Cling to the Way of Jesus
My friends, 2020 is off with quite a bang. The Iranian missile strike, the corona virus, and the stock market crash. Oh, and did I mention that it is an election year?
I am very happy that our church has started the year by focusing on how to become more Christlike. The beautiful thing about Christianity is that the way of Jesus is not only built for challenging times, but it actually thrives in times like these.
Jesus was both a man acquainted with grief and a man anointed with the oil of gladness. The joy, peace and love of Jesus is not dependent on circumstances, nor on our performance. Jesus is more faithful and powerful than the rising of the sun each day. Therefore, in this time of societal shaking, we need to cling to the way of Jesus all the more.
So far, we have described the way of Jesus through these phrases:
The ruthless elimination of hurry by cultivating stillness in our lives
The realigning of our will with God’s will through prayer
The renewing of our minds with the Scriptures
The risking of our comfort through steps of obedience that grow our faith
These are the things that will get our feet firmly set on the Rock of Ages, who has been a shelter to every generation. These spiritual practices will not earn salvation for us, they will not make God love us more, nor will they save us from all struggle. However, these spiritual practices will deepen our relationship with Jesus and nurture our hearts and minds so that we can weather whatever storm may come, however long the storm may last.
To deepen our understanding of obedience, here are some quotes from a great pastor and writer, Eugene Peterson, from his book A Long Obedience In the Same Direction. Mr. Peterson has passed away, but his words about Christian obedience and faith are still very much alive.
“There is a great market for religious experience in our world; there is little enthusiasm for the patient acquisition of virtue, little inclination to sign up for a long apprenticeship in what earlier generations of Christians called holiness.”
“My primary pastoral work had to do with Scripture and prayer. I was neither capable nor competent to form Christ in another person, to shape a life of discipleship in man, woman or child. That is supernatural work, and I am not supernatural. Mine was the more modest work of Scripture and prayer—helping people listen to God speak to them from the Scriptures and then joining them in answering God as personally and honestly as we could in lives of prayer. This turned out to be slow work.
“And yet I decide, every day, to set aside what I can do best and attempt what I do very clumsily—open myself to the frustrations and failures of loving, daring to believe that failing in love is better than succeeding in pride.”
Whatever you are going through, the way of Jesus is the best way through.
David