colours
Wilderness Wanderings
A Sunday Sermon edition of Wilderness Wanderings! The text is Genesis 12:1-5 & Matthew 5:14-16. Dive In discussion questions are below for further reflection! To see this sermon in the context of the worship service it comes from, find it . Or, head to our website to connect with the worshiping community of Immanuel CRC: Dive In Questions What image of the church is given in today’s text and message? What three parts of ‘our story’ are explored in the opening chapters of the Bible? What is the problem in this world? What is the remedy? In what is our...
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Holy Rest
Wilderness Wanderings
Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy (Exodus 20:8). Last week, I ended with the question, “What kind of rest do we mean?” When the Bible invites us into rest, what does it mean? What did God intend when he commanded Israel to observe the Sabbath? Let’s begin this series on rest by exploring that question. A fruitful place to begin is by noting the word that often describes Sabbath, the word ‘holy’. This word does not always come with helpful connotations today. We think of those who have been declared saints or those who live by high moral...
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Belonging to the Church
Wilderness Wanderings
For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us (Romans 12:4-6a). What does it mean to be part of a church? Does showing up on Sundays for worship services count? Maybe. There are many ways to answer that question. Our text offers two. Before we discuss those, let’s remember that when the New Testament uses the word church it...
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A Gritted Teeth Faith
Wilderness Wanderings
A Sunday Sermon edition of Wilderness Wanderings! The text is Psalm 147. Dive In discussion questions are below for further reflection! To see this sermon in the context of the worship service it comes from, find it . Or, head to our website to connect with the worshiping community of Immanuel CRC: Who is our God? What do you do when the reality of life in this world does not match with what we expect of God? What two things do we do in lament? What assurances does this psalm offer us?
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Calling & Gift
Wilderness Wanderings
The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it (Genesis 2:15). We begin our weekly reflections on work here. This text invites us to think about work as more than what we do to earn a living. In Genesis 2, God plants a garden and puts humanity in it to work it and take care for it. This means that each of us is tied closely to the created order. Even if we are not farmers, even if our fingers rarely touch the soil, we are creatures of the earth, and the flourishing of the earth is our responsibility. We can understand this as both calling and gift....
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Avodah Series
Wilderness Wanderings
Thus, the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array. By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so, on the seventh day he rested from all his work. Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done (Genesis 2:1-3). Today, we begin a new Wilderness Wanderings Series. It is called Avodah. This is a Hebrew word which is translated into English with the words: work, worship and service. There is a long history in the Christian church to separate life into the sacred and the secular....
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Avodah
Wilderness Wanderings
A Sunday Sermon edition of Wilderness Wanderings! The text is Luke 10:25-37. Dive In discussion questions are below for further reflection! To see this sermon in the context of the worship service it comes from, find it . Or, head to our website to connect with the worshiping community of Immanuel CRC: Dive in! For further reflection: What does ‘work’ mean? What images does it create in your mind? What does Genesis 2:15 say about work? How does it change the way we view it? In what ways have you seen the effect of the fall on work? How have you contributed to...
info_outlineLove must be sincere (Romans 12:9a).
This little phrase, “Love must be sincere”, is the heart of Romans 12. Everything that has come before--the stuff about personal transformation: “…in view of God’s mercy…offer your bodies as a living sacrifice to God…be transformed by the renewing of your mind…discerning God’s good, pleasing and perfect will…” and the stuff about the relationships within the church, “Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment…in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others…”--all of this leads into “Love must be sincere.”
The phrase has no verb. Its as if the apostle is saying, “Love that is sincere will…” and then he spends the rest of the chapter telling us what sincere love looks like.
In our culture, the word love has become rather vague. It’s lost its crispness. We love sweaters and the weather, and we love each other. It’s a feeling that comes and goes like a wave in the bay. So, what is love and what makes it sincere?
The word used here is agape. So far in Romans all references have been to the ‘love of God’—as demonstrated on the cross (5:8), as poured into our hearts (5:5) and as doggedly refusing to let us go (8:35, 39). This is a pursuing, wooing, winning back kind of love. The lover willing to sacrifice himself for the beloved. This is our reference point, our example. But it is also our source. This love has been poured into us. Now it flows out. Love is the essence of Christian discipleship. Romans 12-15 are a sustained encouragement to let love govern and shape all our relationships. At the end of the chapter, Paul will write about love for our enemies (17-21), but first he portrays it as pervading the Christian community (9-16).
‘Sincere’ means ‘without hypocrisy’. Acts and words of love must not be pretend. We should not tell someone we love them, when we really don’t. Neither should we act in love, when we despise or even hate someone. For early Christians, the primary example of non-sincere love was Judas, betraying Jesus with a kiss. This was hypocritical love in its vilest form.
In this matter of sincere love Christian discipleship is counter cultural. Feelings are paramount. “If I don’t feel like it, I don’t have to do it.” But for Christians love is the law (13:8-10). If we don’t feel loving, we need to change our attitude; our hearts need to change. We need to love like God loves us. How does that happen? The cure for a non-loving heart is not to try harder. It is to look to God, to see his love for me. For Christians, confession of sin is not about feeling bad, it’s the road to experiencing God’s mercy again. Love begins with a view to God’s mercy. Only with our eyes fixed on Jesus, can our love become sincere. So, let us fix our eyes on him.
As you journey on, go with the blessing of God:
May the peace of the Lord Christ go with you, wherever he may send you. May he guide you through the wilderness, protect you through the storm. May your day end with rejoicing at the wonders he has shown you. May you rest in his provision as he brings night, and then new dawn.