TOP

Jonah and Forgiveness

Jan 20
Posted by Pastor Howard White in Devotionals

Jonah 3

The word of the LORD came to Jonah a second time, saying, 2 Get up, go to Nineveh, that great city, and proclaim to it the message that I tell you. 3 So Jonah set out and went to Nineveh, according to the word of the LORD. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly large city, a three days’ walk across. 4 Jonah began to go into the city, going a day’s walk. And he cried out, “Forty days more, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!” 5 And the people of Nineveh believed God; they proclaimed a fast, and everyone, great and small, put on sackcloth. 6 When the news reached the king of Nineveh, he rose from his throne, removed his robe, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes. 7 Then he had a proclamation made in Nineveh: “By the decree of the king and his nobles: No human being or animal, no herd or flock, shall taste anything. They shall not feed, nor shall they drink water. 8 Human beings and animals shall be covered with sackcloth, and they shall cry mightily to God. All shall turn from their evil ways and from the violence that is in their hands. 9 Who knows? God may relent and change his mind; he may turn from his fierce anger, so that we do not perish.” 10 When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil ways, God changed his mind about the calamity that he had said he would bring upon them; and he did not do it.

Jonah did not want to go preach to the Ninevites.  Finally, he did.  And, as the story unfolds in the rest of the book of Jonah, he did not like that God changed his mind about what he was going to do to the Ninevites.  Jonah did not want the Ninevites to be forgiven.  They did not deserve to be forgiven, at least in Jonah’s mind. (more…)

Read More
Tags: ,
Comments (0)
TOP

In the Time of the Judges

Jan 13
Posted by Pastor Howard White in Devotionals

Judges 2:16–19

16 Then the LORD raised up judges, who delivered them out of the power of those who plundered them. 17 Yet they did not listen even to their judges; for they lusted after other gods and bowed down to them. They soon turned aside from the way in which their ancestors had walked, who had obeyed the commandments of the LORD; they did not follow their example. 18 Whenever the LORD raised up judges for them, the LORD was with the judge, and he delivered them from the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge; for the LORD would be moved to pity by their groaning because of those who persecuted and oppressed them. 19 But whenever the judge died, they would relapse and behave worse than their ancestors, following other gods, worshiping them and bowing down to them. They would not drop any of their practices or their stubborn ways.

This text is right near the beginning of the book of Judges.  It is describing a pattern in the life of ancient Israel during the 200 years or so between the time when they escaped from Egypt until the time of their first king, Saul.  Things would be fine, but then the people would drift away from faithfulness to God.  Their enemies would persecute them.  The people would repent and beg God to send them a leader.  A judge would be raised up, who delivered them from their enemies.  Things would be fine for the lifetime of that judge.  But, when the judge was gone, the people would revert to their old ways that always got them in trouble. (more…)

Read More
Tags: ,
Comments (0)
TOP

Lamb of God

Jan 11
Posted by Pastor Howard White in Devotionals

John 1:29–34

29 The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him and declared, “Here is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! 30 This is he of whom I said, ‘After me comes a man who ranks ahead of me because he was before me.’ 31 I myself did not know him; but I came baptizing with water for this reason, that he might be revealed to Israel.” 32 And John testified, “I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him. 33 I myself did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain is the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ 34 And I myself have seen and have testified that this is the Son of God.”

Almost all of the traditional parts of worship liturgies have their basis in scripture.  This passage of scripture is the basis for the canticle/song that is sung at the time that the bread and wine of Holy Communion are distributed.  This passage reminds us of the sacrificial system that was based at the temple.  The early Christians believed that Jesus’ death on the Cross brought an end to that sacrificial system.  He was the perfect sacrifice. (more…)

Read More
Tags: , ,
Comments (0)
TOP

Do Unto Others

Jan 05
Posted by Pastor Howard White in Devotionals

Luke 6:27–31

27 But I say to you that listen, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28 bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. 29 If anyone strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also; and from anyone who takes away your coat do not withhold even your shirt. 30 Give to everyone who begs from you; and if anyone takes away your goods, do not ask for them again. 31 Do to others as you would have them do to you.

This is good advice for the New Year.  Instead of looking at this as a series of things that we ought to do, let us first focus on the last phrase of the last verse, “as you would have them do to you.” (more…)

Read More
Tags: ,
Comments (0)
TOP

Is it too late?

Dec 13
Posted by Pastor Howard White in Devotionals

Matthew 21:28–32

28 What do you think? A man had two sons; he went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work in the vineyard today.’ 29 He answered, ‘I will not’; but later he changed his mind and went. 30 The father went to the second and said the same; and he answered, ‘I go, sir’; but he did not go. 31 Which of the two did the will of his father?” They said, “The first.” Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are going into the kingdom of God ahead of you. 32 For John came to you in the way of righteousness and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him; and even after you saw it, you did not change your minds and believe him.

The question that came to my mind when reading this text was, “Is it ever too late for salvation?”  The answer seems to be no.  It was not too late for salvation for the tax collectors and prostitutes.  It seems that it is not too late for the Chief Priests and the Elders, who were the people Jesus was addressing.  Jesus says that “the tax collectors and prostitutes are going into the kingdom of God ahead of you.”  That is a little bit of grace for them.  They will get to enter the kingdom of God, but it will be after some people, tax collectors and prostitutes, whom they think won’t even get into the kingdom of God. (more…)

Read More
Tags: , ,
Comments (0)
TOP

Our Response to Grace

Nov 14
Posted by Pastor Howard White in Devotionals

Romans 2:1–4

Therefore you have no excuse, whoever you are, when you judge others; for in passing judgment on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, are doing the very same things. 2 You say, “We know that God’s judgment on those who do such things is in accordance with truth.” 3 Do you imagine, whoever you are, that when you judge those who do such things and yet do them yourself, you will escape the judgment of God? 4 Or do you despise the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience? Do you not realize that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance?

“Do you not realize that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance?”  That is the sentence that caught my attention this morning.  Whenever I speak or preach about God’s forgiving love, someone will ask me if there isn’t something we have to do.  The correct answer is “No, except to receive it.”   But I try to speak about God’s hope for us and our lives. (more…)

Read More
Tags: , ,
Comments (0)
TOP

Reformation Sunday Text

Oct 28
Posted by Pastor Howard White in Devotionals

Jeremiah 31:31–34

31 The days are surely coming, says the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah. 32 It will not be like the covenant that I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt — a covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, says the LORD. 33 But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 34 No longer shall they teach one another, or say to each other, “Know the LORD,” for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, says the LORD; for I will forgive their iniquity, and remember their sin no more.

This is one of the texts traditionally read each year on Reformation Sunday, which is this coming Sunday.  While it certainly can receive an explanation, I really like the lyrical quality of it as I read it out loud:

“I will be their God, and they shall be my people.”

“They shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest.”

“For I will forgive their iniquity, and remember their sin no more.” (more…)

Read More
Tags: ,
Comments (0)
TOP

God’s Forgiving Love

Oct 04
Posted by Pastor Howard White in Devotionals

2 Corinthians 5:16–20

16 From now on, therefore, we regard no one from a human point of view; even though we once knew Christ from a human point of view, we know him no longer in that way. 17 So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new! 18 All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation; 19 that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting the message of reconciliation to us. 20 So we are ambassadors for Christ, since God is making his appeal through us; we entreat you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.

This text makes me think of baptism.  In baptism we believe that symbolically we “die to the old self and rise to new life in Christ.”  We are a new creation.  Now, we see things from God’s point of view.

The purpose of this new creation is to be reconciled with God, brought back into a positive relationship with God.  All of our old sins are not counted against us.  God chooses not to be a “scorekeeper.” (more…)

Read More
Tags: , ,
Comments (0)
TOP

Forgiveness is in our Hands

Sep 28
Posted by Pastor Howard White in Devotionals

Matthew 9:6–8

6 But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins” — he then said to the paralytic — “Stand up, take your bed and go to your home.” 7 And he stood up and went to his home. 8 When the crowds saw it, they were filled with awe, and they glorified God, who had given such authority to human beings.

The crowds were amazed that a man had the authority to forgive sins.  Only God could do that.  We believe in Jesus as God in the flesh, living among us as a human being.  But, do we understand the truth of what the crowds said?  Do we understand that Jesus has given to us the authority and the power to forgive sins? (more…)

Read More
Tags: ,
Comments (0)
TOP

Forgiveness

Jun 07
Posted by Pastor Howard White in Devotionals

1 Peter 4:7–11

7 The end of all things is near; therefore be serious and discipline yourselves for the sake of your prayers. 8 Above all, maintain constant love for one another, for love covers a multitude of sins. 9 Be hospitable to one another without complaining. 10 Like good stewards of the manifold grace of God, serve one another with whatever gift each of you has received. 11 Whoever speaks must do so as one speaking the very words of God; whoever serves must do so with the strength that God supplies, so that God may be glorified in all things through Jesus Christ. To him belong the glory and the power forever and ever. Amen.

This is the text assigned for today, and when I opened up my Bible, one sentence had already been underlined.  It was this sentence:  “Above all, maintain constant love for one another, for love covers a multitude of sins.”  I think the image being used here is of a large blanket that covers the offender’s sins and hides them from the one who has been offended.  God chooses not to look upon our sins because God loves us. (more…)

Read More
Tags: ,
Comments (0)