Rejoicing with Rejoicers
Wilderness Wanderings
Our text is Romans 12:15: Love must be sincere…Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. One of my professors warned, “There will be days when you do a funeral in the morning and a wedding in the afternoon. You will need to weep in the morning and rejoice in the afternoon. Your tears and your joy better be sincere.” That advice comes directly from our text for today. Paul is laying out different shades of Christian love which is not rooted in feelings but in a decision of the mind to behave in certain ways. Empathy is “the ability to...
info_outline
Involved in the Mission
Wilderness Wanderings
Our scripture is from Colossians 3:12-14: “Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience…Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.” When are we involved in God’s mission? Christians often think that only activity connected to the church is involved in God’s work. The implication is that God is not interested in our daily lives. But this is far from the truth. In the beginning, we were made to be involved in...
info_outline
A Dunked Community
Wilderness Wanderings
A Sunday Sermon edition of Wilderness Wanderings! The text is Acts 1:1-11. 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 Take a stab at defining Christian communal identity. What comes to mind when you hear the words ‘mission’ and ‘missionary’? How should we understand it? The disciples ask Jesus about the kingdom. How does he shift their focus? Four responses to the...
info_outline
Sabbath & Generosity
Wilderness Wanderings
Our text is Deuteronomy 15:1, 4-5: “At the end of every seven years you must cancel debts…there need be no poor people among you, for in the land the Lord your God is giving you to possess as your inheritance, he will richly bless you, if only you fully obey the Lord your God and are careful to follow all these commands I am giving you today.” Old Testament laws are not always easily applied to us because they concern Israel as a nation state. These laws about the Sabbath year, when debts are cancelled and land is returned to the families it was originally given to, are such...
info_outline
Blessing Enemies
Wilderness Wanderings
Our text is Romans 12:14 “Love must be sincere…Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. Love has many colours. Having explored hospitality, Paul ups the ante. Love is no easy thing. It flies in the face of the normal human reaction to negative things: anger and revenge. Let’s start with a brief story about revenge. On a Friday early in 1982, Kevin got drunk, got into his car, went for a drive and killed an 18-year-old. He was convicted of manslaughter and drunk driving. Since he was only 17,...
info_outline
A Word of Encouragement
Wilderness Wanderings
Our text comes from Romans 15:2, “Each of us should please our neighbors for their good, to build them up.” This verse is written for the church community. Yet, Paul uses the word neighbour, which is rarely used except in the commandment, “Love your neighbour as yourself.” So, we can apply this instruction to contexts outside the church. It a good word of wisdom for daily living. How might we apply it to our workplaces, communities in which we volunteer, and even in our homes? It is important to recognize that we build others up without desire for...
info_outline
Who Do You See?
Wilderness Wanderings
info_outline
Leaving Egypt Behind
Wilderness Wanderings
Our text is Deuteronomy 5:15: “Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and that the Lord your God brought you out of there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore, the Lord your God has commanded you to observe the Sabbath day.” Egypt is difficult to forget – for the Israelites; also for us, Egypt seeps back into our bones. Egypt is brick building. Quotas. Meet your quota. Exceed your quota and you might get rewarded. But if you don’t meet your quota, you will be punished, severely. Brick building. Endless brick building. Mr. Julius Caesar Dithers in the comic strip...
info_outline
It's Not about You
Wilderness Wanderings
Today our text is Romans 12:9a, 13 Love must be sincere…Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality. We return to hospitality. Why? Because culturally, hospitality is mostly about the one hosting, whereas Christian hospitality is about the one being hosted. Let’s flesh this out some more. Hotels and restaurants are part of the hospitality industry. They seek to impress customers so that they will return. Likewise, we want to impress people so they will associate with us. Hospitality is largely understood as having people over. More importantly, people we...
info_outline
Good Works
Wilderness Wanderings
Our text comes from Genesis 2:15, The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. and Ephesians 2:10, “For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” Well, its another Monday. Rumor has it that many of us do not like Mondays. We do not like the return to the grind of work. The weekend is relief, Monday is back to it. Yet, it was not meant to be this way. Created in the image of God, each of us was created to be productive. This does not refer only to paid labour. We were...
info_outlineYou did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you (John 15:16).
What does success look like? A church picnic without rain? A business that makes money? A family that can enjoy Thanksgiving dinner together? A winning sports team? Top grades in school? A vacation that leaves us relaxed and refreshed?
Now, none of these things are bad in and of themselves. And we should thank God when we experience these things. Yet, Jesus invites us to consider a different way of measuring success. “I chose you to bear fruit”. It’s fine to pray for good weather and restorative vacations and safe travels. But here, Jesus challenges us to deepen our prayers, to consider how his kingdom might come through our lives, including the daily, ordinary, mundane, routine activities we engage in.
There are many necessary things that we do each day: volunteering, employment, business transactions, driving children and/or parents, studying, cleaning up. While we do each of these things, Jesus calls us to bear fruit. How do we do that? Obedience. “Obey me,” he says (John 15:10). This obedience is about love. Out of his love, God has initiated relationship with us in Christ Jesus. He wants us to remain in that loving relationship. But we cannot without obedience.
Here too, Jesus summarizes the law with one simple statement, “Love each other as I have loved you” (15:12). So, the people that we encounter during our day—children, parents, co-workers, clients, customers, supervisors—these are all people that Jesus call us to love. We love them not just by being nice to them. Also, by providing the best service and products that we can offer. Further, we love them by offering our goods and services at a reasonable price. It is not wrong to make a profit, but for Christians, profit is never the bottom line. Love is.
This fruit bearing involves a wonderful triad: obedience, love and joy. When we set out to live obedient lives by passing on the love we ourselves have received from God, the result is joy for us. God’s joy invades our lives. This is a joy that lasts.
As we head out into a new week with the many things that will be required of us, how will we measure success? Will it be by a completing our to do list? Will it be by ensuring our bank accounts remains in the black? Or will we measure success by fulfilling the calling Christ has given us – loving obedience to our father? Can we believe that joy will come our way when we do this? Will we begin a new week but praying to bear fruit for our heavenly Father?
As you journey on, go with the blessing of God:
Wherever God takes you today, may He fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit and that you may live carefully—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity.