NOT THE WAY IT WILL ALWAYS BE

Read: James 5:1-6

You might be tempted to read today’s text and assume it does not apply to you. After all, you think, you certainly aren't rich and you are kind to most of the people with whom you have contact. 

How about reading the text again with the primary purpose to just “listen in?”  As you do, consider what’s going on in our world. As I write this post, a wealthy owner of a professional basketball team is accused of making horrible racial comments. His remarks are a reminder that racial injustice (after years of progress) still lurks in the background of our culture. At the same time, there are fears that civil war will break out in Eastern Europe. Towns and villages are being burned. Office buildings are being destroyed. And there are reports of people being killed in the streets. Add to all of this the reports of thousands of women and children every year who are sold as slaves and eventually discarded as having little or no value.

All of these “headlines” make one ask:

“God are you there?  Do you care about all the injustices that exist in our world?”

It may be hard for us to get our thoughts around the truth, but the Bible teaches consistently that God cares, and He will act! How do we know this is the case? Two things stand out in James 5:1-6.

• First, James is not saying that “riches” are a bad thing, or that all “rich people” are evil. The term “rich” in verse 1 refers to unbelieving, unjust people who live only for themselves. They have renounced faith in God, and use their money and possessions to accumulate more and more material things.  Little do they know that the very material things they are gathering now will ultimately be destroyed (vv. 1-3).   
• Second, James says that God sees all of this and has collected evidence that validates the condemnation of those who live unjustly (vv. 4-6). They may have wealth today, but God has planned a “great reversal” to occur, what James calls “the day of slaughter” (v.5).  

Many commentators suggest that James is speaking like an Old Testament prophet, announcing the judgment of God on the unrighteous. Yes, that is true, but I am of the persuasion that he is speaking to Christians as well, asking them to “listen in” if you will, so that we might find hope in a corrupt world.  The author wants us to know this:

EVEN THOUGH INJUSTICES EXIST, GOD WILL BRING ABOUT JUSTICE.

Someone will say, “Well, why doesn't King Jesus bring about justice…NOW?” I want to concur with those sentiments. However, I am reminded that:

Our Savior is working through His Church to take the gospel to the ends of the earth!

What seems like “slow justice” to us is actually the Lord’s patience, giving the unrighteous opportunities to turn in repentance to the salvation that is in Christ (2 Peter 3:9). But that patience will not last forever. Injustices will be eliminated in the Lord’s perfect timing (James 5:5).

So what should our course of action be? I will talk about this more in my next post, but suffice it to say that we are not left on planet earth to be passive observers.

We have a message of hope and salvation to share with any who will listen. (Matthew 28:18-20)

In addition, we have possessions we can share with others. We may not have a lot in terms of earthly wealth. Certainly we have responsibilities to care for our families and pay our bills as good stewards. At the same time, we are to consider how we can invest in the Kingdom work of Jesus, so that His fame might increase in “last days” (James 5:3; Matthew 6:19-20).

Whether we like it or not, injustices will be with us until our Lord returns. Until that day, we are to take confidence in the fact that God knows. He cares. And in His perfect timing justice will be established.

MAKING AN IMPACT

Read: Luke 6:27-36

In the previous two posts I have been telling you that the resurrection of Jesus has changed EVERYTHING. It changes the way we live and the way we think. In addition, faith in Christ and His resurrection actually changes WHERE we live! The Apostle Paul tells us that God has “rescued us from the domain of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of the Son He loves (COL 1:13 CSB).” We are no longer citizens of Satan’s kingdom. We are (by faith in Christ) full-fledged citizens of the Kingdom of God. His resurrection has changed…EVERYTHING!

This leads me to ask, “How should your new citizenship impact the way you do evangelism?”

Quite honestly I feel uncomfortable bringing up the subject, because I don’t feel I’m a very good evangelist. I stumble over what I should say and when I should say it. For these reasons and hundreds more I have purchased many books over the years that were designed to equip me to be a better evangelist. I have memorized catchy phrases and counter-arguments to what my pagan friends may raise by way of objection. I have used restaurant napkins and bracelets—all with the good intention of “sharing my faith.” After using all of these “tools,” I’m still not very good at telling others about why they need to know King Jesus.

So how should we live on this side of Easter? How should we live as citizens of the Kingdom of Jesus? Consider what the Savior Himself said in Luke 6:27-36. But be careful! If you thought verbal evangelism was hard, this text raises the bar even higher. Jesus teaches us that IF YOU WANT TO BE EFFECTIVE AT EVANGELISM, BE SURE TO LOVE YOUR ENEMIES. He goes so far as to say that if our enemies come to us, instead of hating them, we are to love them! We are to bless them instead of cursing them. We are to subject ourselves to physical affliction instead of defending ourselves against physical attack. We are to give them what they need from our possessions instead of holding on to what we think is ours (Luke 6:27-31). His list keeps growing in surprising ways.

Why would we do these things? Why would any rational Christian love an enemy? I see at least three reasons in our text. First, loving an enemy is an extremely effective evangelistic strategy. It gets attention. It has a long-lasting effect of causing people to ponder who we are and who is our Master. That’s what Jesus is implying in verses 32-34. Second, when we love our enemies, we are promised a great reward when the Kingdom of Jesus is manifested in its complete form (Luke 6:35). [This is what I referred to as the "great reversal" in my last post.] And third, when we love our enemies, we will be revealing the very character of God Himself, who loves our enemies more than they realize (Luke 6:35b-36).

My friend, Bruce Kokko, has written a wonderful book about the power of love when it is shared with others in the Name of Jesus. You can access his book at www.highroadkokko@blogspot.com. But don’t simply read about love. Put it into practice. After all, Jesus is alive, and our faith in the risen Savior makes us citizens of His Kingdom. And the most powerful, effective way of calling people out of enslavement to sin is by loving them as Jesus would love them. Yes…LOVE—sacrificial love—is the way to do evangelism in the Kingdom of Jesus. And if you say you are a Christ-follower, loving others is the most effective evangelistic strategy you will ever find.

JESUS AND SOUL CARE - Part 4

One of the familiar themes in the New Testament has to do with the identity of Jesus. Maybe you will recall the scene where a paralytic was lowered in front of the Son of Man as He was preaching. Jesus shocked his audience by forgiving the man of his sins prior to healing him (MK 2:1-12). The religious leaders were angry! The disciples had to be perplexed. Who did Jesus think He was to go around forgiving sins? As for the paralytic—surely He was ecstatic! Wouldn’t you? We like a Savior who heals our infirmities!

And what about the time when Jesus ordered His disciples to sail across the Sea of Galilee to the other side? A storm arose. The disciples were terrified, and Jesus—well, Jesus slept! Think of that. Right in the middle of hurricane-like-winds and engulfing waves, Jesus fell asleep. So the disciples woke Him up and asked Him to do something about the situation. He did! He ORDERED the winds and the sea to calm down. They did—right on command! It shocked the disciples to the extent that they asked, “Who then is this? Even the wind and the sea obey Him!” (MK 4:35-41) We like a Savior like that—One who rescues us from peril. 

Ok, time out. Push the “pause button” for a couple of minutes. Before we say anything more about Jesus, let’s talk about us. I hope you don’t mind. In fact, if you could see into my life right now, you would see how often I avoid people. I’m not proud of that, but it’s true. I see people at the grocery store who are different from me, and……I avoid them! I see people from different ethnic backgrounds and make critical comments about their clothing or their rowdy children. I avoid them. I call for technical support for my mobile phone, and get irritated at having to talk to someone whose English is broken and confusing. My preference would be to avoid them if I could. Can you identify? Sure you can! 

But what does this have to do with Jesus? EVERYTHING! 

Take a look at John 4, verses 1-42. It is a familiar passage to some. The narrative begins by informing the reader that Jesus “HAD TO TRAVEL THROUGH SAMARIA (JN 4:4).” Wait a minute. Geographically speaking, first century Jews had ways of avoiding Samaria at all costs. Why would John say that Jesus HAD to go through Samaria? The answer is that when John uses this specific verbal form it was commonly used to indicate or to imply the will of God. So Jesus was going through Samaria intentionally—to teach His disciples an important lesson. More specifically, Jesus HAD to go through Samaria to do the will of the Father! 

As the narrative unfolds we are also told that Jesus entered into a conversation with a Samaritan woman, while His disciples were in a nearby town buying food. No “respectable” Jew would talk to a woman privately—especially a SAMARITAN woman! And the biblical text tells us that in the conversation Jesus revealed everything about this woman’s life—and I mean everything (JN 4:19, 29)! By the time the disciples returned, they too were amazed that Jesus was talking to this woman (JN 4:27). But instead of leaving them in their amazement, Jesus redirected His disciples to see a crowd of people who where coming from the nearby town, people who were coming to see if what the woman had told them was actually true (JN 4:30, 35).

Let me remind you that we appreciate a Savior who brings the best wine to the wedding feast (JN 2). And we like a Savior who heals and delivers (MK 2). We like a Savior who feeds us when we are hungry (JN 6). But don’t miss the expectations of this very same Savior at the end of John 4. The dialogue in verses 34-38 is not simply an answer to the disciples’ earlier question in verse 27. It is an invitation. It is an invitation to engage people who are different from us. That means that the people we judge at the grocery store, the poor family at the school musical, or the quiet, withdrawn colleague in the lunchroom—these are people Jesus wants us to know and with whom we must relate. You see, INSTEAD OF AVOIDING PEOPLE WHO ARE DIFFERENT, ENGAGE IN CONVERSATIONS THAT MIGHT MAKE AN ETERNAL DIFFERENCE. 

So here we are just a few days away from the joyous celebration of EASTER! We like a Savior who heals, who delivers, and who rises from the dead! But this same Savior we celebrate on Sunday calls us to engage in “eternal conversations” today. He not only calls us to them, but He promises to be with us in every dialogue from start to finish (MT 28:20). Maybe you could start one of those conversations today by inviting a neighbor—someone different from you—to the worship celebration at your church. Perhaps you could invite a colleague and their family members to your home for dinner this week. Think about it! This very same Jesus who defeated death is calling you and me to proclaim eternal life to others—even people who are different!