4 April 2011

Psalm 89:1-18; Jer. 16:10-21; Rom. 7:1-12; John 6:1-15

The judgment of God against His people is terrible. They want to know what they have done and He clearly tells them. Their fathers have gone after other gods and they themselves have followed the devices and desires of their own hearts as we say in the confession in Morning Prayer. They have filled the land of God with idols and pillars and altars to other gods, they have desecrated the land. He promises that two things, they will be exiled to a land they have never inhabited in the north and that He will, at some unspecified time, bring them back to the Land. No one will escape this judgment and the punishment will be greater than the crime, He will doubly repay them for their sin. In the end, He will cause them to know, through His fierce judgment, that He is the Lord.

Philip’s reaction to Jesus question about “where” they could get enough food for all this people is humorous. His answer isn’t so much about “where” to get food but “how.” He states that over half a year’s wages for a common man would buy only enough for each person to have a little bread, so “where” that could be obtained is really a moot question. Jesus, however, has a different idea in mind, He will ask the Father to provide and we are told that each disciple gathered a basketful of leftovers from the meal after all had eaten not “a little” but when all had their fill. The people see and believe and decide to make Jesus king, by force if necessary. We like it when people give us or at least promise to satisfy our desires, we often elect them to be rulers over us and if they follow through on promises of prosperity we erect statues and monuments to them. What is the proper response to such a sign?

Paul says that sin seized an opportunity through the law. What does he mean? If we think about what we know about the original sin in the garden we will see that whenever prohibition is made we want that thing all the more. The assumption is that what is forbidden is perhaps pleasurable. How, for instance, did Prohibition work out in America? Did crime related to alcohol increase or decrease? Prohibition of a thing does not stamp out the desire for it, in some cases it increases the desire. That is not an argument for allowing more but for dealing with the issue at its root, desire. Our desires need to be brought under control, not pandered to. What should we desire? The kingdom of God and righteousness but simply commanding it doesn’t produce that desire. That requires a change of heart and outlook, it requires us to re-appraise the cross and Jesus’ loving sacrifice and to pursue Him, it also requires the Holy Spirit in us to will and desire things aright.

You are Lord of the Heavens and Lord of my life

Lord of the land and the sea

You were Lord of Creation before there was time

And Lord of all Lords You will be