Power
Wilderness Wanderings
And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you (Romans 8:11). We have been exploring the comfort Christians have because of the salvation God gives us in and through Jesus Christ. The Heidelberg Catechism ends its first answer about this comfort with this declaration, “Because I belong to him, Christ, by his Holy Spirit, assures me of eternal life and makes me wholeheartedly willing and ready from now on to live for him” (Answer #1). It echoes our...
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Speaking Hope
Wilderness Wanderings
But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander (1 Peter 3:15-16). There are two stereotypical Christians in the workplace. There are those who rarely, if ever, give evidence of their faith. When attending their funeral, some co-workers will observe, “I didn’t know she went to church.” The other sort of Christian...
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He Will Do It!
Wilderness Wanderings
May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do it (1 Thessalonians 5:23-24). Out of baseball’s history comes this story: the game was tied with two outs in the bottom of the ninth. The batter stepped into the batting box and made the sign of the cross on home plate with his bat. Yogi Berra was behind the plate; he wiped it off with his glove and said to the pious batter, "Why don't we let God just watch this game?" Many...
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Living Peacably
Wilderness Wanderings
And do everything you can to live a quiet life. You should mind your own business. And work with your hands, just as we told you to. Then unbelievers will have respect for your everyday life. And you won’t have to depend on anyone (1 Thessalonians 4:11-12). Christian charity always includes practical stuff like providing meals and offering transportation. Paul recognizes that this practice could be taken advantage of—some deciding to live off the largess of others. Folks among the lower social classes might take up residence on the estate of a wealthy Christian, expecting the well healed...
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A Song that Spans the Seasons
Wilderness Wanderings
A Sunday Sermon edition of Wilderness Wanderings! The text is Psalm 92. 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 How do you begin your day? What does God’s love refer to? How do you end your day? What does God’s faithfulness refer to? Who are the foolish ones? Who are the righteous ones? Thanksgiving is an act of _____________ in an _______________ story.
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A Great Test
Wilderness Wanderings
I know, my God, that you test the heart and are pleased with integrity. All these things I have given willingly and with honest intent. And now I have seen with joy how willingly your people who are here have given to you (1 Chronicles 29:17). David is making provision for the building of the temple. The people have given generously, and David praises God because everything they have given came from God in the first place. Yet David knows that God is concerned with more than the gift. God is concerned with the heart of the giver. That is why David says, “I know, my God, that you test the...
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We WIll Finish
Wilderness Wanderings
I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus (Philippians 1:3-6). Philippians is often referred to as Paul’s letter of joy. This is, at least in part, because these opening verses express his joy in the Christians in Philippi. His prayers for the church are weaved through with both thanksgiving and joy. He himself is blessed by their partnership...
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Aeolian Harps
Wilderness Wanderings
You are the salt of the earth…You are the light of the world…let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven (Matthew 5:14-16). When Christians take seriously Jesus’ statement that we are the salt of the earth and the light of the world, we are faced with a significant temptation. Our culture insists that we measure our success but how much we have grown. All around us, bigger is better. We are tempted to take this measure of success into the Christian life. If we are salt and light, we must be able to measure the effect it has....
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Called & Equipped
Wilderness Wanderings
A Sunday Sermon edition of Wilderness Wanderings! The text is Ephesians 4:1-16. 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! ________ is the ________ of the church. He gives ________ to _________ people so that they ___________ and become like ___________. Jesus said, “I am come that they might have ____, and that they might have it more _________”. List some the passage that...
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In the Desert
Wilderness Wanderings
The Lord spoke to Moses in the Desert of Sinai in the first month of the second year after they came out of Egypt. He said, “Have the Israelites celebrate the Passover at the appointed time (Numbers 9:1-2). We all experience times when our lives feel like a desert; life comes apart, dreams die, and help is nowhere to be found. It's not always major tragedy that leads to the desert; small things piled up can do it, too. The Bible includes several important desert experiences. In those spaces, idols are stripped away, human strategies are shown to be useless; there is fear and loneliness....
info_outlineWhen Jesus heard this, he was amazed at the commander. Jesus turned to the crowd that was following him. He said, “I tell you, even in Israel I have not found anyone whose faith is so strong.” (Luke 7:9-10).
How does one get noticed by God or get into his good books? How do I get into heaven? Common questions. Many Christians will answer with “by grace through faith” (Ephesians 2:8). Of course, that’s right. Yet I wonder how many Christians realize how difficult it is to hold to this.
When we go to funerals, we generally get a recitation of the deceased person’s good qualities. Often summed up like this, “they were an angel in this life, so of course God will let them in. Heaven has another angel.” In other words, if I do enough good in this world, I will get into heaven. It’s difficult for us Christians to keep this sentiment from creeping into our worldview.
Our text suggests a different question, “What amazes God?”
We meet a good Roman military man who loves the Jewish nation. He was wealthy enough to have helped the Jews build their synagogue in Capernaum. In this story, he sends some Jewish elders to Jesus hoping for help with his dying servant. These elders advocate for him, “He is a good man, Jesus, he deserves your help.”
On the way to this Roman home, Jesus is met by the man’s friends with a double message (7:7). First, ‘I am unworthy of your attention’. He recognizes that despite having done significant good, God owes him nothing. Can we say that? Self-worth often subverts our faith. We get angry with God thinking that we deserve better than we are getting. This man did not even feel worthy of being visited by God’s agent.
Second, the unnamed man believes Jesus has authority over illness, just say the word and it will be accomplished. He believed Jesus could heal by a simple sovereign word even at a physical distance—a situation that applies even more today considering Jesus’ presence in heaven. And he knew that Jesus cared enough to do so.
Such faith and humility in God’s power amazes Jesus. This isn’t abstract belief about God or the learning of dogmas. It is the simple, clear belief that what Jesus commands will be done. Further, when God acts for our good, it is undeserved.
The gospels are full of stories in which the things Jesus does and speaks amaze people. But here Jesus is amazed. It was not the man’s accomplishments or his good works, that amazed Jesus, but the man’s faith in who Jesus is and in his power.
We are invited to consider our own faith. Do we believe this about Jesus? Here is a Gentile who understood who Christ is. This passage calls us to possess a similar faith. God owes us nothing, yet he extends his compassion to us. God honors us with his grace, not because we deserve it, but because he cares (1 John 4:9–10). Let us be amazed at our God.
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.