Tag Archives: Righteous

Devotional

God’s People, part 252: James the Just

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Read Acts 12:17; 1 Corinthians 15:7

ALSO IN SCRIPTURE
“When [Jesus’] family heard what was happening, they tried to take him away. “He’s out of his mind,” they said.”  (Mark 3:21, NLT)

When we think of God’s people, we tend to think one of two things. We might think of the Israelites who were God’s “chosen people”, or we might think of specific characters in the Bible. Either way, we tend to idealize the people we are thinking about. For instance, we may think that God’s people are super faithful, holy, perform miracles and live wholly devout and righteous lives. Unfortunately, this idealism enables us to distance ourselves from being God’s people, because we feel that we fall short of those ideals. As such, I have decided to write a devotion series on specific characters in the Bible in order to show you how much these Biblical people are truly like us, and how much we are truly called to be God’s people.

Part 252: James the Just. Admittedly, there is often a confusion that arises when discussing some of the people in the New Testament due to the fact there are multiple people with the same name. Simon, for instance, could be Simon the Zealot or Simon Peter. Judas could be Judas son of James or Judas Iscariot. Mary could be any number of Marys, including but not limited to Jesus’ mother, Mary Magdalene or Mary, sister of Lazarus.

The same is true when it comes to James, who could be James, son of Zebedee, James son of Alphaeus, James father of Judas, or James, half-brother of Jesus of Nazareth. In today’s devotion, James, the brother of Jesus, will be discussed. He is also known as James the Just; however, before learning how he came about that descriptive title, let us first explore what we know of him.

Very little is written about James in the Bible; however, we can gather much about him from what little we have. First, he was not always a believer in his brother Jesus. Mark wrote in his Gospel that Jesus family, including James, thought Jesus was outside of his mind early on in his ministry and they sought to “take him away”, in order that they could silence him and keep him and their family out of trouble (Mark 3:21, 31-35).

The next we hear about James is in the Acts of the Apostles written by Luke. By that point, James is not just a believer in his brother, he’s one of the leaders and pillars of the Jerusalem Church. What can be gathered, though nothing is specifically written about it, James and his family did eventually become believers in Jesus. We all know that Mary, mother of Jesus, was one of the people was at the cross of her son, and that she carried on in the life of the early church, along with Mary Magdalene and the other women followers. We can, therefore, safely presume, that most if not all of Jesus’ family followed her lead, including James.

In 90 A.D., Flavius Josephus made reference to “the brother of Jesus, who was called the Christ, whose name was James” (Anitquities of the Jews, Book 20, Chapter 9, 1). In that account, the High Priest, Ananus son of Ananus, had James and some others arrested, tried them as law breakers, and had them stoned to death. What is striking is that the entire Jewish community seemed to be in an uproar over that decision because James and those were considered to be “the most equitable citizens, and such as were the most uneasy at the breach of the laws” (Antiquities of the Jews, Book 20, Chapter 9, 1).

This extra-Biblical account is actually corroborated by what we know of James through the writings of Luke and Paul. We know that James and the Jerusalem Church were concerned with not breaking the Jewish law and challenged Paul in how far he should go to open up the covenant to Gentiles. James’ followers seemed to counter Paul quite a bit in his Gentile mission (see Galatians). In fact, it was James who turned down Paul’s collection and suggested he use it at the temple to show that he, as a Jew, still followed the Jewish law (Acts 21:17-40).

This is, in fact, how James came to be known throughout Jerusalem as James the Just, or, perhaps better translated as James the Righteous. Though he was a Christ follower, he was respected in the Jewish community as a devout Jew and follower of the Torah. That is why the community was outraged by his death and why Ananus got demoted and replaced as high priest (ironically by another man named Jesus).

The first thing that should challenge us about this is recognizing the inherent Jewishness of Jesus, James, Paul and the earliest church. At that time, there was no such thing as a separate religion called Christianity. The term Christian originally was meant to describe Jewish followers of Jesus the Christ. The original name for this Jewish sect was “The Way.

Secondly, we should recognize that Christianity has always been in the midst of give-and-take, when it comes to theology and inclusion. If it were up to James, God bless him, the chruch would have stayed in and around Jerusalem and, more than likely, it would have been eliminated in 70 A.D. with the destruction of the city and the temple. Because of Paul, Luke, Peter, and others, the Gentiles were eventually included. In fact, over time, the Gentiles became the majority.

As Christians, we should be pushing the boundaries of who we include as well. Christ did not come, nor die, to save the righteous, but to save sinners (of which we all are). With that said, we should also respect and honor those Christians who hold to a more conservative view, such as James did. Paul brought him a peace offering, even though the two vehemently disagreed. Paul also went to the temple to honor James’ wishes, which led to Paul’s arrest. Paul’s example should remind us that in Christ, we are all one (despite the fact that we don’t all agree). Let us be mindful of that now and forever. Amen.

THOUGHT OF THE DAY
“After the apostles, James the brother of the Lord surnamed the Just was made head of the Church at Jerusalem.” – Hegesippus, 2nd Century Bishop of Jerusalem

PRAYER
Lord, help me to stand firm in my beliefs, all the while humble and loving toward all my brothers and sisters in Christ in my heart. Amen.

Devotional

God’s People, part 128: Taxes

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Read Luke 19:1-10

ALSO IN SCRIPTURE
“Later, as Jesus left the town, he saw a tax collector named Levi sitting at his tax collector’s booth. ‘Follow me and be my disciple,’ Jesus said to him.”  (Luke 5:27 NLT)

When we think of God’s people, we tend to think one of two things. We might think of the Israelites who were God’s “chosen people”, or we might think of specific characters in the Bible. Either way, we tend to idealize the people we are thinking about. For instance, we may think that God’s people are super faithful, holy, perform miracles and live wholly devout and righteous lives. Unfortunately, this idealism enables us to distance ourselves from being God’s people, because we feel that we fall short of those ideals. As such, I have decided to write a devotion series on specific characters in the Bible in order to show you how much these Biblical people are truly like us, and how much we are truly called to be God’s people.

001-lumo-jesus-matthewPart 128: Taxes. Everybody’s favorite subject, right? Taxes are just a bowl of jiggly, cherry flavored joy (aka JELLO). Everybody loves paying taxes nowadays and so it is really hard for us to understand why anyone in the ancient world would hold a grudge against tax collectors, right? If you haven’t picked up on it yet, I will let you know that I am totally being sarcastic here.

In U.S. American history alone, there are ample examples of our bitter hatred of taxes. In fact, it is safe to say that taxes played a huge role in the British Colonies rebelling against England and forming the United States of America. They fought against major tariffs and/or taxes placed on things like stamps and tea, without any representation from the colonies. In other words, the crown decided to raise taxes, and did so without any consideration for the people in the colonies. They had no one appointed to represent their needs to the King.

In Jesus’ day, taxes were even more despised than they were in the days of the American Revolution. Why? Because of the system of taxation they wre forced into. Under Roman occupation, the Romans “employed” local people to collect the taxes that were due to them. These tax collectors were not actually paid by Rome; rather, they were expected to collect what was due Rome and it was completely acceptable and expected that they would raise what was owed to compensate themselves for their services. You heard me right. If someone owed $1,000 for the year in taxes, the tax collector might charge $2,000. They would give Rome its $1,000 and keep the other $1,000 for themselves.

Keep in mind, these tax collectors are locals. What that means is that the tax collectors in Judaea were other Jews making a killing off of the backs of their own people, for the benefit of themselves and the Roman government. Thus, tax collectors were not a popular group of people by any stretch of the imagination. That is what makes Jesus’ acceptance of Levi (aka Matthew) and Zacchaeus so shocking.

On top of Roman taxes, the people also had to pay a Temple tax, local government taxes, military tax (and drafts), customs taxes, import and export taxes, toll bridges, crop/harvest taxes, sales taxes, property taxes, as well as special taxes where there was a war, a building project or campaign to fund. For the common person, these taxes became burdensome and added to the oppression they were experiencing.

With all of this context, it is important for us to note that while the tax collector was hated by most people, Jesus chose to include them in his ministry. He invited them into a new service, a service of giving rather than collecting. His willingness to see the divine in them broke through. His willingness to love them and treat them with dignity, broke through their hearts and sparked in them transformative change.

This should challenge us. Who are the “rightfully despised” in our communities? Who are the people who have earned a bad name for themselves and how do we show them Jesus? How do we bring the Christ who loves them and calls them to experience transformative grace in their lives? Are we willing to see such people as Christ sees them, or will we let our disgust stand in our way? Let us not forget that, ultimately, we’re no more righteous than those people. In fact, we’re less righteous when we think we’re above or better than them. Christ calls us all to humility and to grace.

THOUGHT OF THE DAY
“I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners and need to repent.” – Jesus of Nazareth (Luke 5:32 NLT)

PRAYER
Lord, humble me and help me to see all people through your eyes. Amen.

Devotional

God’s People, part 83: Isaiah

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Read Isaiah 6

ALSO IN SCRIPTURE

“So Isaiah the prophet asked the Lord to do this, and he caused the shadow to move ten steps backward on the sundial of Ahaz!” (2 Kings‬ ‭20:11‬ ‭NLT‬‬)

When we think of God’s people, we tend to think one of two things. We might think of the Israelites who were God’s “chosen people”, or we might think of specific characters in the Bible. Either way, we tend to idealize the people we are thinking about. For instance, we may think that God’s people are super faithful, holy, perform miracles and live wholly devout and righteous lives. Unfortunately, this idealism enables us to distance ourselves from being God’s people, because we feel that we fall short of those ideals. As such, I have decided to write a devotion series on specific characters in the Bible in order to show you how much these Biblical people are truly like us, and how much we are truly called to be God’s people.

 Part 83: Isaiah. Isaiah is a name well-known in Christianity because of the prophetic book named after, and traditionally considered to be written by, the prophet. While Christians may not know much about the prophet himself, they know some of his famous prophecies such as, the virgin birth (Isaiah 7:14), pastoral images of heaven such as the lion laying down with the lamb (Isaiah 11:6), and other such prophecies in which Christians see fulfilled in Jesus Christ.

Isaiah was a prophet who was actively prophesying for 64 years. He played an adviosry role with a number of kings. His early ministry started in the last few years of King Uzziah and he died under the reign of King Hezekiah, whom he was influential in advising. With that said, not all of Isaiah’s ministry was smooth and easy. A number of years were spent standing up to the wickedness of King Ahaz. In fact, Isaiah 7 was written as a message to be sent to that wicked king.

In that chapter of the prophet’s book that God challenges Ahaz to demand a “sign”. The king refused the challenge and answered in a “religiously correct” way. He said, “I will not ask for a sign. I refuse to put the LORD to the test.” Yet, the king was insincere and Isaiah called him out on it. He may not have asked God for a test; however, he was TESTING God’s patience with all of the injustice and unrighteousness Ahaz and his courts were engaging in. God had enough and sent Isaiah to call him out on it.

It is to Ahaz that Isaiah declared that God would, indeed, provide a sign anyway. The sign would be a “virgin” or a “young woman” giving birth to a child. This child would one day grow up to be righteous, to reject what is wrong, and before fully maturing destruction would come upon the wicked king. This prophecy, in the moment, was announcing the end of Ahaz’ reign. Of course, as with all reigns, Ahaz’ did come to an end and his son, Hezekiah, was a righteous king.

With that said, it is wrong to only read the prophecy as having to do with Ahaz. God was announcing the end of the wicked world order. While Hezekiah may have been righteous, he was still sinful in some areas, and most of the kings who succeeded him fell short of even his standard, let alone Gods. This prophecy, through the eyes of those who knew him and came to believe in him, pointed right to Jesus Christ who would reject wrong and live a perfectly righteous life. It is the birth, life, death and resurrection of Christ that sets God’s plan of redemption and the upheaval of the wicked world order in place.

Powerful words for Isaiah to deliver to a king who, know doubt, might have had Isaiah thrown in prison or executed. Yet, the bold prophet was not always so bold. At the outset of his call, according to his own words in Isaiah 6, the Isaiah had a vision of God. The vision was so intense that he feared he might die from having looked upon God’s holy presence as a sinful man. As is a common human experience, Isaiah could not believe that God was choosing him. Clearly he was wrong and, when God affirmed his call in the vision, Isaiah’s response was “Here I am, Lord send me.”

From that point on, everything changed for Isaiah, who went down as one of the most influential prophets in the history of Israel. The same is true for you. As you read this, you are probably thinking, “Who? Me? I am not called! Not me!” That, my friend, is the response most of us have when we feel God’s call. Let me put it this way, God is calling you! God is calling us all. You may be called in the same way as me, or you may be called differently than me, but you are called. The question is, what will your response be? If you answer yes to the call, I can promise you this, nothing will ever be the same again! Everything will change for you and for the world around you. May it be so.

THOUGHT OF THE DAY

Denial is a common human response, but it seldom exacts any change.

PRAYER

Lord, here I am. Show me what you are calling me to do and send me to do it. Amen.

Devotional

God’s People, part 81: Hezekiah

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Read 2 Kings 18-20; 2 Chronicles 29-32

ALSO IN SCRIPTURE
“Hezekiah welcomed them; he showed them his treasure house, the silver, the gold, the spices, the precious oil, his whole armory, all that was found in his storehouses. There was nothing in his house or in all his realm that Hezekiah did not show them.” (Isaiah 39:2 NLT)

When we think of God’s people, we tend to think one of two things. We might think of the Israelites who were God’s “chosen people”, or we might think of specific characters in the Bible. Either way, we tend to idealize the people we are thinking about. For instance, we may think that God’s people are super faithful, holy, perform miracles and live wholly devout and righteous lives. Unfortunately, this idealism enables us to distance ourselves from being God’s people, because we feel that we fall short of those ideals. As such, I have decided to write a devotion series on specific characters in the Bible in order to show you how much these Biblical people are truly like us, and how much we are truly called to be God’s people.

King_Hezekiah,_clouthed_in_sackcloth,_spreads_open_the_letter_before_the_LordPart 81: Hezekiah. I love the story of Hezekiah. For me it proves that God is at work at all times and in all places. Hezekiah is evidence that no matter what, God can and will break through to the hearts that are open to God. Hezekiah is proof that “guilt by association” is nothing more than a logical fallacy. Just because one is born to a father or mother who is wicked, unjust and swayed by evil, does not mean that one will automatically go down that road.

King Hezekiah was the son of King Ahaz who, as was discussed in the last devotion, was a wicked king who followed the ways of evil, rather than following God. Ahaz was also proof that just because one has good parents does not mean that one will end up being good or righteous. Let’s call the stories of Ahaz and Hezekiah to be ancient myth-busters.

I am not sure how Hezekiah came to be in relationship with God, having a parent like his dad. Let’s not forget that his dad made his “first-born” son “pass through the fire.” As was mentioned in the last devotion, there is debate as to what that means. The most common interpretation, and the one that the New Living Translation goes with, is that his sacrificed his first-born son to the Canaanite god Molech by burning him. That would mean that Hezekiah would have been the second-born son and next in line for the throne.

With that said, it could also mean that he put his first-born son through a pagan initiation rite involving fire, dedicating him to the god Molech. If that was the case, Hezekiah would have been that son. Either way, Hezekiah clearly grew up detesting the ways of his father and found his faith in YHWH, the God of his ancestor David.

What that meant is that Hezekiah had all of the shrines and idols throughout Judah destroyed. He brought the people of Israel back to the one, true God by strictly enforcing that the worship only the LORD and that they do so only in the LORD’s Temple. He also thought ahead and began to work for the safety of Jerusalem. When Assyria conquered the Northern Kingdom of Israel, and exiled many of its leaders, King Hezekiah had already begun fortifying Jerusalem, ensuring that the city would be harder to take.

That is not to say that the king was perfect, after all, he was a human being. Isaiah recorded that the king was visited by envoy from the Babylonian Empire. He was so flattered by the visit that he let it go to the place of vanity and began to show off all of his wealth and power to the visitors. This, of course, got fully reported back to the King of Babylon. That empire would be setting its sights on Jerusalem and would eventually conquer her.

The challenge for us is this: even when we are following God, we are still not immune from sin and vanity is the sin, along with pride, that tends to get us when we least expect it. Let us not worry about what people think of us. Let us not boast so that people can think we are all that and a bag of chips; rather, let us be humble and remember that the only One we need to please is God. The challenge is to LOVE GOD and to keep our vanity at bay so that we can serve God and others in LOVE and in TRUTH. Humanly speaking, this may be impossible, but with God, all things are possible. (Matthew 19:26).

THOUGHT OF THE DAY
“Vanity and pride are different things, though the words are often used synonymously. A person may be proud without being vain. Pride relates more to our opinion of ourselves; vanity, to what we would have others think of us.” – Jane Austen

PRAYER
Lord, steer me away from vanity and shelter me in humility. Amen.

Devotional

God’s People, part 70: Obadiah

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Read 1 Kings 18:1-16a

ALSO IN SCRIPTURE

“The eyes of the Lord search the whole earth in order to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him.” (2 Chronicles‬ ‭16:9a‬ ‭NLT‬‬)

When we think of God’s people, we tend to think one of two things. We might think of the Israelites who were God’s “chosen people”, or we might think of specific characters in the Bible. Either way, we tend to idealize the people we are thinking about. For instance, we may think that God’s people are super faithful, holy, perform miracles and live wholly devout and righteous lives. Unfortunately, this idealism enables us to distance ourselves from being God’s people, because we feel that we fall short of those ideals. As such, I have decided to write a devotion series on specific characters in the Bible in order to show you how much these Biblical people are truly like us, and how much we are truly called to be God’s people.

img_0916Part 70: Obadiah. Right now, having read this series up until this point, one might be drawing the conclusion that the northern Kingdom of Israel was filled completely to the brim with wickendness. But that is neither fair, nor would it be accurate. As with any nation, there are good and faithful people within it and there are wicked and unfaithful people within it. What we need to keep in perspective is the fact that the writers who were writing against Israel, were trying to show how wayward the kingdom was from God; however, they do not spend much time on highlighting any faithfulness, barring a few.

Still, not everyone in Israel bowed to Baal, and there are a few who are lifted up as perfect examples. One such person was named Obadiah, not to be confused with the prophet by whom the eponymous Biblical book was written. In 1 Kings 18, Obadiah is revealed to be what is known as a majordomo, or someone who speaks on behalf of and takes charge for another person. He was in charge of the king’s palace and the king’s affairs.

That is not all the Bible reveals about this man; rather, it is revealed that while he was employed by Ahab, the King of Israel, he was actually a devoted follower of the LORD. When Jezebel was waging a bloodbath persecution of any and all of God’s prophets, Obadiah was running an “underground railroad” of sorts. He hid 100 prophets of the LORD in two separate caves so that they would not be killed. On top of that, he supplied them with food and water.

Doing this, no doubt, came at great risk to him and, while the Bible does not specify this, it is not a stretch to think that the prophet Elijah had interactions with Obadiah during that time. What is clear is that Obadiah recognizes Elijah when he sees him. During that interaction, the prophet asks Obadiah to announce to King Ahab that he has arrived and would like to have a meeting with the king.

At first, Obadiah is reluctant because, up until this point, Elijah was elusive and was the only prophet that Ahab and Jezebel couldn’t capture and kill. Had Obadiah given the king an announcement that turned out to be not true because Elijah pulled a trick and fled the scene, it would have cost Obadiah his life. Elijah did give him the assurance he was looking for and, once he had it, he did as the prophet requested and brought the message to the king.

We don’t know anything else about this particular person other than what I described above; however, the story of Obadiah reminds us a couple of things about ourselves. Each of us has the potential to be puppets of the world; however, each of us also have the potential (and the call) to be followers of God. No doubt, following God comes with risk and potential consequences that can come at great personal cost; however, following God is the right thing to do. The challenge for us is this: will we take the risks to do what is right and follow God, or will we be the silent majority, complicit in our complacency. The choice is ours to make.

THOUGHT OF THE DAY

The righteous in alignment with God’s justice.

PRAYER

Lord, guide me to choose what is right over what safe. Amen.

Devotional

Defined By Faith

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Read Esther 2:1-20

ALSO IN SCRIPTURE
“Now I say to you that you are Peter (which means ‘rock’), and upon this rock I will build My church, and all the powers of hell will not conquer it.” (Matthew 16:18)

EstherA few weeks ago I wrote about how much we invest in our names. I spoke of my reflecting on my own name, and what made me a “Todd” as opposed to any other name. From the time we’re born to the time we die, we learn, define ourselves by, and completely invest in our names. Some of us, certainly exceptions to the rule, bemoan the names we have been given and even change them. Whether we accept our given names, or we rename ourselves, we certainly settle on a name and invest all of ourselves into that name.

This must have been the case for Hadassah, a young Jewish woman who lived in exile in Babylon with her uncle Mordecai. The root word of her name means Myrtle tree, which had a pleasant fragrance. The righteous were often referred to as hadas (or Myrtle) becuase they were likened to good trees with a pleasant smell. What a name that she was given, a name that surely reminded her that she was called to be righteous, to be pure, to be faithful to her God. In that day and age, a righteous woman was one who married, was faithful to her husband, and was one who gave birth to and raised her children. All of these definitions, and I am sure more, were embedded in Hadassah from the time she was born.

Yet, as is often the case, circumstances ended up changing everything for this young Jewish woman. The King of Persia, who happened to be Xerxes who also fought against the 300 Spartans (for those of you who are history buffs), had banished his queen for disobeying him and commanded all of the beautiful, young, virgin women in the Persian empire to come to his harem in Susa, which was where the King ruled his empire from. Unfortunately for Hadassah, she was one of the many women who were brought to this harem, which the part of a palace where the king keeps all of the virgins that he exclusively claimed conjugal rights on.

This means that Hadassah went from being a righteous and pure girl (according to Jewish law) to the sex slave of the King. He would sleep with those women in his Harem. If he was pleased with one he could pick her as his next queen; however, if he wasn’t he could put her in the second harem as a concubine and move on to the next woman. Before being sent to be at the King’s disposal, Mordecai renamed Hadassah with a Persian name, Esther. He told her to use that name so she could hide the fact that she was Jewish. The rest goes down as legend. Esther does win the heart of the King and, eventually, saves her people from genocide. But let’s not cheapen Hadassah had to do. She had to abandon who she felt she was called to be, she had to abandon her own name and identity, in order to become a “disgrace” to the very law that she tried so desperately to fulfill and uphold.

Yet, as we see in the story, God does not define us by the names or definitions we give to ourselves. My mom always told me that God knows our heart and measures us on where our heart is. Clearly, this is the case for Hadassah. Initially her name, her family, her religion, her dreams and aspirations all defined who she was; however, God saw who she truly was. She may not have felt righteous in the harem at the fortress in Susa; however, she was righteous in her heart and, as a result, God brought her honor and the adoration of both a King and an entire people. She went from a girl exiled, to the queen of the very kingdom she was exiled to. In the end, her FAITH and her FAITHFULNESS defined who she was!

We can learn from Hadassah. We cannot change the way our lives often play out and we cannot always control the circumstances that affect our lives; however, we can trust in God and look to God to define who we are. Our FAITH and our FAITHFULNESS defines who we are. Place your faith in God, and trust in God to lead you through the curve balls that life throws at you. Be a person of FAITH and watch the wonders that God will work in and through you!

THOUGHT OF THE DAY
“God doesn’t judge us on what’s outside; rather, it is what is inside that counts.” – Katherine A. Lattig

PRAYER
Lord, you know my heart, even when my actions don’t line up with it. Please, allow me to be who you have called me to be as that is my heart’s true desire. Amen.