June 26, 2016

“Now the works of the flesh are obvious: fornication, impurity, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, anger, quarrels, dissensions, factions, envy, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these. I am warning you, as I warned you before: those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. By contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against such things. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also be guided by the Spirit.” Galatians 5:19-25

Do you still think that the works of the flesh are so obvious to people? Many of the “works” that are mentioned are just the way that people interact with others in this world. In Paul’s thinking, all parts of the body constitutes the totality of “Flesh” – and within flesh, sin resides – nothing good resides in the flesh.

And then the text says, “In contrast…” – or in other words, the opposite of works of the flesh are works of the Spirit. And the first work of the Spirit that is listed is love. One commentary suggested that the list of 9 “Fruits” could also be listed as “Love:”, with a colon – and then with the other 8 defining what love is. Now that is an interesting way of looking at the “Fruits of the Spirit”. I have talked in the past about the “Fruits…” – that they are not nine separate fruits, but one fruit known in nine expressions. This then would help us see the “Fruits..” as a single unit. Love is the beginning of how we are to live – and when we have love, that love is defined with joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. It can almost be read in a similar way as we understand 1 Corinthians 13: “Love is patient, love is kind, love is not jealous…” and so on.

It seems to me, as a humble pastor, that maybe G-d is saying something to us. Maybe, G-d is telling us we are to focus less on fleshy passions and activities, and focus more on love. That perhaps love is that important – in all relationships – especially our relationship with G-d. And perhaps the more we focus on loving each other the less we may feel it necessary to worry about things like “…strife, jealousy, anger, quarrels, dissensions, factions, envy, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these.” And, maybe we also will find that our relationships are just a little better – especially our relationship with G-d.

Pastor Dave

June 25, 2016

“When the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem. And he sent messengers ahead of him. On their way they entered a village of the Samaritans to make ready for him; but they did not receive him, because his face was set toward Jerusalem. When his disciples James and John saw it, they said, “Lord, do you want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them?” But he turned and rebuked them. Then they went on to another village. As they were going along the road, someone said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.” And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.” To another he said, “Follow me.” But he said, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.” But Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead; but as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.” Another said, “I will follow you, Lord; but let me first say farewell to those at my home.” Jesus said to him, “No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.” Luke 9:51-62

Now and Laters are bite-size pieces of taffy that last a long time… some for now and some for later. Kids went wild when, in 1962, the Phoenix Candy Company came out with the Now and Later bar. Each Now and Later bar consisted of several individually wrapped taffy squares, and the bars were available in close to fourteen flavors. The name was selected to suggest to customers that they eat some of the taffy squares in the bar right away and save the rest for another occasion. The Phoenix Company goes back to 1919, when a little candy company in Brooklyn, New York, was turning out penny saltwater taffy. In 1953, the company became the Phoenix Candy Company, which struck gold with its popular product.
The candy brand has been owned and made by several companies between that time and today, featuring Beatrice Foods, Hershey, Farley & Sather’s Candy and currently by the Ferrara Candy Company.” (Wikipedia)

Some for now and some for later. Almost sounds like the responses that Jesus got from people he asked to follow him. Some, like the disciples followed immediately – Jesus said “Now” and they responded “Now!”. But for others, Jesus said “Now”, and they said “No, Later!” They wanted to follow but they had other things to do, so they wanted to put it off until later. Of those who came up with excuses, Jesus made that famous quote “No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of G-d”. Or, in other words, there is no way anyone can move forward while they are looking back. Oh, you can, but the chances of getting off track are extremely great.

Jesus was looking for disciples who would work for the kingdom, but not for disciples who put other priorities first. And yes, we all have other priorities in our lives that will take our focus and our time away from kingdom work. And not all of us can drop everything and follow Jesus like the disciples. But we all can put more time into following, and less time into making excuses.

Pastor Dave