Stop Judging

In Matthew 7:1-2, Jesus tells us not to judge and warns that if we do, we also will be judged. He points out that we will be judged just like we judge others. We will receive a measure as we measure for others. 

Nearly identically, Luke 6:37 starts with the same warning "do not judge" and assures us that if we don't judge others, we won't be judged. Jesus goes on here to tell us not to condemn others, so we will not be condemned. He finishes with a directive to forgive and a reassurance that we will be forgiven. 

We should not be judging other people. We do not know their life, their struggles, or their successes. If we are judgmental towards others, we will be judged with the same measurement that we use against them. If we use a stingy measure of grace and mercy, we will receive a stingy measure of grace and mercy. If we use a heavy measure of condemnation, we will receive a heavy measure of condemnation. BUT if we do not condemn others, we won't be condemned. 

Let us ask the Holy Spirit to make us aware of our tendency to judge others. Let us grieve over the judgmental thoughts and words that we use to condemn others. Then let us seek forgiveness as we repent of our judgmental attitudes and hearts. 

Love Your Enemies

In Matthew 5:43-48, Jesus starts off by reminding people what they have been taught and heard about Scripture (i.e. "Love your neighbor and hate your enemy"). Leviticus 19:18 tells us to love our neighbor. (In its entirety, it tells us "‘Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against anyone among your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord.") The second half of that saying was added on to the actual Scripture. Nowhere in the Old Testament are we told to hate our enemies. The only instance where "hate your enemy" appears in Scripture is Jesus quoting that saying. 

Jesus goes on to command us to A) "love [our] enemies" and B) "pray for those who persecuted [us]" SO THAT we "may be children of [our] Father in heaven". Many times, I have heard that we should love our enemies and pray for our persecutors, but we end the sentence there and do not continue into verse 45 to finish the sentence in the NIV translation. Our love for our enemies and our prayers for our persecutors is a key part of our identity as children of God. Jesus notes that both the good and the bad get sunshine from God. Both saints and sinners receive the blessing of rain. 

Jesus questions what reward will we get if we just love those who love us. He notes that even tax collections do that. He questions what extra behavior are we displaying if we only greet our own people, since even pagans do that. Our love for our enemies is a key distinguishing feature of our faith lived out in our deeds. This passage ends with a call, a command really, to be perfect as God is perfect. 

While this passage in Luke 6:27-36 is similar to the Matthew 5 passage, it was different enough that I wanted us to look at it as well. Jesus starts by telling us to "Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you." (The next 3 verses will be covered in a future post in this series.) 

Jesus questions what credit is it to us, if we just love those who love us. He points out that even sinners  love those who love them. He again asks what credit is it to us if we just do good to those who are good to us. Once again, even sinners do that. Furthermore, what credit is it to us, if we lend to people we expect to repay us. Jesus points out that even sinners lend to other sinners and expect to be fully repaid.

After telling us how we should NOT be acting, Jesus gets into His commands: A) love our enemies, B) do good to our enemies, C) lend to our enemies without expecting to be repaid, even in part.  

When we do this, our reward will be great and we will be children of the Most High God. Why does this identify us as God's children? God is kind to the ungrateful and wicked and we are called to follow His lead. This passage ends with a call, a command really, to be merciful as God is merciful. 

This is a lot to unpack in these passages. As Christians, we are called to live differently than non-believers. Most people in the world will love those who love them, be kind to those who are kind to them, and lend to people they expect to repay them. Yet, as Christians, we are called to love those who dislike and even hate us. We are called to do good to those who wish us ill. We are called to lend and give to those who can't repay us. Our obedience in love our enemies identifies us as Christians. 

It's easy to love those who agree with us, who treat us well, who we like, etc.

It's obedience to love those who disagree with us, who treat us poorly, who we dislike, etc. 

Based on how you treat enemies, opponents, and those who mistreat you, can you be identified as a child of God? 

Special Feature: The Month of Love Date Idea Jar

The first featured jar is the Month of Love Date Idea Jar for February. It has a full 29 date ideas, that can all be done at home.

The red sticks have food-related activities.

The pink sticks have writing and reading activities.

The white sticks have other bonding activities.

Since February does has a leap year occasionally, a bonus blue stick, with a longer activity, is included as well. 

Each stick has a date idea on one side and a blank idea tag on the other side. So if one idea isn't your "cup of tea", you can write your own idea on the back.

This date idea jar is $10. 

You can use either link below to contact me about purchasing this jar. 

https://sites.google.com/view/lizscreationsdateideas/home

https://www.facebook.com/LizCreationsDateIdeas

Stay tuned for a second generation Month of Love Date Idea Jar with new colors, corresponding to the language of the flowers. 

Planks before Specks

In Matthew 7:3-5 and Luke 6:41-42, Jesus questions why we focus on the tiny bit of sawdust in our sibling's eye and ignore the huge plank in our eye. He questions how we can tell our sibling to allow us to take the speck from their eye when we have a plank (that we fail to see) in our own eye. Jesus calls those of us who do this HYPOCRITES!! and tells us that we must remove the plank from our own eye. Then we can clearly see so that we can get the speck out of our sibling's eye.

What do we notice? A small error/sin that we see someone else's life? Or the bigger error/sin that we see in our own life? If we are asked to describe the last sin we saw, will we describe what someone else did or something we did? 

How can we be concerned about fixing the small error/sin in someone else's life, when we are ignorant and unrepentant over bigger problems in our own life? Are we even aware of the sins we are committing? Are we engaging in introspection with the Holy Spirit as our guide? Are we reflecting on our day as we consider which of our actions pleased God and which disappointed Him? 

How often is our takeaway from a convicting sermon "I hope THEY were listening. THEY have a lot to repent of and change"? How long does the sermon stick with us? How has God changed us through His Word and sermons? 

How easily can we see the flaws, errors, and sins of the groups we belong to? How often do we hear someone talk about the obvious sins of the *other* <group> and we nod along, not concerned with the sins of our own <group>? 

We rebuke children for tattling on each other as we tell them "you worry about you" and "focus on your behavior, not theirs", yet we are still doing this as adults. We become like the Pharisee in Jesus' parable in Luke 18:9-14. We come before God, detailing the sins of other people, as we thank Him that we aren't <people of other nationalities dealing with political or physical upheaval>, or like <members of the other political party>, or like <negative adjectives used to describe other people>. 

What do we have to repent of? What plank needs to be removed from our lives? 

This week, take time to reflect on your actions, your words, and your attitudes. Ask the Holy Spirit to convict you of sin in your life. Use a pre-formed set of questions, such as the Ignatian Examen or John Wesley's Questions of Self-Examination, as you prayerfully consider what planks need to be removed from your eye. 

Don't Murder...Or Be Angry

Welcome back to Ordinary Time!! After the fasting of Advent and the feasting of Christmastide, we are ready for the first season of Ordinary Time. For the next 8 weeks, we will look at some of the teachings of Jesus, with a focus on the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7) and the Sermon on the Plains (Luke 6 verses that parallel Matthew 5-7).

In Matthew 5:21-24, Jesus reminded his audience of the law of "do not murder" and that murderers "will be subject to judgment", but then He goes beyond that to tell us that those who are angry with someone "will be subject to judgment". That is the same punishment for murder and for anger towards someone. Yet He goes even further! If we refer to someone with contempt, we will be "answerable to the court" and if we call someone a fool, we will risk "the fire of hell". So if we are about to "offer our gift at the altar" and remember that someone is mad at US, we should stop what we're doing and be reconciled with them first. 

Most of us are good at not murdering other people, but anger is much harder to shake. Yet Jesus equates anger as being at the same punishment level as murder!! We may not be cussing people out in anger, but there are people we are angry with, because of things that they said (or failed to say) or did (or failed to do). There are trigger words and trigger situations that make us grit our teeth and scowl. James 1:20 reminds us that "human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires". When we notice our anger rising, we need to stop, confess, and repent, because anger is a big deal. 

We may not use the word "Raca" as a term of contempt, we have plenty of ways in English to refer to someone contemptuously. When we refer to someone by a term of contempt, or as a way of mocking a group to our "superior" group, we are dehumanizing them. Now, every insult may not be punishable in our human courts, but Jesus told us in Matthew 12:36, that we will have to answer "for every empty word [we] have spoken" on the judgment day. Furthermore, our word choice is putting us at risk of being thrown into the fires of hell. Is an insult to a person worth our eternal souls? 

Now, we do not offer gifts or sacrifices at the altar in our churches, but before we approach God, if the Holy Spirit reminds us that SOMEONE ELSE is mad at US, we should try to reconcile, to mend what's broken between us, before we worship God. It's fascinating that Jesus wanted us to reconcile with those who have a bone to pick with us. He didn't tell us that we should reconcile if we have a grudge against someone else. Perhaps because He already told us not to be angry and not to refer to people with contemptuous phrases. Yet, if WE have offended someone else, WE should apologize, make amends, and reconcile with them. We need to take ownership for how our words can hurt, even if we didn't mean for them to. We need to be able to apologize and change our speech patterns when we have caused pain to other people.

There's a lot to unpack in these 4 verses. Take time this week to ask the Holy Spirit to show you ways you are angry with other people, ways you refer to others contemptuously, and people you need to reconcile with.

Epiphany

Welcome to the Season of Epiphany!! We remember the Wise Men reaching the Holy Child in His house on this day in the Church Year. 

Have we realized what Epiphany means for us Gentiles? 

The gift of salvation was given not just to the Jewish people, but it crossed borders and ethnicities to be freely offered to all people. 

Last year, we worked on celebrating the true biblical events surrounding the Christmas story and the Wise Men, as we identified the cultural elements that have bled into our celebration. 

This year, let us consider how the Good News should be shared beyond borders, across ethnicities, socioeconomic statuses, and political affiliations. 

Special Feature: Liz's Creations Date Ideas

One of my hobbies is crafting. This is a wide genre, including sewing, crocheting, painting, and more. 

Recently, I've started making Date Idea Jars!!

Over the next several weeks, I will be highlighting the different jars I have created, as well as ways that you can order them!! 

https://sites.google.com/view/lizscreationsdateideas/home

https://www.facebook.com/LizCreationsDateIdeas

12 Days of Christmas: Day 12...Sojourn

Happy Twelfth Day of Christmas!! Today we remember John Neumann who is the patron saint of immigrants. Last year we looked at how we are all immigrants in our current countries, because we are citizens of heaven instead of earthly citizens. Our theme for this year is sojourning. We are temporary travelers in this life. We are not putting down roots into our culture, because we recognize that we are not permanent residents in our culture and society. As we do this, we realize that we have more in common with our brothers and sisters of the faith from countries and cultures all over the world, than with the people who happen to have been born in the same country as us. We shift our priorities from <Our Country First> to <God's Kingdom First>, as we set aside our worldly agendas to pick up God's agenda. 

How are you a sojourner? 

How does your heavenly citizenship supersede your earthly citizenship? 

12 Days of Christmas: Day 11...Rejoice

Happy Eleventh Day of Christmas!! Today, we remember the Elizabeth, an American who is the patron saint of the rejected, the persecuted, the orphaned, and the widowed. It seems odd to pair a remembrance of the persecuted with the theme of rejoicing, but when we study the early church's response to persecution, the theme of rejoicing makes more sense. The disciples were threatened (in Acts 4) and their response was to pray for boldness in spreading the Gospel. They didn't pray for safety or for persecution to end. The apostles were flogged (in Acts 5) and left rejoicing that they could suffer disgrace for Jesus' name. Jesus, Himself, called the persecuted "blessed" (when they were persecuted for righteousness and not just being jerks to people) and told His disciples to rejoice and be glad when they were persecuted for being associated with Jesus (in Matthew 5). 

How do you react in the face of persecution? 

What do you rejoice about? 

12 Days of Christmas: Day 10...Create

Happy Tenth Day of Christmas!! As we contemplate the names of Jesus, let us create things today. We can create special food and treats that we don't normally have. One thing that makes a treat special is its rarity. When we don't have access to something most of the year, it is more special when we do get to enjoy it during a specific season. Our human tendency is to hoard special treats, but it is better for us (both for our souls and our bodies) for us to practice generosity. 

Who can you recruit to help you make treats? 

Who can you share your treats with? 

12 Days of Christmas: Day 9...Give to People

Happy Ninth Day of Christmas!! When we give to others, the Bible reminds us to give secretly and without expecting rewards. Today's theme is giving to people. We remember the work Basil and Gregory did in defending the concept of the Trinity (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit). What kinds of gifts do we give to people? Our culture encourages us to spend money on tangible gifts, but with a focus on quantity and price instead of quality. Yet, we can give "costlier" gifts without spending a dime. We can give our time to people. We can give from our treasures. We can give memories written down or typed up. 

What is a non-commercialized gift you can give during the 12 Days of Christmas?

12 Days of Christmas: Day 8...Feast

Happy Eighth Day of Christmas!! On this day, we remember Mary's Song outlining God's response to the powerful and the powerless. Today's challenge is feasting with friends and family. After the fasting and waiting of Advent, we are in a period of feasting and celebrating for 12 days. Let us reflect on God's response to the powerful and the powerless. 

What are ways that you are the powerful? 

What are ways you are the powerless? 

How do you treat powerless people? (Think those who are homeless, seeking refugee/asylum, immigrating, poor, orphaned, widowed, strangers and foreigners.) 

How can you feast with those who are considered powerless in the world's eyes?