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Luke 9:28-36

This week we need to remember again how to read the Bible. We need to stop and ask where we’re at. As you can see, we’re in Luke’s Gospel today. Now we’re in the ninth chapter, which you might think places us somewhat early in Jesus’ ministry. That, however, is not the case. We are relatively late in His ministry. He is preparing to go to Jerusalem for His passion, His suffering and death. When Jesus spoke with Moses and Elijah, He spoke to them about His impending cross, “His departure which He was about to accomplish at Jerusalem.”  Luke, then, like John, for instance, spends an inordinate part of his Gospel on Jesus’ last days, weeks, and months. Continue reading “The Transfiguration…For You”

Psalm 99; Deuteronomy 9:15-24; Luke 10:21-24

“You shall have no other gods.”

Martin Luther expounded on this: “Similarly, one who congratulates himself on his great learning, intelligence, power, special advantages, family connections, and honor and trusts in them also has a god, only not the one true God. The evidence for this appears when people are arrogant, secure, and proud because of such possessions…” (LC, I, 10). Continue reading “Idolatry and the Transfiguration”

Psalm 98

I don’t know that we have lived up to the great heritage of Christianity. I know we haven’t. And it is troubling. To hate evil and to love righteousness. To fight for righteousness and to fight against evil. That’s what we are, in part, called to do, that’s what many Christians have done facing great opposition both from the world and from the church herself. But I am not sure about us. Continue reading “The Gospel and Justice”

Luke 6:26-37

I didn’t know they tracked this kind of statistic, but it really doesn’t surprise me, because they have stats for all kinds of people. Apparently the number of hate groups in the US rose to its highest level in 20 years in 2018, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center. This civil rights organization has labeled 1,020 active groups as espousing hate.  Included on the list are white supremacists, black nationalists, neo-Nazis, neo-confederates, Also included are Catholic Family Ministries, the Conservative Republicans of Texas, the Ku Klux Klan, American Nazi Party.  There are 24 right here in Indiana. “We monitor hate groups and other extremists throughout the United States and expose their activities to the public, the media and law enforcement,” they say.  Fighting hate, seeking justice, teaching tolerance. Continue reading “Your Kind of Love Is Different”

1 Corinthians 12:12-21, 26-27

 “United we stand, divided we fall.” This phrase has been used by poets and revolutionaries, by presidents and politicians. If you’ll recall, Jesus said something similar. When accused of being in league with the devil, Jesus counted that ridiculous accusation by pointing to his own driving out of demons and saying, “If a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand.” Rather than division, the Bible rejoices in cooperation and unity. On many occasions, Paul urged the members of the churches to “keep the unity of the Spirit…” and to love because love “binds them all together in perfect unity.” Jesus also prayed for unity. In his high-priestly prayer, he asked his Father in heaven to give unity to his disciples. He said, “May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.” God tells us that unity is a good thing and that it will bring blessings. It’s no coincidence then, that among the songs the Israelites would sing whenever they would come together for the great feasts, like the Passover, was Psalm 133. “How good and pleasant it is when brothers live together in unity. For there (in that unity) the LORD bestows his blessing, even life forevermore.” Continue reading “One Body in Christ”

Polycarp of Smyrna
1 John 3:16-20

Today the church remembers Polycarp, bishop of Smyrna. He is known as a disciple of John the Evangelist and an early martyr of the faith. Polycarp is an important historical link between the apostolic age and the early church. First, he confessed the orthodox Jesus. This fights against the theory that the Christology we confess today was a late fabrication by certain strains of Christianity in a power struggle against competing groups. Second, he quotes or alludes to many books of the New Testament cannon providing us historical evidence of the vetting process of the early church. Finally, he serves as a link to John the Evangelist, an apostle of Christ. Polycarp lived into the 150s AD. This means that mid-second-century Christians could be sure that the church’s teaching was orthodox and apostolic because they had a living link to the apostles. This is extremely helpful for the Christian apologist today in the defense of the authenticity of the New Testament testimony of Christ. Continue reading “Polycarp of Smyrna”

Matthew 20:1-16

All the workers in the vineyard were standing in the unemployment line the day the owner hired them. Any of you who’ve been unemployed know what that is like—the uncertainty, the anxiety, the seemingly loss of identity, the hardships it can cause a family. Continue reading “When God’s Not Fair”