stepping aside for others

Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.

In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:

Who, being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;
rather, he made himself nothing
by taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
by becoming obedient to death—
even death on a cross!

Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
and gave him the name that is above every name,
that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.

Philippians 2:1-11

This passage in its rich context tells us that as those in Christ we’re to value others above ourselves. We’re to take the place of the servant just as the one we follow, Christ did. Of course he did it par excellence, like none other. He not only set the precedent, but only in and through him can it be lived out to its fullest. Not to say we can ever do it to the degree and perfection he did. No. But certainly by the Spirit, we can live it out from the heart.

There’s a time to step aside and let others take over and lead the way. Maybe after we’ve shown them the way by example and word. Then we can continue to be an example by letting them take over.

We do well to take the lower place. We want to do so in fellowship with the one who took the lowest place for us and for the world: Jesus. That’s the fellowship in which we’re to live ourselves, and with others in him. In and through Jesus.

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the sheep listen to and follow their shepherd

My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.

John 10:27

We should meditate on God’s word regularly, day and night (Psalm 1) which should lead us to meditate on our Lord, and as I’ve put it in the past, be in interactive relationship with him, in fellowship, communion, yes, person to person.

Christianity has been called a Book faith. And it is very much tied to scripture, to the Bible. But it doesn’t stop there. It is personal and interactive with the Three Person God, who in himself is personal. And a large part of what it means to be human seems to be relational, humans living together, and in the end, God living with humans (Revelation).

To be a Christian is to be a Christ one, “in Christ.” Christ in us, and we actually in him. God in Christ: the Father and the Spirit in the Son, and the Father and the Son in union by the Spirit. And us together in Christ, so that we exist in this holy communion together. And as we see in the passage above (click the link), Christ has other sheep, so that they are brought into this communion. And that would be part of our goal through prayer, to see others hear the Good Shepherd’s voice, and join us.

For prayer, and even for all of life this seems essential. Here is a good website to help us get started and grow in this way, called Soul Shepherding. So let’s be in the Book, but from that, also in interactive fellowship with Jesus. In and through him.

friends

One who has unreliable friends soon comes to ruin,
    but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.

Proverbs 18:24

They say women are better than men at relationships and specifically– friendship, and I partly believe it. To think through friendship a little, it might be good to give some definitions or descriptions.

Relationship is how we relate to each other, what kind of communion or fellowship there might be in that. Friendship is a bond people have in which they have something in common, and just seem to get along well with each other.

To be friendly is what ought to characterize people everywhere, though in this broken world one has to be on guard, particularly for children. Maybe we get so used to the guarded reserve around us, we carry that too much everywhere we go. Many of us too are introverts, so that we would just as soon remain to ourselves in quiet and peace.

It is interesting how some of us have a special bond in which our personalities seem to mesh well. A word here to those who are married: Whatever special bond you do have will be tested simply because of the fact that both of you are sinners. You’ll have to work through your problems, be sorry and work on change when you hurt each other, and be committed in that way to each other. Other friends don’t have the weight of living with the other 24/7.

There is no doubt that we need friends. Maybe that’s in part why people are on social media all the time, which actually does not lend itself well to being friends, and actually hurts real friendship in the process. Do I need to mention people together wherever, looking at their cell phones?

Loyalty through thick and thin is what will characterize a true friend. They are there regardless, and you are there for them regardless of what they might be going through.

God made us for communion and fellowship, yes, even friendship with God, and with each other. We need not despise or set aside a friendship which seems weak and lacks depth. Maybe it will grow. People need friends, and a little bit of friendship can go a long way at times. There are those friendships which seem special, with a depth to them to which there seems to be no end. Just a glimpse of what in large part we were made for, and what will be completely fulfilled someday in and through Jesus.

working through disagreements

I plead with Euodia and I plead with Syntyche to be of the same mind in the Lord. Yes, and I ask you, my true companion, help these women since they have contended at my side in the cause of the gospel, along with Clement and the rest of my co-workers, whose names are in the book of life.

Philippians 4:2-3

If you think at all, you won’t always agree with others. That is life. It’s not that the others are always wrong and us right, or vice versa. It is simply a case for a host of reasons of us having different opinions and perhaps even convictions on some things.

I think a key for us as Christians is to listen well to each other, really listen. Try to hear what they’re saying in its entirety, and ask questions for further clarification when needed. If we have serious disagreements, we can then express our concerns. But at a certain point in order to maintain the relationship, we have to agree to disagree, and agreeably so, in a way in which we can get along well with the other, and maintain good fellowship together in our Lord.

The key for me from the passage quoted above is the idea of being “of the same mind in the Lord.” It is where we’re united that we need to land on, and we as Christians are one in Christ. And in that union, we’re to find, I take it, something like a consensus in which we find agreement in a relational, functional kind of way, which is willing to set aside whatever disagreement remains for the sake of peace and for the sake of the gospel. And with a dependence on the Lord that he will see us through.

The idea expressed in this passage of a Christian leader mediating is of course of great value, and part of God’s word for us here. God can give that third party wisdom and an objectivity which is not possible for the parties in disagreement.

In the end we all need to work through and learn to live well with our differences because of and through our union with Christ. The gospel being the uniting factor from which we grapple with all the rest. So that even when our disagreements on other matters remain, our unity in Christ and in the gospel helps us to remain united in mind and heart. As we look forward to a better day to come beyond this life in and through Jesus.

complete forgiveness and ongoing forgiveness

“My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline,
    and do not lose heart when he rebukes you,
because the Lord disciplines the one he loves,
    and he chastens everyone he accepts as his son.”

Hebrews 12:5b-6

There is the question posed by teachers how one could be forgiven again when they’re already forgiven. There is more than one example of the former from Jesus, but here is the one from the Lord’s/Our Father Prayer with some words that follow. Followed by a passage in the letter to the Ephesians that makes the latter point.

And forgive us our debts,
    as we also have forgiven our debtors…

For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.

Matthew 6:12,14-15

Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.

Ephesians 4:32

It’s not like we haven’t been forgiven through Christ’s death on the cross, because we most certainly have (Hebrews 10). It’s the reality that we live in relationships which need ongoing attention and repair at times. And it’s not like the relationship is at all in danger of being lost. A wayward child forever remains the child of his parent. But the relationship for all practical purposes might be completely lost if parent and child separates and communion is lost. A good parent’s heart is grieved; for that matter, it can be the other way around, the heart of a child broken over a difficult parent.

We in and through Jesus are forgiven already, so that we shouldn’t be in fear of condemnation or eternal punishment. But in the immediate life in which we now live, when all is not entirely healed and we still can and do sin, ongoing forgiveness in a kind of family setting is not only desirable, but even necessary. We might simply forgive apart from confession, though for the good of the other, confession might be helpful and formative for them.

We are forgiven in Jesus, and through that forgiveness we can forgive others. And know the ongoing family love of God in both giving and receiving ongoing forgiveness as needed day to day in and through Jesus.

 

 

embracing the hard places

With a here we go again attitutde, we can shortchange the changes God wants to make in our lives. There are problems, places, and let’s admit it, people, who at times along with us can be challenging, disappointing, and downright irritating. And it doesn’t help when we might be tired, and a bit battered and bruised from what life has brought our way to begin with. While it is true that we as humans are made in no less than the image of God, it is also true that we are dust.

In all of this, of course, we need grace. We need to wait on God so to speak, even in the midst of the flow of life. We should have a sense of expectation in waiting on God to work everything out according to his purpose for us and for others, as well as just his purpose in general, in Jesus. That takes both time and faith. We need to hold on, as it were.

And by faith, we should learn to embrace the hard places with outstretched arms as a kind of sign of the cross as part of a cruciform, cross-shaped life. We do this, not because we want to, or because that is the place we would ever go, but because we do want to follow Jesus in all of life, the one who taught us a good number of hard sayings and teachings (see Matthew 5-7, and read the rest of the gospel accounts: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John).

Of course we will and do fail along the way. We have forgiveness already in terms of salvation, but we do need to continue to confess our sins to God, and when appropriate at times to others, and walk in the light God gives us to maintain fellowship and communion with God and with each other through Jesus’s blood cleansing us from all sin (1 John).

Embracing the hard places is most certainly an act of faith. We do so believing that good will come out of it from God, as well as to avoid the evil and the problems which come out of our refusal to accept such things. A part of the maturing process which is ours together in Jesus.

having it all together (when one doesn’t)

This is what the wicked are like—
always free of care, they go on amassing wealth.
Surely in vain I have kept my heart pure
and have washed my hands in innocence.
All day long I have been afflicted,
and every morning brings new punishments.
If I had spoken out like that,
I would have betrayed your children.
When I tried to understand all this,
it troubled me deeply
till I entered the sanctuary of God;
then I understood their final destiny.

Psalm 73

I “let my hair down” to my wife, to our priest/pastor, maybe to a good friend now and then. But other than that, I don’t, or I may give someone just a glimpse of what I’m going through if they ask me.

Most of the time I don’t either think or feel that everything is alright. I am referring to circumstances in life. But I’m always to think and with that I sometimes feel that God is in control working his judgment and salvation over time in everything. Though when one sees wickedness continue unabated or largely unchecked and even abounding, one can begin to wonder. We have the assurance that God’s good judgment and complete salvation will come, that there is coming such a day. In the meantime, God judges in incremental ways surely mostly beyond us. God is merciful, not willing that even the wicked should perish, but that all would come to repentance.

My way of entering the sanctuary is to continue in the gospel though the church in the word and in its sacramental and common life. And to continue on in the word and prayer daily, along with what fellowship I may receive in the course of a day.

So to a signficant degree, or we might say essentially, I do have to have it together especially around our grandchildren or other young people and on my job. One has to sometimes take the fire and go on, in fact oftentimes that’s the case in our following the Lord. There are times when we might gently and tentatively share our struggle or concern. But by and large we confine such interaction with God himself, as we see over and over again in the psalms.

And so this morning, as I start a new week, I know I need the Lord’s wisdom and strength. I know some things are beyond me, but that I must keep after it one thing at a time. With the promise that as our day is, so will our strength be (Deuteronomy 33), that God will indeed meet all of our needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4).