Mission Faithwalk

               Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited. (Romans 12:14-16)             Again, today’s passage flows after the verses about gifts that we should, if we have them, put to use for others in our community. The ability to bless those who persecute you is a gift. If you think that forgiving someone who has harmed you or something you care about is hard, releasing them from your justice is nothing compared to doing them good! (Keep in mind that doing them good doesn’t involve putting yourself or anyone else in harm’s way. “Good” could involve their being put in jail, which will limit the amount of harm they can do to others.) We desperately need to ask for that one to ...

                Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves.    Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.    Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality. (Romans 12:9-13)                 Today’s passage continues from yesterday’s, in which Paul was writing about gifts. There’s no obvious, real break in the text, so it’s reasonable to suggest that the topic is still the use of gifts, lots of gifts and the quality of some of them. It’s the qualities that caught my attention because there’s another word that could be used, another gift that makes the others even better. Attitude, which is defined as “a settled way of thinking or feeling about s...

                     We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith; if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach; if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead, do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully. (Romans 12:6-8)                 Let’s begin with a deep breath. Release it. There is no reason to believe that this list of gifts is complete. If you lack these particular skills, you’re not giftless. If you’re not the greatest in the world at something, you’re not giftless. Even if you’re sure you’re a nobody, that doesn’t mean you are a nobody (or that a nobody is what you think it is.) If you think you may as well stay home because no one is go...

                Great peace have those who love your law, and nothing can make them stumble. Psalm 119:165                 A good thing about working in the men’s department of a certain store was that I got to work with color. One of the challenges that my customers and I sometimes had was distinguishing between dark blue and black. Fortunately, the store’s colors were black, khaki, and white. I almost always wore black slacks, and often a black top, so I would take the garment of uncertain color and lay it across my black clothing. Granted the shade of black or blue in the material might not be the right shade for the item they already have at home, but at least it was closer.                 The Law is my black pants or shirt. Putting something up against it lets a person identify whether...

                    I will sacrifice a thank offering to you and call on the name of the Lord. I will fulfill my vows to the Lord in the presence of all his people, in the courts of the house of the Lord— in your midst, Jerusalem. Praise the Lord. (Psalm 116:17-19)                 As poetry and song, the psalms are sometimes (often?) dramatic. Even when they’re about level ground, there doesn’t seem to be a level ground. Things are either on mountain tops or in the valley of the shadow of death. They emotion of this psalm is gratitude, and when the psalm was written, one of the ways to express gratitude was to sacrifice. It might be said that they’re to throw an inclusive party. In addition to the animal sacrificed, which had to be eaten the same day, they had to make several different kinds of bread to share with the congregation.    ...

                 When I said, “My foot is slipping,” your unfailing love, Lord, supported me. (Psalm 94:18) When your foot slips, what do you do? Last Wednesday, I was helping a friend weed a large garden bed at my church. It’s a “specimen” garden, with a variety of bushes and lots of mulch in a mound, meaning that once you step off the grass, you’re on an incline. I lost my balance more than once and grabbed at the twigs along the branches. It tends to surprise me that something less than ¼” in diameter can hold my weight sufficiently  along its length to keep me from falling. Of course, if I’d grabbed a twig above me, its strength might not be sufficient to hold my weight. It would bend or break, but the point is that the help we need when our feet slip need not be great or dramatic. Dramatic, and possibly great, is what we want and want to give. I won’t go so far as to say that if my foot slips, I want to be swept off my fee...