DAY 296 - How to Love Those We Hate

Luke 6:27-36 (NIV) ²⁷ “But to you who are listening I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, ²⁸ bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. ²⁹ If someone slaps you on one cheek, turn to them the other also. If someone takes your coat, do not withhold your shirt from them. ³⁰ Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back. ³¹ Do to others as you would have them do to you. ³² “If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them. ³³ And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do that. ³⁴ And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, expecting to be repaid in full. ³⁵ But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. ³⁶ Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.

How are we going to love those we hate, those who are our enemies? That is a difficult question. We may make it easier by saying that we don’t have to like them, just love them. But, we are to love our enemies the way Jesus loves them. That is our ultimate standard and guide. For right now it is as if Jesus is saying to start out by simply loving our enemies the way we love ourselves, and treating them the way we want to be treated. We know this as the Golden Rule, but the Golden Rule is not simply the way we treat other people. The Golden Rule is something that begins within. If we simply try to be respectful of other people, our real spirit often come through and that real spirit is not usually very loving.

Sometimes we are told to have positive thoughts about other people. Don’t think of their irritating habits. Focus on the good things about them. If that helps, we need to do it. But, loving our enemies does not mean that we can mask our real feeling and pretend. Loving our enemies must come from genuineness within, whatever we do. The loving of our enemies begins on the inside so we can DO GOOD … BLESS … PRAY FOR … AND GIVE to them the real love God wills and desires. When we love our enemies, we get an inside feel for what it is like for God to love you and me. And that does something to us. It does something good, like gratitude, like truth, like wow. We not only get a feel for what it feels like for God to love us, we also get to know our real true selves. As we love our enemies we discover that we are sons and daughters of the Most High. When we love an enemy, we are contributing to God’s plan and purpose for human life, to build a Heaven in Hell’s despair. When we are able to love an enemy, we also discover the marvelous paradox that love is a gift as much as a command, a power as much as it is a responsibility.

But here is the catch to the reward. We do not get the reward because we talk about loving our enemies and how we really ought to do that, or because we are trying so hard to love an enemy. The reward comes when we do it. It is an inward signal to us that this is what Jesus meant. We love the enemy not to conquer them, not even to conquer them by love. We love them to conquer ourselves.

From a sermon preached by Henry Dobbs Pope February 19, 1995

© Rhonda Hinkle Mitchell (Broyles)

DAY 295 - There Was a Marriage in Cana of Galilee

Isaiah 62:5 (NIV) ⁵ As a young man marries a young woman, so will your Builder marry you; as a bridegroom rejoices over his bride, so will your God rejoice over you.

John 2:1-11 (RSV) On the third day there was a marriage at Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there; Jesus also was invited to the marriage, with his disciples. When the wine failed, the mother of Jesus said to him, "They have no wine." And Jesus said to her, "O woman, what have you to do with me? My hour has not yet come." His mother said to the servants, "Do whatever he tells you." Now six stone jars were standing there, for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons. Jesus said to them, "Fill the jars with water." And they filled them up to the brim. He said to them, "Now draw some out, and take it to the steward of the feast." So they took it. When the steward of the feast tasted the water now become wine, and did not know where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew), the steward of the feast called the bridegroom and said to him, "Every man serves the good wine first; and when men have drunk freely, then the poor wine; but you have kept the good wine until now." This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested his glory; and his disciples believed in him.

Isn’t this a strange way to start a work that will change the world? There was a marriage in Cana of Galilee. And the wine failed. In first century Hebrew society, for the wine to run out at a wedding was a sign of a person’s failure, points to a failure brewing on the horizon. Jesus prevents the failure by turning the water into wine, but it is not just any kind of water.  Now six stone jars were standing there, for the Jewish rites of purification. The water for purification will not meet the need. But the new wine does. And what is wine a symbol of? The blood and life of Jesus.

The meaning of this miracle and sign is obvious. The miracle of turning water into wine announces that Jesus is the new covenant. The old way of entering into relationship with God by keeping the customs and laws has failed. The new way of Jesus produces the wine of abundance that satisfies. To this point, all the wise men of Israel were saying do what the law of Moses says. Do what the law of the prophets say. Do what the law as interpreted by the teachers of the law says. Mary says, do whatever He tells you. Rules fail us. Do whatever He tells you.

We know that this story is of a marriage of a man and woman, but that it also points to our relationship to God, a “covenant relationship,” one that requires wild promises be made to one another that create some pretty extravagant expectations of one another. But this is what is required if we want this kind of relationship with one another and therefore with God.

We can, of course, distort what He tells us. We can do that for a while, but notice what Jesus does in this story. When Mary wants Jesus to rescue the wedding host, Jesus says, O woman, what have you to do with me? My hour has not yet come. If Jesus would rebuke His own mother will He not also do the same with us when we try to force Him into doing things our way? Do whatever He tells you. There may be some rebukes along the way, but the promise is that Jesus will turn the water into wine.

From a sermon preached by Henry Dobbs Pope January 15, 1995

© Rhonda Hinkle Mitchell (Broyles)

DAY 294 - And When Jesus Was Twelve Years Old

Luke 2:41-52 (NIV) ⁴¹ Every year Jesus’ parents went to Jerusalem for the Festival of the Passover. ⁴² When he was twelve years old, they went up to the festival, according to the custom. ⁴³ After the festival was over, while his parents were returning home, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem, but they were unaware of it. ⁴⁴ Thinking he was in their company, they traveled on for a day. Then they began looking for him among their relatives and friends. ⁴⁵ When they did not find him, they went back to Jerusalem to look for him. ⁴⁶ After three days they found him in the temple courts, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. ⁴⁷ Everyone who heard him was amazed at his understanding and his answers. ⁴⁸ When his parents saw him, they were astonished. His mother said to him, “Son, why have you treated us like this? Your father and I have been anxiously searching for you.” ⁴⁹ “Why were you searching for me?” he asked. “Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?” ⁵⁰ But they did not understand what he was saying to them.

This story in Luke tells us a lot about the early life of Jesus. He was twelve, too young to experience Bar Mitzvah, to become a son of the Law. The story also tells us that Jesus was intellectually sharp and spiritually perceptive. We learn from the story that Jesus was from a good Jewish home and was raised by some very typical, human parents, but, these are not the point of the story.

“Why were you searching for me? Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?” That is the point of the story, an early hint that Jesus knew something special about God. There were hints in the Hebrew Scriptures that God was a Father, but Jesus claimed that to know God as a Father is to know the heart and soul of what God is really like.

And yet, there was resistance to God as Father then and there is resistance now. There is the resistance of religious idealism, believing that to see God as Father is too small, too limited a way to understand God. There is a resistance to those within the Christian faith who reject the Fatherhood of God in favor of a more beneficent Grandfather God. And there is the resistance of some in the Feminist Movement who see the Fatherhood of God as part of a male dominated theology, a criticism that is difficult to deny. But, it is also difficult to deny that the Fatherhood of God was at the heart of Jesus’ faith and life. We are not likely to have the kind of life Jesus had unless we have the kind of relationship to God that Jesus had. And here is the second point of this story.

This story tells us that we do not learn about the Fatherhood of God simply by listening to the teaching of Jesus. The Rabbis were amazed at His teaching. Mary and Joseph were astonished at what He said, but no one understood simply by listening. If we only listen to the teaching of Jesus, we may agree or disagree. We may accept or reject. If we simply listen to the teaching of Jesus we will treat it simply as one brand of truth among many ideas and ideals. But we will not discover the vital sense of Fatherhood that Jesus came to give.

We learn by submitting our life to Him, not simply by listening to Him teach. For the one thing that keeps us from knowing God as a Father is not our ignorance, but our stubbornness, not our desire to be tolerant of truth but to be in control and in charge. The shocking news of this story is that we discover the Fatherhood of God by subjecting our life to the Son. 

From a sermon preached by Henry Dobbs Pope January 1, 1995

© Rhonda Hinkle Mitchell (Broyles)

DAY 293 - The Hinge Discipline

Luke 6:41-42 (NIV)  ⁴¹ “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? … You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.

Revelation 3:19-20 (NASB) ¹⁹  Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline; therefore be zealous and repent. ²⁰ Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me.

Discipline is what we do to grow as people. The spiritual disciplines are what we do regularly to nourish and grow our soul. Spiritual disciplines include prayer, fasting, meditation, Bible study, frugality, solitude, worship, and confession, and we may ask which of these is the most important. The answer is that just as we need a balanced diet to nourish our body we need a balanced practice of the disciplines to nourish our soul.

But, there is one discipline that helps open the door to our hearts and minds that I call the “Hinge Discipline.” It could be compared to the enter key on a computer. Material stays on the surface on the screen until we push the enter key. So the material of the other disciplines tends to stay on the surface of our life until we push this key, the Hinge Discipline, that is repentance and confession. Repentance is the inward recognition of wrong that we have done. Confession is the outward acknowledgment. It is a response to the work of God in our life. It is allowing ourselves to hear God’s verdict and judgment on our life. Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline. This is the work of God. To reprove means to expose and bring to the light.

Confession serves our life in several ways. One of the most important is that confession reverses our natural tendency to deny and blame. We talk about the faults and problems of others, but never seem to face up to the truth about ourselves. Jesus calls us to focus on ourselves and our faults. Unless we hear this repeatedly, the compass needle of our soul seems to drift naturally toward seeing the faults of others rather than focusing upon ourselves. God reproves us and chastens us to deliver us from the deceits that numb us and undermine us and destroy us. He doesn’t break the door down, but neither does He quit knocking. When was the last time something in the Scriptures reproved you, proved you wrong, corrected you, judged you? Whenever you feel angry, or irritated, or disappointed or frustrated, open the door to your soul by asking “Where is my responsibility in this? How am I at fault?” If you allow that question to interrupt  the blame game we all play you will discover God living closer to you than you ever imagined.

From a sermon preached by Henry Dobbs Pope, November 6, 1994

© Rhonda Hinkle Mitchell (Broyles)

DAY 292 - Resolution

From Daniel 1, 2, and 6  (NIV) The king assigned them a daily amount of food and wine from the king’s table. They were to be trained for three years, and after that they were to enter the king’s service.  But Daniel resolved not to defile himself with the royal food and wine, and he asked the chief official for permission not to defile himself this way … In the second year of his reign, Nebuchadnezzar had dreams; his mind was troubled and he could not sleep.  So the king summoned the magicians, enchanters, sorcerers and astrologers to tell him what he had dreamed.  What the king asks is too difficult. No one can reveal it to the king except the gods, and they do not live among humans.”  So the decree was issued to put the wise men to death, and men were sent to look for Daniel and his friends to put them to death.  Then Daniel returned to his house and explained the matter to his friends Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah.  He urged them to plead for mercy from the God of heaven concerning this mystery, so that he and his friends might not be executed with the rest of the wise men of Babylon … The royal administrators, prefects, satraps, advisers and governors have all agreed that the king should issue an edict and enforce the decree that anyone who prays to any god or human being during the next thirty days, except to you, Your Majesty, shall be thrown into the lions’ den.  Now when Daniel learned that the decree had been published, he went home to his upstairs room where the windows opened toward Jerusalem. Three times a day he got down on his knees and prayed, giving thanks to his God, just as he had done before.  So the king gave the order, and they brought Daniel and threw him into the lions’ den …  My God sent his angel, and he shut the mouths of the lions.  … and when Daniel was lifted from the den, no wound was found on him, because he had trusted in his God.

How do we know when to compromise and when to say no? God gives us the freedom and responsibility to make the decision and gives help in showing us where to draw the line. What do you hear and see as Daniel deals with the pressure to compromise his convictions? Daniel resolved, made up his mind literally and took it to heart. When it came to food he drew the line, believing the food would defile his soul. He took seriously a truth that could have been easily dismissed in the pressure of the moment. He took seriously that the health of his soul was more important than anything that the king could offer him.

What do you do when unreasonable, impossible demands are made upon you? Look what Daniel did. Daniel turned to God and to his friends. He told his friends to pray to the God of heaven. He needed human help to hear and receive God’s help. Do we link those two sources of help together when the pressure is on?

And what about being thrown to the lions? The good news of Daniel is that he survived. The lions did not harm him. God sent his angels to shut the mouths of the lions. The message is simple. Daniel had not been hurt at all because he trusted God. Trust is openness toward God, a willingness to accept what He gives and basic confidence in God that He can shut the mouths of lions.

Daniel is an example of someone who worked heartily, serving the Lord. God was faithful, and Daniel was faithful, but faithfulness is no guarantee of what our world calls success. Faithfulness is never futile and gives a fulfillment to the soul that the world cannot give.

From a sermon preached by Henry Dobbs Pope September 18, 1994

© Rhonda Hinkle Mitchell Broyles

DAY 291 - Saved From What?

Deuteronomy 30:11-14 (NIV) ¹¹ Now what I am commanding you today is not too difficult for you or beyond your reach. ¹² It is not up in heaven, so that you have to ask, “Who will ascend into heaven to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?” ¹³ Nor is it beyond the sea, so that you have to ask, “Who will cross the sea to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?” ¹⁴ No, the word is very near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart so you may obey it.

Romans 10:2-4, 8-10 (NIV) ² For I can testify about them that they are zealous for God, but their zeal is not based on knowledge. ³ Since they did not know the righteousness of God and sought to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness. ⁴ Christ is the culmination of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes.  ⁸ But what does it say? “The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart,” that is, the message concerning faith that we proclaim: ⁹ If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. ¹⁰ For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.

The Hebrew people had a very clear understanding of law-righteousness. They were living under the oppression of Rome, and it was God’s punishment upon them for disobedience. Therefore, if they would obey the law of Moses, God would deliver them from their oppressors. If they would do what was right, God would make life right for them again. After all, what could be more fair? We do our part and God does His.

This kind of thinking still gets into our mind and heart, and this is the sin that Jesus confronted again and again in the lives of the Pharisees. Outwardly, they were determined to obey every word of the law of Moses. Inwardly, they were determined to have their own way. This kind of life does not work. No matter how hard or how long we work, the promise is never fulfilled. Somehow we never get what we need. There is always something else. We stay in constant turmoil by the continual drive to make ourselves happy. We are held captive by the belief that we deserve, and by the feeling that we are deprived. We experience the “hole in the soul.” And, ultimately, we have not dealt with the secret agenda of our soul - the rebellious spirit of self-will.

Paul says we need to be saved from law righteousness to a righteousness that comes by faith and requires the defeat of our self-will. We will gladly accept God’s help to give us what we think we need to make us happy. But we struggle to accept what Jesus offers when He says to us that we can trust Him. It is a struggle for us to turn our will and our lives over to Him with no certainty of what He is going to ask of us or give us. But when we do, Jesus saves us from a life of trying that we might learn a life of trusting. We are saved, Paul says, when we believe in our heart and confess with our lips that Jesus is Lord.

From a sermon preached by Henry Dobbs Pope March 27, 1994

© Rhonda Hinkle Mitchell Broyles

DAY 290 - An Eye Opening Experience

Zephaniah 1:14-17a (NIV) ¹⁴ The great day of the Lord is near — near and coming quickly. The cry on the day of the Lord is bitter; the Mighty Warrior shouts his battle cry. ¹⁵ That day will be a day of wrath— a day of distress and anguish, a day of trouble and ruin, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and blackness — ¹⁶ a day of trumpet and battle cry against the fortified cities and against the corner towers.¹⁷ “I will bring such distress on all people that they will grope about like those who are blind, because they have sinned against the Lord.

John 9:39-41 (NIV) ³⁹ Jesus said, “For judgment I have come into this world, so that the blind will see and those who see will become blind.” ⁴⁰ Some Pharisees who were with him heard him say this and asked, “What? Are we blind too?” ⁴¹ Jesus said, “If you were blind, you would not be guilty of sin; but now that you claim you can see, your guilt remains.

What do you see when we talk about the judgment of God? If you are like most people in our society today, you may see nothing, or you may see “sinners in the hands of an angry God.” It may be that even if we do wonder about the judgment of God it has little influence on our life. Do we have illusions of utopia that can be accomplished by human effort? Are we blind?

Hebrew Scripture speaks to a Day of Judgment when God will make everything right. The Day of Judgment is called “That Day,” and it represents a terrible day, a day of fury, of trouble and distress, or darkness and gloom. But when “That Day” has passed, God would leave the world good and fresh and clean.

But, something has changed about “That Day,” and what has changed is that Jesus is the judge. Jesus said, “For judgment I have come into this world, so that the blind will see and those who see will become blind.” In Jesus we see that judgment never comes from a malicious God, but from His compassion and love, though not a soft, sentimental love that says our sin doesn’t matter. The love of Jesus is a judging love.

There is much that I do not understand about that judgment, but one thing seems obvious. If the judgment is from Jesus it is the judgment of suffering love. And the purpose of His judgment is that those who do not see may see. This, too, is a mystery. How is it that some people have their eyes opened by judgment and others do not? Some see where they have been wrong and acknowledge the wrong they have done. They make amends and they change. Others do not. Judgment opens our eyes to see what we are doing that is hurtful and destructive to ourselves and to others. That is the work of Christ for us. That is the will of Christ for us, that judgment will open our eyes to see.

From a sermon preached by Henry Dobbs Pope March 20, 1994

© Rhonda Hinkle Mitchell