Sunday Morning Greek Blog

October 21, 2025

Practicing Persistence (Luke 18:1–8; 2 Timothy 3:14–4:5)

Filed under: 2 Timothy,Courage,Faith, Faithfulness,Luke Gospel of,Prayer,Spiritual Warfare — Scott Stocking @ 6:02 pm
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I preached this message October 19, 2025, one week after Mount View’s 70th Anniversary celebration.

The Lord be with you.

In the late fifth century BC, Athens successfully defended its right to govern itself as a democracy in the Peloponnesian War. In the Funeral Oration of Pericles, its author Thucydides says this about freedom to the Athenians: “For you now it remains to rival what they [Pericles and the soldiers who died in the first year of the Peloponnesian War] have done and, knowing the secret of happiness to be freedom and the secret of freedom a brave heart, not idly to stand aside from the enemy’s onset” (Per Bartlett’s Quotations; alternate translation: “These take as your model, and judging happiness to be the fruit of freedom and freedom of valor, never decline the dangers of war”[1]). In other words, freedom required everyone to defend it as a matter of lifestyle.

About 800 years before that, about 2,000,000 newly freed slaves found themselves at the foot of Mount Sinai ready to receive their document of freedom from Egypt and self-governance: the Ten Commandments. But just before that happened, Moses had a visit from his father-in-law Jethro. Up to that point, Moses had been the sole judge and leader of Israel through the early days of wilderness wandering. Jethro realized what a huge task Moses had before him and suggested he might want to delegate some of the responsibility to capable men to help ease his burden. Jethro gave him this advice in Exodus 18:21–22a:

Select capable men from all the people—men who fear God, trustworthy men who hate dishonest gain—and appoint them as officials over thousands, hundreds, fifties and tens. 22 Have them serve as judges for the people at all times, but have them bring every difficult case to you.”[2]

For our gospel passage this morning, it’s important to note what the qualifications are for the first judges ever appointed for the Hebrews: “Men who fear God, trustworthy men who hate dishonest gain.” Contrast that with the description of the judge in our gospel passage this morning: “A judge who neither feared God nor respected man.”[3]

As we’ve been going through Luke gospel, we’ve seen quite a few parables, and a few of them have featured some rather questionable characters. In the Parable of the Lost Son, we saw the son who wasted his inheritance on riotous. Immediately after that parable, we looked at the parable of the shrewd manager who did some sneaky stuff to make himself and his master look good. Then we saw the rich man who ignored the invalid Lazarus at his gate. So it shouldn’t surprise us to find an unscrupulous judge in this parable who has no regard for the law of God or the human condition.

But we also have a persistent widow in our passage today, and some of these same parables we’ve looked at had a persistence theme in them as well. Just before the Parable of the Lost Son, we have two parables about a woman who swept her whole house to look for a lost coin and a shepherd who left his 99 sheep unattended in the pen while he went off to search for one lost sheep. We also have the story of the ten lepers who cried out to Jesus to heal them, and of course, he did.

And one more thing before we get to our passage this morning: Jesus has just finished answering the pharisees’ question about when the end would come. He addresses them only briefly by telling them “The kingdom of God is in the midst of you.” Jesus turns to his disciples and paints a rather bleak picture of what the end will look like. Not only does he compare the end of days to the fire and brimstone of Sodom and Gomorrah, but he also speaks of separation from their loved ones.

So you can see why Luke introduces the Parable of the Persistent Widow with “He told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart.”

So we come to the high point of the story here: the faithful persistence of a poor widow who had no family, apparently, to help her versus a heartless, uncompassionate, and corrupt judge who only looked out for himself. Who will win this showdown?

Now even though this is a parable, some might think Jesus has a particular judge in mind when he starts this parable. It’s interesting that Jesus begins this parable with the words (according to most English translations) “In a certain city….” What most English translations don’t let you know that the word translated “certain” is also used to describe the judge: “In a certain city there was a certain judge….” Now it gets more intriguing.

Based on Jesus’s final statement in verse 8, he could also be referring to the general state of justice in Israel. It’s like he’s saying to his audience: “You know how it is. Wherever you go, there’s always that one judge. Yeah, you know the type: corrupt as a three drachma coin!” In spite of the judge being a scoundrel, the woman peacefully (that’s important to note) but repeatedly came to the judge to request protection from her “adversary.” It’s not clear who her adversary was or why they were her adversary; that’s not important to the story. And it’s not clear what sort of “attack” the judge feared from the woman. It’s doubtful it would have been a physical attack; more likely an accusation about the judge’s integrity and ability to be a fair judge.

The end result in the parable is that the judge does grant the woman relief. Jesus goes on to give the lesson of the parable: We need to be persistent in prayer. “Pray continually” as Paul puts it in 1 Thessalonians 5:17. Jesus throws in a rhetorical question, however, at the end of the passage: “When the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?” The implication here is that the kind of faith that prompts people to pray at all, let alone continually, may be extremely rare in the last days.

I was at my home church’s annual men’s retreat on Friday and Saturday. I think I’m the only one left with perfect attendance at the retreats since they started in 2013. I was encouraged to see a lot of younger men come out this time, many new faces, who were excited about their faith and the opportunity to fellowship and develop that deeper connection to God. God is on the move to bring revival again, especially with the assassination of Charlie Kirk, and I think if Jesus came back today, he could answer the question about finding faith on earth a resounding yes.

But it will take more than just persistent prayer to maintain that faith. The power of prayer is supported by the foundational truths of the faith as written in Scripture. The other New Testament passage in the Lectionary today focuses on that: 2 Timothy 3:14–4:5:

14 But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, 15 and how from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 16 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 17 so that the servant of God p may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

4 In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge: 2 Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction. 3 For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. 4 They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. 5 But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry. [4]

The last part of chapter 3 we just read emphasizes the need for continuing in and continually learning from God’s word by diligent study. Timothy himself had been steeped in the study of God’s word from early on in his life; he probably knew more about scripture than most of the apostles, and so he had, seemingly, a greater responsibility for taking the lead in spreading the good news.

We also see here the familiar passage about God’s word being fully inspired, that is, “God-breathed.” The original “written” word would most likely have been considered 100% accurate in spite of being first written by the hands of men. While Paul’s statement here primarily refers to the Old Testament scripture, we do get a hint in 2 Peter 3:16 that Paul’s letters seem to be quickly attaining the status of Scripture as well. Scripture is “profitable” (ὠφέλιμος ōphelimos) for “teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness”; dedication to studying Scripture helps solidify it in our hearts and minds.

Paul ordains Timothy in the opening verses of chapter 4, most likely for taking over the leadership of the church at Ephesus. Paul wants Timothy to make sure the church in Ephesus will stay strong in their faith. His primary charge to Timothy is to “Preach the word!” The tradition of the Christian university where I attended seminary referred to a young man sponsored by his home church to go to Bible college as a “Timothy.” The rallying cry of that school when it was founded just after the end of WWII was “The Preachers Are Coming!” Note that this preaching included the very things that chapter three said about the word of God: “Correct, rebuke, and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction.”

The current revival we’re seeing especially of young people either returning to or for the first time checking out church reveals that we have been in a time that Paul describes in 4:3: people are concocting and promoting crazy ideas about God, Christianity, and faith. We are a family of people who love our brothers and sisters in the faith deeply, yet the world tries to make a caricature of that by projecting their own shortcomings onto believers broadly.

Like Lyle said last week, if we want to have another 70 years of fruitful ministry, we need to trust “the man with the plan,” Jesus. We can certainly pray for more people to come but we also have to be willing to take some action steps as well to get the word out. We have to let people know that we’re here for them by going out and meeting them where they’re at. We can plant and we can water. We can serve and persuade. We can invite and enroll. But ultimately, as Paul says in Corinthians, it is God who causes the growth. He sends just what and who is needed to accomplish his will and purposes for the kingdom, and he does it in his good timing.

I think Paul says it best in Romans 10:14–15: 14 How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? 15 And how can anyone preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!”[5] In other words, we need a spiritual pedicure. Now I thought I was the only one with an odd enough sense of humor who could come up with the phrase “spiritual pedicure,” but when I searched the phrase, I found a sermon by Josh Cardwell from Revolution Church in Crossville, Tennessee entitled “Time for a Spiritual Pedicure.” I’m gonna have to meet this guy.

I am proud of this congregation and I am grateful that I got to share in the 70th anniversary celebration last Sunday of your “beautiful feet,” the ministry you’ve sustained during that time. It’s kind of wild for me to realize that I was born within the first 10 years of this congregation. My how time flies. My hope and prayer is that Mount View will continue to be a vital presence in this community and neighborhood. We have a rich tradition and experience to offer those seeking to get reconnected with the kingdom of God. I pray that we continue to be a bright and shining light in a dark world. Amen.

[1] Thucydides. 1910. The Peloponnesian War. Medford, MA: London, J. M. Dent; New York, E. P. Dutton.

[2] The New International Version. 2011. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

[3] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. 2016. Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.

[4] The New International Version. 2011. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

[5] The New International Version. 2011. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

September 22, 2025

One Shrewd Dude: The Parable of the Shrewd Manager (Luke 16:1–15)

Filed under: Luke Gospel of,Work — Scott Stocking @ 5:49 pm
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I preached this message at Mount View Presbyterian Church in Omaha, NE, on September 21, 2025. It was 11 days after Charlie Kirk was assassinated, so I opened my message with a bit of testimony about that and my own experience ministering on a college campus.

Good morning! The Lord be with you.

Before I get into my message this morning, I want to say a few words about Charlie Kirk, his ministry, and how the events of September 10 impacted me. My second ministry position was a call to be the campus minister at Northern Illinois University in DeKalb, just west of the Chicago suburbs back in the early 1990s. We would set up a table weekly in the student center to pass out literature and just be available to talk to students and other campus personnel who would walk by. Many student groups would do this, not just the religious groups.

The campus was home to the largest Gay-Lesbian Student Union (as it was known at the time) as well. They would have weekly (or so it seemed) articles in the student newspaper that were often hostile toward certain aspects of Christianity. Some of these articles seemed to focus on the widely publicized actions of the Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, Kansas, a group that would often show up at funerals of gay people or military people holding signs that promoted violence towards those populations. You may remember that, so I won’t repeat the verbiage on the signs here.

As a pastor, I felt it was important that someone take the opportunity to promote a more positive view of Christianity to the group on campus, one that focused on the love of Christ and a respect for human dignity, regardless of what my personal feeling on the subject were. I walked across the street from our campus house to the student center where that group had their office (church groups were forbidden from having offices there) and said, “Hey, I want to talk. Not all Christians are the way you portray them.” That led to me getting invited to several panel discussions in which I was able to present a conservative Christian view focused on the love of Jesus and his acceptance of people where they’re at. I received some positive feedback from those encounters and felt like I had done a little bit, at least, to tone down the rhetoric.

When Charlie Kirk came on the scene 13 years ago, I realized he was doing nearly the same thing I had been doing, except he had a more charismatic approach that appealed to the masses. I was excited that such a ministry had risen up and had great success in sharing the gospel on college campuses everywhere. Assassinating Charlie Kirk is meant to strike fear in the hearts of Christians everywhere, especially those who proclaim the gospel in the public space. But most Christians I know and have interacted with will say that their faith in God overcomes whatever fear they may be feeling right now. I’m in that camp as well.

One of my favorite verses is Proverbs 3:25–26:

25 Have no fear of sudden disaster

or of the ruin that overtakes the wicked,

26 for the Lord will be at your side

and will keep your foot from being snared.[1]

I want to assure you that I am not afraid to continue proclaiming the gospel of Christ to you to the best of my ability. While it may be unlikely anyone would target me or the church here, we can’t assume it wouldn’t ever happen either. I would encourage you to be careful and stay watchful. I believe God is and has been doing something mighty to bring revival to our nation, so when God sends revival opportunities our way, let’s not hesitate to take advantage of those.

Thank you for bearing with me while I shared my heart there. If any of you need to talk through your feelings about these recent events, I want to make myself available. Now let’s dive into this morning’s gospel passage.

Our passage may seem rather odd to our sensibilities when we look at how the merchant’s account manager discounted some bills to earn some favors on his way out the door. However, we have some obvious clues from the biblical context and some not so obvious clues from the cultural context of the story that can help us make sense of what’s going on here.

First, the biblical context: This story immediately follows the Parable of the Lost (or Prodigal) Son. Even though Luke 15 has three parables about “lost” items or people, there is a verbal connection to what we might call the “lost” accounts receivable manager. The word for “squandered” (διασκορπίζω diaskorpizō[2]) used to describe the actions of the Prodigal Son is used to describe the manager’s action (“wasting” in the NIV) in chapter 16. But the parable of the shrewd manager ends quite differently. We know that the manager was accused of “squandering” the owner’s possessions, but Luke doesn’t tell us the specifics. In other words, at first glance, it would seem Jesus (or Luke) is comparing the Prodigal Son to the shrewd manager.

In addition to this biblical context, scholars have described some of the cultural context around being a merchant.[3] First, the cultural expectation of any merchant was that they not rise above or try to escape their existing social or “in-group” status. That meant dealing honestly and fairly with their customer and not engaging in price gouging on sales or usury on credit transactions. However, it was almost always a seller’s market, so many merchants were looked upon about the same way the Jews looked upon tax collectors. One nonbiblical writer of the biblical era put it this way: “A merchant can hardly keep from wrongdoing, nor is a tradesman innocent of sin.”[4] The temptation for the merchant (and really for any entrepreneur) was to make as much as they could without pricing their customers out of the market.

When we come to the discounts the manager offered to the merchant’s clients, then, one of two things (or perhaps both) may be happening. The first possibility is the manager has marked up the sale/trade price so he can take his own cut for his pay (something the merchant would not have quibbled about) when he collects on the debt, much like the tax collectors did when collecting taxes. But since he knows he’s on his way out, he discounts his cut of the take and takes the hit, knowing that he’ll score points with (and perhaps get hired by) one of the clients receiving the discount.

The second thing that happens here, whether it is the manager’s markup or a portion of the merchant’s own markup or profit, is that this discount makes the merchant look good in the eyes of the clients and the people. He looks like he’s NOT one of those greedy merchants that likes a high markup. In other words, he’s viewed as trying to maintain his social status and not using greed to get ahead. This is likely why Jesus says the manager is behaving shrewdly. He essentially puts the merchant in the position of making him look like the greedy one if he punishes the account manager further for his little trick or reneges on the discount.

We have one more bit of biblical context to bring in here to wrap this up. We didn’t read the verses immediately following the passage printed in the bulletin, but it may represent the ultimate motive for Jesus telling all of the “lost” parables from Luke 15 and the Parable of the Shrewd Manager in chapter 16:

“The Pharisees, who loved money, heard all this [that is, the four parables from chapters 15 and 16] and were sneering at Jesus. 15 He said to them, ‘You are the ones who justify yourselves in the eyes of others, but God knows your hearts. What people value highly is detestable in God’s sight.’”[5]

In other words, these two closing verses to the section suggest that the Pharisees themselves, just like the prodigal son and just like the shrewd manager, were “squandering” their responsibility to proclaim God’s truth and were only interested in getting ahead socially and financially. They were hypocrites, and they were upset with Jesus about calling out their hypocrisy.

The contrast between the Parable of the Lost Son and the Parable of the Shrewd Manager should be highlighted here, especially in light of Jesus’s statement in vs. 9 about “us[ing] worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings.”[6] The Prodigal partied his inheritance away; nothing he did with the inheritance helped him build a network of potential success. Not only was the Prodigal a “lost” son, but a foolish son as well, especially when contrasted against the Shrewd Manager. The Shrewd Manager knew he had one last shot to make at least one good connection for a possible job after he finished settling accounts for his soon-to-be ex-boss. He didn’t burn any bridges. He made every discount count. He used money to serve him; he wasn’t serving the money.

You and I may not be wealthy in the eyes of the world. But the ultimate question that comes from the conclusion of our passage this morning is, “How are we using what we have, whether it’s material things or talents, to make a difference for Christ? To “win friends and influence people” as the Dale Carnegie’s training puts it? God calls us to serve him first and foremost regardless of our wealth. Blessings to you as you go forth from here this morning to carry his hope to a lost world. Amen.

Pastor Scott Stocking, M.Div.

My views are my own unless otherwise cited.

[1] The New International Version. 2011. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

[2] Swanson, James. 1997. In Dictionary of Biblical Languages with Semantic Domains: Greek (New Testament), electronic ed. Oak Harbor: Logos Research Systems, Inc.

[3] See, for example Malina, Bruce J. The New Testament World: Insights from Cultural Anthropology. Revised Edition. Louisville, KY: Westminster/John Knox Press, 1993, esp. pp. 99–107. See also by the same author/publisher Windows on the World of Jesus: Time Travel to Ancient Judea, pp. 103–111.

[4] Sirach 26:29. The Holy Bible: New Revised Standard Version. 1989. Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers.

[5] The New International Version. 2011. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

[6] The New International Version. 2011. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

August 31, 2025

In Defense of “Thoughts and Prayers”: (Psalm 81:10–16; Jeremiah 2:9–13)

Filed under: 1 Corinthians,Courage,Creation,Evangelism,Faith, Faithfulness,Government,Hope,Jeremiah,LGBTQ,Luke Gospel of,Prayer,Psalms,Romans,Spiritual Warfare — Scott Stocking @ 3:48 pm
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I preached this message August 31, 2025, the Sunday after the school shooting in Minneapolis. This was a rough one to preach, as I tried not to get too political. But I’ve also had a long history of interacting with the LGBT community and promoting a compassionate response from Christians even in the face of sometimes harsh disagreements. The congregation received it well.

Jesus says this in Luke 12:8–10:

8 “I tell you, whoever publicly acknowledges me before others, the Son of Man will also acknowledge before the angels of God. 9 But whoever disowns me before others will be disowned before the angels of God. 10 And everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but anyone who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven.[1]

The events of this week compel me to address a completely different subject than what is suggested by the texts we read in the bulletin today. But other passages from today’s Lectionary readings are completely on target for what I’m addressing today, so I will work those in as I go along.

With each school shooting or other mass casualty event perpetrated by those who seem to have lost their moral compass, the common-courtesy sentiment of “Our thoughts and prayers are with you” seems to come under increasing attack by those who rarely, if ever, have expressed any modicum of faith in God. As a Christ-follower, I find this attitude incredibly difficult to understand. When a loved one dies, many of us will say something like, “I’m sorry for your loss” and perhaps follow that up with “My thoughts and prayers are with you.” How long before “I’m sorry for your loss” becomes a target of those who have no faith in God?

Now most of you, I think, can attest to the fact that I have been extremely cautious about addressing politics in my messages. For me to address something that might even come close to a political position, I would need to lay out a clear biblical principle for which I think we have some common ground as Christ-followers. Our salvation does NOT depend on our politics: who we voted for; what platform we support, and so forth. Our salvation depends completely on what Jesus accomplished on the cross and in his resurrection. Period. This morning is one of those mornings where the spiritual and faith issues outweigh whatever political concerns may be.

This issue of people who perceive themselves to have a certain amount of power and influence criticizing our “thoughts and prayers” is insulting to Christ-followers in more ways than one. That sentiment is NOT political, but spiritual, and it’s a spiritual act of warfare against those who may only have thoughts and prayers to offer. First, it calls into question the sincerity of those who express “thoughts and prayers.” It is an act of arrogant judgment against well-meaning people who are in fact more likely to pray and think about those affected than their self-absorbed critics are. Do they really expect that everyone has something more actionable to offer up? It’s almost as if they’re saying, “Just keep your mouth shut about God and let us handle it.

Second, those who have a critical attitude about “thoughts and prayers” have probably crossed over the line of the unforgiveable sin of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit by denying the power of our thoughts and prayers. The cultural, societal, psychological, and political issues raised by tragic events are extremely complicated many times and as such can be overwhelming to the average person. “My thoughts and prayers are with you” is a simple statement that on the one hand represents “I understand the enormity of the situation,” but on the other hand is a desire to reach out to a power greater than themselves and perhaps try to gain some insight into actionable solutions, especially within their own faith communities.

Third, “thoughts and prayers” is an immediate, courteous response to a tragedy. It’s another way of saying “Let me know how I can help” or “Let me know what specific things I can pray about for you.” It’s an invitation to build community, especially in situations where the victims may have been vulnerable or marginalized. It is an offer to drill down deeper and address the root causes of the symptomatic manifestations of the problems and not just the symptoms themselves. It may be true that actions speak louder than words, but thoughtless actions or actions that fly in the face of God’s divine plan or a Judeo-Christian ethical framework may lead to even more disastrous results. I fear that we may be on the brink of the latter if we as Christ-followers do not act upon God’s prompting to give thoughtful consideration to both how we pray and what we pray for. In fact, this seems to be an age-old problem that the psalmists and the prophets wrestled with thousands of years ago.

Hear these words from the prophet Jeremiah 2:4–13 as he warns Judah of the coming exile:

4 Hear the word of the Lord, you descendants of Jacob, all you clans of Israel.

5 This is what the Lord says:

“What fault did your ancestors find in me, that they strayed so far from me?

They followed worthless idols and became worthless themselves.

6 They did not ask, ‘Where is the Lord, who brought us up out of Egypt and led us through the barren wilderness, through a land of deserts and ravines, a land of drought and utter darkness, a land where no one travels and no one lives?’

7 I brought you into a fertile land to eat its fruit and rich produce.

But you came and defiled my land and made my inheritance detestable.[2]

8 The priests did not ask, ‘Where is the Lord?’

Those who deal with the law did not know me; the leaders rebelled against me.

The prophets prophesied by Baal, following worthless idols.[3]

9 “Therefore I bring charges against you again,” declares the Lord. “And I will bring charges against your children’s children.

10 Cross over to the coasts of Cyprus and look, send to Kedar j and observe closely; see if there has ever been anything like this:

11 Has a nation ever changed its gods?

(Yet they are not gods at all.)

But my people have exchanged their glorious God for worthless idols.

12 Be appalled at this, you heavens, and shudder with great horror,” declares the Lord.

13 “My people have committed two sins:

They have forsaken me, the spring of living water, and have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water.[4]

When we look at a school shooting like what happened in Minneapolis this past week or at a Tennessee Christian school a couple years ago or even the one in Uvalde, Texas, we’re dealing with two primary causes in my mind. The first is a mental health issue. Setting the issue of gender dysphoria aside for the moment, which appears to have been a contributing factor in at least two of these instances based on the shooters’ manifestos, I think most of us agree that something went terribly wrong in the minds of those who think they needed to vent whatever anger or hatred they had on soft, easy targets like a grade school. Somewhere along the way, someone missed or intentionally overlooked important clues about a child’s or young person’s possible predisposition toward violence, if it was even there.

The fact that we’re human and NOT omniscient about everyone’s predispositions is, then, one of the primary reasons why we need “thoughts and prayers.” Our thoughts help us to examine a situation or situations we find ourselves in and make judgments about what is going on around us. “See something; say something” is the typical line we use. I would rather be guilty of misjudging a potential problem than ignoring it all together.

The second thing we’re dealing with is the problem of evil. My experience in interacting with people in the LGBT community goes back to the mid-1980s when my pastor asked me to speak with someone my age who was struggling with overcoming his attraction to men. We met a couple times and he even came to a couple of our college-group Bible studies. This was right before I left for seminary in 1987, so I lost touch with him and never found out where he landed.

When I got to seminary, I had a friend in the college who wanted me to talk to another young man about similar issues. If I remember correctly, he was a former student at the Bible college. But then I also had a college friend in the dorm at seminary who was raped by a male seminary student. He was kicked out of the seminary.

When I started as a campus minister in 1989 at Northern Illinois University, I discovered they had the largest “Gay-Lesbian Student Union” in the nation. Their rhetoric in the student paper was extremely hostile to Christianity and the church. But I was undaunted at the time and walked straight into the lion’s den and said I would like to have a productive, public dialogue with them and give them a more positive view of Christianity. I was invited to several forums to discuss the issues and concerns and had earned the respect of some of the panelists and leaders. I was able to present the conservative Christian view of homosexuality at a diversity conference back before DEI was a thing. I was even interviewed for a grad student’s documentary on gays in the military, and my commentary was included in the final production.

In the past ten years the issue has hit closer to home as I have several friends and extended family members who’ve had to navigate these kinds of issues. I am not without compassion when it comes to these issues, but I have strongly held beliefs based on nearly 40 years’ experience.

I say all this not to pat myself on the back, but to show that I’ve got some street cred when I speak about LGBTQ issues and that I’m not just spouting viewpoints from one particular perspective. I’ve done my homework., and I think that’s an important part of the “thoughts” when I say my thoughts and prayers are with the victims of the latest school shooting.

When I say this is a problem of “evil,” then, it is “evil” in the sense that I have developed a firm conviction that ANY sexual activity outside the bonds of heterosexual matrimony, regardless of the gender of those involved, is deemed to be a violation of God’s divine design for humanity. The author of Hebrews says in 13:4: “Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral.”

For whatever reason, the apostle Paul in his treatise on “the obedience that comes from faith,” otherwise known as Romans, feels it’s important in the first chapter to address the issue of “unnatural” relations between women and the “shameful acts” between men (Romans 1:24–32). He makes no bones about having the proper relationship with the opposite sex and keeping that relationship pure.

One more thing before I move on. The word translated “homosexual” in 1 Corinthians 6:9 is translated as “fine clothes” in the gospels, and “soft” in reference to an animal’s coat or a grassy field on which horses train in ancient Greek literature. But when the word is applied to persons in ancient Greek literature, it always takes on a negative connotation. In the Iliad, it is used to describe a ship captain, Hector, who is dead because his body was “softened” with many spears. It also applies to a soldier who does not want to fight bravely. But in 1 Corinthians 6:11, Paul assures his readers that, because of their redemption, they no longer bear that shameful title.

I think it’s important as a church then, no matter how uncomfortable we may be, to address the issue of gender dysphoria. At a very high level, what happens is that a young person somehow develops a certain stereotype of what they think it means to be a boy or a girl, or a young man or a young woman and then decides their mindset somehow better aligns with the opposite sex or that they don’t like the stereotype for themselves.

Now I’m not trained in counseling people with gender dysphoria, so I can’t say for sure what happens to a young person at this point, but I think it’s safe to say that influences on them become more intense and come from a number of different angles and perspectives, some of which may not be honorable or based in a Christian compassionate care model. In other words, it can get really confusing for a young person who isn’t even sure if their initial self-analysis of the stereotype is based in reality. It’s easy to see why they feel anxious about what is going on in their lives. They and their families must be under an incredible amount of pressure given the potential backlash they may encounter.

Compassion must be the key here, and often it’s not. Gender dysphoria is, by definition, a psychological or mental health diagnosis. As such, then, the first method of treatment in many people’s minds should be some form of mental health counseling, and many States have already passed such laws to require that prior to any discussion of transitioning. Providing a physical, surgical “fix” to a person’s gender dysphoria issues is far from a perfect fix, and studies show that it creates a whole new set of mental health issues in many cases, and not a few have desired to be detransitioned. In some respects, it’s like soldering an electrical cord to the two ends of the battery contacts in a battery-operated radio. The radio is designed to run on the voltage of a couple batteries. It’s not designed to take 120 volts straight from the outlet! You need an adapter. But God did not design the human body to undergo such a transition. Great Britain, to their credit, has stopped transition surgeries on youth altogether because they have begun to recognize the solution was worse than the original problem.

I started out by saying I wanted to defend those who say “My thoughts and prayers are with you.” What I’ve given you hear is a sampling of the “thoughts” that I bring into the situation, and no one can accuse me of not having any intention of taking action on this subject consistent with Christian compassion and not in defiance of God’s creative order. This isn’t an empty sentiment with me, and I’m sure it’s not with you either. I’m guessing some of you have these experiences in your own families or among your friends and that you’ve already formed your opinions. I’m speaking from my own perspective here and I don’t expect everyone to agree with me. Jesus died for everyone, and that includes trans people or anyone else in the LGBT community. Regardless of where you fall on this issue, always show compassion and the love of Christ to those who need it most.

As for prayers, this is not an empty sentiment either, especially when we consider what the Bible tells us to pray for. Here’s just a sample: [NOTE: The congregation received a separate list of these verses as a help to guide them in their “thoughts and prayers.” I ran out of time when we got to this point, so I picked a few and said a brief prayer based on each one to close out the message.]

2 Chronicles 7:13–14:

13 “When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command locusts to devour the land or send a plague among my people, 14 if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.[5]

Nehemiah 6:9, as the Jews are being threatened for rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem:

9 They were all trying to frighten us, thinking, “Their hands will get too weak for the work, and it will not be completed.”

But I prayed, “Now strengthen my hands.” [6]

Acts 2:25–26, 30–31

25 You spoke by the Holy Spirit through the mouth of your servant, our father David:

“ ‘Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain?

26 The kings of the earth rise up and the rulers band together against the Lord and against his anointed one.[7]

…

30 Stretch out your hand to heal and perform signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus.”

31 After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.[8]

Romans 12:9–21, esp. 17–18

17 Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone. 18 If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.[9]

Ephesians 3:10–11

His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms, 11 according to his eternal purpose that he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord.[10]

Ephesians 6:12

12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.[11]

1 Timothy 2:1–2

I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people—2 for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness.[12]

James 5:16b

The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.[13]

Psalm 81:10–16

10 I am the Lord your God, who brought you up out of Egypt.

Open wide your mouth and I will fill it.

11 “But my people would not listen to me; Israel would not submit to me.

12 So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts to follow their own devices.

13 “If my people would only listen to me, if Israel would only follow my ways, 14 how quickly I would subdue their enemies and turn my hand against their foes!

15 Those who hate the Lord would cringe before him, and their punishment would last forever.

16 But you would be fed with the finest of wheat; with honey from the rock I would satisfy you.” [14]

[1] The New International Version. 2011. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

[2] The New International Version. 2011. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

[3] The New International Version. 2011. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

[4] The New International Version. 2011. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

[5] The New International Version. 2011. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

[6] The New International Version. 2011. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

[7] The New International Version. 2011. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan. (Quote from Psalm 2:1–2)

[8] The New International Version. 2011. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

[9] The New International Version. 2011. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

[10] The New International Version. 2011. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

[11] The New International Version. 2011. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

[12] The New International Version. 2011. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

[13] The New International Version. 2011. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

[14] The New International Version. 2011. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

August 24, 2025

Keeping the Sabbath Holy (Luke 13:10–17)

Filed under: Hebrew,Isaiah,Luke Gospel of,Sabbath,Ten Commandments (Decalogue),Work — Scott Stocking @ 7:09 pm
Tags: , , , , , ,

I preached this message on August 24, 2025, at Mount View Presbyterian Church in Omaha, NE.

God has a sense of humor sometimes, especially when it comes to us preacher-folk. This month is the absolute busiest month of the work year for me every year, because I have to review all 89 of our standard operating procedure documents. I also have the additional task this year of moving all those documents into a new template, and of course, the documents aren’t formatted to make that easy. I can’t just copy our three- and four-level outline steps from one document to the other, because somewhere in the last six years, somebody played around with the format I had made consistent across all documents six years ago, and they’re not even numbered correctly when I open them. Go figure.

But that’s not indicative of God’s sense of humor. His sense of humor lies in the fact that today, the gospel passage is all about, you guessed it, the Sabbath, our day of rest. I didn’t think I’d have much of a sabbath this weekend, but we already had tickets to go to the Sunflower Festival at Nelson Produce Farms yesterday and, in spite of feeling the pressure to stay home and get things done, I went. I told myself I needed it, because the Spirit was nudging, no shoving me, to take that needed break. Afterwards, we hung out with my sister, ordered some Casey’s pizza, and played a game. So now I don’t feel the conflict preaching this message today that I would have had I not taken that needed rest.

Now that I’ve got that off my chest, let’s look at something much more important than my hectic schedule, shall we? In our gospel passage this morning, Luke 13:10–17, we read about the story of Jesus teaching in a synagogue on his way to Jerusalem and healed a woman who’d been crippled for 18 years. It’s interesting to note here that in this passage, which is unique to Luke’s gospel, Luke never tells us that the woman made any attempt to ask for healing. One might fairly assume she was hoping for that as news of Jesus’s miracles was spreading around the region.

She never asked Jesus for healing, and Jesus never asked her if she wanted to be healed. He just called her to the front of the synagogue and proclaimed, “Woman, you are set free from your infirmity.” Verse 14 is the “hinge” verse in this passage, and it reveals quite a bit about the attitude of some who think the stricter rules of the Sabbath can’t be broken for broken people. You can always keep the Sabbath holy by doing good on the Sabbath.

Most of us know that the Sabbath started way back in Genesis 2, after God finished creating the heavens and the earth. Genesis 2:2–3 describes it poetically this way:

2 By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. 3 Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.[1]

The important thing to note about this passage is that the words for “seventh” (שְׁבִיעִי šeḇî·ʿî, from שֶׁבַע (šě·ḇǎʿ “seven”) and “rest” (שָׁבַת šā·ḇǎṯ) derive from a cognate Hebrew root word that is used to translate the word “Sabbath” (שַׁבָּת šǎb·bāṯ). In other words, God considered the idea of a Sabbath rest so holy that he built it into the fabric of creation. First of all, he created us last as the crowning gem of his creation. We were made in his image. But this doesn’t just mean a physical image. We’re not just robots.

The other thing about this verse is that it closes the creation narrative that began with Moses telling us that “the earth was formless and empty.” “Empty” doesn’t mean “nothing” of course. There was apparently a thick watery vapor, sort of a giant greenhouse effect, surrounding the dark planet. If you and I were in that kind of setting, we might feel anxious, discombobulated. In other words, it was chaos. No order to anything. But in God’s work of creation, we begin to see how he starts to bring order to the planet: marking out the limits for the waters below and the waters above; then bringing forth the land and the vegetation on the land. The first signs of visible life. Then, after populating space with the heavenly bodies that bring us light, he spends the next two days creating all the living creatures of the earth, finishing off with man. God has brought order out of chaos. Declaring a Sabbath is essential to maintaining that order.

God gave us the raw materials on earth (and in space) to manifest the creative ability that he himself demonstrated in creation. Granted, we can’t make something out of nothing like he can, nor can we create new laws of physics or thermodynamics or tectonic plate movements, or any other physical or chemical laws that govern the created order. But we do have the ability to understand these laws and use them to manipulate our environment for survival, like how to plant and grow crops, how to build structures that endure, and how to treat sickness and disease.

Of course, he also gave all living things the ability to reproduce and perpetuate life on earth. The psalmist can say we are fearfully and wonderfully made because of the incredibly detailed composition of our being, right down to the unique DNA profile each of us possesses. In fact, did you know that our DNA can survive long after we’ve died? That’s a fascinating fact about God’s creation that I believe theologians have glossed over when it comes how that affects our place in eternity. Is our DNA the “seed” Paul talks about that is translated into our heavenly bodies at the resurrection? Many people ask, “Will I be able to recognize loved ones in heaven?” If our DNA has a role in that, you have your answer.

One other thing about being made in God’s image. God understands our need for this Sabbath rest as well, because he did quite a bit of work not just to create the natural environment, but all the rules, laws, and principles as well that hold his creation together. He knows that we need rest as well, which is why he laid out some rules to help us get that rest. God laid out these rules primarily so we could get the rest we need, NOT for the sake of the Sabbath day itself. According to Exodus 20:8, the Sabbath day is already holy: “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.”

This was probably the original commandment, one of the two “positive” commandments in the Decalogue. The rest of this command about working six days and resting on the seventh was likely too large to fit on the stone tablets Moses brought down from the mountain. Many scholars believe that Moses probably added that bit to the commandment as he wrote all this down as they traveled through the wilderness to the Promised Land. The word for “work” in Exodus 20 and elsewhere in the Old Testament usually refers to some kind of manual labor. The religious leadership over the years had likely added a lot of “oral” and “cultural” tradition to that command, thus leading to all the legalism around it we see among the Scribes and Pharisees in the New Testament and surviving Jewish writings from that time.

Another key passage from on the Sabbath comes from one of the other verses in the Lectionary today, Isaiah 58:13–14.

13 “If you keep your feet from breaking the Sabbath

and from doing as you please on my holy day,

if you call the Sabbath a delight

and the Lord’s holy day honorable,

and if you honor it by not going your own way

and not doing as you please or speaking idle words,

14 then you will find your joy in the Lord,

and I will cause you to ride in triumph on the heights of the land

and to feast on the inheritance of your father Jacob.”

For the mouth of the Lord has spoken. [2]

This concept of the Sabbath is connected with the idea of fasting in Isaiah 58, which is where we get the tie-in to our gospel passage today. The Sabbath not only referred to the seventh day of the week, but also to any solemn day where the people would be commanded to fast and pray.

The connection to fasting important because it shows the kind of fasting God expected, and that sounds very much like our Gospel text this morning. Here’s Isaiah 58:6–9a:

6 “Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen:

to loose the chains of injustice

and untie the cords of the yoke,

to set the oppressed free

and break every yoke?

7 Is it not to share your food with the hungry

and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—

when you see the naked, to clothe them,

and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?

8 Then your light will break forth like the dawn,

and your healing will quickly appear;

then your righteousness v will go before you,

and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard.

9 Then you will call, and the Lord will answer;

you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I. [3]

The ministry we have as Christ-followers is not just for our own advantage. As Ephesians says, we can walk in good works because that’s why he has redeemed us. Not only do we invite friends and family to join us in worship on Sunday morning, but we also have ministries that reach outside our four walls, like the quilting ministry. The quilts are gifts typically for those who’ve been displaced somehow by life’s unfortunate circumstances. I’m sure they bring comfort and peace and perhaps even a measure of security to those in difficult times. Gifts for the food bank do the same. They help break the oppression that often accompanies poverty.

In the New Testament, Mark records Jesus’s words on the Sabbath in his Gospel, 2:27: “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.” Interestingly enough, this comes right after a passage on Jesus being questioned about fasting. I think that’s probably intentional on Mark’s part. Jesus says there that he is Lord of the Sabbath, Jesus is referencing King David, when they entered into the “house of God” and ate consecrated bread. and ate grain from the field on the Sabbath in response to the disciples eating heads of grain from the edges of the fields they passed by. They were just trying to survive.

When we come back to our gospel passage this morning, we can see how Jesus’s action of healing a crippled woman on the Sabbath fit with the Old Testament description in Isaiah 58 of fasting and keeping the Sabbath holy. The Sabbath gives God’s people permission to take a break from work and focus on God.

It is amazing how even something as simple as a Sabbath day of rest can be problematic for those who are not Christ-followers, even to the point of persecuting the church. The French Republican calendar was an attempt during the French Revolution in the late 18th and early 19th century to replace the Gregorian calendar with three 10-day “weeks” in each of the 12 months. According to an article on the Encyclopedia Britannica Web site, they replaced all the “Saint So-and-So” days and Christian festival days with names of things primarily from the natural order.[4]

Even in our culture, companies like Chik-fil-A and Hobby Lobby get a bad rap from secularists for being closed on Sundays (admittedly, there are probably a lot of Christ-followers who do wish Chik-fil-A was open on Sundays). But these companies have a firm belief in the concept of the Sabbath for their employees. But even they will make exceptions at times. In 2016 when the shooting happened at the gay night club in Orlanda where 49 people were killed and 53 more injured, Chik-fil-A showed up on Sunday with a food truck to feed the investigators as they processed the crime scene.

God understands that we all need rest from the pressures and worries of life. Make a point to plan that rest into your schedule, especially if you feel like you’re running around like a chicken on its way to the frying pan. For most people who work, that day might be Saturday or Sunday. If you don’t work, pick any day that works for you as a “God and Me” day. Know the rest that God intends for you hear on earth until that day when you enter into his permanent “rest” in his heavenly kingdom. Peace to you. Amen.

Scott Stocking

[1] The New International Version. 2011. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

[2] The New International Version. 2011. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

[3] The New International Version. 2011. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

[4] The 12 Months of the French Republican Calendar | Britannica, accessed 08/23/25.

August 17, 2025

Who’s in YOUR Great Cloud of Witnesses? Hebrews 12:1–2

Filed under: Ecclesiology,Evangelism,Faith, Faithfulness,Hebrews,Providence,Thanksgiving — Scott Stocking @ 7:18 pm
Tags: , , ,

I preached this message at Mount View Presbyterian Church on August 17, 2025. I decided to break from preaching the Lectionary’s Gospel passage for today and went with the Epistles passage from Hebrews 11 & 12. The first question I asked myself when I started thinking about how to preach it was, “Who is in my great cloud of witnesses?” We all stand on the shoulders of those who have gone before us. No sooner had I asked that question then the Holy Spirit replied, “Testimony Time!” I didn’t need anything but a list. These are the people who have influenced my faith (I got on a roll and inadvertently left out my immediate family; sorry guys). Mount View’s 70th anniversary is coming up in October, so I encouraged the congregation to do this exercise for themselves as well. 

No sermon text. I delivered the message extemporaneously. I may have mentioned some people from StoneBridge and Christian Campus Ministry (Agape House) at UNL in the 1980s.

Here’s the Rumble video. Who’s in YOUR “Great Cloud of Witnesses”? Hebrews 12:1–2.

I would love to hear who’s in your Great Cloud of Witnesses.

Scott Stocking

My opinions are my own.

July 27, 2025

Our Role in God’s Providence (Luke 11:1–13)

Filed under: Acts,Colossians,Giving,James,Luke Gospel of,Prayer,Providence,Psalms — Scott Stocking @ 11:15 pm
Tags: , , , , , ,

I preached this message on July 27, 2025 (Year C, Proper 12), at Mount View Presbyterian Church, Omaha, NE.

The last line of our Declaration of Independence says this:

“And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.”

The Declaration of Independence uses several different terms for our heavenly Father: “Nature’s God,” “Creator,” “Supreme Judge of the world,” and in the last line of the Declaration, “Providence.” Even “Prudence,”[1] might be considered a reference to God because it derives from the same root for “Providence.”

“Providence,” when capitalized, means “God conceived as the power sustaining and guiding human destiny.” The adjective “provident” is relevant to our passage today: “making provision for the future.”

As you listened to the New Testament reading this morning, you may have thought the switch from an abridged version of the Lord’s prayer to teaching about God’s providence seemed a bit “abrupt.” But if you look closely at how the portion of the Lord’s prayer is formatted in most English Bible, you’ll see that the central line is “Give us this day our daily bread.” He then goes on to relate Jesus’s teaching about what a good neighbor might do even though they might feel “put-out” by the expectation in the middle of the night.

To understand the story of the neighbor’s request, I want to remind you about what I talked about a couple weeks ago about what it meant to be a neighbor and part of an in-group. First of all, notice that Jesus puts his listeners in the position of the one needing the bread. To make this easier to follow, I’m going to give the three men in this story names. Since the man in story is played by you in Jesus’s parable, you can insert your own name in there, but I’m going to use Joel for our example, because he’s always willing to play along with me when I ask for audience participation, and Joel is a good biblical name. We’ll call Joel’s neighbor Hosea since that’s the Bible book that comes before Joel, and we’ll call Joel’s visitor Malachi, since that’s the last book of the minor prophets.

Even though Hosea probably doesn’t know Malachi, because both men are friends with Joel, Joel would have a cultural, in-group expectation that Hosea would show the same hospitality and respect to Malachi as he would to him and would not make Joel look bad to Malachi. The other thing to consider here is that Joel seemingly has enough trust in his relationship with Hosea that waking him up at midnight for bread doesn’t seem out of bounds with the cultural norms of the day. Hosea is certainly not happy about being awakened in this manner, but he realizes that his neighbor Joel must really be in a bind if he has the “shameless audacity” to wake him up at midnight. It is that trust in the relationship between Joel and Hosea that compels Hosea to get up and give Joel the bread he needs.[2]

One final note here: Joel’s audacious act would have signaled to Hosea that if Hosea was ever in a similar spot, Joel would be willing to help him as well. This was not so much a matter of tit-for-tat; Hosea would not have had an expectation of any compensation or immediate reciprocation. It was more of a “pay-it-forward” act. Nor was it “charity” or even “welfare” in the way we might typically think of it. It’s a two-way street. It is simply the mindset of those first-century listeners who would have understood the cultural dynamic at work here and who take their cultural obligations seriously.

The important consideration here is that this cultural dynamic was intended for the success and longevity of the community. When those in the in-group and allied with the in-group are supported by the in-group, the in-group becomes stronger and more closely united. This provides a sense of internal security for the in-group. They don’t have to rely on outside sources to support their cultural priorities.

This is the kind of thing we see going on in the early chapters of the book of Acts. We see the believers willingly selling property to help meet the needs of less fortunate believers. We see them sharing meals together. We see them meeting together for prayer, worship, and instruction. We see them resolving conflicts so that all the widows can be cared for. And we even see Paul condemn Ananias and Sapphira to death for lying about what they gave for those needs, even though they had absolutely no obligation to give every last drachma of their proceeds on the sale.

As I said a couple weeks ago, this kind of internal support system is how the community maintained their honor and integrity. This also represents how God works with us, especially when it comes to prayer. Verses 9–10 give us the moral of the story: don’t be afraid to ask—and be persistent when you do!

I wish I understood why our current culture has gotten to the place where we are afraid or embarrassed to ask for help from those we know, especially within the church. Part of it may have to do with the government thinking they need to take over the responsibility of “charity,” and then regulating it to the point where it becomes burdensome for private nonprofit entities to respond to needs. I fear it’s created a mindset that government should be the first place you look for help, not the church.

But I digress. The last part of our gospel passage this morning reveals the goodness of God. Some may have the opinion that God only wants to punish us, or that the bad things that happen to us are the result of a cruel God. But God is not cruel in the way he responds to our prayers. James confirms the goodness of God as revealed in the last part of our gospel passage:

James 1:5–8 says:

5 If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. 6 But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. 7 That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. 8 Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do.[3]

And later in 4:1–3, James says almost the same thing, with a different twist:

What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you? 2 You desire but do not have, so you kill. You covet but you cannot get what you want, so you quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask God. 3 When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.[4]

Our reading form Psalm 138 this morning also affirms the goodness of God when we ask him for help. Verse 3 says, “When I called, you answered me;

you greatly emboldened me.[5]” There’s that boldness we saw in the man who asked for bread from his neighbor. Verse 6 says, “Though the Lord is exalted, he looks kindly on the lowly; though lofty, he sees them from afar.”[6]

 Your presumed standing with God matters not. In fact, he has a special place in his heart for those of us who think we’re “lowly.”

David is willing to bow down to God and give him unfettered praise for the way he has provided for him. He recognizes God’s protection, God’s preservation, and God’s power. God is there for us when we need him. Even if we don’t get the answer we want, we, like the three men in the fiery furnace, know that God will save us one way or another when we put our trust in him.

Paul affirms this in Colossians 2:6–7 as well: “So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, 7 rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.”[7] We can show the same thankfulness that David did in Psalm 138.

At the beginning of my message this morning, I mentioned how the Declaration of Independence refers to God as “Providence.” He is the provider and we can trust in him. But this also implies a mutual trust as well, just as we have as the body of Christ united. Jefferson closes the Declaration of Independence with a line that sums up nicely the commitment we should have to the body of Christ as we walk faithfully with Jesus: “We mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.”[8] We are God’s witnesses on earth to his great and marvelous deeds. How can we do anything less than give him all our praise for the ways he provides for us. Don’t be afraid to ask God to do some great things for you as you walk with him. Amen.

[1] According to Merriam-Webster, “prudence” is derived from the same root as “providence.” “Prudence” means “the ability to govern and discipline oneself by the use of reason” or “skill and good judgment in the use of resources,” which is perhaps a meaning relevant to this message.

[2] This is known as a “dyadic alliance” or “dyadic contract.” See Malina, Bruce J. The New Testament World: Insights from Cultural Anthropology, revised edition, pp. 99–103, 115. Wesley/John Knox Press, 1993. See also Malina’s Windows on the World of Jesus, pp. 48–49.

[3] The New International Version. 2011. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

[4] The New International Version. 2011. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

[5] The New International Version. 2011. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

[6] The New International Version. 2011. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

[7] The New International Version. 2011. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

[8] Declaration of Independence: A Transcription | National Archives, accessed 07/26/25.

July 13, 2025

Who Is YOUR Neighbor? (Luke 10:25–37)

Filed under: Courage,Evangelism,Faith, Faithfulness,Giving,Luke Gospel of — Scott Stocking @ 5:47 pm
Tags: , , , , , , ,

I preached this message July 13, 2025, at Mount View Presbyterian Church in Omaha, NE.

Good morning. The Lord be with you.

I imagine that most of us either grew up watching Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood or had young children who watched that show. (It’s okay to admit it if you watched it with your kids.) As a kid, one of my favorite parts of the show was when he sang “Who Are the People in Your Neighborhood?” He would usually find someone who could demonstrate their talents or skills. When I watched it with my kids later on, that had become a visit to a factory where something was made. I was fascinated by the episode on how aluminum foil was made.

Of course, being a train lover, my other favorite part of the show was when Trolley went to the Magic Kingdom. I never thought much about it as a kid, but as a parent it dawned on me, spoiler alert here, that Mr. Rogers was doing most if not all of the puppet voices.

As a kid, it was just a fun show to watch. But as I watched it as an adult with my kids, especially in the small rural town we lived in in Illinois and where I served as a pastor, I began to broaden my concept of who my “neighbors” were. I used to think “neighbors” were just the people who lived in the houses around us. But as I would go for walks with the kids or go to the park with them, we would meet people we didn’t know or I would meet the parents of my kids’ classmates.

If I said hi to someone in passing, my kids sometimes asked, “Who was that?” If I didn’t know their name, I would usually say, “That’s one of our Paxton neighbors.” After all, they may have been neighbors to people in our congregation, so I wanted to make sure they knew that the newcomer to the town wanted to fit in.

In Mediterranean culture, the concept of neighbor had a slightly different nuance. Their culture was steeped in the concept of “in-group” vs. “out-group.” The concept of neighbor went much further than just people who live near you. Bruce Malina, a Theology professor who taught for 48 years at Creighton before his death in 2017, defined “neighbor” in the Bible this way:

“The term refers to a social role with rights and obligations that derive simply from living close with others—the same village or neighborhood. Neighbors of this sort are an extension of one’s kin group.”[1]

In other words, neighbors were family and were to be treated like family. Along with that, being considered family meant you had a certain degree of honor in the community as well. But that wasn’t a hard-and-fast rule for Jews. If you did something to violate the honor or trust you had in the community, you would most likely be shamed or even ostracized. If you got drunk and embarrassed yourself or got in a fight or damaged someone else’s property, the community would not excuse or overlook such behavior. If you stole from your neighbor or committed adultery, you got more than a slap on the wrist. You would find yourself in the out-group.

These concepts of honor and shame, in-group and out-group, have lost their force in modern culture. Malina documents that in one of his other books.[2] In fact, in some respects, this has been flipped on its head. The in-groups value law and order in their communities and have certain expectations about what good behavior looks like, while the out-groups, something that used to carry shame and guilt, are now intentionally and sometimes violently trying to disrupt the law and order and care little about good behavior or even trying to be restored to an in-group.

It’s not that there’s only one in-group for everybody either. Several in-groups peacefully coexisted in neighboring communities and were distinguished by any number or combination of cultural and ethnic characteristics. But they all had the overarching concept of honor and shame and could peacefully interact with other in-groups when they acted honorably and without malice. If anyone acted with malice or violence toward another in-group, the gloves were off at that point.

This is some of the cultural background that was assumed by the authors of the Bible when they wrote. We in America tend to read the Bible through our 21st-century cultural lens and will sometimes get a little uncomfortable with the way the Bible describes a certain scenario. That’s because the scenario is set in a time and place with a completely different worldview. This Mediterranean worldview is the lens through which we should view the Parable of the Good Samaritan.

One caveat, I’m not excusing anyone’s behavior in the story. Jesus clearly expects the expert in the law to come up with the only right answer to the question he asked after Jesus finishes the story. Yet we’re somewhat uncomfortable with the fact that servants of God bypassed the wounded man in the parable.

First off in the story, we notice that the man is not identified by any ethnic or cultural features. In the story, he’s just a man. He also appears to be traveling alone. The path from Jerusalem to Jericho was a bit of a challenge, a descent of nearly 3,400 feet over 17 miles, so that’s a 200-foot change in elevation every mile through rocky terrain. Plenty of places for bandits to hide.

Priests and Levites were generally respected in that day, and they were easily recognizable as well by the garments they wore. As such, many people would have looked up to them, even those people who were not Jewish, so they would not have typically been targeted by bandits. It’s not that the bandits cared about their reputation with any one group; they just knew that the civil and legal penalties for them would have probably been a lot more severe.

For the priest and Levite, those jobs were their livelihood and gave them a certain social standing within their “in-groups.” When each of them walked by the bloodied-up man on the side of the road, their first thought wasn’t to help. There’s no indication in the story that either of them even bothered to check if the man was Jewish himself. No, their first thought was, “If this man is dead, I’m going to be unclean and not able to do my job.” They had a legalistic view of the law that they thought they could use to protect their “status” in their in-groups, but we all know by now that Jesus wasn’t interested in the legalistic interpretation.

The people hearing the story, including the expert in the law who asked the question, probably expected that would be the behavior of the priest and the Levite. But then Jesus throws a twist into the story that the expert may not have been expecting. He says a Samaritan came along and helped the man thoroughly, even using his own money to pay for his care until he could return. Now Samaritans were definitely not part of the Jews’ in-group. So when Jesus asks the expert to identify which one was the neighbor, you can imagine that the expert must have gulped a bit and tugged at his collar uncomfortably.

Since the Jews were known for walking around Samaria rather than going through it, which was the more direct route, one could say here that the priest and the Levite treated the wounded man like a Samaritan, even though they probably didn’t know if the man was a Samaritan. If the man was a Jew, then they actually violated a cultural norm that was probably considered to be on the same level with the Law.

Meanwhile, the Samaritan, who doesn’t hate the Jews as much as the Jews hate them, chose to treat the man like he would treat his own family, without concern for whether the man was Samaritan, Jew, or some other ethnic background. In other words, as the law expert correctly discerned, the Samaritan treated the man like a neighbor.

What Jesus is obviously getting at here then is that being a neighbor or showing a stranger the same level of respect as a neighbor isn’t a noun or an adjective, it’s a verb. It doesn’t matter what your background is; you’re considered a neighbor by the way you treat those you come in contact with. That doesn’t mean you’ve abandoned your primary in-group and joined the stranger’s in-group, nor does it mean you’ve adopted or supported any beliefs or customs of the stranger’s in-group contrary to your own. When you act like a neighbor, you’re not “guilty by association,” at least not from Jesus’s perspective.

In verse 29, Luke tells us the legal expert wanted to “justify himself” by asking the question. Do you suppose the legal expert accomplished that? I’m guessing not, but we’ll never know. Just because Jesus tweaked the definition of neighbor here doesn’t mean he overturned the idea of one’s own “kinship” in-group, though. The question each of us must ask, then, is the same question Mr. Rogers sang in his show: “Who are the people in YOUR neighborhood?” Not only that, but “How are you loving the people in your neighborhood?” You may have guessed by now that when I say “neighborhood,” I don’t just mean inside these four walls.

In an age where we’re personally and increasingly isolated by either technology or mobility, it’s important that we have a neighborhood to connect with so we can feel the support, love, and encouragement that comes from those associations. I pray that you might get to know a new neighbor this week and share the love of the savior with them. Peace to you. Amen.

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[1] Malina, Bruce J. Windows on the World of Jesus: Time Travel to Ancient Judea. Westminster/John Knox Press, Louisville, KY, 1993, p. 52.

[2] Malina, Bruce J. The New Testament World: Insights from Cultural Anthropology. Revised Edition. Westminster/John Knox Press, Louisville, KY, 1993, pp. 82–86.

My opinions are my own, except where otherwise cited.

Pastor Scott Stocking, M.Div.

June 29, 2025

Following Jesus on His Terms (Luke 9:51–62, Psalm 16)

Filed under: Eschatology,Evangelism,Faith, Faithfulness,Galatians,Luke Gospel of,Passion,Pneumatology,Psalms,Soteriology,Thanatology (Death),Titus — Scott Stocking @ 5:22 pm
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I preached this sermon on June 29, 2025, at Mount View Presbyterian Church. This is “Proper 8” (third Sunday after Pentecost) for Year C of the Lectionary. For future reference, the next time these passages will appear in the Lectionary together is July 2, 2028.

Good morning! The Lord be with you!

How do you follow a man who says he’s going to die? Some might ask, “What kind of man would ask someone to follow him knowing that he’s going to die?” But is that the right question? I mean, we’re all going to die at some point, and we don’t know when. Maybe the question should be, “What does the man who’s going to die think about the person he’s asking to follow him?”

I’m sure the would-be follower would have questions for Jesus as well. “Why would you choose me? I’m just a fisherman.” “What can I expect from following you? You don’t look like you have much.” Or maybe the question is a little more self-reflective: “What does he see in me that I don’t see in myself?”

These types of questions are, to a certain extent, somewhat academic or rhetorical. I think most of us realize, and can see plainly in the gospels, that Jesus taught like no other and that he worked miracles like no other. These two features of his life on earth were undoubtedly the most attractive features of his ministry. They were also the focus of Luke’s gospel from the account of his miraculous birth and the miracles that surrounded that up to the point of our gospel passage this morning.

Note what Luke says about Jesus’s mind set in the first part of vs. 51: “When the days drew near for him to be taken up.” Jesus knew he was going to die in Jerusalem at the hands of the chief priests and religious leadership. But Luke suggests Jesus also knew here that whatever that death entailed, he would defeat it and win victory over the grave, because his resolve, apparently, comes from his divine knowledge that he would defeat death and be resurrected to return to God.

Our reading in the bulletin this morning from the New Revised Standard Version gives the literal translation of the Greek in the last part of verse 51: “Jesus set his face to go to Jerusalem.” Other translations are more descriptive with that idiom. The New International Version says, “Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem,” while the New American Standard Version says, “He was determined to go to Jerusalem.” This is remarkable since Jesus twice predicts his death in the earlier verses of Luke 9—once before his transfiguration and once after it. Jesus knows the end result and is still steadfast to his ultimate mission.

It is interesting, then, that in the context of Jesus showing such resolve that Luke tells us about several others who want to follow Jesus as well. His disciples were already on board with all this, except perhaps for Judas. But as much as Jesus wants people to follow him, now is not the time for the feeble of heart or the weak-willed to be following a man who is resolutely going toward his death. I would imagine Luke picks a few representative samples out of the dozens, if not hundreds, who want to follow him at this point. His answers may seem a bit terse or harsh to us, but he wants any potential followers to understand just what they’re getting themselves into. There is no turning back once you’ve decided to put the hand to the plow.

Our reading from Psalm 16 this morning seems to fit the bill as encouragement for someone who is determined to follow Jesus. David calls this psalm a miktam. Only five other psalms have that designation—Psalms 56–60—and most of them have to do with the author appealing for refuge or deliverance from their enemies. David expresses a great deal of confidence in his relationship with God in this psalm. From God’s guidance and instruction to his provision of joy and even, it would seem, to the promise of resurrection from the dead: “You will not abandon me to the realm of the dead.”

We can break this Psalm down into three parts, at least that’s how my NIV interprets it. After an opening plea for refuge, the next three verses reveal that David has confidence in those who are holy, that is, in his own community. Because of his confidence in them, not only can he praise God, but he can also confidently assert he has no intention of following other gods. He knows that following other gods would only bring pain and suffering to him and leave him without hope.

In the next four verses, David praises the Lord for being his provider and defender. David feels secures because he has three things from God in this regard: boundaries, instruction, and a focal point. Boundaries are good for us, because they tell us what the limits are and where we need to be to stay safe. A study many years ago showed that children felt more freedom and security to explore and move around a playground when it was fenced in. If a ball got away from them, they were less afraid to chase it to a hard boundary, especially if such a boundary was next to a busy street or other potential hazard. A boundary can work both ways as well. A playground fence also helps to keep stray animals and people with malicious intent from easy access to the area.

Jill and I were in the mountains last week in Colorado. Of course there are boundaries everywhere there. And not just physical boundaries. The twisty road through the canyon had guard rails at places to prevent vehicles from going into the river. We had to observe the speed limit signs for tight and blind curves so we wouldn’t run into the big horn sheep or the bicyclists we encountered on the road. A double yellow stripe down the middle of the road with a rumble strip let us know if we were straying into the other lane.

God’s boundaries are found in the instructions we have in Scripture, namely the Ten Commandments, and the two greatest commandments Jesus reminded us of: love God with all your heart, soul, strength, and mind; love your neighbor as yourself. Following those boundaries can keep us from all kinds of evil consequences. More on this in a moment.

Verse 8 reminds us of Hebrews 12:1–3:

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, 2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3 Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.[1]

When we keep our eyes fixed on the risen savior, we can always see the end result: our resurrection and eternal home with him in glory. In spite of the boundaries and instruction God gives us, we also know there will be times when our faith is challenged: the loss of a loved one, a critical medical diagnosis, broken relationships, etc. But as David says, we can stand firm and not be shaken.

In the last three verses, David speaks of his confidence as he considers his own future death. Even before he has the example of our risen savior he seems to understand the concept of resurrection: “You will not abandon me to the realm of the dead, nor will you let your faithful one see decay.” We too can have this confidence when we follow Jesus and honor him as Lord of our lives. Eternal rewards await us, and God has graciously made that available to us through the death and resurrection of his son.

We are not without a more practical example in the New Testament of the principles David laid out in Psalm 16. The other New Testament passage from the lectionary today is from Galatians 5. Paul talks about the difference between living a life without boundaries and a living a life bound to the Holy Spirit that Jesus imparts to all believers.

It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.[2]

…

13 You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love. 14 For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” k 15 If you bite and devour each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.

16 So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17 For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.

19 The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20 idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21 and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. 24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25 Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. 26 Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.[3]

Notice the contrast Paul makes here: He speaks of the “acts of the flesh,” which refer to behaviors without boundaries. He warns that theses kinds of behaviors can lead to us “biting, devouring, and destroying” each other. Not only that, Paul also warns that people who live wantonly without boundaries “will not inherit the kingdom of God.” There’s no wishy-washy language here. You’re either in or out.

Contrast the “acts of the flesh,” then, with the “fruit of the Spirit.” Paul doesn’t mention behaviors here but rather a mindset by which to live. They are boundaries that come from being filled with the Holy Spirit. They put a check on our behavior and keep us from flying off the handle when we get angry or unduly criticizing someone without understanding the background of a situation. They help us to remember that God loves people first and foremost, regardless of where they’re at in their faith journey. But they do not absolve us of the responsibility to share the good news either.

As a preacher, I could craft a whole nine-week sermon series on the fruit of the Spirit, so I don’t even want to try to expound on that here. I’m sure most of you have been around long enough that you understand those character qualities quite well. Titus 2:11–14 gives a nice summary, however, and I’ll wrap things up with this passage this morning:

11 For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. 12 It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, 13 while we wait for the blessed hope—the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, 14 who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.[4]

Let me return to my original questions, “How do you follow a man who says he is going to die?” You follow him, Jesus, because you know he won victory over death and the grave and wants to share that victory with you. “What does God see in me that I don’t see in myself that he wants me to follow him?” He knows and sees the power of transformation the Holy Spirit can work in those who choose to follow Jesus. If you need a reminder of that, just pray and ask God to refresh and renew your experience with him. He desires all to be saved; any excuse you may have to not follow is not enough for God to give up on you. May God strengthen your faith and refresh your hope as you go from here today. Amen!

[1] The New International Version. 2011. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

[2] The New International Version. 2011. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

[3] The New International Version. 2011. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

[4] The New International Version. 2011. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

My thoughts are my own.

Pastor Scott Stocking, M.Div.

June 16, 2025

Trinity Power (Psalm 8; John 16:12–15)

Filed under: Christology,Creation,Ecclesiology,Eschatology,John Gospel of,Pneumatology,Psalms,Soteriology,Ten Commandments (Decalogue),Trinity — Scott Stocking @ 5:59 pm
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Historical context and notes: I preached this message on Father’s Day, June 15, 2025, at Mount View Presbyterian Church. It was also “Trinity Sunday” on the Lectionary calendar, the Sunday after Pentecost. Culturally, this weekend also saw the parade/celebration for the 250th anniversary of the U.S. Army, “No Kings” protests nationwide (thus a few extra references to God as our King), the onset of a conflict between Israel and Iran with the goal of degrading Iran’s nuclear weapons capabilities, and the politically motivated assassination of a Minnesota State representative.

Happy Fathers’ Day, and a blessed Trinity Sunday to all of you. I’ve had a busy three weeks traveling hither and yon. Two weeks ago, my brother and I took our third annual fishing trip to South Dakota and caught our limit of walleye both days. Last weekend, my wife and I went to Branson with our small group and saw the production of David at the Sight and Sound theater. If you ever go to Branson, the Sight and Sound theater is well worth the price of a ticket. The entire operation is a ministry that focuses on telling biblical and patriotic stories. They tie the biblical story to the message of the cross toward the end, and after the show some of the cast make themselves available to pray with people.

Now even though I had a very relaxing few weeks off and feel somewhat refreshed from a busy schedule, I’m not ashamed to admit that it’s been kind of tough to focus on writing a message this week with all the other chaos going on in the world. Nevertheless, I think perhaps the example of Jehoshaphat in the Old Testament can help us deal with the potential chaos some may be experiencing. When Jehoshaphat was faced with a nearly impossible battle in 2 Chronicles 20 against the Moabites, Ammonites, and Meunites, he had the people pray in the temple courtyard. The next morning, he put the men’s choir out in front of the army as they marched toward the Desert of Tekoa. As they sang, God set ambushes, and the three opposing armies wound up destroying each other. Israel never had to lift a finger to fight. God is the true King, and when we put him first, good things can happen.

In our Old Testament reading this morning, the first couple verses of Psalm 8 say this:

1 Lord, our Lord,

how majestic is your name in all the earth!

You have set your glory

in the heavens.

2 Through the praise of children and infants

you have established a stronghold against your enemies,

to silence the foe and the avenger. [1]

If those two examples aren’t enough to show the power of praise, consider the story of the walls of Jericho which, by the Jews marching around the city, blowing their trumpets, and lifting up a mighty shout of praise, crumbled as a result of that sonic boom. God is the true King, and when we put him first, good things can happen. Psalm 22:3 in the English Standard Version says, “Yet you are holy, enthroned on the praises of Israel.”[2] If you’re used to the King James Version, that verse is translated, “Thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel.”[3]

This demonstrates the point that our praise is mighty and effective against evil because the God who dwells in that praise as it goes forth from our lips and our lives is mighty. This is God Almighty, God the Father, God the King, the creator of all that is made, even life itself; the giver of breath; the author of wisdom and truth.

We see the might, power, and even the orderliness of God in the creation narrative, for example. On Day One, he begins with the “formless and void” rock we call Earth and creates “light.” We don’t know what that light is, because the things that make or reflect light aren’t created until Day 4. What is this Day One light then? Is it the light that emanates from God because of his spiritual nature? Is it the afterglow of a “big bang” that produced the formless and void Earth and everything else in the universe? Is it meant to have a more metaphorical meaning like moral clarity? Or is it a reference to someone who would later claim that he is the light of the world, and of whom John would make the claim that nothing in this world was made without him? Hmmm. More on that later.

On Day Two, God separated the waters below from the waters above, most likely a vapor canopy that created a greenhouse effect for the new life that was coming. The separation between the waters was called “sky.” On Day Five, he created the creatures that dwell in the air and the creatures that dwell in the sea.

On Day Three, he brought forth dry land and created the diversity of flora that grows on the earth today. I find it interesting that the plants that need the sun to photosynthesize and grow are created the day before the sun is created. Anyone ever notice that? That’s one reason why I think each of the days of creation represent a 24-hour time period. If the vegetation had been created thousands of years before the sun came to exist, it would not have survived. On Day Six, he creates all the creatures that would dwell on land, including his ultimate creation, Mankind.

With each day of creation, not only is God creating people and animals and plants and objects in the solar system, he’s also creating all of the physical, biological, geological, and psychological (and all the other “-logicals”) rules and principles by which all the natural, or created, world operates under. On Day Seven, God rested. He had taken the “formless and void” third rock from the sun and transformed it into a well-formed, orderly creation.

Not only was God mighty and powerful as our king, though. He was also the epitome of righteousness. In him there is no fault, no stain, no sin. Perhaps that is why his “light” is the brightest of all, so bright that no mortal, sinful man can stand in the presence of it. From the Fall to the Flood, God demonstrated great patience with the wickedness of man, but God had a built-in judgment plan. The vapor canopy had worked quite well to ensure the young earth would flourish and grow, but man’s wickedness had become too much for God to bear. He told righteous Noah to build an ark and brought Noah a pair of every kind of animal to rescue them through the Flood.

The Bible says the rain came down and the flood gates of the earth were opened. Sounds to me like a giant meteor pierced the vapor canopy and all that water condensed and fell to the earth. It also may have broken up Pangea, the not-so-hypothetical single continent that once existed on Earth and started what we know today as plate tectonics, the movement of the continents, and all the fun stuff that comes with that, like earthquakes and volcanoes. This shows the enduring power of God’s creation, but it also shows that he is a God who expects the praise we give him for his righteous judgments.

The signature expression of God’s righteousness is the Ten Commandments. The first three commandments are specific to our direct relationship with God: Don’t put anything above God. Don’t make an image of God to worship. Don’t misuse the name of God. I think we all get that. The next two are positive commands that have to do with what God expects from us: Keep the Sabbath day holy. Honor your parents, who represent God’s authority over you on earth.

The final five commands have to do with our relationships with one another. They are prohibitions against committing violent acts. According to Merriam-Webster, “violence” not only means committing a physical act of aggression like murder, assault, or rape, but it can also mean “injury by or as if by distortion, infringement, or profanation” and gives the synonym “outrage.” Even coveting is not just a thought crime about desiring someone else’s property. When Jesus summarizes the Ten Commandments in Mark 10:19, he uses the Greek word translated “defraud,” “cheat,” or “rob” in the New Testament (ἀποστερέω apostereō). Coveting is violence, because its goal is to obtain something by illicit means.

Because the Ten Commandments are God’s foundational laws, and because they addressed fundamental issues of our relationships with God and with others, a violation of any of them could have resulted in the death penalty, were it not for the provisions in the law for blood sacrifice and the forgiveness of sin. But God knew from the time of the Fall he would need another way to address mankind’s sin. That’s where the second person of the trinity is introduced to the world.

Of course, this is Jesus, the son of God, conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary. He would come to walk among us as a human being and learn, through his fully divine nature and insight”, what it was like to live as a mortal among mortals. Hebrews 4:15 says: “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin.”[4] This Law is good because it shows us what sin is, but the Law itself is not able to provide forgiveness, righteousness, or salvation. Only perfect obedience can do that, but no one is perfect, at least, no one who is fully mortal.

Romans 10:4 says: “Christ is the culmination of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes.”[5] That word “culmination” (τέλος telos) doesn’t mean the Law is no longer relevant. It means that what the Law was intended to accomplish, imperfect as we are, is now accomplished through the faithfulness of Christ in his death on the cross and our faith in acknowledging Jesus Christ as our risen Savior. This is what John means when he calls Jesus “the word.” What we call “the Ten Commandments” in Hebrew is just simply “Ten Words” (עֲשֶׂ֖רֶת הַדְּבָרִֽים ʿǎśě·rěṯ de·ḇār îm). Jesus’s death on the cross paid the penalty for all time for violating God’s Law. All we need to do is trust in his grace and mercy and live faithfully for him. He is, after all, declared to be Lord of Lords and King of kings in Revelation 19:16.[6]

This is where we meet the third person in the Trinity. I’m not sure what passage your speaker addressed on Pentecost last Sunday, but if it was John 14, you would know that Jesus promised the Holy Spirit would come and teach us what we would need to know to live faithfully for Christ. We do have the Bible, but without the Holy Spirit to help us spiritually understand, discern, and apply the words of the Bible, they are ultimately just words on a page. The Holy Spirit is the divine presence in our lives. The Spirit is the fulfillment of the promise Jesus made at his ascension that he would be with us always even to the end of the age.

The words of our gospel reading this morning bear repeating here:

12 “I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. 13 But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. 14 He will glorify me because it is from me that he will receive what he will make known to you. 15 All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will receive from me what he will make known to you.”[7]

In a world hounded by chaos and strife in these days, I find it comforting that we have a God who loves us and has provided the way of salvation for us through Jesus’s death and resurrection and the infilling of the Holy Spirit. It is through the Spirit that we can also lift up songs of praise and worship, which brings us full circle this morning. God inhabits the praise of his people by virtue of the Holy Spirit dwelling in our lives. This is our powerful weapon to confront the evil around us. The Spirit also brings comfort, healing, and restoration to our lives.

The words from last week’s gospel passage are appropriate to repeat here, and I’ll close with this.

27 “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.”[8]

May the peace of God go with you today. Amen.

[1] The New International Version. 2011. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

[2] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. 2016. Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.

[3] The Holy Bible: King James Version. 2009. Electronic Edition of the 1900 Authorized Version. Bellingham, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.

[4] The New International Version. 2011. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

[5] The New International Version. 2011. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

[6]See also 1 Timothy 6:15b and Revelation 17:14.

[7] The New International Version. 2011. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

[8] The New International Version. 2011. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

June 3, 2025

Guidance and Grace and Good Fishing (John 14)

Filed under: Faith, Faithfulness,Hope,John Gospel of,Pneumatology,Resurrection,Soteriology — Scott Stocking @ 11:09 pm
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My brother and I went to Lake Francis Case (Chamberlain, SD) for the third time in as many years for what has become our annual walleye fishing trip. I want to give a shout-out[1] to Jason Sorensen, operator of South Dakota Walleye Charters, and Jordan Miles of Hooked Outdoors SD, who piloted the boat and guided us to a great fishing spot near the mouth of the White River. We both got our limit of walleye each day (4/day; one was 20¾”), and my brother hauled in a nice white bass as well. Here are the pictures of our spoils from two days on the boat.

I don’t fish often enough to know where the good spots are, and I wouldn’t necessarily trust Google to provide me that information. In addition, since the walleye like to hang out in about 8–12 feet of water, it’s hard to fish for them from the shore, and neither my brother nor I own a boat. The guide is an economic and practical option for us, then, to get to where we need to go.

The guide also has the necessary tools to find the fish as well. The Garmin technology he had on his boat not only guided us down river in a heavy early morning fog, but it also revealed much of what was hidden underneath us in this mighty muddy Missouri River reservoir. It can map the riverbed and show us where the fish are swimming. Walleye are typically bottom dwellers, so we use “bottom bouncer” weights that keep the bait toward the bottom of the river.

It should go without saying that we all need guides in our journey with Jesus. If you’re a seeker, you have a couple sources of guidance. The fact that you’re seeking some life answers in a relationship with Jesus most likely indicates the Holy Spirit has been prompting you and preparing you for a decision to become a Christ-follower. You also may have a Christ-following friend or acquaintance who has had some influence on you as well. While your friends may understand what is going on in your life and can provide much needed emotional and even physical support, the Holy Spirit knows best what is going on inside your heart and soul, and he knows what is best to provide whatever comfort, assurance, or healing you need on the inside. If you’ve been reading the Bible, both the Holy Spirit and your Christ-following friends can provide help with understanding it if you just ask.

If you are a Christ-follower, then you already know that Scripture, the Bible (aka God’s Word), is our ultimate source of guidance. You already know that you have received the gift of the Holy Spirit upon repenting and being baptized (Acts 2:38). The Holy Spirit will guide you into all truth, but he will never contradict what the Bible says. Reading and studying God’s Word helps to engrain the truths of God’s word into your heart, soul, and mind. Other Christian writers can provide more specific or detailed guidance as well. The stated goals of my blog are to help you “dig deeper, read smarter, and draw closer.” I’m always happy to answer any questions readers may have. If I don’t know the answer, I can usually point you in the right direction.

Experienced biblical scholars usually have a wealth of knowledge about background material relevant to the biblical accounts. They’ve studied the histories and writings of the cultures the main characters of the Bible interact with. They can also help explain some of the background customs and worldviews that are assumed and often unspoken by the biblical authors. Christ-followers who’ve studied in the hard sciences can add insight as well to things like the geography of the day, the geologic history of an area, or other culturally influenced features like architecture, art, and iconography. People trained in medical or mental health practice can also add insight to the wonderful creations we are, physically, spiritually, and socially.

In John 14:15ff., Jesus promises the Holy Spirit and instructs his disciples on what to expect from the Holy Spirit’s infilling and guidance. While the Spirit may speak to those who are seeking God but who are not yet Christ-followers, the Spirit does not dwell in those who have not fully accepted Jesus as their savior. If you are a Christ-follower, then you have assurance of the presence of the Holy Spirit in your life (and you do NOT need to manifest any gifts of the Spirit to prove that!). The Spirit is described as our Advocate in the NIV. Other versions use terms like Comforter, Counselor, or Helper. The Greek word (παράκλητος paraklētos) implies one who is called alongside you. Another role of the Holy Spirit is to remind us of the teachings of Jesus and more broadly the Bible. Jesus also uses the image of “peace” to describe the Spirit’s role in our lives, bringing order in the midst of our chaos; assurance in the midst of our turmoil.

The penultimate promise of Jesus in John 14:27c is this: “Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” We can live in that assurance when we have the peace of Christ dwelling in our hearts. Jesus’s ultimate promise, however, comes in the very next verse: “I am going away and I am coming back to you.” Both of these promises are repeated from the beginning of chapter 14 (vv. 1a, 3). The Spirit is meant for our life on earth. When we get to heaven, our joy and our peace will be to dwell forever with the risen and resurrected savior himself.

Peace to all of you, and thank you for reading.

Pastor Scott Stocking, M.Div.

My opinions are my own.

[1] Shout-outs from me do not imply the respective proprietors’ endorsement of my blog. These are a simple courtesy to the proprietors.

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