Love is Greater than Faith

Posted on April 28, 2008 by Henry Neufeld

28For we determine that a person is made right by faith, without the works of the law. — Romans 3:28

13And now these three remain: Faith, Hope and Love. But the greatest of these is love. — 1 Corinthians 13:13 (TFBV)

An inattentive reader might almost conclude that these two verses were not written by the same author. In the first, one is made right with God (justified) by faith. What could possibly be more important and powerful than the means by which one becomes a child of God, avoids hell, and gains heaven? Surely faith is the crowning virtue! Whether they intend to or not, many Christians certainly speak as though faith was, in fact, the greatest. Some have called faith the greatest virtue, and its absence the greatest sin.

I started thinking about this passage after Lectionary at Lunch with Rev. Geoffrey Lentz (First UMC Pensacola), when he mentioned the interaction of the two verses today, Romans 3:28 and 1 Corinthians 13:13. I might have chosen quite a number of verses from Paul that emphasize faith as the means of our salvation. You can blame him for planting the seed, but the rest of this is my own; don’t blame him for it!

I believe Paul was quite serious about his statement in 1 Corinthians 13 that love is the greatest. In the modern world, when love is often treated as something cheap and empty, it is sometimes hard to make love the center of our belief, our preaching, and our practice. People make love, fall in love, overlook wrongdoing because of love, and indeed sometimes love another person to death. Yes, I know that’s an expression, but it is quite possible, when love is misunderstood, to quite literally love someone to death.

Read the whole of 1 Corinthians 13, however, and you will get a different picture of love. This isn’t the kind of love that you “make” or “fall in”, and I don’t mean that to disparage romantic love. In fact, I believe that one’s passionate love for one’s spouse is the greatest example of God’s passion for us that we have. But that passion is not a casual “making love.” People fall into and out of love every day. Sometimes it is the real, God-given passion. At other times it becomes just an expression. Our love for one another in marriage should be what Paul describes here, and so should our love for God.

But still, how can love be greater than faith, that is the means of bringing us to God in the first place? Well, I’ll give you a hint. I’m subtly misstating that, but in a way that I hear it misstated all the time.

Love is —

  1. The driving reason why God made salvation possible in the first place.
  2. The reason Jesus carried through his mission on the cross.
  3. The drawing force that brings us to the point of putting our faith in Christ.
  4. Expressed in the world through grace, which is accepted by faith.
  5. The goal to which our salvation leads, if we take seriously “God is love.”

Faith is an essential, it’s part of the package, but love is the package itself.

Should we be afraid to preach love? Not at all, though we must make sure that we preach a love that is worthy of the good news about (and brought by) Jesus Christ.

Three remain: Faith, hope, and love. Love is the greatest.

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Praying Together

Posted on April 25, 2008 by Henry Neufeld

14All of the disciples were devoting themselves to prayer together, along with some women, including Mary the mother of Jesus and with his brothers. — Acts 1:14

That’s a pretty unpretentious little bit of scripture! It doesn’t seem like there’s much there to build on.

But think about the situation. It has been a roller-coaster ride for the disciples. First they think Jesus is going to drive out the Romans and restore the kingdom. Then he’s arrested and crucified. Their hopes are dashed. But then again there are rumors he’s been resurrected. Finally they actually see him. So, as they ask in Acts 1:6, is it finally time to restore the kingdom? But no, it’s not, and Jesus goes away from them to heaven and leaves them standing there staring.

One of the critical things here is that they kept following a pretty strict and clear agenda of their own. They wanted to see Israel restored, right then, miraculously by Jesus. Their plan was that Jesus would take care of it. The problem was that they didn’t yet recognize just what the difference was between their agenda and that of Jesus.

But now they’re finally ready to get on the program—the one Jesus planned. So they start together, constantly devoting themselves to prayer, being together. The text suggests unanimity. Notice the different groups. There are the disciples who followed him, his mother who questioned him, and his brothers who had opposed him. There were also some unidentified women who had been following him as well. Luke likes to let us know that there were women involved.

They gather together and agree on one thing at least: Pray! So there they are praying.

How often would we be able to resolve problems in our congregations, families, and other groups if we would simply agree to pray together? Too often we have preconditions even to prayer. We want to figure out who has God’s ear before we go talk to God. But if we would just pray and trust God to do his work, think of the possibilities. Let God change other people. Don’t you try to do it.

How often would we discover the problems in our own agendas if we spent time in prayer and listening to God? The disciples had their agenda problems, and those needed to be solved before Pentecost. How did they do it? They gathered together and prayed.

Too often we want to imagine our way forward several steps before we’re willing to “just pray.” Don’t bother deciding how God has to solve the problem. Don’t ask who has God’s ear. Don’t put time limits on the results or social limits on who can participate.

Just pray. Together.

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Be Honest about your Enemies

Posted on April 24, 2008 by Henry Neufeld

1Let God arise and let his enemies scatter!
Let all those who hate him flee from him.
2Blow them away like smoke.
As wax melts before a fire,
so let the wicked perish before God.
3But let the righteous be joyful and rejoice,
Let them rejoice gladly before God! — Psalm 68:1-3

Do you ever feel like you need to sanitize your emotions? I think that many times we all fell like we have to pretend, or even convince ourselves that we have forgiven someone so that we can approach God properly in prayer. We know Jesus told us to love our enemies, we’re disciples, so we must be forgiving! We may even pretend that we have never been offended in the first place, such is the grace that we just know must be in our hearts.

The problem is that it’s a lot harder to actually feel that kind of grace than it is to pretend. Very often we go ahead and live with the pretending. Then we wonder why the problem keeps right on coming back.

You’ll never forgive if you don’t acknowledge that something wrong has been done. You’ll never come to love your enemies, if you don’t acknowledge how you felt about them when they were becoming your enemies or actually were your enemies.

I’m not advocating here letting your anger out by yelling or beating on something. I understand that psychologists these days don’t really believe that helps. I’m no psychologist, so I won’t argue with them. I do know that acknowledging a problem, any problem, is one step forward in a solution. An unacknowledged problem can never be solved.

The Psalms provide good material to use here. There are angry prayers and well as nice gentle ones. There are unforgiving prayers as well as forgiving ones. The one person you can safely tell precisely how you feel is God. He knows anyhow, and he can handle it.

So when you go to the Lord, if you’re wondering why he doesn’t scatter your enemies and provide a clear path for you, pray for it. Ask him to help. If you can’t forgive someone, tell God. You can say, “I’m trying but I can’t do it. Give me grace.” Then be gracious to yourself as well. You may not attain to saintly patience and forgiveness in one prayer. It may be that the next time you pray you have to tell God, “You know that person I wanted to forgive? Well, I still hate him, and can’t forgive. Help me!” And continue being gracious to yourself.

God is never surprised by human nature. He made it. He knows it. He understands it. He’s prepared to redeem it. Just acknowledge the need for redemption!

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Humility, Trust, Strength

Posted on April 23, 2008 by Henry Neufeld

6So humble yourselves under God’s mighty hand so that he may exalt you when the time is right. 7Throw all your worries on him, because he cares for you. — 1 Peter 5:6-7

I can’t resist mentioning how 1 Peter is one of my favorite books of the Bible. Folks who know me well laugh when I say that, because I have so many “favorite” passages, but 1 Peter is special.

One of our great weakness—no, let me be fully honest here—one of my great weaknesses is that I don’t like to go through all the processes that are required to get to a goal. I like to get there, and I like to get there now. I do hear the same sentiment from others, however. Why do I have to go through all these experiences? Why can’t God just make everything right and do it now?

Well, he could, but he won’t, because he loves me too much. I’m interested in my comfort. God is interested in my soul and in my character. I want to be exalted. God wants to make me a person he can safely exalt.

Notice the order of events in our text. You humble yourself, so that God may exalt you in his season. I don’t usually do Greek words in these devotionals, but many of you will probably have heard this one. The word I have translated “when the time is right” is kairos, God’s season or appointed time. I must humble myself indefinitely. The exaltation comes at God’s choosing. But in the meantime I’m under the mighty hand of God.

Being under the mighty hand of God is itself a humbling experience. Look again at verse 7. It’s a very comforting text. God cares for me. I can give him all my worries. Precious promise!

But my flesh rebels at it, because, deep inside (and sometimes not so deep) I don’t want to give God my problems. I want to solve them myself. I want to be able to look back and say, “Look what I did! It’s all me! I fixed it!”

God says “No. Give all your problems to me. Humble yourself. Put things in my hand. When it’s time for you to be the glorious problem solver, I’ll let you know! When? Don’t call me, I’ll call you.”

I experienced this in the early hours this morning. I woke up worrying. It was earlier than I usually get up. I won’t say precisely when, but since I’m usually up by 5 or 5:30 am, you can guess. I couldn’t get back to sleep. I was worried about a problem. Finally I got up and headed to work. On my computer, in the stuff I normally check first thing in the morning, was the totally unexpected solution to my problem.

My worrying about it, thinking about it, and planning solutions had done not one thing toward the solution. “Humble yourself,” says God, “and let me do the solving.”

7Throw all your worries on him, because he cares for you. — 1 Peter 5:7

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A Very Special Spiritual Test

Posted on April 22, 2008 by Henry Neufeld

1Loved ones, don’t believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God. For many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2In this way you can know the spirit of God. Every spirit that confesses that Jesus has come in the flesh is from God, 3but every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. And this is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard will come, and now is in the world already. 4You are from God, children, and you have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world. 5They are of the world. Because of this they speak what comes from the world, and the world listens to them. 6We are from God. The one who knows God hears us. Whoever is not from God does not hear us. From this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of deceit. — 1 John 4:1-6 (TFBV) [Emphasis mine]

This passage provides us with the most common test of spiritual matters in the Bible. It’s a good test. Often it has been limited to asking what a spirit or demon might say. Can it tell us that Jesus has come in the flesh? But that’s not the point of this passage.

There’s one thing at the center of the Christian faith: God is present with us in a very special way through the incarnation. God became a human being and lived right here (John 1:14). It’s easy to miss this. There are so many things you can say about Jesus that are good, but not good enough.

  • He was a great teacher—indeed he was, but he was more than that.
  • He was divine—yes, but he was also fully human.
  • He was a good man—yes, but he was also God.
  • He was a healer—yes, but he was God who came here to heal us.

I could go on and on (and often do!), but you may see my point by continuing through the underlined passages. John tells us that we are from God. Why? Because of Jesus. God is living in us. The one who is in us is greater than the one who is in the world. Why? Because of Jesus.

Imagine God’s great love that caused him to come and live as we must live, and then die here on earth! I have heard this compared to one of us becoming an ant, for example, to save some ants from destruction. But it is so much greater a distance than that.

And how does one test the spirits? Do they understand and confess God’s love displayed by coming in the flesh, coming as a human being in order to save us? There are so many doctrinal and intellectual tests we could go through, but here we’re presented with a living doctrine, one that impacts us right at the heart of it all.

There’s a scene in one episode of The West Wing in which a Christian Chinese refugee meets President Bartlett, who questions him about his faith. Bartlett asks the Chinese pastor to name the apostles, which he does, but then he tells him that the Christian faith isn’t about naming apostles. We’re saved by faith. In many ways, we can say that we’re saved by truly realizing just how much God loves us.

Do you confess that Jesus has come in the flesh and lives in you through the Holy Spirit?

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Standing and Staring

Posted on April 21, 2008 by Henry Neufeld

10And while they were staring into the sky as he was going, two men suddenly stood with them in white clothing. 11They said, “Galileans! Why are you standing looking into the sky? This Jesus who has been taken from you into heaven will return in the same way that you have seen him go into heaven.” — Acts 1:10-11

I’m sure we have all experienced some danger and disruption as we pass an accident scene or emergency vehicles. Drivers will inevitably be looking over the scene to see what happened, and their attention will be taken from what they’re supposed to be doing. You might here someone say, “It was like a train wreck. I didn’t want to watch, but I just had to!”

Sometimes it’s a good place in our lives or in our travels. There’s a wonderful overlook at Crater Lake in Oregon. When you walk out there, you are just awestruck by the scene. It’s hard to leave. Can you really go back to a city after you’ve seen such beauty? I’m sure each of us has their place and their moment when you were at a place you just couldn’t leave.

As you see each of those moments, your time at each of those places slipping away, you wish you could just hang on a little bit longer and keep that feeling for another moment. But inevitably the “perfect” times slip away.

The disciples found themselves in just such a place. Jesus had been with them for most likely a little over three years. They thought they’d lost him at the crucifixion, but then, beyond their fondest dreams, he came back and was with them again. Now they see him go away. It’s spectacular. It’s special. Is it any wonder the disciples stand there just staring at the sky?

The two men, clearly angels, have a message for them. He’s coming back the same way. That was a good reminder because the disciples knew that they had a task to do. So when the men were gone they got moving again.

How is it with your spiritual life? Have you been caught gazing up into the sky, looking for the thing that has already passed? Are you standing on the last place you saw Jesus or felt his Spirit and hoping he’ll come do it again if you just don’t move? If so, it’s natural. We like to go back to places where our spirits have been fed. We like to stay there when possible.

But ask yourself whether Jesus hasn’t given you some directions, some places you’re supposed to go, people to meet, things to do! He probably has. He’s not limited by the place or the time. He doesn’t want you to be either.

So is it standing and staring, or going, doing, and finding more?

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No Eye Has Seen

Posted on April 18, 2008 by Jody Neufeld

“No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him” – BUT God has revealed it to us by his Spirit. 1 Corinthians 2:9-10 (NIV, my emphasis)

So often when we think of the ‘perks’ of being a disciple of Jesus – we think of His words in John 10: “I have come that they may have LIFE – and have it ABUNDANTLY” (NRSV v. 10 my emphasis) And my usual interpretation of this verse brings me to thinking in terms of THIS life and the financial and abundance of THINGS and STUFF that I would like to have or be able to do. Jesus’ words are … WONDERFUL. HOPEFUL. A PROMISE. But it’s not about money and big houses and long vacations. It’s about the EXTRAORDINARY LIFE that God – my Father – wants to give to me, His daughter. I’m wishing for a skateboard for my next birthday and my Father wants to give me a personal jet! I’m complaining and feeling sorry for myself because I don’t have a skateboard and my Father is waiting to teach me how to fly so I can have the jet!

Jesus said that loving God with all that I am and loving myself and others are the greatest commandments. (Matthew 22:37-40) He also said that I am to go and make disciples. So how do these to basic commands connect with an abundant life?

It’s true that I don’t have much financially. Because of my Father – I am already rich. I have a husband who loves God more than me. All my biological children and the many children of my heart love God more than me. We will spend all eternity together. That’s rich. That’s an abundant life. I could have nothing else to ‘count’ and I would be rich.

Paul says that I can’t even CONCEIVE (imagine, envision, visualize, conjure up) what God has ALREADY prepared for me! He so knows me that He knows already the ‘best of the best’ that He could have waiting for me! He gives me glimpses of what it is: in the faces of those I love, in the giggle of my grandchildren, in His creation – a kitten, the Aurora Borealis, an orca whale, a rose, a soldier, Niagara Falls. His Spirit speaks to me and says, “Look! Look, Jody, look at what I made for you to see today! That’s just a glimpse of what is to come for you!”

11 You are the only one who knows what is in your own mind, and God’s Spirit is the only one who knows what is in God’s mind.
12 But God has given us his Spirit. That’s why we don’t think the same way that the people of this world think. That’s also why we can recognize the blessings that God has given us.
13 Every word we speak was taught to us by God’s Spirit, not by human wisdom. And this same Spirit helps us teach spiritual things to spiritual people.
14 That’s why only someone who has God’s Spirit can understand spiritual blessings. Anyone who doesn’t have God’s Spirit thinks these blessings are foolish. 1 Corinthians 2:11-14 (CEV)

Oh, my friends. Let us stop today and just allow our Father to love us and show us …something. Let us be expectant and keep our eyes open for just that … something … that God wants to show us. The world may be bashing us and life here is tough but God is STILL on the only throne that is eternal and the ruler of the only Kingdom that can not be destroyed. Let us live our abundant life.

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Observing and Thinking

Posted on April 17, 2008 by Henry Neufeld

23“As I was coming up here and observing the objects associated with your worship, I saw an altar inscribed: ‘To the unknown god.’ This one whom you worshiped unknowing, is the very one I proclaim to you.” — Acts 17:23

There are so many things I can be thinking about as I go from one place to another. My most recent cell phone has an ear piece with which I am not entirely comfortable, but which nonetheless allows me to talk on the phone while I drive. So I can occupy the time taken traveling from here to there by talking to people. But when I’m not doing that, it is time to think.

How do I occupy such time? How do you?

Is it with worrying? I know that too often I rework financial numbers in my head. I have this unfortunate feature in my memory that allows me to remember numbers with horrible certainty whilst forgetting people’s faces and even the place to which I’m going. I remember zip codes from decades ago. So I can think about those numbers. Does it do any good? None whatsoever! The numbers will remain the same no matter what I do. Jesus said something about not being able to add a cubit to your height. Well, worrying won’t add a dollar to my bank account.

Then there’s people and my various dealings with them. There’s always plenty to complain about in the world, and there’s always somebody who has been annoying. I can occupy my time driving, or walking the dog, or waiting for someone by rehashing these events and getting angrier and angrier. But of course, that won’t do anybody any good either, and it will do me considerable harm.

I can also think about writing, such as these devotionals. Now this can be profitable at certain times, but not at others. In fact, you will sometimes find me inattentive and seemingly lost. You might have a hard time getting my attention. What am I doing? I’m probably composing some document in my head. In that you can see the downside. When I’m doing that, people and events can pass me by without notice. Do I miss the most important things, the things God really wants me to see?

Paul in our passage tells about a walk to a place where he could preach. I translated it “up” because that is where it is. I’ve stood there on Mars Hill and looked out over the city. But rather than composing his sermon, Paul is looking for the thing that will let him communicate with the Athenians. He finds it, too. An altar, doubtless not the most significant looking, is inscribed “to the unknown god.” And Paul has his hook.

What are you thinking about? What are you looking for? Are you open to the Holy Spirit guiding you to that one point, that one characteristic, that one hook that will let you help someone along the path of life?

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How to Die

Posted on April 16, 2008 by Henry Neufeld

54But when they heard these things they became infuriated and ground their teeth against him. 55But being full of the Holy Spirit, he lifted up his eyes to heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at God’s right hand. 56And he said, “Look! I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at God’s right hand!” 57But they cried out with a loud voice and blocked their ears and swarmed at him together. 58And they threw him out of the city and stoned him. And the witnesses put their cloaks at the feet of a young man named Saul. 59And they stoned Stephen as he called out and said, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” 60Then he fell to his knees and cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, Don’t hold this sin against them.” When he had said this, he died. — Acts 7:54-60

Stephen gives us an outline of the right way to die. Now many of you may be thinking that you don’t particularly want to know how to die, and you don’t plan to get there very soon. But all of us will get there sooner or later, and it’s a good idea to know how to do it. But even more importantly, the way you’re going to die will have something to do with the way you live.

One of the things Jesus came to rescue us from was the fear of death (Hebrews 2:14-18). Why don’t we have to fear death? For precisely the same reason that we don’t have to fear life. God is with us all the way!

So what does Steven show us about dying:

  1. He died being God’s witness. The thing that made these folks angry was the testimony that Stephen was giving.
  2. He died filled with the Holy Spirit. He was able to know what God wanted him to know and see what God wanted him to see, because the Holy Spirit filled him.
  3. He died with his eyes heavenward, on Jesus. Think about it! He’s surrounded by people who want to kill him and he doesn’t look at them, or seek ways to get away. He’s looking at Jesus!
  4. He died forgiving those who hurt him. Like Jesus, it wasn’t people who asked forgiveness, it was people who were in the process of hurting him that he forgave.
  5. He died on his knees in prayer.
  6. He died trusting his life to God.

Now go back through the list, and replace each “he died” with “he lived.” Do you see what’s going on?

The way we live is the way we will die. If God is with us, we have nothing to fear in either case.

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Changing Your Picture

Posted on April 15, 2008 by Henry Neufeld

7But we have this treasure in clay pots, so that this overflowing power might clearly be from God and not from us. 8We are afflicted but not finished off, at a loss but not despondent, 9persecuted but not abandoned, thrown to the ground but not destroyed. 10We always carry around the death of Jesus in our bodies so that the life of Jesus may be revealed there also. — 2 Corinthians 4:7-10

There’s a simple fact of life in the world of men and women. Men tend to leave toilet seats up; women like them left down. Of such profound thoughts can good spiritual growth be made.

I’ve been married now for going on nine years, and I haven’t attained toilet seat perfection. I’m “going on toward perfection” but I have yet to attain. The way I think of it is that I am doing much better than I did when we were first married. Jody, on the other hand, still remembers largely the times I left the seat up.

Don’t blame her, and guys, don’t blame it on the fact that she’s a woman. That trick of memory is something that applies to all of us and it can rule over our vision. It filters our view of the universe. If we don’t take it in hand, it can be the thing that holds us back.

Here it is: We tend to remember the things that fit into the picture we already have. It’s very hard for me to cease being the guy who leaves the toilet seat up, because I established that picture in my wife’s mind first. Changing it requires more than getting a little better.

More importantly, you will remember the things about yourself and your situation that fit into the picture of yourself that you have. If you see yourself as a loser or a failure, your losses will continue to stick in your mind. If you think you’re mediocre or ordinary, you may never notice the extraordinary things about yourself. It’s hard to change your picture of yourself or of the folks around you. You just keep on confirming whatever you thought in the first place.

Yesterday I talked about pain and trouble, and how we have a reality of being clay pots, broken vessels, in and of ourselves, but this weakness allows Jesus to live in us and us in Jesus, and God gets the credit. You can use that picture in at least two ways. If your life has had a great deal of trouble in it, you can decide that you’re in your natural state, that your natural state is OK, and you’re going to see lots of evidence that you’re right.

But that’s not what you need to carry away from this verse. In the inexpensive, fragile clay pot is treasure, and the pot is the vessel got chose to contain the treasure. You need to change the picture by changing what you see. Are you afflicted (but strong in Christ) or are you finished off? Are you on the ground (from the world’s point of view) or are you actually destroyed? Are you persecuted (but faithful), or are you actually abandoned?

If you have built an image of yourself as afflicted, thrown down to the ground, and persecuted, then you will see lots of things to support that view. If, on the other hand, you have joined Christ in his death, then you will also be living with him his life, and you’re going to see lots of things to confirm that instead!

One aspect of becoming a new creature in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17) is completely altering the picture into which you fit your observations of the world. If you do that, you will be amazed at how different things look!

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