DAY 212 - For Richer, For Poorer

Luke 6:20-26 (NIV)  ²⁰ Looking at his disciples, he said: “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. ²¹ Blessed are you who hunger now, for you will be satisfied. Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh. ²² Blessed are you when people hate you, when they exclude you and insult you and reject your name as evil, because of the Son of Man. ²³ “Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, because great is your reward in heaven. For that is how their ancestors treated the prophets. ²⁴ “But woe to you who are rich, for you have already received your comfort. ²⁵ Woe to you who are well fed now, for you will go hungry. Woe to you who laugh now, for you will mourn and weep. ²⁶ Woe to you when everyone speaks well of you, for that is how their ancestors treated the false prophets.

Blessed are you, how fortunate you are, what a good life you will have when you are poor, hungry, crying your eyes out, and everyone is criticizing you. Do you believe that? Does it even make any sense to you? Some of us talk about the “good old days” when we were poor and struggling and how good life was. We say that, but very few of us want to go back there. Poverty is a much better memory than it is a reality.

Blessed are the poor … and woe to those who have basically everything they need. How unfortunate it is for them. Blessed are the poor who are living in conditions that are contrary to God’s will. For God will deliver them from those conditions and from that mind set. Woe to those who are rich who are betting their time and energy that money will make them blessed. Blessed are the poor who are kings in beggar’s clothes. Woe to the rich who are like the king who wore no clothes.

God has the same desire for the poor and the rich, that neither the plight of poverty nor the prison of wealth will deprive them of life in the kingdom. To live in the kingdom of God is to live with an awareness of God, that we have been delivered from the dark forces around and folly within. To live in the kingdom is to have the inner conviction that we matter to God. To live in the kingdom is to regularly be brought back to the way of life God wants us to have.

Blessed are the poor for I am bringing them to kingdom of God. Woe to the rich who let wealth come between themselves and life and the kingdom. So what can we do that we might be released form the pitfalls of poverty and the problems of wealth. Nothing. And that is hard to deal with. Jesus does not dwell on our wrongs nor urge more effort of obedience. He announces facts. Poverty cannot keep people from the good life in the kingdom, and wealth can be a barrier to the good life in the kingdom. Blessed are you even when you are poor and everything goes wrong in your life, for none of this can keep you from life in the kingdom, and woe, woe to you when you no longer see and realize how blessed you are.

From a sermon preached by Henry Dobbs Pope February 11, 2001

© Rhonda Hinkle Mitchell

DAY 211 - Caught by the Catch

Luke 5:1-11 (NIV)  ¹ One day as Jesus was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret, the people were crowding around him and listening to the word of God. ² He saw at the water’s edge two boats, left there by the fishermen, who were washing their nets. ³ He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little from shore. Then he sat down and taught the people from the boat. ⁴ When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch.” ⁵ Simon answered, “Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets.” ⁶ When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break. ⁷ So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them, and they came and filled both boats so full that they began to sink. ⁸ When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’ knees and said, “Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!” ⁹ For he and all his companions were astonished at the catch of fish they had taken, ¹⁰ and so were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, Simon’s partners. Then Jesus said to Simon, “Don’t be afraid; from now on you will fish for people.”

Are you doing with your life what God has called you to do? It can be disturbing, so disruptive to our life. Each person is called in a unique way, such as in the incident near the Sea of Galilee. Simon and his friends had been out fishing all night without much luck and Jesus asked Simon if He could use the front of Simon’s boat as a kind of speaker’s platform. Simon was glad to help, it was his nature to want to help. But then Jesus told Simon to push out into deep water and let down the nets for a catch. Simon responded that they had worked hard all night and not caught anything. But,  because you say so I will let down the nets. It was no sooner said than done and a huge haul of fish filled the nets past their capacity. Peter was caught by the catch, but then made a strange remark. Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!

How do we describe that response? At that time Simon Peter’s reaction was much like Moses who asked who am I to do this thing you ask of me, or like Isaiah’s response, woe is me for I am a man of unclean lips. Depart from me. Go away from me. But Jesus did not depart. Rather, He told Simon He would show him how to catch people. How many of us have heard God speak that word to us? I am going to make your life fruitful and worthwhile. I will make you. I will make something of your life. I will make something worthwhile and fruitful.

We live in a time of blossoming spiritualities that look kindly upon Jesus as a good teacher, but not as a Savior who died for us and not as a Lord who asks for our complete trust and obedience. I will make your life fruitful and worthwhile by giving you the responsibility, the power and the wisdom to bring people to me. I will make you become the kind of person that attracts people to me. I will make you, beyond the level of reason. There is the unexplained experience that it is important to bring people to Jesus.

From a sermon preached by Henry Dobbs Pope February 4, 2001

© Rhonda Hinkle Mitchell

DAY 210 - Yes, But…

Jeremiah 1:5-10 (The Message)  ⁵"Before I shaped you in the womb, I knew all about you. Before you saw the light of day, I had holy plans for you: A prophet to the nations—that's what I had in mind for you." ⁶But I said, "Hold it, Master God! Look at me. I don't know anything. I'm only a boy!" ^7-8God told me, "Don't say, 'I'm only a boy.' I'll tell you where to go and you'll go there. I'll tell you what to say and you'll say it. Don't be afraid of a soul. I'll be right there, looking after you." God's Decree.  ^9-10God reached out, touched my mouth, and said, "Look! I've just put my words in your mouth—hand-delivered! See what I've done? I've given you a job to do among nations and governments—a red-letter day! Your job is to pull up and tear down, take apart and demolish, And then start over, building and planting."

Have you felt it? Have you felt God’s call to your life as it comes to Jeremiah? Jeremiah’s peace of mind and his desire to mind his own business is shattered by the call of God. But, before God calls Jeremiah to do anything, God reminds him I have known you. I have known you in the nudity of your body and of your spirit. I have known your character, defects and all. I consecrated you. You are special to me, you matter to me. Your success or failure is not going to change that. And, I have appointed you. I have special plans for your life. Fulfilling that plan may be hard, but you will also have the great pleasure of serving me.

When the call of God came to Isaiah, he said “here I am, Lord, send me.” But Jeremiah was not like Isaiah. He questioned. He excused. Jeremiah resisted the call of God. He could have done worse and dismissed the call of God.

It is one thing to resist God’s call and quite another to dismiss it. God says, no excuses. God will win, but not by force. We can struggle as hard as we want. We can struggle as long as we want to. But, there is something to be said for letting go, for finally giving in to God’s call. For it is in acceptance that clarity and conviction come. It is in acceptance that we develop sensitivity to the voice of God in our thoughts and the midst of the daily routine. It is in acceptance that we become aware of the hand of God engineering our circumstances. It is in acceptance that we develop the habit of yielding over to God those things we cannot change and we accept responsibility to change the things God calls us to.

I am too young. I am too old. I am too busy. I am too tired. And raising children is a fulltime job. And I have to pay the bills. Sometimes there are good reasons for our excuses. And, who really wants to be the troubler of Israel, or of our society or of our church or of our family?

Your job is to pull up and tear down, take apart and demolish.  In our world we do not want to give up that we might gain. But, before there was a resurrection there was a cross. The message is not the ending but a paving of the way for a new beginning to start.

From a sermon preached by Henry Dobbs Pope January 28, 2001

© Rhonda Hinkle Mitchell

DAY 209 - Signs of the Glory of God

John 2:1-11 (NIV) ¹ On the third day a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee. Jesus’ mother was there, ² and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. ³ When the wine was gone, Jesus’ mother said to him, “They have no more wine.”  ⁴ “Woman why do you involve me?” Jesus replied. “My hour has not yet come.” ⁵ His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.” ⁶ Nearby stood six stone water jars, the kind used by the Jews for ceremonial washing, each holding from twenty to thirty gallons. ⁷ Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water”; so they filled them to the brim.  ⁸ Then he told them, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet.” They did so, ⁹ and the master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine. He did not realize where it had come from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew. Then he called the bridegroom aside ¹⁰ and said, “Everyone brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink; but you have saved the best till now.” ¹¹What Jesus did here in Cana of Galilee was the first of the signs through which he revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him.

Glory is a moment of revelation when God seems to push aside the veils that hide God from us and we see and sense God’s presence. The glory of God might come to us as to Moses in the Burning Bush, or as to Isaiah in the Temple, or as to the world in the person of Jesus Christ. John says that God lived in this person Jesus who turned the water into wine. God’s glory is seen clearly, completely, and truthfully in the person Jesus.

Do not get distracted by the person on the curb who is holding a sign saying Jesus turned the water into grape juice because He is against drinking. Do not get distracted by the sign on the other side of the street that says Jesus turned the water into wine and we have a right to drink if we want to. Don’t let some of these signs in our society and possibly in our minds distract us.

The Greek literally says the wine failed. If we glance back over our shoulder we can see where John was coming from and see what the wine says about the God we see in Jesus. But, we may not be interested in seeing what the wine says about Jesus if we are still sipping on the wine of achievement, the sweet wine of a relationship, the wine of money, the wine of good health, the wine of self-sufficiency.  We live in a connoisseur world that offers us a wide variety of wines to drink from. We live in a time when many people are turning to spirituality, but not to Jesus. To many today, Jesus looks simply like one more failed wine.

What do we do when the wine of life fails us? Put Jesus to the test. Listen to Mary, the mother of Jesus who says do whatever He tells you. Do the next right thing you think Christ may be calling you to do. This is not a call to heroic or sacrificial obedience. Do whatever He tells you. Make the phone call, send the email, take a moment, stop, ask God, and pray. Do whatever He says and see if Jesus turns the water into wine.

From a sermon preached by Henry Dobbs Pope January 14, 2001

© Rhonda Hinkle Mitchell

DAY 208 - The Good News of God’s Judgment

Luke 3:15-22 (NIV)  ¹⁵ The people were waiting expectantly and were all wondering in their hearts if John might possibly be the Messiah. ¹⁶ John answered them all, “I baptize you with water. But one who is more powerful than I will come, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. ¹⁷ His winnowing fork is in his hand to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his barn, but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.” ¹⁸ And with many other words John exhorted the people and proclaimed the good news to them. ¹⁹ But when John rebuked Herod the tetrarch because of his marriage to Herodias, his brother’s wife, and all the other evil things he had done, ²⁰ Herod added this to them all: He locked John up in prison. ²¹ When all the people were being baptized, Jesus was baptized too. And as he was praying, heaven was opened ²² 

and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.” 

I am not sure we all need to hear John preach before we hear Jesus, but I am sure that when we have heard John preach we are ready to hear Jesus. God’s judgment is not a judgment of misfortune. God’s judgment is acceptance of the fact that Jesus died for us. And, in accepting that fact, it is as if God reaches down through the stuff of our life and pulls us up into the light of God’s love.

When we are beaten down by the circumstances of life, when people around us misunderstand us, when we are not cared for by the people we care for the most, when we are disappointed or have failed, does God seem to be indifferent? Sometimes God has to penetrate the appearance of things to bring His message of love to our soul. Either way, God is seeking us out to give us proof positive that He is real.

How many of us want clarity of conviction that gives peace of heart and a steady pace to our life? Baptism is the claim of God’s call upon our life. We cannot force this clarity of conviction from God, but Luke implies that prayer has something to do with it. Prayer seems to be the way we prepare ourselves to hear that voice. It is the way we cultivate our conscious to recognize God’s claim and to act upon it.

As Luke unfolds the life of Jesus, Jesus is constantly prepared by prayer. Jesus begins His work not simply because He is supposed to but because He is moved to by conviction within. Baptism is a visible way that God declares our belongingness to Him. It is a confirmation of His commitment to us, and that He has a plan and a purpose for our life.

From a sermon preached by Henry Dobbs Pope January 7, 2001

© Rhonda Hinkle Mitchell

DAY 207 - Spiritual Gifts

I Corinthians 12:1-7 (NIV) ¹ Now about the gifts of the Spirit, brothers and sisters, I do not want you to be uninformed. ² You know that when you were pagans, somehow or other you were influenced and led astray to mute idols. ³ Therefore I want you to know that no one who is speaking by the Spirit of God says, “Jesus be cursed,” and no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit.  ⁴ There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. ⁵ There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. ⁶ There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work.  ⁷ Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good.

If we have ever wondered about what God is calling us to do, or how Christ is calling us to serve, we are not left to wonder and to wander. When God calls us to serve, God calls us according to the spiritual gift given to us. In seeking to answer God’s call to serve we must become aware of our giftedness. It should be fairly easy to know our spiritual gifts. Our gift is found in doing what we delight in doing. When we serve according to our spiritual gifts we are not simply doing what we ought to do, we are doing what we were created to do. The gifts are given for the common good, and the people of the community can help us recognize our spiritual gifts.

When we surrender and let go of what we want or what we think is best, when we surrender the situation into God’s hands we begin asking what God would have us to do. It is important that we raise up a sense of call out of the business of our lives, out of the day to day ordinariness of our lives, even out of our sense of responsibility that motivated us to accept a responsibility in the first place. We can get worn out in using our gifts. We still need balance between serving and rest so that if get worn out we do not get burned out.

In Corinth, the mystery religions were popular. The mystery religions promised that if you went through their secret, sacred ritual you would experience a spiritual ecstasy of pleasure and that experience would make a special, very religious person. So, Paul writes to inform them. Now about the gifts of the Spirit, brothers and sisters, I do not want you to be uninformed. Each one is given a spiritual gift that can be used to help the whole church. A spiritual gift helps other people experience the presence and ministry of Jesus. Each person has a piece of the puzzle. As we each contribute our piece, the presence and power of Jesus is effective in the congregation and community. Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good.

From a sermon preached by Henry Dobbs Pope October 8, 2000

© Rhonda Hinkle Mitchell

DAY 206 - Grumbling and Gratitude

Matthew 20:1-16 (NIV) ¹ “For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard. ² He agreed to pay them a denarius for the day and sent them into his vineyard. ³ “About nine in the morning he went out and saw others standing in the marketplace doing nothing. ⁴ He told them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.’ ⁵ So they went. “He went out again about noon and about three in the afternoon and did the same thing. ⁶ About five in the afternoon he went out and found still others standing around. He asked them, ‘Why have you been standing here all day long doing nothing?’ ⁷ “‘Because no one has hired us,’ they answered. “He said to them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard.’ ⁸ “When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Call the workers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last ones hired and going on to the first.’  ⁹ “The workers who were hired about five in the afternoon came and each received a denarius. ¹⁰ So when those came who were hired first, they expected to receive more. But each one of them also received a denarius. ¹¹ When they received it, they began to grumble against the landowner. ¹² ‘These who were hired last worked only one hour,’ they said, ‘and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the work and the heat of the day.’ ¹³ “But he answered one of them, ‘I am not being unfair to you, friend. Didn’t you agree to work for a denarius? ¹⁴ Take your pay and go. I want to give the one who was hired last the same as I gave you. ¹⁵ Don’t I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?’ ¹⁶ “So the last will be first, and the first will be last.”

Does the feeling of gratitude come easy, or is it rare? Do we have to experience some sort of disastrous loss before we can know gratitude? In the parable about the landowner, it seems Jesus is telling us we should be grateful for what God does for others and not envy them or feel sorry for ourselves. But, “ought to” seldom gives us a true spirit of gratitude. This is not a story of “ought to.” It is a call to faith. You also go and work in my vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right. Do we trust that God will do right for us? In this world where good fortune seems to go and come by chance it can be very difficult to believe God will do what is right for us. But we can believe God will do right by us because of what we see in Jesus, who died on a Cross, who seemed and felt as if He were forsaken. But God was there and God raised Him from the dead. And if God raised Him from the dead will God not give us all things in Him?

We have a choice. We can be thankful or we can grumble and complain about what we do not have, the way someone treats us, or what we believe we deserve. Trust that God will do right to us. It is in the trust that God will do right for us that we keep the soil of our soul loose so gratitude can easily sprout and grow.

From a sermon preached by Henry Dobbs Pope November 19, 2000

© Rhonda Hinkle Mitchell