When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at his teaching, for he taught with real authority—quite unlike their teachers of religious law. [Matthew 7:28-29 (NLT)]
The gospel is so simple that small children can understand it, and it is so profound that studies by the wisest theologians will never exhaust its riches. [Charles Hodge]
As much as I enjoy reading the works of authors like C.S. Lewis, A.W. Tozer, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, and N.T. Wright, I admit to not always understanding exactly what they’re saying. Nevertheless, thinking me an expert, a friend sent me an article written by a well-known Christian theologian and asked for my thoughts. Unfortunately, I had none because I couldn’t make sense of it. When I reluctantly admitted my bewilderment, my friend admitted the same. Although we both tried to understand the author, neither of us could discern his point. He appeared to have used a great many fancy words to say very little. While another scholar might make sense of his words, we two reasonably intelligent believers couldn’t. Unfortunately, some pastors, theologians, Christian writers, and fellow believers unnecessarily complicate faith and our relationship with God.
When I couldn’t comprehend a sermon or a Christian writer’s words, I used to think I wasn’t smart enough or my faith wasn’t deep enough. But, just because we’re not as theologically learned, philosophical, or contemplative as others, doesn’t mean we’re mentally deficient or have less faith. Being a follower of Christ doesn’t require some secret knowledge and there’s nothing wrong with us if we don’t always understand what a pastor says or a theologian writes. The Holy Spirit will help us understand all that we need to understand.
God didn’t make all of us deep thinkers; He didn’t have to! His message isn’t intended for a select few religious scholars and intellectuals. When Jesus gave His “Sermon on the Mount,” He wasn’t speaking to the religious elite; He was speaking to a crowd of ordinary people like you and me. His message was simple, straightforward, heartfelt, and God-breathed.
While we never will be able to fully understand God’s plan of salvation through Jesus, there is nothing mysterious, hidden, or cryptic about it. After years of listening to sermons in church, it was a simple pamphlet with stick figures from Campus Crusade that finally explained the gospel message for me! Before Holy Communion at our liturgical church, we proclaim the “mystery of our faith” by saying: “Christ has died. Christ is risen. Christ will come again.” It’s really that simple!
During Saturday evening worship last week, the soloist sang “Yes, my Jesus Loves Me,” a beautiful song based on the well-known children’s hymn. Before starting her sermon, our pastor thanked the singer. She then told the congregation that if we took nothing more away from the service than the knowledge that Jesus loves us, we will have taken away all that we needed to know! Now, there’s a preacher who knows how to put her message in words we all can understand!
We should never disparage our faith or apologize because we’re not scholars or academically trained. Moreover, let us never allow our amateur status keep us from sharing the gospel message. Jesus spent His time with common people, not theologians and academics. Peter, the rock on which the Christian church is built, was a fisherman, as were most of the disciples. The Apostle Paul, as a Pharisee, was the only theologian in the group! What mattered was that they loved Jesus and spread His message far and wide. If all anyone knows after speaking with us is that Jesus loves them, they’ve taken away a powerful message, indeed!
As well might a gnat seek to drink in the ocean, as a finite creature to comprehend the Eternal God. A God whom we could understand would be no God. If we could grasp Him, He could not be infinite. If we could understand Him, He could not be divine. [Charles Spurgeon]
The next day would have been Sally’s wedding anniversary but, because it marked the six-month anniversary of her husband’s death, there would be no celebration. Instead of flowers, dinner, and romance, there would be tears. That morning, Sally called her step-mother, Sue, to share her dread of the following day. When telling us this, Sue admitted to being at a loss for words of consolation. A woman of faith and an ordained pastor, Sue’s difficulty in finding comforting words was because her step-daughter is Jewish. When Sue married Sally’s Jewish father, she respected her new family’s faith just as they respected hers. They knew her beliefs and what she did for a living and Sue gladly answers their questions. Nevertheless, she chooses her words carefully when speaking of the Lord and neither evangelizes nor condemns. Although her words that morning were as reassuring as they could be without speaking of Jesus, Sue knew they were nowhere near as comforting as they could have been.
This proverb about iron sharpening iron reminds me of Sunday dinners when I was a girl. After the roast beef was placed in front of my father, he picked up the carving knife and a steel rod. With dramatic flair, he would run the knife back and forth against the steel before carving the meat. For the perfect slice of beef, he used iron to “sharpen” iron.
Today is Labor Day—the unofficial last day of summer. On a day originally intended to celebrate the accomplishments of workers, it’s somewhat ironic that most of us are doing as little work as possible. Nevertheless, whether it’s just making the bed, grilling the burgers, washing the car, or being called in for an emergency surgery, we’ll all do some work today. We appreciate the day off but we’d much prefer a full-blown vacation—with no chores, deadlines, schedules, or business calls, texts, and emails. On the ideal vacation, all we have to do is relax and enjoy ourselves.
Back in 1957 (long before PETA existed), Curt Richter, a professor at Johns Hopkins, conducted a series of cruel and inhumane experiments to demonstrate the power of hope and resilience in overcoming difficult situations. In this case, the difficult situation was rats being put in a bucket of water with no means of escape and timing how long it took them to drown. After two preliminary experiments, Richter hypothesized that introducing hope to the rats would increase their survival times.
Along with sins of the heart like greed, pride, coveting, anger, and envy, we have jealousy. It’s hard to make a clear distinction between jealousy and envy and, in most cases, the words can be used interchangeably. The difference seems to be that the discontent and resentment of envy is focused outward toward something we desire and the person who has it while the discontent and resentment of jealousy is focused inward toward something we have and want to keep for ourselves. For example, Rachel was envious of Leah because she had given birth to Jacob’s children but both sisters were jealous of one another whenever Jacob slept with the other one. Most often used in the context of romantic relationships and often coming from insecurity, jealousy is a mix of overwhelming possessiveness with a little paranoia on the side.
Devotions of the Heart 