Walking in the Way

1 Kings 2: 1-4

“1 When David’s time to die drew near, he charged his son Solomon, saying: 2 “I am about to go the way of all the earth. Be strong, be courageous, 3 and keep the charge of the Lord your God, walking in his ways and keeping his statutes, his commandments, his ordinances, and his testimonies, as it is written in the law of Moses, so that you may prosper in all that you do and wherever you turn. 4 Then the Lord will establish his word that he spoke concerning me: ‘If your heirs take heed to their way, to walk before me in faithfulness with all their heart and with all their soul, there shall not fail you a successor on the throne of Israel.’”

David, near death, charged his son, Solomon, heir to the throne of Israel, to be strong, to be courageous and to keep walking in the ways of God.

The Christian life is a life of death to self in order to live a life by faith; to walk in the ways and teachings of Christ.  

Such a life requires us to be different, to seek to be set apart, and requires the strength of character to go against the grain of society. It also requires the courage to act in love and forgiveness when the world is calling for hate and retribution.

Walking in the way of Christ is difficult.  

But it is the way.

May the love of Christ be with you,

Rev. Eric Lanier (Retired)

Finding the Narrow Gate

Matthew 7: 13-14

13 “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate, and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. 14 But small is the gate, and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.”

As a child I was part of an Easter egg hunt where the Easter eggs were just placed upon the ground for all to see.  There was no effort or ingenuity involved to find an egg.  Soon, everyone had a basket full.

And then there was the egg hunt where I only found a half dozen eggs after an hour of searching.  Some of my friends didn’t find any.  I think I treasured those six eggs more than the basket full that I had collected the year before.

When something is easy to find, many do not treasure it.  When something is hard to find, many lack the fortitude to search.

When we come to faith, it may be the result of many years of searching and wandering.

And then, finally, we are found.  And we are glad to enter the narrow gate and walk the narrow road.

May the love of Christ be with you,

Rev. Eric Lanier

The Answer

Matthew 21:23-27

23 Jesus entered the temple courts, and, while he was teaching, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to him. “By what authority are you doing these things?” they asked. “And who gave you this authority?” 24 Jesus replied, “I will also ask you one question. If you answer me, I will tell you by what authority I am doing these things. 25 John’s baptism—where did it come from? Was it from heaven, or of human origin?” They discussed it among themselves and said, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will ask, ‘Then why didn’t you believe him?’ 26 But if we say, ‘Of human origin’—we are afraid of the people, for they all hold that John was a prophet.” 27 So they answered Jesus, “We don’t know.” Then he said, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.”

When we think of the things that Jesus did upon entering Jerusalem, particularly the cleansing of the temple, it was only natural that the authorities would ask Him on whose authority He was acting.

Jesus, as he often did, countered with a question of his own.  “On whose authority did John the Baptist act?”  Their answer was an answer they thought would not condemn them either in Jesus’ eyes or in the eyes of the people.  They said they did not know.  But an answer of ignorance from people who should have known was self-condemning.  They could not face the truth.

The religious authorities had a duty to know these things, to know a true prophet from a false prophet. To say they did not know was to say they were not who they claimed to be.  So Jesus, rightly, refused to answer their question.

As Christians, we are to walk the path of truth, wherever that path leads, however difficult the journey, no matter how uncomfortable.  

And at the end of that journey lies the answer.

May the love of Christ be with you,

Rev. Eric Lanier (Retired)