ISSL Reflections February 19 2023 James 2:1–12 Post 1

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I.
“… do not claim the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ while …”

I wonder how many times this (or something very similar) might have been said to someone when their orthodoxy was being questioned?

In these words from the Epistle of James it seems orthopraxy (right behavior) is being questioned.

What aspects of orthopraxy and orthodoxy do you hear James encouraging?

II.
James 2:1-12 (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition)

My brothers and sisters, do not claim the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ of glory while showing partiality. For if a person with gold rings and in fine clothes comes into your assembly, and if a poor person in dirty clothes also comes in, and if you take notice of the one wearing the fine clothes and say, “Have a seat here in a good place, please,” while to the one who is poor you say, “Stand there,” or, “Sit by my footstool,” have you not made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts? Listen, my beloved brothers and sisters. Has not God chosen the poor in the world to be rich in faith and to be heirs of the kingdom that he has promised to those who love him? But you have dishonored the poor person. Is it not the rich who oppress you? Is it not they who drag you into the courts? Is it not they who blaspheme the excellent name that was invoked over you?

If you really fulfill the royal law according to the scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you do well. But if you show partiality, you commit sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors. For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become accountable for all of it. For the one who said, “You shall not commit adultery,” also said, “You shall not murder.” Now if you do not commit adultery but you murder, you have become a transgressor of the law. So speak and so act as those who are to be judged by the law of liberty.

III.
Let’s see – he mentions partiality, rings, clothes, poor persons, dirty clothes, footstools, the “first-class” seating and even courts.

Have you ever seen partiality being exhibited in church settings or maybe even in worship settings?

How was it shown and how did people react? Or maybe it was accepted?

charles
{ubi caritas et amor, Deus ibi est}

ISSL Reflections February 12 2023 2 Timothy 1:3–14 Post 3

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VII.
As you return to Paul’s words to Timothy take time to notice how Paul encourages Timothy. What does Paul write that you would count as encouragement to Timothy?

VIII.
2 Timothy 1:3-14 (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition)

I am grateful to God—whom I worship with a clear conscience, as my ancestors did—when I remember you constantly in my prayers night and day. Recalling your tears, I long to see you so that I may be filled with joy. I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that lived first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, lives in you. For this reason I remind you to rekindle the gift of God that is within you through the laying on of my hands, for God did not give us a spirit of cowardice but rather a spirit of power and of love and of self-discipline.

Do not be ashamed, then, of the testimony about our Lord or of me his prisoner, but join with me in suffering for the gospel, in the power of God, who saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works but according to his own purpose and grace, and this grace was given to us in Christ Jesus before the ages began, but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. For this gospel I was appointed a herald and an apostle and a teacher, and for this reason I suffer as I do. But I am not ashamed, for I know the one in whom I have put my trust, and I am sure that he is able to guard the deposit I have entrusted to him. Hold to the standard of sound teaching that you have heard from me, in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. Guard the good deposit entrusted to you, with the help of the Holy Spirit living in us.

IX.
Paul mentions he is a prisoner.

We might think one who is in prison needs the prayers and encouragement of others. Yet, even from prison, Paul encourages Timothy in his work and reminds him “to rekindle the gift of God that is within [him]…”

Who has taken time to encourage you to take notice of your gifts?

Who have you encouraged?

Who is on your mind and heart that you want to encourage today?

charles
{ubi caritas et amor, Deus ibi est}

ISSL Reflections February 12 2023 2 Timothy 1:3–14 Post 2

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IV.
Paul calls on Timothy to remember with him Timothy’s “sincere faith,” his “gift” and the “laying on of my hands.”

As you return to these words, consider if they provoke any memories for you.

V.
2 Timothy 1:3-14 (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition)

I am grateful to God—whom I worship with a clear conscience, as my ancestors did—when I remember you constantly in my prayers night and day. Recalling your tears, I long to see you so that I may be filled with joy. I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that lived first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, lives in you. For this reason I remind you to rekindle the gift of God that is within you through the laying on of my hands, for God did not give us a spirit of cowardice but rather a spirit of power and of love and of self-discipline.

Do not be ashamed, then, of the testimony about our Lord or of me his prisoner, but join with me in suffering for the gospel, in the power of God, who saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works but according to his own purpose and grace, and this grace was given to us in Christ Jesus before the ages began, but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. For this gospel I was appointed a herald and an apostle and a teacher, and for this reason I suffer as I do. But I am not ashamed, for I know the one in whom I have put my trust, and I am sure that he is able to guard the deposit I have entrusted to him. Hold to the standard of sound teaching that you have heard from me, in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. Guard the good deposit entrusted to you, with the help of the Holy Spirit living in us.

VI.
If you were asked to share something of your spiritual autobiography, what comes to mind first? Something about your biological family? Something about your spiritual family?

For that matter, who do you count as spiritual mothers and/or fathers in your spiritual family?

What “good deposit” did they entrust to you?

charles
{ubi caritas et amor, Deus ibi est}

ISSL Reflections February 12 2023 2 Timothy 1:3–14 Post 1

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I.
“… when I remember … I am reminded … I remind you …” (2 Timothy 1:3, 5, 6)

So our friend Paul is taking a trip down “memory lane.”

Some folk take those kinds of trips to remember what they consider a better time, aka “the good old days.”

Is that what provokes Paul’s mental journey? Keep that in mind as you read this portion of Paul’s letter to Timothy.

II.
2 Timothy 1:3-14 (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition)

I am grateful to God—whom I worship with a clear conscience, as my ancestors did—when I remember you constantly in my prayers night and day. Recalling your tears, I long to see you so that I may be filled with joy. I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that lived first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, lives in you. For this reason I remind you to rekindle the gift of God that is within you through the laying on of my hands, for God did not give us a spirit of cowardice but rather a spirit of power and of love and of self-discipline.

Do not be ashamed, then, of the testimony about our Lord or of me his prisoner, but join with me in suffering for the gospel, in the power of God, who saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works but according to his own purpose and grace, and this grace was given to us in Christ Jesus before the ages began, but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. For this gospel I was appointed a herald and an apostle and a teacher, and for this reason I suffer as I do. But I am not ashamed, for I know the one in whom I have put my trust, and I am sure that he is able to guard the deposit I have entrusted to him. Hold to the standard of sound teaching that you have heard from me, in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. Guard the good deposit entrusted to you, with the help of the Holy Spirit living in us.

III.
What is Paul reminded of?

What does he want Timothy to recall? Why?

If Paul asked you to “remember when …” in this same spirit he asks Timothy, what would you recall?

charles
{ubi caritas et amor, Deus ibi est}

ISSL Reflections February 5 2023 1 Corinthians 1:18–31 Post 3

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VII.
Let’s go back to Paul’s request that the folk, “Consider your own call … “

How might his thoughts on “wisdom” and “foolishness” give us insight on our call to be “in Christ Jesus”?

VIII.
1 Corinthians 1:18-31 (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition)

For the message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written,

“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise,
and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.”

Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scholar? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, God decided, through the foolishness of the proclamation, to save those who believe. or Jews ask for signs and Greeks desire wisdom, but we proclaim Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to gentiles, but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For God’s foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God’s weakness is stronger than human strength.

Consider your own call, brothers and sisters: not many of you were wise by human standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, things that are not, to abolish things that are, so that no one might boast in the presence of God. In contrast, God is why you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification and redemption, in order that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”

IX.
Take a moment to consider some of Jesus’ remarks, like – “the last will be first and the first will be last” (Matthew 20:16); or “… many who are first will be last, and the last will be first” (Matthew 19:30); or “the master … he will fasten his belt and have them sit down to eat, and he will come and serve [the slaves]” (Luke 12:37) and the Beatitudes of Matthew 5 which speak to a reversal of typical expectations.

Might Jesus’ remarks and Paul’s encourage us to expect the Kingdom of God ushers in a new way of life. A way that is counter to the kingdoms we encounter day to day. Maybe we could call this “the great reversal.”

This past Tuesday (1/31/2023) I read in the Lectio365 app,

“From His lowly birth in a stable to His criminal’s death on a cross, Jesus’ life on earth is marked with striking humility.

“As He makes Himself a servant and is laid low into the grave, God’s response is to raise Him up: out of the grave and over every throne and nation in heaven and on earth.

“In Jesus I see the upside-down, counter-intuitive pathway to flourishing in the Kingdom: that the way up is down, and the pathway to honour is humility.

“In Luke 18:14, Jesus says: ‘For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.’

“In a world of self-promotion, God, how might I follow in the upside-down footsteps of Jesus and pursue humility rather than applause today?”

How comfortable can we be in walking the “upside-down” pathway of Jesus?

charles
{ubi caritas et amor, Deus ibi est}

ISSL Reflections February 5 2023 1 Corinthians 1:18–31 Post 2

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IV.
Let’s begin today by considering Paul’s statement,

“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise,
and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.”

As you spend time with this passage, pay attention to how wisdom and foolishness are described.

V.
1 Corinthians 1:18-31 (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition)

For the message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written,

“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise,
and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.”

Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scholar? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, God decided, through the foolishness of the proclamation, to save those who believe. or Jews ask for signs and Greeks desire wisdom, but we proclaim Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to gentiles, but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For God’s foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God’s weakness is stronger than human strength.

Consider your own call, brothers and sisters: not many of you were wise by human standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, things that are not, to abolish things that are, so that no one might boast in the presence of God. In contrast, God is why you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification and redemption, in order that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”

VI.
It seems that Paul belittles “wisdom” and exalts “foolishness”?

Do you get that impression?

I think that in the past some folk have used this to make a case against all kinds of wisdom and learning and maybe even education. Am I overstating the case or missing something?

What do you think Paul wants to communicate to the folk at Corinth by these characterizations of wisdom and foolishness?

charles
{ubi caritas et amor, Deus ibi est}

ISSL Reflections February 5 2023 1 Corinthians 1:18–31 Post 1

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I.
Notice Paul’s direction to the the recipients of his letter,

“Consider your own call …” (1 Corinthians 1:26)

Couple that with his earlier statement, “… to those who are called…” (1 Corinthians 1:24), I take it that Paul considered these folk called by God to life “in Christ Jesus.” (1 Corinthians 1:30)

They are already on a pathway in the Kingdom of God.

How do you see Paul describing their character and life?

II.
1 Corinthians 1:18-31 (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition)

For the message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written,

“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise,
and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.”

Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scholar? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, God decided, through the foolishness of the proclamation, to save those who believe. or Jews ask for signs and Greeks desire wisdom, but we proclaim Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to gentiles, but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For God’s foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God’s weakness is stronger than human strength.

Consider your own call, brothers and sisters: not many of you were wise by human standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, things that are not, to abolish things that are, so that no one might boast in the presence of God. In contrast, God is why you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification and redemption, in order that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”

III.
Notice the contrasts Paul sets before us in this passage? Contrasts like wise/foolish, strong/weak.

Do you think he stresses a contrast between the wise and foolish too much? Not enough? Why do you think he calls attention to this contrast?

Sometimes I have to wonder where I am on the continuum of foolish to wise.

Do you ever wonder about such things?

charles
{ubi caritas et amor, Deus ibi est}

ISSL Reflections January 29 2023 Joel 2:21–27 Post 3

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VII.
This passage begins with “Do not fear … Do not fear … be glad, and rejoice.”

What “evidence” does the prophet offer that the people should “… be glad, and rejoice”?

VIII.
Joel 2:21-27 (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition)

Do not fear, O soil;
       be glad and rejoice,
       for the Lord has done great things!
Do not fear, you animals of the field,
       for the pastures of the wilderness are green;
the tree bears its fruit;
       the fig tree and vine give their full yield.

O children of Zion, be glad,
       and rejoice in the Lord your God,
for he has given the early rain for your vindication;
       he has poured down for you abundant rain,
       the early and the later rain, as before.
The threshing floors shall be full of grain;
       the vats shall overflow with wine and oil.

I will repay you for the years
       that the swarming locust has eaten,
the hopper, the destroyer, and the cutter,
       my great army that I sent against you.

You shall eat in plenty and be satisfied
       and praise the name of the Lord your God,
       who has dealt wondrously with you.
And my people shall never again be put to shame.
You shall know that I am in the midst of Israel
       and that I, the Lord, am your God and there is no other.
And my people shall never again be put to shame.

IX.
The people had previously experienced a time of scarcity. The prophet is encouraging them to expect a time of plenty.

And not just a time of “… threshing floors … full of gain…” and “… vats [overflowing] with wine and oil.”

But a time when the people “know that [God is] in the midst of Israel.”

How do you think the renewed productivity of the harvest encourages Israel to trust God has not departed from them?

How about you? What encourages you to trust in the nearness of God?

charles
{ubi caritas et amor, Deus ibi est}

ISSL Reflections January 29 2023 Joel 2:21–27 Post 2

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IV.
As you spend time with this passage today, take notice of all the mentions of what is found in nature.

V.
Joel 2:21-27 (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition)

Do not fear, O soil;
       be glad and rejoice,
       for the Lord has done great things!
Do not fear, you animals of the field,
       for the pastures of the wilderness are green;
the tree bears its fruit;
       the fig tree and vine give their full yield.

O children of Zion, be glad,
       and rejoice in the Lord your God,
for he has given the early rain for your vindication;
       he has poured down for you abundant rain,
       the early and the later rain, as before.
The threshing floors shall be full of grain;
       the vats shall overflow with wine and oil.

I will repay you for the years
       that the swarming locust has eaten,
the hopper, the destroyer, and the cutter,
       my great army that I sent against you.

You shall eat in plenty and be satisfied
       and praise the name of the Lord your God,
       who has dealt wondrously with you.
And my people shall never again be put to shame.
You shall know that I am in the midst of Israel
       and that I, the Lord, am your God and there is no other.
And my people shall never again be put to shame.

VI.
What did you notice?

Rain, soil, pastures, wilderness, animals, trees, fruit, vines, etc.

If weather permits, spend some time outside today. What do you see? What do you hear? What do you smell?

What do you feel?

Does anything you see, hear, smell or feel bring you a sense of what you might call holy?

charles
{ubi caritas et amor, Deus ibi est}

ISSL Reflections January 29 2023 Joel 2:21–27 Post 1

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I.
Joel hears and relays the word of God to the people,

You shall know that I am in the midst of Israel
       and that I, the Lord, am your God and there is no other.

How is the presence of God described in this passage?

II.
Joel 2:21-27 (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition)

Do not fear, O soil;
       be glad and rejoice,
       for the Lord has done great things!
Do not fear, you animals of the field,
       for the pastures of the wilderness are green;
the tree bears its fruit;
       the fig tree and vine give their full yield.

O children of Zion, be glad,
       and rejoice in the Lord your God,
for he has given the early rain for your vindication;
       he has poured down for you abundant rain,
       the early and the later rain, as before.
The threshing floors shall be full of grain;
       the vats shall overflow with wine and oil.

I will repay you for the years
       that the swarming locust has eaten,
the hopper, the destroyer, and the cutter,
       my great army that I sent against you.

You shall eat in plenty and be satisfied
       and praise the name of the Lord your God,
       who has dealt wondrously with you.
And my people shall never again be put to shame.
You shall know that I am in the midst of Israel
       and that I, the Lord, am your God and there is no other.
And my people shall never again be put to shame.

III.
As you spend time with this passage, what recollections of God’s presence come to mind for you?

How do you notice God both in nature and in your own experience?

charles
{ubi caritas et amor, Deus ibi est}