Verses For The Week

 Galatians 6:2 -- "Carry each other's burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ."

John 15:12 -- "My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you."

Empathy Is Not A Sin

      Lately, within conservative Christian circles, there has been a lot of talk about what they are calling the sin of empathy. The thinking goes that empathizing with someone who is doing something wrong is a way of condoning their actions. 

     What does the Bible say about empathy and whether or not it is a sin? First of all the Bible tells us in Romans 12:15 that we are to weep with those who weep and rejoice with those who rejoice. We are to feel their pain and their joy. We are to enter in to people's heartache and happiness because that is a way of understanding what a person is going through. It is putting ourselves in somebody else's shoes so to speak. Paul will tell us in the book of Galatians that we are to bear one another's burdens. 

     Now, what does Jesus have to say about all of this, and how is He our example? The very act of Incarnation is an act of empathy. God became man. He came to be with us and to feel and experience what we go through. Hebrews 4:15 tells us that Jesus was touched with the feelings of our infirmities. We are also told that He was tempted in all manners like we are. He understands what we are going through because He went through it Himself. 

     Jesus bore our sins in His body on the cross. He became sin for us even though He knew no sin. That, to me, is the ultimate act of identifying with the other. 

     If someone is going through a hard time, they don't need to hear us condemn them. They need our presence. They need us to understand how they feel. And that understanding helps to inform how we respond. Let us remember in everything we are to love our neighbor as ourselves. And we are to do unto others as we would have done to us. 

     Empathy is not a sin. It is feeling what someone else feels so that we can be present and be a help to those in need and to those in pain. 

Thoughts On Romans 13

      Right now with the protests that are going on in the US, there are religious leaders once again using Romans 13 as the basis to say that protesting non-violently against the government is wrong. They are saying that standing up against injustice to immigrants is wrong because of Romans 13 and Christians obeying the governing authorities. With this in mind I want to repost a section of a sermon I posted several years ago dealing with this. 

 Romans 13 is a misunderstood and misapplied teaching. This section of Scripture in verses 1 through 7 has been used by oppressive governments to try to keep people from standing up against governmental injustice. Recently in my country, this passage has been used to justify the excesses of our government.
     In Romans 13:1-7, Paul tells us that God has established governments. Paul says that those who rebel against the government are rebelling against God. We are told that all of the authorities that exist are established by God for the purpose of bringing order. The governing authorities are to provide safety, and they are to punish those who are doing wrong. Paul calls on people to obey the government. Christians are to pay their taxes and give honor to the governing authorities.
     First of all, let us look at what Paul is not saying in this passage. Paul is not saying that every leader has been put in power directly by God.  Some in my country say that God put the current president in office. President Trump, President Obama, President Bush, President Clinton, whatever president was elected by the free will of the voters. The Lord does have the power to immediately remove any world leader if He should so desire, but people elected the leaders. Paul is not saying that God directly put each leader in place by somehow abrogating people's free will.
    Paul is saying that government as an institution for order has been established by God. God has not chosen to let society be in anarchy.
    Paul is not saying that Christians are to obey their governmental authorities in every aspect. We have to interpret Scripture by Scripture, and there are many instances in the Bible where people resisted the evil commandments of rulers. Let's look at a few of these.
    In the book of Exodus, the Pharaoh of Egypt ordered all of the Hebrew babies to be killed. Moses' parents did not follow this order. They hid Moses and preserved him from death.
    When Jezebel ordered the death of the prophets of God, Obadiah took many of the prophets and hid them in a cave so that Jezebel could not find them and kill them.
     In the book of Daniel, Nebuchadnezzar ordered that every one bow down to the idol that he had made. Shadrach,  Meshach and Abednego would not bow down. Even when threatened with the fiery furnace, they would not obey the edict of the king and bow down to a false god.
    Daniel went ahead with his daily habit of praying to God even though ordered not to pray by the Persian emperor. Daniel was thrown into the lions den, but he would not violate his conscience.
    In the New Testament, Peter and John were boldly preaching the message of Jesus. They were arrested and commanded to no longer preach in the name of Jesus. Peter told the authorities that it is better to obey God than human beings.
     We know that Paul was well aware of these instances, so we know that Paul is not advocating a wholesale obedience to the government even when the government is commanding that evil be done or that Christians stop practicing their faith.
     There are examples from outside of the Bible when Christians stood up for the Lord and stood up against injustice. During the time of the early church, some of the Roman emperors demanded that all people including Christians acknowledge that Caesar was Lord. Many Christians would acknowledge no Lord except Jesus Christ, and they suffered martyrdom.
     During the time of the Nazi atrocities, there were people who would not turn in those who the Nazis were trying to kill. There were people who hid their Jewish friends and neighbors and helped them to escape the clutches of the Nazis.
     In my country, there were Christians who stood up for justice during the Civil Rights movement. They believed that discriminatory laws were wrong. They practiced non-violent civil disobedience in order to bring about change and to bring justice.
     Right now in my country, there are some local communities that have passed laws making it illegal to give food to the homeless people that are out on the streets. Some Christian groups who work with the homeless have chosen to go ahead and provide food to those who are hungry. Some have been ticketed by the local police, but they have chosen to continue to feed the hungry and clothe the naked just as Jesus wants us to do.
     As Christians, we are to first and foremost obey the Word of the Lord. If the government orders us to do something that God has told us in His Word not to do, we must obey God rather than human beings.
     Now, what is Paul actually saying in this passage. Paul is telling us that as Christians, we are to obey the governing authorities. Just because we know that Jesus is the true King and we are looking for a city whose builder and maker is God, we still live in this world. We are to be upstanding and law-abiding citizens. We are to pay our taxes and follow the laws. We aren't to be above the law.
    There are some Christians who believe that they are not obligated to follow any law that is not expressly found in the Bible. These people refuse to pay their taxes and they will not follow laws such as the speed limit or local zoning regulations.
    Paul is directly addressing this type of attitude. We are to obey the law as Christians. We are not above the law. However, if the governing authorities act in an evil manner, we as believers must stand in opposition to that. If we are told that we are to violate a direct law of God, we cannot do that. This is what Paul is trying to get across in this passage.
    Unfortunately, this passage of Scripture has been abused by those who want to get Christians to go along with the injustices and wickedness that governments are trying to promote. If we look at this passage in the way that it should be rightly interpreted, we see that it in no way is calling on Christians to remain silent in the midst of injustice.

The Weekend Sermon -- "Mark 1:14-15"

      I am glad to be able to post the sermon this week. The snow and storm in my area turned out not to be as bad as expected. Instead of 12 to 18 inches of snow, we received about six inches. It has been very cold though. There are many people in the US south and southeast that had a lot of ice, and the power is still out. We all need to pray that these folks get the aid and the help that they need. 

     Starting a couple of weeks back, we started a new series where we are going through the Gospel of Mark. I am taking my time with this series so that we can really get into the life and message of the Lord Jesus. 

     Last week, we saw that Jesus was baptized by John. Jesus was affirmed by the voice of the Father, and the Spirit in the form of a dove descended upon Him. At that point, Jesus was tempted in the wilderness in order to prepare for His time of public ministry. 

     In our text today, we see that when John the Baptist was thrown into prison by Herod, Jesus went up to Galilee to begin His public ministry. The Bible says that Jesus proclaimed the good news of God and that He told the people that the Kingdom or reign of God was near. He called on the people to repent and believe the good news.

     Let's look at the meaning of these first words of the Lord Jesus. He proclaimed the good news of God. The fact that He the Messiah had come into this world was good news. The old ways and the old structures of power based on evil and unrighteousness were coming to an end. People having to be trapped in sinfulness and guilt were coming to an end. Jesus had come to tell people that God loved them and cared about them. 

    Jesus also told people the Kingdom of God had come near. Jesus during the time of His earthly ministry was going to be telling people about God's way of doing things in this world. The values of the Kingdom of God are vastly different from the values of this world system of domination. We don't see it in the Gospel of Mark, but Matthew in the Sermon on the Mount and Luke in the Sermon on the Plain record Jesus' teachings in detail about the values of the Kingdom of God. The overriding values of God's Kingdom are love, peace, goodness and justice. 

     Jesus showed us in His work and through His words what God values and that is what we are to value and strive for as those who are the followers of the Lord. We don't follow the way of the world that teaches might makes right, and that teaches the ways of greed and oppression. In another passage, Jesus said that He had come to preach to the poor. He came to preach release to the captive, and He came to bind the brokenhearted. He came to preach love for one's enemies and to care more about others than we care about ourselves. Jesus came and preached a message of radical forgiveness and mercy. He told us to love God and love our neighbor. And He taught us to care about the least of these. These are the values of the Kingdom of God. 

     Repentance was a key theme in the message of Jesus. He called on people to leave behind their old way of thinking and embrace the Kingdom of God. That is what repentance means. It means to change one's mind. Jesus called on people to change their minds about God and to change their minds about what God wants for them in this world. 

     In His preaching, Jesus called on people to believe in the good news. He called on the people to repent of their sins and accept His love and forgiveness. Since He had come into the world, everything was changed. He was the light that had come into the world, and the darkness did not and will never overcome the glorious light of the Lord Jesus Christ. 

     The Lord Jesus is calling on us to repent and believe the good news today. We need to repent of our ways of oppression and violence. We need to repent of exploitation of the poor, and we need to repent of destruction of all that God has made. There are also many who need to repent of their sins and come to Jesus for salvation. They need to leave sin behind and accept Jesus as the Lord of their lives. Now as then, Jesus is ready to receive all those who come to Him in repentance and faith. I hope that you will come to Him and follow Him and do what He laid out today. Amen. 

Prayer Requests

     Please keep praying in regard to my health. I am doing better in some ways and not in others. Thank you. 

     Let us keep praying for those who are suffering as a result of natural disasters. Pray that they will get the aid and the help that they need. 

     Remember to keep praying for peace. I looked at a list of all the conflicts going on in the world right now, and it made me sick. Literally. Pray for peace in Ukraine, Israel, Gaza, Iran, Syria, Yemen, the Sahel region, Congo, Central African Republic, Somalia, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Myanmar, Haiti, Colombia, Venezuela. I am sure I left something off the list. Pray for peace. 

     About the situation in Minnesota. What a tragedy. Please pray that these aggressive ICE tactics will come to an end. Pray for the well being of those in this country who haven't hurt anyone and are just trying to make it in this world. Also pray for the families and friends of those who have been so needlessly killed in Minneapolis. 

     For our prayer focus countries this week, let us pray for those in the nations of Sierra Leone and Indonesia. Pray that many will hear and respond to the love of Jesus. 

     Next week, we will continue in Mark. I will post the verses on Tuesday. May God bless you all. 

Verses For The Week And An Update

 Update: I survived the big snowstorm. Others are having difficulties and need our prayers. Thank you for your prayers on my behalf. 

Here are the verses:

Hebrews 4:16 -- "Let us then approach God's throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need."

Matthew 6:14 -- "If you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you." 

The Weekend Sermon -- Mark 1:9-13

     It is time for the Weekend Sermon. Thank you all for taking the time to read the message this week. I hope and pray that you are all doing very well.

  

      For the last couple of weeks, we have been engaged in a series on the Gospel of Mark. The plan is to go chapter by chapter and verse by verse through this entire book of the Bible. 

      Last week, we looked at what Mark had to say about the ministry of John the Baptist. He was the one prophesied to be the forerunner of the Messiah. The Messiah was Jesus. John said that Jesus was mightier than he was, and He would baptize with the Holy Spirit. 

     In today's message, we are going to look at what are the beginnings of the ministry of Jesus according to Mark's account. In verse 9, we see that Mark tells us that Jesus went from Nazareth down to where John was baptizing and was baptized by John in the Jordan River. 

     Now, there are always those who ask why Jesus was baptized as He had no sin therefore He would not have needed a baptism of repentance as that was what John was performing. I believe that Jesus was baptized as it was His purpose to show us a perfect example of how we are to behave and what we are to do. Jesus was baptized in order to show us that we need to be baptized according to His later commandment that those who come to Him be baptized in the name of the Father, and the Son and the Holy Spirit. 

     Another reason that Jesus was baptized has to do with what we see in verses 10 and 11. When Jesus came up from the water, He saw the Heavens opened. At the same time, the Spirit in the form of a dove descended upon Him. The voice of the Father came from Heaven saying, "You are my Son whom I love, with You I am well pleased." 

     The baptism of Jesus was a visible proof with signs from the Father that Jesus was the Messiah. The Spirit came upon Jesus signifying that He was the Anointed One from God. Jesus was the Messiah prophesied of old. He had come to deliver His people. The power of the Holy Spirit was upon Him. Also, the Father signified that Jesus was the Son. This demonstrated that Jesus was divine as well as human. The Father said that the Son was pleasing unto Him. The Father verified the work of the Son. 

     Something else of great importance is shown to us in the baptism of Jesus. This is one of the great demonstrations of the veracity of the doctrine of the Trinity. At the baptism of Jesus we have the voice of the Father from Heaven. We have Jesus declared as the Son by the Father, and we see the Holy Spirit coming down in the form of a dove. Father, Son and Holy Spirit. 

     Now, after His baptism, the Spirit sent Jesus into the wilderness. While in the wilderness for 40 days and nights, Jesus prepared Himself for the mission that was ahead. Part of that preparation was the temptation by Satan. Mark doesn't go into detail about the temptations like some other Gospels do. However, we know that Jesus overcame and did not succumb to any temptation. 

     Jesus, by being tempted, demonstrated that He is the one who is without sin. He could truly be the Lamb of God to take away the sins of the world. Also, Jesus by being tempted was able to identify with us. He knew what it was truly like to be a human being. He knew and knows what we are going through that is why the Bible says that He is a great high priest who is touched by the feeling of our infirmities. 

     There is something else that I want to point out in this passage. Mark points out that Jesus was with the wild animals. I do not think that this is just a casual reference. When sin came into this world, all of the natural order was thrown into chaos. By saying that Jesus was with the wild animals, and they were obviously not harming Him, Mark was showing that Jesus is the one who brings redemption to the entire cosmic order. Jesus is the one who has come to set all things right and to return all things to the Edenic state. 

     After His time in the wilderness, Jesus was ready to enter His time of ministry. He set out to do what the Father had sent Him to do. Jesus came to redeem us. He invites you now to come to Him that you might have eternal life. Amen. 

Prayer Requests

     Please pray that the storms won't be bad. I am having a lot of health issues and I am concerned about all this cold and getting to work and just making it through in general to be quite honest. Thank you for your prayers. 

     Please keep praying for peace. This whole business with Greenland is ridiculous. Pray that there is no military invasion of Greenland. Also, pray for peace in Ukraine and Sudan. Israel and Gaza still need help and prayer. Syria needs our prayers. Keep praying about Venezuela. The world is a real mess right now. Pray that the leaders of this world will seek the ways of peace and the Lord's will. 

     Remember to keep praying that the flu and covid problems in the US will end. Also pray for an end to the measles outbreak in South Carolina. 

     For our prayer focus countries this week, let us pray for those in the nations of Mauritius and Kuwait. Pray that many will come to know Jesus. 

    Next week, we will continue in Mark. I will post the verses on Tuesday. May God bless you all. Keep praying. 

     

Prayer Request

     There is a big winter storm being forecast. Pray that it is not as bad as predicted. For my area, they are calling for cold and 3 or more inches of snow. Please pray that it is not that bad. Thank you.