Author: Bryan Richardson

Re:Verse reading–2 Corinthians 8:1-15 (day three)

“Now finish the work.”  The world suffers not nearly so much from the evil deeds that abound as from the good work that men leave unfinished.  Jesus warned us in a story he told not to become like the young man who told his father he would work in his father’s vineyard, then failed to make good on that promise.  A desire, a dream, a passion, an aspiration—none of those things by itself will bring an idea to fruition.  Jesus’s brother James taught us that action will complete design.  He warned that paying attention in Bible study is no substitute for letting the Bible affect the way you pay attention to actual people in your actual life.  What work have you left unfinished?  It’s not too late to get back to it.

Re:Verse reading–2 Corinthians 5:11-21 (day three) 

“From now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view.”  Did Jesus “network”?  Did the fledgling church scrape by without the ubiquitous pseudo-invitation “Let’s do lunch?”  Such pursuits can easily become a way to use people to serve an agenda.  We often insist on fueling a worldwide missional movement on ideas and vision, but Jesus taught us that our presence with each other is the church’s strength.  Jesus said, “By this will all men know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”  This isn’t putting up with each other on the way to the dream.  It’s dreaming of living with one another.  The next time you wonder what God’s will is for your life, consider that you are God’s will for your brother’s life—and then act accordingly.

Re:Verse reading–1 Corinthians 12:4-13, 27-31 (day three)

“Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good.”

Paul’s purpose here is not to identify the Prophet! Teacher! Leader!  Rather, his point is that the church is a terrible place for heroics.  You want the prophecy gift?  Here it is: Prophecy means serving by never leaving somebody without God’s voice when that person has lost his way.  You want the leadership gift?  Here it goes: Leadership means channeling your influence to craft the kind of life together that allows people to grow to the full extent of their giftedness.  You want the guidance gift?  Here you are: Guidance means that you’ll never leave someone without forgiveness and friendship when that person has blown it again.  Gifts aren’t given in addition to love, but in order to love.

Re:Verse Passage – Matthew 25:31-46 (day three)

“Lord, when did we see you hungry?”  Are you sure you want to know?  It’s not uncommon for us to attempt to exonerate ourselves from the charges by claiming we’re misunderstood.  From “out came this calf” to “mistakes were made” to “wide stance” to “no one told me”, these ridiculous excuses for indefensible behavior will never hold up.  We’ve all tried to claim that we’re just doing the best we can when really we’ve just been doing the best imitation we can.  If only God had been clearer, if only he’d spoken our language, we would have jumped at the chance to serve.  It’s too bad God didn’t see that we were just waiting for direction.  Is it our fault that God missed the opportunity of a lifetime: a chance to work with us?

Re:Verse reading–John 15:9-17 (day three)

“Love one another.”  Love is the only divine reality that will preserve our lives.  God’s justice, his anger, even his very holiness would destroy us.  But from love comes God’s grace, God’s mercy, the Incarnation, Christ’s substitutionary suffering and death, and our access to God.  Everything else destroys, only love sustains.  This is true in God’s regard of human beings, and it is therefore true in men’s regard of each other.  Of all the ways we can treat each other, only love gives us a future.  Love for one another won’t just make the world more pleasant.  Love for one another will keep each other alive.

Re: Verse reading–John 13:1-17 (day three) 

“He…began to wash his disciples’ feet.”  Jesus did not perform this act of service as an object lesson in order to show his disciples how to serve, though it surely did accomplish that.  He did not do this in order to put them in a state of awe that their master would be so gracious as to stoop to such a lowly function, though it did strike them with wonder. But here’s why this event occurred the way it did: Jesus saw an opportunity to love them, and he took it. And then he told them: When you see a moment in which you can love one another, seize it.

Re: Verse reading–Isaiah 52:13-15, Isaiah 53 (day three)

“He was numbered with the transgressors.”  First, consider humanity’s rogues gallery—those unsavory individuals who represent all that’s wrong with the human race: History’s most notorious megalomaniacs make the list, plus domestic terrorists, plus all murderers, predators, thieves, thugs, and general riff-raff.  But surely the world owes its difficulties to more than state-recognized criminals.  Have you been on the receiving end of a lie?  Have you cheated on your spouse?  Have you used a friendship to further your own social position?  We’re all rogues now.  And if you look closely at that list, you’ll see a shocking face: that of Jesus Christ, counted among the sinners.  Now consider: The King of kings willingly became the rogue of rogues, taking the blame for the sin of mankind.  And now all of us must answer for this innocent man’s execution.  What will you say?

Re:Verse reading–Nehemiah 6:1-16 (day three)

“Each time I gave them the same answer.” Nehemiah kept guarding himself against mission creep.  He understood the alternative.  Pretty soon, you’re building a wall—and crafting diplomacy toward unfriendly nations.  And strengthening alliances with friendly nations to stand with you against unfriendly nations.  And sharing military strategy and resources and personnel with those allies as the initiative to build a front against unfriendly nations progresses.  On it goes.  The Bible reveals that when all things occupy equal importance, your energies become diluted.  Those who need serving don’t get served well.  Those who need leading don’t get led well.  And eventually, you can’t tell a good idea from a bad one because you’ve set them all on equal footing from the start.  Nehemiah said, “Now strengthen my hands.”  That prayer says, “Help me do this task well.  Not that thing.  This thing.”

Re:Verse reading–2 Kings 4:8-37 (day three) 

“Can we speak on your behalf to the king or the commander of the army?”  The Silver Rule says, “Do not do anything to others that you would not want done to you.”  Better that than the alternative, for sure.  But this passage, and later Jesus himself, teaches us to go further—not only to refrain from harm, but to seek the good.  Love, we learn, is not passive, but active.  And it’s not just frenetic activity.  It’s not merely what you think passes for a good idea.  We have probably all helped fill others’ closets with dust-gathering Christmas gifts that we thought would get the job of generosity done.  But to love and to serve is to seek the good.  That requires patience, attention, observation, and effort.  Love is less “random act” and more thoughtful doing.

Re:Verse reading–2 Samuel 9 (day three)

“I will surely show you kindness.”  Some have said the Bible reveals to us a God who shows a preference for the disenfranchised.  This is not to say that God deals in favoritism.  The Bible itself dispels that notion.  It is to say that God pays attention to those that the powerful have ignored.  The paying of attention is a luxury among men, lavished only on those who promise a wealth of rewards in return.  It takes a person of immense contentment and confidence to forego such pursuits and spend the precious commodity of attention on the least among us.  When Jesus says that the greatest among you will be your servant, he says servanthood is greatness precisely because of the wealth of inner strength it requires.  God can make us that wealthy.  What kind of riches do you desire?