Tag Archives: Christ

Devotional

FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT: Gentleness

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Read Galatians 5:22-26

ALSO IN SCRIPTURE
“Jesus entered the Temple and began to drive out all the people buying and selling animals for sacrifice. He knocked over the tables of the money changers and the chairs of those selling doves.” (Matthew 21:12 NLT)

In his letter to the church in Galatia, the Apostle Paul is writing to a community that is divided over the issue of male circumcision: should new Gentile followers of Jesus be counted as a part of the Jewish covenant without being circumcised, or should they have to be circumcised just as all of the Jews are circumcised. Being that Christianity at the time wasn’t a religion, but a sect of Judaism, this was a VITALLY IMPORTANT question. While Paul is opposed to making Gentiles be circumcised, he also is against divisive behavior regardless of which side it is coming from. In response to this division, Paul describes to the Galatian church what he calls, “The Fruit of the Spirit.”

FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT: Gentleness. In a recent trip to California, I stopped by what used to be the Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove. On the grounds of that beautiful work of architecture is the memorial garden in which stands two statues of Jesus. One is of “The Lost Sheep”, with Jesus holding a lamb on his shoulder and sheep looking eagerly toward him. The other is of “The Smiling Jesus,” with Jesus playing with children. While these were both familiar and beautiful images of our Lord and Savior, does the “Gentle Jesus” image show us who Jesus really was?

I think the honest answer is both yes and no. We like to think of Jesus’ Gentleness in idealistic ways. One of the ways we do this is by picturing Jesus in such ways that match up with the images illustrated above. Then when we get angry, we often guilt ourselves because we view that anger as not being of God. We view it as the antithesis of gentleness. Yet, when we look at the big picture of Jesus’ life, he was not always grinning and gentle either. Just look at the “Cleansing of the Temple” account in Matthew 21 and also to Jesus’ reaction to his opponents in Matthew 23-24. Even Jesus, sometimes, got angry and he certainly was not ALWAYS gentle.

Yet, the moments where he was not gentle also have a context to them. They were moments that called for righteous anger and Jesus used it both to stop what was happening, to hold people accountable, and to teach them a better way. With that said, Jesus had a gentle nature about him overall. He loved all people, he cared for people who needed care, he instructed people who would be his followers, and he saw the image of God in all people.  Even when he was angry and/or displaying anger, he was always doing so with the intent of instructing, as well as with the intent of putting an end to the harm he saw certain people inflicting upon others. So even his anger was driven by his gentle heart.

It would be easy for me to simply say that we are to “strive” to have Jesus’ gentleness; however, that would be inconsistent with Paul’s understanding of the fruit, which by now I am hoping you can see for yourselves. Jesus didn’t strive to be gentle…HE WAS GENTLE by the nature of his relationship with God. He was filled with the Holy Spirit and gentleness (along with the other fruits) were born through that relationship. The same is true for us. If we have a deep and committed relationship with God, if we are receptive of and filled with God’s Holy Spirit, then we will bear the fruit of God’s gentleness. This is nothing we earn or strive to do on our own power…but something that happens as a result of the power of God in our lives. If you are not gentle and do not bear the fruit of the Spirit, then it is time to check where you are in your relationship with God. We all fail to maintain that relationship, and none of us are perfect in it, but those of us who have a relationship with God and are receptive to the Holy Spirit, are being perfected in God’s love and are bearing the fruit that comes from that.

THOUGHT OF THE DAY
“Nothing is so strong as gentleness, nothing so gentle as real strength.” – St. Francis de Sales

PRAYER
Lord, fill me with your Holy Spirit so that I may bear the spiritual fruit of gentleness in my life. Amen.

Devotional

FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT: Faithfulness

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Read Galatians 5:22-26

ALSO IN SCRIPTURE
“I decree that everyone throughout my kingdom should tremble with fear before the God of Daniel. For He is the living God, and He will endure forever. His kingdom will never be destroyed, and His rule will never end.” (Daniel 6:26, NLT)

In his letter to the church in Galatia, the Apostle Paul is writing to a community that is divided over the issue of male circumcision: should new Gentile followers of Jesus be counted as a part of the Jewish covenant without being circumcised, or should they have to be circumcised just as all of the Jews are circumcised. Being that Christianity at the time wasn’t a religion, but a sect of Judaism, this was a VITALLY IMPORTANT question. While Paul is opposed to making Gentiles be circumcised, he also is against divisive behavior regardless of which side it is coming from. In response to this division, Paul describes to the Galatian church what he calls, “The Fruit of the Spirit.”

FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT: Faithfulness. When I think of the fruit of faithfulness, I think of the prophet Daniel. If you remember the story of Daniel, he was one of the Jews who were exiled to Babylon as a result of the corruption of the Kings of Israel. During exile, Daniel rose to prominence in the Babylonian Court under King Nebuchadnezzar II. There the King learns that Daniel had the ability to interpret dreams and he employed Daniel to do just that. Daniel faithfully served Nebuchadnezzar until the king went mad, something which Daniel predicted would happen.

The king’s successor was even more foolish than his predecessor and ended up losing his kingdom to the Medes and Persians. King Darius of Persia took notice of Daniel and eventually elevated him to high office; however, out of jealousy, court officials tricked King Darius to pass an edict that prohibited the worship of any god or man for a 30-day period. Out of faithfulness to God, Daniel refused to obey such an edict and prayed to God three times a day while facing in the direction of Jerusalem. Of course, it wasn’t long before Daniel was caught in the act and accused before King Darius who was forced to punish his favorite official…by his own decree.

Thus we come to the story of Daniel and the Lion’s Den. Daniel was thrown into the lion’s den as punishment for his faithfulness to God. He did not let anything get in the way of his relationship with God, not even the threat of punishment or death. And it was in his faithfulness that Daniel witnessed to God’s faithfulness as well, for the lions lay down and do not eat Daniel! In reality, it is not that God just became faithful or that Daniel just noticed. Neither of those are true. Daniel had known God’s faithfulness all along, despite being exiled from his homeland and being under the oppression of foreign rulers.

When reflecting on faithfulness, we really have a three things to consider. First, when we think of faithfulness we cannot over look the example of God’s faithfulness with us. We need to be open to it, to see it in all of the blessings we enjoy, and to even see God’s faithfulness in the trials and tough times we face as well. The latter part is particular challenging for us as we tend to question God’s faithfulness when we are going through tough times. Don’t get me wrong, I am not suggesting that questioning God is ever a bad thing. It is not; however, it is a good discipline for us to struggle in the midst of those questions to see how God has blessed and been present with us in spite of the trials we’ve endured. God is always with us. God is always faithful.

Second, we should live our lives in faithfulness as well. Faith begets faithfulness. If we have faith we will remain faithful to God. We will not compromise our faith or our relationship to God…no matter what the world (our friends, our country, etc.) is calling us to do. Finally, when the holy spirit nurtures faithfulness within us, we will be faithful in our human (and animal…yes they count too) relationships as well. We cannot be faithful to God if we are unfaithful in our human relationships! You may be wondering, “who could ever live up to such a standard?” On our own, none of us could; however, as Paul states from the very beginning, this is the fruit that the Spirit-filled life will bear.

THOUGHT OF THE DAY
“By faithfulness we are collected and wound up into unity within ourselves, whereas we had been scattered abroad in multiplicity.” – Augustine of Hippo
PRAYER
Lord, fill me with your Holy Spirit so that I may bear the spiritual fruit of faithfulness in my life. Amen.

Devotional

FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT: Patience

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Read Galatians 5:22-26

ALSO IN SCRIPTURE
“And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to His purpose for them.” (Romans 8:28 NLT)

In his letter to the church in Galatia, the Apostle Paul is writing to a community that is divided over the issue of male circumcision: should new Gentile followers of Jesus be counted as a part of the Jewish covenant without being circumcised, or should they have to be circumcised just as all of the Jews are circumcised. Being that Christianity at the time wasn’t a religion, but a sect of Judaism, this was a VITALLY IMPORTANT question. While Paul is opposed to making Gentiles be circumcised, he also is against divisive behavior regardless of which side it is coming from. In response to this division, Paul describes to the Galatian church what he calls, “The Fruit of the Spirit.”

FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT: Patience. Wow, this is the NOT the devotion for me to write. All my life I have been plagued with the desire to have things done now, in all areas of my life. It’s not that I don’t appreciate the process that things naturally progress in; however, I would appreciate it far more if we didn’t have to wait. I have never been a fan of just sitting and waiting for stuff to happen, I would much rather go out and make it happen right now. Even in something as mundane as shopping, I would rather buy something now than wait until later to do it. Patience is certainly something I have had to struggle with over the years and, come to think of it, perhaps that makes me the perfect person to talk about it.

I know I am not alone in this. I know I am not the only one who has a hard time waiting for things to happen “in God’s time.” I know I am not the only one in who feels that sometimes “God’s time” just ain’t quick enough! Why do I need to pray on something, why do I need to wait upon the Lord, why should I just sit idly by when I can seize the day and make the most of the situation? Why should I have to walk through the painfully long process of ordination when I can just be ordained online in 15 minutes and a few dollars later? Why, why, why do I have to wait? Okay, maybe I didn’t question why I needed to actually get ordained as opposed to buying a title; however, I have certainly struggled with patience.

The church struggles with patience to. When will these pews fill up? When will our church go back to the way things were before? When will we become relevant in the community again? When will we see the offering go back up to sustainable numbers? When…when…when? In our impatience, what ends up happening is that we wind up jumping the gun and cutting corners to make those things happen because, in our minds, they aren’t happening quick enough. Yet; the stark reality is that, in cutting the corners and rushing things along, we only blanket fix things at best and we often end up making a bigger mess of things than they already were.

So, you are wondering when God is going to step in and save the day for the church? You are wondering when God will answer the prayers you have been praying? You wonder when your church family will grow, when your attendance will rise, when your coffers will overflow, and when the presence of God will be KNOWN to be in your community? The answer is simple. God will do it when the time is right, if it is ever right. God will do it when the time is right for you, and others, to step up to the plate and take the actions necessary to make it happen. God will do it when you learn to be act and to be patient in your actions, allowing things to unfold in God’s time and in God’s way. As a beloved Presbyterian friend always reminds me, God is sovereign. God is in control. God will act when the time is right and, if you are willing to act and then wait upon the Lord, all shall be good in the neighborhood.

THOUGHT OF THE DAY
“But those who trust in the LORD will find new strength. They will soar high on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint.” – Isaiah, son of Amoz (Isaiah 40:31 NLT)

PRAYER
Lord, build up in me the wisdom to be patient. I trust in you and know that you are working all things at the right time. Amen.

Devotional

SON OF GOD: Holy Tuesday

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Read Matthew 26:6-13

ALSO IN SCRIPTURE
Jesus said, “Leave her alone. She bought it so that she might keep it for the day of my burial. You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me.” (John 12:7-8 NRSV)

People who are caregivers do so because they are compassionate people who want to help others. They provide the care out of love. Jesus was a caregiver on so many different levels, and he brought that care to others because of his profound love and compassion for them. I can only imagine, at the end of the day, how exhausted Jesus was. In his caring, he also was compelled to speak out against injustices and woes of society. So, when Jesus finally left Jerusalem after a long day of healing the sick and the paralyzed, after preaching in the Temple and cleansing it of it’s impurity, I can only imagine how drained and exhausted Jesus must have been. Then to top it off, he was carrying around the weight of his imminent torture, humiliation, and excruciating death. Jesus was spent emotionally, physically, psychologically, and even spiritually.

In Bethany, after having performed miracles and after teaching, Jesus sat down to relax. It was then that a woman came into him and broke open an alabaster jar and began to anoint Jesus’ feet with expensive perfume. The disciples were incensed because that could have been sold and the proceeds given to the poor; however, Jesus welcomed it and scolded his disciples. The woman, Jesus revealed to them, was caring for Jesus in his moment of great need. The Son of God, who had cared for so many, was being cared for by someone who saw his need and had compassion for him.

We often reflect the attitude of the disciple, do we not? We are often to busy caring or to busy being cared for to notice the needs that lay right by us. We look to our caregivers for their guidance and support, we look to them for their care, and for their example in caring. In the process of that we often forget that they, too, need to be cared for. They are, after all, human like the rest of us. On the flip-side, we caregivers are often so busy that we don’t ever take the time to stop and assess the kind of care we need. Caregivers are notorious for constantly going as if we are the furry pink bunny in the Energizer commercials…you know, the one who keeps on going, and going, and going, and…well you get the drift. In the process, we fail to give others the opportunity to care for us.

Just as in the story about the woman with the alabaster jar, the Son of God is calling us to be his disciples and to start taking note of the needs around us. Don’t turn a blind eye, or be apathetic to the needs of those around you. Also, take note that those who provide you care are, themselves, in need of care too! As a community, God is calling us to be mutual caregivers. Just as in the aforementioned story, Jesus is also calling those of us who are caregivers (doctors, nurses, CNAs, first responders, educators, community leaders/organizers, and spiritual caregivers) to take a break and allow others to care for us once in a while. We aren’t superhuman, we aren’t omnipotent or omnipresent; rather, we are human beings. Remember that caring for others also means giving them the opportunity to care for you. In doing so, you will live into the example hat Jesus, in his humility and in his humanity, set for all of us.

THOUGHT OF THE DAY
“Many of us follow the commandment ‘Love One Another.’ When it relates to caregiving, we must love one another with boundaries. We must acknowledge that we are included in the ‘Love One Another.’” – Peggi Spears

PRAYER
Lord, you have called me to be a caregiver in my own unique way, and you have gifted me with the talents and gifts to carry that caregiving out. Please give me the discernment to know that I, too, need care and that I need to be willing to allow for others to care for me. Amen.

Devotional

15 Ailments of the Church #14: Cliques

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Read Proverbs 6:16-19

ALSO IN SCRIPTURE

“Jesus knew their thoughts and replied, “Any kingdom divided by civil war is doomed. A town or family splintered by feuding will fall apart.” (Matthew 12:25 NLT)

Do you remember high school? I remember when I went to freshman orientation, we were all told that we could expect that high school would be the best four years of our lives. Now, that is some promise that comes with a whole host of different expectations depending on who the person with those expectations is. For me, I expected that the best four years of my life would be years in which I was accepted for who I was, that I was treated with respect and love, and that the segregation that existed between the popular groups and the outcasts would cease to exist. Unfortunately, high school did not deliver; rather, it became the opposite of the best four years of my life.

15 Ailments of the Church #14: Cliques. In the fourteenth of Pope Francis I’s 15 Ailments of the Church, he writes that one of the ailments is that Christians tend to “form ‘closed circles’ that seek to be stronger than the whole.” These “closed groups” are what are more commonly known as cliques and they are the bane of the church. While Francis is addressing the forming of such groups within the church, I want to bring it to the macrocosom for a moment. The reality is that the church, as a whole, has become a clique. Those who are within the “closed group” of the church are “saved”, “worthy”, “righteous”, “holy”, “pious”, etc. Every one outside of the church are considered “lost”, “unsaved”, “unholy”, “unrighteous”, “evil”, “sinful”, “misguided”, “damned”, etc. This sort of “us” versus “them” outlook at the world is exactly the opposite outlook that Jesus had in his life and in his ministry.

Cliques are a perversion of the community God has created us to form and play a part in. The Kingdom of God is an all-inclusive community that welcomes all people regardless of who they are, where they come from, what they look like, what they do or don’t believe, etc. The only ones excluded from this holy community are the ones who choose to exclude themselves. Cliques, on the other hand, are not communities at all. They are groupings of people seeking to have power and status over others. They are groups that seek to undermine the whole and who seek to destroy those who they consider to be beneath them.

Unfortunately, cliques are prevalent within Christian places of worship, within Christian institutions, and within all aspects of Christianity. There are cliques within the hierarchy of the church, cliques that clergy take part in, and cliques that laity take part in. The church is filled with cliques, with gossip, with slander, and with other forms of evil. All of this, whether we want to admit it exists or not, is to the detriment of the church as a whole.

Christ is calling us to break up our cliques. Christ is commanding us to return to God’s understanding of community. Relationships with others are a beautiful thing when those relationships strengthen and build up the whole; however, when they work to tear down or be better than the whole, they are terribly destructive and antichrisitian. We are called to be the former and to completely avoid being the latter. Christ is challenging us to live as he lived, to love as he loved, and to embrace the world with that love, even if we don’t embrace the ways of the world. Remember Christ’s call for us to be perfect, even as our father in heaven is perfect. It’s a tall order, indeed, and cliques don’t play into it.

THOUGHT OF THE DAY

“Try to have as diverse group of friends as possible and don’t get into the clique scenario.” – Andrew Shue

PRAYER

Lord, break me away from the temptation to be a part of cliques so that I may work toward being inclusive of all. Amen.

Devotional

15 Ailments of the Church #9: The Terrorism of Gossip

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Read Romans 1:28-32

ALSO IN SCRIPTURE
“Do not spread slanderous gossip among your people. ‘Do not stand idly by when your neighbor’s life is threatened. I am the LORD.’” (Leviticus 19:16 NLT)

I can clearly remember my time in Elementary School. I remember that I was not quite in the “popular” group, in fact, I wasn’t “popular” at all…whatever that actually means. I remember what it was like being someone who was being talked about, I remember what it was like having rumors spread about me. By the time I was a junior in high school, I had given up trying to be liked by people. In fact, I used to spread rumors around about myself to see how fast they traveled back to me. Have you ever played that game?

The truth is, I wasn’t guilt-free in the department of participating in gossip, either. None of us are. Each of us have, no doubt had rumors spread about us and we all have, no doubt, participated in the spreading of rumors. What’s worse than that being done in high school or in the world, where it is common place and expected, such gossip is just as prevalent in the church and in the lives of Christians as well. This leads us to Pope Francis I’s 9th Ailment of the Church.

Ailment of the Church #9: Committing the Terrorism of Gossip. According to Paul, we who follow Christ are all a part of Christ’s resurrected body. What does this mean? This means that we are supposed to have died to our old ways, we are supposed to have died to our sinful nature, and we are supposed to have resurrected from that death into a new life. “This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun” (2 Corinthians 5:17 NLT)! If we have died to our corruption and resurrected back to life, then we shouldn’t be living corruptible lives. Gossip is, perhaps, one of the greater corruptions within the church and it is a blasphemy against the Spirit of the living, resurrected Christ.

In fact, Pope Francis I calls Gossip a form of terrorism and, honestly, it truly is. Anyone who has been gossiped about knows that terror and damage that it causes. It damages one’s psyche, it damages one’s self-image, it damages one’s soul. Conversely, those who engage in gossip are in great peril themselves because they are hardening their own hearts, growing calloused, and the gossip is consuming their own souls. Like the demons in the movie the Evil Dead, gossip enters in and it consumes who ever participates in it. It destroys them and it seeks to destroy the people being gossiped about as well. How can gossip ever have a place in the body of Christ? It can’t, and the truth is that those who continually engage in it separate themselves from that body.

Christ is calling us to stop the terrorism of gossip. We were not meant to participate in such a pernicious sin, one that so closely walks the line between sin and evil. If you are one who is engaging in gossip, if you are one who engages in cutting people down behind their backs, if you are one who slanders people and murders them with your words, then Christ is calling you to die to that part of your life. Let that be nailed to the cross so that you may join Christ in the resurrected life. We, as Christians, are filled with the Holy Spirit and are new creatures in Christ. We are the ones who have been called to bring the hope, healing and wholeness of Christ as opposed to the despair, decay and death that comes from the terrorism of gossip. I pray that you are freed from those bonds that you may live into the resurrected Christ.

THOUGHT OF THE DAY
“Be Impeccable With Your Word. Speak with integrity. Say only what you mean. Avoid using the word to speak against yourself or to gossip about others. Use the power of your word in the direction of truth and love.” – Miguel Angel Ruiz

PRAYER
Lord, forgive me, I pray. Kill any traces of gossip within me and heal me from the times that I have been gossiped about. Resurrect me into a new life, free from gossip and any other kind of slander. Amen.

Devotional

What Have You Done?

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Read Matthew 1:18-23

ALSO IN SCRIPTURE
“Then Isaiah said: ‘Hear then, O house of David! Is it too little for you to weary mortals, that you weary my God also? Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Look, the young woman is with child and shall bear a son, and shall name him Immanuel.’” (Isaiah 7:13-14)

Every day over the last few weeks have been filled with reminders that this world is just not right, that things are just not as they should be. We have Christians, Jews and Muslims who are losing their homes and their lives as the result of religious extremism and intolerance. We see the tension and division over racial inequality in the United States growing ever more stark in the light of the tragic events of Ferguson, Missouri and now in Staten Island, NY. We see people going missing, active shooters in schools and public buildings, and other horrific events jumping out our TV sets and into our very own communities. All of this in time for Christmas.

In times like these, and perhaps in general, people enter into the Christmas season a bit on the cynical side. What’s this Christmas holiday? You see signs that read, “Keep Christ in Christmas”, but that just leaves most people with a BAD TASTE in their mouths. After all, where is God? Where is Christ? What good is a Christ or a Christmas that masks the pain of others and celebrates the advent of BIG BUSINESS and the pursuit of abject materialism of the haves over and above the abject poverty of the have-nots? What good is Christmas?

As I have written in the past, so I still maintain, there are really no answers that can adequately satisfy us when it comes to why God and evil coexist. Then again, the non-existence of God does not eliminate the reality of evil, so that really isn’t much of an adequate alternative either. What’s more, these questions also remind me of “Happy Xmas (War Is Over)” by John Lennon. In it he starts the song off with these lyrics, “And so this is Christmas, and what have you done? Another year over and a new one just begun.” The fact of the matter is, we can ask what good is God, or what good is Christ, or what good is Christmas; however, the question we really should be asking is, what good are we?

That is not to say that we are bad and to interpret the question that way is to miss the point John Lennon is making. We can look to God or to Christ or to Christmas and wonder where the magic is, all the while continuing on living our lives separated from the hurt of the world. But what good is that? How does that disconnected, finger-pointing approach help make this world a better place? Not to mention, it also mischaracterizes Christ/mas and shows that we have a deficit in our own understanding in what it means for us to experience the nativity of Christ in our lives.

The Nativity story is not only a reminder of Immanuel, of “God with us,” but it is also a reminder of the fact that through Christ, “God is in us.” The nativity for us is not the birth of a baby 2,000 years ago; rather, it is the birth of Christ in our very own hearts. And that birth, that nativity, changes us to reflect the light, the love, and the goodwill of Christ in the world. To translate that to words that actually mean something, we are to be the Christ we wish to see in the world. That is what God is CALLING US TO DO.

And so this is Christmas, what will you do? Will you watch the year expire only to continue on disconnected all the way through? Or will you, to quote Gandhi, be the change you wish to see in the world? Will you stand up against inequality? Will you be the ushering in of Immanuel, of God with us, of Christ who is the lgiht of the world? Each and every day we are called to make a difference. We may not be able to change the entire world and we may not be able to eliminate evil, let alone explain why it exists; however, we can be living proof in the lives of others that God is real, that God is love, and that God is working through Christ in us to bring about hope, healing and wholeness in the world. Game on!

THOUGHT OF THE DAY
“We need not look any further than our own hearts, and the hearts of those around us, to find God.”

PRAYER
Lord, I thank you for always being preset me, and thank you for revealing your presence in me. Let me witness to that Good News and strengthen me to actively work for change in the world around me! Amen.

Devotional

Anointed

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Read Isaiah 45:1-8

ALSO IN SCRIPTURE
“No, O people, the LORD has told you what is good, and this is what He requires of you: to do what is right, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.” (Micah 6:8 NLT)

When you hear the word Messiah, who do you think of? When you hear the word Christ, what do you think of? Some of you may know that the words Christ and Messiah mean the same thing, that “messiah” is the English equivalent of a the Hebrew word “mâshı̂yach” (מָשִׁיחַ) and “christ” is the English equivalent of the Greek word “christos” (Χριστός). My guess is that when most people hear the phrase “messiah” or “christ”, whether they or Christian or not, they immediately think of the man who ended up becoming the figure head of the Christian religion, Jesus of Nazareth. Some may even mistakenly think that “Christ” is Jesus’ last name!

I am very certain that when most people hear the words “messiah” or “christ”, they do not think of Cyrus. In fact, if I were a betting person, I would bet that most people would not even know who Cyrus actually is. As it happens, Cyrus was the king of Persia. He ended up being the ruler who took over the kingdom of Babylon after it fell to the forces and the might of Persia. Within Babylon were the people of Judah who had been exiled there because of their trying to ally with Egypt against Babylon. When that happened, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon beseiged Jerusalem and, upon overtaking it, forced all of the leaders, the Temple priests, the scribes and people of import were exiled from Jerusalem and relocated in Babylon.

Once Babylon fell to Persia, King Cyrus (who was not a Jew and had no in depth knowledge of the Jewish religion) let the Jewish people return back to Jerusalem. What is even more striking than that, is that Cyrus seemingly had no agenda other than to just let them go home. He didn’t require them to send any money back to him, or pledge their loyalty to him in any way; rather, he simply let them go home to rebuild the city of Jerusalem and its Temple. In response to that, the Jewish priests and scribes wrote of Cyrus that he was the LORD GOD’s “anointed one”, or Messiah (which is “Christ” in Greek). Let me reiterate that. Cyrus, the non-Jewish, polytheistic, war mongering Persian King was the Messiah…the Christ…the LORD’s anointed one.

I bet you didn’t see that one coming. The Hebrew Scriptures are filled with such richness that really help point us to the nature of God. If we read Scripture carefully, there were many messiahs. Saul, David, Solomon, and every other King of Israel were all the LORD’s anointed ones. That’s different than being “the Messiah”, the one that some of the first century Jews were looking to come and rid them of their oppressors and reestablish the line of King David forever; however, there were many messiahs and each one of them were anointed by the LORD’s prophets. There really is nothing unusual about a king, or others, being called messiah. What is unusual is that this particular king does not even know, let alone worship, the God of Israel.

What does that say for us? It says that God constantly exceeds our expectations. It says that God will anoint anyone who is willing to have compassion, who seeks justice, who loves mercy, and who walks in the path of humility. Whether that person is a Jew or a Gentile, whether that person is a Christian or a Muslim, whether that person is a monotheist or a polytheist, whether that person is a male or a female, God will work in and through anyone who is willing to humble themselves and let LOVE rule the day. The fact is that God was calling Israel to live in that love, to be God’s chosen, and God worked through Cyrus to remind them of that. The fact is that God is calling us to live in that LOVE, to be God’s chosen, and once again is using Cyrus to remind us of that. Be reminded and live a life of LOVE that witnesses to the LOVE of God.

THOUGHT OF THE DAY
“This is not the time to shrink back in fear. This is the time to move forward in Faith. Get up every morning knowing you are anointed. You are equipped. You are empowered. You have everything you need to fulfill your destiny.” – Elton Sibiya

PRAYER
Lord, allow me to step out in faith, to see that you have anointed me to fulfill the work of love, compassionate justice, and mercy that you began at the outset of the world. Allow me to act upon that knowledge in service of others. Amen.