Brandon C. Jones's Blog, page 16

Walk and Talk

Herreid, South Dakota is not known for its vast size. The powers that be may make you slow down in your car to 30mph while driving on US highway 83 through our town, but even at that low speed you’ll pass us all by within a minute. Our residents also pass through our town quickly on their way to school, work, or to other communities nearby. Some residents use their bicycles often. Occasionally, you may even see one pastor on rollerblades who is rather appreciative of a few newly paved roads. Many people walk up, down, and all around town for about half of the year. The other half of the year is known as winter.
Despite being a small town, we locals have a confession to make. We often fail to notice most things going on around us. Sure, the extremely overgrown yard or newly sided structure may dominate some conversations here and there, but for the most part we go about our business while bypassing our neighbors by foot and by vehicle. We rarely take the time to think about who they are, what they need, or how we could help them.
As a church we are supposed to rise above all that. We are called to be salt and light in our community. We are called to do good to all people as we have opportunity to do it. We are supposed to help those in need, especially the poor among us. Our master tells us that as we feed the hungry, give water to the thirsty, clothe the naked, and visit the imprisoned, we do it all to him. He tells us to love one another as he has loved us. Just in case we forgot how much that was, our master showed his love for us by laying down his own life for us, even when we were still his bitter enemies.
We have messed up by trying to love our neighbors on our terms. Instead of being salt and light to our community we have settled for creating our own sub-community and then waited around for people to come to us. Only, they haven’t. We focus our efforts on buildings, programs, and offices, which are all good and necessary, but these efforts all too often come at the expense of our calling to be God’s people on the move. We end up not helping our community much. We do not pray for them as we should. We do not seem to have much compassion or love for them either. Frankly, we do well at telling them, without saying one word, that we are too busy for them. Is it any wonder they haven’t come to us?
Brothers and sisters, there are only two kinds of Christ-followers: those who are learning how to do it and those who are doing it. Following Christ stems from love. When we begin, continue with, and end with love, we will start having compassion for our neighbors. When we have compassion for them we will pray for them. When we pray for them—really pray for them with our eyes open to their needs and our hearts open to trying to meet those needs—we will help them. When we help them, we will build relationships with them. When we build relationships with them we will become salt and light to them as they piece things together.
This Sunday some members of our church took part in a prayer walk/drive around our town. We decided to walk up and down each neighborhood, asking two questions: What do they need? How can we help? Oftentimes in small towns gossip focuses on talking about what people need, often without anyone doing anything constructive about it. People need Christ, and Christ has tasked us with telling our neighbors about him. In a prayer walk God’s people think of how they can tell their neighbors about Christ with a simple question: how can we help them? Prayer is just one step, but an important one. I’m hoping we as a church can take part in more prayer walks, and I pray that soon our prayers will turn into actions.
After all these years, I am still learning how to follow Christ. I hope never to forget what God taught me on a blisteringly hot Sunday afternoon while walking and praying with some brothers and sisters. Thanks be to God that he graciously allows us to be a part of his life-giving work. Our very desire to follow him is a gift from heaven, and no matter where his people gather—in small towns or big cities alike—he is with us. May we continue taking him to our communities!

Psalm 71

In you, Lord, I have taken refuge;
    let me never be put to shame.
2 In your righteousness, rescue me and deliver me;
    turn your ear to me and save me.
3 Be my rock of refuge,
    to which I can always go;
give the command to save me,
    for you are my rock and my fortress.
4 Deliver me, my God, from the hand of the wicked,
    from the grasp of those who are evil and cruel.5 For you have been my hope, Sovereign Lord,
    my confidence since my youth.
6 From birth I have relied on you;
    you brought me forth from my mother’s womb.
    I will ever praise you.
7 I have become a sign to many;
    you are my strong refuge.
8 My mouth is filled with your praise,
    declaring your splendor all day long.9 Do not cast me away when I am old;
    do not forsake me when my strength is gone.
10 For my enemies speak against me;
    those who wait to kill me conspire together.
11 They say, “God has forsaken him;
    pursue him and seize him,
    for no one will rescue him.”
12 Do not be far from me, my God;
    come quickly, God, to help me.
13 May my accusers perish in shame;
    may those who want to harm me
    be covered with scorn and disgrace.14 As for me, I will always have hope;
    I will praise you more and more.15 My mouth will tell of your righteous deeds,
    of your saving acts all day long—
    though I know not how to relate them all.
16 I will come and proclaim your mighty acts, Sovereign Lord;
    I will proclaim your righteous deeds, yours alone.
17 Since my youth, God, you have taught me,
    and to this day I declare your marvelous deeds.
18 Even when I am old and gray,
    do not forsake me, my God,
till I declare your power to the next generation,
    your mighty acts to all who are to come.19 Your righteousness, God, reaches to the heavens,
    you who have done great things.
    Who is like you, God?
20 Though you have made me see troubles,
    many and bitter,
    you will restore my life again;
from the depths of the earth
    you will again bring me up.
21 You will increase my honor
    and comfort me once more.22 I will praise you with the harp
    for your faithfulness, my God;
I will sing praise to you with the lyre,
    Holy One of Israel.
23 My lips will shout for joy
    when I sing praise to you—
    I whom you have delivered.
24 My tongue will tell of your righteous acts
    all day long,
for those who wanted to harm me
    have been put to shame and confusion.<<<=
=>>>

Psalm 80

For the director of music. To the tune of “The Lilies of the Covenant.” Of Asaph. A psalm.1 Hear us, Shepherd of Israel,
    you who lead Joseph like a flock.
You who sit enthroned between the cherubim,
    shine forth 2 before Ephraim, Benjamin and Manasseh.
Awaken your might;
    come and save us.3 Restore us, O God;
    make your face shine on us,
    that we may be saved.4 How long, Lord God Almighty,
    will your anger smolder
    against the prayers of your people?
5 You have fed them with the bread of tears;
    you have made them drink tears by the bowlful.
6 You have made us an object of derision[b] to our neighbors,
    and our enemies mock us.7 Restore us, God Almighty;
    make your face shine on us,
    that we may be saved.8 You transplanted a vine from Egypt;
    you drove out the nations and planted it.
9 You cleared the ground for it,
    and it took root and filled the land.
10 The mountains were covered with its shade,
    the mighty cedars with its branches.
11 Its branches reached as far as the Sea,[c]
    its shoots as far as the River.[d]12 Why have you broken down its walls
    so that all who pass by pick its grapes?
13 Boars from the forest ravage it,
    and insects from the fields feed on it.
14 Return to us, God Almighty!
    Look down from heaven and see!
Watch over this vine,
15     the root your right hand has planted,
    the son[e] you have raised up for yourself.16 Your vine is cut down, it is burned with fire;
    at your rebuke your people perish.
17 Let your hand rest on the man at your right hand,
    the son of man you have raised up for yourself.
18 Then we will not turn away from you;
    revive us, and we will call on your name.19 Restore us, Lord God Almighty;
    make your face shine on us,
    that we may be saved.Footnotes:Psalm 80:1 In Hebrew texts 80:1-19 is numbered 80:2-20.Psalm 80:6 Probable reading of the original Hebrew text; Masoretic Text contentionPsalm 80:11 Probably the MediterraneanPsalm 80:11 That is, the EuphratesPsalm 80:15 Or branch

Psalm 50

A psalm of Asaph.1 The Mighty One, God, the Lord,
    speaks and summons the earth
    from the rising of the sun to where it sets.
2 From Zion, perfect in beauty,
    God shines forth.
3 Our God comes
    and will not be silent;
a fire devours before him,
    and around him a tempest rages.
4 He summons the heavens above,
    and the earth, that he may judge his people:
5 “Gather to me this consecrated people,
    who made a covenant with me by sacrifice.”
6 And the heavens proclaim his righteousness,
    for he is a God of justice.[a][b]7 “Listen, my people, and I will speak;
    I will testify against you, Israel:
    I am God, your God.
8 I bring no charges against you concerning your sacrifices
    or concerning your burnt offerings, which are ever before me.
9 I have no need of a bull from your stall
    or of goats from your pens,
10 for every animal of the forest is mine,
    and the cattle on a thousand hills.
11 I know every bird in the mountains,
    and the insects in the fields are mine.
12 If I were hungry I would not tell you,
    for the world is mine, and all that is in it.
13 Do I eat the flesh of bulls
    or drink the blood of goats?14 “Sacrifice thank offerings to God,
    fulfill your vows to the Most High,
15 and call on me in the day of trouble;
    I will deliver you, and you will honor me.”16 But to the wicked person, God says:“What right have you to recite my laws
    or take my covenant on your lips?
17 You hate my instruction
    and cast my words behind you.
18 When you see a thief, you join with him;
    you throw in your lot with adulterers.
19 You use your mouth for evil
    and harness your tongue to deceit.
20 You sit and testify against your brother
    and slander your own mother’s son.
21 When you did these things and I kept silent,
    you thought I was exactly[c] like you.
But I now arraign you
    and set my accusations before you.22 “Consider this, you who forget God,
    or I will tear you to pieces, with no one to rescue you:
23 Those who sacrifice thank offerings honor me,
    and to the blameless[d] I will show my salvation.”Footnotes:Psalm 50:6 With a different word division of the Hebrew; Masoretic Text for God himself is judgePsalm 50:6 The Hebrew has Selah (a word of uncertain meaning) here.Psalm 50:21 Or thought the ‘I am’ wasPsalm 50:23 Probable reading of the original Hebrew text; the meaning of the Masoretic Text for this phrase is uncertain.

Psalm 49

For the director of music. Of the Sons of Korah. A psalm.1 Hear this, all you peoples;
    listen, all who live in this world,
2 both low and high,
    rich and poor alike:
3 My mouth will speak words of wisdom;
    the meditation of my heart will give you understanding.
4 I will turn my ear to a proverb;
    with the harp I will expound my riddle:5 Why should I fear when evil days come,
    when wicked deceivers surround me—
6 those who trust in their wealth
    and boast of their great riches?
7 No one can redeem the life of another
    or give to God a ransom for them—
8 the ransom for a life is costly,
    no payment is ever enough—
9 so that they should live on forever
    and not see decay.
10 For all can see that the wise die,
    that the foolish and the senseless also perish,
    leaving their wealth to others.
11 Their tombs will remain their houses[b] forever,
    their dwellings for endless generations,
    though they had[c] named lands after themselves.12 People, despite their wealth, do not endure;
    they are like the beasts that perish.13 This is the fate of those who trust in themselves,
    and of their followers, who approve their sayings.[d]
14 They are like sheep and are destined to die;
    death will be their shepherd
    (but the upright will prevail over them in the morning).
Their forms will decay in the grave,
    far from their princely mansions.
15 But God will redeem me from the realm of the dead;
    he will surely take me to himself.
16 Do not be overawed when others grow rich,
    when the splendor of their houses increases;
17 for they will take nothing with them when they die,
    their splendor will not descend with them.
18 Though while they live they count themselves blessed—
    and people praise you when you prosper—
19 they will join those who have gone before them,
    who will never again see the light of life.20 People who have wealth but lack understanding
    are like the beasts that perish.Footnotes:Psalm 49:1 In Hebrew texts 49:1-20 is numbered 49:2-21.Psalm 49:11 Septuagint and Syriac; Hebrew In their thoughts their houses will remainPsalm 49:11 Or generations, / for they havePsalm 49:13 The Hebrew has Selah (a word of uncertain meaning) here and at the end of verse 15.

Inverted Values

“Looking at his [Jesus’] disciples, he said: ‘Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. Blessed are you who hunger now, for you will be satisfied. Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh. Blessed are you when people hate you, when they exclude you and insult you and reject your name as evil because of the Son of Man.
Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, because great is your reward in heaven. For that is how their ancestors treated the prophets.
But woe to you who are rich, for you have already received your comfort. Woe to you who are well fed now, for you will go hungry. Woe to you who laugh now, for you will mourn and weep. Woe to you when everyone speaks well of you, for that is how their ancestors treated the false prophets.
But to you who are listening I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. If someone slaps you on the cheek, turn to them the other also. If someone takes your coat, do not withhold your shirt from them. Give to everyone who asks you and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back. Do to others as you would have them do to you.
If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do that. And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, expecting to be repaid in full. But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.
Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you’” (Luke 6:20-38).
We Christians like to talk about love and for good reason. God is love. God loved the world that he gave Jesus. We are to show the world we are God’s people by our love. But all too often our love falls short of being godly love. God’s love opened himself to neediness. He did not give out of his excess, because he gave himself. He calls us to do likewise, but instead we try to love without becoming needy, and by doing so we fail to love at all.
Love by definition is a giving of myself. As God shares his love with us in and through Christ, just as Christ himself receives his life from the Father so do we. We can keep giving of ourselves, knowing that we are always relying on God every second of every day. When Jesus wanted to explain the meaning of his life and death to his people, he gave us a meal in which we feast on him because we need him to live and to love.
This is why God calls his people to more than mere charity. Charity usually comes from the standpoint that supposedly the one giving it has all her needs met, so why not help others who have need. But when you love you will be driven into need yourself. Likewise, charity and pity often go hand in hand. Out of pity we show, in the words of Arthur C. McGill, “contempt for those who are in need” and express “smug superiority in those who feel it.” But McGill goes on to say, “the Christian does not nourish the poor because he feels sorry for them. How can he feel sorry for weakness and need when these are his own essential condition and when these are the necessary conditions for the joy of receiving?” For McGill, “the love to which Jesus calls us is never the removal of need but the companion of need.”
In the above passage from the Gospel of Luke, Jesus reveals how inverted the values of our world have become. We pride ourselves as people who need nothing. We are rich, strong, and healthy, having forgotten Jesus’ caution, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick” (Luke 5:31). Love begins with need and ends with need, which is precisely how Jesus conquered death by transforming it into another “occasion for God to nourish us anew” (McGill).
In America we strive to remove need from our lives. We send the physically needy away to homes. We setup institutions and structures to deal with the materially needy in our communities. We read about needy communities close by or far away from us and come up with seemingly easy solutions that should help them if they ever bothered to make something of themselves like we have. We surround ourselves with people who need nothing from us, and that’s the way we like it. But in doing so, perhaps we have not listened to our Savior who has called us to take up his cross and follow him. When we shirk his cross because of the neediness it brings, then what credit is that to us? For Jesus says it is only by giving that we receive anything at all.

Help Wanted Ad from King David

Lord, who may dwell in your sacred tent? Who may live on your holy mountain?
The one whose walk is blameless, who does what is righteous, who speaks the truth from their heart; whose tongue utters no slander, who does no wrong to a neighbor, and casts no slur on others; who despises a vile person but honors those who fear the Lord; who keeps an oath even when it hurts, and does not change their mind; who lends money to the poor without interest; who does not accept a bribe against the innocent.
Whoever does these things will never be shaken.
Psalm 15

Acquiring a Taste for Righteousness

Taste buds are marvelous things. Our tongues are divided into different patches of taste buds that are attuned to certain flavors and not others. One patch is sensitive to sour, while another patch to sweet. People have all sorts of thresholds of what counts as too flavorful. In the Dakotas most Mexican restaurants serve entrees the rest of the country would classify as “mild.” But around these parts they are considered “spicy.” Some foods or drinks are known as “acquired tastes,” which is a euphemism for something that almost always seems detestable to people the first several times they taste it. Given enough exposure, though, people will eventually acquire a taste for it and even start to crave it. Common things that Americans acquire a taste for include coffee and beer. Some people may tell you that fruits and vegetables should fall in this category too.
Acquired tastes are certainly one of the many things that separate humans from plants and animals. My wife has a garden, and to my knowledge the plants in it need not acquire their taste for soil, sunlight, and water. They hunger and thirst after those things naturally and thrive during hot summer days and cool rainy nights. Likewise, our family has a pet cat, and no matter how hard we may try he refuses to eat certain scraps from our table. I do not see him acquiring the taste for tortilla chips anytime soon. We humans seem to have our cravings all mixed up, and not just with what we eat and drink. For we often desire what is not good for us quite effortlessly, while having to acquire a taste for that which truly satisfies.
This mix up should come as no surprise. Scripture reveals that sin has mixed up all parts of all of us humans. We don’t think straight. We don’t desire straight. And we certainly don’t crave straight. This is not something caused by living in the modern world either. Centuries before narcissistic avenues of social media existed, biblical authors reflected on their mixed-up cravings and found them wanting. Just read through a handful of psalms and you will find pleas to God for the right cravings. One psalmist wants to crave after God like a panting deer hovers over a refreshing stream in the woods (Ps 42:1). Another psalmist asks God to show him God’s ways, teach him God’s paths, guide him in God’s truths, and teach him (Ps 25:4-5).
Something tells me that all of these things are acquired tastes. Left on our own, without God’s grace and Spirit within us, we would never ask God for any of these things, because we would not want them. Instead, we would crave what is harmful to us. Paul writes in Romans that part of God’s judgment on our sins is that he gives us over to our mixed-up desires, leaving us with the disastrous results they cause (Rom 1:24-25). One of these results is the sobering reality that nothing we crave will ever fill us. As Augustine famously put it, “You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in you” (Confessions, I.1).
But there is good news. God naturally craves us. He is love. And when we rejected him and went our own way, he took on our human nature and bought us back from our sins by paying the penalty that was due each of us. He not only bought us back, but he also joined us to himself by giving us eternal life in his kingdom. In his kingdom he will fill us with every good thing. That’s why Jesus says, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled” (Matt 5:6). In the kingdom our cravings for such things will come easily and naturally to us. In the meantime, we must acquire them, and once we do we will receive a taste of the blessings and satisfaction promised us in the kingdom. And it will taste sweet. And it will satisfy like nothing else does. Why not acquire a taste for righteousness today? Why not invite others to taste it with you? It’s a taste well worth acquiring!

Heavenly Patriotism

My passport says “United States” on it, and because of it I have privileges and rights many others do not. My U.S. citizenship does not make me a better person than anyone else. It is what it is. Nonetheless, I am grateful for my American heritage. I grew up appreciating American history and admire the American ethos.
Nonetheless, I am one of millions of Americans who, despite being a U.S. citizen, give my true allegiance elsewhere. I am a citizen of heaven. Heaven’s citizenship includes Americans, Cubans, North Koreans, and Iranians, as well as Canadians, Mexicans, Britons, Kenyans, and Spaniards, not to mention all the others. Just as Americans pass down stories of their founding fathers and heroes, we citizens of heaven likewise are called to follow examples of the saints who have gone before us. One of these saints, Paul, says it this way:
“Join together in following my example, brothers and sisters, and just as you have us as a model, keep your eyes on those who live as we do. For, as I have often told you before and now tell you again even with tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is set on earthly things. But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body” (Philippians 3:17-21).
Just as we Americans train our children to look up to our founders and show respect to our flag and national traditions, Paul reminds all Christians to look up to models who live their faith the right way. Paul says such people should be easy to spot, because they will live differently than those who are against the cross of Christ. Those people set a poor example by serving earthly things, including their insatiable appetites for more and more earthly goods and services. Paul says such people will give themselves away by bragging about and promoting the very things that should bring on them shame. For example, just think of the lyrics to pop songs on the radio. Just think of reality television programs in which everyone with a face thinks they should be a celebrity. Just think of magazines that tell everyone what the good life is. Just think of how proud people are of their shiny new stuff, while they neglect being generous. Paul says that way of living is headed to destruction some day.
But not us. We are not part of the vanity fair. Our citizenship is in heaven, where our Savior is. Where our Savior is our treasure should be also. Where our treasure is, Jesus tells us, our hearts will be. Following the example of heavenly patriots, we await the return of our Savior who will powerfully change us by giving us eternal life, complete with a glorious body. That is our hope! What example are you giving to your children, neighbors, grandchildren, and friends? Are you a heavenly patriot?

"Waters of Promise" Is Now on Kindle

I am pleased to announce that a kindle version of my book, Waters of Promise: Finding Meaning in Believer Baptism, is now available here: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00DO6W5QO.