Matthew 8

I met Jill* when I volunteered to be part of a new discipleship program at my church. I was to guide her through a program which helps newer or younger believers understand their faith in God and Jesus. At our first meeting she described her life situation as fairly dire. After becoming pregnant as a teenager much of her family disowned her. If not for her godparents she would have found herself destitute. Fortunately, she and her mother eventually came to a place in their relationship where she and her son could temporarily live in her mother’s house.

As I listened, I discovered a few things. First, her professed Christian grandfather had a lot to learn about love. At every turn he made her and her son feel outside the love of God because of her sin. Second, I realized, having asked her what she believed, her faith was based on what others believed. She could not answer what she honestly believed. And lastly, I witnessed how easily it is for us to focus on the terrible things in our life and push God to the outskirts.

^“If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind."  James 1:5-6

I’ve referenced the book of James before because it is a no nonsense look at life’s reality – we will experience trials and temptations. We shouldn’t be surprised by this statement. Sure, we are maybe stunned by what the trial is or the level of its awfulness. But we live in a broken world full of sin and sinful people. The key to all of this is first seeking God’s wisdom in a trial. Turning to Him before all else. And secondly, to have faith without doubting that He will find a way. That path He works you through might have a few more bumps and bruises in store but with our eyes fixed firmly on Him we will also see the blessings before us. And when we feel we can’t or don’t know what to pray? We ask the Holy Spirit for help. “Help me stay faithful, help me to know what to pray!”

So why did I bring up Jill? Over the next few months, I tried encouraging her to ask God in prayer for direction, both about a job and her housing. I pointed out the blessings in the midst of her trial. I urged her to see the work God was doing in her life. What I got back from her was the opposite. I’m sure we have all been in relationships like this (or maybe we’ve been the one like this). At each turn a blessing she received was still not good enough. There was always something else wrong. She told me she was getting nothing from God. And yet she had a place to live, food to eat, a school for her son, a church that was helping her, and someone to talk to – me.

How many of us when we are in the inevitable troughs of life, troughs that feel lacking in joy and love, create an equally deep trough of faith? If asked that question just a couple years ago I would have raised my hand in agreement. God’s not there. God’s not listening. God doesn’t care about me. God doesn’t see me. And sometimes leading to my cry, “I don’t believe in you anymore!”

Friend, God never, ever leaves. He never stops listening and responding. He never stops loving. But we do. And it’s time to start a new practice. I used to tell the girls I coached in softball, “If you keep practicing something the wrong way you will get very good at doing it…the wrong way.” So, yes, it’s time to look in the mirror and tell yourself a new approach is needed. A new way of practicing our faith. The second life takes a twist we must drop to our knees in faith. We become people with buckets overflowing with faithfulness rather than fruitlessness. Because let’s be honest, the old way really wasn’t working that great in the first place, right?

"When Jesus heard this, he marveled and said to those who followed him, 'Truly, I tell you, with no one in Israel have I found such faith.'" Matthew 8:10

Do you want to be recognized by Jesus like the Roman centurion who pled with Jesus to heal his servant? He told Jesus he had faith that Jesus didn’t even need to come to his house in order to perform the miracle. He told Jesus – “just say it and it will be done.” Whew! That’s some amazing faith for a man who shouldn’t have had anything to do with this Jew.

I love this quote by Charles Spurgeon about our relationship with the Almighty during difficult times:

When you go through a trial, the sovereignty of God is the pillow upon which you lay your head.
Charles Spurgeon

When it comes right down to it you have to ask yourself, “Do I trust God? Do I have real faith that He is faithful?” Not just in the good but in the bad. When you are facing homelessness, financial ruin, the death of a loved one, sickness, pain, betrayal, and more – are you finally ready to say to Him, “You give every good and beautiful thing. And I know you will work this out for my good.”?

It’s time for a perspective shift in our faith lives. Seek the blessings. Search them out more earnestly than we do trying to find the worst in any situation. You’ll find it’s not that difficult after a while. That’s the fruit of faithfulness. That’s loving a God who loves you deeply.

I have read mystery and detective books my whole life, starting with Nancy Drew. Recently I decided to use any free time to read various theological books. I’m currently in the midst of the Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis. For those not in the know about this book, it’s letters from a “head” demon advising a lower demon on how to best ensure his assigned “patient” goes to hell. I was writing this post on faithfulness and came across this passage:

“In a week or two you will be making him doubt whether or not the first days of his Christianity were not, perhaps, a little excessive. Talk to him about ‘moderation in all things’. If you can once get him to the point of thinking that ‘religion is all very well up to a point’, you can feel quite happy about his soul. A moderated religion is as good for us as no religion at all – and more amusing. Your affectionate uncle, Screwtape.
On the troughs of faith, The Screwtape Letters, C.S. Lewis

Think on that spiritual battle in your next trough. Will you allow it to pull you further down? Or will you fight back in faithfulness?

Coming up: Faithfulness in action

*Jill is not her real name

In March of this year a young woman walked in to a Tennessee church’s school and shot and killed three 9-year old children and three adults. She was described as “transgender” and a person with emotional problems. If you weren’t already aware of this terrible tragedy you are now. And my question is, as a Christian, how will you do in loving her? In showing her mercy and forgiveness? I can be honest in saying it wasn’t my first or even second reaction. As I was working on this new series about the fruit of the spirit I was challenged, however, to do just that – to love someone who seems unworthy of that love.

You may be familiar with the stories of Jesus and the disciples coming face-to-face with what were called “demon-possessed” people. Here’s one such story from Matthew 8:

“28 When he arrived at the other side in the region of the Gadarenes, two demon-possessed men coming from the tombs met him. They were so violent that no one could pass that way.29 “What do you want with us, Son of God?” they shouted. “Have you come here to torture us before the appointed time?” 30 Some distance from them a large herd of pigs was feeding.31 The demons begged Jesus, “If you drive us out, send us into the herd of pigs.”32 He said to them, “Go!” So they came out and went into the pigs, and the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and died in the water. “

You notice the line: “They were so violent that no one could pass that way.” I imagine the townspeople hated and feared these men. Yet, Jesus healed them. He loved them, just as He loved the townspeople who didn’t know Him and were so frightened of His abilities they sought to drive Him out of town. He loved these two men just like He loved the disciples standing next to Him. These vile, dangerous, murderous men. He loved them enough to not leave them sick and imprisoned with whatever demons had infested their brains. He freed them to live the life God intended. And although I cannot have hope for the Tennessee shooter’s soul – because the actions led to her death – I can grieve out of love that her heart, mind and soul had been twisted by this world.

As the vitriol around the world has increasedI can’t help but see the fertile ground we have tilled for Satan to blossom. For modern demons to take root in people’s minds and hearts. The angry faces on the news, the destruction of property, the glee people express when someone they don’t like is “brought down” – it’s all symptoms of a world turning toward fleshly pursuits rather than the eternal. And love? Even love has become distorted.

“But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked.” Luke 6:35

Loving our enemies has become, instead, love whatever people do and whatever they desire. On the contrary, Jesus’ reaction to every single person He met, whether murderous or not, was that living sinfully led to eternal death. The wordly version of “love”—do whatever feels good — was never His message. When we hand out needles to drug addicts we aren’t loving them, we are helping them destroy themselves. When we turn a blind eye to fellow Christians living sexually immoral lives, we aren’t loving them, we are giving them a fast track pass to slavery.

This challenge to love one another as Jesus did faces us Christian almost daily. What does this love look like? How can we love a person who kills innocent children and adults, at a church, no less? It seems too impossible. And it is.

I recently heard Pastor Wayne Barber say, “True faith, real faith results in an obedient person of God. The obedience is the bloom, the fruit.” That fruit cannot be created by us just as I cannot make the lettuce grow in my garden. God creates the seed, the soil, the water, the sun and the mystery of how it all comes to together. All He asks of me is to plant what He provides. To water it and then enjoy it. As with all the fruits of the Spirit in us it’s a melding of the work the Spirit does in me and the actions I choose to take in order to fully enjoy those fruits. Or put it this way: to do the one thing I have available to honor God’s provisions in my life – to glorify Him with my daily actions and worship. So how does the impossible become possible? This week we will look at three ways to live fully in bloom with the fruit of love.

Firstly, as a Christian seeking to do God’s will and live a life in full bloom, we need to accept this concept of love is not a choice. It is a command. It is the Royal Command from Jesus.

³⁴“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. John 13:34

Jesus loved Judas. Need we say more? He loved the pharisees who hated Him. He loves you. Yes, you, who sins on a daily basis. You grieve the Holy Spirit probably every day in some way or another. Either by ignoring that person in need, holding on too tightly to your treasure, having an inner hatred for someone, not forgiving that relative, taking the Lord’s name in vain, being selfish, and more. Yet He loves you. You’ve stepped on His foot more times than He would want to count. You’ve disregarded Him. Ignored Him. Falsely testified about Him or maybe even pretended you didn’t know Him. And He loved you. He loves you and me enough not to want us wallowing in our sinful chains but rather seeking Him to blossom and live in freedom.

I tell you my friend, the opposite of love is hatred. And hatred kills. It imprisons us. It creates an ugliness that permeates into every pore of our being. It is that hatred or anger I came to realize, along with my pride, being the root of a very bad habit — my cursing. I’ve tried for many, many years to stop. It wasn’t until I realized the Spirit was already in me and I was fighting against it that the seedling of love for others began to sprout. The Holy Spirit, sent to guide us until Jesus’ return, is living in every one of us who has accepted Jesus as our Savior. It is there, showing us, guiding us, admonishing us. It’s the tap on our shoulder saying, “Be kind. Forgive her.” It’s the great battle of whether we let the outer world rule our hearts or the inner world of the Holy Spirit take control.

When considering this command to love, especially those who have harmed us or others, take a moment to consider Saul. He hated the Jews and especially Jewish Christians. He was murderous, feared and downright despicable. He terrorized and destroyed communities. And on his way to Damascus to do more damage, oblivious to God’s love for him, Jesus sought him out. He brought light into the darkness of Saul’s heart. The conversion of Saul to the ever-faithful disciple of Christ, Paul, might be the greatest love and rescue story in all history. He was loved even in his blackest days. Loved enough to be sought after by Jesus. He didn’t have to accept this change – because the life path set before him would be the most difficult he would ever face. But he did. In doing so the Christians around him were also faced with a difficult decision – to love him as Jesus did. To love him even though. Imagine Paul coming into a community he had torn asunder. They stood at the edge with a decision to make. To show the world what real faith looks like or to turn their backs on God.

I once read that God is love. He made us from His love to enjoy this world along with Him. When He sent His Son for our final cleansing He was telling us, “I know you’ve messed up beyond belief. I want you to be made righteous to stand next to me in all eternity.” An eternal bond of love, never to be broken again. He’s asking us to mirror that for all the world to see. To live in the hope that Jesus can cleanse a blackened heart. And in doing so the owner of that heart may take his or her place next to us as children of the One Most High. So today, think of who you seem unable to love. Ask God, ask the Holy Spirit to cleanse your heart and bring about a tender sprout of love. Have faith, real faith, without doubting. I know hard it sounds. I’ve done it. I love a few people who don’t seem to deserve it based on the world’s rules. When I did as Jesus commanded it changed my life completely.

Coming up: Hatred breeds the weeds in our heart.

Tag: Matthew 8

Our Faithfulness to the Father

The Fruit of Love: The Royal Command