The Taste of Blessing: Going With the Flow

 August 10 2025

Matthew 5:10, Acts 3:1-16,4:5-22

         Like a lot of kids, I loved it when it rained because it was fun to play in the water. Now, on our farm we had more than your usual mud puddle. We had a little ditch where a stream of water would run during a rain. So it was great fun to try and dam up that stream with some mud and rocks to see if I could make a big puddle to play in. What was interesting was how difficult it was to try and keep the water from destroying my work. When the water got so high it would pour over the side taking much of my little dam with it. What I learned is something that those who build ponds for others always remember, you have to have a way to handle the overflow when the floods come otherwise the water will flow over the side of the dam and soon wash the dam away. You see, the water is just going to keep flowing. The truth is that there really is no stopping the waters flow only controlling how and where it will flow.

         Well, in this Taste of Blessing message, we are going to take a look at the fruit of the Spirit called gentleness, a gentleness we will see is best understood as being a channel for an ever flowing stream. As we have seen so far, the Holy Spirit blesses us so that we can taste and experience the goodness of God. The result of this blessing by the Spirit is that we become people known for being loving, joyful, peaceful and patient. Others say that we are kind, that there is a goodness about our actions, and that we are faithful people. Today we are going to find out why the world knows us as being people known for their gentleness on account of being touched by the power of the Holy Spirit. Now what is interesting is that we exhibit gentleness as a result of being blessed in this way: Blessed are those who are hunted down for righteousness sake, for theirs is the kingdom of God”. It is here, in the very midst of being persecuted, being hunted down for doing what is right, this is when Paul states we will display gentleness. Not only that, but we, at the same time, will have a complete certainty that we are saints who stand to inherit the eternal kingdom of God. 

         Now, it may seem kind of difficult to put all of this together for as we all know, gentleness, and persecution seem to be worlds apart. A great story that helps to shed some light on this is found in the third and fourth chapter of the book of Acts. This is a story from the very beginning of the churches history happening shortly after the dramatic events of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit came like a mighty wind. We must keep this in mind otherwise we will miss noticing the One who is present even if he isn’t always mentioned. The situation is fairly straight forward, Simon Peter and John go up to the Temple to pray and they hear the cries of a man unable to walk, asking them for charity. It is Simon Peter who suddenly changes the story, for instead of just dropping a coin or two in this man’s hand, Simon Peter decides to offer this man something far better. Simon Peter takes ahold of this man’s hand, and Simon Peter tells him,”Gold and silver I do not have but what I do have I give to you! In the name of Jesus, the Messiah, of Nazareth, rise up, and walk!” Simon Peter lifted this man to his feet and now at last the nerves and muscles that had for so long been unable to move, now pulsated with life and strength. This man leapt up, and he began to walk, now able to enter into the Temple which had once been so far from him even though he was right outside her gates. Instead of cries for mercy, now this man was praising God for his goodness. This is what the prophet Isaiah foretold when he wrote in the thirty-fifth chapter, “…Strengthen the weak hands and make firm the feeble knees…behold your God will come and save you. Then the eyes of the blind will be opened, and the ears of the deaf, unstopped. Then shall the lame man leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute shall sing for joy. For waters break forth in the wilderness and streams will flow in the desert, the burning sand shall become a pool and the thirsty ground, springs of water…” How could those who came to the Temple that day not think of such scriptures as they saw this man who had sat just outside the Temple begging for years on end is now leaping about shouting out praises of God? How could they not be filled with wonder and amazement? 

         Simon Peter seizes this moment to lift high the name of Jesus. As all who gathered there wondered what had happened to cause this man to be healed, Simon Peter let them know that this healing was a sign pointing to Jesus, the Messiah. “You remember, Jesus don’t you?”, asked, Simon Peter. You know, the one glorified by the God of your fathers, the Holy and Righteous one whom you denied, you remember him don’t you?  This Jesus is the very one that you killed, the very Author of Life, the one whom God raised from the dead. By the name of this One, by faith in the name of Jesus, this man has been made whole. It was the faith that comes through Jesus, this is what has given this man perfect health in the presence of everyone. 

         Now, Simon Peter continued, “I know you acted in ignorance, for you knew not what you were doing. Yet, even this was foretold by the Prophets that the Messiah should suffer. So now is the time to repent, and turn so that your sins may be blotted out in order that times of refreshment might come from the presence of the Lord. One day Jesus shall return, but until that time, he waits in heaven until the time for everything to be restored. This Jesus is the prophet that God has raised up, and he is the One whose voice must be heard and listened to.” Then Peter goes on to say something interesting because he reminds his audience the covenant God made with their ancestor, Abraham. Peter reminds them that it is through Abraham that all the families on earth would be blessed. This is why when God raised Jesus, his servant. Jesus came first, to the people of Israel to bless them by turning them from wickedness, so that they, in turn, might bless others.” What Peter spoke to these people was the same message found throughout the pages of sacred scripture, this plan God has to bless his world. Yet, in spite of this, the priests, the captain of the Temple, and the Sadducees grabbed ahold of Simon Peter and John, for they had taught and proclaimed that Jesus had been raised from the dead. You see, these were people so invested in the workings of this world which brought honor to them that they wanted no talk of a new heaven and a new earth, where God would rightly receive all glory and honor. This is what Jesus foretold when in the third chapter of John’s gospel, he says, “This is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people love the darkness rather than the light because their works are evil for everyone who does wicked things hates the light. They refuse to come to the light for then their works will be exposed for what they really are. But whoever does what is true comes to the light so that it can be clearly seen that their works have been carried out in God.” You see, Simon Peter’s actions were clearly carried out in God, shining a light into the darkness of the Temple courts where those who exerted their power refused to admit that something new had indeed come into this world through this one called Jesus. This one they had rejected called Jesus, the one who is the very cornerstone of God’s new Temple, he is the name by which all will be saved.

         The men who exerted their power in the Temple were left without a reply to what Simon Peter had said to them. I mean, what could they say when this man who clearly had been unable to walk for years, is standing right there next to Simon Peter. You see, Simon Peter did not have to raise his voice, or demand that they see the superiority of Jesus for this was quite evident. So just what were these men who ruled in the Temple supposed to do now that the crowd had seen a new reality break forth right there in that ancient Temple. This new reality brought about through the name of the risen one named Jesus simply could not be made to disappear with the wave of their hands. So they decided that all they could do was to command that Simon Peter and John to stop speaking this name of Jesus, and quit teaching the people about this one called Jesus. If these men would just be quiet, these authorities thought, then perhaps all this nonsense about the resurrection will simply go away. The reply that Simon Peter and John gave in reply is very telling because they say this, “ Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than for us to listen to God is for you to judge” What Simon Peter is telling these authorities is that it was up to them to figure out if Simon Peter was on the side of God. You see, Simon Peter didn’t care one bit out about the opinions of others. No, he invoked the name of Jesus, and he healed in the name of Jesus for only one reason:he did not have the power to do anything else. A current of power, like that of a rushing river was flowing through him, and Simon Peter knew that this river can not be stopped. This is the very river of life that Jesus speaks about in the seventh chapter of John’s gospel. There Jesus promises that whoever places their faith in his name, out of them will flow living water. This river is the Spirit that Jesus promised would flow from him when he was glorified upon the cross. This is the same river of life seen flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb which will bring healing to the nations in the twenty-second chapter of the book of Revelation. 

         The strength and power of this healing river promised to us by Jesus is most clearly seen when it encounters opposition, much like when a river becomes dammed up. In the tenth chapter of Matthew, Jesus tells his disciples, “When they deliver you over to bear witness before the authorities, do not be anxious how you are to speak or what you are to say , for what you are to say will be given to you in that hour. For it will not be you who will be speaking in that moment but instead the Spirit of your Heavenly Father who will speak through you.’ When we hear these words of Jesus it becomes obvious why Simon Peter said that he did not have the power to stop speaking about Jesus. Jesus had indeed been glorified, risen from the dead, seated on the Throne, therefore the river of life is pouring out upon the world. This river is the Holy Spirit who flows through us, speaking for us, so that there are no worries on our part as to what to say in a moment of trial because our Father through the Spirit will say exactly what needs to be said. Through these words there will come healing for those willing to listen and believe. You see, in this story it is easy to focus so much on the healing of the man born unable to walk that we forget that his healing led to the healing of five thousand who came to believe because they had witnessed the power of God that he had long ago promised would one day be ours. These five thousand had come to believe in the resurrection of Jesus because they had witnessed a glimpse of an age to come, an age of wholeness and peace, seen clearly now in the wholeness of this man who for so long was unable to walk. 

         You see, the gentleness of Simon Peter was simply because he allowed the river of the Spirit to flow through him so that healing might come to all people. There simply was no need for him to be anxious, to fret and worry about saying the right words. While the words came forth from Peter the true source of them is found in our Heavenly Father. This is why Simon Peter could write in his first letter, the third chapter, that we are to have a ,”…unity of mind, and sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind. We are to never repay evil for evil, or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, we are to bless, this is why he called you, that you might obtain a blessing.” Simon Peter goes on to tell us, “Now who will harm you if you are eager to do good?Even if you should suffer for righteousness sake, you will be blessed.’ If you had keen ears you should have heard Simon Peter quoting the blessing taught by Jesus. Then Simon Peter continues by telling us, “Have no fear or be troubled, but in your hearts honor the Messiah the Lord as holy always being ready to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is within you; yet do so with gentleness and respect, possessing a mind that knows of the goodness of God, so when you are slandered, those who revile your goodness may be put to shame”. The hope that is within us is the Holy Spirit, the river flowing in us and through us, bringing healing to all the world. The Spirit is our living hope for through him the power of the resurrected Jesus is now found to be an unstoppable force in our lives. Instead of fretting and worrying when we experience suffering at the hands of our world, we instead are to, first, honor Jesus as holy. This means that we need to stop and consider if we are concerned more about receiving the honor of others, or are we willing to live for the honor of Jesus. Are we willing to live in such a way that the world might know the name of Jesus, to know his unchanging character, his uncommon goodness? Is it really our highest honor to reveal to others that Jesus is always giving extravagantly and abundantly, and always ready to offer life to those who face death? If glorifying the name of Jesus is our concern then we must remember that within our minds are experiences of how the goodness of God has touched our lives. We know the goodness of God through the Holy Spirit blessing us just as Jesus teaches us about. We can say with confidence that the Holy Spirit has been our Comforter, speaking words of life when we stood condemned. We have known the Holy Spirit as being our Spirit of Adoption assuring us that we are indeed sons and daughters of God who will receive an eternal inheritance. Through the Spirit we have found true freedom, as we freely gave ourselves to his leading. Yet, we have also found the Spirit is the one who binds us together through the acts of kindness we show to one another, a kindness that is a result of our overflowing mercy toward each other. In prayer, the Spirit of Holiness gives us certainty that we come before  the very face of our Holy Father.  By faith, we know that he lights up with love and joy anytime we come to spend time with him in secret. When we rise from prayer and follow the Spirit of truth, he calls us to be faithful to do our Father’s will, being peacemakers by living in the peace Christ has won for us on the cross.  As we encounter persecution, we now discover that the Spirit is moving like a vast river of life. This river now flows in us, through us and out of us to bring healing and life to a dying world. So through all of these real life experiences we now know of the goodness of God. The only reason we can say that we know God is solely because the Holy Spirit has blessed our life. He is the one who has given us to taste and see that the Lord is indeed exceedingly good. You see, our reason for our hope that one day this world will be at last healed and whole is that we have experienced the Spirit at work. So, as we encounter resistance we must continue to allow the Spirit to work in us. You see, there will be those who are like a rock in a stream unfazed by the water flowing by. Yet, we are to be those who allow that same stream of the Spirit to flow through us. We want to say that we do know of how the Spirit speaks and acts through us in power. We desire to have an absolute certainty that the kingdom has come, and it has come through us. So let us go with the flow of this great river of healing let loose when Jesus was glorified, so that through us others might know of our hope but may we do so with all gentleness and respect.To God be the glory!

The Taste of Blessing:Finding Faith

 August 3 2025

Matthew 5:9, Acts 10:1-23,34-48

         It probably surprises some people when I say that I have come very close to losing my faith.If you knew a little of what I and my family experienced in my early years in ministry it might be a surprise that I’m still have any faith left at all. I had gone for so long without seeing much work of the Spirit that I began to wonder if he was still present within any churches.The one thing that changed my heart was being invited to go along to prison with a group called Kairos. The reason I said, ‘Yes”, to doing something far from my comfort zone was that I take seriously the charge Jesus gives in a parable recorded in the twenty-fifth chapter of Matthew. Most church going folks remember the story of Jesus, at the end of the age, separating the sheep from the goats by how people had taken care of those Jesus simply calls, “the least of these”. Jesus asks, “How have you done feeding the hungry and going a cool drink to the thirsty? How have you done with clothing those who need to keep warm, and visiting those who are sick? And how are you doing going to see those who are in prison? These questions are important because, as Jesus goes on to tell us, when we care for the least of these, we have done so to him. Now, throughout my years of ministry, I have had opportunities to give food and drink to those in need. I have given coats away to those who needed them, I have visited many who are sick but I never had ever been inside a prison. So when my friend Tom came and asked for people to join him how could I say no. It was this act of saying, “Yes”, not just to Kairos, but, more importantly to God, this is what saved my faith. You see, our Kairos team of twenty-five men from all over north-east Ohio who had gathered weekly for eight weeks to pray and draw together in unity, stepped into Belmont Correctional in faith that God had already been working before we ever arrived. The message we hand delivered was the good news that God’s love for these men had never stoped just because they had found themselves incarcerated. No, God’s love was greater than all of our sin, and as an act of that love, twenty-five of us men, part of the Kairos team, entered into Belmont just to demonstrate the truth of God’s love for these residents. This love was made real by our team bringing into Belmont, three thousand dozen cookies, so that every resident could at least have one dozen homemade cookies. Well, you have to wonder if a bunch of men armed only with a message of God’s love and and lot of cookies could have any effect against the hearts of those who believed they had long been forgotten by God. I myself do not wonder this anymore for I witnessed first hand, on one of our weekends, how God  transformed the self declared leader of the Satan worshippers. This man listened to talks on God’s amazing grace and he let what we had to say, go from his head to his heart. His tough exterior began to drop away. The Holy Spirit had begun to work in his life. Within six months this man who used to worship Satan became baptized as a son of God. And I found the faith I had thought I had lost.

         You see, Jesus was very aware that those who have been blessed by the Holy Spirit, will inevitably begin to have some real doubts about their faith just because of this evil age we live in. This is why the fruit of the Spirit we are looking at today, the fruit called faithfulness, is so important for us to understand. We are looking at the fruits of the Spirit in this series of messages called, “The Taste of Blessing”. We have learned how God has blessed us by his love so how could we not but respond by loving God in return. Now we know that God is our shield who keeps our life safe from death, so that we overflow with joy. As we discover that we are, indeed, the very children of God who has for us an eternal inheritance, we now have peace. Then we remember how, through the giving of the bread, our only free choice is to give ourselves over fully to the Spirit of freedom. This is the way we remain patient, refusing to go back to a life enslaved to this world. We also remember at the table, that we drink of the cup, tasting the very mercy of God. In that moment then, the mercy of God is to live in us. This mercy is seen by others as a kindness which causes them to come home to God. And when we come before the face of God in prayer, we become in synch with him, purified from one degree of glory to another. Our life is lit up with holiness, God’s uncommon goodness which has the power to brings others to glorify our Father. 

         Well, today, we want to figure out how our life can be, faith filled. In the last three blessings that Jesus teaches us in the fifth chapter of Matthew, Jesus speaks to the real test we face as those who are demonstrate the goodness of God yet are still living in an evil age. As we know all too well, it is difficult to keep on believing. So it is good news that the blessing we are looking at in  Matthew 5:9  will cause us to be faith filled. Jesus teaches us, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.” Now, this word, ‘peacemakers”, is an unusual word, and we are left wondering, just what does Jesus mean that the Spirit blesses those who make peace? To learn the ways of peacemaking we are going to look at Simon Peter. Now, he might be a surprising choice to be the poster boy for peacemaking. I mean, if you go to the eighteenth chapter of John, you will find that it is Peter who is drawing his sword, ready to fight to the death to protect Jesus who has just been betrayed by Judas. Hardly an act of peacemaking, right? Yet, even so, Jesus does not give up on Peter. We catch up with Peter far from where he had been when the book of Acts began. Instead of spending his days in Jerusalem, we now discover that Simon Peter is living in a little town called Joppa, close to the Mediterranean Sea. The early days of the church have been rough. Many apostles have either been imprisoned or killed. As the story goes along we find that Simon Peter is found further and further from Jerusalem. He has found that his own people, the people of Israel, have  overwhelmingly refused to accept Jesus as being the long awaited Messiah-King. Peter, too, I believe, has begun to feel his faith slipping away. What we also know about Peter is that he always struggled with his commission given to him by Jesus to take the gospel into all nations and make disciples. As a devout Jewish man who had heard from his childhood the dangers of even being in the same room with a person who was not Jewish, what Jesus called him to do, was nearly impossible for him.

 Yet, Peter had to remember the early teachings of Jesus concerning how the blessing of God could be experienced. Jesus is the one who said that there is indeed a blessing of the Holy Spirit to be found by those willing to make peace. This should remind us of something Paul speaks of in the second chapter of Ephesians. There, Paul tells us that through the cross, Christ created one people, thereby making peace. Jesus, through the cross, brought all people to God thereby destroying the hostility that used to exist. You see, Jesus came and preached peace to both those near to God, the people of Israel, and to those far off from God, all of the rest of the world, so that all might have access to the Father through one Spirit. So when Jesus calls us to be peacemakers, he is simply saying, “Follow me”.

         So, in order for us to become a peacemaker we must firmly believe that this peace of Christ forged on the cross is actually a peace that is a gift for all people, in all places. Yes, the people of Israel, had for thousands of years, kept their distance from the unclean people who lived in the rest of the world. Yet, what Simon Peter had to accept is that the cross changed everything. The cross was the moment in time when the old world had indeed died and with that death, so too the demands of the law had also died. Now, our faith demands we be absolutely certain we live in a new age where peace prevails because the promised Holy Spirit has indeed come and blessed us. This is the very promise of Jesus who, on the night that he was betrayed, told his disciples that the Spirit of truth will come to them. The Spirit guides us to live in the truth that the cross has indeed brought us peace. So peace is made when through the Holy Spirit we invite others to come and live with us in this truth, that peace is here for all of us, both those close to God and for those who are far from God

         We see how the Holy Spirit guides us into this truth in the story of Peter. He is called by God to go to the house of a Roman centurion, a leader of one hundred men. The story goes, that as Peter is praying one day, he becomes hungry. So, as his hand is on the refrigerator door, Peter has a vision. Peter sees the heavens open, and something like a large sheet is being let down by its four corners upon the earth. In this sheet are all kinds of animals, and reptiles and birds. Then Peter hears a voice, telling him, “Come on Peter, go ahead and eat.” Peter, ever the good Jewish man, replies, “By no means, Lord. Never in all my life have I ever eaten anything that is called common or unclean.” Then Peter hears a voice a second time, telling him, “What God has made clean, do not call common.” Now, people often make the mistake that Peter is here told to stop eating food called clean by God. That is absolutely not what the story is about. No, the story is about the very reason why Peter, and every other person of Israel, ate the food that they did. Now, people have for centuries sought the reason why the diet of God’s people was so peculiar. People have speculated that because pigs were believed to have diseases, this is perhaps why the people of Israel were not allowed to eat pork. I read once that the reason for their diet was that by not eating animals who had large litters, the whole land of Israel would eventually become a land overflowing with life. This sounds promising, but the real reason that the people of Israel did not eat certain foods is this: God told them to not eat those foods; end of story. If you go back to the fourteenth chapter of Deuteronomy, we find the rules that determined which foods God’s people were permitted to eat. This section begins with this phrase, “You are the sons of God”. God is addressing his children as those who stand to receive an inheritance. With this in mind then, God goes on to say that as his sons they were to restrict their diet to what their Father has decided they were to eat. This kind of just sounds like just good parenting, doesn’t it? 

         Now, with this in mind, We return to Simon Peter and the vision he has as he prepares for lunch. The vision was a reminder as to why Simon Peter restricted his diet, and that reason was simply that he considered himself to be a son of God. As an obedient child he only ate what his Heavenly Father told him to eat. In this same way of thinking then, when God tells Simon Peter to be a peacemaker, he was to be obedient to this order of God. The reason why he was to do what he was told is the very same reason he never eaten a pulled pork sandwich, because his Heavenly Father expected Simon Peter to obey him. As obedient children we are to be peacemakers simply because we know who we are, sons who will one day receive an inheritance. I believe that this is what Simon Peter took away from his startling vision, because from then on his life began to become faith filled, having a real certainty as to what his Heavenly Father had called him to do.

         The story of Simon Peter and his strange vision thus helps us understand the importance of being peacemakers. We are to be like Jesus because we know ourselves as being the very sons of our heavenly Father, children who go and tear down the walls of hostility for only one reason: our Father told us to get busy with bridge building. If we consider ourselves to be those who stand to inherit eternal life, those known as the very sons of God, then peacemaking is what we will do. Now, people may speculate just why would we, in such a divided world, be those who tear down the walls and the fences and instead build bridges? The only reason we can offer for busying ourselves with the creation of peace is simply that our  Heavenly Father told us to. No other reason is necessary. 

         All that remains for us then is to figure out just how does one go about creating peace in an evil age where peace is always received with skepticism. Well, again, Simon Peter demonstrates to us the art of peacemaking. As it turns out, Peter simply follows the teachings of Jesus concerning how others are blessed by the Holy Spirit. Peter first speaks to Cornelius and his family about the good news of Jesus, the story of Jesus who was full of the power of the Holy Spirit, the one who was the living goodness of God, bringing wholeness to the lives that were broken, a life that demonstrated an uncommon peace. This Jesus was sentenced to die upon the tree called the cross, yet he was raised from the dead three days later and he is now the one who lives to judge the living and the dead. This is Jesus is the one the prophets spoke of, the one all might believe in to receive forgiveness of their sins. This Jesus has judged us all worthy of life, a life lived with him, our king. You see, this is where the blessing begins, the poor of spirit receiving from God this most amazing free gift of life in his kingdom. So yes, the Spirit came and blessed Cornelius and his family, a Roman centurion and his family, those who longed to belong to God and be known as his family. The sorrow he felt as being so unworthy of a life with God was suddenly erased as the Holy Spirit, the Comforter came rushing in, surrounding him with love. Cornelius and all in his household knew they had crossed over from death into life. They now possessed a new life as children of God. This is why they now had peace because they understood that they too stood to inherit eternal life. So, here stood Simon Peter and Cornelius, as equals, standing on the level ground at the base of the cross. Here stood Simon Peter and Cornelius at peace with each other, one who had felt near to God and one who had been considered far off from God, now both brought together through the power of God. This is the very beauty of this act called peacemaking. 

         What do others see when we do what our Father has called us to do, this act of making peace? They see that our life is marked by our faithfulness to God. So, when our faith begins to waver, we must get back to peacemaking. We need to ask the Holy Spirit to lead us to bring the truth of God’s peace to those who long to be restored to the family of God. The Spirit will guide us to those who feel unworthy to be called a fellow brother or sister in the family of God, to give to them the good news of this peace God has for all of us. This is how our Heavenly Father fills the hearts of his children with faith. So the Holy Spirit is standing bye, ready to lead us to one who longs to know that they too can be part of this great big family of God. The question is: Are you ready to follow him? Let us always be ready to say, “Here I am Lord, send me! May our prayer be, may just one more person might be blessed by the Spirit and  know at last the peace that Jesus has won for them at the cross!. To God be the glory! Amen!

The Taste of Blessing: The Power of Purity

 July 27 2025

Matthew 5;8, Acts 6:1-6, 7:54-60

         I have to admit that I have always had a lot of curiosity about the world and the way it works. Growing up, the Encyclopedia set that we had at home was a real treasure to me. Whatever I wanted to figure out could be found somewhere in those pages. So I ended up having a real love of the science called physics, the study basically of how the world works. Now, one of the more fascinating new finds in physics when I was growing up was the study of lasers. The word,“Laser” is an acronym which means, “Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation”. Seems simple enough, doesn’t it? Well, before your eyes glaze over, all this acronym means is that light has been given power. This happens by synchronizing all of the light waves of a laser so they all move in the same direction. We might say that normal light is like a bunch of people all hammering on a door without much effect. A laser though, is like when those same people hold onto a battering ram, a big hammer, and together, in synch with each other, they run in step at that same door and this time they have the force to knock that door down. We might say that the light from a laser is pure, all the light waves synchronized together with a power which your ordinary light bulb will never have. It is this power, the power of the pure light found in a laser, which is able send messages around the world through fiber optics;, a pure light that can cut through thick steel with ease; and a pure light which can even entertain your cat, something no ordinary light could ever dream of doing.

         Now the reason I thought about how different a laser is from an ordinary lightbulb, is not to bewilder you, but to prove the power of being pure. You see, when we speak of being pure, in scripture, as we do in our blessing for today, we discover that being pure unleashes a power every bit as astonishing as a laser. I believe we can sense this in our scripture for today from Matthews gospel. There Jesus teaches us, “Blessed are the pure of heart for they shall see God.” Jesus is telling us that a pure heart has the power to tear away the very veil of heaven so that through the eyes of faith one can even see God. Can you sense that there is indeed, a power to be found in being pure?

         So, yes, we can say that this idea that being pure can indeed result in power is a true statement. Jesus speaks further of how light can be a power which can change the world, found at the fourteenth verse of the fifth chapter of Matthew. Jesus tells us this: ‘You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. People do not light a lamp just to then go and set a basket over top of it, and sit in the dark. No, they put that light on a stand and that light gives light to all the house. In the same way, you are a light, so let your light shine before others. They are to see your goodness and when they do, they will give glory to your good Father in heaven.” Did you hear how the power of our light does indeed, change the world? This world, which is bound in a prison of darkness, is now to  be lit up. This light, Jesus goes on to explain is our goodness that has the power to cause those who live in darkness to come home to the Father and glorify him. You see, it is never enough that we, ourselves, glorify our God. No, we are to be a light that has the power to cause others to bring glory to our Heavenly Father.   

         So now we know that this power, this light in us, is the good that we do. This good, we discover, is given to us through the blessing of the Holy Spirit. In this series of messages, called, “The Taste of Blessing”,  we are looking at what Paul teaches us about the fruit of the Spirit as found at the end of the fifth chapter of Galatians. You see, the Holy Spirit is the God who blesses us. These blessings given to us by the Holy Spirit give us a taste of the goodness of God. Now, what is interesting is that today the fruit which the Spirit gives to us is the fruit of goodness. This means that the goodness we have experienced so far through being blessed by the Spirit, is now to be a quality of our life. This goodness is what others will see in us when we have been blessed by the Spirit in this way, “Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God.” When the Holy Spirt blesses those who are pure in heart they will see the very face of God. We hear Paul speak of this blessing in the third chapter of Second Corinthians, where he says that all those with unveiled faces who behold the glory of the Lord are being transformed into the same image, from one degree of glory to the next,…this comes from the Lord who is Spirit.

          This verse helps us to remember that we are purified only through an action of the Holy Spirit, and never through our futile efforts.The Spirit of holiness, just by being present with us, certifies that we have been declared holy through the blood of Jesus. This means that can stand before the face of a holy God without any fear.  Instead, we know that our Father’s face glows with love for us. Our Father rejoices over us, as we are told in the seventeenth verse of the third chapter of Zephaniah. There we are told, “The Lord God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save. He rejoices over you with gladness; he settles your heart with his love. He will exult over you with loud singing.”  So, the Holy Spirit calls us to see by faith that the face of our Heavenly Father lights up anytime we come before him. 

         You see, seeing the the face of our Father is the very power which makes us pure.The unwavering love and joy of our Father is the pure motivation which causes us to radiate his goodness in all that we do. Listen to what Jesus tells us at the beginning of the sixth chapter of Matthew. He tells us, “… do not practice our righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them. If you want the honor of others then you will receive no reward from your Heavenly Father. Therefore, when you give to the needy, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and the streets. The truth is that when they do this they have already received the honor of those watching them. Instead, when you give to the needy do it so secretly that your left hand does not know what the right hand has done. In this way your giving is in secret and your Father who sees you in secret, will reward you.” When we know of the wondrous love seen in the face of our Father, then the honor of others pales in comparison. We know that he sees us, and he rejoices when we imitate him, giving extravagantly and offering life to others.  You see, just as a laser is powered by a burst of radiation, so too we are empowered by that burst of joy which radiates over us in the presence of our Heavenly Father. This is why Jesus encourages us to, “…go into a private place, and shut the door and just stand before your Father in secret. Pray with him, for your Father found there in that secret place will reward you.” The Father who rejoices over us, moves us to act with the power of God’s uncommon goodness.

         This power found in this uncommon goodness is here in the story of the church’s first martyr, a man named Stephen. It is in the sixth chapter of the book of Acts where we first meet Stephen. He is to be the answer for the crisis that the early church has found itself in. You see, the Jewish believers from outside of Judaea, those called the Hellenists, complained to the apostles that some of their widows had been neglected during the daily distribution of food. The number of those in need had grown so large that this ministry of the early church had become stretched thin. What we are to understand is that the early church had made it their highest priority to ensure that no unmarried woman go without a daily meal. If this were not enough, they also did not simply drop some food off at the door of the homes that needed it; no, they waited on these women as they ate at their tables. Can you imagine how very strange these actions must have been for those who were watching these followers of Jesus. First, these people look out for the very poorest of people, these unmarried woman who were without a man to provide for them. Jesus knew, all too well, the plight for the women of his day, how difficult it was for them to merely survive without some man to give them a roof over their head. If their husband died or divorced them, they were left searching for someone else to provide for them, however that might happen. So it makes sense that the church, those who imitate their Heavenly Father by doing two actions: giving generously and offering life, would be drawn to these women in dire straights. While their caring for the widows demonstrated clearly the power of their pure hearts perhaps the most amazing part of this ministry is that the apostles themselves, you know Peter, James, and John, are right there with their aprons on. There they are, hustling steaming dishes of food out to those hungry women. It was only when too many showed up for dinner that the apostles reluctantly gave up this service to have more time for prayer and teaching. This seems to imply that this service at the tables was on equal footing with their teaching and prayer which to our ears sounds incredible. We can understand then, why the apostles were so serious about choosing the right seven men to continue to wait at the tables for these unmarried women. Did they simply grab the first seven guys who they could find? Absolutely not! No, they assembled all the believers and with extreme care they chose men like Stephen, men full of faith and the Holy Spirit. Doesn’t this seem to be a little bit much for those who are going to be waiters and servers? I mean, does such work really require the apostles to come and lay their hands on them and pray over them? You see, these actions bewilder the world who can see no reward in caring for the poorest of the poor. Yet what the apostles knew is that real greatness is always found serving the very least. They knew that such service causes our Heavenly Father to rejoice and sing for this is when we have shown his goodness to the world. Now the world can see for themselves why our God is known as a good, good, Father. As his children, we prove the power of being pure by showing the world that our Heavenly Father gives generously, and he offers life to everyone, especially the least of these.

         So the power that purifies us and causes us to live as holy lights, is found when we come before our Heavenly Father in secret and pray. The prayer that we have been taught to pray causes us to be in synch with our Heavenly Father.  Jesus teaches us about this prayer in the middle of the sixth chapter of Matthew. We first begin with this: “Our Father, who is in heaven. May your name be known as holy.” Here we must pause and ask, just what does our Father desire when he asks that his name be considered holy. Well, holy simply means to be different than the normal, common, ordinary way of doing things. Just as a light is visibly different from the dark, so too our lives are to have visible difference because we have come before the face of God in secret.  We are to be people who demonstrate a life of uncommon, holy goodness. The importance of doing so is found in the thirty-third chapter of Exodus, where Moses asks God to make his glory pass before him. God tells Moses that his glory is his goodness, the very goodness which is his name. This name of God is simply his unchanging character, that we are forever certain that our God is pure goodness. So when we pray that the name of our heavenly Father be known as being holy, we know that we must witness to this pure goodness. You see, as the prayer continues,  this is our Father’s will, what he wants to see us doing, living lives which behold the pure power of our heavenly Father’s uncommon goodness.

         Well, as we continue to pray, Jesus says that to be in synch with our Father, we must desire that his kingdom come here on earth just as it is in heaven. As we learned from Paul in the fourteenth chapter of Romans, the kingdom comes when joy, peace and righteousness are found in our life through the blessing of the Holy Spirit. These are what mark our life when we receive the first of the blessings that Jesus teaches us about. Those blessings given by Jesus, go on then to teach us the importance of the Last Supper. You see, when we pray, “Give us today to be the bread, what is necessary, to bring life to the world.”, we are asking the Holy Spirit to take and give us, just as Jesus gives the bread at the table. We are given to be life giving people, those who bring life to the world. Then Jesus calls us to remember our debts, the debts which he forgave at the cost of his very blood. The blood of Jesus covered over the all that stood between us and our Heavenly Father, so that we might be given a life with him forever. The kindness of our Father which we experienced through this act of mercy draws us to him. So to be in synch with him means that we too must be known by our kindness because of our acts of mercy. You see, we pray to be delivered from evil because know only that the only way to be free from this evil world is to allow the Holy Spirit to offer us up as a pure sacrifice, an offering of uncommon goodness to bring glory of the Father. 

Can you begin to see how the care for those poor, desperate widows became such an important task after praying such a prayer? Every time those apostles grabbed an apron  they were allowing the Spirit to offer themselves up as lives of uncommon goodness bringing glory to their Heavenly Father. Through their actions it was evident that the Spirit of holiness had taken ahold of them. They freely offered their life, and through their acts of mercy they gave life to those who lived in daily fear of death. They gave generously to these women, remembering how the Father generously gave his Son Jesus to pay their debts through the shedding of his blood. Their lives were indeed pure light, in synch with the will of their Father. Their pure light had power just as Jesus had said their light would have for when the purity of their the goodness touched these woman the power of this light caused them to glorify our Father

         So, yes, the early church had lives that radiated a light that could not be hidden. What an uncommon goodness was seen as these men who followed Jesus served and gave life to the woman at their tables. Their lives witnessed to the fact that they had gone into their secret places and had stood before the face of their Father. Yet, we must wonder just how much power does this light of ours have?Can we say that our pure light has a power like that of a laser? We find the answer to this question in the death of Stephan. You see, Stephen lived a life of uncommon goodness, a pure and powerful light. It was this light which caused those who dwelled in darkness to become enraged. They falsely charged Stephan and sentenced him to death. As these evil men, sought to kill him, we find that Stephen is praying. Fully in the grasp of the Holy Spirit, he looks up to see the the face of his Father in all his glory and Jesus at his right side. The heavens had opened revealing Jesus, the very Son of Man, whose kingdom has no end. As Stephen came to the moment of death, his uncommon goodness overcame the evil surrounding him. Stephan asked the Father two things. The first is that he asked his Father to receive his spirit, his life, the fullness of all he had. Then he asked his Father to forgive those who demanded his life. This uncommon goodness of Stephan was a pure and powerful light, a laser that cut deep onto the heart of a man who stood and cheered on that mob as he held their coats, a man named Saul. Later this one called Paul, would become a pure and powerful light that transformed the whole world.  So, may we too be those who go out and radiate with a pure and powerful light, an uncommon goodness which brings glory to our Father. Amen!

The Taste of Blessing:The Power of Mercy

 July 20 2025

Matthew 5:7, Luke 19:1-10

         The other week, our daughter Sarah sent us a strange text which asked us to remember the embarrassing things she did when she was a kid. It seems she was hanging out with the family of her significant other, and as families are want to do, they were telling stories some would just have soon forgot. So we had a good laugh remembering these silly mishaps our daughter has done. Even though she is an overachiever who usually gets it right she is, nonetheless, quite human. It seems that everyone has done something or said something which proved quite amusing to the people who witnessed such gaffes. These moments seem to be quite easy to remember for those who witnessed them and they can tell the story of those embarrassing moments at the drop of a hat

         Now, what is almost as universal as making mistakes is the effort we put into trying to not make mistakes which will embarrass us. We all hope we have learned something through our embarrassment so that we try and not do something like that again. So when we see someone deliberately doing something embarrassing we quite naturally become curious about why they would do such a thing. Take for example this guy named Zacchaeus. Most people have heard of him, you know, he’s that wee little man who climbed a tree, right? Yet, we may never have considered just how embarrassing such an act was in his day. I mean, it is rather laughable to consider any middle aged man trying to hoist himself up into the branches of a tree. I mean, can you imagine the huffing and puffing necessary to pull the weight of an overstuffed body high enough to even get up unto the lowest limb? What appears so effortless for a young kid is found to be pretty difficult for those who their age has caught up with them. If the sheer strength needed to climb a tree were not enough of a problem for Zacchaeus, there was also the issue of the clothes he was wearing. The standard garb back then was a robe, usually reaching to the ground so that none of the person’s legs or anything else might be exposed. Well that pretty much goes out the window when a wee little man tries to throw his leg over the lower limb. So I suspect that the reason that Jesus noticed Zacchaeus is that pretty much everyone else was watching him make a fool of himself scratching and clawing his way up that sycamore tree. Zacchaeus though, was not concerned about being embarrassed, and we have to wonder, why did he did not mind being made a laughingstock in front of the very people he had for so long put on a respectable front? The only answer is Jesus.So we have to be a little curious, just what was it about this Jesus that made Zacchaeus throw his dignity to the wind and do what grown men have no business doing, climbing up in a tree?

         Well, the good news is that his actions, no matter how unseemly to some, did accomplish more than  Zacchaeus could have hoped for because not only was he able to get a glimpse of Jesus but he also heard Jesus invite himself over for dinner. Now, this invitation of Jesus seems beyond wonderful, yet this too was perhaps an embarrassment because who really is ready to have the king over for dinner with no time to prepare for such an occasion? Yet, here was Jesus urging Zacchaeus to hurry up and get down out of that tree that he had had used so much effort getting up into. Zacchaeus had to get on with with preparing dinner for this Jesus who had taken a liking to him. Perhaps, Jesus simply enjoyed the company of those who are willing to go out of their way to embarrass themselves. 

         Well, today in this segment of our series of messages entitled, “The Taste of Blessing”, we are going to look at the fruit of the Spirit that tastes like kindness. The Spirit produces kindness in us through our experience with him, an experience that scripture calls blessing. One of the very first teachings of Jesus was on this very thing, this blessing of God that comes through the God of blessing who we know as the Holy Spirit. The blessing which produces in us the fruit of kindness is this: “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.” Now we have to be careful in how we read this for we do not want to come away with the idea that God will only be merciful to those who first are merciful. This would make the actions of God to be caused by our actions which the cross has proved to be false. As Paul will tell you, it was while we were his enemies, Christ showed his mercy, dying for us all on a criminal’s cross. No, Jesus has something very different in mind. Here is where the fruit we receive through the action of the Holy Spirit proves very helpful in our understanding of this blessing. The fruit of the Spirit found in us when the Spirit blesses us with mercy is kindness. The word from which we get this word, “kindness”, from, comes from a root word which meant, useful. So when we encounter the Holy Spirit through his blessing us with the goodness of God we experience kindness, this mercy found to have a peculiar purpose. 

         This purpose for this mercy given to us is found in the aftermath of this encounter Zacchaeus has with Jesus. You see, it was all because Jesus offered to enter his house and have dinner with him, this is why Zacchaeus decided to respond by doing something truly incredible. He tells Jesus that half of his goods he would give to the poor. On top of this news, Zacchaeus adds, that to anyone he has defrauded he was going to give them four times the amount that he had wrongly taken from them. So, stop and consider what Zacchaeus has done in this moment. He now has given away more than half of everything that he owned. This is the kind of giving that changes your life. This extravagant giving would have surely been considered embarrassing, perhaps more embarrassing than climbing a tree. To his fellow tax collectors, Zacchaeus had just done something incredibly foolish. Come on Zacchaeus, the whole point is for us to see how much wealth can we accumulate, so that we can eat, drink and be merry? We don’t gather all that coinage just to see how much we can give away! I mean, why give half of what you had to the poor, what will they ever do for you? These friends of Zacchaeus had to be left scratching their heads wondering, just what has this Jesus done to Zacchaeus to make him think that this is the way wise people handle their money?

         We are right to be astounded with the crowds encircling Jesus that day, wondering just what had this man named Jesus done to make a noted tax collector like Zacchaeus just up and throw half of his earthly treasures away. Perhaps they had forgotten what power there is when someone is willing to eat with us so that we do not have to eat alone. I believe all of us can imagine the transformation that happens when we know that no matter how bad the world might believe we are, God says that he desires more than anything to sit at our table and eat with us. This is the power of mercy, this kindness which is the very useful goodness of God  So it is obvious that this mercy Jesus has shown to us has a purpose, a very good reason why mercy changes everything.

         As it turns out, Jesus taught his disciples a parable which helps us to figure out the reason why mercy is shown to us. The story Jesus tells us is one which illustrates both the wrong reason to be merciful to others as well as the real reason God extends his mercy to us.. Listen to this story, found in the eighteenth chapter of Luke, and see if you can comprehend what Jesus is saying to us about mercy.  “Two men went up to the Temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood by himself, and he prayed, “God I thank you that I am not like other men, predators, unjust, adulterers or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week, I give tithes of all that I receive.” The tax collector, though, stood far off, unable to even lift his eyes to heaven, and he beat upon his chest, crying, “God, be merciful to me, a sinner.” Jesus concludes this story by telling us, “The tax collector went down to his house in a right relationship with God, rather than the Pharisee. For every one who exalts himself, will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.” You see, the Pharisee used acts of mercy, his giving of the tithe, to make those listening to him give honor to this Pharisee. His flaw was believing that since his friends considered him to be honorable that God would do so as well. Yet, Jesus tells us that when that Pharisee went back home, he was no closer to God than when he came to pray. He was painfully unaware of what mercy even was, not knowing the very purpose that mercy had been extended to us in the first place.

         We begin to understand why mercy is extended to us in something Paul writes at the beginning of the second chapter of Romans, where he says that God’s kindness leads us to repentance. Here we find that the purpose for the mercy God extends to us. The mercy of God is a kindness which has the power to turn those who are walking away from God and cause them to run into the loving embrace of our Father. So the purpose of mercy, this kindness shown to us, is given to restore relationships. The tax collector rightfully knew that only the mercy of God could restore the relationship which the tax collector had ruined. The word the tax collector used when he asked God to be merciful comes from the same word used for the mercy seat found on top of the Ark of the Covenant. This causes us to remember the most holy of days in the life of Israel, the yearly ceremony of atonement. This is when the sins of the people were cleansed away through the sprinkling of blood upon the mercy seat. This was the day that the people could begin anew in their relationship not just with God but also with each other. 

 

The Pharisee failed to remember the power mercy has to unite God and his people together. This is why he could simply write people off that he disagreed with. He could see them to be nothing more than animals, predators who knew nothing of justice, adulterous in their relationships.  Yet what was proved to be true when Zacchaeus met Jesus is that mercy has a power called kindness which can transform anyone. To the Pharisees, Zacchaeus was just one more person who could be easily dismissed. But Jesus saw Zaccheaus as one who simply needed to experience the power of mercy. You see, the whole reason that Zacchaeus embarrassed himself climbing that tree is so that he could see the one who just might reconnect him with God. So when Jesus told Zacchaeus that his one desire was to dine with him, Zacchaeus understood that here was God, longing to eat at his table with the likes of him. The kindness of God caused Zacchaeus to repent,  changing his whole way of looking at life. Now Zacchaeus knew that his wealth could be the kindness which connected him to those who also longed for mercy. These dear souls just might become the friends who would one day welcome Zacchaeus into his eternal dwellings just as Jesus also promises at the beginning of the sixteenth chapter of Luke. So, yes, the way this kindness of God transforms us just may make us become people who do foolish actions at least according to the world’s standards. Yet we will just let the world laugh for the power of mercy, this kindness of God, is found to be far more important than our honor.

         You see, when we understand that the mercy of God has a purpose, that this mercy creates a kindness which draws us all together, then the teachings of Jesus make sense. You see, Jesus point blank tells us, that we are to live this way: “Do not oppose the one who is evil. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn and let him slap the left cheek as well. If anyone sues you and they take your coat, give them your shirt as well. If you are forced to carry a Roman soldiers pack one mile, go with them for two miles. Give to the one who begs from you. Lend to anyone who would borrow from you.” Now at face value, this teaching of Jesus makes us squirm, doesn’t it? I mean if we are considering ways to embarrass ourselves, this teaching of Jesus will certainly accomplish this. Yet, we also hold fast to this truth: kindness is the power that restores relationships. 

This is why we are willing to listen to Jesus who first, tells us that evil is to be no longer opposed by violence. You see, if we use the world’s violent methods to oppose evil we will end up a slave chained to this world and its desires, a world which God will one day destroy. No, we must hold fast to the way of freedom shown to us every time we sit at the table and commune with Jesus. As Jesus takes the bread into his hands, we remember that Jesus has taken us out of the world through the good news which proclaims that we now have a kingdom to call home. Then as Jesus blesses us, we remember that even though we should rightfully be condemned, the blood of Jesus covers over our sin, so that now we might be empowered by the one whose name is the Comforter. Then as Jesus breaks the bread, we remember that we must be broken, so that our life becomes channeled by the ways of our Father.. We must allow God to train us to use what he has given to us to demonstrate that we are a child of God, worthy of an eternal inheritance. Finally, Jesus gives the bread. Here, we remember that the only way to avoid becoming a slave to this world is to freely yield ourselves to the Holy Spirit who offers us up to the glory of our Father.

         So at the table we remember that we are given over to the work of the Holy Spirit as we receive the bread.Yet this is not all for we also also remember as we receive the cup that through the blood shed by Jesus we receive mercy. We remember how God in his mercy allowed the blood of Jesus, our kinsman redeemer, to set us free from our slavery to sin. We also  remember, how Jesus in his mercy, gave his life, the shedding of his blood, so that we might be judged worthy of life. Now we are called to live that life for him. We remember how Jesus, cleansed us by his blood so that that the Holy Spirit might live in us as a guarantee of our future. You see, the power of mercy has reconciled our past, given us a present and has sealed our future with God. So as we drink of the cup, we remember that this same mercy lives in us, in power.

         So when we yield our lives to the Holy Spirit, by his power we can offer  mercy, turning our other cheek. By our kindness we force our enemy to look into our face to see something greater than honor at stake.And by our kindness we give more than expected when someone asks us. We no longer carry the pack of our enemy one mile but go with them for two so that by our kindness we may find a friend. We lend to others when they beg from us so by our kindness we might uphold their dignity.  You see this is the Jesus way of living, offering mercy to the unworthy so that by his kindness our world might be filled with friends. This is why Jesus endured being slapped on his face, the giving away of his clothes, his going the second mile with a cross upon his back, so that by his kindness shown to us at the cross, his kindness might now live in us. This is what we remember as we drink the cup. Yes, living such a life of kindness may embarrass us as Zaccheaus knew so well. Yet, it is just such a life loved in the power of mercy, this is the life that honors God and glorifies him forever! Amen!      

The Taste of Blessing: Staying Liberated

 July 13 2025

Matthew 5:6, Luke 24:13-35

         With the heat index going through the ceiling fairly early in this summer season, it is good for all of us to remember to stay hydrated. I have to admit that I don’t drink a lot of water preferring instead to drink coffee and iced tea. So Jennifer works at getting me to drink a glass of water as often as she can. I try and remember the danger of not drinking enough water, something I learned one day when I went along with some folks to drop their kid off at Scout camp in the middle of a heat wave. The camp manager said that dehydration was one of the biggest issues for the Scouts. This helped to explain why the restrooms at the camp had some interesting charts to help campers and staff to see if they needed to up their water intake. You see, the danger with not watching how dehydrated a camper might get is that at a certain point of dehydration, the body no longer has a thirst for water even though it desperately needs a cool drink. 

         Now, as I thought about how difficult it can be to stay hydrated, what occurred to me is that something very similar happens with those who follow Jesus. Instead of needing to stay hydrated, though, our lives need to stay liberated. You can hear this issue clearly in the words of Paul, from the fifth chapter of Galatians, “For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.” Now when Paul tells these good church going folks that they should not submit again to the bondage of slavery, we should sit up and listen because what this says to us is that even good, church going folk can end up in slavery, standing in need of being liberated. What Paul was telling these church members was that they had not let the sweet taste of freedom keep them from becoming enslaved.

         Now we have to wonder if these people Paul addresses had any clue that they were slipping into a state of slavery. Had they become like those who find themselves in a state of dangerous dehydration, unaware of the trouble they were in. Perhaps, just like when we desire to stay hydrated we need to be aware of our thirst, so if we desire to stay liberated, we must be become aware of this freedom Christ has given to us. Now, it might surprise us that we are not as free as we believe ourselves to be, however all we have to do is to go to the eighth chapter of the gospel of John, to the thirty-first verse. There we find believers in Jesus who are told by Jesus that they were in need of being set free. Can you imagine, Jesus walking in here and telling us that we no longer had to be slaves, that we had the chance to be free if we so desired. Most of us would have been just like these disciples, dumbfounded and in disbelief at this accusation of Jesus. We would respond that we live in a free country where no one is a considered a slave so how can you believe that any of us is not free. Yet we also must consider that Jesus may know something more about freedom than we do. I mean, what if Jesus is right and we are not as free as we think we are?

         Well, we are pondering on our freedom, because in this series called, “The Taste of Blessing”, we are looking at how the Holy Spirit, the very Spirit of freedom, brings about the fruit of God’s goodness. As the thirty-fourth Psalm teaches us, we must taste and see that the Lord is good. This tells us that the goodness of God is something which must be experienced, tasted and found to be the very goodness we are searching for. We experience the goodness of God through the Holy Spirit, the God who blesses us. So when Jesus teaches us about the blessings, in the fifth chapter of Matthew, we are to know that these blessings will be found through the experiences we have with the Holy Spirit. Take the first blessing where Jesus teaches us, “Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” Here is where all of us begin, with the hearing of the good news that God desires to give us the fullness of his kingdom. When we hear this good news it is the Holy Spirit who is given to us without measure. Yet, this experience of receiving God’s kingdom can only be ours if our hands are empty, knowing ourselves as being utterly unable to save ourselves from the evil which threatens us. Through our experience with the Holy Spirit, we accept this gift of God’s kingdom. The result of the Spirit’s work is that we have the fruit of love, a love which fills our hearts.

         The Spirit is not done though, because Jesus goes on to tell us that, “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.” This grief expressed here is the sorrow at the realization that because our spirit is weak we now live in what Paul calls, “a body of death”.  This is an awareness that we deserve condemnation, a judgment of death because the desires of our flesh control us. Yet, what we find is comfort not condemnation. The Holy Spirit, called the Comforter by Jesus in the fourteenth chapter of John, comes along side of us, encouraging us and giving us the strength to overcome the downward pull of our desires. We find that God really has shielded us from death.  Now death no longer controls us but instead we have resurrection hope, the hope of a new relationship with God. The fruit of joy floods into our hearts as experience the Holy Spirit who now works within us so that we desire what God desires and we do what pleases God.

         Last week, we learned how there can be no peace in life if we don’t first have some peace about our death. Jesus teaches us in the fifth chapter of Matthew, that,  “Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth.” The Holy Spirit, Paul explains in the eighth chapter of Romans, agrees with our spirit that we are indeed children of God, and if we are children then we do stand to inherit the earth in the life everlasting. This is the way that our experience with the Holy Spirit gives us peace. The Spirit makes us absolutely certain that in our relationship with God we are known as being his children.  So it makes sense then that as his children we belong with our Father, forever. Now as his children we, like all children, will have this desire to imitate our Father. We will see how our Father gives without measure to all who have absolutely nothing. We watch as our Father desires to gather all under his mighty wings to shield all from death, so that they might rejoice in the victory as life conquers death. Then, as the children of God who have watched what our Father does, we too give generously to all to those with an open hand. We too follow our Father’s lead, not condemning but like the Holy Spirit, we comfort those suffering through the very real fear of death. Together we can rejoice in resurrection power, this life which conquers death and so also, the fear of death. 

Now, we may wonder what happened to the gift of kingdom, but what Paul explains to us in the fourteenth chapter of Romans, is that the kingdom of God is righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. We find this to be true through knowing the Holy Spirit as our Comforter, and discovering we have an indescribable joy. Though the Spirit being for us the very Spirit of Adoption, we find peace as we know ourselves as being a child of God, one who stands to inherit eternal life. Through our working with our Father, giving generously to others and shielding others from death and the fear of death, we find that righteousness does spring up before us. So, yes, God promised to us the kingdom and through the work of the Holy Spirit we have received what God promised to us, the fullness of life in our Father’s kingdom.

          So it is perhaps no surprise then that through these first three blessings we have become obedient to what Jesus called the Great Commandment. This is the expectation of God that we love him with all of our heart, soul and strength. In the first blessing, the love of God experienced through our experience with the Holy Spirit causes our heart to be filled with love for God. Then through the work of the Spirit shielding our life from death, we come to love God with all of our life, or soul for the fear of death no longer controls us. And as we learn to channel our power, going to work with our Heavenly Father, giving generously to others and shielding others from death, we find that we have loved God with all of our resources or strength through the love shown to our neighbor. So yes, God causes us to respond to his great love, with a love found in our heart, our soul, and our use of our resources. Now because of the Holy Spirit, the word of God which calls us to love him receives the response God searches for, an all consuming love from his people.

         So, these core of the teachings of Jesus, are indeed the way every family on earth can be visited by the Holy Spirit and so receive the blessing of God just as God had promised would happen. Yet Jesus also understands that life is difficult, after all, we do live in an evil age. This is why we are people who hunger and thirst for this world to be set right. I mean, social media bombards us every day with image after image of pain, hurt and injustice done to yet another vulnerable person. How can we not want satisfaction for this ache we have for justice, and want it more than ever to happen, right here and right now? We relate to those two travelers on the road to Emmaus whose dismay was so evident on their faces that it drew the attention of a stranger who quietly had begun walking with them. Just what was it that caused their grief and sorrow, he asked them? They answered, saying, “Are you the only one in Jerusalem who does not know what happened? This visitor could not help but to poke these two a little harder, asking them, “What things? Then they blurted out their story of Jesus, the one they had hoped would set all things right again. They too wanted satisfaction and they wanted it here and now, and they had come up empty. They had hoped that Jesus would be the one who could redeem Israel, they told this stranger. In other words, they wanted Jesus to be the king who would lead his people in battle to overthrow their Roman tyrants who lorded over them. This is what it looked like to them to be satisfied, when their heartfelt desire might at last be be fulfilled. For them, the rest of the world could just rot for all they cared.

         Well, not only had Jesus failed to throw off Roman rule, but a report had also came to them from the women who went to the tomb. The body of the crucified Jesus had come up missing. Good grief, who would steal the body of a failed leader? Now if these two were looking for sympathy they weren’t going to find it with this stranger. No, he turns to them and point blank calls them people who are, “without any thinking”, and “slow of heart”, in their belief of what the prophets had spoken of so long ago. I’m sure these words had to sting. Yet this stranger doesn’t apologize for his sharp criticism of them. Instead, he begins to lay out for them the truth of the scriptures. We can only imagine all that this stranger spoke about as they journeyed on that road. Yet just considering the prophecy Isaiah, we can be certain that he told of how in the second chapter, Isaiah spoke of how one day the nations will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks and they will learn of war no more. Then skipping ahead, to the fourth-ninth chapter, God tells his people that it is too light a thing that they should just serve God, no they were to be a light to all of the world so that the salvation of God might go the ends of the world.  This salvation of God is then laid out in the fifty-second and fifty-third chapters of Isaiah, where the mysterious Suffering Servant of God takes upon himself the sins of not just Israel, but all the world. Then skipping ahead to the fifty-sixth chapter, we find that the fruit of God’s salvation is that there will be a house of prayer for all people. Finally, if we go to the end of the sixty-fifth chapter, we hear God tell Isaiah, that he is going to create a new heaven and a new earth where there shall be no more weeping or the cry of distress. So, I hope we can begin to grasp just how far off base these travelers really were. The truth they failed to comprehend is that God is going to create a new heaven and new earth where there will be no more crying there, where people will learn war no more. Such a world of peace, you see, simply cannot come through the use of violent methods found in this world. This is why this world of peace which God desires cannot come in the here and now. No, as we learn in the first letter of John, the second chapter, this world and it desires is scheduled to be destroyed. Yet all is not lost, because God also promises us that he will create a brand new world to replace the old world through an act of resurrection power. It is here is that I believe, we can at last, begin to understand the freedom that Jesus has given to us. You see, when we refuse to be patient, when we no longer seek to be satisfied in the age to come, then we will be tempted to use this world’s methods, acts of violence, to set things right. If we give in to this temptation, then we will be binding ourselves to this world and its desires. So when God discards this world, we will tragically go out with this world and it evil. So we remain patient by refusing to be enslaved by this world and its violence. No, we freely give ourselves to the Spirit of Freedom for he is the one who liberates us from the pull of this world.  This is what these two travelers remembered when they sat and ate at the table with this stranger. Something happened as the stranger took the bread, and then he blessed the bread, and he than as he and broke the bread and finally as he gave the bread to them. These two travelers suddenly remembered that these were the very words of Jesus spoken there at the last supper they ate with him. It comes as no surprise then that it was in that moment that the eyes of these two were opened so that they could at last see that this stranger was indeed the resurrected Jesus. Then in an act of total freedom, Jesus vanished, for his work with his followers was complete. He had done something which had at last liberated these two travelers..

         You see Jesus has given us a means of staying liberated. This act is found every time we commune with him at the table. Freedom, you see, is found in the words Jesus speaks as he lays his hands upon the bread. First, Jesus takes the bread. Here we remember the blessing Jesus has taken us out of the world, and has given us the good news that we now can live in his kingdom. Then Jesus blesses us, taking us who were unable to escape this body of death, and through the Spirit we were not condemned but we were instead comforted with resurrection hope. Then Jesus breaks us, the meek who like wild horses, training our raw power to be channeled in ways that prove that we are a child of God who will inherit the earth. Then the bread is given. Here at last, we come to another experience with the Holy Spirit, a blessing resulting in patience. The Spirit of freedom, takes a hold of us, and we freely give our life to our Father so he might use us to bring life to our world. So we rise from the table knowing that this bread and wine are given not to satisfy us but instead they are to whet our appetites for the life we one day will live in a new world, a life of freedom given to us today in resurrection power! So we stay liberated! In an act of true freedom we give ourselves over to the Spirit of freedom, for he liberates us like nothing else! To  God be the glory! Amen!

The Taste of Blessing: A Peace Within

 June 29 2025

Matthew 5:5, Luke 18:15-24

         As a pastor I often get questions from people that range from the serious to the silly. Yet each question is still taken seriously by me because I know that these questions often reveal a person’s inner longings. One of the saddest questions that I have been asked on several occasions has to do with a person’s longing to know something about what lays ahead after this life. With trembling uncertainty, the words come, asking me about their concern which is this: How good is good enough? They have time on their hands so they look back over their life and they realize that they have said and done some things which they regret. Yet, they figure, all is not lost because they have not been all bad. They have done some kind acts for the ones they loved, certainly not perfect, but perhaps good enough, right? The problem that plagues all who try and sort their life out by weighing the good they have done against those times they have messed up is that they are never quite certain if they have done enough of these so called, ‘good deeds”. So they go looking for the person who has to have the answer to this troubling question, the pastor, right? They have to know the answer to the question, “How good is good enough?”

         You see, this is an ancient question, one that was asked even of Jesus as we find in our scripture for today. This rich, young ruler who came to Jesus asked Jesus, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?”, yet the question still centered on this, just how good did this rich ruler need to be in order to have some certainty of his ultimate future? Can you sense that those who seek the answer to such a question are those who will never have any peace until they find an answer to what is rightfully unsettling. I mean do you really want that moment when you cross over to eternity to be a moment of not knowing what comes next? Of course not, in that moment we want peace in our hearts. This is what we want to find in this latest segment of our message series, ‘The Taste of Blessing”, where we are looking at the fruit of the Spirit called peace. What must be understood about this subject of peace is that if a person has no peace in death then they certainly will have no peace in life. The good news is that Holy Spirit brings forth peace in our life yet we must wonder just how can you and I possess such peace? The answer is found by understanding the deeper meaning behind the promised blessing of Jesus who tells us, in the fifth chapter of Matthew, the fifth verse, “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.” When the Spirit touches us with the goodness of heaven and the truth of this blessing is known, this is when we will experience a lasting peace within us.

         To better understand this blessing, we need to look at an encounter Jesus had with a person who is only identified by his age and status in the community, a rich, young ruler. In Luke’s version of the story, I believe he deliberately places the story of Jesus and the little children directly before the story of the rich young ruler. I believe this to be so because he connects these two story’s with a carefully place, “and”. So, what we hear right before this rich young ruler comes on the stage is this, “The truth is this; whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child cannot enter this kingdom”. What Luke desires we comprehend is that the main issue with this rich, young, ruler is that he is, for some reason, unable to receive the kingdom like a child. 

         The rich, young, ruler comes to Jesus with this question, “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” We pause here, to point out that this man is looking for what is exactly promised by Jesus in his teachings on the blessings of God. This tells us that the search for eternal life is the very place where peace is found. Now, what Jesus says next is quite surprising for he asks this young man, “Why do you call me good? No one is good; no one but God is good.” Can you grasp what Jesus is telling us here? Good is not some standard we all must attempt to achieve. The reason that the Bible does not have an answer to just how good we have to be is that the Bible tells us that good alone is God alone, end of story. So I imagine that this rich young ruler was taken aback by this answer of Jesus. Nonetheless, Jesus continues with the conversation, asking this puzzled young man if he knew the commandments, “Do not commit adultery; do not murder; do not steal; do not bear false witness; Honor your mother and father.” Of course, this one who had to be considered one of Israel’s brightest and best, would say that he had dutifully kept every law. Yet, even so, he had no peace. No inner confidence or certainty of whether God would consider him to be like a son, one worthy of receiving a future inheritance from him.

         Then came the remedy for this man’s anxiety as Jesus tells him. “Young man, there is one thing that you lack”, Jesus replied. This in itself would have disturbed this obedient believer who had most assuredly crossed all of his, “t’s”, and dotted all of his, “i’s”. Jesus continues, “Sell all that you have and then go and give what you have to the poor.This is when your treasure will be located in heaven”. Then, Jesus invited this young man to go with him as he traveled down the road. To say that this was not the answer this young man was looking for is an understatement. One can only imagine, the sheer terror which had come over this young man, the terrible grief that overwhelmed him at the discovery that the peace he sought was only to be found by enduring such drastic actions. These words of Jesus still shake us today, as they should because we are still people who search for some sense of peace, some lasting contentment, some deep assurance of our eternal well being. So, we have to make some sense of these words of Jesus if we are to possess what we are searching for, this peace which escapes us. 

         The first requirement to comprehend this teaching of Jesus is that we know that the kingdom of God has to be received like a child. To hear that the kingdom has to be received points us back to the first blessing, where we learn that the poor in spirit, those with open hands, these are the blessed ones for into their hands will be placed the kingdom of God. The first blessings leads us on to consider the second blessing which we looked at last week.  There Jesus taught us, “Blessed are those who grieve and lament for they shall be comforted.” Now if we see these two actions of God as being the actions of a parent towards their child, we discover that what God does for us is strangely relatable. I mean, when we are a parent and our child comes to us with empty hands, we look at their smiling face and know that we would give all that we have if they were to just ask us for it. And the second blessing can be thought of as a child who is cowering, all alone and afraid to death, and they are blessed when their parent finds them and covers them with their arms and holds them still, a gesture which speaks volumes of a parents willingness to stand between their child and whatever might try to harm them. As Jesus also teaches, even though we live in an evil age, parents still seem to know that this is how we as parents are supposed to be, giving all that we have to our children, and doing our best to guard over their lives to keep them from harm. 

         So, if we do consider ourselves as being the children of a good, good, Father, then perhaps it makes sense that we are learn to act as our Father God has already acted toward us. You see, these first two blessings Jesus gives to us, are not merely the action of a concerned parent but they are in fact, the very work that the parents wish that we would learn, to see these two actions as being thought of as the family business. Now before Jesus opened up the blessing of heaven, God protected his people by giving them the law, those commandments that this rich, young ruler obeyed. These commandments are like the house rules we give to our children when they are too young to make right decisions for themselves. Since our children are too young to make proper judgments, as parents we make those judgments for them. The commandments God gave to his people served as a guardian or babysitter for God’s people, to ensure that order might be kept in the house of God. This is what Paul explains to us at the end of the third chapter of Galatians, where he says, “…before faith came, we were held captive under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith could be revealed… but now that faith has come we are no longer under a guardian for in Christ Jesus we are all sons of God through faith.” Paul uses the word, “son”, because this is one who stands to receive an inheritance. The way we can be certain that this is how God knows us is through the Holy Spirit. In the eighth chapter of Romans, the sixteenth verse where he Paul states,” The Sprit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God and if children then we are indeed heirs of God, fellow heirs with Christ.” So it is the Holy Spirit which gives us the confidence that we are part of the family of God.

         Now, it comes as no surprise that when we know ourselves as sons, those who stand to receive an inheritance, we should also know that such a title comes with expectations. Jesus, the very Son of God speaks of these expectations in the fifth chapter of John. There, Jesus tells us, “My Father is working until now, and I too am working.” As children we are to move from needing the law, these judgments which serve as our babysitter, to being those who go to work at their Father’s side. Jesus goes on to say in that fifth chapter of John, “The Son does nothing of his own accord but only what he sees his Father doing, for whatever the Father does, the Son does likewise.”  You see, all our Heavenly Father asks of us is to follow his lead.Again, this should be understandable to those who are parents because this is one of the ways our children learn what they are to do. Children watch us and then they begin to imitate us when we work around the house. So we too, as his children, are to watch what our Heavenly Father is up to in the world. What we know as people who have been blessed by him is that our Father offers everyone the fullness of his kingdom. We have a Father willing to give all that he is and all that he has, to desperate people who are poor in spirit. Those who have had their empty hands filled with the Spirit given to then without measure, can only respond to their Father with love in their hearts. Yet our Father not only gives graciously and without measure but he also comes alongside of those who  are frightened, those driven by the fear of death and he comforts them. His Spirit whispers in their ear that they are indeed his children and he is their, Abba, Father.. So our Father not only gives to us abundantly, he also gathers us under his wings where death and the fear of death can no longer harm us. This is his power of resurrection which brings us overflowing joy. Perhaps the clearest human picture of what our Father does for us is found in the story of the Good Samaritan as found in the tenth chapter of Luke. Just as in this story, our Father found us his child laying half-dead in a ditch. We had been assaulted and robbed of life by the world and all its brokenness. Our Father in great love, lifted us up and he poured out his very life to bring us back to life. Those stripes upon his back are what healed our wounds. Our Heavenly Father, just like the Good Samaritan, gave all he had so that those he finds so hurt and wounded might be brought back to life.

         You see, the reason that the story of the Good Samaritan works so well in explaining what God has done for us is that this is the life our Father hopes we might make our own,  to live lives which speak of the goodness of our Father. As Jesus said, at the beginning of his conversation with the rich young ruler, God alone is good. So when we experience God we at the same time have experienced, good. So good is when God is seen in us, our actions and our words. This means that our life must be marked by two general actions: giving generously to others and guarding others from death and the fear of death. This should be obvious because our Father has given us experiences which prove to us  that this is our Father’s work. When we know that God generously gives his entire kingdom to us who are poor in spirit, is it any wonder that Jesus would tell the rich young ruler to sell all that he so that he too might give generously to those who are poor and desperate? And can it be any wonder that Jesus would invite this man to travel with him as he searched for those oppressed by the power of death in order to offer them life? All Jesus was trying to say to this young man is that it was time for him to leave the nursery. He had to put on his big boy pants and go out there and work with his Heavenly Father. And so do we. When we know that our Father gives his kingdom to those whose hands are empty, then  it is our turn to give of our abundance to those whose hands are empty. As the Father heard our cries when we wondered who would save us from this body of death, so we too, we are to hear the cries of those that death and the fear of death have robbed them of hope, and go and speak life to them. Just like the Spirit came alongside of us and gave us strength through his being with us, so too we are to come alongside those whose sorrow threatens to consume them and bring hope to them for this is what our Father has done to us through his Spirit.

         You see, all that God has given to us is so that we, his children, might have resources to imitate our Heavenly Father. Every Dad has probably given money to their kids so that they could go to town and buy a gift for him. He could have just gone and bought that same thing for himself but he gives the money to his kid so that they can experience for themselves the joy and the love that comes from giving to others. This is exactly what God hopes that we would do when he lavishes on us all that he has given to us.  Our Heavenly Father gives to us so that we might place a gift in someone’s empty hands and in that moment know our Heavenly Father like never before. Our Heavenly Father has made us overflow with joy when he refused to condemn us when death and the fear of death controlled us. No, our Father comforted us with wonderful words of life, words which give us great joy. So when we come alongside someone who is suffering, and fearful and we encourage them by what we say and do, and together we rejoice, this is when we truly know our Father. A life so controlled is what is spoken of in this word translated as, “meek.” You see, meek, in this context, does not mean weak or mild, far from it. This word in the original language referred to wild horses whose raw power was directed and channeled in ways that were useful to those who trained them. In the same manner, for us to be meek is to take the raw power we have, our ability to make choices and the resources we have to make those choices a reality, and we allow our Heavenly Father to direct and channel this power to serve his purposes. When we allow our Father to order our lives to be like his then this is when we know with certainty that we stand to inherit eternal life for we have a life that demonstrates what a life eternal looks like. And this is when we will experience a peace that passes all of our understanding because such is a peace which rests on the mystery of our Father’s great love for all of us. Amen!