The all-consuming focus of the life of Jesus was to do the will of God. In so doing he was governed by the Word of God, he was willing to be disrupted, he was always prepared to serve - even when the circumstances meant that nobody would have thought him unreasonable if he expected others to serve him. And we are supposed to be like him…
In the fourth Beatitude of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they will be filled”. In practice, what does this mean for us? The search for righteousness takes place at both a personal and a societal level - and it is the duty of each disciple to make the search for righteousness and justice (both drawn from the same Greek word in the New Testament) central to their life.
(Please note that there is a very short interruption in flow of the audio after about 40 minutes - very little dialogue is lost. It was due to the message having to be recovered from an audio cassette back up. Please forgive us if this causes you any difficulty in listening to the message - at that point David was making a brief comment that some teachers have, on occasion, proclaimed a doctrine that sinless perfection is a practical possibility for the disciple.)
1 Corinthians 2 - God’s plan is revealed through his Spirit. We will never fully understand God, but that shouldn’t stop us from trying to know. God has a plan - we need to seek to know God when we are deciding what we should be doing. What has God been stirring in us?
Things look different from different perspectives - but they are nevertheless the same. When viewed from ‘above’ the purposes of God have a lofty, inspirational appearance. The fact that they might look less lofty and less inspirational when viewed from ‘below’ does not make them different, or any less significant. What does it mean for God’s people to practically live lives that are worthy of the calling they have received?
Christ is central to the purpose of God - it is in him and is executed through him. By God’s grace we stand in him as joint heirs - and that is without doubt our greatest privilege. But we also stand with him - and therein lies our greatest responsibility - to stand as a co-worker. Do we really stand with him or, do we just stand near him?
God is deadly serious about his purpose. In Isaiah 45-46 he speaks candidly of his determination to do all that he pleases - with or without the co-operation of his people. He will use the people he sees fit - even people who do not acknowledge him. His message to his people is clear: I am about my business and it will get done - and you should keep that in mind and not let other things get in the way of you being part of that. Only when we properly understand God’s purpose and how he feels about it, can we line up our own sense of purposefulness with his.
The bible describes pilgrimage much more often than it uses the word - the theme is a central component of the Christian life. Although it is not a penance, neither is it always a pleasure. Our journey of faith will involve trials and difficulties along with many pleasures. But the rewards are worth it.
Reflections on the implications for our life that flow from Peter’s opening remarks in his first epistle. A living hope that stems from the grace and peace that is found in the Christian life.
