Sunday, Ordinary 23/Proper 18-- Sept 7
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Meditation
Sunday, Ordinary 23, Proper 18 focused on preparation for the Promised salvation. The Psalmist proclaimed how to praise the Lord for the victory of the saints. The Old Testament lesson in Exodus, spoke of the preparation for the Lord to ‘pass over’ those Israelites, who obeyed God’s direction of sacrificing a pure male lamb, and painting the door lintels with the blood.
A terrible plague would afflict humans and animals—the first born would be taken ill with a disease and die. But the obedient Israelites would be safe from the destruction. And they were told to remember the celebration every year, for it demonstrated the significance of God’s power and salvation of believers.
The New Testament lesson to the Roman church, reminded that the entire law was fulfilled in the action of love. In fact, Paul said that believers ‘owed’ each other the debt of loving each other. He declared,
“If you love others, you will never do them wrong; to love, then, is to obey the whole Law.”GNT
The whole law could be “obeyed” in one action—loving. If they loved God and others, they would do what God wanted. If they did what God wanted, then things would go as they should.
As a chaplain, if I counted the number of times people explained why they left the church, didn’t believe in God or no longer participated in religious services, would have topped near the 1000 mark. It grieved me to see how often people turned from God—not because of God as much as it was the ‘actions’ of those who ‘represented’ God; I can only imagine what it does to God’s feelings. I frequent sites and threads for atheists and agnostics. The reasons given for their stance are based in theological disagreements but the underlying theme has been being hurt at a church, often while a child. “I can’t believe in a loving God if …could have happened to me.” Sometimes those words came out of trauma—the loss of a loved one—too soon in life, but they were also written about having been hurt by people in the church. A sailor had been nearly sexually assaulted by someone in her church leadership. The Catholic Church has suffered because of priests hurting altar boys and young girls in their care.
Hurt.
Church people—leaders— who were supposed to be caring for their members, hurt their members instead. The common complaint was being hurt.
The New Century version said, “Love doesn’t hurt a neighbor.”
In the New Testament Gospel lesson, Jesus spoke of how to work out problems between Christians. “If someone were to hurt you (second person pronoun)” go to them privately, then if not resolved, with two and so on, then in the church. People have a fairly loose definition of what hurts them. It seems to include all sorts of things that may not be someone’s business.
The goal was to be loving at the lowest, simplest level; deal with it in a way that didn’t impact any but the two involved. Only when help was needed did someone involve others.
Too many churches have used these verses to humiliate people they disagree with. It was not about ‘being offended’ but about power.
Church leaders, all members of the Christian community, were called to follow the law of God—to be loving. When my mom disciplined me (as a child), she would preface it with it was going to hurt her more than it hurt me. I always felt her love. Always. Not every child can say that.
As parents, guardians, leaders, believers of all levels, Christ charged us with ‘loving’ one another. Love should be the preparation for any activity we do.
Jesus reminded us that God’s love was equally powerful. If we needed something done, it could be accomplished by coming together in prayer.
19 “Also, I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about something and pray for it, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. 20 This is true because if two or three people come together in my name, I am there with them.”
It must make God deliriously happy when two or more Christians gather with their hearts open to God and they pray in unity for something to happen. Love. Unity. God-centered.
From the Psalmist, to the Hebrews at Passover, to the disciples of Jesus and the converts in the New Testament churches…loving God and being obedient to God’s commands has been the means for things to happen for good in the communities of believers. Let us love one another as Christ first loved us.
Thanks be to God.
All Scriptures printed below are in King James Version for copyright purposes. However, clicking on the verse locations will take you to Biblegateway.com where the text is linked to more contemporary versions.
Prayer: Almighty God, Open my eyes that I might see. Open my mind that I might understand. Open my heart that I might make your words a part of me. May the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in your sight. Amen
Ordinary 23, Proper 18
Bible Readings
http://legacy.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Exodus 12:1-14;Psalm 149;Romans 13:8-14;Matthew 18:15-20&version=KJV;ERV;GNT;NCV;NIV (multiple versions)
Sunday, Ordinary 23, Proper 18
Exodus 12:1-14
Psalm 149
Romans 13:8-14
Matthew 18:15-20
Daily Bible Verses to Memorize for Meditating
Psalm 124:8
King James Version (KJV)
8 Our help is in the name of the LORD, who made heaven and earth.
Single Bible Study chapter to study
Exodus 12:1-14
King James Version (KJV)
12 And the LORD spake unto Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt saying,
2 This month shall be unto you the beginning of months: it shall be the first month of the year to you.
3 Speak ye unto all the congregation of Israel, saying, In the tenth day of this month they shall take to them every man a lamb, according to the house of their fathers, a lamb for an house:
4 And if the household be too little for the lamb, let him and his neighbour next unto his house take it according to the number of the souls; every man according to his eating shall make your count for the lamb.
5 Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year: ye shall take it out from the sheep, or from the goats:
6 And ye shall keep it up until the fourteenth day of the same month: and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening.
7 And they shall take of the blood, and strike it on the two side posts and on the upper door post of the houses, wherein they shall eat it.
8 And they shall eat the flesh in that night, roast with fire, and unleavened bread; and with bitter herbs they shall eat it.
9 Eat not of it raw, nor sodden at all with water, but roast with fire; his head with his legs, and with the purtenance thereof.
10 And ye shall let nothing of it remain until the morning; and that which remaineth of it until the morning ye shall burn with fire.
11 And thus shall ye eat it; with your loins girded, your shoes on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and ye shall eat it in haste: it is the LORD's passover.
12 For I will pass through the land of Egypt this night, and will smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the LORD.
13 And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are: and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt.
14 And this day shall be unto you for a memorial; and ye shall keep it a feast to the LORD throughout your generations; ye shall keep it a feast by an ordinance for ever.
OBSERVE:
Take a moment and write three observations of the verses. What strikes you? An observation is an observable fact from the Word.
1.
2.
3.
INTERPRETATION:
What do you interpret these verses to mean for you today?
APPLY:
Today, I learned _____________________________________and apply it to my life.
Prayer of Encouragement
Almighty God, Guide us to be all that we should be—loving at every turn, instead of harsh. Help us to be kindly in our attitudes and actions. In Jesus name, Amen
Conclusion
Sunday, Ordinary 23, Proper 18 celebrated the love of God for the Children of Israel that they would be protected and saved from the death of the first- borns that struck every Egyptian human and beast. The Psalmist praised God for the protection and victory. The Gospel lesson reported Jesus’ words on being loving to each other. The entire law is fulfilled when we love one another. Treat others with the love that we received from Christ and all things would fall into place.
No one, who is following Christ’s laws of loving, would hurt someone else. As believers, we must guard against failing God by being unkind and unloving.
The New Testament epistle also talked about dealing with hurts among believers. 1) At first only the one who received the hurt must contact the one who inflicted the hurt. This is not a time to gossip or spread rumors, but a time for reconciliation. The goal is to be loving and in agreement. Unity of purpose makes for better results.
Go out and be ready for God to do mighty things in your life—for the glory of God.*
Thank you for visiting ChapLynne’s Daily Encouragement and Bible Study. God bless you.
*If you do not know the Lord as your personal Savior and you are seeking, please contact me. A genuine and simple prayer, asking God into your heart for the forgiveness of your sins will also do.
Sunday, Ordinary 23, Proper 18 focused on preparation for the Promised salvation. The Psalmist proclaimed how to praise the Lord for the victory of the saints. The Old Testament lesson in Exodus, spoke of the preparation for the Lord to ‘pass over’ those Israelites, who obeyed God’s direction of sacrificing a pure male lamb, and painting the door lintels with the blood.
A terrible plague would afflict humans and animals—the first born would be taken ill with a disease and die. But the obedient Israelites would be safe from the destruction. And they were told to remember the celebration every year, for it demonstrated the significance of God’s power and salvation of believers.
The New Testament lesson to the Roman church, reminded that the entire law was fulfilled in the action of love. In fact, Paul said that believers ‘owed’ each other the debt of loving each other. He declared,
“If you love others, you will never do them wrong; to love, then, is to obey the whole Law.”GNT
The whole law could be “obeyed” in one action—loving. If they loved God and others, they would do what God wanted. If they did what God wanted, then things would go as they should.
As a chaplain, if I counted the number of times people explained why they left the church, didn’t believe in God or no longer participated in religious services, would have topped near the 1000 mark. It grieved me to see how often people turned from God—not because of God as much as it was the ‘actions’ of those who ‘represented’ God; I can only imagine what it does to God’s feelings. I frequent sites and threads for atheists and agnostics. The reasons given for their stance are based in theological disagreements but the underlying theme has been being hurt at a church, often while a child. “I can’t believe in a loving God if …could have happened to me.” Sometimes those words came out of trauma—the loss of a loved one—too soon in life, but they were also written about having been hurt by people in the church. A sailor had been nearly sexually assaulted by someone in her church leadership. The Catholic Church has suffered because of priests hurting altar boys and young girls in their care.
Hurt.
Church people—leaders— who were supposed to be caring for their members, hurt their members instead. The common complaint was being hurt.
The New Century version said, “Love doesn’t hurt a neighbor.”
In the New Testament Gospel lesson, Jesus spoke of how to work out problems between Christians. “If someone were to hurt you (second person pronoun)” go to them privately, then if not resolved, with two and so on, then in the church. People have a fairly loose definition of what hurts them. It seems to include all sorts of things that may not be someone’s business.
The goal was to be loving at the lowest, simplest level; deal with it in a way that didn’t impact any but the two involved. Only when help was needed did someone involve others.
Too many churches have used these verses to humiliate people they disagree with. It was not about ‘being offended’ but about power.
Church leaders, all members of the Christian community, were called to follow the law of God—to be loving. When my mom disciplined me (as a child), she would preface it with it was going to hurt her more than it hurt me. I always felt her love. Always. Not every child can say that.
As parents, guardians, leaders, believers of all levels, Christ charged us with ‘loving’ one another. Love should be the preparation for any activity we do.
Jesus reminded us that God’s love was equally powerful. If we needed something done, it could be accomplished by coming together in prayer.
19 “Also, I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about something and pray for it, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. 20 This is true because if two or three people come together in my name, I am there with them.”
It must make God deliriously happy when two or more Christians gather with their hearts open to God and they pray in unity for something to happen. Love. Unity. God-centered.
From the Psalmist, to the Hebrews at Passover, to the disciples of Jesus and the converts in the New Testament churches…loving God and being obedient to God’s commands has been the means for things to happen for good in the communities of believers. Let us love one another as Christ first loved us.
Thanks be to God.
All Scriptures printed below are in King James Version for copyright purposes. However, clicking on the verse locations will take you to Biblegateway.com where the text is linked to more contemporary versions.
Prayer: Almighty God, Open my eyes that I might see. Open my mind that I might understand. Open my heart that I might make your words a part of me. May the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in your sight. Amen
Ordinary 23, Proper 18
Bible Readings
http://legacy.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Exodus 12:1-14;Psalm 149;Romans 13:8-14;Matthew 18:15-20&version=KJV;ERV;GNT;NCV;NIV (multiple versions)
Sunday, Ordinary 23, Proper 18
Exodus 12:1-14
Psalm 149
Romans 13:8-14
Matthew 18:15-20
Daily Bible Verses to Memorize for Meditating
Psalm 124:8
King James Version (KJV)
8 Our help is in the name of the LORD, who made heaven and earth.
Single Bible Study chapter to study
Exodus 12:1-14
King James Version (KJV)
12 And the LORD spake unto Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt saying,
2 This month shall be unto you the beginning of months: it shall be the first month of the year to you.
3 Speak ye unto all the congregation of Israel, saying, In the tenth day of this month they shall take to them every man a lamb, according to the house of their fathers, a lamb for an house:
4 And if the household be too little for the lamb, let him and his neighbour next unto his house take it according to the number of the souls; every man according to his eating shall make your count for the lamb.
5 Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year: ye shall take it out from the sheep, or from the goats:
6 And ye shall keep it up until the fourteenth day of the same month: and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening.
7 And they shall take of the blood, and strike it on the two side posts and on the upper door post of the houses, wherein they shall eat it.
8 And they shall eat the flesh in that night, roast with fire, and unleavened bread; and with bitter herbs they shall eat it.
9 Eat not of it raw, nor sodden at all with water, but roast with fire; his head with his legs, and with the purtenance thereof.
10 And ye shall let nothing of it remain until the morning; and that which remaineth of it until the morning ye shall burn with fire.
11 And thus shall ye eat it; with your loins girded, your shoes on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and ye shall eat it in haste: it is the LORD's passover.
12 For I will pass through the land of Egypt this night, and will smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the LORD.
13 And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are: and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt.
14 And this day shall be unto you for a memorial; and ye shall keep it a feast to the LORD throughout your generations; ye shall keep it a feast by an ordinance for ever.
OBSERVE:
Take a moment and write three observations of the verses. What strikes you? An observation is an observable fact from the Word.
1.
2.
3.
INTERPRETATION:
What do you interpret these verses to mean for you today?
APPLY:
Today, I learned _____________________________________and apply it to my life.
Prayer of Encouragement
Almighty God, Guide us to be all that we should be—loving at every turn, instead of harsh. Help us to be kindly in our attitudes and actions. In Jesus name, Amen
Conclusion
Sunday, Ordinary 23, Proper 18 celebrated the love of God for the Children of Israel that they would be protected and saved from the death of the first- borns that struck every Egyptian human and beast. The Psalmist praised God for the protection and victory. The Gospel lesson reported Jesus’ words on being loving to each other. The entire law is fulfilled when we love one another. Treat others with the love that we received from Christ and all things would fall into place.
No one, who is following Christ’s laws of loving, would hurt someone else. As believers, we must guard against failing God by being unkind and unloving.
The New Testament epistle also talked about dealing with hurts among believers. 1) At first only the one who received the hurt must contact the one who inflicted the hurt. This is not a time to gossip or spread rumors, but a time for reconciliation. The goal is to be loving and in agreement. Unity of purpose makes for better results.
Go out and be ready for God to do mighty things in your life—for the glory of God.*
Thank you for visiting ChapLynne’s Daily Encouragement and Bible Study. God bless you.
*If you do not know the Lord as your personal Savior and you are seeking, please contact me. A genuine and simple prayer, asking God into your heart for the forgiveness of your sins will also do.
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