HOPE! - Jesus the Just and Gentle

In the New Testament, we see how many people did not recognize Jesus for who he is. Many people believed him to be the Messiah, but they had a different idea of what a messiah should be like than what he actually was. Many people thought that when the Messiah would come, he would destroy all of Israel’s political enemies. He would do away with the oppressive Romans once and for all and would make them into a great nation once again. However, this is not what Jesus was all about. Jesus is the fulfillment of the Law… the Law which said to “love your neighbor as yourself.” But Jesus took this even further, and declared the need to love not only your neighbor… but your enemy! This was not the Messiah the people were expecting.

Sometimes we think the same way the people back then did. We think that we serve a Jesus who will destroy our political enemies and make us into a great nation once again. But if Jesus wasn’t about that kind of stuff back then, is he any different today?

Jesus had a fiery passion about him. You don’t get confused for Elijah over and over again if you’re not passionate after all. He got angry and fired up at times – remember that incident in the Temple?

But Jesus was also kind and compassionate. He was gentle. He shared a meal with the hated tax collector Zacchaus. He protected the woman caught in adultery from being stoned. He defended Mary from Judas when she poured perfume on his feet. He took on the role of a slave and washed the dirt off his own disciples’ feet. He wept when his friend Lazarus died. He even stopped to talk to the weeping women as he was being led to his own death. And while his mother watched him dying on the cross, he told John to take care of her for him after he was gone.

And even when Jesus was angry – he was angry about injustice. About those who thought they had an in with God, but who at the same time “despised the poor,” cheated their neighbors, and oppressed widows, orphans, and foreigners.

But Jesus was gentle. He is described in this way by the prophet Isaiah:

“Here is my servant whom I have chosen,
    the one I love, in whom I delight;
I will put my Spirit on him,
    and he will proclaim justice to the nations.
He will not quarrel or cry out;
    no one will hear his voice in the streets.
A bruised reed he will not break,
    and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out,
till he has brought justice through to victory.
    In his name the nations will put their hope.”

We also put our hope in his name. In the gentle Jesus who proclaims justice to the nations.

Living on Mission – Gentleness and Identity

Living on Mission – Gentleness and Identity

“This letter is from Paul, chosen by the will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus. I am writing to God’s holy people in Ephesus, who are faithful followers of Christ Jesus. May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace.” (Ephesians 1:1-2)

How do these verses relate to gentleness? They made me think about the tie between gentleness and identity. What if being secure in our identity and purpose enables us to walk in gentleness?

When we’re insecure, we tend to “power up” on people and go to great lengths to prove our value or that we belong. We’re always on defense, ready to protect our territory. Gentleness never does that! Gentleness says, “Hey, it’s ok if you don’t believe what I say or who I am. Your unbelief in the truth doesn’t change the truth.”

We can tell from this simple greeting that Paul has no questions about who he is or what he’s called to do. He had a purpose and he was sure of his identity (who God made him to be.) He had no reason to take a defensive stance regarding his position. He was free to declare and to operate in the grace of God with all gentleness. He wrote the book of Ephesians from a posture of gentleness.

Look at the life of Jesus for more evidence. Jesus knew exactly who He was and what He came to earth to do. He walked confidently and with gentleness – even when He was wrongly accused and crucified. (How He was able to remain gentle while being abused is beyond me. That is literally outside of the scope of my abilities!)

Are you feeling less than gentle? Spend some time discovering what God says and thinks about you. Once you get secure in your identity in Him, you’ll find that you’re able to practice gentleness.

Let’s practice Living on Mission and practice gentleness – completely secure in who we are in Him.

Pastor Angela

pray it: gentle in our time - ephesians 1:1-2

My blog title has no capital letters.

I did it on purpose as a reminder to myself that sometimes I am too noisy.  Sometimes, I am about as gentle as Brillo pad, with opinions that leak out in the form of biting words, strung along into pointed sentences, that scour. 

Scouring has its place.  Namely, on my dirty dishes.  But not all over God's children (and we are all God's children).

Have you ever been not-so-gentle with your words?  Have you ever Brillo-padded a baby's bottom with your opinions?  (It's a metaphor... a ridiculous metaphor... but it illustrates how ridiculous we can be with our opinions and commentary...)  If you can think of a time that you scoured someone with your words, or plowed over them like monster truck, reflect back on how effective/necessarily/purposeful it was.  Likewise, has anyone ever scoured you with their words?  Ran you over?  How did you react?  How did you feel?  Was it effective?  Did it accomplish anything, particularly for the Kingdom of God?

If gentleness is restrained strength, as we learned this past Sunday, how does that inform our prayer life?  How should we pray now?

Restrained.  Strength.

We need restraint in our opinions and strength from the Holy Spirit as we seek to respond like Jesus. 

And how did Jesus respond?

In Matthew 5:44, Jesus says, "But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you" (NIV).

This was more than just a lofty suggestion from a starry-eyed idealist.  This was the actual practice (and last words) of a man who was hung on cross, who chose to respond in prayer even while he was being hurt and even though he had done nothing wrong.  In Luke 23:34:  Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” And they divided up his clothes by casting lots.

We're gonna need a whole lotta restraint (a Holy Spirit driven control of our opinions and indictments/judgements) and a whole lotta strength (to pray for those who persecute us)...  You see, things are about to get challenging in the prayer blog.  It just might be Jesus' next step for you.  For us.  Over the next several weeks, we are going to be challenged to pray for our enemies.  It matters.

Our scripture passage for this Sunday is Ephesians 1:1-2: 

Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God,

To God’s holy people in Ephesus,^[a] the faithful in Christ Jesus:

² Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ

Do you see how Paul's name is connected to Jesus' name?  Do you see how the Ephesians are connected to Jesus' name?  We, too, are connected to Jesus in an incredibly close manner, and when people associate us with him, it would do us well to respond like him.  There's grace and peace to be had when we respond like Jesus. 

How many people invoke the name of Jesus on social media, and follow it with scathing comments?  Vile comments?  Awful, mean, spiteful comments?  What good does it actually do?  Do situations change?  Do those we disagree with suddenly do an "about face" and turn around and change?  No.  Do we suddenly feel better because we've weighed in?  Are we suddenly at peace?  No. 

Perhaps the energy we waste passing judgment (not our job) would be better spent on our knees in fervent prayer for the situation, whatever it may be, and ALL those involved.

This is what Jesus did.  This is what we should do.

Take it to the Lord in prayer. 

This.  Could.  Change.  Everything.

Let's let it.

This week's challenge:  Ask God to search your heart and weigh in on areas of life in which you need Jesus' gentleness.  Ask God to begin to prepare your heart and mind to spend time in prayer for your "enemies."  Commit to joining your fellow PoC'ers as we pray together each week and ask God to teach us to respond in gentleness and in bold prayer, rather than in bold, opinionated, and condemning commentary.

Dear Jesus,
Help prepare our hearts and minds to see areas of our lives in which we are not gentle, but judgmental.  Please help "ready us" as we begin to pray more and "talk" less. 
Amen.

PoC|Coverage is tonight at 6pm!  Join us as we engage in prayer and care throughout the building.

Pastor Celia

FAMILY IT! — Wednesday Family Devotional — “Gentle in Our Time”

How are you at teams?  It’s a popular word, and not just on the field.  Teams are in schools, businesses, even churches.  Of course, they’re also all over TV.  One of my favorites growing up was the A-Team—“I love it when a plan comes together!”  Go around your family for one minute and see how many teams you can come up with.

Avengers.  X-Men.  Furious Five (Kung Fu Panda).  Fantastic Four.  Yeah, we kind of have a theme at our house.  But what I’ve noticed about most teams is that they are often forceful.  Of course, not every one has the mission to fight super villains, but even sports teams are trying to win by force.  A team of doctors fight diseases.  Even your local grocery store team of employees is trying to beat the other grocery store at sales.  It’s a battle out there!

That’s part of what makes our new sermon series so timely.  For the next three months, we’re taking a look at Paul’s letter to the Ephesians as we unpack the idea of gentleness.  Now, gentleness is not a characteristic you’ll find on a lot of those teams you mentioned.  Kicking, shooting, clawing maybe—not being gentle.  But we learned this past Sunday that God wants us to be gentle like Jesus.  That includes our families.  We are to be a gentle force!  But how?

Take out a Bible and read the first two verses of Ephesians.  Now hang with me for a minute, because these two verses don’t seem like much.  It’s basically Paul’s address on the letter.  He’s sharing who he is—an apostle of Christ Jesus, and who he’s reaching—all the saints in Ephesus.  If we follow that pattern, the first steps to being a gentle family force is to know who we are and who we’re reaching.

Who are you?  Take some time together and talk about what your family values.  What do you like to do together?  What’s important to your family?  If it’s not already on the list, talk about adding “gentleness.”  Maybe you can even come up with a fun team name to describe your family!  

Next, do you know who you’re reaching?  In your mind, are you reaching friends?  The lost?  The enemy?  Or have you decided to reach out to ALL of God’s children with the gentle love of Jesus? 

Close your time together in prayer, asking Jesus to help your whole family be a gentle force in our community.  Go team!

EXPLORE IT - Ephesians 1:1-2

Ephesians 1:1-2   Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, To the saints in Ephesus, the faithful in Christ Jesus:  Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

John 13:12-17   When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. "Do you understand what I have done for you?" he asked them.  ¹³ "You call me 'Teacher' and 'Lord,' and rightly so, for that is what I am.  ¹⁴ Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another's feet.  ¹⁵ I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you.  ¹⁶ I tell you the truth, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him.  ¹⁷ Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.

As we begin our journey this week through the letter of Ephesians and our study of gentleness, we look at an introduction to the author of this epistle, Paul.  Paul introduces himself immediately as an apostle of Jesus who is writing to those who faithfully serve Jesus.  Jesus is what brings the Church at Ephesus and Paul together.  Jesus is the tie that binds them together.  Jesus is our foundation and He is our greatest example.

In looking to Jesus as an example, we take a moment to look at the Gospel of John.  John 13:12-17 gives us a picture of Jesus, revealing a manner of Jesus, or showing us the characteristic of Jesus that we are to emulate.  Jesus illustrates his manner of humility, self-sacrifice, and love as he serves his disciples by washing their feet. 

In Jesus’ day, people walked around in sandals or sometimes even without shoes.  The roads were not paved and were often dusty or muddy.  There was no sewage system, so animal and human waste was often thrown onto the road.  People’s feet became very gross and it was customary for a servant to wash the feet of guests upon their arrival.  As Jesus and His disciples arrived at their gathering, no one offered to wash their feet.  So Jesus did.  Jesus became a servant and performed a task typically reserved for the lowest of the lowest servant in the house, revealing a manner of gentleness that we are to follow.

Jesus has set an example for us to follow, a manner of gentleness.  As you go through your day today, be open to opportunities to serve others, to humble yourself and offer the love of Jesus to those around you.

Blessings,Pastor Amy