Healing Rays of Righteousness

People of Compassion

In 1 Peter 2:10 are past and present identities are described, “Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.”

In Colossians 3:12-14, Paul addresses the Christians at Colossae “as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved.”  Wow, what a privilege is ours!  We are God’s people; once without mercy, but now the recipients of his unlimited mercy and grace, being chosen, holy, and dearly loved.

As followers of Jesus our identity is certain and awesome.  And to know and accept our identity is of importance because we know that what we do flows out from the identity we can claim for ourselves.  Doing and being cannot be separated.  And so, to believe that we are chosen, holy, and dearly loved is to energize our behavior accordingly.

“Holy” has to do with our character, with how we act, with what attitudes direct our lives.  “Holy” has also to do with being chosen, set apart, and dedicated.  God lays his claims upon us, calls us and we respond in dedication.  We are then given a vocation, which is to be holy.  This defines our ID as people of God.

But there is more.  We are “dearly loved.”  Is there anything more important than to know that I am loved?  The witness of Scripture is that God’s love is unconditional and not dependent upon our merit.  His love is a constant kiss of grace upon us, no matter what may happen.

This awesome description of our identity as people of God, is the wondrous thought that empowers Paul’s “Therefore” at the beginning of this verse.  “Therefore, … clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.”  In other words, “Dress yourselves appropriately with the beautiful and lovely garments of Christ-like virtues.”

I think we can rightfully imagine that God has chosen us to be his Kingdom ambassadors in the world, and in doing so, requests that we be appropriately dressed with the lovely garments from his own wardrobe of “compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.”  These garments will clearly set us apart and identify us as the people of God in the world.

The first noticeable virtue that Paul lists is “compassion.”  To be clothed with “compassion” is to have “a tender heart.”  This will be seen in my deep caring about the world around me and wanting to do my best to bring it help.  It will also be seen in my being emotionally moved by your pain and seeking to act in your behalf with consoling presence and empathy.

The Gospel writers repeatedly used this word to describe Jesus’ response to others.  Matthew 9:36, “When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.”  Again in 14:14, “When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them and healed their sick.”  And in response to the request from two blind men for healing in 20:34, “Jesus had compassion on them and touched their eyes.  Immediately they received their sight and followed him.”

James 5:11 tells us that “The Lord is full of compassion and mercy.”  This echoes the psalmist in Psalm 145:8-9, “The Lord is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in love.  The Lord is good to all; he has compassion on all he has made.”

I further believe that the other virtues mentioned in Paul’s listing, are interwoven into this garment of compassion.  To be clothed with compassion is to display “kindness” with “tender goodness” in doing useful things to improve your well-being.

To display “humility” with “a confident mind” in remembering who I am in relation to God and other persons.  To display “gentleness” in exercising self-control by being God-controlled.  And to display “patience” by adjusting to endure unpleasant situations, unexpected hurts, and unwanted problems.

Then in verse 14, Paul describes the outer garment as love.  “And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.”  According to Paul, “love” is the visible outer garment that completes and ties all the parts of our character into a single whole.

In the preface of his book, When a Congregation Cares, Abraham Schmitt writes, “It is not possible to care unless one is willing to enter into another’s pain.”

That is certainly a needed word for us to hear today in countering the voice of our society telling us that to enter into another’s pain is too emotionally costly, too physically exhausting, too time-consuming, and the risks are too great.

Yes, it is all the above.  But the challenge to compassionately feel our neighbor’s pain and respond with unselfish acts of caring love, is God’s command and example to his people.

“Healing Rays of Righteousness” – August 26, 2020

www.geigler13.wordpress.com

Ray M. Geigley

People of Light

John 8:12 records Jesus saying, “I am the light of the world.  Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life.”  And then in Matthew 5:14, we hear Jesus saying to his disciples, “You are the light of the world.”

What does this imagery of being “light” mean to you?  Why would Jesus say that both himself and we are the light of the world?  I believe light does things that aptly illustrate the purpose and behavior that Jesus expects from his followers.  Let us consider several of those things.

1. Light reveals. It penetrates darkness. It makes known what lies hidden in darkness, what contents are in the room.  Light shows the path or road, giving both direction and the condition of the way ahead.  It warns of obstacles and danger.  Light reveals both the good and the bad, truth and lie, beauty and ugly.  As followers of Jesus, being light means we penetrate the world’s darkness and make known God’s presence, God’s truth, God’s will.  Being light means we bring certainty, direction, purpose, and meaning into our community of confused and hopeless neighbors.   

2. Light warms. It penetrates coldness. Like the sun warmth, light radiates an invitation to enjoy beauty and warm comfort.  As followers of Jesus, being light means we are a warm, comforting presence, radiating God’s love in a world of lonely coldness.  Being light means we are Christ’s presence in the school, business, shop, and marketplace, revealing to all that there is more to life than selfish greed and rampant materialism.

3. Light awakens. It penetrates sleep. Every morning we are awakened to a new day and new life with new possibilities.  As followers of Jesus, being light means we awaken men and women to the present reality of God’s Kingdom, his presence, sovereignty and the only source of ultimate truth, power, and hope for all.

4. Light energizes. It penetrates depression and decay. We cannot physically live without light.  Light stimulates and encourages growth and healing.  As followers of Jesus, being light means we infuse aliveness and growth, stimulating healing and hope in communities plagued by dark depression and hopelessness.

Jesus continues in verses 14-15, telling us that the purpose of light is both to be seen and to be of service to others.  This visibility and service is expressed by Jesus with two illustrations, “A town … on a hill” and “a lamp … on its stand.”

“A town built on a hill cannot be hidden.  Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl.  Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house.”

There can be nothing secretive about the Christian’s commitment to the Jesus way of life.  The disciple of Jesus does not hide in fear or to protect self but lives and works in places where their influence can be both seen and felt.

As followers of Jesus, we do not call attention to ourselves, but remain focused on illuminating the way of God for others.  Being light means we are a visible witness to the presence of the Kingdom of God and the rule of Christ in our world of darkness.

Jesus concludes with this directive in verse 16, “In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.”

Robert Louis Stevenson looked out his window one evening many years ago, before there were electric lights.  As he looked out, he saw the town lamplighter coming down the street, lighting the streetlamps in succession.  Stevenson was impressed by the sight and wrote about the lamplighter who went along “punching holes in the darkness.”

Being “the light of the world” it is our privilege and duty to live each day “punching holes in the darkness” so that others may see God and find their way home to him.

I am reminded of the sign that is said to have been on a lamp outside Albert Schweitzer’s jungle hospital in Africa.  The sign said, “Here in whatever hour you come, you will find light and help and human kindness.” 

May this same invitation radiate from every church and every one of us who claim to be a follower of Jesus.  In being “the light of the world” let us be about “punching holes in the darkness” around us.

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“Healing Rays of Righteousness” – August 19, 2020

www.geigle13.wordpress.com

Ray M. Geigley

“That Your Joy May Be Complete”

The John 15:1-17 passage expands my thoughts from last week regarding the “vine, branch, fruit” explanation of a Christian’s relationship with God and the good fruit (virtues) that flow from that LOVE relationship.  One of these fruits is JOY, which seems in scarce supply for many in our neighborhoods and nation.

In this teaching passage, Jesus tells his listeners, “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love.  If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain is his love.  I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that you joy may be complete.”  (John 15:9-11).

To find a genuine joy-filled person is about as rare as sighting a bald eagle these days.  Because of the very confusing, divisive, and destructive pandemic events of coronavirus, racism, and political wrangling in our nation and world today, there is a scarcity of JOY.  Instead, there is a growing spread of anxiety, dissatisfaction, and fear among us, and I sense that much of what is being passed off as joy is nothing more than fake expressions of happiness.

Over fifty years ago, Joseph Folliet wrote a critique that sounds very contemporary even yet today:  “I listen to you talk, my brothers of today; I lend an ear to your conversations, which are nothing but alternating soliloquies.  Your pour forth torrents of black bile in the form of criticism, complaints, and accusations, forever deploring your bad luck and blaming some mysterious people called ‘they’ who never tire of playing dirty tricks on you. 

As it happens, ‘they’ is everything outside of you – tax collectors, neighbors, the government, perfect strangers.  Nothing and nobody, from the weather to the people closest to you, can escape your censure.  Why this perpetual fault-finding, which is sadistic toward others and masochistic toward yourselves? 

Isn’t it possible that you see the dark side of everything because there’s so much darkness in your souls?  Don’t you find the world sad and ugly because you view it with a joyless eye?  The cold and gloom are in you first of all.  Always unsatisfied, always discontented, you make more and more demands. 

Now, demands point to a lack.  When the destitute clamor, we can see exactly what they need.  But when the rich and the surfeited multiply their demands, what can they possibly be looking for?  Perhaps one thing that wealth and prestige can’t give; joy.”    (Invitation to Joy, Newman Press, 1968, pp. 1-3).

Of all the things we may lack, I believe the lack of joy is the most devastating.  And nothing makes the Gospel of Jesus Christ more appealing than his promise of joy.  All through the New Testament we read and hear a symphony of joy emanating from the lips and person of Jesus.  When Jesus was born, an angel announced, “I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.” (Lk. 2:10).

And throughout Jesus’ teaching ministry, he repeatedly promises joy to those who choose to be his disciples.  Even when Jesus is telling his disciples of his impending death, he reassures them, “Now is your time of grief, but I will see you again and you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy.” (Jn. 16:22).

Throughout the scriptures we are told that genuine joy reflects God’s very own Being.  God is not some grim and emotionless ruler of the earth and its people.  The Old Testament says, “He (God) will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing.” (Zeph. 3:17).  Most certainly he is the source of all unadulterated joy.

The joy that Jesus gives is different from fleshly pleasure and happiness because his joy is an abiding, deep-down exuberance which comes from God through his in-dwelling Spirit in us.  Love and joy go together as supernatural fruit of God’s Spirit in us.

You may be asking how do we cooperate to make this fruit happen in our life?  I suggest we begin by taking seriously the condition that Jesus lays down before promising this joy to his disciples, “If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father’s commands and remain in his love.  I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.” (Jn. 15:10-11).

We need to also cultivate the fruit producing habits of spiritual discipline, i.e., studying the scriptures, prayer, and Christian fellowship.  We can adjust our schedules to spend more time with God, growing in a deepening relationship with him, and remembering what David said about God, “…you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.” (Ps. 16:11)?

Yes, there is much to criticize and complain about, but our heavenly Father is greater than any circumstance and remains sovereign over all situations.  And so, with thanksgiving and praise let us be joy-filled in all our relationships and conversations.  There is no better way to enhance the quality of life in me, my family, neighborhood, and world.

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“Healing Rays of Righteousness” – August 12, 2020

www.geigler13.wordpress.com

Ray M. Geigley

The Vine, Branches, and Fruit

Last week I responded to the question, How to know who is Christian, by using the two lists found in Galatians 5:19-24 regarding “the acts of the flesh” and “the fruit of the Spirit” as descriptive of two contrasting behaviors that identify who is Christian and who is not.

I then suggested that the visible skin of this Spirit-fruit is “LOVE” and that it holds the cluster of fruit together as one fruit.  Since “God is Love” all godly behavior is always wrapped in total love for God and for neighbors.  Jesus himself said, “A new command I give you: Love one another.  As I have loved you, so you must love one another.  By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”  (John 13:35).

Both Jesus and Paul want us to know that the character traits and behaviors that expose the authentic Christian are not natural to human nature but are learned behaviors that are infused into human hearts living in relationship with God.  Jesus very clearly describes this fruit-bearing “vine and branch” relationship in John 15:1-17.

In verse one, Jesus says, “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener.  He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.”  And again, in verse 5, “I am the vine; you are the branches.  If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.”

Jesus clearly states that we are given life for the purpose of bearing fruit.  Jesus could not say it more clearly.  We will either bear fruit or be cut off from the true vine of LIFE and thrown into the fire.  What good is a grape vine without grapes, or a tomato vine without tomatoes?  And of what value is a peach tree without peaches?

I have a vivid reminder of this right outside my window.  Earlier this spring, I planted two tomato plants and they have grown into two beautiful 7-foot green plants with many bright yellow blossoms.  I have supported the plants with stakes and carefully nurtured them, but there is no fruit.  And yet, with each new yellow blossom that appears, I remain hopeful.

The fact is that plant beauty does not naturally transfer into flower pollination and fruit.  There must be an intimate relational activity between flower and pollen for fruit to be given birth.  And likewise, so it is for spiritual fruit bearing.

In Matthew 7:21-23 Jesus warns, “Not everyone who says to me, ’Lord, Lord’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.  Many will say to me on that day ’Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?  Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’”

Why does Jesus not know them?  Could it be that there was no intimate, loving relationship to energize and pollinate the birthing of life into tangible fruits of loving attitudes and behaviors?

This fruit of “love” is the public evidence of the life of Jesus dwelling in us.  It is his Spirit being reproduced in us and being shared as it flows through us toward others in loving behaviors.  Jesus insists that this cannot happen without our remaining in him, making our home in him even as he makes his home in us.

That is why Jesus can categorically say “apart from me you can do nothing.”  No amount of religious activities or engagement in “spiritual” events on our own can produce this “love” fruit.  All showy efforts of spiritually is like tying imitation fruit on lifeless branches.  And, most sadly, imitation fruit will never satisfy God nor us.

If we, the branches, are not bearing “love” fruit as we ought, it may be that we are not feeding as we ought on the life-giving flow from the vine, who is Jesus.  We need daily spiritual nourishment to bear spiritual fruit.

We also need to remember that selfish interests, unconfessed sins, a careless disregard for the truth, or a bitter, unforgiving spirit can block this flow of nourishing life from “the true vine.”  And without that flow of nourishing life, we, the branch, will gradually die and be cut off and burned.

These are powerful words.  They remind us that life apart from God becomes death.  And they also signal an invitation to submit to and remain in Christ for life and love, acknowledging that without Christ’s love flowing through us we are incapable of being Christian.   For as Jesus said, “By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” 

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“Healing Rays of Righteousness” – August 5, 2020

www.geigler13.wordpress.com

Ray M. Geigley