"I lift up my eyes to the hills — from where will my help come? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth." Psalm 121:1-2, NRSV Perhaps the hardest thing for people who are marginalized by society or stuck in systemic cycles of oppression or poverty is that they are almost always trapped. They have been abandoned by the people who have the means to help them escape those cycles. The psalmist, here, lifts his eyes to the hills, toward the horizon, searching for help that he hopes is coming but that he knows isn't coming from the people around him. The psalmist declares that what help arrives is from God, the maker of heaven and Earth, the Lord of Israel. It was that very same Israel from which no help came, but the God of Israel arrived. Sometimes the people who ought to help are not the ones who do it, but God is not those people. God is a helper and a hope and a shelter for the needy. God desires after the marginalized and oppressed.

"Even to your old age I am he, even when you turn gray I will carry you. I have made, and I will bear; I will carry and will save." Isaiah 46:4, NRSV If we think about all of the things in the world that have been created by humans or by animals, it's not difficult to see that creations don't necessarily hold any intrinsic value for the creators. Animals abandon homes, people abandon cars and couches on the side of the road, and even things that we need or use often can easily become misplaced or simply disappear. How many times have you been looking for something in your own home but been unable to find it? How many times have you misplaced your car keys or thrown away a sock that had no match or left your house without your wallet or driver license? Just because something is created doesn't mean that the creator has to care about it at all. Yet, God is consistently present with us and all of creation. As cathartic as it might be, sometimes, to treat God as

"Tell the older men to be temperate, serious, prudent, and sound in faith, in love, and in endurance." Titus 2:2, NRSV It would make sense if the older we get (the more time we spend pursuing wisdom from God) the more temperate, prudent, and loving we become. At least, that's the hope. In America, however, we so often underestimate the value of being the kind of person described in this passage that it seems increasingly rare to find someone who is even pursuing these characteristics. We talk a good game, but temperance and prudence aren't normally what we emulate. We should examine ourselves carefully and consider whether we're advancing in things like temperance, endurance, faith, and love. Eventually, we all get a chance at being the older ones, and we shouldn't take it lightly that our temperance and our love might be a critical part of someone else's formation.

"Teach me to do your will, for you are my God. Let your good spirit lead me on a level path." Psalm 143:10, NRSV The idea of a level path is about consistency. It's not level as opposed to inclined or declined. It's level as opposed to rocky. It's a flat path, one that is free of unexpected inconsistencies that might cause someone to stumble. It's the kind of path that allows someone to be sure-footed while walking along. What the Spirit offers us is a consistent life rooted in God whose will is level at every step. Jesus boils it down like this: devote yourself in love to God, and love your neighbor as yourself. It's not that love will always manifest in the same way. Rather, God's will is always going to be rooted in love. That consistency makes for level ground.

"It is he whom we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone in all wisdom, so that we may present everyone mature in Christ." Colossians 1:28, NRSV There's a word for biblical maturity and Godly wisdom: love. Everything God does is motivated by love, because God is love. If wisdom comes from God, it's rooted in, born of, and motivated by love. Maturity in Christ is descriptive of a relationship with love, and to be Christ-like is to conform to the example set forth by love. It's the Spirit of love who teaches us wisdom, counsels us in all things, and transforms us into Christ-likeness. Every command and every prophecy hinges on love. This is why a person who cannot learn to love enemies is not mature as our heavenly Father is mature. To love our enemies is a measurement of our maturity and wisdom. So, we proclaim love incarnate, crucified for love and raised for love, teaching everyone in all love, so that we may present everyone mature in that incarna

"Jesus answered him, 'Those who love me will keep my word, and my Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them.'" John 14:23, NRSV One of the questions that gets asked the least is, "What does it mean to keep Jesus's words?" I think a lot of Christians take it for granted that keeping the words of Jesus means obedience to the things we find Jesus commanding in scripture. While this is true in a general sense, I'm reminded of the young man who asked Jesus what must I do to be saved? Jesus didn't give him a vague answer. He gave him a very specific answer, and he enumerated for the man several things that would lead to his salvation. If you're wondering about your own life, I suggest you decide what is at the heart of God's mission and see what Jesus says related to that. Here's a brief overview of what that looks like for me: God is love, and God's love for creation is at the heart of God's m

"And Jesus came and said to them, 'All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.'" Matthew 28:18-20, NRSV It's strange how often people confuse discipleship with conformity. There's no doubt in my mind that obedience and discipleship go hand in hand, but conformity isn’t necessarily synonymous with obedience. To learn the commands of Jesus and obey them requires a dedication to discipleship first. A person has to decide to pursue Christ-likeness. Conformity is simply looking and acting like everyone else, and forced conformity breeds enmity and rebelliousness. What Jesus is proposing isn't just conformity. We aren't supposed to go into the world and force everyone in every nation to look

  "Hold to the standard of sound teaching that you have heard from me, in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. Guard the good treasure entrusted to you, with the help of the Holy Spirit living in us." 2 Timothy 1:13-14, NRSV The challenge in this verse isn't in holding to the teachings or guarding the good treasure. A lot of people are willing to stand their ground for what they believe and for what's important to them. The challenge is identifying what sound teaching it is that we've received and what good treasure we have. People use vague or general terms like "the gospel," "commandments," or "the teachings of scripture," etc. It's important that we identify what it is we believe we've actually been taught and what it is we believe is actually good treasure. It's important that we learn to talk about those things in specific ways, because the more specifically we can talk about them, the clearer we will see

"This is what the Lord says — your redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: 'I am the Lord your God, who teaches you what is best for you, who directs you in the way you should go.'" Isaiah 48:17, NRSV There's a first premise from which a relationship with God is built: God is good. For me, this means that God is love, but even if you don’t equate "good" and "love," good still implies that God is beneficial for us by God's very nature. When God says that God teaches us what is good, we have to decide whether we trust in that first premise. If we begin with a different premise — for example, that God is not good or that God will have to prove God's goodness — then we can’t accept what God is saying. We shouldn't, then, be surprised when people don't take God's word that God is going to teach them something good. Whether or not they're willing to believe that depends on where they’re beginning in their understanding of God. If y