I know that we all have bad days and that life is not always easy. I also know that much of our problem comes from our own actions and decisions. When life is easy we become complacent and forget God who made us and gave us life. In seminary, the African students always joked that they should send missionaries to the United States since we, in comparison to them, have a lower church membership.
Read MoreGod allows us to forget the bad things that happen and remember the good things. That is why the past seems better than the present. We have forgotten the struggles and pains of those times. What we need is to look forward to a change in our lives – we need a reformation.
Read MoreWhen God rejects this repentance as false, Jeremiah then (in the part of the text we did not read) tries to excuse the people pointing out that there were many false prophets telling them what they wanted to hear. God rejects this argument out of hand and refuses to budge because the people had forgotten God while times were good and have only returned when drought and violence threatens.
Read MoreNow, if God can use that flawed family to enact God’s plans, God certainly can use us. We too struggle with God, have cheated, worked to be the favorite, and striven to better ourselves at the expense of others. But for us the table has been turned. We no longer have to demand that God bless us.
Read MoreWe note that this only happened because Naaman’s servants convinced him to swallow his own pride and that of his nation, and wash in the Jordan river. How often have you seen others miss opportunities because of their pride?
Read MoreHabakkuk is asking the age-old question, “Why God, if you are good, do you allow evil to happen?” The Jews were certainly asking that question in the light of the Greek oppression. It is a question that we ask also. Why do the evil prosper while the good suffer? Unfortunately there is no easy answer to this question.
Read MoreTheir sin was that they had forgotten the poor, the widow, orphan, and alien in their land. Instead of taking care of them they used their wealth to live luxurious lives and, as we saw last week, even exploited the poor to increase their own wealth.
Read MoreGod calls us to a different life. We are called, just as Amos was, to work for justice where all people -- not just the ones who are wealthy, who look like us, or just citizens – share in the gifts of God. Gifts that you have received in abundance.
Read MoreWhile the world bustles about trying to hurry things along, we are able to look to Jesus who is the way and the truth and the life of the world. As Paul reminds us, we live in Jesus’ time who calls us to imitate him – as he was patient with us, we are called to be patient with others.
Read MoreThis desire to avoid decisions becomes all inclusive of our lives. He reminds us of how totalitarian states come about. People, afraid of losing their things, family, and selves will latch onto someone who claims he or she is the best person to be in charge because they will protect those things. People believe this and support that person and, when it’s too late, learns their promise wasn’t true.
Read MoreOur third clue is the list of those we are to invite when we have a banquet ourselves: the poor, the cripple, the lame, and the blind.
Read MoreA woman who had been nearly crippled for eighteen years was healed and, instead of rejoicing, the leader of the synagogue objected to it. He was so adamant about keeping the covenant that he could not see the needs of the people. Instead of treating the Law as God’s gift he had turned it into a hard and fast rule.
Read MoreJeremiah was facing the problem that many (if not all) of the prophets of God face. The problem was false prophets telling the people what they wanted to hear in order to reap some benefit.
Read MoreAbram’s belief did not come from seeing some great work or God – some miracle – it came from believing the word of God. That was not an easy thing to do in the face of his reality.
Read MoreWe read this text today because the gospel reading is the parable of the rich fool. His fields have yielded so much that he cannot store all of it. What must he do? His plan was to build bigger storage units and keep it for himself. He believed that the yield of his fields (even the fields themselves) were his. “Fool” says God. Vanity of vanities says the writer of Ecclesiastes.
Read MoreUnfortunately we live in a world that focuses upon the individual. We constantly hear that message on television, from our peers, and even from the government. In response to this incessant message we have become a selfish bunch of people. We can even hear this message from preachers. That all you need to do, if you want something, is pray and if you are righteous, God will give it to you. They even use our text from Luke to push this idea. Although that is not what this text is about.
Read MoreHow many times has someone promised something to you and did not fulfill it? But then, that probably cuts both ways. You also have made promises and not kept them. Some promises are made that cannot be kept, some we do not plan to keep, and others we just lose our way to keeping them. That is why Sarah laughed. She had been given and made promises that were never kept.
Read MoreI suppose there are two views of God that have been around as long as there have been the people of God. One view is the angry God who desires obedience to God’s will and administers punishment to those who do not obey. The other view is a benevolent God who wishes for God’s people to live full lives.
Read MoreWhen things are not going the way you desire when just getting by day after day is a struggle, what good are those words? How can we rejoice? Especially when the reason we cannot rejoice is because we are not satisfied.
Read MoreThe question for us is which direction are we going? Are we walking with Jesus or heading back to where we once were. That seems to be the question Paul is dealing with in his letter to the Galatians.
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