Healing Rays of Righteousness

Henri Nouwen, a Dutch priest, wrote that “Fear is the single most important and tragic emotion in our lives.”  He is right. Fear is the emotion that controls us most often in our decision-making and actions. There is a healthy fear that causes us to be cautious and careful, to give respect toward, and make good life-giving decisions. Then there is the opposite kind of fear that handicaps, paralyzes and separates us from experiencing life as God would have us enjoy.

Fear is Satan’s greatest and most deadly weapon that he uses in destroying you and your relationship with God. And so, it is only reasonable to conclude that the best remedy for quieting our fears begins with deliberate action toward restoring and strengthening our relationship with God.

In fact, this is what Jesus promised, “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God, believe also in me.” And then added, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” (John 14:1, 27).

The prophet, Isaiah, spoke to our fears in a prophecy concerning God coming to us as the Messiah (Isaiah 35:4) – “Say to those with fearful hearts, Be strong, do not fear; your God will come, …he will come to save you.”

In his Gospel account of Jesus’ birth, Luke will have an angel suddenly appear on three separate occasions bringing a special message from God. To Zechariah, a priest “gripped with fear,” the angel says, “Do not be afraid; Zechariah, your prayer has been heard.” (1:13).

To Mary, a young virgin “greatly troubled,” the angel says, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you. … “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God.” (1:28-30).

And to “terrified” shepherds keeping watch over their flocks at night in fields near Bethlehem, an angel appears in glorious light and says, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord.” (2:10-11).

In all three occasions, the angel’s sudden and unexpected appearance caused great anxiety and fear. And in all three occasions, the angel reassured the recipients of God’s special message with the words, “Do not be afraid.”

CHRISTMAS is the good news that God comes down to us to rescue us from our many fears. God wants to forgive, heal, and restore us to the confidence and security that his omni-presence assures us.

And so, when darkness and fears arise in your thoughts and spirit this Christmas season, hear the message of the heavenly angel, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.” (Lk. 2:10-11). When you hear the joyous singing of Christmas hymns and carols, listen intently to the heartbeat of God’s love for you. “Joy to the world, the Lord (of love, light, and hope) is come!”

This is the “good news” message of Christmas. God, in Jesus, left the glories of heaven and came down and into our world of darknesses. By taking on human flesh, he entered fully into our world, bringing the peace and joy that flows from his presence of love and light engulfing us. THANK YOU, JESUS!

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Whether in a hospital “waiting room” or waiting out a threatening storm or situation, it is a place where time seems to stand still, where life is put on hold, and where anxiety and fear take root and grow within us. In such waiting situations, it feels as if our life has come to a screeching halt and our hopes painfully dashed. It feels as if God has led us down a long hallway and ushered us into a room with a huge sign over the doorway that says, “WAITING ROOM.” And there is only silence in response to our anguished, frustrated cry, “How long, O Lord? When are you going to do something? I do not know how much more I can take! Please, God, hear my prayer!”

We live in a society of instant gratification and any kind of waiting frustrates us. Waiting is so counter-cultural and unacceptable. And this selfish expectation is distorting the Christian perspective regarding the purpose and potential of waiting, whether it be our waiting to hear from God in our present difficult, bleak situation, or in God’s ADVENT of His promised glorious Kingdom on earth.

The Scriptures remind us that “waiting” invites us to be confident in what God is going to do for us. In Psalm 27:13-14, David says, “I remain confident of this; I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.” This confidence and trust are repeated in Psalm 130:5-6, “I wait for the Lord, my whole being waits, and in his word I put my hope. I wait for the Lord more than watchmen wait for the morning, more than watchmen wait for the morning.

These and many other scriptures seem to clearly define “good waiting” as being patient and confident, knowing that God is working in my life for my good and His glory. But if you are anything like me, being patient involves a great inner struggle. I tend to want things to happen, to change, not later but sooner.

From my own difficult life experiences of waiting and study of scripture, I have learned that the ability to calm our soul and wait for God’s response to our cry is one of the most difficult tasks in the Christian life. And I agree with the biblical scholars who say that God’s delays are not God’s denials but are for preparing us for greater blessing. And so, when God has us “waiting” it is because there is yet work for Him to do, either in us or for us, in order for us to best receive His blessing.

The truth is that whenever we encounter a “waiting” situation, we have to make a choice whether or not to wait on the Lord. And when we choose not to wait on God, we become impatient, fearful, and full of worry. We begin to doubt that God is good and loving. We begin to doubt His ability to provide for us and to resolve our problem situation. And when we respond like this, we are prime candidates for ulcers, migraine headaches, high blood pressure, and even heart attacks.

I know that this is not the choice God wishes for us to make. He dearly loves us and desires to give us the best of physical and spiritual refreshment – “But those who wait on the Lord will find new strength. They will fly high on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint.” (Isaiah 40:31). This is the best choice in every “waiting” time or place in our life’s journey.

And so, I say to myself and to you, as we anxiously sit in waiting, use the time to read Psalm 130. This is a psalm of urgent, hopeful waiting by a distressed person who cries out to God from the depths of life with the hope that God will hear and deliver. The writer starts in the depths and ends with confidence.

This psalm is one of many that can calm and nourish our soul while we wait to hear God’s answer to our questioning. This psalm encourages us to pray with greater confidence that God hears our cry and is present with us. With renewed confidence in his presence and love, we can be more patient in accepting His purposeful working in us.

My own experience has taught me that God can be trusted because He is always and forever true to His name and character. Write it on your heart and in your mind, God is Love and God is with us!

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“Healing Rays of Righteousness” – November 29, 2023

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Ray M. Geigley

It has been said that when it comes to Thanksgiving Day activities, most people fall into either of two classes, those who take things “for granted” and those who receive/accept things “with gratitude.” 

I have learned that the most important attitude that we can ever cultivate in our life is the “attitude of gratitude,” that is, being thankful in all circumstances. A grateful attitude enables our days to open up like a flower, full of beauty and sweet fragrance. And it fills our life with joy and pleasant surprises because we are enabled to more readily see God blessing us in many wonderful ways.

I remember the story of a boy in elementary school who arrived late to school and was reprimanded for it. Later, he discovered that he had forgotten his homework, and was scolded again. Then he began to feel sick and ran in from the playground to go home. And as he ran, he tripped and fell, breaking his arm. While he was on the ground, he found a quarter. After a visit to the doctor’s office and on his way home he told his parents, “This is the best day of my life! I have never found a quarter before.”

We should cultivate that kind of child-like gratefulness so that we can better see and thankfully acknowledge the good things that happen to us, even when life is more painful and disappointing than we had hoped.

Thanksgiving Day offers us a chance to re-exam our usual response in receiving God’s gifts of love and goodness. Do we take them “for granted” or receive them “with gratitude? Thanksgiving Day offers us the opportunity to name and count our blessings, both large and small, significant, and common, and thankfully worship God who is the source of every good and gracious gift.

We should remember that God owes us nothing. Everything we have and enjoy is His gift to us. And neither do we deserve anything from God, including our caring family and friends, a good meal, or a warm bed. In fact, we do not even deserve the fresh air we just inhaled or the continuing steady beat of our heart. For that reason, our attitude throughout every day should be fully saturated with grateful thanksgiving.

Furthermore, all research studies regarding physical and mental health conclude that people who count their blessings sleep better, are more active, and care more about others. People who are always counting their blessings show significant improvements in mental, physical, and spiritual health. And these results are true regardless of your age or life situation.

In the biblical story of the ten lepers whom Jesus healed, Jesus sharply criticizes the nine lepers who went on their way without so much as a thank-you. To the one leper who did return and say thank-you, Jesus says, “Your faith has made you well.”  Jesus is congratulating him not so much for the faith that asked for healing, but for the faith that returned to give thanks.

This one leper wanted soul healing as well as physical healing and is not that also our desire as we thankfully name and count our blessings. After all, the biblical stories teach us that it is a “grateful” faith and not a “gimme” faith that saves us.

I am convinced that an attitude of gratitude is not only important for aging well but is also vital to our enjoyment of living well each day. The apostle Paul admonishes us to “Rejoice always; pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18).

And so, during tomorrow’s Thanksgiving Day, and every day of the year, let us join the Psalmist in reminding ourselves to “Praise the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits.” (Psalm 103:2).

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“Healing Rays of Righteousness” – November 22, 2023

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Ray M. Geigley

If asked whether or not we always did our best, most of us would probably ashamedly answer, “No, I did not.”  And, if asked whether or not our conversations and actions may have caused others unnecessary hurt, again most of us would probably sadly answer, “Probably so.”

Such mistakes in judgment and regrets of our past often become heavy self-punishing baggage, crippling our journey with Jesus and others. And sometimes the burdensome baggage is nothing more than the nagging belief that we could do better if given another chance.

Whatever its contents, the baggage of self-deprecation cannot be easily dismissed, for it is the consequence of mistaken judgments and unwise decisions that have left painful wounds and deep scars in both our psyche and relationships with others.

Many years ago, Louisa Fletcher Tarkington, authored a perceptive poem entitled, “The Land of Beginning Again.”  It begins and ends with a verse which gives voice to the regret we feel when we realize what we have done or have not done.

              I wish there were some wonderful place

              Called the land of beginning again

              Where all our mistakes,

              And all our heartaches,

              And all of our poor selfish grief,

              Could be dropped like a shabby

              Old coat at the door,

              And never be put on again.

And I ask, should not being Christian in relationship with God through Jesus Christ, make us uniquely equipped to forgive (let go) and leave the past behind? And does not this inability to forgive ourselves contradict everything we profess to believe about the forgiving, healing, redeeming power of Jesus Christ? I am convinced that it does.

This is what the apostle Paul was referencing when he wrote, “But one thing I do; Forgetting what is behind (forgiving-letting go) and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” (Phil. 3:13-14).

I hear Paul encouraging us not to look back in ways that keep us from going forward, in ways that make us a prisoner of our past mistakes and sins, in ways that prevent us from experiencing the healing (letting go) of old hurts and painful memories.

Yes, there is great value in looking back to learn, to affirm the places, faces, and circumstances from which we have come, and to remember what and who has shaped our lives. Yes, there is a time to look back if done so with a positive learning purpose.

But if our looking back is clouded with a sense of self-deprecating failure and guilt, our efforts to grow in our relationships with God and others will most certainly be hampered, if not completely blocked. That is why Jesus’ invitation is such good news, assuring us that carrying such baggage is totally unnecessary. For Jesus daily invites us, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest (forgiveness, set free).” (Matthew 11:28).

Yes, the pain of mistaken judgments and regrets may shadow us, robbing us of freedom and potential, and hampering our ability to use our spiritual energy and gifts for enjoying the today and moving with joyous anticipation into the new tomorrows of our life. And, YES, the possibility of new beginnings is always God’s invitational good news to every one of us, no exceptions.

And so, I say, instead of fretting our failures to forgive the past, let us choose to press onward toward maturing faith and Jesus-like character and behavior. God waits, ready to help us gather the regretful pass into a self-forgiveness that opens the door into new tomorrows and new beginnings. Amen!

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“Healing Rays of Righteousness” – November 15, 2023

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Ray M. Geigley

Many of us have a painful past to live with; a past that we can neither escape nor change. And for many, the painful memories are so overwhelming that their recall brings deep pain to the present. Feelings of inferiority, unfairness, and anger quickly surface, and the long-forgotten fears once again grab a haunting chokehold on our life.

From Jesus we hear, “And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive them, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.” (Mark 11:25).

And from the apostle Paul, “Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other just as in Christ God forgave you.”  (Ephesians 4:32).

Biblical wisdom consistently teaches that forgiveness means completely “letting go” and releasing the person or persons responsible for causing the pain, whether by actions or words, from any resentment or revenge. To forgive and forget is to completely “let go” of the old wounds with their pain and anger.

The resentments and lingering bitterness of any painful past must be forgiven and discarded if we wish to enjoy a good life of health and peace as we grow older. Furthermore, it is the only doorway to experiencing God’s abundant life of divine forgiveness, peace and joy in our own life and spirit.

The biblical story of Joseph is a story of repeated, continuing painful experiences caused by jealousy, hatred, and murderous betrayals, by his own brothers and the wife of his Egyptian owner. The story is recorded in Genesis 37-45 and is a powerful portrayal of how forgiving and forgetting, letting go of the past, is the only response to a painful past that brings healing of mind, spirit, and relationships.

Joseph, the favorite son of his father Jacob, grew up in a large family, where favoritism and sibling rivalry was rampant, causing brotherly relationships to be infected with jealousy and anger. It became so bad that one day Joseph’s brothers caught him, threw him into a pit, and discussed killing him. One brother intervened and convinced the rest to instead sell Joseph as a slave to traders headed toward Egypt.

Even though life in Egypt was painfully difficult and disappointing, Joseph never wavered in his love relationship with God and of God’s purpose for his life. And years later, while living in prison, that purpose began to materialize.

The Egyptian Pharaoh had a dream that no one but Joseph could interpret. The dream revealed that Egypt would experience seven years of plenty followed by seven years of famine. And to reward Joseph for interpreting the dream, the Pharaoh gave Joseph charge over all of the agricultural activity in Egypt. The years of plenty came and Joseph stored up the abundance of grain for the future survival of Egypt. Seven years later the drought and famine began.

The drought and famine became so widespread and severe that people in neighboring countries came to Egypt to buy food from Joseph. And it was not long before Joseph’s own brothers arrived to buy food. Joseph recognized them, but they no longer knew their own brother. Joseph sold them the grain they requested, but he also tricked them into coming back to him several times before he revealed his true identity.

When he did identify himself as their brother, they were terrified. They remembered the pit and the time they bartered with traders and sold their own brother into slavery. They had every reason to be terrified when Joseph says to them in verses 4-5, “Come close to me. …I am your brother Joseph, the one you sold into Egypt! And now, do not be distressed and do not be angry with yourselves for selling me here, because it was to save lives that God sent me ahead of you.”

Joseph had learned that the grace of forgiveness frees him from resentment and the need for revenge. He even named one of his sons, Manasseh, which means “God has made me forget.”

Like Joseph, the apostle Paul came to understand the way God uses adversity and pain. He wrote in Romans 8:28 – “We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose.”

Our difficult and painful experiences often become God’s classroom of learning how to trust God and forgive others. Those of us who have been there, who have journeyed through the valley of painful events, who have suffered much but chose to forgive the past, can now look back and attest to God’s leading, providing, shaping, healing, and calling us into a larger life and ministry. I know because I have been there and done that.

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“Healing Rays of Righteousness” – November 9, 2023

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Ray M. Geigley

Every human being has three things in common. We need to be loved, we need to learn to love others, and we have people in our lives who need our love. Being loved and loving others is the proven, solid foundation and expression of genuine, authentic living. Truly, the essence of life is in receiving and giving LOVE.

When I read chapter 2 of apostle Paul’s first letter to the Thessalonians, I hear his unashamed, genuine expression of his love for them. And as we follow the flow of his thought, we are exposed to LOVE as God meant it to be lived. It also gives us a guide for loving others.

The first thing we discover in Paul’s letter is that the source of genuine love is Jesus Christ and is not dependent on other people. The love Paul communicated to the church of the Thessalonians was of the kind that the world could neither give nor take away. It was the outflow of Paul’s intimate companionship with Christ. “Because we loved you so much, we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God, but our lives as well.” (v.8). Likewise, the outflow of love from our life is directly proportionate to the inflow of Christ’s love into our life and is not dependent on people loving us.

Paul was free to love in spite of what people said and did to him. Imprisonment and persecution did not diminish his love. Neither did he pout about his rejection at Phillipi. “We had previously suffered and been treated outrageously in Philippi, as you know, but with the help of our God we dared to tell you his gospel in the face of strong opposition.” (v.2). We need to allow the full impact of that truth to stir within our soul. So often we allow our minds to brood over past hurts, rejections, and disappointments, causing a protective covering to form over our heart so that we will not be hurt again.

And as additional hurts come that covering or wall, continues to thicken until we become incapable of emotionally experiencing warmth and love in relationship with God and others. Also, whenever we love in order to solicit or assure a return of love, we will be disappointed and deeply hurt. The basic truth is that no one can love us as much as we need to be loved. Only Jesus Christ can do that.

Too often we inherit the “If you love me, you will do what pleases me” syndrome from parents who used that phrase as a way of getting obedience. And sadly, many continue playing this game all through their life, and it even tarnishes their understanding and relationship with God.

The indwelling, genuine love of Christ makes us honest, direct, and decisive. Genuine Christ-like love wills the ultimate good of the other and initiates needed steps toward that result. If we have genuine love for others, people will know and feel they are loved, valued, and cherished. And they will know that we are willing to make sacrifices on their behalf, in the same way loving parents do for their children.

There is more to learn from these verses, and I plan to do so in my next blog. Until then, I encourage you to read and thoughtfully ponder the truths I have shared with you, and “live lives worthy of God.”

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“Healing Rays of Righteousness” – October 25, 2023

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Ray M. Geigley

Compassion – “Sympathetic pity and concern for the sufferings or misfortune of others.” “The deep feeling of sharing the suffering of another in the inclination to give aid or support, or to show mercy.”

In order to cultivate compassion as defined above, means I will deeply care about my world and do my best to bring it help. It begins by my choosing to ask God to give me a tender heart that is painfully disturbed by the pain of others and seeks to act in their behalf as Jesus would do.

The scriptures convincingly portray Jesus as a “compassionate” person. Mark’s gospel records a story that clearly reveals Jesus’ heart of compassion. “A man with leprosy came and knelt in front of Jesus, begging to be healed. ‘If you are willing, you can heal me and make me clean,’ he said. Moved with compassion, Jesus reached out and touched him. ‘I am willing,’ he said, ‘Be healed!’ Instantly the leprosy disappeared, and the man was healed.” (Mark 1:40-42, NLT).

The word “compassion” comes from the same Greek word as “viscera, bowels, intestines” or, as in our vernacular, “guts.”  Mark uses this word to communicate how deeply Jesus feels into the sufferings of the leper. It is as if Jesus himself takes on the suffering of the leper as his own.

Mark does not use the word “pity” because that would be too condescending, or “sympathy” because that would be too superficial. Rather he uses “compassion” to inform the reader that “flesh for flesh, gut for gut’ Jesus feels his way into the leper’s needs.

Mark also makes clear that Jesus did not simply feel with compassion toward the man with leprosy. He “reached out and touched him.”  Violating every medical warning and risking every social taboo, Jesus makes physical contact with the leper, thus confirming his loving concern for the leper and his needs.

This and many other Jesus stories support the conclusion that in order to compassionately respond to the suffering of others, we must first enter into and empathically feel the pain of those seeking our caring assistance.

Paul Brand, a noted physician and author, writes, “In the human body, when an area loses sensory contact with the rest of the body, even when its nourishment system remains intact, that part begins to wither and atrophy. The body poorly protects what it does not feel. So much of the sorrow in the world is due to the selfishness of one living organism that simply does not care when another suffers.”

I think Dr. Brand’s statement can be expanded to include all bodies, whether they be the church, the organization, the community, or the government. There is substantial evidence that such bodies will not appropriately protect what they do not feel. Until they feel the pain of those suffering, these bodies will not respond in appropriate ways to meet their needs.

The challenge of Mark 1:40-45 is to every person, including you and myself, who have the capability and opportunity to make a difference in the life of suffering persons. Indeed, the challenge is for every human to compassionately feel their neighbor’s pain and respond with unselfish acts of caring love. This is God’s command and Jesus’ example.

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“Healing Rays of Righteousness” – October 11, 2023

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Ray M. Geigley

The impressive description of our Christian identity as “God’s holy people” in the first half of Paul’s letter to the Colossians, is the wondrous thought that empowers Paul’s “Therefore” in chapter 3, verse twelve. “Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.” 

Paul is urging us fellow believers in Jesus to understand that since God has chosen us to be his Kingdom ambassadors in the world, we are expected to be appropriately dressed with the beautiful and lovely garments from God’s own wardrobe of Jesus-like virtues. These garments will visibly set us apart and identify us as the people of God who pray “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your Kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”

The first virtue that Paul lists is “compassion.”  To be clothed with “compassion” will be seen in our sympathetic sharing, like Jesus, in the suffering or misfortunes of another, coupled with the desire to give aid, support, and mercy. “Compassion” will also be seen in my being emotionally moved by your pain and seeking to act on 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.”

And the other Jesus-like virtues in Paul’s list, “kindness, humility, gentleness and patience,” are interwoven into this lovely garment of compassion,

Then in verse fourteen, 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 unites all the parts of our character into a single whole. Being and doing cannot be separated. What we say and do flows out of who we are.

Paul addresses us as “God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved.” As Christians our identity is certain and clear. We are God’s chosen people, and being such, we are expected to be appropriately and fully clothed with his garments of love and compassion every day and in every situation.

Holy compassion is so needed in our communities and nation today. Let us recommit ourselves to caring about our neighborhoods and doing our best in being compassionate and loving.

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“Healing Rays of Righteousness” – October 4, 2023

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Ray M. Geigley

“Then he said to Thomas, ‘Put your finger here; see my hands.  Reach out your hand and put it into my side.  Stop doubting and believe.” (John 20:27).

As I reflect on these words, I hear them to be an invitation to enter into a human connectedness more fully with the compassionate, healing presence of the risen Jesus, who is the Supreme Healer of all wounds.

I am challenged and encouraged by the thought that Jesus wounds are not only to be seen but also to be touched and entered into. Most certainly there is an intimate power, a healing connectedness present as we with Thomas put our hand, heart, and mind into the wounds of Jesus, for this leads us directly to the compassionate heart of God.

It is not enough for us, living within the arena of worldwide pains, merely to know of a God who is compassionate and sympathizes with us.  It is not even enough to know of a God who heals.  We need to know of and be connected to God who experiences with us each grief, each wound we suffer.  We need to be love-bonded to God who had nails pierce his hands and a sharp spear thrust into his heart.

It is only as we enter into the sufferings of Jesus that we are more fully connected to God. And as, with our trembling hand, we touch his wounded side, will the wounds we suffer become healed wounds, as Peter knowingly wrote, “by his wounds you have been healed.” (1 Peter 2:24).

And, most amazingly in turn, when we touch another wounded person with compassion and comfort, the healing presence of Jesus Christ encompasses us and His healing love is transmitted to the other through our touching, making us “wounded healers” of God’s healing presence in our world.

“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.” (2 Corinthians 1:3-4).

My notes on this invitation remind me that we cannot do healing presence, instead, we become a healing presence as we strive to be more aware of those around us, and humbly move toward them with compassionate concern for their welfare. And we deepen God’s healing presence by gently listening, holding the other’s pain, and with God’s gracious love and forgiveness comfort them.

Can we consider our own healed experiences of suffering to be a calling from God to physically incarnate his compassionate healing presence whenever and wherever we encounter the pain of others? I think the answer from apostle Paul would be “Yes.” I pray that you and I will be enabled to be such.  Amen! 

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“Healing Rays of Righteousness” – September 27, 2023

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Ray M. Geigley

The Labor Day holiday is a good time to be reminded that “the work of God happens when the people of God work.”  God has chosen to work in this world through us. God daily awakens us to the new day, and graciously invites us to busy ourselves in his Kingdom business of loving and serving others.

The prayer that Jesus taught his disciples to pray, is repeated every Sunday by millions of Christians around the world. And in that prayer, we petition God that his name be made holy and that “your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” But how do we know what is his will and how it will be done?

In Luke 4:16-21, we read that Jesus returned to his hometown, Nazareth, and on the first Sabbath, went to the synagogue where he read Isaiah’s prophetic listing of the Messiah’s work credentials, and to the surprise and chagrin of his listeners, he claimed these work credentials as his own.

“The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

 And later, in response to the disciples of John the Baptist asking him, “Are you the one who was to come, or should we expect someone else?” he again listed the same work credentials.

Undoubtedly, this is God’s Kingdom business. And the whole of biblical scriptures affirm that these same social concerns continue to be the authentic work credentials for all God’s people living today.

To follow Jesus is to commit to daily participation in God’s transforming, redemptive work in the world, so that God’s will is made evident “on earth as it is in heaven” by our actions (labor) and conversations.

Followers of Jesus, being rooted in Anabaptist-Christian theology, strongly believe the New Testament scriptures teach that Christian faith is made visible in Jesus-like acts of compassionate love and material generosity. We believe that Christian faith is more than our worship and verbal commitment to the Lordship of Jesus on a Sunday morning. We must make our faith visible with a living performance of that commitment in our daily work, conversations, and activities from Monday through Saturday.

As evidence of our walking with Jesus, we strive to cultivate the practice of participating in opportunities for helping, sharing, and serving others in their time of need, because this is the example of Jesus and God’s second greatest command for all who accept his Kingship. “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

This is often described as “walking the talk” of Jesus’ lordship, or as Jesus would say in Matthew 5:16, “In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.” 

Truly, God’s Spirit is at work wherever social concerns and human needs are responded to with authentic love and practical efforts. This is what identifies us as followers of Jesus Christ.

During this Labor Day week, let us rethink how much we believe that serving others and making sacrifices in their behalf is normal behavior for those who allow Jesus to be Lord in their life. May we deepen our commitment to laboring in God’s Kingdom business of loving and caring for the world through us. May we become more thoughtful and sincere in praying “thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven”?

Indeed, the biblical prophets and Jesus’ himself, repeatedly challenge us to fully invest ourselves in God’s Kingdom business of bringing life, light, joy, and peace to our churches, towns, nation, and world through us, his people who “act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with our God.” (Micah 6:8).

And in doing so, may we be encouraged by Paul’s words in 1 Corinthians 15:58, “Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.”  Amen!

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“Healing Rays of Righteousness” – September 6, 2023

www.geigler13.wordpress.com

Ray M. Geigley