The Joy of Glory

Luke 10:25-36 (click here)
…desiring to justify himself, [he] said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” (Luke 10:29)

Reflection
Law-keeping, list-checking, legalism.

I’m an addicted to the high legalism offers through the drug of self-justification.

If Jesus will just give me the list, show me the boxes that need to be checked then I can make quick work of this “holiness” thing. This was the desire of the lawyer in Luke 10. He knew the requirements of the law… to love God and neighbor… but that second one seemed a bit too vague. He needed to make sure he had or could check off that box. He needed to be able to justify himself. So he asked Jesus to define, draw a box around the meaning of “neighbor.”

But Jesus refuses to make “loving your neighbor” an item on our “to do” list.

So… through one of his most famous parables, Jesus does what only he can do… he blows up our categories, resets the way we see the world, and puts our “to do” list through the paper shredder.

The “Good Samaritan” is annihilates the notion that the law of God is merely about list keeping and box checking. Jesus shows us that the law is aimed at the heart. Loving your neighbor is not merely a command to which your external actions should conform… it is a call that requires your heart’s affections to transform!

You cannot draw a box around compassion. You cannot make love a line item to be completed. You cannot check “loving your neighbor” off a list.

We need to be saved from our law-keeping, list-checking, legalism. We need to be rescued from our addiction to self-justification. We do not need Jesus to define “neighbor…” we need Jesus to be our savior!

And I have good news… Gospel news…

Christ died and rose for our justification, our transformation, and our ultimate glorification.

Have the affections of your heart been transformed by Jesus? Do we hear the call of Christ to love God and neighbor as another item to be placed on our “to do” list so? Do we hear that as something that has limits, a finish line, a box that can be checked and marked as completed?

Or…

Does Christ’s call stir up love in our transformed heart? Does it sound like a call, not to a task to be accomplished, but to a totally new way to live? Is our relationship with Jesus about merely conforming our external actions to a new set of rules… or is it about the transforming and transferring of our internal affections to a new ruler… to Jesus?

The good news of the Gospel doesn’t call us to be a law-keeping, list-checking, legalistic community… no… it calls us to be a Christ-empowered, compassion-driven, cruciform community.

*All previous devotionals may be found at www.thejoyofglory.com
*The complete SVCC Lenten reading guide is available here.

Mark 2:1-12 (click here)
And they came, bringing to him a paralytic carried by four men. And when they could not get near him because of the crowd, they removed the roof above him, and when they had made an opening, they let down the bed on which the paralytic lay. And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven.” (Mark 2:3-5)

Reflection
How many times have you almost give up?

How many times have you almost lost faith?

How many times?

In my own life, the fight for faith has all too often seemed like a losing battle… and I know that I would surely be lost were it not for God’s gracious gift of community. In the darkness, when my faith cannot see, I’m surrounded by brothers and sisters who fight for me. Persevering in the faith is a community project. The fight of faith is one for an army… not merely individual soldiers.

In Mark 2, how many times had this paralytic almost given up? How many times had his friends almost lost faith? How many times? Yet, they fought the fight together. They made their way to Jesus together. They burrowed through that roof together. They lowered their friend to the feet of Jesus together…

And when Jesus saw THEIR faith… the faith of this paralytic and his friends… the faith of this community… the faith they had likely fought to sustain… Jesus saw THEIR faith… and sins were forgiven… limbs were restored… salvation was accomplished… by the grace of Jesus through faith.

I’m not sure if you feel like giving up right now…

I’m not sure if you are losing faith…

I’m not sure…

BUT, I am sure that God has given you a gracious gift in the cruciform community called the church. You are not alone in this fight of faith… you are not alone in your perseverance… you are not alone.

In the darkness, when your faith cannot see, you are surrounded by brothers and sisters who fight for you! Don’t isolate yourself and go at this alone. Perseverance is a community project… let the community be your army in the fight of faith! We are prepared to carry you to Jesus, burrow through any barrier, and lay you at his feet.

 
*All previous devotionals may be found at www.thejoyofglory.com
*The complete SVCC Lenten reading guide is available here.

Matthew 25:31-40 (click here)
“Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’” (Matthew 25:37-40)

Reflection
The church is the body of Christ.

We make that statement fairly often… but do we play out all the implications? Matthew 25 holds forth one massive implication that is rarely considered.

Typically, we read this passage and believe that it is calling us to a general love and care for the poor, the hurting, and the outcasts of society. There are many, many Biblical passages that call us to that action… please don’t hear me as denying the truth that we are called to sacrificially love those that society marginalizes! However, this is not what Matthew 25:31-40 is about…

This is about the church… the body of Christ.

The final judgment is based solely on how one relates to Jesus Christ. Did you reject him or embrace him by faith? Is Jesus your greatest joy and treasure? Matthew 25 lays out the evidence of whether or not our heart has embraced Christ by faith… and what is the evidence?

It is whether or not we embrace the church in love.

“Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these MY BROTHERS, you did it to me.”

Jesus says that our treatment of his brothers and sisters, the church, is our treatment of him! After all… the church is the body of Christ! Do you clothe the body of Christ? Do you feed the body of Christ? Do you care for the body of Christ?

Our love for Christ is evidenced by our love for his body! Our rejection of Christ is evidenced by our rejection of his body!

I am by no means saying that our works toward the church save us, but that those works serve as evidence of whether or not I am saved! I can say I love Jesus all day long, but what is the evidence? It comes out in how I treat his body when it hurts, when it hungers, when it is exposed, when it is in need… it comes out in cruciform community!

1 John 4:20-21, “If anyone says, ‘I love God,’ and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother.”

Do we love Jesus by loving his body… the church?

 
*All previous devotionals may be found at www.thejoyofglory.com
*The complete SVCC Lenten reading guide is available here.