“Blessed are the merciful”
The time has come again when my orange tree hangs heavy with fruit. Soon I’ll cook up this year’s batch of marmalades. It’s a lot of work, but yummy. I inspected my tree recently, and the whole tree needs a thorough pruning, but after I harvest my oranges. As I considered the tree, I was reminded of Jesus words.
“I am the vine, you are the branches; the one who remains in Me, and I in him bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing” (John 15:5, NASB.)
Christians are like my orange tree. Some oranges ripen a little sooner than others, but all receive their life from the same roots and trunk. Believers are bound together in Jesus and His indwelling Spirit. Pull an orange off a tree and it begins to die. Christians are the same; apart from Jesus we can do nothing,
It wasn’t long ago when, like many Christians during the pandemic, Candace, and I would participate in worship online, including communion. We felt the Spirit connecting us with our church family, and we can appreciate what a blessing this technology is for those who cannot attend worship. We would improvise our communion elements with a cracker and water, or even a cookie and tea.
It occurred to me this last month, we could have used orange juice and gingerbread. Plenty available! We observe communion to remember our Savior, Christ Jesus, and in so doing, we acknowledge we are not alone, but a family in Christ.
The past nine weeks my posts have dealt with the nine characteristics of the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23.) From the moment a person is born again, the Spirit cultivates this fruit in their heart so they become more like Christ, desire to follow Him and live in obedience to His Word.
“He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we did in righteousness, but in accordance with His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit,” (Titus 3:5, NASB.)
This regeneration and renewing belong to the Spirit. It is perfect, because this process belongs to God, and we can do nothing to change our inner being to become more Christlike. There are many in the evangelical church who propose extra-biblical efforts to change ourselves, in the hope we can improve on the Spirit’s work within us, which only serve to draw us away from total dependence upon God.
Charles Stanley puts it this way, “Our zeal, apart from divine knowledge, can send us racing into the unknown, when it’s best for us to wait upon Him for guidance. However, learning to walk by faith teaches us to stand firm while awaiting God’s direction. Our mentality that places a disproportionate amount of emphasis on works can incite us to go forward. We forget that some of our greatest personal growth as believers, and the preparation necessary for God’s next step in our lives, takes place in the stillness of our hearts . . . for we understand that a deep faith in Him trusts that, with Him alone, we will succeed in walking victoriously by faith” (Stanley, Pathways to His Presence, June 2.)
“Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations; I will be exalted in the earth!” (Psalms 46:10, ESV.)
A few weeks ago, someone told me young people can see hypocrisy in the church, and so, many are leaving. I’ve heard this before, and it breaks my heart. I believe this statement belies a fundamental misunderstanding of life in Christ.
“To us, the greatest demonstration of God’s love for us has been His sending His only Son into the world to give us life through Him. We see real love, not in that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to make personal atonement for our sins. If God loved us as much as that, surely, we in our turn, should love each other!” (I John 4:9-11, PHILLIPS.)
So, I could advise this young person to look in the mirror to find the closest hypocrite, but that wouldn’t help. And here’s the reality check: there is hypocrisy in the church: we are broken vessels. Fortunately, the Scripture has something to say about this.
Jesus said, “Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful” (Luke 6:36, NIV.)
In James we read, “For judgment will be merciless to one who has shown no mercy; but [to the one who has shown mercy] mercy triumphs [victoriously] over judgment” (James 2:13, AMP.)
So, how might we behave towards our broken fellow Christians? Paul described this to the Colossians, “So, as God’s own chosen people, who are holy [set apart, sanctified for His purpose] and well-beloved [by God Himself], put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience [which has the power to endure whatever injustice or unpleasantness comes, with good temper]; bearing graciously with one another, and willingly forgiving each other if one has a cause for complaint against another; just as the Lord has forgiven you, so should you forgive” (Colossians 3:12-13, AMP.)
As a beloved sister recently said in church, we are all “broken vessels.” We don’t have forgiveness because we’ve done anything to deserve it. There is a Japanese artform called Kintsugi, or golden joinery, whereby broken pottery is repaired using lacquer mixed with powdered gold. In this artform, breakage and repair become highlighted as part of the history of a vase or bowl, rather than something to camouflage. God does the same for us.
Dr. Charles Stanley says, “Before we can trust God fully, we must come to a point of helpless dependence. It is here that we realize we simply cannot do it all, be all that is needed, and have all the answers . . . Godly dependence is not a sign of weakness but one of immeasurable confidence. There are problems in life that only God can solve, tasks only He can perform, and solutions that can only be discovered through the wisdom He gives” (Stanley, Pathways to His Presence, June 4.)
Many good reasons exist for attending church regularly, and not just attending, but participating with a family of believers in the work of the Lord. Here’s a few.
By hearing Biblical truths, sound doctrine from the Word, God speaks to His church and leads us in the path we should go. Discerning TV preachers can be wonderful, but to me it’s the difference between watching a screen to see a pie come out of an oven and immersing your senses in the kitchen aroma. I believe true worship emanates from humble gratitude for the love God has shown us. I don’t want my worship to act as a self-serving emotional experience, to simply feel like I’ve been with God.
I learn from my church family how to be a better Christian, and sometimes they bear my burdens, and I have the blessing of uplifting them in times of hardship and need. There are those in my church family who I look to as mentors. Through outreach in our community, we can offer hope and God’s light to others who need to know Him.
Finally, God tells us to gather for worship. “Let us not give up the habit of meeting together, as some are doing. Instead, let us encourage one another all the more, since you see that the Day of the Lord is coming nearer” (Hebrews 10:25, GNT.)
I believe hearing, reading, studying and meditating upon the Word, spending time in prayer and expecting God to speak, and worship with a church family, all serve to open our hearts to the work of the Holy Spirit to cultivate His fruit in our lives, which we receive directly from Him, rasping away our rough edges, to transform us more into the likeness of the Savior.
“So, all of us who have had that veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord. And the Lord—who is the Spirit—makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image” (II Corinthians 3:18, NLT.)
John Stott prayed a prayer at the beginning of each day, a practice I’ve adopted:
“Heavenly Father, I pray that this day I may live in your presence and please You more and more. Lord Jesus, I pray that this day I may take up my cross and follow You. Holy Spirit, I pray that this day you will fill me with yourself and cause Your fruit to ripen in my life: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.”
Blessed are the merciful. “Blessed” generally means “joyful” or “happy,” coming from a right relationship with God.
I am blessed, and I pray you are too.
Selah