31 October 2015

Psalm 55; Neh. 4:1-23; Rev. 7:4-17; Matt. 13:31-35

Again, in verses four and five we hear a short prayer from Nehemiah, succinct and to the point, trusting the Lord, pleading for Him to do what He has promised, and then we see them moving on with the work.  Sometimes we make things too difficult.  We don’t have to have elaborate prayers, we simply need to leave things with the Lord and do what we have been given to do.  The people, at first, had a mind to work.  As they reached the half-way point, however, the opposition from Sanballat and Tobiah became not silly taunts but angry plots to kill and destroy.  Those Israelites who were not in the city but were near these men then began to plead with the inhabitants and workers to leave and abandon the work.  Nehemiah knew that this was a greater danger than outsiders attempting to stop the work.  The work was carried on by having half the people work and the others protecting them.  Everyone was armed, the workers worked with one hand on their burden and the other on a weapon.  We need to have the same attitude, always prepared for attack, but we forget we have an enemy. 

We should never look down on small things.  That is the mistake Sanballat and Tobiah made in our first reading.  They thought the wall could never be restored because of its pitiable state but Nehemiah saw a vision of what it could be and would be and persuaded the people to work based on that vision.  Jesus says the kingdom of God is like leaven and a mustard seed.  When you make bread you use a lot of flour and a little bit of yeast for leavening but if you don’t have the yeast you won’t get bread.  When the yeast works its magic, the lump of dough greatly increases in size.  The same with planting a mustard seed and watching it grow into a tree.  We should never despise the day of small things, but always see what it is God is doing that will eventually mean something great will come into being. 

There are 144,000 from the nation of Israel but a great multitude from all nations, tribes, languages and people. They are waving palm branches just like when Jesus came into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, and they are speaking the truth, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”  This multitude is made up of those who passed through the “great tribulation.”  They will be comforted forever in the presence of God for all they suffered.  There may not have been great numbers in any age and place but when they are gathered together they are a great multitude, an impressive array.  We may sometimes feel alone, like Elijah, but we are never to forget these who have gone before, the pioneers, who ran the race and now cheer us on.  The cloud of witnesses is great.

30 October 2015

Psalm 40, 54; Neh. 2:1-20; Rev. 6:12-7:4; Matt. 13:24-30

Nehemiah had never been sad in the presence of the king.  The presence of the king was expected to make you joyful.  When the king notices the sadness, Nehemiah is initially afraid but his response begins with the affirmation, “Let the king live forever!”  His mind is elsewhere, in the home of his fathers which is in ruins.  Notice that Nehemiah gives us a little detail here that he does regularly throughout the book, he prayed before he spoke.  When he did speak, he made a bold request, to be given leave of the king to go and rebuild the city.  Nehemiah must have been a man of incredible vision and competency to ask such a thing in the belief he could accomplish it.  The Lord gave him favor with the king and he went.  When Nehemiah arrived in the city he told no one why he was there.  Surely these people knew who he was and that he had letters of transit from the king which required the cooperation of all who ruled over the area.  He made a thorough inspection of the city and the ruins each night for three nights, he wasn’t in denial about what was facing him.  When he was satisfied, he then told the elders his plans and was prepared to get to work.  As always, there was opposition, but Nehemiah had more faith than to allow that to deter him.

Is the field the church or the world?  It makes most sense that the field is the world, of which the church is a microcosm. We need to realize that the enemy is always at work, attempting to confuse us and deceive us.  There will always be opposition to the work but the reality is that we don’t know how things will turn out.  I was once an opponent of Christians.  I wanted nothing to do with them, I had walked away from the church and my one desire was for the people of God to leave me alone.  I did what I could to drive them away from me and, over time, they left me.  I am certain many would be surprised to learn what I do now.  Our problem can be that we forget we aren’t fighting flesh and blood in opposition but an enemy who is always at work.  The way to fight that enemy is to fight the spiritual battle of prayer and trust that in the end God is sovereign over all things.

The sixth seal reverses much of creation.  The sun goes black, the moon becomes like blood, the stars fall from the skies, the sky itself vanished like a scroll being rolled up, mountains and islands disappear and the inhabitants of the earth are like Adam and Eve, hiding from the wrath of God. There is, however, a delay in the execution of judgment.  That delay is to allow the sealing on the forehead of the servants of God.  Like Nehemiah, these will have safe passage through the tribulation period of the judgment of God on the earth and its inhabitants. Like the wheat among the weeds, these will be spared.  Ultimately, we can trust Him to be merciful to His people.

29 October 2015

Psalm 50; Neh. 1-1:11; Rev. 5:11-6:11; Matt. 13:18-23

Nehemiah may have been a high-ranking government official in the service of the king, Artaxerxes, but his heart was never far from his people, the Jews, or the city of God.  When one of his “brothers” comes to the citadel, he inquires as to the state of the city and is told of the state of the people and city.  The people are in great trouble and shame, the walls of the city are broken down and its gates destroyed by fire.  It is pathetic.  Nehemiah is broken by the news and weeps, fasts and prays for several days.  His prayer is based in the revealed truths about Yahweh, that He is “great and awesome” and He “keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments.”  It is further based in other truths, the truth about the failure of the nation, including Nehemiah and his fathers, to keep those commandments.  Our worship is based in those same confessions in Creed and confession, prior to Communion. Nehemiah isn’t dismayed and hopeless based on these confessions, he is hopeful because he remembered the other truth, the truth of 2 Chronicles 7.14, “if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.”  In the absolution from Rite I of the Eucharistic rite I speak this truth, Almighty God, our heavenly Father, who of his great mercy hath promised forgiveness of sins to all those who with

hearty repentance and true faith turn unto him…”  Receiving the promises of God has always been based in these two things.

Is there no hope for us in re the Word of God?  If we hear and don’t understand the enemy snatches it away.  What is the answer to that?  Prayer for understanding, preparation for worship should include reading the lessons and praying for wisdom and insight into the teachings.  If we have no root in ourselves, we hear and receive with joy but then trials and tribulations concerning the word allow that joy to be taken away.  The answer there is to be always in prayer and, as Paul says, count all such things as joy.  Jesus promises trials and tribulations will come for those who hold fast to the word but that it is not inevitable that we will fall.  We must abide in Him always.  Whose fault is the next problem, the thorns?  Jesus defines these as “the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches.”  The answer there?  Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, simplicity.  All these disciplines help make the soil good and fertile.  We aren’t helpless, we only need to practice what Jesus tells us to practice.

The worship of heaven is now directed to both the one on the throne and to the Lamb.  That is either ultimately blasphemous or it is true.  That the one on the throne allows it to continue tells us which of these it is.  As the seals are opened, the first four are attended by one of the creatures around the throne saying a single word, “Come!”  What “comes” are four horses, white, red, black and pale, each with a rider and each with a mission, conquering, dividing by removing peace from the world, famine, death and hell.  The fifth seal reveals the souls of the martyrs under the throne, crying out for God’s vengeance, the justification for the first four who are the judgments of God.  The judgment is deserved, not capricious.  Let us acknowledge our own unworthiness and pursue righteousness.  He alone is worthy!

28 October 2015

Psalm 119:49-72; Ezra 6:1-22; Rev. 5:1-10; Matt. 13:10-17

That didn’t work out the way the governor, Tattenai, thought it might. He had in mind that these Jews would be taken to task for erecting this temple in Jerusalem, that they would be found to be not only in error but also rebellious.  Instead, the governor was ordered to pay for the work on the temple out of the royal treasury as tribute from his own pocket. Not only that, he was also to provide whatever was necessary on a daily basis for the sacrifices required for worship there.  In other words, God was fulfilling the words of prophecy that the returned community would plunder their captors just as the generation of the exodus had done when they left Egypt.  Providing for the worship and the temple would cost God’s people nothing.  Four years after the work was renewed, twenty years after it was begun and approximately seventy years after the exile, the temple was complete and prepared for worship.  Passover was the first major celebration, a fitting time for the group who had come back to the Land just as that earlier generation had done.  Judaism today looks to this same hope, the worship of the temple, in Jerusalem, each year at Passover with the thought, “next year, in Jerusalem.”

The disciples concern for Jesus teaching in parables rather than propositions is that they know the people aren’t getting it.  Jesus says that the disciples have been given a great gift, “to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven,” but this has not been given generally to these others.  It isn’t a matter of their being unable to grasp the principles Jesus is teaching because they are too “zen” to understand without deep thought, it is because they lack the Spirit to bear witness.  We lack spiritual insight because we lack the Spirit.  We, even those of us who have the Spirit, can grow dull to the promptings of God, can lose our ability to see and hear because we lack the zeal to know and grow. His desire is for us to be always open and ready to learn and to see and hear Him active in the world around us. Let us awaken to His voice and His work, shaking off our indifference and complacency with what we know in order that we might know more and see more.  Christians should be always expectant.

As John weeps over the fact that no one has been found who is worthy to open the scroll an elder speaks to him of the lion of the tribe of Judah who has conquered and is worthy to open the scroll, opening the way of hope again.  Is the next thing John sees a lion?  No, it is, instead a lamb looking like it was slain.  Amazingly, this Lamb went to the throne and took the scroll from the hand of the one seated there.  When it does, heaven explodes in praise and worship for the Lamb, ascribing to it the praise that had been directed to the one on the throne in the previous chapter.  We are now part of the exile community for He has, by His blood, “ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation, and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth.”  Stop being disappointed that you were expecting a lion and only got a lamb and see things God’s way. Perhaps God’s way is better than you can ever imagine.

27 October 2015

Psalm 45; Ezra 5:1-17; Rev. 4:1-11; Matt. 13:1-9

Work on rebuilding the temple is begun under the direction of Zerubbabel with the prophets Haggai and Zechariah standing alongside supporting the work.  Of course there will be opposition to the work and the governor of the province comes to ask who has given permission to do this thing.  The elders know that this work is of God, the prophets have confirmed it to them and they will not be dissuaded from continuing.  The governor then determines to send a message to the king, Darius, to inform him of what he feels is a dangerous endeavor to allow.  The emphasis is clearly on the idea that the God of these people is really in charge but they also allege that Cyrus had given them his permission.  The governor’s request is that the records be searched to see if any such royal warrant was issued and it is clear that he doesn’t believe it.

Jesus teaches using a parable about sowing seed.  It seems this parable comes up often in the lectionary.  I have come to believe that the condition of the soil of my heart changes regularly and yet the Lord continues to sow seed even when it isn’t yielding anything or is being taken away by the birds.  He is constantly at work softening the ground of my heart to receive and yet I believe that knowing this also calls us to do some of that work also.  We can’t be passive with respect to our hearts, we need to be vigilant in keeping birds away, tending it to keep thorns out and making it receptive to what is being sown.  The disciplines of the church, prayer, worship, meditation, fasting, study, simplicity and the like are our work to constantly work the soil.  When we practice these things, we work together with Him and are more fruitful in our lives.  Do we want that enough to make some effort?

John is taken to the heavenly throne.  What he sees there is a riot of color and things incredibly unfamiliar.  The “one” on the throne is only described as having “the appearance of jasper and carnelian.”  The rainbow around the throne is “like an emerald.”  On the twenty four thrones are seated twenty four elders with white robes and golden crowns.  Who are these elders?  Are they heavenly beings or do they represent two groups of twelve?  Around the throne are living creatures like but unlike any creatures we have ever experienced except in the prophetic literature like Ezekiel and Daniel.  These give glory and honor to the one on the throne and when they do the elders cast down their golden crowns “around the glassy sea.”  This is all more than we can prepare to experience without being, as John was, “in the Spirit.”  We need faith, a vision that transcends this world, and preparation by the pursuit of God’s kingdom and righteousness in our lives if we are to approach this throne.

26 October 2015

Psalm 41, 52; Zech. 1:7-17; Rev. 1:4-20; Matt. 12:43-50

The prophet has a vision of the angel of the Lord who is responsible for patrolling the earth, standing among the myrtle trees with three horses.  Zechariah is confused about who this is and what they are doing here.  When he hears the report that all the earth is at rest, the angel of the Lord asks how long the Lord will allow the nations to be at rest and Jerusalem lie in ruins.  The Lord comforts the angel with the words that the time for judgment is passed and now He will be the rebuilder of the city.  His judgment was against the people but the nations He used for the task have exceeded their limitations in the work.  He is zealous for the city and for His Name’s sake and prosperity will abound because of His mercy and love for Jerusalem.  What a wonderful vision!

Unless we fill our lives with the Spirit of God, we are vulnerable to “unclean” spirits.  It is one thing to be delivered from something and quite another to be free.  Frequently we decide to give something up, to remove it from our lives, but we fail to replace it with anything.  Jesus says this makes us a ripe target for the unclean spirit looking for a place to make his home and to bring others along.  He is speaking to those who have, perhaps, heard John’s message and seen and heard Jesus’ message and who are not truly preparing themselves.  Preparation is more than repentance, turning from something, it is also a turning to something.  In baptism we ask three questions which are answered with the words, “I renounce them,” and then three other questions: Do you turn to Jesus Christ and accept him as your Savior? Do you put your whole trust in his grace and love? Do you promise to follow and obey him as your Lord?  It is important to replace something bad with something good. 

John sees a vision of Jesus, the Alpha and Omega, and is told to write to the seven churches in Asia.  His greeting to the churches is grace and peace and yet the messages will not be promises of good tidings without repentance in most cases.  Jesus is seen among seven lampstands, representing the churches addressed and has seven golden stars in His hand, representing the angels of the churches.  Do we think in such terms as that, angels looking over the particular territory a church is in?  Look at all the ways in which John describes Jesus here: the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of kings on earth, him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood and made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all tribes of the earth will wail on account of him, the Alpha and the Omega, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty, one like a son of man, the first and the last, and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades.  Should we ever fear with such a one as this on our side?

25 October 2015

Psalm 63, 98; Haggai 1:1-2:9; Acts 18:24-19:7; Luke 10:25-37

The Lord speaks to and through Haggai to encourage the people to rebuild the temple.  The initial word speaks to the current situation, they sow much and reap little, they are working hard to build their own kingdoms and houses and have allowed the Lord’s house to lie in ruins.  The reason their work is futile is that they have put second things first, they have set their own prosperity and glory above His.  In a material sense what they are doing is perfectly reasonable, as they prosper they will be more able to provide for the rebuilding of the temple.  First, they want to get established in the land and then see to the temple as they have means.  The Lord says that the temple needs to come first, that He may inhabit the Land and the promise is that He is with them, the same promise as the Great Commission.  As they begin the work, apparently there was discouragement, that the current situation was as nothing the eyes of the people.  We saw that in the reading from Ezra as the older men wept over the pitiable little construction as they remembered the former glory.  The Lord promises the workers, however, that the glory of the temple they are working on will surpass the former.  All because He is and will be with them.

The question, “Who is my neighbor?” is intended, Luke tells us, to justify the questioner.  If we limit the class of people we think of as neighbor, we can justify ourselves pretty easily.  I can love those who are loveable and who love me in return.  The parable of the Good Samaritan doesn’t tell us who this man is who is beaten and lying on the side of the road.  We don’t know if he is a Jew, Samaritan, or Gentile.  We do know who doesn’t act as neighbor to the man, a Levite and a priest.  Jesus answers the question obliquely by asking His own question at the end of the story, “Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?”  He doesn’t define who the man’s neighbor is other than to imply that my neighbor is anyone who needs me.  He also defines what it means to be a neighbor in saying, “…go, and do likewise,” in response to the man’s response to who was the neighbor, “The one who showed him mercy.”  Showing mercy is an active, costly thing.

Apollos knew the way of the Lord, he knew the truth about Jesus as Messiah.  He preached powerfully in Ephesus and yet there was something missing in his knowledge, he knew only the baptism of John. That baptism was for repentance in preparation for a greater baptism, a baptism of which John himself spoke, a baptism of the Holy Spirit and of fire.  Priscilla and Aquila, whom Paul had first met in Corinth and who had traveled with him to Ephesus where he stayed only briefly with the hope of returning, took Apollos aside and explained to him about the Holy Spirit.  When Paul returned to Ephesus, he met some of those who had apparently been converted under Apollos and immediately recognizes that something is missing in these disciples, namely the Holy Spirit.  There is something greater than John’s baptism, the work of the Holy Spirit.  Do we grieve the work of the Spirit in our lives by failing to ask for Him to be more active in our lives?  

24 October 2015

Psalm 30, 32; Ezra 4:7,11-24; Philemon 1-25; Matt. 12:33-42

Other people groups in the area oppose the rebuilding of Jerusalem and the temple.  They send word to the king that these people, the Jews, were allowed to come back and rebuild but it was a mistake for the king to have allowed it.  Their argument is that the Jewish people have always been rebellious and if they are permitted to rebuild the city they will return to their rebellious ways and have their independence from Persia.  The king is sympathetic to these concerns after consulting the history of the region and orders the work to be ceased.  There is always opposition to the kingdom of God. When we take the demands of the Lord seriously, we are a problem for the world because we don’t go along with morals and ethics that society concocts and approves.  When we immerse ourselves in worldly politics and life so completely that we are indistinguishable from the world, we lose our witness.  We should be a threat to the established order but that threat is tempered by love, not by the threat of warfare.

“…on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak, for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.” Jesus has said that they are evil and from the heart of evil they speak.  What they have just spoken is that He drives out demons by the power of the demonic.  Justification is by faith isn’t it?  How can Jesus then say that by our words we will be justified?  Our words tell of our faith.  What we truly believe is evidenced by our lives, not just our thoughts or a recitation of the creeds.  If we truly believe the alternative story of the world, the Biblical story, we cannot help but be shaped by it, as Paul says, transformed by it from the people we were before we believed it into something quite different.  Their next gambit is to ask for a sign but Jesus refuses it although He has already given many signs.  Jesus continues to offend the Jewish sensibilities by offering two groups who would condemn them at the day of judgment, both from the Gentiles who believed. 

Paul makes the demands of the Gospel clear to Philemon.  The man’s bondservant has run away and come to Paul.  Paul says he has enough boldness to command Philemon to receive his servant back but Paul also believes that Philemon will do what is right in the Lord.  Paul is willing to pay whatever cost there has been to the owner but lays a bit of guilt on at the same time.  His appeal is clearly based in the forgiveness of sins in Christ Jesus.  As Philemon has been forgiven, so should he forgive Onesimus and receive him back as a brother in the Lord.  He is not to treat the man as a runaway slave would be treated but as a brother in Jesus.  What the Gospel means to us is transformation of everything.  Philemon has a duty to the Lord that transcends all else.  “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us,” calls us out of our “rights” and into an obligation.

23 October 2015

Psalm 31; Ezra 3:1-13; 1 Cor 16:10-24; Matt. 12:22-32

The people are afraid of the surrounding nations and decide that it would be good to begin to worship so they rebuild the altar for sacrifices.  The city is being re-inhabited and rebuilt but it must have been a pitiable sight at the time.  They built the altar, simply a big grill, in the midst of the city and began to bring the sacrifices required by the law and kept them burning day and night as a supplication to the Lord.  Their expectation would have been that he would have then provided protection from the enemies round about them.  Finally, they determine also that they need to rebuild the temple and on the day the foundation was laid they had a worship event with great fanfare.  There were those present, however, who remembered the glory of Solomon’s temple and their wailing at that memory became indistinguishable from the praises of the others.  The Christian life and Christian worship should always be this same mixture of celebration and mourning.  Celebration for what God has done but mourning over the necessity of His having to do it, celebration of His goodness and faithfulness and mourning over our sin.

Jesus heals a demon-oppressed man who is blind and mute.  The crowds acclaim Him but the Pharisees accuse Jesus of having powers that come from Beelzebul with which to do such works.  Jesus’ argument is that this makes no sense logically and it also begs the question of by what power others perform these works.  I would say that Jesus gets a little testy regarding the idea of blaspheming the Holy Spirit wouldn’t you?  If you want to see a passage that bespeaks the Trinity this would be the one.  If you can be forgiven for blasphemy against Jesus but not the Spirit, it would certainly elevate the Spirit from simply some manifestation of God’s presence to personhood and equality with God.  Blasphemy, in Judaism, would be reserved only for slander against God. 

As he closes his letter, Paul speaks of several other men who are brothers in the faith and co-laborers for the Gospel, some of whom are coming to visit the Corinthians and some who have come to him from this church.  The cross pollination of the early church was due in some part to their identity as a persecuted minority in the cultures in which they were situated.  They were as vulnerable as the people in Jerusalem at the time Ezra writes and they needed one another, the reassurance of others who were keeping the faith.  It is important that we not grow insular in our little church world, that we have ties with brothers and sisters in our workplaces, in our schools, and across denominational lines, that we be reminded we are not alone.  The Holy Spirit is the tie which binds us with one another, wherever we may attend church and wherever we may be in the world, that is not something to be taken for granted or taken lightly.  If we don’t feel the need for them, it may well be they feel the need of us.

22 October 2015

Psalm 37:1-18; Ezra 1:1-11; 1 Cor. 16:1-9; Matt. 12:15-21

Cyrus’ proclamation is based in his confidence that, “The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth.”  If that is true, he can afford to be magnanimous can’t he?  He can send people back to their places based in the knowledge that he rules all kingdoms and they have been given to him not by might but by the Lord, the God of heaven.  Even if they return he is still king, it all belongs to him.  This was probably written with the help of some Jewish advisers who knew the accurate way to refer to Yahweh. Technically, his words are true, as the Lord is indeed sovereign over all things, but Cyrus had not received the kingdoms as a permanent possession.  When the exiles return there is the hint of the first exodus in the people around them giving them silver and gold to take to Jerusalem as the Egyptians had done in pleading with the people to leave after the plague of the first-born.  Cyrus, however, was not stubborn like Pharaoh, this going to the land did not require the same acts that the exodus required.

Matthew sees in Jesus’ reticence to allow the people to make him known the fulfillment of the prophecy of Isaiah that the Messiah would be humble, not a warrior who was seeking attention and acclaim.  Jesus was, in some respects, the antithesis of some messianic expectations in this regard.  He failed to do what was expected, to restore Jerusalem to the pre-eminence and subject the kingdoms of the world to God.  Jesus’ death, for those whose expectations were based in the more militaristic and earthly kingdom idea of Messiah, brought an end to any claim at all to Him being Messiah.  Matthew finds, in the suffering servant of Isaiah, the messianic role of Jesus.  In this he sees two works of Messiah, separated in time from one another, the first to bring the nations to knowledge of God and the second work the recapitulation of the original good creation.  Jesus’ work as the servant of the Lord can be contrasted with our first lesson in that Jesus knew and submitted Himself as servant of the Father while Cyrus saw himself in partnership with God as worthy of equal honor. 

Paul concludes his letter to the church at Corinth by reminding them that they need to give to the relief of the saints who are in need in other places.  It was important that they know and appreciate the connection with brothers and sisters in other places, that the church understand itself as something larger than just the local body. Paul’s plans are to come back to Corinth but his plans are not in his own hands, the Lord controls all things and Paul is clear that all he hopes to do are contingent on the Lord’s will.  Do we hold our plans as loosely as that?  Understanding and accepting the sovereignty of God in all things should keep us in a humble posture in this regard, willing to be re-directed if it suits Him.  Our understanding of life is too imperfect to insist on our own way.

21 October 2015

Psalm 38; Lam. 2:8-15; 1 Cor. 15:51-58; Matt. 12:1-14

Can you just see Jeremiah wandering about the ruined city of Jerusalem weeping at the utter devastation and the remaining populace scrounging about for sustenance? While he had warned the leaders and people and suffered for telling God’s truth, persecuted and hunted, he never lost his love for the people of God or the city of God. His reaction to all that has occurred is not triumphalism, “I told you so!”, but desolation and lamentation.  He didn’t want this to happen, no matter how he was treated.  The truly prophetic seeks to warn not scold, desires repentance not judgment.  Jeremiah should be the model for all prophets, a man willing to suffer not only for his faithfulness to the word he was given but also willing to suffer alongside those who did not heed his words.  He was never standing apart from the people in self-righteousness, he was always hoping for a change of heart.  Unlike Job’s friends who were willing to sit with him a while before pouring out their judgment against him, Jeremiah was moved to tears over the suffering of the people.

Jesus deals with the self-righteous on two occasions here, those who find Him to be unrighteous based on their legalisms. First, the disciples are plucking grain, rubbing it in their hands to separate the kernel from the husk, and this, the Pharisees determine, qualifies as work and, therefore, a violation of the Sabbath.  Jesus probably rolled His eyes and shook His head at this before answering.  He refers back to a gross violation of the temple laws by David in eating the Bread of the Presence when he and his men were hungry and on the run from Saul, which no one got up in arms about, to show how ridiculous their nit-picking was here.  In the synagogue, the accusers have no sense of the ironic when they ask of Jesus if it is lawful to heal on the Sabbath.  They believe He can heal!  Do they not see how ludicrous, then, is the rest of the sentence?  They acknowledge that Jesus can do thing they cannot but then dare Him to defend it on Sabbath.  Alignment with God in legalism against people is not real alignment with God.  The law of love is higher than any other law.

Paul assures the Corinthians that at the last judgment all shall be changed from perishable to imperishable, the dead and those living at the time of judgment.  At that time there will be no more death, the work of Jesus will be complete in conquering death, we will never fear its sting again.  His purpose for this reassuring is that they might know “that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.”  His encouragement is not that they might simply while away the hours until death, conversing with the flowers as the Scarecrow sings in the Wizard of Oz, but “always abounding in the work of the Lord.”  So long as we have life we are to be productive in this work.  The meaning of life changes in Jesus, we work for a different reason and with a different attitude, but we have now a work of infinite and eternal value to perform, making known God’s loving-kindness to the world in need of it.

20 October 2015

Psalm 26, 28; Lam. 1:1-12; 1 Cor. 15:41-50; Matt. 11:25-30

Jeremiah (the presumed author of Lamentations) looks at the ruined city of God and is devastated.  It is difficult to imagine what it would have looked like to see the city naked, its walls torn down, the temple desecrated and destroyed, the houses ruined and the city bereft of inhabitants.  We have seen pictures of the destruction of cities in Europe in WWI and WWII but even then the destruction isn’t as complete as Jerusalem’s.  Further, these cities, as dear as they were to their inhabitants, cannot compare in import with Jerusalem as it was the city of God, the place where His glory dwelt in the temple.  Jeremiah is broken by what he sees there and writes this ode to her glory and her fall due to sin, particularly idolatry.  As we begin our turn towards Advent, this is a good reminder for us to take stock of where we are spiritually.  Have we allowed ourselves to worship idols like political parties, money, or some other thing that we believe will make our lives full?  If so, now is a perfect time to deal with those idols.

What is it that is causing you to labor and be heavy laden?  Perhaps it is a problem with money or relationships or work but why are we allowing those things to burden us so?  Sometimes identifying our burdens also helps us to identify our idols.  Jesus says that whatever your burden is you can bring them to Him and He will refresh you.  If we find our joy and peace and hope in Him, we will lose our burdens.  Most often when I find myself heavy laden it is because I am not finding all in Him, He is less important than something else in my life.  Until we are able to be complete in Him we will always be burdened and laboring.  There is no substitute for Jesus, the lover of our souls.  The greatest need we have in life is Him.

When Paul speaks of a natural man and a spiritual man and finishes with, “I tell you this, brothers: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable,” is he denigrating the life we now live in any way?  No, as he says, first there is the natural man and then the spiritual man.  Jesus redeemed us from death by His life.  This body may perish but that does not mean what we do in this body is insignificant.  The incarnation, God becoming flesh, tells us that God considers this life important as well.  We tend to make much of the death and resurrection of Jesus and the creeds reinforce that idea but the life of Jesus was equally important for it validated our own lives and he called us to live, not to die.  If life weren’t important why not do away with it altogether?  No, let us have the mind Paul did concerning this life, “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”  Let us live not for the satisfaction of worldly desires but for the joy of pleasing Him.

19 October 2015

Psalm 25; Jer. 44:1-14; 1 Cor. 15:30-41; Matt. 11:16-24

The Lord speaks through Jeremiah to those who have chosen to go to Egypt rather than to Babylon in exile.  The Lord essentially prepared a place for the exiles in Babylon and these people chose their own path.  Jeremiah’s word to them is that they have chosen the path of death and destruction rather than life.  In Egypt they are continuing to practice idolatry, worshiping other gods and there they will die, some by the sword and others by famine.  They cannot escape His judgment simply because they have gone to Egypt.  They are in covenant with Him and they continue to sin against Him in their idolatry. If they had gone to Babylon there would be hope for them but not when they stiffen their necks and go their own way.  The announcement is that none of them will return with the exception of some “fugitives.” 

The parable Jesus uses here regarding the children playing tunes is to say that the people are non-responsive to anything.  They don’t dance when the flute is played and they don’t mourn when a dirge is sung.  They are spiritually dead.  John came preaching repentance and fasting and they didn’t respond and Jesus comes in fulfillment of Messianic prophecy and they don’t respond to him either.  Judgment is announced for those cities which fail to respond.  Jesus compares them to cities of the Gentiles which, He says, would have repented if He had done there what He has done among the Jews.  Can you imagine how we would react if He said the same things to the church today?  Is the church spiritually alive or simply entertained?

Paul, too, speaks to those who are spiritually dead, “Wake up from your drunken stupor…”  Some in Corinth apparently have denied the resurrection from the dead because they do not believe the body itself matters, only the soul.  This form of dualism is no stranger to the church today.  There are those who have no theology of the body at all, no idea that the incarnation validated this life in this body. Yes, this one is a body of death but in it Jesus glorified the Father and we, as those created in His image, are to do likewise.  Paul says that this body is the kernel of the glorified body, and indeed it must die in order for that one to come into being but this life and this body is a gift from God which we are to use for His glory.  In this life we are to turn to Him and use our lives to proclaim the kingdom wherever we are, embodiment is important.

18 October 2015

Psalm 148, 149, 150; Jer. 29:1,4-14; Acts 16:6-15; Luke 10:1-12,17-20

If the exiles in Babylon thought they would return soon, that the Lord would quickly deliver them from Nebuchadnezzar, Jeremiah’s letter disabused them of that notion.  We use the promises of verse 11 as our hope in trial but the original audience would not have seen these as personally hopeful.  They were going to be here in Babylon for seventy years, nearly all this group would never see Jerusalem again, they would be like the generation who perished in the wilderness and never entered the Promised Land.  Jeremiah says, settle in, it’s going to be a while, live life as you would if you were here.  Apparently, the prophets and diviners among the exiles were giving a different message and Jeremiah is quick to put down the hopes they may have engendered.  The promises of verse 11 are contingent on their turning back to Him in truth and when they do, the Lord will glorious restore them to the Land.  If you were in their shoes, knowing that you were going to spend the rest of your life in “exile”, whatever that may mean in your life, would you still hold onto the promises as dearly in hope?  You should, even if they are never realized in your life.

In Luke’s Gospel, Jesus sends out the disciples as an “advance team” to the places Jesus is about to go.  They are to proclaim the coming of the kingdom in both word and powerful deeds to prepare the place for His coming.  This would have been a familiar thing at the time, for heralds would have gone ahead of the king to the places he was preparing to visit to get the people and the place ready to receive their king with fanfare and gladness.  The seventy-two go about the mission and then come back overjoyed and, it appears, quite surprised at what has happened through them. Jesus says that they aren’t to get attached to the works, these aren’t the truly important thing.  The thing to rejoice over is the reality that they have eternal life, “that your names are written in heaven.”  These things will pass away, the things eternal are the things of real significance.

Lydia is a person of peace, the kind of person Jesus spoke of in our Gospel reading.  Paul got a vision and a word from a “man of Macedonia” but when they went to Philippi they found no men, no synagogue, only a place of prayer by the river, a place of women not men. The requirement for the establishment of a synagogue was that there be ten faithful men in the place else it was thought to be subject to judgment as Sodom and Gomorrah where that number of faithful men could not be found.  God has faithful people, people of peace, prepared all over the world, but who will go to them as Paul did?  We are to live as exiles here, prepared to go wherever He sends us to proclaim the coming of the Kingdom.  As the people settled in Babylon, men like Daniel and his friends became witnesses to the kings and his “magicians”, the descendants of whom we know as the wise men who visited Jesus after His birth.  It is important that we always be proclaiming the Gospel lest we miss an opportunity to see it take root.

17 October 2015

Psalm 20, 21; 2 Kings 25:8-12,22-26; 1 Cor. 15:12-29; Matt. 11:7-15

The conquest of Jerusalem is complete, the walls are destroyed and the temple, the king’s house and all the houses of the city are burned down and anyone of consequence was taken into exile in Babylon.  Only the poorest were left in the land to tend to crops.  A regent is set in place, Gedaliah, who promises the soldiers of Israel that if they remain and serve the king of Babylon they will live in peace.  Some, however, will not accept those terms and murder the regent.  They know there will be retribution so all now leave the city desolate of the people of God and flee to Egypt of all places for safety.  This time, the Lord will not bring the people back from that nation. 

As John’s disciples go away to report what Jesus has said and done to him, Jesus turns to the crowds following him and affirms John and his ministry.  He is more than a prophet, and that statement is explained when Jesus says that John is Elijah.  The prophecy of Malachi spoke of Elijah coming as a forerunner and an agent of proclamation and preparation prior to the coming of Messiah.  In referring to John in this way Jesus is making a clear statement about Himself as well, the one John said was Messiah.  John got it right.  The kingdom of God must come violently because the world is a violent place, it is prepared to protect itself against a hostile takeover by God’s kingdom.  Until now, that is, now the cross shows the way the kingdom will come and will advance.  Kingdom people understand that violence is the way of the world, not the way of God. 

Why is the resurrection of the dead so important to Paul?  It puts all of life in perspective.  Our worldview is intended to begin with Jesus’ resurrection.  When we start with the certainty that this life and death aren’t all there is then we have a different attitude towards life and the stuff of this world.  We know this life is important because it is a gift and because Jesus came and lived here.  We should, however, know that this life is important for different reasons than the people around us who don’t believe in the resurrection from the dead.  We should make our decisions based not on preserving this life or having more in this life but in living a cross-shaped life of love and service.  We live a life disillusioned by the cross, no longer under an illusion about the goodness of the world because it crucified the only good man who ever lived.  Our disillusionment with the world means we can see things clearly and truly as they are.  We can mourn over the way things are and work to restore God’s way and His kingdom in our lives and bring light to the world.  

16 October 2015

Psalm 16, 17; Jer. 38:14-28; 1 Cor. 15:1-11; Matt. 11:1-6

The king, it seems, knows the jig is up, there is no real hope for him of remaining as king and winning this battle against the Chaldeans.  He, therefore, calls the only real prophet, the one whose prophetic words have proven reliable even though they haven’t been what he wanted to hear.  Now he wants to listen to Jeremiah and he wants to hear the truth.  He has a decision to make, whether to do as Jeremiah counsels and surrender to the Chaldeans or wait here in the city and lose his life.  He clearly knows Jeremiah is correct but he doesn’t want to be seen consulting with the prophet who his advisers know has other ideas about the future.  He gets a promise from Jeremiah to lie to the officials when they ask what the conversation has been about.  Will he have enough courage to do the right thing and listen to the prophet?  Both he and the remnant will benefit if he does.

Is John in doubt about Jesus?  The ancient commenters on this passage say no while more modern writers say yes. Ancient commentary almost unilaterally said that John sent his disciples to Jesus for their benefit, that he had resigned himself to his fate and wanted them to attach themselves to Jesus.  Modern commentary believes John is having misgivings since he is in prison when he believed Jesus would be Messiah and take over as king and therefore set him free.  In response, Jesus cites His works as those promised of Messiah but leaves out the one thing John would have wanted to hear, setting prisoners free.  If all those other things were true but this one was not, was Jesus Messiah?  Faith is required, even of John and his disciples.  Can we persevere in belief even when our fondest prayers aren’t answered?  We like fairy tale endings so much that sometimes people can’t handle the disappointment of their own situations not being resolved in that way. 

Paul plainly states the content of faith, what he preached.  The Gospel is: “that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures…” and then that afterwards He appeared to people in the flesh, that many saw the resurrected Jesus, and that He appeared to Paul himself, one “born out of time.”  Our faith is based in those events and their interpretation as salvific and pointing towards our own resurrection from the dead.  Faith isn’t based in getting the outcomes we want in this life if it is properly Christian, it begins and ends with the finished work of Jesus and the promise for those who believe in Him of eternal life.  Jeremiah might have wanted the city to be spared but that wasn’t going to happen.  John might have wanted to have his life spared and be released from prison but that wasn’t going to happen either.  Is your faith strong enough to survive worldly disappointment?

15 October 2015

Psalm 18:1-20; Jer. 38:1-13; 1 Cor. 14:26-33a,37-40; Matt. 10:34-42

Jeremiah’s beating and imprisonment did not deter him from speaking the truth, whether it was popular or not. It is easy to see why the officials would be upset with him for telling that the best course of action was to surrender, to go out and give yourselves over to the Chaldeans in order that you live, that there was no hope in holding out against the enemy.  We would definitely call that an act of treason wouldn’t we?  The problem was that his words were true and he was only attempting to save people from the coming judgment of the Lord who was using the Babylonians as the instrument of judgment.  King Zedekiah was too weak to stop the officials and gave permission to do what they wanted to the prophet, which was to put him into the cistern, sinking in the mud.  He was also too weak to oppose the Ethiopian eunuch’s effort to save Jeremiah and so gave permission to do that as well.  The life of a prophet isn’t easy.

It is a palatable idea to think of risking the opinion of “the world” to align with Jesus but it is more difficult when the opposition is close to home.  Jesus promises that division, opposition and even persecution will come from those who are family and friends.  In Nazi Germany such things were the norm.  Such was the devotion demanded by the state that no loyalty was to be greater and, therefore, family members would be encouraged to tell the state of any subversive activity by those close to them and, indeed, it was a regular occurrence for someone to be betrayed by their nearest and dearest.  Jesus says that if you are unwilling to bet everything on Him, even to the point of losing your life for Him, you are unworthy.  Where do we compromise and fail this simple test?  Are you afraid of sharing your faith for fear someone will think you simple or a fanatic?  If we can’t pass the small tests, how will we ever pass the larger ones?

I love the last statement in the reading, “all things should be done decently and in order,” as much as the next person but the context is important. Paul is talking about a worship service where some people prophesy, some give words in tongues, some interpret, some bring songs, all bring something to the worship.  We have professionalized worship and would rarely think of allowing anyone else to participate except the ordained and the worship leaders.  We allow the laity to speak when we give them the words they should speak in the liturgy but no other time.  Perhaps that has contributed to the laity’s sense of feeling unprepared to speak in private as well.  We don’t encourage enough theological reflection and we expect little of the Spirit working in people’s hearts and minds.  Knowing the truth can embolden people, we need to own our beliefs more than reading alone allows us to do.  If we are to be able to suffer, we need to fully understand the truth.

14 October 2015

Psalm 119:1-24; Jer. 37:3-21; 1 Cor. 14:13-25; Matt. 10:24-33

Jeremiah was God’s prophet in his time and yet he was mistreated, beaten and imprisoned for aligning himself with God’s purposes.  It is hard to deal with persecution and hardship when you know you are simply being obedient to God. We expect that if we do what He asks us to do then He will protect us from harm, not allow us to suffer.  We live in a world that doesn’t know or care about God and we will suffer for His Name’s sake if we persevere in the work we are given to do.  Jeremiah is the lone voice among those who call themselves prophets who was speaking for God.  The others believed that the coming of Pharaoh’s army would save the city from the Chaldean and the Lord told Jeremiah otherwise, that nothing and no one could save the city.  This was the judgment of God against His people.  Jeremiah knew that ultimately he had to be true to the word he was given and was unwilling to compromise, even if that meant he was misunderstood to be cooperating with the enemy. 

Jesus prepares His disciples for the reality of suffering.  The opposition against Him is beginning to find its voice and His warning is that they too will face such opposition.  At this juncture they could not conceive what was to come in the crucifixion. If, as they thought, Jesus was Messiah, His talk of suffering and persecution was completely misguided.  They would sit on thrones, receive great acclaim, for having had the good sense and good fortune to have been with Him when He ascended to the throne of Israel.  Jesus, however, knew better and spoke of death for allegiance to Him.  We have had a long season of time in the west when we were well-treated and well thought of for being Christians but that season, I fear, is done.  We need to be prepared to suffer well and gladly for His Name’s sake.  Our faith will be tested by the times and we will have to choose whether we serve Him or the state.  The only way to overcome fear is by faith, knowing what you believe and why and that ultimately there will be a greater judgment, a judgment unto eternal death or life.  Knowing what to fear is important.

The prophetic word was considered of primary importance by Paul.  He thought it far more important than tongues in spite of the fact that he says that he spoke in tongues more than all of them.  The critical thing to see in the passage contrasting tongues and prophecy are the words, “in church.”  Paul seems to indicate that his use of tongues was a private thing, perhaps connected more with prayer.  The prophetic word is to convict, the work of the Holy Spirit was to convict the world of sin and righteousness in order that repentance was made possible.  Truth is to be made known clearly and plainly in order that people are able to discern what to do with it.  We are, primarily, to be witnesses to the truth, all else is secondary.

13 October 2015

Psalm 5, 6; Jer. 36:27-37:2; 1 Cor. 14:1-12; Matt. 10:16-23

The word of the Lord is sure and it is important.  Jehoiakim may have destroyed the scroll but he cannot destroy or break the word of God.  Is there a bit of a parallel here with the breaking of the tablets of the Ten Commandments by Moses after the sin of the Golden Calf?  Jeremiah is instructed to re-write the scroll of the prophecy and confront the king with it after his sin of burning the first one.  The prophecy, however, is now expanded to include the reality that no son of Jeconiah will sit on the throne of Israel, his line is permanently prohibited from occupying that role for his sin.  Zedekiah, son of Josiah, will take the throne instead.  We may deny God’s Word but our denial does not invalidate it. 

“Beware of men, for they will deliver you over to courts and flog you in their synagogues, and you will be dragged before governors and kings for my sake, to bear witness before them and the Gentiles.”  The purpose of persecution, Jesus says, is for His sake and to bear witness.  Paul never forgot this truth.  He always bore witness to Jesus when he was dragged before governors and kings, always looked at it as an evangelistic opportunity.  Should we begin to develop that same mindset given the legal changes in the US?  Jesus says not to worry about what we will say in that event but that we will be speaking the Father’s words as we give our testimony.  He promises that these men will be hated for His Name’s sake and that persecution will be their lot, that they will go from one town to the next in flight from it. 

The purpose of manifestations of the Spirit, Paul argues, is the building up of the church.  For this reason, he sets prophecy over against tongues as a superior gift, one for which all should yearn.  Prophecy builds up the church by speaking God’s word to the Body.  Building up may take the form of conviction of sin in the Body or it may take the form of encouragement.  We see both in the letters to the churches in the Revelation.  The Lord affirms what is to be continued and speaks into the problems in the churches that need to be corrected.  Building up sometimes requires tearing down of man-made edifices and artifices in order to restore properly.  Paul is not criticizing or saying there is no gift of tongues, he is placing it in its proper place.  Apparently the gift of tongues has always had a great appeal to some as an exotic and therefore more valuable seeming gift.  We need to speak clearly and distinctly for the Lord. 

12 October 2015

Psalm 1, 2, 3; Jer. 36:11-26; 1 Cor. 13:1-13; Matt. 10:5-15

The royal officials know that what Jeremiah has written and Baruch has read is dynamite.  They know that it is true and that something must be done.  They instruct Baruch to take Jeremiah and go into hiding for they also know that when the king hears these words he will seek their lives.  The scroll is brought to the king who impassively listens, cuts off the portion that has been read and tosses it into the fire as though it were unimportant to him.  This man could not be more different from his father, Josiah.  When Josiah read the word of the Lord, he immediately repented of the sins of the nation and his forefathers and restored the worship of Yahweh.  While Jehoiakim sought Jeremiah and Baruch, the Lord hid them, they are more important to God’s scheme than the king. 

Jesus sends out the twelve to proclaim the coming of the kingdom of God. They are sent only to the lost sheep of Israel, not to Gentiles and not to Samaritans, an interesting distinction made by Jesus.  When they go they are to take nothing at all with them, depending totally on the Lord for all provision.  If we send out mission teams they are well supplied with all they will need and it is typically an expensive endeavor.  He sent them out with a message and with the power to share that message not only in word but also in deed, healing the sick, raising the dead, cleansing lepers, and casting out demons.  Jesus doesn’t promise they will always be welcomed but if they are the instructions are to accept that welcome and remain.  If they are not received, they are to shake the dust off their feet in judgment against that town.  We need to develop thicker skin and preach the truth, repentance for the kingdom of God is near. 

How does love fit into the first two lessons?  The love for God impels the prophet to align himself with God’s purpose no matter the cost.  He loves God’s holiness but also God’s desire to communicate with His people concerning His desire to see them repent.  The prophet also aligns himself in love with the people.  God’s desire is not for judgment, that is a necessary thing to protect His Name which He has given His people.  It must not be profaned by humans who are intended to make Him known, those who have the Word and the Spirit.  Love is to be the motivation for all we do, love for God and love for neighbor.  When we use our gifts we are intended to use them in love to build up and not to tear down.  Sadly, I have known some who despise the Body of Christ who believe themselves to be aligned with God in speaking against the Church.  If, however, the desire to see the church repent and be reformed, to beautify the Church, the messenger is a clanging symbol not only in the ears of the Church but in the ears of God.  To be in alignment with God is to desire repentance, not judgment.

11 October 2015

Psalm 146, 147; Jer. 36:1-10; Acts 14:8-18; Luke 7:36-50

When the Lord tells Jeremiah to write the words He has spoken against Israel, Judah and the nations He also gives the reason for doing so, “It may be that the house of Judah will hear all the disaster that I intend to do to them, so that every one may turn from his evil way, and that I may forgive their iniquity and their sin.” Did God not know how this would turn out?  There was too much prophecy to believe that “every one” would turn from their evil ways.  He had always spoken of a remnant, not the entire nation.  The Lord was giving anyone who would come and listen to the words a chance to hear the truth and respond with repentance.  Jeremiah was banned by the officials from the temple area so his scribe, Baruch, would be the one to deliver the message.  The heading of the chapter tells us how this is going to turn out.  The king wanted no part of hearing the message.

Why did the Pharisee invite Jesus to dine with him?  The highest appellation he can think of to ascribe to Jesus is Teacher and yet he did not treat Him with the respect a Teacher deserved in Judaism, the courtesy of hospitality.  Simon the Pharisee said “to himself” that Jesus must not be a prophet based on His allowing the woman to wash His feet.  The person in the scene with the perception problem is Simon.  He is the only one who can’t see things clearly.  The woman recognizes Jesus and treats Him with more than common courtesy, she provides lavishly for Jesus.  Jesus knows who she is and proves it with the parable of two sinners, one great, one not so great.  In the end, she is the one who receives pardon while Simon’s sins remain.  The first thing we must do is recognize we are sinners if we would see Jesus rightly.  Our reaction to Him should be like this woman’s. 

Paul looked intently at the man and discerned he had faith to be healed.  Although the man had never walked from birth, Paul saw that man believed that it was possible to be healed and to walk.  When Paul commands it, the man springs up onto his feet and walks, an incredible thing to be sure.  Because of the story that was current in the area of a recent visitation from the gods (Baucis and Philemon), the people of the region were on high alert for such a thing and are immediately prepared to offer sacrifices to Paul and Barnabas who they take to be the gods incarnate.  Can’t you just see Paul when he realizes what is going on here?  He takes action right away to deter the people from their intentions by pointing away from himself to the living God whom he is proclaiming .  The actions of the people are because, in the myth, judgment fell on the city that failed to recognize the gods and it was destroyed like Sodom and Gomorrah.  The reality of judgment was the motive for lavish sacrifice.  When we believe in the reality of future judgment we have a different attitude toward the present.

10 October 2015

Psalm 137, 144; Jer. 35:1-19; 1 Cor. 12:27-13:3; Matt. 9:35-10:4

This is a strange little passage.  What we know of the people called the Rechabites we know from this enigmatic passage.  Jeremiah hears a word from the Lord to go and find these people, bring them into the house of the Lord, into a chamber and there offer them wine to drink.  The problem is that they don’t actually drink wine, they have foresworn it generations before and have kept the command of their forefathers perfectly.  They live a countercultural lifestyle, not building houses, living in tents, avoiding wine, not sowing seed or planting vineyards, living simply but incredibly faithfully.  Because they have been faithful to the commandments not of God but of their father, they become a paradigm for Israel in the eyes of God.  They keep lesser commands that arose from a man while Israel has commands from God and they don’t keep them.  Because of their faithfulness, their faithful and obedient character, they will escape judgment and receive honor forever before the Lord.  They are models of discipleship.  For a tiny bit more about this clan, here is the Wikipedia link to the Rechabites, all else is speculative. 

Jesus has compassion on those who follow after Him and says to pray for laborers for the harvest.  His ministry of spirit and truth, accompanied by signs and power, drew people like flies to honey.  He was healing not only the sick but the world by His actions.  The things Jesus healed are all results of the Fall and in healing and restoring these things Jesus was restoring all things to their original state of blessedness and wholeness.  He saw the people come and used an agrarian metaphor of the harvest.  Do we see the harvest or the sowing ahead of us?  When He called the twelve they were His disciples but then He sent them out “and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every disease and every affliction.”  In the sending with authority they became apostles.  In the church we often talk of making disciples but only refer to a few as apostles.  I think we have it wrong, the point of making disciples should be that they become apostles.  Does the church have the authority Jesus gave the twelve regarding unclean spirits and healing?  If not, why would we think that?

Was Paul speaking only to the church in the apostolic age when he referred to gifts of “miracles, then gifts of healing, helping, administrating, and various kinds of tongues”?  I believe that he was speaking first to the local church at a given time but also that these should refer to all churches at all times who profess the Lord Jesus.  Churches should be filled with power to proclaim the kingdom not only in word but in deed as well.  All this, Paul says, must also be balanced by love which surpasses all things.  If we have not love but all these other things, we are as nothing at all in the kingdom of God.  The command to love is primary and the exercise of the gifts must flow from that source.  Like the Rechabites, obedience to the command must precede all things if we are to stand before Him and not hear the words, “I never knew you” when we recount our deeds. 

9 October 2015

Psalm 140, 142; 2 Kings 23:36-24:17; 1 Cor. 12:12-26; Matt. 9:27-34

Jehoiakim replaced his father Josiah and did evil in the sight of the Lord.  He became a vassal of Nebuchadnezzar for three years and then, probably emboldened by a successful uprising by the Egyptians against the Babylonians, decided to ally with Egypt in rebellion against Nebuchadnezzar, a failed enterprise, just as the prophet Jeremiah warned him it would be.  Our chronicler notes that this was as the prophets had foretold three generations before in the reign of Manasseh, that Jerusalem would fall.  Jehoiakim was replaced by his son, Jehoiachin, who was the last king of the nation as he turned over everything to Nebuchadnezzar and went, with almost all the rest of the nation, into exile in Babylon.  Jehoiachin was also called either Jeconiah and Coniah, and Jeremiah prophesied that none of his line from David would ever be king.  Strangely, however, Matthew traces Jesus’ lineage through this man, via Joseph’s line.  Joseph, however, was not the “father” of Jesus via DNA, the Lord Himself was. 

Jesus asks the blind men who have been following and crying out to Him for mercy, “Do you believe I can do this?”  Didn’t their actions prior to entering the house convince Jesus they believed?  His words when He touched their eyes were, “According to your faith be it done to you.”  What were they thinking as He touched them and said these words?  Did they indeed believe?  Have you ever been in that moment when you knew that something might happen, you had faith it would and then, in that instant, you wondered if you really did?  They saw, their faith was enough.  Afterwards, a mute, demon-possessed man was brought to Jesus and healed.  Now, after all the acclaim He has received, we see the dissenters with the idea that His power is demonic.  How can this be?

Do you think Paul has an interest in teaching the Corinthian church about unity v division?  Remember the epistle began with him lecturing about divisions based in who their favorite teacher was and the question, “Is Christ divided?”  Later he had to lecture them about divisions when they gather for worship.  In yesterday’s lesson and today’s reading he is drilling down on the word “one.”  Yesterday he talked about one Spirit being responsible for the gifts and today he continues to hammer home the theme of unity.  The body is one because there is one spirit which animates the body even though it has many members.  The members are interconnected and interdependent.  Jesus is the head of the body and the spirit is essentially the central nervous system which coordinates the movement of the body and when one member suffers all are aware and have to adjust to the suffering.  Unity in the Spirit causes the body to function properly in the world in which it resides, recognizing that painful things happen in this world of sin.  The healthy function of the body is maintained by the one Spirit who governs the body.  Worship, the proclamation and celebration of truth by the entire body, restores right function.  When we worship only in truth we are out of alignment and when we worship only in spirit we are as well.  We need both spirit and truth to be whole and healthy.

8 October 2015

Psalm 131, 132; 2 Kings 23:4-25; 1 Cor. 12:1-11; Matt. 9:18-26

Did you notice all the gods that were worshipped in the land at the time of Josiah’s reforms?  What a list: the baals, Asherah, the sun, moon, constellations, the host of heavens, Molech, Chemosh, the golden calves of Jeroboam, and all the high places.  What a mess the nation had become!  Josiah’s commitment to restoration of true worship was amazing and we have to wonder what the people thought and how they reacted to his reforms, the defilement and destruction of all these worship centers.  They had become accustomed to worshipping at the places and entreating these gods and now they were unable to continue.  Eighteen years it took to eradicate all this idol worship from the land prior to the Passover celebration that was unlike any that had been since the time of the judges.  “Before him there was no king like him, who turned to the Lord with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his might, according to all the Law of Moses, nor did any like him arise after him.”  That is, on one hand, a wonderful thing, and on the other, a terrible thing.  Shamefully, it wouldn’t last.

As Jesus comes into the town, he is met by a “ruler”, who we know from Mark is a synagogue ruler, who implores Jesus to come lay hands on his daughter who has “just died” so that she may be raised again to life.  We can assume that he had heard about the raising of the son of the widow of Nain and this was the hope that animated this request.  Along the way, a woman with an issue of blood touches Jesus, which would have caused Him to be defiled and her a pariah, but instead she is instantly healed.  The logic of defilement is that unclean defiles clean on contact but what if, as happened here, unclean is made clean?  Such a thing isn’t anticipated in the law, only God can heal and make clean that which is unclean.  The ruler doesn’t care about all that though, he is desperate to get his daughter back.  When Jesus arrives the mourning is in full swing, a commotion surrounds the scene.  Jesus dismisses them and they laugh Him to scorn for being foolish in believing He can reverse death and yet, He does!

We all have spiritual gifts.  The Spirit enables the Body to function as Christ functioned.  He was and is complete in Himself, we are interdependent, we need one another and we need to take our own place in the body of Christ.  None of us have the gift of congregating, we all have something to offer to the body and when we fail to do that, the body is incomplete, unable to function properly, weakened.  When we all bring our gifts to bear in the church, it beautifies and strengthens the body in ways that enable it to be a complete witness to its head, Jesus.  How many people are there out there who are not sharing their gifts?  If we valued both our gifts and their use and encouraged others to use theirs as well, if we saw people as extraordinary and sought passionately to bring forth their spiritual gifts, what would the body of Christ look like?  What miracles we are missing through this failure.

7 October 2015

Psalm 119:145-176; 2 Kings 22:14-23:3; 1 Cor. 11:23-34; Matt. 9:9-17

The priests didn’t know what else to do so they sent to a woman described as a prophetess, Huldah, and inquired what it would mean that the nation had been apostate and not kept covenant with the Lord.  Her word was that the nation was under judgment and that it would be destroyed, that disaster would come on Jerusalem and its inhabitants.  Because Josiah had sought the Lord, had repented of the sins of the past and returned to Him, this judgment would not be executed during his lifetime, he would live and die in peace.  Josiah then called an assembly and read the words of the book of the Law to all the people and renewed the covenant between himself and the Lord and the people joined.  We live in a day when the word of the Lord is neglected in the churches and wonder why the country is sliding further away on a daily basis from what we used to believe was its Christian ethical and moral basis.  We, the church, need to repent of the failure to teach all Jesus commanded and we need to change our ways in accord with those teachings.

No one quite understood what Jesus was doing.  The Pharisees were scandalized after the call of Matthew, the tax collector, because Jesus and the disciples ate with other tax collectors and sinners.  Jesus’ quotation of God desiring mercy not sacrifice are from Hosea but they hearken to other prophets as well like Amos and Isaiah.  When religion replaces relationship the entire point of the covenant is lost.  Religion has its place, the Lord commanded the people to practice religion, acts of worship as well as mitzvoth as acts of obedience.  The rest of the verse from Hosea is, “the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.”  That doesn’t mean they were no longer to bring burnt offerings but those were to be done from the knowledge of God not from duty and simply as a religious practice.  Jesus said He came to call sinners, not the righteous but that is no affirmation of the Pharisees, they are to examine themselves in light of the Hosea passage to see if they are righteous or religious.  John’s disciples don’t know what to do either.  They and the Pharisees fast while Jesus’ disciples do not, who is right?  Jesus points to Himself as the reason not to fast.  If you know the bridegroom is present you don’t feast, you fast, that is when the feast begins, when the bridegroom shows up. 

Paul says that he received from the Lord the words Jesus spoke at the Last Supper and he, Paul, has delivered these to the church. The body and blood of Jesus are a proclamation of the Lord’s death until His coming.  Paul had a very high view of the Eucharist, he believed that we must come having discerned the body, made our confession with every intention of repenting, turning away from those things we confessed.  It is in the act of confession, acknowledging that we are indeed sinners, and intentionality for repentance that we receive mercy.  Our sacrifice is our pride and in that we receive pardon.  If, however, we fail to discern the body, we not only receive nothing, the cup becomes a cup of judgment to us, even potentially death, from that bread and wine.  I don’t know many people who take communion as seriously as Paul.  The recognition of the need for mercy ignites the pathos of God, love and mercy for those who ask for it.

6 October 2015

Psalm 121, 122, 123; 2 Kings 22:1-13; 1 Cor. 11:2,17-22; Matt. 9:1-8

Josiah set out to restore the temple and in the process discovered the real purpose of the temple.  Initially, he instructed the priest to count out the money that the “keepers of the threshold” had taken in, the money collected from those who would enter the temple to worship.  This money was to be given to the overseers of the work who then were to give it to the workmen to buy materials for the restoration.  Did you notice that these were not to be required to give an accounting of how they spent the money?  The reason given was, “because they deal honestly.”  What an amazing little detail this is and how well it speaks of the workmen that these were orders of the king. Accountants would completely lose their minds over this.  As the money is being emptied, the priest “found” the book of the Law and realized that there was a serious problem in the land, the nation had forgotten the covenant. The book, we presume, was Deuteronomy, complete with the blessings and curses, because Josiah’s reforms take the shape prescribed by Deuteronomy.  The finding of this book resulted in the fear of the Lord and a turning back, repentance.  The words were taken seriously.

The paralytic is brought to Jesus on the faith of his friends and this is what moves Jesus to act.  Forgiveness is proclaimed first and then healing.  Which is more important?  If you believe that God has indeed forgiven you, would you not believe then that anything else He did was an act of great mercy and compassion?  Would forgiveness have been enough?  Is it enough for you or is your faith contingent on Him doing something else in your life?  The scribes were shocked at Jesus’ proclamation of forgiveness and He knew it.  The healing was an outward and visible sign of an inward and spiritual reality.  The paralytic had internalized forgiveness from God through Jesus’ speaking it and because he did, he also had faith to believe he could rise up and walk.  Now, all who see it have to come to grips with whether Jesus does, in fact, possess the authority to speak for God. 

Apparently the celebration of worship in Corinth wasn’t exactly the ordered affair we have today.  Some were eating their own meal and others were getting drunk while some went hungry.  It would seem that they had forgotten the reason for the gathering together as one.  Paul was strident in his teaching regarding the unity of the body of Christ, that there were no longer divisions among people based on race, gender, finances, or any other particular because there was unity in their confession of Jesus as Lord, all needed Him equally.  When we gather for worship we leave all those distinctions at the door but that mentality is to extend beyond the time of corporate worship as well.  The cross is at stake when we allow ourselves to think and act in ways that separate and divide us.  We all need to be aware of maintenance of that unity.

5 October 2015

Psalm 106:1-18; 2 Kings 21:1-18; 1 Cor. 10:14-11:1; Matt. 8:28-34

It is hard to imagine a king determining to put up altars of worship in the house of the Lord, the temple, to worship other gods and burn his own son as sacrifice, but that is exactly what Manasseh had done in his long (fifty five years!) tenure as king.  Why would the Lord allow this man to reign that long when he was so wicked?  The ways of the Lord are truly inscrutable.  Our author says, “Manasseh led them astray to do more evil than the nations had done whom the Lord destroyed before the people of Israel.”  His divine forbearance with not only the king but the nation is, on one hand, remarkable and on the other hand I want to ask, why not stop this madness?  He is indeed patient with us and yet that patience is not forever.  Judgment is announced and the tools are the measuring line of Samaria, the northern kingdom which is no more, and the plumb line of Ahab, the most wicked king in the history of that other kingdom. The judgment will be unlike anything the world has seen and it will result in the complete annihilation of the city, as a person wipes a dish clean.  Sometimes the only way to move ahead is to destroy that which is, it is too broken to repair.

In both Mark and Luke we hear of one demon-possessed man in this story.  We presume they tell of only one because his condition was worse than the other. It is further presumed that Matthew’s sensibilities are Jewish and that he would be concerned with the law that requires two witnesses to establish a thing, either positively or negatively, so he includes both in his telling of the story.  The disciples were all there so more than one witness would have been there but not for those in the country of the Gadarenes after Jesus and the disciples left.  It would not have been unusual for men to have been isolated from society when the society judged them to be a danger, similar to what we do with certain mental patients today. That Jesus took this little excursion to heal these men tells us of His extraordinary compassion for even those who were not covenant people.  While God’s intervention sometimes waits as it did with Manasseh, sometimes He breaks in to our situations in ways and times we could never have imagined as Jesus does here with these men.

Paul warns the Corinthians against participation in feasts where the elements of the feast have been sacrificed to idols.  Such participation is worship, recognition that these things are gods of some sort.  We cannot participate in such things without being tainted by them.  We have to refrain from such participation in order to witness that we believe in one God alone and that anything else that receives worship is a demon.  Angels, throughout the Bible, refuse to accept worship so anything that does accept it is not of God. Paul is clear that his words apply to things we know are sacrificed to idols.  We have no responsibility to sort out the provenance of things but if we are told that they have been sacrificed to idols then it is a witness to decline to eat.  My liberty to eat is circumscribed in order that no one misunderstand my faith.  We can’t send mixed messages about the oneness of God.