Living what we profess 3

Passing affections easily produce words; and words are cheap; ...Christian practice is a costly, laborious thing. The self-denial that is required of Christians, and the narrowness of the way that leads to life, don't consist in words, but in practice. Hypocrites may much more easily be brought to talk like saint, than act like saints.

Jonathan Edwards

Living what we profess 2

Good works are not the cause, but the fruit of righteousness. When we have become righteous, then we are able and willing to do good. The tree makes the apple, the apple does not make the tree.

Martin Luther

Irony

It would seem that the election of Obama actually slowed the move toward gay marriage... From the NY Times:

"Supporters of same-sex marriage in California, where the fight on Tuesday was fiercest, appeared to have been outflanked by the measure’s highly organized backers and, exit polls indicated, hurt by the large turnout among black and Hispanic voters drawn to Senator Barack Obama’s candidacy. Mr. Obama opposes gay marriage. Exit polls in California found that 70 percent of black voters backed the ban. Slightly more than half of Latino voters, who made up almost 20 percent of voters, favored the ban, while 53 percent of whites opposed it."

Living what we profess 1

By opening his heart to the grace of God and by striving to obey God's will, a Christian may acquire the virtues that fit a Christian life and may begin to perform the good works that flow from them. It's not that good works save anybody. It's just that they demonstrate God's saving grace in a person's life. We are not saved by good works, but neither are we saved without them.

Neal Plantinga in Engaging God's World

The Day After

The strong negative response to the election of Barack Obama by some of my friends went through my mind yesterday as I was working on the Luke 6 passage for our weekly dusty Bible study for EverGreen. It seems to me that some see president-elect Obama as truly their enemy. So the quesiton is: "If I'm going to be faithful to Christ in these days, how do I treat my enemies?"

The words of Jesus from Luke may have something to say to this. Although I don't find myself fearful that persecution or any other kind of abuse is going to come, perhaps for those who see Barak Obama as an enemy, it may be wise to take the route Jesus calls us to.

27 “But I say to you who hear, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28 bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. 29 To one who strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also, and from one who takes away your cloak do not withhold your tunic either. 30 Give to everyone who begs from you, and from one who takes away your goods do not demand them back. 31 And as you wish that others would do to you, do so to them. Luke 6

How well this passage connects to the election may be a bit tenous, but it just might be a good place to start.

The Divide

Watching election returns last night I was struck by a powerful divide that was revealed between African American believers and white believers. As Obama was winning NBC had interviews with black pastors, with black Christians who had been through the civil rights movement and others. Many of these attributed Obama's win to a miracle of God or the working of God to bring about justice after the days of racism. This attitude was a powerful contrast to the last minute emails I received from largely white voters and coalitions. These people and organizations pointed out that McCain was God's choice and that any other choice would reflect a falling away from God by our nation.
As I watched the divide unfold between African American Christians and white Christians it reminded me of a conversation I had with a friend who also happened to be an African American Pastor in the Reformed Church in America. He pointed out to me that the central issues for white Christians were barely on the agenda of Black Christians and the central issues on the agenda for Black Christians, were rarely considered by white Christians.
It all makes me wonder about how we heal this divide and seek the picture of the book of Revelation where people from all nations come and worship.

God's Promises Bigger

I'm in the book of Jeremiah in my OT reading. In Jeremiah 33 it says, 14 “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will fulfill the promise I made to the house of Israel and the house of Judah. 15 In those days and at that time I will cause a righteous Branch to spring up for David, and he shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. 16 In those days Judah will be saved, and Jerusalem will dwell securely. And this is the name by which it will be called: ‘The Lord is our righteousness.’ 17 “For thus says the Lord: David shall never lack a man to sit on the throne of the house of Israel, 18 and the Levitical priests shall never lack a man in my presence to offer burnt offerings, to burn grain offerings, and to make sacrifices forever.” The thing that particularly caught my attention was the double promise: a king on the throne and a priest to offer sacrifices. Who would have imagined in Jeremiah's day that one person would keep both of these promises? The book of Hebrews tells us that Jesus is a priest after the order of Melchizedek 6.19 We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain, 20 where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. The book of Revelation and elsewhere shows us that Jesus is King of kings and Lord of lords.
But there is another surprise. Not only is Jesus both King and Priest, he is also this for a much larger "nation" than Israel. He is King and Priest for Jew and Gentile alike. God's vision turns out to be so much larger than the vision that people would have assumed from Jeremiah's words. It leaves one to wonder how much larger God's vision is than we assume.