18 December 2010

Psalm 55; Isa. 10:20-27; Jude 17-25; Luke 3:1-9

The prophecy is a mixed chalice, the Lord will deliver them who ‘lean upon the Lord’ but those who continue to lean on the Assyrians will be destroyed. Further, there will be only a remnant left, most will go to destruction. This is an act of righteousness? What does righteousness mean if the destruction of God’s own people is righteous? Righteousness means acting within ones character and God’s righteousness is found in His promises. Those promises were always and are always intended for those who lose themselves in Him. To live under a covenant is to surrender certain rights and privileges for the sake of protection. It is to lose one’s autonomy in certain respects in exchange for the comfort of knowing that if danger appears you will be taken care of. Submission is key to the terms of the agreement. Those who choose to lean on someone other than the one with whom the covenant is made run the risk of destruction. The Lord promised protection and blessing for the nation but they have put their trust in treaties of protection, they have violated the covenant and therefore the righteousness of God is that there will even be a remnant left. The promises are for those who keep their end of the bargain.

Luke begins this account by giving us several ways to triangulate the date of the events. John preaches a particular message, baptism for the forgiveness of sins. He is doing so because of Isaiah’s prophecy regarding preparation for the coming of Messiah. He sees his mission as the preparation of a people who gladly welcome the Messiah, who are able to welcome Him because they have dealt with sin and are therefore unafraid of judgment. We don’t talk much about righteousness and preparation in our churches nowadays but righteousness matters. Are we who we claim to be? Righteousness would mean that those who say they are Christians, Christ-followers, are being sanctified, our characters are becoming ever more like Jesus’ character. Where does your character, the things you do, say and think, need to come more fully under the lordship of Jesus?

Jude reminds us of the prophetic words that have been given that there will be those who are scoffers and who lead the people astray. We have been given two great gifts on which to lean, the Word of God and the Spirit of God. When we lean on someone’s interpretation of Scripture we no longer lean on the Lord. Today we have many who would say to us what the serpent said in the Garden, “Did God really say…” They say these things under the guise of “scholarship” that questions the Word of God whether on the basis of whether or not the books we have are the definitive collection, whether the church has interpreted them properly, whether they are cultural products representing only their particular time and place, etc. We must not follow those teachers if we are to be prepared for the coming of Christ. Let us lean neither on our own understanding nor on those who would doubt and question the Word and its interpretation but on the Word of God, the history of the church’s interpretation and the Holy Spirit for our preparation to greet Him who is indeed the Word.

I will cast my burden on the LORD,
and he will sustain me;
he will never permit
the righteous to be moved.