Comfort Those Who Grieve

At that time Herod the tetrarch heard the news about Jesus, and said to his servants, “This is John the Baptist; he himself has been raised from the dead, and that is why miraculous powers are at work in him.”

For when Herod had John arrested, he bound him and put him in prison because of Herodias, the wife of his brother Philip.  For John had been saying to him, “It is not lawful for you to have her.”  Although Herod wanted to put him to death, he feared the crowd, because they regarded John as a prophet.

But when Herod’s birthday came, the daughter of Herodias danced before them and pleased Herod, so much that he promised with an oath to give her whatever she asked.  And after being prompted by her mother, she said, “Give me the head of John the Baptist here on a platter.”   

And although he was grieved, the king commanded it to be given because of his oaths and his dinner guests. He sent word and had John beheaded in the prison.  And his head was brought on a platter and given to the girl, and she brought it to her mother. 

John’s disciples came and took away the body and buried it; and they went and reported to Jesus.

Now when Jesus heard about John, He withdrew from there in a boat to a secluded place by Himself....

Matthew 14:1-13

When John the Baptist was killed, Jesus took time to grieve his death.  This demonstrates to us Jesus' humanness.  

This also is an example to us that people need to have time to grieve the loss of a loved one.  We as Christians sometimes short change the importance of this because "Hey, they are in a better place." We may be critical of people who we perceive as taking too long to process the death of a loved one.  For some the grief process may be a few days, for others it may be years, but we need to respect their sorrow and allow them to grieve in peace without criticism or pushing them to "get over it,"

When we comfort those who are grieving we share the love that God has for everyone.   

 

 

Wise Up

 

“Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves; so, be shrewd as serpents and innocent as doves.  But be aware of men, for they will hand you over to the courts and scourge you in their synagogues; and you will even be brought before governors and kings for My sake, as a testimony to them and to the Gentiles.”

Matthew 10:16-18

Jesus warned the Apostles against thinking everyone was on their side.  Everywhere they went they made friends as they preached the Gospel, but they also faced opposition and threats.  And, often they were locked up because of their faith.  

Today, we may not be put in prison because of our faith, but we face people who harass and torment us because of our faith.  

Jesus cautions us to keep our eyes open for signs that some people may not be as they seem, and like wolves wait for an opportunity to wreak havoc on our lives and testimony.   

So, as Jesus said, we should wise up. 

Who Is Blessed?

Now when Jesus saw the crowds, He went up on the mountain; and after He sat down, His disciples came to Him. And He opened His mouth and began to teach them, saying, “ Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." 

“Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted."  

“Blessed are the gentle, for they will inherit the earth." 

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied." 

“Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy." 

“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God."

“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God. “Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."

 “Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great; for in this same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you."

Matthew 5:1-12

Jesus teaches us that God does not view the human condition the same way humans view it.  While humans think that to be blessed is to have enormous wealth and power, with no limits to what one might do the achieve earthly success, Jesus points out that the ones who actually are blessed are those who recognize their human condition and are humbled before God.

So, when we, or someone we know, is hungry or hurting or being picked on because of their gentle spirit, we can bless them by helping them and in turn we too will be blessed.  

 

 

If There Is Any Good Word

Let no unwholesome word come out of your mouth, but if there is any good word for edification according to the need of the moment, say that, so that it will give grace to those who hear. 

Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.   

All bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and slander must be removed from you, along with all malice.

Be kind to one another, compassionate, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you 

Ephesians 4:29-32 

We all have times when we are angry and speak words which we soon regret.  We have seen this happen in the Church over sometimes insignificant matters - like someone cleaning the kitchen and tossing out all the expired stuff in the refrigerator. 

Paul points out this is something we must free ourselves from so we can maintain the fellowship of the church.  

Rather than stomp out mad, we are to be kind to one another and forgive one another, because God has forgiven us. 

And, if there is any good word, let us say it. 

Faith and Works

What use is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone says he has faith, but he has no works? Can that faith save him?  If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace,be warmed and be filled,” yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that?  In the same way, faith also, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself.

But someone may well say, “You have faith and I have works; show me your faith without the works, and I will show you my faith by my works.”

James 2:14-18

James points out that being a Christian involves demonstrating our faith by our works.   

Our works reveal a lot about our faith.  Some, may say, "I do not have much, so I cannot help others."  But at the same time, everyone has time and we may though financially poor, be able to help others through service - like mowing the neighbor's lawn or helping a stranded motorist change a flat tire or delivering food for the local food pantry or giving cooking tips to another customer at the grocery store or in any of hundreds of other ways.

Our works show our faith to the world.  And, showing our faith is how we bring others to know Jesus.    

Managing Human Relations

“If your brother sins, go and show him his fault in private; if he listens to you, you have won your brother.  But if he does not listen to you, take one or two more with you, so that by the mouth of two or three witnesses every fact may be confirmed.”

“If he refuses to listen to them, tell the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you a Gentile and a tax collector.”

Matthew 18:15-17

Jesus was a master of managing human relations.  He spoke about the fellowship of the church being disrupted and damaged by those who continued to sin.  Jesus calls us to speak privately with someone regarding their sinful behavior and failing that to have others in the church join in helping the offender bring his/her lifestyle into line with the teachings of the scripture.  

Jesus also acknowledged that this can fail spectacularly.  And, even sometimes result in having to ask a person to leave the church.  It is not an easy thing to do, but sometimes it must be done to preserve the fellowship and integrity of the Church.  

So, when we are called to do the hard stuff, we may not enjoy the process but we can take comfort in knowing we did the right thing.      

 

Made For Good Works

 

For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the free gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.  For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them. 

 

Ephesians 2: 8-10

Our salvation through Jesus is the free gift of God.  All we have to do is acknowledge Jesus as our Lord, Master and Savior.  Because we have received this great gift, we want to do things which reflect the love of Jesus in our lives.  We do not do good works to be redeemed; we do good works because we are redeemed. 

So, the next time, when out of the blue you get the urge to do something nice for someone, like mowing your neighbor’s lawn or paying for the food of the person behind you at a drive up window, go ahead and do it, because you are made for good works.