Uncategorized – Somerset Church of Christ

September 21, 2023

Don’t Be Right, Be Faithful

a close up shot of a woman holding a rosary while praying

We spend much of our life attempting to be “right” as Christians. We want to know that we have the right answers, the right interpretation of the scriptures, and the right arguments to disarm people with wrong information. It’s great to be a student of the scriptures but our lot in life isn’t to be right. It’s to be faithful. When we are faithful God shows up in the most powerful ways.

The entire chapter 11 in Hebrews is about people who walked by faith. Many of them didn’t know what the future held or the troubles they would encounter. They only knew that God made a promise to them, and they were faithful. Abraham lived in tents for years and years, having no idea where he was going: “By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going” (vs. 8).

The author of Hebrews says that there were many people like Abraham who endured suffering or who waited for the promise. God delivered every time. Abraham became a father of many nations. Moses led the Israelites out of Egypt. Noah saved his family and began a new world. Even in their faith, they didn’t receive what they were promised, “since God had provided something better for us, that apart from us they should not be made perfect” (vs. 39, 40). We were promised something far better than even those giants of faith. Without our faith, those people from the past are not made perfect. Our faith really, really matters.

October 13, 2022

God’s Desire for Mercy

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In Matthew’s gospel account, he retells a time that the disciples were hungry and began to pluck heads of grain to satisfy their hunger. “When the Pharisees saw it, they said to him, ‘Look, your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath'” (Matthew 12:2 ESV). Jesus was quick to remind them of the time David was hungry and did what was unlawful by entering the Temple and eating the bread of Presence, which was reserved only for the priests. He also reminded them that the priests profane the Sabbath in the temple when they make sacrifices.

Jesus then said, “I tell you, something greater than the Sabbath is here. And if you had known what it means, ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the guiltless. For the Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath” (vs. 7, 8). Jesus’ point (as well as God’s point in Hosea 6:6 that Jesus quotes, is that God prefers mercy over following the letter of the law. We can technically get the law right and not have a good heart. I’ve known people in law enforcement who give family members tickets for very minor infractions. Isn’t it better to show mercy to the innocent than to enforce every law and make their life burdensome?

Jesus is the lord of Sabbath, and he gives us room to practice mercy to the innocent. In fact, he expects us to!

May 18, 2022

What You Don’t Know CAN Hurt You

There’s an old idiom: “What you don’t know can’t hurt you.” It’s intended to suggest that ignorance is bliss. In other words, the less we know about troublesome things the better off (and presumably safer) we are. Many people live with intentional ignorance, but is this the safest way to live?

As parents, we know that we need to teach our children from birth how to be safe. We “baby proof” houses until a child is old enough to understand how to safely navigate through the house without getting hurt or dying. It takes constant reinforcement to train them to stay away from boiling water, hot stoves, electrical outlets, sharp objects, etc. There are two basic ways that we learn how to avoid dangerous situations–one is by people who warn us and the other is to experience pain ourselves. If we aren’t told that certain things are dangerous or if we luck out and avoid pain for a while, eventually we will succumb to serious injury or death.

What we don’t know can hurt us. This is why Jesus spent a significant part of his ministry warning people about wolves. In fact, John records Jesus’ important words after he warns them about destructive people: “I have said all these things to keep you from falling away. They will put you out of the synagogues. Indeed, the hour is coming when whoever kills you will think he is offering service to God” (John 16:1-2). Had Jesus not warned his followers, they would have been completely blindsided and left high and dry. Instead, they knew exactly what was coming, they knew the signs, and they could at least stand a fighting chance of surviving the grip of wicked people. What we don’t know can definitely hurt us.

August 3, 2021

The Passover and Lord’s Supper

Each week we have the opportunity to commune together, breaking bread and drinking the fruit of the vine that represents Jesus’ blood that was poured out for us. Paul tells us that, when we take communion, we proclaim Christ’s death until he comes again. Jesus himself said to “do this in remembrance of me.”

When Jesus ate the last supper with his disciples, it was the Passover meal that they were celebrating. Jesus gave new meaning to the Passover meal, because he was now the lamb whose blood was poured out to rescue mankind. The Passover first appears in Exodus 12 when the Israelites were in Egypt. The tenth plague was that the firstborn of all people and animals in the land of Egypt would die. The only exception was for the Israelites who sacrificed a year old lamb or goat and painted their doorframes with blood. That night, God would “pass over” the houses with blood on the doorframe and the firstborns would be spared. They were to use unleavened bread and were told to eat this “last supper” in haste.

In this same story, God institutes the Passover–to be observed every year: “You shall observe this rite as a statute for you and for your sons forever” (Exodus 12:24 ESV). The Passover was to be celebrated both as a family (in the home) and as a congregation (all of Israel was to observe). And it was to participate in the Exodus event and instruct children: “And when your children say to you, ‘What do you mean by this service?’ you shall say, ‘It is the sacrifice of the Lord’s Passover, for he passed over the houses of the people of Israel in Egypt, when he struck the Egyptians but spared our houses.’ And the people bowed their heads and worshiped” (Exodus 12:26-27).

In order to understand the Lord’s Supper (communion), we need to understand Passover and how Jesus gave it new meaning under the new covenant. Each week we get to remember Christ’s broken body and the blood he shed to cover our sins and rescue us. And when our children ask “what is the purpose?” we get to teach them about Christ’s love for us!

May 4, 2021

Beware of Men

When Jesus sent his disciples out into the towns, he warned them that persecution was waiting for them. They were going to be drug before courts, experience floggings in their synagogues, and were going to be dragged before governors and kings for Jesus’ sake. This was a very sobering thing to tell his brand-new disciples. Imagine, Jesus told his followers to leave everything behind, including jobs and family, and gave no timeline for how long they would be on the move.

Very shortly after they left everything, he split them up into groups and sent them out into towns, but with a very stern warning: “Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves” (Matthew 10:16 ESV). Then he warned them of the types of persecution they would encounter along the way. But then the warning gets worse: “Brother will deliver brother over to death, and the father his child, and children will rise against parents and have them put to death, and you will be hated by all for my name’s sake. But the one who endures to the end will be saved” (vs. 21-22).

“Pastors resigning” is trending this week on social media because people are realizing how many preachers are leaving ministry this year due to, it is thought, the stresses of the pandemic. I’m seeing some of these people leaving ministry talk about their “persecution.” Trust that internal struggles, tensions, and even in-fighting is not the same as persecution. Jesus clearly defined persecution, and warned his disciples that they would face it immediately. This training proved to be very good, because the early church would face severe persecution and would thrive in that environment.

Perhaps we should better equip each other to face severe punishment. Traumatic experiences tend to cripple people today because forgiveness is used as a weapon, instead of teaching Christians to stand up to these evils of oppression and persecution.

April 27, 2020

Rejoice That Your Names Are Written In Heaven

We don’t know much about the seventy-two people who Jesus sent out to preach. What we do know is that he sent them two-by-two, that they were to go ahead of Jesus into all the towns he would be visiting, and that he told them to heal the sick in those towns and proclaim that the kingdom is near. We really have no idea who these people were, what their backgrounds were, or what professions they had. Jesus did tell them not to take anything with them except what was already in their possession.

When the seventy-two returned, they were astounded at what all God was accomplishing through them. “Lord!,” they exclaimed. “Even the demons are subject to us in your name!” (Luke 10:17 ESV). Jesus told them that he saw Satan fall like lightning from the sky, and that he gave the disciples authority over all the power of the enemy. It was an incredible responsibility that they were given. But Jesus didn’t want them to rejoice in this.

“Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven” (Luke 10:20). Jesus’ warning here was to not get intoxicated with the power they had. Sure, he gave them authority over the power of the enemy. But that didn’t make them invincible. Authority can be infatuating. It can lead to pride and arrogance. It can blind people to compassion. Jesus would rather them remain humble and rejoice that their names are written in heaven. This is a good reminder that our message needs to be seasoned with hope, grace, and must point people to salvation.

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April 21, 2020

The God of All Comfort

There is a difference between saying that someone will suffer and saying that someone should suffer. Jesus promises suffering for those who faithfully follow him, but that doesn’t mean that he thinks people should suffer. When Paul was on the road to Damascus, Jesus appeared to Ananias in a dream and said about Paul, “For I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name” (Acts 9:16 ESV). Jesus was not saying that he hopes Paul would suffer. He didn’t say Paul deserved to suffer. He did, however, said that it was necessary for Paul to suffer.

I’m not so sure that suffering is prescriptive as it is descriptive. In other words, God doesn’t prescribe suffering merely because we follow Christ. But suffering is descriptive of what happens to those of us who are faithful to him. It is necessary for us to suffer as Christians because people will always oppose goodness and righteousness. Evil will always exist. Oppression will always be present. Disease and sickness will always be on the earth.

But how does God respond, and how should we respond to one another? In 2 Corinthians 1, the word “comfort” is used more times than anywhere else in the Bible. Paul was suffering badly, but he was being comforted by God and God’s people. Paul said, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God” (2 Corinthians 1:3, 4 ESV). Paul says that, just as we share in Christ’s sufferings, we also share in his comfort.

This is a powerful message of hope in the midst of suffering. We should take comfort in the fact that our comfort is contagious. When we are comforted, we are able to comfort others. Paul said, “When we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; and if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which you experience when you patiently endure the same sufferings that we suffer” (2 Cor. 1:6).

We have an obligation to share in our sufferings because, when we do, we also share in our comfort! The world would be a more beautiful place if more people were actively comforting one another.

Photo byÂ Annie SprattÂ onÂ Unsplash