Tag: Jeff Fletcher

Paul Preaching Jesus

Theme Week: Review of Paul – Acts 26

Old Testament: Ecclesiastes Intro (below)

Poetry: Psalm 49

            In the Movie, Forrest Gump, the titular character, Forrest Gump, met three different Presidents in the Oval office.  First, he met President Kennedy while a member of the All-American football team. He later met President Johnson to receive the Medal of Honor. Finally, he met President Nixon to receive an award for player of the year while on the national Table Tennis team.  Of course this was all fiction, but wouldn’t it be kind of cool to actually be invited to meet the president?

            As we review Paul this week, today we read in Acts 26 that Paul was given a chance to meet, not the president, but the King.  Paul appears before King Agrippa.  The back story is interesting and you can read about it in Acts 21-26.  Here’s the Cliff Notes version:  Paul came back to Jerusalem after his third missionary tour, he was accompanied by several people including some Gentile believers in Jesus.  Paul went to the Temple to offer a sacrifice of purification (he was still Jewish and did not want to be offensive to his fellow Jews).  The Jews who opposed Paul for being a Christian used this event as a chance to try to get rid of Paul and falsely accused him of bringing a Gentile into the temple.  Paul was arrested and given multiple trials in several different locations.  This gave him a chance to keep giving his testimony and preaching Jesus Christ in all kinds of high places including before the Jewish ruling court, the Roman Governor, the King of Israel and Paul hoped to ultimately be sent to Rome where he could preach the good news of Jesus Christ to Caesar. 

In today’s reading Paul is on trial before King Agrippa, but he’s using this as an opportunity to proclaim the Gospel to the King.  It’s no small irony that in trying to silence Paul and prevent him from preaching Jesus Christ, his enemies actually gave him a huge platform to preach Jesus Christ.

This reading is helpful in that it shows us an example of how Paul preached Jesus Christ.  He begins by drawing a point of connection between himself and his audience.  He begins by talking about those points that he and King Agrippa both have in common.  He shows respect to Agrippa.  I think this is so important, especially in today’s world where people are so divided and confrontational.  The person of God who seeks to share Christ should treat others with respect.  The only difference between you and an unbeliever is faith.  You may be the first one who is proclaiming Jesus Christ to another.  Don’t demean or put down your audience.  Show them respect.  Honor what truth they already have, even if it isn’t all the truth that you have.  Try to find areas where you can connect with them.  Attempt to build a bridge and not a wall.

Paul talks about his credentials as a faithful Jew who followed the Torah all his life.  He claims his past and who he was, and then he shares how God has brought something new into his life through faith in Jesus Christ.

-Jeff Fletcher

Reflection Questions

  1. What key points can be learned from Paul about how to preach Jesus Christ? Of those you list which is an area you you could use some experience or refinement?
  2. How well do you show respect to unbelievers? Why is it important? What happens when we don’t?
  3. How are your bridge-building skills? Think of a specific unbeliever you would like to have a conversation with about Jesus. How can you show them respect? What do you have in common already? What pieces of truth might they have that you can acknowledge? Why do they need Jesus? Why do they need you to tell them?
  4. Where has God placed you to share about His Son?

Ecclesiastes Introduction

Solomon (the teacher), the son of David wrote the book of Ecclesiastes to probe the meaning of life.  Solomon attempted to find fulfillment in every pleasure he could imagine – only to find that everything was meaningless.  He then pursued accomplishments, and found that they were meaningless as well.  In fact, without God, everything is utterly meaningless.

Most of the book is pretty depressing until we get to chapter 12, where Solomon finally revealed his insights in verses 13 and 14, “Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter:  Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.   For God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil.

-Steve Mattison

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Saying Goodbye

Theme Week: Paul in Review: Acts 20

Old Testament: Job 40-42

Poetry: Psalm 48

            Goodbyes are hard.  This week I gathered with a lot of people that I love.  First at General Conference in Oregon, IL.  I was gathered for 3 days with people that I love.  Some are my biological family- My Mother, sisters, brother-in-law, uncle, cousins, sons and daughters, and sons and daughters-in-law and grandchildren. My wife was also there, while not biologically related she is my family and the one I love most in this world.  Then there were friends, fellow members of the Church, pastors, and other. Colleagues, people I’ve met through years of ministry.  Some I’ve known for over 40 years and they are part of my extended Church family that I love as brothers and sisters.  At the end of our conference, it was time to say goodbye.  I hope to see all of them again, but realistically, some of them I may never see again in this age and that makes me sad.

            Right after the conference we had another gathering, a family gathering to celebrate my mother’s 90th birthday.  We had family come from across the US and across the world including my daughter from Germany and niece from New Zealand.  I saw cousins I had not seen in over 40 years and met their grandchildren.  We had a wonderful celebration.  But then we had to say goodbye as we all left to return to our various homes.  It will be months and years and possibly for some we will never see each other again in this age, and that makes me sad.

            What if you knew you would never see a group of people that you love again?  What would you be thinking about and wanting to say as you said goodbye to them?

            In Acts 20 the Apostle Paul is saying goodbye to a group of leaders from a Church he helped build in Ephesus.  He had spent three years of his life teaching, baptizing, training, encouraging, and correcting these people.  He loved them as brothers and sisters.  God had revealed to Paul that he would never see these people again in this age, and that made him sad.  As he said goodbye to them he gives us some insight into what things were important to him and how he had lived when he was with them and encouraged them to continue in the faith.

            Paul reminded them, and us, how he served the Lord.  Paul had been religious all of his life.  He was an observant Jew who faithfully abided by all ceremonial and purification rituals of the Jewish faith.  He was a descendant of Abraham through Jacob and a meticulous observer of the Torah, which is the Old Testament Covenant Practices.  Yet all those things didn’t get him to where he truly wanted and needed to be.  Something was missing.  That something, as it turned out, was a relationship with God as His father that was given as a gift of grace through entering into a covenant with God by faith in Jesus Christ.  Out of that new relationship with God through grace by faith in Jesus Christ came Paul’s understanding of himself and his mission.  Everything he did was in service to the Lord.

            Paul served with humility.  He knew that his call and commissioning did not originate with him and was not based on his merit but on God’s grace.  While he was not shy about claiming and using his authority as one sent by God (an apostle) Paul used that authority humbly.

            Paul did not serve God at a distance.  He was down in the front lines of battle where the true spiritual warfare was taking place.  Paul was often harmed both emotionally and physically.  He reminds his hearers that he served them with tears and trials.

            Paul discipled them by teaching a total way of life in Jesus Christ.  His teaching was not detached and theoretical, but practical.  Paul says that he taught anything profitable (vs. 20 ESV). Paul taught the whole counsel of God (vs.27). He didn’t just talk about a few narrow subjects that were most important to him.  For Paul following Jesus Christ impacts every area of your life.  There is no sacred vs. secular, religious vs. non-religious.  Jesus Christ is just as much a part of your schooling, your job, your friendships,  your marriage, your family, and your sex life as he is part of what you do at 11:00 on Sunday Mornings.

            Paul carried out his service for Christ in both public and personal spaces.  Whether he was in a large, organized group or in someone’s private home with one or two persons, Paul was about his mission.  In those spaces Paul emphasized the importance of repentance (turning away from sin and turning toward Jesus Christ as Lord), Paul emphasized faith as a way to access Jesus Christ.

            Paul placed his whole person into his service.  He was passionate in offering admonishment (correction) with tears. (Vs. 31).  Training others in following Jesus Christ includes a lot of encouragement and positive reinforcement, but it also includes the hard work of correcting both incorrect beliefs and behaviors.  Paul elsewhere talks about “speaking the truth in love.”  There is a loving way to speak even hard and corrective truth, but it is hard work and Paul did not shy away from hard work.  Paul reminded them of the many ways that he worked hard among them.

            Paul concludes his parting words by showing the value of working hard to help the weak.  The Christian’s job is not to shame the weak or guilt the weak, it’s not to judge the weak or berate the weak, but to help the weak.  This requires a great deal of altruistic love and willingness to patiently and sacrificially give.  Paul concludes with a reminder of Jesus’ own words on the value of giving over receiving. (Vs. 35).

            At the end of this passionate reminder of his life and teaching among them, they are all in tears as Paul gets down on his knees with them and prays.

-Jeff Fletcher

Reflection Questions

  1. If you were preparing to say goodbye to your brothers and sisters in Christ, what would you want to make sure they heard from you?
  2. What are you most impressed with what Paul shares with the Ephesians?
  3. What do you think Paul might say to your church if he was saying goodbye to you instead of the Ephesians?
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Living Godly Lives in a Godless Age

Old Testament: 2 Chronicles 34-36

Poetry: Psalm 12

New Testament: 2 Timothy 3-4

            During this week’s readings we’ve seen examples of many ways and reasons that people turn away from God.  We’ve also seen how people can be a complicated mixture of both faithful and obedient to God but also can lose their grip on faith and obedience through pride or greed and lose their intimate connection to God.

            Throughout scripture, God shows himself to be merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in love and forgiveness.  He is a God of second chances (and 3rd, 4th, and 5th chances).  Yet he is also a holy and just God and brings down the rod of discipline upon the people he loves to correct their corrupt ways when they refuse to repent.

            On this final day of the week, these Scriptures show us some pretty remarkable things about God’s patience and mercy, and also the dangers to neglecting the Word of God.

            Josiah began to reign as King of Judah at the tender age of 8.  When he was a young lad of 16 he began seeking God.  He decisively began to rid Judah of idols.  He arranged to have the temple repaired.  As the workers were working in the temple, cleaning out the relics in the back halls and storage units they came across a dusty old book.  It looked old and probably hadn’t been read for centuries.  It turns out that the dusty old book was the Bible, as it was constituted at the time of Moses.  It contained the teaching and laws that Moses recorded based on what he received from God along with the history of God’s people going back to creation.  King Josiah asked that it be read aloud to him.  As he listened to God’s word being read, he was overcome with horror.  He tore his robes.  As he heard God’s word being read he realized how far astray they had gone from doing God’s will. 

            Josiah called for a prophet of God to come and tell them what God was going to do.  He was going to bring his judgment against the people of Judah, there would be a disaster that was unprecedented.  However, King Josiah would be spared because of his love and faithful obedience to God.  God said: “Tell the king of Judah, who sent you to inquire of the Lord, ‘This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says concerning the words you heard:  Because your heart was responsive and you humbled yourself before God when you heard what he spoke against this place and its people, and because you humbled yourself before me and tore your robes and wept in my presence, I have heard you, declares the Lord.  Now I will gather you to your ancestors, and you will be buried in peace. Your eyes will not see all the disaster I am going to bring on this place and on those who live here.’” (2 Chronicles 34:26-28)

            Josiah led the people to renew the Covenant.  He led them in celebrating the Feast of Passover which had not been celebrated since the time of Samuel.  He continued to purge the nation of its idols.  Josiah was rewarded for his humility and faithful obedience to God’s covenant. He was permitted to live out his life with the nation in peace.  In this instance, God is both gracious to Josiah for his humble and repentant heart, but he is also just and requires that Judah suffer the consequences for their disobedience.

            After Josiah died, there was a rapid succession of kings, who each “did evil in the eyes of the Lord.”  God continued to send prophets to warn his people to repent, but they would not listen. “Furthermore, all the leaders of the priests and the people became more and more unfaithful, following all the detestable practices of the nations and defiling the temple of the Lord, which he had consecrated in Jerusalem.  The Lord, the God of their ancestors, sent word to them through his messengers again and again, because he had pity on his people and on his dwelling place. But they mocked God’s messengers, despised his words and scoffed at his prophets until the wrath of the Lord was aroused against his people and there was no remedy.” (2 Chronicles 36:14-16)

            God gave second and third and fourth and fifth chances, but finally they were so hardened and disobedient that he had no choice but to let them be taken away into exile.

            Josiah was a man of God living in a broken and sinful world.  He did his best to lead others toward faithfulness and trust in God, but ultimately they rejected God and faced the consequences.  God showed mercy to Josiah for the sake of his humility and faithfulness.

            Like Josiah, we can be men and woman of God living faithfully in a broken and sinful world.  We can take heart, God sees our faithfulness and humility as we repent of our sins and turn to Jesus Christ and walk in obedience to Christ.  We have no guarantee that life will be easy as we live godly lives in a godless age.  In fact, we are warned that it will be hard.

            “In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, while evildoers and impostors will go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it,  and how from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” -2 Timothy 3:12-17.

            Sadly, in Josiah’s day, the Bible was lost for hundreds of years in the back of the temple.  We are blessed, we have access to God’s word to read and study and obey…. But do we?

-Jeff Fletcher

Reflection Questions

  1.  How do you suppose God’s people completely lost God’s word for hundreds of years?  Could that happen again in our age?
  2. Josiah humbled himself and repented. In what areas of your life do you need to humble yourself and repent?
  3.  As a result of this week’s devotions, what one change are you committed to making in your life?
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The “Dones”

Old Testament: 2 Chronicles 31-33

Poetry: Psalm 11

New Testament: 2 Timothy 1-2

It’s Friday.  Have you stuck with me so far?  We’ve tackled some challenging subjects this week.  Most of the subjects have had to do with things that lead us away from God- from fear to pride to greed.  So many things have the potential to turn our hearts away from God.  It can be disheartening at times.

We talked earlier this week about the fastest growing religious group in America, the nones- those who say they have no religious affiliation or faith.  Today, I want to address another group, the Dones.  The Dones are people who have been highly committed believers, perhaps very active in Churches and ministries who have gotten to a place in their lives where they are just done.  Maybe they are a pastor or Church leader who has poured out their life and energy into helping others and then experienced resistance or mistreatment, or other forms of suffering and they simply said “I’m done” and walked away from their ministry or their church.

I know.  If you are a committed leader in the church and you get frustrated by people who treat you badly, it’s tempting to give up and say I’m done.  These people aren’t necessarily abandoning their faith in God to pursue a sinful lifestyle of adultery, drunkenness or debauchery.  They simply quit gathering with other believers in worship.  They might pray and read their Bibles in the comfort of their living room or back porch, but they aren’t in the fray with their sleeves rolled up active in ministry any more.  They are frustrated, depleted, disillusioned and disheartened and they are done with ministry or church or religion.

A couple of today’s texts address this.  Psalm 11 addresses the challenge of disillusionment in the people of God.  It asks the question: “When the foundations are being destroyed, what can the righteous do?”  Some Christians have worked hard to help build the Church, make disciples and take a stand against sin and unrighteousness in the world, but as we look at what’s happening, the world seems to be winning and the Church is losing ground.  We are seeing some of the foundations of basic morality crumble – basic issues of what is right and wrong, what it means to be a human person as a male or female created in the image of God, the meaning of the covenant or marriage and family – all of these basic elements of faith and life are being contested and undermined.  The very foundations of society are being undermined right before our eyes.  It’s easy to become disheartened and give up.

Psalm 11 says: “How then can you say to me, ‘Flee like a bird to your mountain.’”  In other words, the temptation in the face of all of these attacks against the Church and God and morality and our ministry could be to simply fly away like a bird to the safety of the mountain, far from the battle.  Go stick your head in the sand.  Give up. Become apathetic about religion or God or the Church and ride the clock out.  Or throw yourself headlong into achieving worldly pleasure or success (see yesterday’s devotion on money and happiness.)

Psalm 11 gives this following reminder when the temptation arises to fly away.

“In the Lord I take refuge.”  Our refuge is in God, not in running away to safety away from the battle.  Remember our reminder from earlier this week when God sent his prophet to Jehoshaphat- “The Battle belongs to the Lord”  Let us take refuge in God, but let us not run away from the battle.

“The Lord is in his holy temple; the Lord is on his heavenly throne.”  Trust that God is still there.  God hasn’t gone anywhere.  God hasn’t abandoned us and flown away, he’s there, he’s watching, he’s engaged and he’s working his plan through us, through the church, through the proclamation of the gospel.  We can keep doing what we are called to do because we know that God is still on the throne.

“For the Lord is righteous, he loves justice; the upright will see his face.”  God cares about what is right and just and good and that day will come when we will be at rest and peace.  In the mean time, we may experience our share of suffering while we serve God.  But we trust that the day is coming when we will see God’s face and receive our full blessing.

And just a word from the reading in 2 Timothy.  Paul uses the word suffering many times in this reading.  Paul knew a thing or two about suffering.  Much that he wrote came while he was sitting in a prison cell somewhere suffering because of his faith in Jesus Christ.   For Paul, suffering was not something to be avoided at all costs but the price of doing business as a disciple of Jesus.  Paul wore his suffering as a badge of honor.  He considered it a privilege to be able to suffer while serving Jesus in ministry.  I admit that I haven’t quite hit that level of faith yet.  I’m not a fan of suffering and I don’t like it when my ministry efforts are met with resistance or failure.  I don’t like seeing people that I tell about Jesus reject Jesus or see formally faithful FUEL attenders or church members join the ranks of Nones and Dones.  But I do recognize that Jesus warned us that being his disciple in this sinful world has costs and challenges and can be painful.   After nearly 40 years of ministry, I have a few scars of my own.  But I’m not ready to fly away and join the ranks of the Nones and Dones.  I share Paul’s faith: “That is why I am suffering as I am. Yet this is no cause for shame, because I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him until that day.” (2 Timothy 1:12)  I hope that you know him too and are convinced.  Keep yourself in the faith.

-Jeff Fletcher

Reflection Questions

  1.  Do you know any Nones or Dones?  Have you tried asking them to join you as part of an active faith community?  If not, will you?
  2. Have you ever been tempted to join the ranks of the Dones?  What has kept you from flying away?
  3. Are you in danger of becoming a Done?  What steps do you need to take to stay fully committed and connected to a body of believers?
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Read this BEFORE you Get Rich!

Old Testament: 2 Chronicles 29 & 30

Poetry: Psalm 10

*New Testament: 1 Timothy 6

            In 2022 a record was set as Americans lost more than 60 billion dollars in casinos and online betting.  American’s spend about 100 billion dollars a year buying lottery tickets.  I read a news article today that said as much as 200 Billion dollars in Covid relief money was stolen by fraud during the Covid paycheck relief program.  Over the next few months and years there will be trials as those who have been arrested and charged with fraud will have to face the consequences of their actions. 

What is the motivation for people to get rich by any means, including gambling, stealing and other types of fraud.  Does having more money make you happier?  A number of studies have been conducted in recent years to determine if there is a correlation between how much money one makes and their level of happiness.  One 2010 study by economist Daniel Kahneman found that after a certain amount of having basic financial needs met, having more money doesn’t improve your level of happiness.  The amount he found at the time was $75,000.  A more recent study found that making more money can have a slight affect on happiness, but really not enough to make a significant difference.  That researcher, Matthew Killingsworth from the Wharton Business School found that up to a certain amount your happiness might increase, but that your life is much better spent focusing your attention on other things to really improve your sense of well-being. He says: “people probably overemphasize money when they think about how well their life is going.”

The reward of short term happiness one might feel for having more money by winning the lottery, hitting the jackpot, or ripping off the Government by fraud, or even by wearing yourself out at work or working multiple side jobs to make more money isn’t worth the negative consequences of those behaviors. The negative outcomes more than offset any happiness gains one might have by having more money.

I love how psychologists, economists and other highly educated people are finally getting around to proving what God’s word has been saying for thousands of years.

In today’s reading in Timothy Paul warns: “But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. (1 Timothy 6:6-10)

Paul contrasts the benefits of godliness with contentment with basic food and clothing vs. the risks and consequences of those who desire to get rich due to their love of money.  Love of money and pursuit of riches are a trap that are destructive to people’s lives.  The love of money leads to all kinds of evil behavior and is a cause of some believers wandering away from their faith in God.

This week we’ve talked about different things that cause us to abandon faith in God including fear in the case of Jehoshaphat or pride in the case of Uzziah.  Here Paul warns that plain old greed can lead you away from faith in Jesus Christ.

What is the solution.  Learn to be content.  This corresponds with what John the Baptizer said in Luke 3:14 when soldiers came to him: “Soldiers asked, ‘What about us? What should we do?’ He answered, ‘Don’t cheat or harass anyone, and be satisfied with your pay.’”

Jesus was pretty smart and gave some great wisdom about money in Matthew 6:24-33

“No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.”

“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?”

 “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”

            I know that many who are reading this today are young people, perhaps in college or just beginning careers.  It’s natural to want to make enough money to meet your basic living needs- for food, shelter, clothing, healthcare and to give to help those in need.  Proverbs 30:8-9 offers this simple but wise prayer:

“give me neither poverty nor riches;

    feed me with the food that is needful for me,

  lest I be full and deny you

    and say, “Who is the Lord?”

or lest I be poor and steal

    and profane the name of my God.”

Lord, provide me with my basic needs so that I won’t be tempted to steal food to stay alive, but also please don’t give me too much so that I might be tempted to forget you.  In our striving for the happiness that we think wealth will gain for us, we may so badly wreck our priorities that it completely derails our faith.  If we value money too much, we might not be tempted to steal, but we may be tempted to steal from God by choosing to work on Sundays instead of going to Church.  Or working so hard the other 6 days a week that Sunday is our only day to sleep in or do work around the house and so we can’t make time for God or Church.

A life spent chasing after riches will likely leave you spiritually poor.  So budget your time and your priorities wisely and don’t make financial wealth the primary driver of your happiness and meaning.

-Jeff Fletcher

Reflection Questions

  1. How much money do you think it would take to make you happy?
  2. How can the love of money tempt you to wander away from your commitment to Jesus Christ?
  3. What should Christians’ attitude be about gambling?  The Bible doesn’t explicitly condemn gambling, but can gambling be participated in without greed/love of money?  How would you answer that question to someone who asked you if it is okay for Christians to gamble?
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The Power of Pride

Old Testament: 2 Chronicles 26-28

Poetry: Psalm 9

New Testament: 1 Timothy 5

            I just realized something today.  I’m getting kind of old.  I know this comes as a shock to most of you who know how young I look (wink wink, nudge nudge).  Seriously, I’ve been alive during all or part of the presidencies of 12 different US Presidents, from JFK to Joe Biden- and several of them served 2 terms. Yikes!  To borrow from an old Clint Eastwood western, some of those presidents have been good, some have been bad and some have been ugly.  As we read through Chronicles and see the history of the kings of Judah, we could make the same observations, some were good, some were bad and some were down right ugly when it comes to their faithfulness to God

            Amaziah was one of the ugly ones. After defeating his enemies in battle he took their idols as plunder and brought them back and worshipped them.  A major no-no.  God really, really hates idolatry and gets very jealous when his people start worshipping other things as god or the ultimate in their lives.  In fact, in 2 Chronicles 25 (see yesterday’s reading) God punished Amaziah by having him routed in war against Israel, and then his own people assassinated him.  He was decisively rejected by both God and his kingdom.

            In today’s reading from 2 Chronicles we see that Amaziah’s son Uzziah followed him as King.  Uzziah was young, only 16 when he began to reign.  He got a great start because he sought God.  He found a godly teacher, Zechariah, to show him the way of God and he intentionally tried to do things God’s way as he ruled over Judah.  Because of his faithfulness, God blessed Uzziah with a prosperous reign: “as long as he sought the Lord, God made him prosper.” 2 Chronicles 26:5 

            Today’s reading shows how successful Uzziah was while he followed God.  His army grew more powerful, he defeated their enemies. He fortified his territory. His fame spread and other nations brought him gifts acknowledging his power and success.  His country did well agriculturally as their herds and flocks grew and their vineyards were productive. 

            The blessings were really flowing for King Uzziah and he was on top of the world and felt really good about his accomplishments.  He had not made the same terrible mistakes that his father Amaziah made, there was no hint of the worship of idols under Uzziah’s rule.  But…unfortunately, as often happens in times of prosperity, Uzziah grew proud.  He started thinking that he was “all that and a bag of chips.” (do they still say that or is that from 20 years ago… I’ve lost track).  Anyway, he was FULL of himself.

            Let me back up a minute.  Going back to the time of Moses as leader of Israel there was a strict division of labor among God’s people.  You had judges and later Kings, who did the political leading, and you had the priests who oversaw the religious rituals.  Sometimes the lines got a little blurry and there was some overlap as with Samuel who was both a priest and a judge.  But by the time Kings were instituted it was clear that the Priests were the only ones allowed to go into the temple and offer sacrifices.  Offering sacrifices was a no go for the King.  King Saul had previously gotten himself in hot water for offering sacrifices (See 1 Samuel 13 for more details).  In short, Uzziah should have known better.

            Unfortunately, King Uzziah let his success lead to pride which led to his downfall.  “But when he was strong, he grew proud, to his destruction. For he was unfaithful to the Lord his God and entered the temple of the Lord to burn incense on the altar of incense.” 2 Chronicles 26:16  Uzziah was doing what was forbidden for a king, to usurp the priestly role of  burning incense on the altar of the temple.

            The priests were horrified at what King Uzziah was doing and they stopped him (it took 80 of them).  Uzziah became enraged that they challenged him.  He was unwilling to stand down even with 80 priests telling him “no”.  So then God intervened and instantly struck him down with leprosy.  Leprosy was a skin disease that rendered the leper ceremonially unclean.  Uzziah was instantly cut off from temple worship and was made an outcast.  He had to leave his palace and remained an outcast until his death.

            What a sad and tragic end to the reign of a king that had begun so well.  Uzziah, as a young man had seen how bad his father had been as he pursued idols.  Uzziah sought the Lord, was faithful, God blessed and prospered him and all was well, until he gave in to the deadly sin of pride. 

            Why is pride a sin?  In the US June was just celebrated as Pride Month.  I was reminded of this literally everywhere I went.  When I turned on my computer at the hospital where I serve I was reminded that it was pride month.  I watched a baseball game featuring the Baltimore Orioles hosting the Seattle Mariners and there were rainbows and pride flags on the field, in the stands and surrounding all of the player stats.  Pride is celebrated in the world today as a wonderful and glorious thing.  But the Bible hasn’t changed- Proverbs 16:18 still says: “Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall.”Proverbs 16:8.  Whether it’s being proud to tell everyone that you are gay, or being proud of your accomplishments as king, pride is destructive. 

Pride is a deadly sin because it causes us to focus on who we are and what we accomplish and take our eyes off  of who God is and what he accomplishes.  Pride is a subtle form of idolatry.  Instead of worshipping another god in the form of a statue or object, pride is the worship of ourselves.  Uzziah was full of pride so he thought he was above following God’s law that said only priests could go into the temple and offer sacrifices on the altar.  Pride leads one to reject God’s laws and God’s authority to tell us what we can and what we cannot do which is ultimately a rejection of God as God.  If, in my pride, I tell God that I don’t have to listen to him, he has no authority over an area of my life, then I’m turning myself into my own idol.  That’s exactly what Adam and Eve did in the Garden of Eden.  It’s what Uzziah did in the temple, it’s what we do whenever we say, “I know that God has said this is wrong, but I reject God’s authority to tell me what I can and cannot do with my body, my life.”   Pride has caused the deaths of untold millions of people, including unborn babies.  Pride has caused countless people to turn away from their faith in God and from following Jesus Christ in order for them to follow their own “truth” about who they are and what they think should be right.

Uzziah was punished by God with leprosy which caused him to lose his access to both worship and to his role as king.  He died miserable and alone.  That’s where pride usually leads.  We need to avoid pride like the plague.

-Jeff Fletcher

Reflection Questions

  1.  Why do you think God was so harsh and immediate in striking King Uzziah with leprosy.  After all, he’d been pretty faithful up till that point in his life?
  2. What do you think of the ways that Pride has been exalted in our culture?  Can you see any ways that pride could be leading toward societal destruction?
  3. What are the danger areas of pride in your own life?  Is there an area where pride could be leading you away from God.  Are there any areas where you reject God’s teaching in  your life and you are proud of it?
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Losing Loyalty

Old Testament: 2 Chronicles 23-25

Poetry: Psalm 8

New Testament: 1 Timothy 4

            I love baseball.(If you don’t please hang in there, you’ll still see the value in this illustration)  I used to play baseball all the time when I was a child.  I went to my first professional baseball game with my Dad when I was just 5 years old- the Seattle Pilots were playing the Washington Senators. (Fun fact, neither of those teams exist anymore and if you do some detective work you can figure out what year this was as the Seattle Pilots only existed for 1 season).  I say this because today is the 2023 baseball All-Star game. 

            When I first discovered baseball, the Washington Senators were the closest team to my Virginia home and my Dad brought me to several games. So I became a Senators fan.  But then disaster struck and the unthinkable happened, the owner of the Senators moved the whole team away from Washington to Texas. No more Senators.  What would I do with my baseball loyalty?  The next closest team was the Baltimore Orioles so we began going to Orioles games and I became a big Orioles fan.  This was easy to do because in the 1970’s the Orioles were the best team in baseball.  They were in 4 World Series from 1969-1979 and had some of the best players in baseball.  They were fun to watch and they won a lot.

            Time went on.  I moved away from home to attend college and got busy, got married, had children, and moved overseas for a while, I still watched baseball but didn’t have a lot of time to be a fan or follow my team closely or go to many games.  During this time the Orioles sadly went from being one of the best teams to one of the worst.  They became harder to get excited about.  My Orioles fandom began to waiver.  Then, a miracle happened.  The Montreal Expos moved to Washington DC and became the Washington Nationals.  After more than 30 years, DC had a baseball team again.  Not long after, I moved back to Virginia to pastor a church and work as a hospital chaplain.  Now there were 2 baseball teams nearby, the Nationals and the Orioles and I could watch both games on local tv.  I began to follow both.  The Nationals kept getting better and better, the Orioles kept getting worse.  So by the late 2010’s I was pretty much a Nationals fan and looked upon the Orioles with pity.  And then the Nationals had their miracle season and won the World Series in 2019.  Life was truly great!  And then Covid happened.  Even baseball got canceled for most of 2020.  After the Covid shortened year the Nationals franchise collapsed and they  got rid of all their great players like Max Scherzer and Juan Soto.  Meanwhile, the Orioles went through a rebuild and suddenly they were a really good team again, the tables were turned and they were fun to watch while the Nationals were the team to be pitied.  As of now, I find myself watching more Orioles games than Nationals.  I’m still a Nationals fan, but very half-hearted on most days.

            Sorry, that’s a long set up and if you’re not a baseball fan, thank you for hanging in there with me.  The point is that my baseball loyalty has gone through periods of waxing and waning, with shifting loyalties.  When you have no options, you have to stay with your team through thick and thin, the good times and bad times. (I know some of you are football fans who follow the Lions or the Browns so you’ve had to stay loyal to terrible teams for 50 years… good for you).  When you have options- Orioles and Nationals, the temptation is greater to pay more attention to the winner, the more successful team.

            What does this have to do with today’s readings?  1 Timothy 4:1 says: “The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith…”. Paul is here warning Timothy that even as followers of Jesus, there is the danger of letting go of our allegiance to Jesus Christ as our Lord.  This rarely happens in an instant.  Just like with my baseball fandom, where I slowly, gradually shifted my loyalty from the Orioles to the Nationals, it didn’t happen instantly.  It was a process that I didn’t really even notice happening, but little by little I found myself caring less about my fan commitment to one team and more to another.  Now, in the big picture, baseball doesn’t matter and it makes little difference to my life if I’m an Orioles fan or a Nationals fan (but if I ever cheer for the Yankees, put me in a home because I’ve lost my mind.)

            But the danger of losing our loyalty to God our Father and Jesus Christ our savior and the Kingdom of God as being first in our hearts has eternal consequences.  I’ve been around long enough to see Paul’s warnings to Timothy actually happen to people I know.  I’ve seen students who attended FUEL faithfully, know their Bible, do Bible quizzing, and excel at their knowledge of the scriptures abandon their faith.  I’ve even known people who served as leaders of the church, even a few pastors who went from preaching and teaching God’s word every week to walking away from their faith in Jesus Christ. 

            Sadly, I’ve experienced it even in my own family, people who I love the most, reject the faith of God’s Word.  For most, this didn’t happen overnight.  A thousand little decisions over time happened until one day they realized that they no longer loved or followed or even believed in God or God’s word or Jesus’ way.  Maybe it was making moral compromises and they could no longer sustain the cognitive dissonance of saying one thing but doing another.  Maybe it was adopting a worldly ideology of the meaning of persons or identity and finding it incompatible with God’s word and then choosing to reject God’s word instead of their worldly ideology.  Maybe it was because they grew bored with God and became captivated by the shining idols of the world.

            The Fastest growing religious segment in the United States over the past 20 years is the “Nones”.  People who say they have no religious loyalty or affiliation.  This is heartbreaking.

            Paul warned that people would abandon the faith in large numbers.  We see it happening today.  I don’t want it to happen to you or any of the people I care about.

            Here are a few suggestions I would offer to help you avoid joining the ranks of those who are abandoning the faith.

            Remember, no one is immune: “So those who think they are standing need to watch out or else they may fall.” -1 Corinthians 10:12. Never assume that “it could never happen to me.” It can happen to anyone.

            “Fix your eyes on Jesus”. Hebrews 12:2.  Jesus started his ministry with the words “Follow Me”.  Later he said, “I am the way”.  If you want to get where you want to go, you need to keep your eyes steady on the one who knows the way and how to get there, Jesus.

            “These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the culmination of the ages has come.” 1 Corinthians 10:11.  Pay attention to the examples of how it happened in Israel.  Remember all these Old Testament passages we are reading, including this week’s stories in 2 Chronicles of how even good people like King Jehoshaphat can make compromises that lead them and their people away from God.  Read the Bible and learn from their examples of what NOT to do to stay faithful.

            Don’t give up on going to Church. “Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.” Hebrews 10:23-25.  The church is not perfect, I get it.  Christians aren’t perfect, I get it.  Sermons can be boring at times, I get it.  Other options for how we spend our time on the weekends can be very attractive, I get it.  But don’t give up on Church.  Don’t give up meeting with other believers.  We need others to help us stay faithful to God and not abandon our faith. 

            Don’t adjust your faith and beliefs to accommodate the values of the world.   “You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.” James 4:4.  As the world is moving further away from a Biblical worldview and God honoring teachings we cannot follow the world, because the world will move us away from loyalty and faithfulness to God.

            Who will get my ultimate loyalty, the Nationals or the Orioles?  Who cares?  In the scope of eternity it doesn’t matter.  Who will get YOUR ultimate loyalty, Jesus Christ or The World?  That matters more that ANYTHING. Don’t abandon your faith.

-Jeff Fletcher

Reflection Questions

  1.  Why do you think, especially among people under 30, so many are abandoning their faith?
  2. What is the biggest temptation/danger area in your life that could lead you toward abandoning your faith?
  3. What positive steps will you begin to take TODAY to make sure that you continue to follow Jesus faithfully?
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Itchy Ears and Slow Learners

Old Testament: 2 Chronicles 20-22

Poetry: Psalm 7

New Testament: 1 Timothy 3

            Ever since I was a little kid I’ve had trouble with my ears.  I had surgery on my ears several times before I was 8.  I almost completely lost the hearing in my right ear- before the surgery the doctor told my parents that the infection was so bad when he got in there he might have to completely remove the contents of my ear rendering me completely deaf in that ear.  Fortunately, he was able to save my hearing.  But I’ve still had struggles.  The most irritating thing for me these days is my ears are itchy inside.  When they start itching I pull out the q-tips and scratch away—such sweet relief.  But then the next morning they itch again.  I went to my ear, nose and throat doctor and he looked inside and asked, “How often do you use q-tips?”  “Every day,” I said.  “You need to stop!”  And he explained the reason why.  Your ears naturally produce oils to keep them lubricated so they don’t dry out.  When you use q-tips it removes the oils, your ears dry out and become irritated… and itchy.  The thing I do to relieve the itchy ears – q-tips, is the cause of them continuing to be itchy.  The solution.  Stop using q-tips for a few days, allow the oils to return and lubricate the ears, and they will stop itching.  If I could just trust him and endure a few days of itchy ears without q-tips, then they would stop itching.  Problem solved.

            The first few days were miserable.  They itched so bad.  All I wanted to do was use a q-tip to scratch, but I resisted.  After a few days, sure enough just like the doctor promised, the itching stopped.  I had learned something new that made my life better.  Until I forgot.  Old habits die hard.  I took a shower and used a q-tip to dry out my ears (he told me to use a hair dryer instead).  The scratching felt familiar and good, and pretty soon my ears dried out and got itchy again.

            Change can be hard.  I can be a slow learner about some things, like q-tips and itchy ears.  In today’s reading we see Jehoshaphat could be a slow learner about some things as well.  In yesterday’s reading we saw that he got into trouble when he violated God’s instruction and entered into an unequal alliance with the king of Israel, and how it led to some problems.  Jehoshaphat learned a lesson, repented of his actions and things became better for a while.  He learned to trust God instead of trusting in an alliance with Israel’s idol-worshipping King Ahab.

            In today’s reading, we see how fully Jehoshaphat learned that lesson and learned to trust God.

            First, Jehoshaphat receives a report that a vast army of Ammonites and Moabites and others are coming to attack.  Jehoshaphat becomes “alarmed” at the news.  Does he reach out to the Israelites to become his allies?  That’s normally what would happen. (My ear itches, I’ll do what I always do and grab a q-tip).  But Jehoshaphat learned a valuable lesson in the last story.  So instead of entering into an alliance which God has forbidden, he decides to ask God for guidance.

            Jehoshaphat calls for a fast and all the people of Judah came together to seek God’s guidance.  They prayed to God: “God, we don’t know what to do, our eyes are on you.”  Notice it says all the men, women, and children stood before God in an act of humility, reverence, and solidarity, seeking his guidance and direction.

            Then something amazing happened. God answered them.  The Spirit of God came on Jahaziel, the prophet, who then brings a word from God. The message is clear: “Don’t be afraid or discouraged for the battle belongs to God.  Trust that God will defend you against your enemies.”  God instructs them to go toward their enemies, stand firm, and then watch what God will do.  Israel responded by worshipping and praising God with singing.

            What happened next? God set an ambush against them and then, the enemies of Judah all turn on each other and destroyed each other.  The people of Judah came to the overlook as God instructed so that God could show them the destruction of their enemies.  They collected the plunder and it took them 3 days to haul the plunder back to Judah.  As a result, their other enemies were afraid of God. God gave Jehoshaphat peace. (No more itchy ears when you follow the doctor’s orders and quit using the q-tips).

            But old habits are hard to break sometimes.  Jehoshaphat forgot to remember. Jehoshaphat made another alliance, and again there were consequences: “Eliezer son of Dodavahu of Mareshah prophesied against Jehoshaphat, saying, ‘Because you have made an alliance with Ahaziah, the Lord will destroy what you have made.’ The ships were wrecked and were not able to set sail to trade.” 2 Chronicles 20:37.  Out came the q-tips again.

            Jehoshaphat isn’t the only slow learner.  This, it turns out was a pattern for generations of God’s people.  God would give people instructions, the people didn’t fully trust God and tried to do things their way, God sent consequences to discipline them, the people didn’t like the consequences so they repented and started obeying  God.  Things got better for the people…. Until they once again forgot to trust God and tried to do things their own way and the cycle repeated itself over, and over and over again.

            Fortunately, God was patient with slow-learning Jehoshaphat, and with slow-learning Judah.  Fortunately, the same God is also patient with us.  Psalm 103:8-12 reminds us:

“The Lord is compassionate and gracious,
    slow to anger, abounding in love.

He will not always accuse,
    nor will he harbor his anger forever;

he does not treat us as our sins deserve
    or repay us according to our iniquities.

For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
    so great is his love for those who fear him;

as far as the east is from the west,
    so far has he removed our transgressions from us.”

            Through Jesus Christ God mercifully provides us with a saving way to turn from our faithless and disobedient ways, to learn to trust and follow God’s ways.  Learning to trust God fully is a journey that can take time.  We still are tempted to grab that q-tip and begin scratching away at those itchy ears.  But if we can learn to simply trust God’s ways, no matter how itchy the ears or scary the invading armies might seem, we can trust and know that God will show us a way to peace and joy (and unitchy ears.)

-Jeff Fletcher

Reflection Questions

  1.  Why do you suppose Jehoshaphat’s “itchy ears” was his difficulty depending on God and not alliances with other kings?
  2. What are some of your “itchy ear” areas where you have difficulty trusting God’s ways and try to do things your way (which usually makes things worse?)
  3. What is one step you can take today toward trusting God in this area of your life?
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Alliances with Unbelievers

Old Testament: 2 Chronicles 17-19

Poetry: Psalm 6

New Testament: 1 Timothy 2

“Should you help the wicked and love those who hate the Lord?”  This is a pretty challenging question that comes straight from today’s reading from 2 Chronicles 19:2 NIV.  One of the questions that comes to mind for me is “help the wicked do what?”  The second question is, “Why shouldn’t I love those who hate the LORD?”  After all,  Didn’t Jesus tell us that we are supposed to love everyone, including our enemies? (Matthew 5:44) Shouldn’t godly people treat others with love, even unbelievers, even those who have rejected God? 

One of my ministry settings is as a hospital chaplain.  Recently I visited a patient who informed me as soon as I walked into their room that they were an atheist, but that they still wanted to talk to me, they were going through an emotional crisis and they needed help.  This was a person that didn’t simply hate the LORD but actually denies the existence of God.  As a Chaplain, as a pastor, and as a Christian should I have NOT helped the patient?  Should I have NOT loved the patient since they do not love God?  I’ll tell you the rest of the story at the end. Let’s look at the context of this quote in today’s reading and see what God reveals to us about himself.

The story is about Jehoshaphat (isn’t that a great name).  It literally means YHWH has judged.  At the time of today’s reading in 2 Chronicles 17-19 Jehoshaphat was the king of Judah.  Judah and Israel were at one time one nation comprised of 12 tribes that descended from Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.  Israel was a strong and united nation during the reigns of kings David and Solomon, but after Solomon died the nation of Israel was divided by a civil war.  The Northern Kingdom of Israel, and the Southern Kingdom of Judah separated with Judah’s capital in Jerusalem where the temple of God was.  Jehoshaphat was the king of Judah and ruled from Jerusalem.  He was an heir of King David and was generally a good and faithful ruler who avoided the worship of idols.  Ahab was the King of Israel and he did not remain faithful to YHWH, the God of Israel, and led his people into the worship of idols which was strictly forbidden by God.

A common practice at the time for smaller nations was to enter into alliances with other nations against their enemies.  God had made it clear to his people that he did not want them entering into political alliances with nations that practiced idol worship.  In today’s reading, it says that Jehoshaphat entered into an alliance by marriage with Ahab and Israel.  This was a violation of God’s commands and led to all kinds of trouble for Jehoshaphat and the Kingdom of Judah.  Now that they were in an alliance Ahab wanted Jehoshaphat to go to war with him against their enemies.  The problem was that God was not in favor of this because of Ahab’s unfaithfulness.  Jehoshaphat was wise enough to ask one of the prophets to seek God on the question.  Of course, Jehoshaphat should have known the answer- God did not want him to enter into an alliance with Ahab to begin with, he certainly wouldn’t want Jehoshaphat to fight in battle alongside Ahab, a battle which Ahab was destined to lose and where he would be killed.

After Ahab was indeed killed in battle as the prophet warned, Jehoshaphat returned to his palace where another prophet of God, Jehu, came to him and asked our opening question-“Should you help the wicked and love those who hate the Lord?”  The answer here was clearly “no, you should not enter into a political alliance with a king and a nation that have rejected God and his teaching.  No, you should not give your son to be married to the idolatrous king’s daughter as the law clearly taught that God’s covenant people should not marry with idolatrous people who do not believe in God.

The prophet was not saying that God’s people should never help a non-believer or should never act in loving ways to people outside of the faith community.  The law taught that we should love our neighbor (Leviticus 19:18).  What the prophet was saying is you should never enter into a formal alliance with one who has rejected God and the teachings of God.  The Apostle Paul would express this to followers of Jesus in 2 Corinthians 6:14 “Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common?”  One obvious example of this would be marriage.  If you are a Christian you should not enter into a committed relationship with one who has denied or rejected Jesus Christ as savior or God as our Father.  Believers should not marry unbelievers.  If you’re driving down the road and you see your non-believing neighbor with a flat tire, you can stop and help her change her tire, but you can’t marry her.  You might do a favor or otherwise show kindness and love to unbelievers, but it would be potentially very spiritually dangerous to enter into a business alliance with one who has rejected God and godly values.

Jehoshaphat was basically a good man and a good king, but he got into trouble when he violated the clear teaching of God’s law by entering into a political alliance by having his son marry the idolatrous, god-rejecting king Ahab’s daughter.  It might be the savvy and politically expedient thing to do, but it was spiritually deadly.

If you are committed to following God and God’s values, you can and should show love and kindness to everyone, including believers, but don’t join them or make commitments that will compromise your values and dedication to Jesus Christ.

Now for the rest of the story.  The atheist and I talked for an hour.  When I left they said, “I think I might want you to preach at my funeral.”  A week later they came back to the hospital and asked the nurse to have me come and visit. We talked for another hour.  Before I left they said, “I’m not so convinced that God doesn’t exist, is it okay if I visit your church?”  We can and should show kindness and grace and caring love to everyone, including unbelievers, just don’t enter into committed relationships with them, until they give their lives to Jesus too.

-Jeff Fletcher

Reflection Questions

  1.  Beyond dating and marriage, what are some other potentially damaging ways a Christian today might bring themself spiritual harm by entering into an alliance with one who has rejected God?  How might this impact educational or career decisions?  Investment decisions? What political candidates we support?
  2. How would Jesus want you to love your non-Christian neighbor without entering into a dangerous commitment to one who does not share your values?
  3. As Christians, we are called to pray for and obey our governments unless they demand that we violate our commitment to God, how is that different from supporting a political candidate who clearly has rejected God’s teaching either by what they profess or how they live?

Bio- This week’s devotions are written by pastor Jeff Fletcher.  Pastor Jeff has been a participant at Fuel for over 40 years.  He is a pastor and hospital chaplain in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia and is a doctoral candidate for Integrative Mental Health at Vanderbilt Divinity School in Nashville.   He is married to Karen, father of eleven, and grandpa/papa to 15.  He likes reading, watching baseball, and making delicious pulled pork in the smoker.

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Your Own Load

Saturday, August 13, 2022

 Galatians 6

“A young boy came across a butterfly cocoon and brought it into his house. He watched, over the course of hours, as the butterfly struggled to break free from its confinement. It managed to create a small hole in the cocoon, but its body was too large to emerge. It was tired and became still.

“Wanting to help the butterfly, the boy snipped a slit in the cocoon with a pair of scissors. But the butterfly was small, weak, and its wings crumpled. The boy expected the insect to take flight, but instead, it could only drag its undeveloped body along the ground. It was incapable of flying.

“The boy, in his eagerness to help the butterfly, stunted its development. What he did not know was that the butterfly needed to go through the process of struggling against the cocoon to gain strength and fill its wings with blood. It was the struggle that made it stronger.” https://www.lifeandwhim.com/first-moments-blog/2018/the-struggle-makes-you-stronger

The point of that story is that sometimes “helping” someone doesn’t really help them.  The first few times you try to do something new and different it’s quite probable that you won’t be very good at it.  Sometimes you need some extra help to get you going.  When a child is learning how to ride a bike they usually start with training wheels or a parent walking alongside them to keep them from falling.  They have to get used to the feel of peddling and how to get up to speed.  But eventually, the training wheels need to come off or the parent needs to let go.  Often, that may result in a wobbly ride or the child might even fall.  They might even skin their knee and that hurts.  But still, even at the risk of falling and skinning a knee, the training wheels need to come off if the child ever wants to learn how to ride the bike.  Sometimes, the loving thing to do is give the person the freedom to struggle, to fall down, to make a mistake.

This is true of children learning to ride a bike, and it’s true of Christians learning to live by the Spirit.  As we live as spirit-filled believers in the spirit filled-community, the Church, we will live fruitful lives. We will love, be at peace, be patient, kind, good, and gentle among other things (see Galatians 5).  We will live by the spirit, not by the flesh, except when we don’t.  Unfortunately, there are times when love gives way to hate, we become impatient, we aren’t kind, we do bad instead of good and we are harsh instead of gentle.  There are times when we fall down in our faith and we need a hand to get back up again.  When a member of the community falls beneath the weight of a burden, Paul says that others in the community should gently lend a hand and help them back up again.  We should not be harsh with the one who has fallen and remind ourselves that we too could also fall and need a hand up.

Sometimes Christians do dumb things that are completely against what we believe.  Sometimes the best of us let temptation get the worst of us.  Think of King David, the man after God’s own heart, who committed adultery with his neighbor’s wife and then arranged to have her husband killed in an attempt to cover up the sin.  Certainly not the finest moment for an otherwise godly man. 

 Paul doesn’t want us to be morally lax and intentionally sin against God.  He just finished telling the Galatians to walk by the spirit and not by the flesh.  But when we do fall, we need others to help us back up again.  And the rest of us need to be ready to help the one who has fallen to get back up and on their feet.    Paul here balances burdens and loads.  We are to help others with burdens, but we are to manage our own loads.  Sometimes people get handed something overwhelmingly heavy that they can’t carry on their own, we should help them. At the same time, we each have normal daily loads which we are expected to carry.  We have jobs to do, and responsibilities at home to do.  We have ministry responsibilities to carry out.  We each need to keep up with our daily loads.  I should not expect you to do my regular responsibilities.  If I’m the pastor and it’s my job to preach, then most Sundays I need to be preaching.  Once in a while, I take a Sunday away from preaching- vacation or other ministry responsibilities may take me away for a week here and there and I’ll need someone else to do the preaching for me that week, but most Sundays I carry my preaching load.  The only exception to this for me was after I had surgery for cancer a few years ago. I took off about 4 Sundays in a row while I was recovering.  That was an unusual burden.  I was not able to carry that burden for a few weeks and others helped.

We shouldn’t do other people’s daily loads for them because it keeps them from flourishing and getting stronger.  It would be like cutting a hole in the cocoon.  Our “helping” is actually hurting when we don’t allow someone to carry their own daily load.  But when a load becomes a burden, then the loving thing to do is help carry the burden.  Sometimes, we need to practice “tough love”.  Do what is your responsibility to do and give others space to do what is their responsibility to do, and when special circumstances arise and extra burdens need to be born, we help each other.

-Jeff Fletcher

Questions for discussion:

  1.  When was a time that you had a burden you could not carry yourself? Did someone help you and how did they do it?
  2. Was there ever a time when you just didn’t feel like carrying your daily load?  Did someone hold you accountable and tell you to carry your own load?  How did that feel?
  3. Have you ever thought you were “helping” like the little boy with the cacoon?  Is it sometimes harder to watch someone else struggle with their daily load than to step in and carry it for them?  Why is it important to resist doing that?
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