by Maria Rudolph
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Read James 3:1–12
I grew up in Germany, with today being St Nicholas Day. Now, it is my children’s turn to clean their shoes on the eve of 6 December and place them neatly outside their bedroom door. When they awake, they will find small goodies in their shoes - lollies, nuts and gifts. St Nicholas Day is a joyful event of giving and receiving.
Nicholas was the 4th-century bishop of Myra, located in modern-day Türkiye (Turkey). The stories surrounding his generous giving and godly conduct have somehow taken on a life of their own and curiously culminated in the modern-day creation of Santa Claus. While this is a far cry from the original person of Bishop Nicholas, it serves as yet another reminder of God, the giver of all things. St Nicholas is credited with this quote - ‘The giver of every good and perfect gift has called upon us to mimic God’s giving, by grace, through faith, and this is not of ourselves.’
How blessed we are with godly quotes from him and many other faithful Christians throughout the ages. How blessed we are with Scripture verses full of wisdom said and recorded by the people of old. Yet an observation and warning from St James in his epistle is true for all of them and us - ‘Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this should not be’ (James 3:10). Even well-quoted people do not always use their tongues appropriately.
We already focus on giving gifts and sharing kind actions during this Advent season. But let us also focus on our tongues. Martin Luther instructs us in his Small Catechism on the eighth commandment:
Do not give false testimony. What does this mean? We should honour and love God and so we should not tell lies about other people, give their secrets away, talk about them behind their back, or damage their reputation in any way. Instead, we should speak up for them, say only good things about them, and explain their actions in the kindest way.
It takes effort to use our tongues appropriately, but with a focus on the giver of every good and perfect gift, we are on the right track. Let us all challenge ourselves to take note of our tongue and pray daily that we may use it solely for blessing.
Holy Spirit, living water, we need your help and guidance. We do not want to be a spring from which fresh and saltwater flow simultaneously. But we trip up and fail. Fill us with your living water so our cup overflows into our lives and the people around us from the spring of life inside us. Store the fruit of your Spirit in our hearts abundantly, so our mouth speaks of what our hearts are full of. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Maria is overjoyed to be a candidate for ordination as a pastor of the LCANZ while serving the St Johns Perth congregation and supporting the ministry of her pastor husband, Michael, at Concordia Duncraig congregation in Western Australia. They are parents to three children who are busy with primary and secondary schooling. Maria also serves the church as a member of the Commission on Theology and Inter-Church Relations.
by Pauline Simonsen
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People, despite their wealth, do not endure; they are like the beasts that perish (Psalm 49:12).
Read Psalm 49:1–12
We live in frightening times. Great nations are dominated by rich, power-hungry individuals who shape the law to their benefit. Ego and greed influence government. Wars of age-old, stubborn hatred are stirred up, and the common people suffer. Christians are increasingly persecuted in this amoral, cruel age. For many, it feels more like Jesus’ ‘last times’.
But it has always been this way, as any reader of history knows. Since Genesis 3, human sin has fomented evil, especially for God’s people. Our time is no different.
So, listen to the psalmist in Psalm 49:5,6:
Why should I be afraid in times of trouble, when the sinful deeds of deceptive men threaten to overwhelm me? They trust in their wealth and boast in their great riches.
That’s written up to 3,000 years ago! Human ways haven’t changed much. Why should I be afraid that this still happens? The psalmist counsels themself to keep an eternal perspective. ‘Truly, no ransom avails for one’s life; there is no price one can give to God for it’ (Psalm 49:7).
All the riches and power in this world won’t help a person save their eternal life. Nor, indeed, their earthly life.
Fools and spiritually insensitive people all pass away, and leave their wealth to others.
Their grave becomes their permanent residence, their eternal dwelling place.
They name their lands after themselves, but, despite their wealth, people do not last (Psalm 49:10–12).
Throughout the week, we’ve seen how all the created things we humans vest our trust in fall away. Our fig leaves, our badges of honour, our wealth and power – none help us before God. Only God can help us, and he has – in Jesus Christ. The greatest wisdom in the world is simply this:
Nothing in my hand I bring,
Simply to thy cross I cling.
Naked, come to thee for dress.
Helpless, look to thee for grace.
Foul, I to the fountain fly.
Wash me, Saviour, or I die.
(A M Toplady, Rock of Ages)
Our Heavenly Abba draws us to his Son, our Rock of Ages, who hides us in himself. Cleansed, safe, loved. Home forever.
Rock of ages, cleft for me, let me hide myself in thee. You alone are my Saviour, and in you, I find rest and peace forevermore. Bless you, Lord Jesus.
Pauline lives in sight of the ranges in the beautiful Manawatu region of New Zealand with her husband, Roger, and two cats. She leads a small Bible College there and offers spiritual direction and supervision to people from a wide range of backgrounds and denominations.
by Pauline Simonsen
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… real circumcision is a matter of the heart – it is spiritual and not literal. Such a person receives praise not from others but from God (Romans 2:29).
Read Romans 2:25 – 3:8
Yesterday, we read about one of Judaism’s great badges of honour: having the law of Moses. Today, Paul addresses their other great badge of honour: circumcision. For Jews, the physical mark of circumcision was a sign of their identity as God’s chosen, covenant people. Which it was (Genesis 17:9–13).
Paul’s comment? ‘The Jewish ceremony of circumcision has value only if you obey God’s law. But if you don’t obey God’s law, you are no better off than an uncircumcised Gentile.’
What? ‘Surely,’ says every Jewish male, ‘my circumcision shows I am a true Jew!’
It gets worse. Paul goes on to assert that an uncircumcised Gentile who keeps the law can actually be regarded as circumcised, one of God’s chosen people – more so than a circumcised Jew who breaks God’s law!
This is shocking stuff for the Jews of Paul’s time to hear. All their certainties about who was ‘in’ and who was ‘out’ of God’s kingdom are being blown out of the water.
Paul is clear: a true Jew – one of God’s people – is circumcised inwardly, spiritually, not just outwardly in their body as a requirement of the law. This is not just a box-ticking exercise, or rather a knife-cutting exercise done by humans. True circumcision is done by God. It’s an internal work: a cutting off of our old sinful nature.
Paul wrote in Colossians 2:11–14b:
In Christ you were also circumcised, in the putting off of the sinful nature, not with a circumcision done by the hands of men but with the circumcision done by Christ, having been buried with him in baptism and raised with him through your faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead. When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having cancelled the written code that was against us …
In Christ, the old covenant of the law is fulfilled. In our baptism, by faith, we were joined to Jesus, dying and rising with him. We were spiritually circumcised – both men and women, Jew and Gentile. And we live forever with him now!
All our fig leaves and badges of honour are so much rubbish. Jesus Christ is our boast, our sun of righteousness, our life and our hope!
Loving Father, your great plan to restore humanity to yourself through your Son is amazing. We pray a blessing on your beloved Jewish people and that they come to know Jesus as their sun of righteousness. Thank you for including us Gentiles in your kingdom through Jesus. Bring us all together one day, under Christ Jesus. In his name, Amen.
Pauline lives in sight of the ranges in the beautiful Manawatu region of New Zealand with her husband, Roger, and two cats. She leads a small Bible College there and offers spiritual direction and supervision to people from a wide range of backgrounds and denominations.
by Pauline Simonsen
Click here to download your printable verse to carry with you today.
For merely listening to the law doesn’t make us right with God. It is obeying the law that makes us right in his sight (Romans 2:13).
Read Romans 2:12–24
My drive to church takes me through town, past the big Downtown shopping centre. I notice how incredibly busy the mall is on Sunday mornings, and I often have some pretty judgemental thoughts, like how godless and consumer-driven people can be. Do none of them go to church? I think about how most people have no idea about God or Jesus, or worship, or truth or morality … You get the idea.
In today’s reading, Paul turns the mirror onto his own people, the Jews. He’s pretty confronting.
You think that because you Jews know God’s law, his Torah given to you at Sinai through Moses, you are superior to the rest of humanity. You boast of your relationship to God based on having the law. You reckon it makes you a guide for the blind and ignorant, a light for people lost in darkness. You’re certain that God’s law gives you complete knowledge and truth (Romans 2:19,20).
But, says Paul, if you are relying on the law for your good standing before God and others, by heck, you’d better be keeping it! You’d better not be stealing or committing adultery, because under that very law, you’re condemned. Those who live by the law will be judged and die by the law!
Worse, if you don’t keep the law you boast about, you are bringing God – the source of that law – into disrepute. Gentiles speak ill of God when they see how hypocritical his people are.
Paul is saying that his fellow Jews were wearing God’s law like a badge of honour. Just having it made them feel superior, smug, spiritually proud and overconfident. A lot like me looking at all those Downtown shoppers.
I wonder what our ‘badges of honour’ are. What do we boast about and rely on for our spiritual standing? Having good theology? My church lineage or family name? Maybe it’s our performance: my regular church attendance, my service in the congregation. These are all good gifts. But if I’m relying on these things for my spiritual standing, then I must do them perfectly.
And, of course, none of us can.
Thank God, ‘a righteousness from God, apart from the law’ has been made known. And ‘this righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe’ (Romans 3:21,22). We can put down all our badges of honour and simply hold on to Jesus.
Jesus, only Jesus – he’s my salvation, my hope, my only badge of honour. Thank God I am hidden in you, Lord Jesus, through my baptism. Keep me holding on to you alone. Amen.
Pauline lives in sight of the ranges in the beautiful Manawatu region of New Zealand with her husband, Roger, and two cats. She leads a small Bible College there and offers spiritual direction and supervision to people from a wide range of backgrounds and denominations.