Thought for Today

Psalm 12:1  I lift up my eyes to the hills-- from where will my help come? 2  My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.  

Proverbs 21:21  Whoever pursues righteousness and kindness will find life and honor.

Micah 6:8  He has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?  

Titus 3:4  But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, 5  he saved us . . .

There are several words in the Greek of the New Testament which appear regularly and command great attention for us. Two of those words are on my mind today. One of the first words I learned in Greek was δικαιοσύνη. It is variously translated as righteousness, uprightness, integrity. “Biblically the term embraces a number of dimensions relating to God’s actions in establishing and maintaining right relationships. Ethically it is a state of moral purity or doing that which is right.” (Westminster Dictionary of Theological Terms, pg. 243) God’s righteousness and our righteousness in response are primary themes in the Bible. But, repeatedly, we are told that our salvation is not through our own righteousness. The rest of Titus 3:5 reads, “not because of any works of righteousness that we had done, but according to his mercy, through the water of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit.” Paul reminded the Ephesians, “2:8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God—”

Another word we often encounter is φιλανθρωπία. Our English word ‘philanthropy’ is derived from that Greek word. It is sometimes translated as ‘loving kindness,’ as it is in the passage above from Paul’s letter to Titus.

These words are on my mind today in part because of Christmas, but also because the end of our calendar year is rapidly approaching. To say that Christmas is the ultimate demonstration of God’s righteousness may be stating the obvious, but in many ways it is just that. Christmas is the gift of which Paul wrote because our salvation, individually, corporately and throughout all Creation is through our faith in God’s gift of Jesus, the Christ.

How do we demonstrate our own righteousness to God and before God? Micah sums it up for us, “to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God.” But, how are we to translate that into real, concrete, demonstrable words and actions?

Ultimately, at the most practical and fundamental level, Christians do justice, love kindness and walk humbly with our God through the way we live our daily lives. Through the loving kindnesses we demonstrate, through the things we think, say and do, we respond to God’s gracious gift, to God’s demonstrated righteousness our own righteousness.

The psalmist wrote, “19:14 Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to you, O LORD, my rock and my redeemer.” I can only add, “Let the deeds of my life be equally acceptable.” In everything we think, say and do we are accountable to God. Through everything we think, say and do we demonstrate whether or not we are doing what Micah said.

As the end of our calendar year approaches, many of us are thinking about our finances and putting everything in order in preparation for paying our taxes. As I read the devotional today in These Days, reflecting on the passage from Titus, that Greek word φιλανθρωπία stood out for me. Our generosity, our philanthropy is another demonstration of our righteousness. Jesus was careful to remind us in the Parable of the Widow’s Mite that it is not the quantitative size of our philanthropy so much as the qualitative size.

Paul understood that our salvation is not measured by anything other than the width, breadth and depth of our faith. We cannot buy salvation. We cannot amass enough frequent flyer miles or enough credit card points to obtain salvation. We can only accept the gift our God freely offers to all of God’s children. We can believe.

James reminds us, “2:18 Show me your faith apart from your works, and I by my works will show you my faith.” I repeat, ultimately, at the most practical and fundamental level, Christians do justice, love kindness and walk humbly with our God through the way we live our daily lives. Through the loving kindnesses we demonstrate, through the things we think, say and do, we respond to God’s gracious gift, to God’s demonstrated righteousness our own righteousness.

Stay safe, daily live your faith in the way you live your life, trust God,

Pastor Ray