31 March 2010
Psalm 55; Lam. 2:1-9; 2 Cor. 1:23-2:11; Mark 12:1-11
It is hard to imagine how the destruction of Jerusalem would have affected someone of this time. To see the city of God brought to ruin, the temple destroyed and foreigners where the holy places had been would be devastating in a way that is almost unimaginable. The devastation of so much of Europe in the first and second World Wars is horrific but not on equal footing. The pride in Jerusalem was great, it was the footstool of God, the God who had given them the land. The ruin of the city begged for explanation and it changed the worldview of all. To see the devastation of the enemy would have caused doubt in their God, how could He possibly not defend His people and allow the place where His glory dwelled to be overrun by foreigners. After so many years of no one entering that place but high priests and then only once a year after meticulous preparation and now to see anyone going in and out would be beyond comprehension. This is only possible if it happened with the blessing and participation of God Himself and this is the lament, He has become like an enemy and the last verse tells us that in addition to that no one hears the Word of God in guidance about what to do next.
The parable of the vineyard is prophetic concerning the death of Jesus. He is telling them first the history of Israel, how they have treated the prophets sent by God. Finally, the owner sends his son believing that they will at least respect him, but they believe that the owner must be dead and now if they destroy the heir they will obtain the vineyard for themselves. Jesus is speaking of what must now come to pass, He will be rejected and murdered by those greedy for the vineyard, and the vineyard is not property so much as it is people. The power over the hearts and minds of the people is at stake here. It comes down to Jesus speaking about tearing down the temple but that is simply the straw man used to whip up the crowd, it is really about hearts, minds and souls.
Paul speaks of reconciliation and forgiveness of a sinner and their restoration to fellowship. He begins by telling them that he hadn’t wanted to come to them in judgment, preferring not to increase their pain. He is clear that he isn’t lording over them like a ruler but is rather a co-laborer because of their faith. Does this refer to the incident in 1 Corinthians 5 where he tells them to expel the immoral man from their midst? It seems possible that this is the one and now he has repented of his immorality. It is a delicate balance in church leadership to insist on dealing with sin and also to allow the body to function as it should without a heavy hand by the leader. It is important to set the standard and maintain it in order that the body knows what to do with sin in the members. Think of it as the body’s attempt to fight infection at the bio-chemical level.
Cast your burden on the LORD,
and he will sustain you;
he will never permit
the righteous to be moved.
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
30 March 2010
Psalm 6, 12; Lam. 1:17-22; 2 Cor. 1:8-22; Mark 11:27-33
Jerusalem is personified as reaching out her arms to her neighbors only to find they have become enemies and calling to her lovers, her allies and the nations whose gods have wooed her away from Yahweh, and seeing that they have deceived her. In the midst of her punishment and judgment from Yahweh she finds that all she expected to comfort her have become more pain to her. The prophet makes no pretense of unfair judgment, confessing the sins of the nation as deserving of punishment and now pronounces judgment on those who look on in scorn as she is laid bare. In all of this misery, however, the cry for help is to the Lord alone, dependent on the merciful lovingkindness of the God who has brought on this destruction.
How many times has Jesus been clear about His authority to do as He has done? The Pharisees aren’t looking for information, they are simply trying to get Him to say something that they can then turn into a trial. Jesus, however, turns the tables on them with His question about John. They understand the dilemma well but they refuse to make a statement. The scene proves that their hearts are far from God. They know that if they say John is from God there are implications for them because he spoke against them and if they tell the truth about what they believe then the people will turn on them because it was John who the people had heard and believed. They need the people if they are going to be able to do anything about Jesus. They are refusing to believe rather than give up their power and position. Their hearts are hardened like Pharaoh’s, seeing the people only as objects.
Paul is living proof that God specializes in softening hard hearts. We should never give up praying for those whose hearts are hard towards the Lord. Paul persecuted the church, was present and approved the stoning of Stephen for his testimony concerning Jesus, and yet gave his life for the mission of spreading the Good News to the gentiles. Here he says that his work isn’t motivated by or carried out via human wisdom but simply by grace. Paul understood grace better than any man who has ever lived, and perhaps exalted Jesus more than any man. He knew what unbelief was and He knew the price of unbelief and once he believed he became a man whose one mission in life was to share the Gospel of the grace of God to all who would listen. Have you been in the grip of that grace lately? It is a powerful thing to see a man or woman in that grip.
The words of the LORD are pure words,
like silver refined in a furnace on the ground,
purified seven times.
Psalm 6, 12; Lam. 1:17-22; 2 Cor. 1:8-22; Mark 11:27-33
Jerusalem is personified as reaching out her arms to her neighbors only to find they have become enemies and calling to her lovers, her allies and the nations whose gods have wooed her away from Yahweh, and seeing that they have deceived her. In the midst of her punishment and judgment from Yahweh she finds that all she expected to comfort her have become more pain to her. The prophet makes no pretense of unfair judgment, confessing the sins of the nation as deserving of punishment and now pronounces judgment on those who look on in scorn as she is laid bare. In all of this misery, however, the cry for help is to the Lord alone, dependent on the merciful lovingkindness of the God who has brought on this destruction.
How many times has Jesus been clear about His authority to do as He has done? The Pharisees aren’t looking for information, they are simply trying to get Him to say something that they can then turn into a trial. Jesus, however, turns the tables on them with His question about John. They understand the dilemma well but they refuse to make a statement. The scene proves that their hearts are far from God. They know that if they say John is from God there are implications for them because he spoke against them and if they tell the truth about what they believe then the people will turn on them because it was John who the people had heard and believed. They need the people if they are going to be able to do anything about Jesus. They are refusing to believe rather than give up their power and position. Their hearts are hardened like Pharaoh’s, seeing the people only as objects.
Paul is living proof that God specializes in softening hard hearts. We should never give up praying for those whose hearts are hard towards the Lord. Paul persecuted the church, was present and approved the stoning of Stephen for his testimony concerning Jesus, and yet gave his life for the mission of spreading the Good News to the gentiles. Here he says that his work isn’t motivated by or carried out via human wisdom but simply by grace. Paul understood grace better than any man who has ever lived, and perhaps exalted Jesus more than any man. He knew what unbelief was and He knew the price of unbelief and once he believed he became a man whose one mission in life was to share the Gospel of the grace of God to all who would listen. Have you been in the grip of that grace lately? It is a powerful thing to see a man or woman in that grip.
The words of the LORD are pure words,
like silver refined in a furnace on the ground,
purified seven times.
Monday, March 29, 2010
29 March 2010
Psalm 51; Lam. 1:1-2,6-12; 2 Cor. 1:1-7; Mark 11:12-25
The prophet laments (thus Lamentations) the situation in Jerusalem, the once proud city of God. The city is desolate but the prophet does not blame God. He places the blame squarely where it belongs, on the sinfulness of the people of God. They have reaped as they have sown. This is what the Lord has promised. Outwardly and historically it looks as though her enemies have triumphed, but the reality is that the Lord has allowed this devastation, it is His work, and He is just in this decision. At the same time the prophet sounds a warning to those who do not share His lament, those who rejoice over or ignore the shame of Jerusalem. This judgment is not final.
The parable of the withered fig tree has posed a difficult problem for most commentators. Why does Jesus expect to find figs out of season and get angry when he doesn’t? The best explanation seems to be found in the interruption of the story of the fig tree. His hunger provides the impetus for a teaching moment, an enacted parable. The fig tree symbolizes Israel, which has all the look of a tree prepared to bear fruit but does not. The action in the temple reveals why the nation isn’t bearing the fruit God intended, it keeps others from God, denying them access due to their absorption with commerce. Jesus’ judgment on the fig tree is symbolic of God’s judgment on the nation, they have become a nation which honors with the lips but not the heart and therefore the time has come to go directly to the nations. They were always meant to be a light to the nations and instead have become an inwardly focused legalistic religion which looks good but doesn’t produce the fruit intended.
Suffering is a part of the Christian life. In the Gospel lesson Jesus speaks of believing what you pray for and you will receive it. Too often that is taught in a form something like “name it and claim it.” Is that really what Jesus is saying, that God is a cosmic Santa Clause? It certainly makes it difficult to make sense of the suffering and death on the cross, especially after He has prayed that the cup of suffering be taken away. Paul assures the Corinthians that suffering has a redemptive purpose, the suffering of Jesus, Paul’s suffering, and their suffering. It is often in our suffering that we draw near to God and it is from our weakness and pain that we are often able to minister to others. A world broken by sin can be expected to endure much pain and suffering and Jesus came to take on what he had never known “in the flesh” but in His suffering and death we see that we have a God who was willing to suffer with us and for us, revealing His suffering love as real.
Have mercy on me, O God,
according to your steadfast love;
according to your abundant mercy
blot out my transgressions.
Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,
and cleanse me from my sin!
Restore to me the joy of your salvation,
and uphold me with a willing spirit.
Psalm 51; Lam. 1:1-2,6-12; 2 Cor. 1:1-7; Mark 11:12-25
The prophet laments (thus Lamentations) the situation in Jerusalem, the once proud city of God. The city is desolate but the prophet does not blame God. He places the blame squarely where it belongs, on the sinfulness of the people of God. They have reaped as they have sown. This is what the Lord has promised. Outwardly and historically it looks as though her enemies have triumphed, but the reality is that the Lord has allowed this devastation, it is His work, and He is just in this decision. At the same time the prophet sounds a warning to those who do not share His lament, those who rejoice over or ignore the shame of Jerusalem. This judgment is not final.
The parable of the withered fig tree has posed a difficult problem for most commentators. Why does Jesus expect to find figs out of season and get angry when he doesn’t? The best explanation seems to be found in the interruption of the story of the fig tree. His hunger provides the impetus for a teaching moment, an enacted parable. The fig tree symbolizes Israel, which has all the look of a tree prepared to bear fruit but does not. The action in the temple reveals why the nation isn’t bearing the fruit God intended, it keeps others from God, denying them access due to their absorption with commerce. Jesus’ judgment on the fig tree is symbolic of God’s judgment on the nation, they have become a nation which honors with the lips but not the heart and therefore the time has come to go directly to the nations. They were always meant to be a light to the nations and instead have become an inwardly focused legalistic religion which looks good but doesn’t produce the fruit intended.
Suffering is a part of the Christian life. In the Gospel lesson Jesus speaks of believing what you pray for and you will receive it. Too often that is taught in a form something like “name it and claim it.” Is that really what Jesus is saying, that God is a cosmic Santa Clause? It certainly makes it difficult to make sense of the suffering and death on the cross, especially after He has prayed that the cup of suffering be taken away. Paul assures the Corinthians that suffering has a redemptive purpose, the suffering of Jesus, Paul’s suffering, and their suffering. It is often in our suffering that we draw near to God and it is from our weakness and pain that we are often able to minister to others. A world broken by sin can be expected to endure much pain and suffering and Jesus came to take on what he had never known “in the flesh” but in His suffering and death we see that we have a God who was willing to suffer with us and for us, revealing His suffering love as real.
Have mercy on me, O God,
according to your steadfast love;
according to your abundant mercy
blot out my transgressions.
Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,
and cleanse me from my sin!
Restore to me the joy of your salvation,
and uphold me with a willing spirit.
Sunday, March 28, 2010
28 March 2010
Palm Sunday:
Psalm 24, 29; Zech. 9:9-12; 1 Tim. 6:12-16; Luke 19-41-48
The prophetic word of Zechariah is fulfilled today in Jesus’ triumphal entry into the city. Riding on a donkey would have been a sign of peace not war, the horse was the animal of war. That the king rides in on a donkey is symbolic of a land at peace, with no expectation of war at all. The Messiah will bring an everlasting peace to Jerusalem, but we know that will come when there is a new Jerusalem, a new heaven and a new earth. We know that the king has come and has fulfilled this prophecy but the fullness of the fulfillment awaits the coming of the new creation. We celebrate, as it were, scene one of the final act of the drama while longing for the conclusion.
Jesus weeps over Jerusalem both for what might have been and for what will be. If they had recognized Him then what is to come, the destruction of the city and the former temple taken over now by another religion, would never have happened. Their failure to recognize Him, however, led to the door opening for us to come into the kingdom. On this day He goes to the Temple to at least drive out the moneychangers who had set up shop in the court of the Gentiles, symbolically clearing the way for us to have access and then He began teaching in the courts. As He does, the religious leaders plot His demise.
Paul encourages his protégé, Timothy, to fight the good fight, just as Jesus has done and although he doesn’t say it here, just as Paul himself has done and is doing. We are called to stand on the truth and proclaim it even when it is difficult or unpopular, even when it brings persecution. It is our duty and our joy to keep watch and wait for the coming of the King and that keeping watch requires us to tell the world of this matchless King. If we are to celebrate His coming with joy we must be prepared for Him at all times, living so that we might be found acceptable to Him but knowing that we are frail and weak but He is willing and able to forgive and restore us in our weakness.
Ascribe to the LORD, O heavenly beings,
ascribe to the LORD glory and strength.
Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name;
worship the LORD in the splendor of holiness.
May the LORD give strength to his people!
May the LORD bless his people with peace!
Palm Sunday:
Psalm 24, 29; Zech. 9:9-12; 1 Tim. 6:12-16; Luke 19-41-48
The prophetic word of Zechariah is fulfilled today in Jesus’ triumphal entry into the city. Riding on a donkey would have been a sign of peace not war, the horse was the animal of war. That the king rides in on a donkey is symbolic of a land at peace, with no expectation of war at all. The Messiah will bring an everlasting peace to Jerusalem, but we know that will come when there is a new Jerusalem, a new heaven and a new earth. We know that the king has come and has fulfilled this prophecy but the fullness of the fulfillment awaits the coming of the new creation. We celebrate, as it were, scene one of the final act of the drama while longing for the conclusion.
Jesus weeps over Jerusalem both for what might have been and for what will be. If they had recognized Him then what is to come, the destruction of the city and the former temple taken over now by another religion, would never have happened. Their failure to recognize Him, however, led to the door opening for us to come into the kingdom. On this day He goes to the Temple to at least drive out the moneychangers who had set up shop in the court of the Gentiles, symbolically clearing the way for us to have access and then He began teaching in the courts. As He does, the religious leaders plot His demise.
Paul encourages his protégé, Timothy, to fight the good fight, just as Jesus has done and although he doesn’t say it here, just as Paul himself has done and is doing. We are called to stand on the truth and proclaim it even when it is difficult or unpopular, even when it brings persecution. It is our duty and our joy to keep watch and wait for the coming of the King and that keeping watch requires us to tell the world of this matchless King. If we are to celebrate His coming with joy we must be prepared for Him at all times, living so that we might be found acceptable to Him but knowing that we are frail and weak but He is willing and able to forgive and restore us in our weakness.
Ascribe to the LORD, O heavenly beings,
ascribe to the LORD glory and strength.
Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name;
worship the LORD in the splendor of holiness.
May the LORD give strength to his people!
May the LORD bless his people with peace!
Saturday, March 27, 2010
27 March 2010
Psalm 137, 144; Exod. 10:21-11:8; 2 Cor. 4:13-18; Mark 10:46-52
Have you ever been in a cave and put out the lights to experience the darkness? It is an eerie experience to say the least, a darkness that seems to have physical properties like this darkness that could be “felt.” In the cave there is a clear limit to how long most people will allow the darkness to continue without switching back on the light source and here in this plague it lasted three days. Pharaoh still claims power over the livestock, refusing to let the people take their assets with them. In Moses’ response it is plain that they aren’t coming back as he proposes that not a hoof will be left behind. Pharaoh’s threat that Moses should not come again rings hollow and weak and the final plague is announced, the death of the first born. The plagues are also signs, they are for the Hebrews to know who is God, their land does not experience this darkness. The signs are also for the Egyptians who can make the decision to believe as well. They are also mercy in that God is revealing Himself to them.
Here, Bartimaeus certainly understands a darkness that can be felt. His blindness physically has not caused a spiritual blindness. He has heard of this one, Jesus, and now is his chance to get before the healer and he will not be kept away. He persists in crying out to Jesus as he passes him on the road to Jerusalem even though others attempt to quiet him. He may not be able to see but his voice works perfectly well and he will use the asset he does have in hopes of receiving the mercy of God in healing his affliction. His cry is for mercy to be shown. He has no case to plead about how innocent he is or how this is unfair, simply asks for mercy. Do we thank God for the mercies we are shown each day in our health, our ability to appreciate this life, to know Him and to worship Him? We don’t have the reminder that Bartimaeus had maybe but is our prayer life more about thankfulness for what we have or petition for what we don’t have?
Paul speaks of grace, “as it extends to more and more people, may increase thanksgiving, to the glory of God.” Our lives are meant to be lives of thanksgiving to the glory of God. Our purpose in life is to glorify God, the same as Jesus’ purpose. Our salvation is a result of Him fulfilling that purpose to the end, it was not the goal of His life. It must be our purpose to glorify Him and in order to do that requires us to be a people who are truly thankful for grace and to be a people deeply committed to prayer. We must be those who ask all day long how we might glorify Him. Paul did so through persecution and imprisonment, in suffering and weakness, Jesus did so in the Passion of His suffering and death on the cross. His “reward” was resurrection to life eternal. As we have faith in Him, so do we receive the inheritance of life, and our response is to be following Him and accepting that our purpose must be at one with Jesus’ so that others may see in our example that our hope is secure and our treasure is not in this world.
Blessed be the LORD, my rock,
who trains my hands for war,
and my fingers for battle;
he is my steadfast love and my fortress,
my stronghold and my deliverer,
my shield and he in whom I take refuge.
Psalm 137, 144; Exod. 10:21-11:8; 2 Cor. 4:13-18; Mark 10:46-52
Have you ever been in a cave and put out the lights to experience the darkness? It is an eerie experience to say the least, a darkness that seems to have physical properties like this darkness that could be “felt.” In the cave there is a clear limit to how long most people will allow the darkness to continue without switching back on the light source and here in this plague it lasted three days. Pharaoh still claims power over the livestock, refusing to let the people take their assets with them. In Moses’ response it is plain that they aren’t coming back as he proposes that not a hoof will be left behind. Pharaoh’s threat that Moses should not come again rings hollow and weak and the final plague is announced, the death of the first born. The plagues are also signs, they are for the Hebrews to know who is God, their land does not experience this darkness. The signs are also for the Egyptians who can make the decision to believe as well. They are also mercy in that God is revealing Himself to them.
Here, Bartimaeus certainly understands a darkness that can be felt. His blindness physically has not caused a spiritual blindness. He has heard of this one, Jesus, and now is his chance to get before the healer and he will not be kept away. He persists in crying out to Jesus as he passes him on the road to Jerusalem even though others attempt to quiet him. He may not be able to see but his voice works perfectly well and he will use the asset he does have in hopes of receiving the mercy of God in healing his affliction. His cry is for mercy to be shown. He has no case to plead about how innocent he is or how this is unfair, simply asks for mercy. Do we thank God for the mercies we are shown each day in our health, our ability to appreciate this life, to know Him and to worship Him? We don’t have the reminder that Bartimaeus had maybe but is our prayer life more about thankfulness for what we have or petition for what we don’t have?
Paul speaks of grace, “as it extends to more and more people, may increase thanksgiving, to the glory of God.” Our lives are meant to be lives of thanksgiving to the glory of God. Our purpose in life is to glorify God, the same as Jesus’ purpose. Our salvation is a result of Him fulfilling that purpose to the end, it was not the goal of His life. It must be our purpose to glorify Him and in order to do that requires us to be a people who are truly thankful for grace and to be a people deeply committed to prayer. We must be those who ask all day long how we might glorify Him. Paul did so through persecution and imprisonment, in suffering and weakness, Jesus did so in the Passion of His suffering and death on the cross. His “reward” was resurrection to life eternal. As we have faith in Him, so do we receive the inheritance of life, and our response is to be following Him and accepting that our purpose must be at one with Jesus’ so that others may see in our example that our hope is secure and our treasure is not in this world.
Blessed be the LORD, my rock,
who trains my hands for war,
and my fingers for battle;
he is my steadfast love and my fortress,
my stronghold and my deliverer,
my shield and he in whom I take refuge.
Friday, March 26, 2010
26 March 2010
Psalm 22; Exod. 9:13-35; 2 Cor. 4:1-12; Mark 10:32-45
The plague of hail has great mercy attached to it. There is a warning that allows the Egyptians to escape some of the harm of the plague, they are able to protect their livestock if they heed the word. Some of the crops are ruined but not all of them. In this plague is there anything that teaches us about life? Do we see something about God’s attitude towards sentient life and the stewardship of humans towards that life? In all of this, God reveals something else, His love for His people, as there is no hail in the land of Goshen where they live. He is proving to be the God over both Egypt and His people, even Pharaoh refers to the storm as “God’s thunder and hail.” Once again relieved of the problem, Pharaoh hardens his heart against the Lord and the people.
We like to be important. James and John probably weren’t the only ones to think of asking such a thing, they were simply bold or arrogant enough to actually ask. Why is it that we struggle so greatly with the idea of servanthood? We like people to notice us and to have places of honor. It is a difficult thing to simply serve, we tend to lapse over into Martha’s attitude, I am happy to do this work but I resent someone else not helping me with it. How do we miss the great condescension of Jesus to become like us, submit to us, serve those with whom He came into contact by healing them, and ultimately to submit to the indignity, suffering and death on a cross? Can we not see the great humility of Jesus in all these things? Sometimes we need to remind ourselves that it isn’t simply a man that did these things, it was God. We need always to keep in mind that act of love that brought Him to us in order to remind ourselves who we are and what is our place in the grander scheme.
Paul speaks of himself as a slave to the Corinthians for Jesus’ sake. He also says, “For while we live, we are always being given up to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus may be made visible in our mortal flesh.” Paul understood his life to simply be the vessel through which God was continuing to work out the plan of redemption, nothing more. He saw himself as someone who was a recipient of God’s mercy and so because he was chosen to do this work by God he did not lose heart. We need to be thankful each day for the mercy we have received in God’s salvation by grace alone. The work of Jesus is new every morning and it has nothing to do with us other than God’s mercy and grace shown to us sinners.
All the ends of the earth shall remember
and turn to the LORD,
and all the families of the nations
shall worship before you.
For kingship belongs to the LORD,
and he rules over the nations.
Psalm 22; Exod. 9:13-35; 2 Cor. 4:1-12; Mark 10:32-45
The plague of hail has great mercy attached to it. There is a warning that allows the Egyptians to escape some of the harm of the plague, they are able to protect their livestock if they heed the word. Some of the crops are ruined but not all of them. In this plague is there anything that teaches us about life? Do we see something about God’s attitude towards sentient life and the stewardship of humans towards that life? In all of this, God reveals something else, His love for His people, as there is no hail in the land of Goshen where they live. He is proving to be the God over both Egypt and His people, even Pharaoh refers to the storm as “God’s thunder and hail.” Once again relieved of the problem, Pharaoh hardens his heart against the Lord and the people.
We like to be important. James and John probably weren’t the only ones to think of asking such a thing, they were simply bold or arrogant enough to actually ask. Why is it that we struggle so greatly with the idea of servanthood? We like people to notice us and to have places of honor. It is a difficult thing to simply serve, we tend to lapse over into Martha’s attitude, I am happy to do this work but I resent someone else not helping me with it. How do we miss the great condescension of Jesus to become like us, submit to us, serve those with whom He came into contact by healing them, and ultimately to submit to the indignity, suffering and death on a cross? Can we not see the great humility of Jesus in all these things? Sometimes we need to remind ourselves that it isn’t simply a man that did these things, it was God. We need always to keep in mind that act of love that brought Him to us in order to remind ourselves who we are and what is our place in the grander scheme.
Paul speaks of himself as a slave to the Corinthians for Jesus’ sake. He also says, “For while we live, we are always being given up to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus may be made visible in our mortal flesh.” Paul understood his life to simply be the vessel through which God was continuing to work out the plan of redemption, nothing more. He saw himself as someone who was a recipient of God’s mercy and so because he was chosen to do this work by God he did not lose heart. We need to be thankful each day for the mercy we have received in God’s salvation by grace alone. The work of Jesus is new every morning and it has nothing to do with us other than God’s mercy and grace shown to us sinners.
All the ends of the earth shall remember
and turn to the LORD,
and all the families of the nations
shall worship before you.
For kingship belongs to the LORD,
and he rules over the nations.
Thursday, March 25, 2010
25 March 2010
Psalm 131, 132; Exod. 7:25-8:19; 2 Cor. 3:7-18; Mark 10:17-31
With the plague of frogs the magicians are able to duplicate the sign of Moses and Aaron but again, why multiply the problem? The magicians are keeping up and it is not clear at all why Moses should be allowed to take the people out of Egypt, Pharaoh has no reason to fear the Lord. Pharaoh’s heart softens towards the people because of the personal inconvenience and the cure might have been worse than the problem with dead, stinking frogs all over the land. Problem solved, however, so there is no incentive to allow them to go. The next sign is the one that stumps the magicians, creation of life out of dust. Seems like that one has been done before and the magicians rightly attribute it to the finger of God.
What is that thing the rich man lacks? Jesus says, “You lack one thing; go, sell what you own, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.” He has done all the commandments since he was young (the age of responsibility is 13, when a boy has his bar mitzvah). What he lacks is the love of God and Jesus proves that lack to him in his command to go and sell and give away what he has. The commands Jesus mentions are those that have to do with duty to others, not to God directly. His attachment to his riches is too great to pass over and he walks away grieving. Jesus has called the disciples to make the same decision, leave everything behind and follow and this man just passed up the greatest opportunity he would ever have offered.
Jesus removed the veil for the man in the Gospel reading. He called him deeper in his understanding of the Words of God. The Gospel exposes us for what we truly are, selfish and vain human beings and yet at the same time it provides us with forgiveness, mercy and grace. Those things are available only to those who recognize the truth about themselves and gladly and gratefully receive the pardon and absolution on offer. If we continue to believe ourselves to be “pretty good” or “good enough” we can never know grace, our hearts continue to be hardened against Him. To continue to stand on our own merits is to deny His real righteousness. What the Gospel teaches us is that we still don’t know good and evil and we have settled for something lesser in the face of the greater.
O LORD, my heart is not lifted up;
my eyes are not raised too high;
I do not occupy myself with things
too great and too marvelous for me.
But I have calmed and quieted my soul,
like a weaned child with its mother;
like a weaned child is my soul within me.
Psalm 131, 132; Exod. 7:25-8:19; 2 Cor. 3:7-18; Mark 10:17-31
With the plague of frogs the magicians are able to duplicate the sign of Moses and Aaron but again, why multiply the problem? The magicians are keeping up and it is not clear at all why Moses should be allowed to take the people out of Egypt, Pharaoh has no reason to fear the Lord. Pharaoh’s heart softens towards the people because of the personal inconvenience and the cure might have been worse than the problem with dead, stinking frogs all over the land. Problem solved, however, so there is no incentive to allow them to go. The next sign is the one that stumps the magicians, creation of life out of dust. Seems like that one has been done before and the magicians rightly attribute it to the finger of God.
What is that thing the rich man lacks? Jesus says, “You lack one thing; go, sell what you own, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.” He has done all the commandments since he was young (the age of responsibility is 13, when a boy has his bar mitzvah). What he lacks is the love of God and Jesus proves that lack to him in his command to go and sell and give away what he has. The commands Jesus mentions are those that have to do with duty to others, not to God directly. His attachment to his riches is too great to pass over and he walks away grieving. Jesus has called the disciples to make the same decision, leave everything behind and follow and this man just passed up the greatest opportunity he would ever have offered.
Jesus removed the veil for the man in the Gospel reading. He called him deeper in his understanding of the Words of God. The Gospel exposes us for what we truly are, selfish and vain human beings and yet at the same time it provides us with forgiveness, mercy and grace. Those things are available only to those who recognize the truth about themselves and gladly and gratefully receive the pardon and absolution on offer. If we continue to believe ourselves to be “pretty good” or “good enough” we can never know grace, our hearts continue to be hardened against Him. To continue to stand on our own merits is to deny His real righteousness. What the Gospel teaches us is that we still don’t know good and evil and we have settled for something lesser in the face of the greater.
O LORD, my heart is not lifted up;
my eyes are not raised too high;
I do not occupy myself with things
too great and too marvelous for me.
But I have calmed and quieted my soul,
like a weaned child with its mother;
like a weaned child is my soul within me.
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
24 March 2010
Psalm 119:145-176; Exod. 7:8-24; 2 Cor. 2:14-3:6; Mark 10:1-16
The first sign is for Pharaoh and his court magicians can reproduce the sign although the snake that was Aaron’s staff devoured the others. The second sign is the Lord’s power of the water of life that made Egypt such a fertile spot. The Nile meant everything to the Egyptians and here God revealed His power over what was indeed the lifeblood of Egypt. The river became like death to them in this sign of the water turning to blood. What had been their abundance became death. It seems quite strange that the magicians duplicated this sign. Why would they not have attempted to reverse the sign?
The Pharisees start to play their games, testing Jesus to see if His teaching agreed with their own. Jesus’ appeal is the Moses which would be Deuteronomy 24, a passage the rabbis themselves disagreed over. There were liberal rabbis who allowed divorce over nearly anything and rabbis who more strictly taught that adultery was the only grounds permissible. Jesus doesn’t actually interpret the law at all in the Pharisees hearing, only pointing out that it wasn’t God’s plan for divorce to happen. He points back to the original creation and that this was to be a lifelong commitment and it was only after sin entered the world that divorce became an issue with Moses. We often appeal to that which comes after sin to determine God’s will and the reality is that we really must go back to origins to make that call.
Paul writes of his credentials being in Christ and not in himself. Such statements show how radically Paul’s worldview and understanding of God were altered in his encounter on the road to Damascus. When he met Jesus on that road he was bearing letters from the temple that allowed him to persecute the church wherever he found it. Here, he says he needs no such letters. He is on a mission now to build up the church not destroy it and His letter to do that is written in their hearts, they are his letter. Formerly his credentials were his own righteousness and now he claims no competence of his own, his competence is from God. Paul was a man who not only wrote of the transformation of life from the renewing of the mind, he knew it first hand. Where formerly his heart, like Pharaoh’s and those to whom Jesus spoke, had been hardened, now the law was written on his heart and he understood all things anew.
Let my cry come before you, O LORD;
give me understanding according to your word!
Let my plea come before you;
deliver me according to your word.
My lips will pour forth praise,
for you teach me your statutes.
My tongue will sing of your word,
for all your commandments are right.
Psalm 119:145-176; Exod. 7:8-24; 2 Cor. 2:14-3:6; Mark 10:1-16
The first sign is for Pharaoh and his court magicians can reproduce the sign although the snake that was Aaron’s staff devoured the others. The second sign is the Lord’s power of the water of life that made Egypt such a fertile spot. The Nile meant everything to the Egyptians and here God revealed His power over what was indeed the lifeblood of Egypt. The river became like death to them in this sign of the water turning to blood. What had been their abundance became death. It seems quite strange that the magicians duplicated this sign. Why would they not have attempted to reverse the sign?
The Pharisees start to play their games, testing Jesus to see if His teaching agreed with their own. Jesus’ appeal is the Moses which would be Deuteronomy 24, a passage the rabbis themselves disagreed over. There were liberal rabbis who allowed divorce over nearly anything and rabbis who more strictly taught that adultery was the only grounds permissible. Jesus doesn’t actually interpret the law at all in the Pharisees hearing, only pointing out that it wasn’t God’s plan for divorce to happen. He points back to the original creation and that this was to be a lifelong commitment and it was only after sin entered the world that divorce became an issue with Moses. We often appeal to that which comes after sin to determine God’s will and the reality is that we really must go back to origins to make that call.
Paul writes of his credentials being in Christ and not in himself. Such statements show how radically Paul’s worldview and understanding of God were altered in his encounter on the road to Damascus. When he met Jesus on that road he was bearing letters from the temple that allowed him to persecute the church wherever he found it. Here, he says he needs no such letters. He is on a mission now to build up the church not destroy it and His letter to do that is written in their hearts, they are his letter. Formerly his credentials were his own righteousness and now he claims no competence of his own, his competence is from God. Paul was a man who not only wrote of the transformation of life from the renewing of the mind, he knew it first hand. Where formerly his heart, like Pharaoh’s and those to whom Jesus spoke, had been hardened, now the law was written on his heart and he understood all things anew.
Let my cry come before you, O LORD;
give me understanding according to your word!
Let my plea come before you;
deliver me according to your word.
My lips will pour forth praise,
for you teach me your statutes.
My tongue will sing of your word,
for all your commandments are right.
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
23 March 2010
Psalm 121, 122, 123; Exod. 5:1-6:1; 1 Cor. 14:20-40; Mark 9:42-50
Things don’t go according to Moses’ expectations. He makes the appeal to Pharaoh and it seems likely that he would have expected Pharaoh to refuse to let the people go, but not that he would become even more hard-hearted towards them and make their slavery more bitter than before. Unsurprisingly, Moses gets the blame for this situation and Moses does the right thing, takes the problem to God in prayer. Moses’ prayer is honest and blunt in calling on the Lord to do as He promised. Moses spoke to God in prayer as one speaks to a close friend, pouring out his heart in honesty and we are indeed fortunate to have these prayers to show us that God doesn’t want simple platitudes, He wants our hearts. Moses is calling on God to be faithful to the promise He has made. He isn’t asking for anything that wasn’t promised. The Lord responds that now is the time for action on His part.
Pharaoh has put a stumbling block before the people to believe in the Lord. Pharaoh has said with his words that he doesn’t know the Lord and with his actions that he doesn’t believe in a Lord who will deliver these people out of his hand. We can put stumbling blocks in front of people in all manner of ways, through legalism, lack of love, false teaching, and other hindrances to coming to Jesus. The job of a priest in the Old Testament was to receive the sacrifices of the people to show the way to the Lord. Our work as priests of the New Covenant, is to make plain the way to Jesus, putting no obstacles in anyone’s path to reconciliation and restoration. The stumbling blocks between us and the cross are our sin and our pride and as ministers we, the priesthood of all believers, are to make certain that the Gospel we preach is simple and plain, not laying additional burdens on anyone. We must, however, recognize that sin and human pride are indeed stumbling blocks on the way to Jesus and seek to eradicate them in our own lives.
(The lectionary leaves out the verses pertaining to women speaking in the church. There is no dispute whether these verses belong to this chapter, but what we are to do with them is the problem. There are many ways of interpreting Paul’s meaning here and I am frankly not sure what to do with them because I choose to depart from them in my own church. They are difficult words for us to deal with and we have to ask whether they are culturally conditioned yet Paul appeals to the Law as well as to his custom. Some commentators say that the prohibition applies to a particular kind of speech, particularly either tongues or the interpretation of prophecy. It seems Paul has a strong sense of the male leadership or headship that cannot be violated in worship of the full congregation and it seems that his appeal is to the Law rather than the culture. Culturally, we live in a time and place where it is not problematic for women to lead companies and some churches have chosen to have female leadership at both the congregational and denominational levels. Paul, in my opinion, would not agree to those things based on a plain reading of this passage.)
This passage always makes me smile. Often people will quote verse 40, “all things should be done decently and in order.” What is humorous about that quotation is that in almost all cases it takes no notice of all that comes before it. We can’t truly use that as our organizing principle unless we make room for all of which Paul speaks: each one should bring a hymn, a lesson, a revelation, a tongue, or an interpretation. Paul also allows for multiple people giving words, speaking in tongues and interpreting, etc. None of the churches I am aware of who use verse 40 have a worship service that looks like what Paul has suggested. Should we have room in our worship lives for such a service? It may not be a Sunday morning but could this not be a place where we open ourselves to a movement of the Spirit whereby God speaks to His people through His people in a new way?
To you I lift up my eyes,
O you who are enthroned in the heavens!
Behold, as the eyes of servants
look to the hand of their master,
as the eyes of a maidservant
to the hand of her mistress,
so our eyes look to the LORD our God,
till he has mercy upon us.
Psalm 121, 122, 123; Exod. 5:1-6:1; 1 Cor. 14:20-40; Mark 9:42-50
Things don’t go according to Moses’ expectations. He makes the appeal to Pharaoh and it seems likely that he would have expected Pharaoh to refuse to let the people go, but not that he would become even more hard-hearted towards them and make their slavery more bitter than before. Unsurprisingly, Moses gets the blame for this situation and Moses does the right thing, takes the problem to God in prayer. Moses’ prayer is honest and blunt in calling on the Lord to do as He promised. Moses spoke to God in prayer as one speaks to a close friend, pouring out his heart in honesty and we are indeed fortunate to have these prayers to show us that God doesn’t want simple platitudes, He wants our hearts. Moses is calling on God to be faithful to the promise He has made. He isn’t asking for anything that wasn’t promised. The Lord responds that now is the time for action on His part.
Pharaoh has put a stumbling block before the people to believe in the Lord. Pharaoh has said with his words that he doesn’t know the Lord and with his actions that he doesn’t believe in a Lord who will deliver these people out of his hand. We can put stumbling blocks in front of people in all manner of ways, through legalism, lack of love, false teaching, and other hindrances to coming to Jesus. The job of a priest in the Old Testament was to receive the sacrifices of the people to show the way to the Lord. Our work as priests of the New Covenant, is to make plain the way to Jesus, putting no obstacles in anyone’s path to reconciliation and restoration. The stumbling blocks between us and the cross are our sin and our pride and as ministers we, the priesthood of all believers, are to make certain that the Gospel we preach is simple and plain, not laying additional burdens on anyone. We must, however, recognize that sin and human pride are indeed stumbling blocks on the way to Jesus and seek to eradicate them in our own lives.
(The lectionary leaves out the verses pertaining to women speaking in the church. There is no dispute whether these verses belong to this chapter, but what we are to do with them is the problem. There are many ways of interpreting Paul’s meaning here and I am frankly not sure what to do with them because I choose to depart from them in my own church. They are difficult words for us to deal with and we have to ask whether they are culturally conditioned yet Paul appeals to the Law as well as to his custom. Some commentators say that the prohibition applies to a particular kind of speech, particularly either tongues or the interpretation of prophecy. It seems Paul has a strong sense of the male leadership or headship that cannot be violated in worship of the full congregation and it seems that his appeal is to the Law rather than the culture. Culturally, we live in a time and place where it is not problematic for women to lead companies and some churches have chosen to have female leadership at both the congregational and denominational levels. Paul, in my opinion, would not agree to those things based on a plain reading of this passage.)
This passage always makes me smile. Often people will quote verse 40, “all things should be done decently and in order.” What is humorous about that quotation is that in almost all cases it takes no notice of all that comes before it. We can’t truly use that as our organizing principle unless we make room for all of which Paul speaks: each one should bring a hymn, a lesson, a revelation, a tongue, or an interpretation. Paul also allows for multiple people giving words, speaking in tongues and interpreting, etc. None of the churches I am aware of who use verse 40 have a worship service that looks like what Paul has suggested. Should we have room in our worship lives for such a service? It may not be a Sunday morning but could this not be a place where we open ourselves to a movement of the Spirit whereby God speaks to His people through His people in a new way?
To you I lift up my eyes,
O you who are enthroned in the heavens!
Behold, as the eyes of servants
look to the hand of their master,
as the eyes of a maidservant
to the hand of her mistress,
so our eyes look to the LORD our God,
till he has mercy upon us.
Monday, March 22, 2010
22 March 2010
Psalm 31; Exod. 4:10-31; 1 Cor. 14:1-19; Mark 9:30-41
Moses protests that he is unable to do the work the Lord has given him to do, that he is unable to speak well enough. The Lord gives Aaron to him as a helper but what he says is what Moses will tell him to say. The Lord will speak to Moses and Moses will speak to Aaron. The message Moses is given for Pharaoh is even more offensive in the end, because you don’t recognize the Lord and His people, the Lord will destroy your firstborn son. Shortly after Moses leaves Midian, the Lord breaks out against Moses for having failed to live into the covenant obligation to circumcise his own firstborn son. He can only be the Lord’s anointed to the extent he is keeping covenant, even Moses doesn’t get a pass. We can be sure that Moses was quite relieved by the people’s recognition and acceptance of him as the Lord’s anointed. What lay in store for them was quite a ride.
Jesus begins preparing the disciples for what is to come. He moves up to Galilee out of range of the Pharisees who tended to concentrate in Jerusalem. As they travel the disciples, amazingly, begin arguing over which of them is the greatest. This comes just after the Transfiguration and the healing of the boy by Jesus that they couldn’t do themselves. If you had just seen what Peter, James and John had seen on the mountain how could you possibly engage in this argument? Human nature being what it is, this isn’t surprising. John’s question about someone not of their party doing a work in Jesus’ name is interesting. What does it mean to invoke the name of Jesus to do something? We see the same thing in Acts 19 with the sons of Sceva, Jewish exorcists, who attempt to use the name as an incantation for their work. The demons turn on these men with the words, "Jesus I know, and Paul I recognize, but who are you?" That question returns to the argument about the disciples and says that none of us is great in and of ourselves, it is only to the extent that the power of God dwells in us that we have power at all.
Apparently there was some spiritual pride among the Corinthians related to the gift of tongues. Sadly, the same is often true today, those with that gift often look down on those who do not have the gift. Paul here is attempting to restore the gift of tongues to its proper place among them. His remarks are not to say that tongues is unimportant but that it simply builds up the one who uses it rather than gifts like prophecy which can be understood by all and serve to build up all who hear it. Paul places the value of gifts in a sort of hierarchy as to whether they build up a single person or the body. Why would we come to the conclusion that tongues is the ultimate sign that someone has the Spirit? They are certainly a sign but they are not the be all, end all. Jesus said that by our fruit we would be known, not by our gifts.
Make your face shine on your servant;
save me in your steadfast love!
O LORD, let me not be put to shame,
for I call upon you
Be strong, and let your heart take courage,
all you who wait for the LORD!
Psalm 31; Exod. 4:10-31; 1 Cor. 14:1-19; Mark 9:30-41
Moses protests that he is unable to do the work the Lord has given him to do, that he is unable to speak well enough. The Lord gives Aaron to him as a helper but what he says is what Moses will tell him to say. The Lord will speak to Moses and Moses will speak to Aaron. The message Moses is given for Pharaoh is even more offensive in the end, because you don’t recognize the Lord and His people, the Lord will destroy your firstborn son. Shortly after Moses leaves Midian, the Lord breaks out against Moses for having failed to live into the covenant obligation to circumcise his own firstborn son. He can only be the Lord’s anointed to the extent he is keeping covenant, even Moses doesn’t get a pass. We can be sure that Moses was quite relieved by the people’s recognition and acceptance of him as the Lord’s anointed. What lay in store for them was quite a ride.
Jesus begins preparing the disciples for what is to come. He moves up to Galilee out of range of the Pharisees who tended to concentrate in Jerusalem. As they travel the disciples, amazingly, begin arguing over which of them is the greatest. This comes just after the Transfiguration and the healing of the boy by Jesus that they couldn’t do themselves. If you had just seen what Peter, James and John had seen on the mountain how could you possibly engage in this argument? Human nature being what it is, this isn’t surprising. John’s question about someone not of their party doing a work in Jesus’ name is interesting. What does it mean to invoke the name of Jesus to do something? We see the same thing in Acts 19 with the sons of Sceva, Jewish exorcists, who attempt to use the name as an incantation for their work. The demons turn on these men with the words, "Jesus I know, and Paul I recognize, but who are you?" That question returns to the argument about the disciples and says that none of us is great in and of ourselves, it is only to the extent that the power of God dwells in us that we have power at all.
Apparently there was some spiritual pride among the Corinthians related to the gift of tongues. Sadly, the same is often true today, those with that gift often look down on those who do not have the gift. Paul here is attempting to restore the gift of tongues to its proper place among them. His remarks are not to say that tongues is unimportant but that it simply builds up the one who uses it rather than gifts like prophecy which can be understood by all and serve to build up all who hear it. Paul places the value of gifts in a sort of hierarchy as to whether they build up a single person or the body. Why would we come to the conclusion that tongues is the ultimate sign that someone has the Spirit? They are certainly a sign but they are not the be all, end all. Jesus said that by our fruit we would be known, not by our gifts.
Make your face shine on your servant;
save me in your steadfast love!
O LORD, let me not be put to shame,
for I call upon you
Be strong, and let your heart take courage,
all you who wait for the LORD!
Sunday, March 21, 2010
21 March 2010
Psalm 118; Exod. 3:16-4:12; Rom. 12:1-21; John 8:46-59
Moses rightfully fears the reaction of the people. The last words he had heard from them before he fled Egypt were “Who made you ruler and judge over us?” The Lord here instructs Moses to gather the leaders and the people, clearly setting Moses up as leader and he needs to be able to answer the question this time around. (It is a question that will constantly arise in the wilderness in various forms.) In order to prove himself to have truly been visited by God he is given three signs, the last being a precursor of the first plague on Egypt. What they are to request of Pharaoh is very provocative, to go three days out to worship the Lord their God. The request is offensive as it says flatly that Pharaoh may be a god to the Egyptians but not to the Hebrews. Three days journey is typically the reign of a god and so to go that far is to say that they are beyond Pharaoh’s kingdom and influence and under the reign and protection of their own God. Under the particular circumstances of Egyptian fear of what the Israelites might do if they joined with the enemies of Pharaoh, he would be exceedingly unlikely to allow them to leave his control.
The words of Jesus here are incredibly offensive. They believe themselves to be the people of God because they are the inheritors of the promise, they have Moses which means they have the Words of God, the law. Jesus is telling them that they don’t have the relationship they need, that they don’t “know” God. This has been the aim of God from the beginning, to have covenant relationship. The law is only the mediator and sustainer of the covenant relationship, not the relationship itself. Through the prophets God continually expresses His desire to be known by His people and the way He will accomplish that is to write His laws on their hearts, give them new hearts, or circumcise their hearts. Compliance with the legal demands of the law is meant to define the terms of the relationship but it is relationship that is at the heart of the matter. Do we know God or do we simply know about Him?
As Paul has finished his theological treatise in the first eleven chapters of the letter to the church in Rome, he turns to how to live out their faith, beginning with transformation and these verses tell us something of what that transformation looks like. It means offering our lives to God as living sacrifices, loving one another not simply in words but also in deed by immersing ourselves in the lives of others, sharing with them in all things. In the final few verses Paul speaks of how to deal with those who mistreat us and in this he sounds a bit like he is preaching the Sermon on the Mount, calling for blessing those who persecute them, not returning evil for evil and allowing God to have vengeance, utter trust in Him not ourselves. In all this he is telling them and us how to be an alternative community. It is quite a challenge to live into this vision.
You are my God, and I will give thanks to you;
you are my God; I will extol you.
Oh give thanks to the LORD, for he is good;
for his steadfast love endures forever!
Psalm 118; Exod. 3:16-4:12; Rom. 12:1-21; John 8:46-59
Moses rightfully fears the reaction of the people. The last words he had heard from them before he fled Egypt were “Who made you ruler and judge over us?” The Lord here instructs Moses to gather the leaders and the people, clearly setting Moses up as leader and he needs to be able to answer the question this time around. (It is a question that will constantly arise in the wilderness in various forms.) In order to prove himself to have truly been visited by God he is given three signs, the last being a precursor of the first plague on Egypt. What they are to request of Pharaoh is very provocative, to go three days out to worship the Lord their God. The request is offensive as it says flatly that Pharaoh may be a god to the Egyptians but not to the Hebrews. Three days journey is typically the reign of a god and so to go that far is to say that they are beyond Pharaoh’s kingdom and influence and under the reign and protection of their own God. Under the particular circumstances of Egyptian fear of what the Israelites might do if they joined with the enemies of Pharaoh, he would be exceedingly unlikely to allow them to leave his control.
The words of Jesus here are incredibly offensive. They believe themselves to be the people of God because they are the inheritors of the promise, they have Moses which means they have the Words of God, the law. Jesus is telling them that they don’t have the relationship they need, that they don’t “know” God. This has been the aim of God from the beginning, to have covenant relationship. The law is only the mediator and sustainer of the covenant relationship, not the relationship itself. Through the prophets God continually expresses His desire to be known by His people and the way He will accomplish that is to write His laws on their hearts, give them new hearts, or circumcise their hearts. Compliance with the legal demands of the law is meant to define the terms of the relationship but it is relationship that is at the heart of the matter. Do we know God or do we simply know about Him?
As Paul has finished his theological treatise in the first eleven chapters of the letter to the church in Rome, he turns to how to live out their faith, beginning with transformation and these verses tell us something of what that transformation looks like. It means offering our lives to God as living sacrifices, loving one another not simply in words but also in deed by immersing ourselves in the lives of others, sharing with them in all things. In the final few verses Paul speaks of how to deal with those who mistreat us and in this he sounds a bit like he is preaching the Sermon on the Mount, calling for blessing those who persecute them, not returning evil for evil and allowing God to have vengeance, utter trust in Him not ourselves. In all this he is telling them and us how to be an alternative community. It is quite a challenge to live into this vision.
You are my God, and I will give thanks to you;
you are my God; I will extol you.
Oh give thanks to the LORD, for he is good;
for his steadfast love endures forever!
Saturday, March 20, 2010
20 March 2010
Psalm 107:33-43, Exod. 2:23-3:15; 1 Cor. 13:1-13; Mark 9:14-29
The burning bush. Moses sees the sign and hears the voice calling him. How long had he longed to hear God’s voice telling him what had become of his life, for what purpose was he saved as a baby. The Lord makes an announcement of who He is, the God of Moses’ fathers, and of His intent, to deliver Israel from bondage and take them to the promised land. Then comes the shocker, “So come, I will send you to Pharaoh to bring my people, the Israelites, out of Egypt.” I can’t imagine that Moses saw that coming at all and his response is incredulity, “Who am I…” He is uniquely positioned to be able to speak to Pharaoh and also now to identify with the Hebrews. Remember that Joseph told his family to tell Pharaoh they were shepherds because the Egyptians don’t like shepherds, well that is what Moses has been for the past 40 years in a foreign land, which he will now repeat as shepherd of Israel in the wilderness for the next forty years. At the end we get the majestic name of God, “I AM.” Moses is to be the emissary of the great I AM. God’s identity begins with being or existence, everything else comes from the only One who simply is, all the rest is created stuff.
The disciples are unable to heal a boy with a demon. After having seen miracles worked through them they are now mystified by their inability to perform any work on this man’s son. At the end of the passage Jesus tells them that this kind can only come out with prayer. Does this signify that they had believed that the power to do miracles was their own and they no longer need rely on God? It seems that they have failed to understand the key to working with God is abiding in God. The man’s unbelief possibly stems from the fact that this situation has obtained for a long season of time and that the disciples of the One who had healed so many are now unable to help. This was his last hope and it seems to have failed. His faith is weak and yet Jesus summons him to examine his faith and his response is one we all need to remember.
Paul is apparently speaking a word that the church in Corinth needs to hear. We have seen that the Spirit is very active among them in gifts and signs but yet there seems also to be a lack of love and humility in this church. He has already lectured them about their communion practices and other instances where they are still not “one.” He has urged them to unity in the body as it seems that they have exalted some of the gifts and therefore those who have those gifts. There also seems to be a sense of separation due to economic circumstances and they are taking pride in who taught them rather than in Jesus. Love must be the motivating factor in all that we do for the Lord. We can do a great many things but if we don’t share God’s love for His people and the world in doing them then we have accomplished nothing of kingdom value but rather done some self-serving acts.
You turn rivers into a desert,
springs of water into thirsty ground,
a fruitful land into a salty waste,
because of the evil of its inhabitants.
You turn a desert into pools of water,
a parched land into springs of water.
Psalm 107:33-43, Exod. 2:23-3:15; 1 Cor. 13:1-13; Mark 9:14-29
The burning bush. Moses sees the sign and hears the voice calling him. How long had he longed to hear God’s voice telling him what had become of his life, for what purpose was he saved as a baby. The Lord makes an announcement of who He is, the God of Moses’ fathers, and of His intent, to deliver Israel from bondage and take them to the promised land. Then comes the shocker, “So come, I will send you to Pharaoh to bring my people, the Israelites, out of Egypt.” I can’t imagine that Moses saw that coming at all and his response is incredulity, “Who am I…” He is uniquely positioned to be able to speak to Pharaoh and also now to identify with the Hebrews. Remember that Joseph told his family to tell Pharaoh they were shepherds because the Egyptians don’t like shepherds, well that is what Moses has been for the past 40 years in a foreign land, which he will now repeat as shepherd of Israel in the wilderness for the next forty years. At the end we get the majestic name of God, “I AM.” Moses is to be the emissary of the great I AM. God’s identity begins with being or existence, everything else comes from the only One who simply is, all the rest is created stuff.
The disciples are unable to heal a boy with a demon. After having seen miracles worked through them they are now mystified by their inability to perform any work on this man’s son. At the end of the passage Jesus tells them that this kind can only come out with prayer. Does this signify that they had believed that the power to do miracles was their own and they no longer need rely on God? It seems that they have failed to understand the key to working with God is abiding in God. The man’s unbelief possibly stems from the fact that this situation has obtained for a long season of time and that the disciples of the One who had healed so many are now unable to help. This was his last hope and it seems to have failed. His faith is weak and yet Jesus summons him to examine his faith and his response is one we all need to remember.
Paul is apparently speaking a word that the church in Corinth needs to hear. We have seen that the Spirit is very active among them in gifts and signs but yet there seems also to be a lack of love and humility in this church. He has already lectured them about their communion practices and other instances where they are still not “one.” He has urged them to unity in the body as it seems that they have exalted some of the gifts and therefore those who have those gifts. There also seems to be a sense of separation due to economic circumstances and they are taking pride in who taught them rather than in Jesus. Love must be the motivating factor in all that we do for the Lord. We can do a great many things but if we don’t share God’s love for His people and the world in doing them then we have accomplished nothing of kingdom value but rather done some self-serving acts.
You turn rivers into a desert,
springs of water into thirsty ground,
a fruitful land into a salty waste,
because of the evil of its inhabitants.
You turn a desert into pools of water,
a parched land into springs of water.
Friday, March 19, 2010
19 March 2010
Psalm 102; Exod. 2:1-22; 1 Cor. 12:27-13:3; Mark 9:2-13
It’s all about identity. Moses was born during a difficult time, when Hebrew male children were being put to death by Pharaoh. When Pharaoh’s sister finds him in the river she immediately concludes he is a Hebrew but she took pity on him. Was this the reason his mother had placed him in the basket in the river, because she knew that there he would be found by women and not men? Later, when Moses went out to “his people” he identified with them against the Egyptian who was beating the Hebrew and surely thought that he would be accepted as one of them. The next day he learned that they didn’t consider him one of them, he hadn’t shared their difficult life, being raised as “one of them.” Pharaoh then decides that Moses has chosen to identify with the Hebrews and decides to kill him. The daughters of Reuel mistake him for an Egyptian. Moses’ story is incredible and he clearly knew his own story, but who was he, an Egyptian or a Hebrew? He would have forty years outside both those communities, resident as an alien in a foreign land, to work that out.
Here on the mountain, Jesus is speaking with Moses and Elijah, the law and the prophets, and the three disciples with whom Jesus spent much of his time want to make them all equal and capture this moment forever. What happens next is that the others are suddenly gone and Jesus stands alone with the voice from heaven proclaiming Him to be God’s son and they are to listen to Him. The identity of Jesus is made clear to them, He is the Son and has the place of primary importance, He speaks for the Father in a way that these others do not and did not. When we read the law and prophets we need always to keep the Gospel in mind, their fullness is found in Jesus’ interpretation. Both John and Peter, in their writings, reflect on this moment as important to them. John says, “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.” These men truly understood the revelation of the identity of Jesus.
Our identity as Christians must first be like John’s self-description, we are the ones Jesus loves. Resting in that love we can then begin to live into His call for our lives. We are not primarily identified by our gifts but by our love. The giftedness we have and which we offer to the body and the world is a secondary identity. It is important that we keep that identity clear in order that we exercise our gifts in love and not from a sense of either self-importance or from an excess of humility. Jesus’ primary identity was and is always, only begotten Son and it is out of that relational identity that He works miracles.
Let this be recorded for a generation to come,
so that a people yet to be created may praise the LORD:
that he looked down from his holy height;
from heaven the LORD looked at the earth,
to hear the groans of the prisoners,
to set free those who were doomed to die,
Psalm 102; Exod. 2:1-22; 1 Cor. 12:27-13:3; Mark 9:2-13
It’s all about identity. Moses was born during a difficult time, when Hebrew male children were being put to death by Pharaoh. When Pharaoh’s sister finds him in the river she immediately concludes he is a Hebrew but she took pity on him. Was this the reason his mother had placed him in the basket in the river, because she knew that there he would be found by women and not men? Later, when Moses went out to “his people” he identified with them against the Egyptian who was beating the Hebrew and surely thought that he would be accepted as one of them. The next day he learned that they didn’t consider him one of them, he hadn’t shared their difficult life, being raised as “one of them.” Pharaoh then decides that Moses has chosen to identify with the Hebrews and decides to kill him. The daughters of Reuel mistake him for an Egyptian. Moses’ story is incredible and he clearly knew his own story, but who was he, an Egyptian or a Hebrew? He would have forty years outside both those communities, resident as an alien in a foreign land, to work that out.
Here on the mountain, Jesus is speaking with Moses and Elijah, the law and the prophets, and the three disciples with whom Jesus spent much of his time want to make them all equal and capture this moment forever. What happens next is that the others are suddenly gone and Jesus stands alone with the voice from heaven proclaiming Him to be God’s son and they are to listen to Him. The identity of Jesus is made clear to them, He is the Son and has the place of primary importance, He speaks for the Father in a way that these others do not and did not. When we read the law and prophets we need always to keep the Gospel in mind, their fullness is found in Jesus’ interpretation. Both John and Peter, in their writings, reflect on this moment as important to them. John says, “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.” These men truly understood the revelation of the identity of Jesus.
Our identity as Christians must first be like John’s self-description, we are the ones Jesus loves. Resting in that love we can then begin to live into His call for our lives. We are not primarily identified by our gifts but by our love. The giftedness we have and which we offer to the body and the world is a secondary identity. It is important that we keep that identity clear in order that we exercise our gifts in love and not from a sense of either self-importance or from an excess of humility. Jesus’ primary identity was and is always, only begotten Son and it is out of that relational identity that He works miracles.
Let this be recorded for a generation to come,
so that a people yet to be created may praise the LORD:
that he looked down from his holy height;
from heaven the LORD looked at the earth,
to hear the groans of the prisoners,
to set free those who were doomed to die,
Thursday, March 18, 2010
18 March 2010
Psalm 69; Exod. 1:6-22; 1 Cor. 12:12-26; Mark 8:27-9:1
The story continues. The people remained in the land of Egypt and prospered and flourished and grew into a number large enough to cause the Egyptians to fear them. The way to control the Israelites was to force them to labor for the king. It seems the opposite of shrewd to deal with the people harshly if the objective was to keep them from ever joining forces with Egypt’s enemies. Wouldn’t it tend to make people bitter enough to revolt? This same strategy was tried later in Israel’s history by one of its own kings, Solomon’s son Rehoboam, to consolidate his power over the people and it didn’t work well then either. The story of the midwives poses an ethical dilemma. The midwives seemingly lie to the king about the birthing practices they employ, telling him that the Hebrew women deliver without the need of a midwife so that they are unable to carry out his command to kill or abort the children as they are being delivered. The dilemma is over the issue of lying, can it be an absolute prohibition or do we choose to obey a higher command. Jesus has to deal with similar dilemmas in His ministry, typically to do with Sabbath regulations and healing miracles. There are some duties that are higher than others and the preservation of life would surely come higher than one’s duty to speak truth to a wicked king and do his bidding.
Peter gets it right and then immediately gets it terribly wrong. He sees Jesus as Messiah but believes Jesus doesn’t understand the concept of Messiah well enough. When Jesus begins to speak of His death, Peter rebukes Him. Peter wants the kind of Messiah that was offered to Jesus those forty days in the wilderness when He was tempted by satan. The kind of Messiah that does tricks and receives exaltation of the earthly variety is Peter’s idea, but Jesus always keeps the cross in mind and tells the disciples that they must always keep the possibility of their own cross in mind as they follow Him. Being His disciple is never once promised to be easy. He has shown us the way of the cross as the way to glory.
The body of Christ is a wonderful metaphor and a difficult reality. We all want to be the most important part of the body and yet we all need one another for the body to function well. I have a friend who lost a toe and adjusting to the loss of that one toe required a fair amount of physical therapy as it affected his balance. We need Paul’s perspective on the body and our roles within that body if we are to truly function as the Lord intends. It begins with being comfortable in your own gifts and talents, being thankful for the grace of serving Him at all. None of us deserve a place in the kingdom, it is all grace. If we could be content in that truth we could begin to live into the joy of serving.
I will praise the name of God with a song;
I will magnify him with thanksgiving.
This will please the LORD more than an ox
or a bull with horns and hoofs.
When the humble see it they will be glad;
you who seek God, let your hearts revive.
Psalm 69; Exod. 1:6-22; 1 Cor. 12:12-26; Mark 8:27-9:1
The story continues. The people remained in the land of Egypt and prospered and flourished and grew into a number large enough to cause the Egyptians to fear them. The way to control the Israelites was to force them to labor for the king. It seems the opposite of shrewd to deal with the people harshly if the objective was to keep them from ever joining forces with Egypt’s enemies. Wouldn’t it tend to make people bitter enough to revolt? This same strategy was tried later in Israel’s history by one of its own kings, Solomon’s son Rehoboam, to consolidate his power over the people and it didn’t work well then either. The story of the midwives poses an ethical dilemma. The midwives seemingly lie to the king about the birthing practices they employ, telling him that the Hebrew women deliver without the need of a midwife so that they are unable to carry out his command to kill or abort the children as they are being delivered. The dilemma is over the issue of lying, can it be an absolute prohibition or do we choose to obey a higher command. Jesus has to deal with similar dilemmas in His ministry, typically to do with Sabbath regulations and healing miracles. There are some duties that are higher than others and the preservation of life would surely come higher than one’s duty to speak truth to a wicked king and do his bidding.
Peter gets it right and then immediately gets it terribly wrong. He sees Jesus as Messiah but believes Jesus doesn’t understand the concept of Messiah well enough. When Jesus begins to speak of His death, Peter rebukes Him. Peter wants the kind of Messiah that was offered to Jesus those forty days in the wilderness when He was tempted by satan. The kind of Messiah that does tricks and receives exaltation of the earthly variety is Peter’s idea, but Jesus always keeps the cross in mind and tells the disciples that they must always keep the possibility of their own cross in mind as they follow Him. Being His disciple is never once promised to be easy. He has shown us the way of the cross as the way to glory.
The body of Christ is a wonderful metaphor and a difficult reality. We all want to be the most important part of the body and yet we all need one another for the body to function well. I have a friend who lost a toe and adjusting to the loss of that one toe required a fair amount of physical therapy as it affected his balance. We need Paul’s perspective on the body and our roles within that body if we are to truly function as the Lord intends. It begins with being comfortable in your own gifts and talents, being thankful for the grace of serving Him at all. None of us deserve a place in the kingdom, it is all grace. If we could be content in that truth we could begin to live into the joy of serving.
I will praise the name of God with a song;
I will magnify him with thanksgiving.
This will please the LORD more than an ox
or a bull with horns and hoofs.
When the humble see it they will be glad;
you who seek God, let your hearts revive.
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
17 March 2010
Psalm 101, 109; Gen. 50:15-26; 1 Cor. 12:1-11; Mark 8:11-26
The brothers have apparently been wary of Joseph the entire time they lived in Egypt, believing that his only motive was to see his father again. Now that dad is out of the way will he pursue revenge against them for what they did so long ago? Joseph, however, has forgiven their sin against him. There is a similarity here between this story and the prodigal son, who has sinned against his father and offers to be his slave, just as the brothers do here. It is also one last fulfillment of the dream of Joseph’s youth. What Joseph has come to see is the sovereignty of God over all things and that God has used what was a terrible sin to preserve the lives of the entire family. I wonder how long it took for Joseph to get this perspective? “I wonder how God intends to use this?” isn’t generally our first thought when someone has betrayed us.
Here come the Pharisees. The movement was forward with the people until they show up, true to form. They are completely unable it seems to grasp the larger picture, their interest is in form and rule and they are still with us today. The disciples seem utterly clueless about Jesus’ meaning when He warns them about the leaven of the Pharisees, but what we are seeing is that when they come into the midst of the people their influence spreads abroad. The people were soaking in Jesus’ teaching until the Pharisees begin to cause doubt and question Jesus’ teaching in light of their law. Sadly, every denomination or church has their legalists today whatever the issue, whether ritual legalists or denominational theological emphases.
One of the great benefits of the outpouring of the Spirit is the gifts that enable us to discern truth. We no longer need people like the Pharisees who are the keepers of truth and law, we have the law written on our hearts and we are capable of discerning truth on our own. That doesn’t mean we have no need of teachers and leaders, it should, however, mean that we are not led astray by false teaching. When we hear something that is out of line with what we know or believe we should take it to the Lord and ask Him. He is capable of communicating truth to us in our inmost being. Joseph seems to have a measure of the Holy Spirit enabling him to see God’s action and plan in his life in difficult circumstances, in the interpretation of dreams, and most of all in his ability to utterly forgive his brothers.
With my mouth I will give great thanks to the LORD;
I will praise him in the midst of the throng.
For he stands at the right hand of the needy one,
to save him from those who condemn his soul to death.
Psalm 101, 109; Gen. 50:15-26; 1 Cor. 12:1-11; Mark 8:11-26
The brothers have apparently been wary of Joseph the entire time they lived in Egypt, believing that his only motive was to see his father again. Now that dad is out of the way will he pursue revenge against them for what they did so long ago? Joseph, however, has forgiven their sin against him. There is a similarity here between this story and the prodigal son, who has sinned against his father and offers to be his slave, just as the brothers do here. It is also one last fulfillment of the dream of Joseph’s youth. What Joseph has come to see is the sovereignty of God over all things and that God has used what was a terrible sin to preserve the lives of the entire family. I wonder how long it took for Joseph to get this perspective? “I wonder how God intends to use this?” isn’t generally our first thought when someone has betrayed us.
Here come the Pharisees. The movement was forward with the people until they show up, true to form. They are completely unable it seems to grasp the larger picture, their interest is in form and rule and they are still with us today. The disciples seem utterly clueless about Jesus’ meaning when He warns them about the leaven of the Pharisees, but what we are seeing is that when they come into the midst of the people their influence spreads abroad. The people were soaking in Jesus’ teaching until the Pharisees begin to cause doubt and question Jesus’ teaching in light of their law. Sadly, every denomination or church has their legalists today whatever the issue, whether ritual legalists or denominational theological emphases.
One of the great benefits of the outpouring of the Spirit is the gifts that enable us to discern truth. We no longer need people like the Pharisees who are the keepers of truth and law, we have the law written on our hearts and we are capable of discerning truth on our own. That doesn’t mean we have no need of teachers and leaders, it should, however, mean that we are not led astray by false teaching. When we hear something that is out of line with what we know or believe we should take it to the Lord and ask Him. He is capable of communicating truth to us in our inmost being. Joseph seems to have a measure of the Holy Spirit enabling him to see God’s action and plan in his life in difficult circumstances, in the interpretation of dreams, and most of all in his ability to utterly forgive his brothers.
With my mouth I will give great thanks to the LORD;
I will praise him in the midst of the throng.
For he stands at the right hand of the needy one,
to save him from those who condemn his soul to death.
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
16 March 2010
Psalm 97, 99; Gen. 49:29-50:14; 1 Cor. 11:17-34; Mark 8:1-10
Jacob’s life comes to an end and his final wishes are carried out. This scene speaks to the importance of Joseph in Egypt, the extended period of mourning, the embalming of the body, the procession to the cave for burial, all tell the story of an important person. It is important that Jacob be buried in the land of the promise, the statement is that Egypt is not their home, it is shelter from the storm. Joseph asks through the household for leave to take his father’s remains back for burial and it is granted, significantly, the grandchildren and the flocks and herds do not accompany the procession. Is this surety that the rest are coming back? Joseph’s question of Pharaoh presages the request of Moses to a different Pharaoh four hundred years later, but he offered no surety of return.
How can one feed these people with bread here in the desert? That question has been asked and answered for these people before. In the story of Jacob we see God’s miraculous provision for His people in sending Joseph ahead to provide for them in time of famine, we see it in the wilderness with God’s provision through Moses of bread and water. The people are following Jesus, they have made no provision for their own sustenance, and they need to be fed so Jesus acknowledges their need and here, again, provides for that need. The signs are clear, is anyone noticing?
Two things stand out in this passage on communion. One is that it is spiritually important for them as a community and two, something real happens in communion. The meal is intended to be truly communal, like the feeding miracle in the Gospel lesson, not a set of private picnics held in the same location. It is meant to express their unity in all things. There used to be concerts in a national park near our home and we would frequently attend with friends and we would, as a group, take food for us all. The disparity between what groups of people brought to those concerts was always striking. Families would be gathered with fast food right next to others who had gone to fantastic lengths to make the meal a production with white linens, candles, and several courses of gourmet food. In the church Paul says that all are meant to share with one another in this communion. It is also clear that Paul believes that something both spiritual and physical happens in the act of eating and drinking communion. We are to “discern the body.” That is to say we need to confess our sins prior to communion in order that we receive the offer of life made to those who are prepared to receive it as opposed to those who do not receive pardon for confessed sins but rather judgment on unconfessed sin. Paul connects illnesses and even death with taking this communion lightly.
Let them praise your great and awesome name!
Holy is he!
You have established equity;
you have executed justice
and righteousness in Jacob.
Exalt the LORD our God;
worship at his footstool!
Holy is he!
Psalm 97, 99; Gen. 49:29-50:14; 1 Cor. 11:17-34; Mark 8:1-10
Jacob’s life comes to an end and his final wishes are carried out. This scene speaks to the importance of Joseph in Egypt, the extended period of mourning, the embalming of the body, the procession to the cave for burial, all tell the story of an important person. It is important that Jacob be buried in the land of the promise, the statement is that Egypt is not their home, it is shelter from the storm. Joseph asks through the household for leave to take his father’s remains back for burial and it is granted, significantly, the grandchildren and the flocks and herds do not accompany the procession. Is this surety that the rest are coming back? Joseph’s question of Pharaoh presages the request of Moses to a different Pharaoh four hundred years later, but he offered no surety of return.
How can one feed these people with bread here in the desert? That question has been asked and answered for these people before. In the story of Jacob we see God’s miraculous provision for His people in sending Joseph ahead to provide for them in time of famine, we see it in the wilderness with God’s provision through Moses of bread and water. The people are following Jesus, they have made no provision for their own sustenance, and they need to be fed so Jesus acknowledges their need and here, again, provides for that need. The signs are clear, is anyone noticing?
Two things stand out in this passage on communion. One is that it is spiritually important for them as a community and two, something real happens in communion. The meal is intended to be truly communal, like the feeding miracle in the Gospel lesson, not a set of private picnics held in the same location. It is meant to express their unity in all things. There used to be concerts in a national park near our home and we would frequently attend with friends and we would, as a group, take food for us all. The disparity between what groups of people brought to those concerts was always striking. Families would be gathered with fast food right next to others who had gone to fantastic lengths to make the meal a production with white linens, candles, and several courses of gourmet food. In the church Paul says that all are meant to share with one another in this communion. It is also clear that Paul believes that something both spiritual and physical happens in the act of eating and drinking communion. We are to “discern the body.” That is to say we need to confess our sins prior to communion in order that we receive the offer of life made to those who are prepared to receive it as opposed to those who do not receive pardon for confessed sins but rather judgment on unconfessed sin. Paul connects illnesses and even death with taking this communion lightly.
Let them praise your great and awesome name!
Holy is he!
You have established equity;
you have executed justice
and righteousness in Jacob.
Exalt the LORD our God;
worship at his footstool!
Holy is he!
Monday, March 15, 2010
15 March 2010
Psalm 89:1-18; Gen. 49:1-28; 1 Cor. 10:14-11:1; Mark 7:24-37
Jacob’s blessings of his sons are part prediction and part prophetic oracle. They are all based on observable evidence of their character which is generally an accurate predictor of destiny but some go beyond the available evidence in their casting of the future of these men. It is similar to the words Noah spoke over his sons after the sin of Ham in Genesis 9. It is true that God has no grandchildren, that we all must decide for ourselves who we will follow, but it is also true that apples don’t generally fall far from trees. We have seen these men grow from impetuous young men to, in some cases like Judah, men who have matured and become very different. We are called to be like our older brother, Jesus, and we have been empowered by the Holy Spirit to live anew. We aren’t doomed to repeat the sins and mistakes of the past generations of our family tree, we have been given that Spirit that will change our destiny if we live according to the Spirit.
The way Jesus answers the Syrophoenician woman call for a response of faith. She is an “uppity” woman in that she, a gentile, comes to the Jewish rabbi to ask for healing. She is desperate for her child to be healed and her attitude is that she accepts His statement about the dogs but her belief is that there is enough for even the dogs to eat. In the land, there was to be one law for those in the covenant and those outside the covenant, and the temple itself was to express the reality that God’s message was for everyone, Jew and Gentile alike, but the presence of God was guarded from the Gentiles, they could only come near if they were willing to fully enter the covenant relationship and become Jews by circumcision. This woman’s response indicates her own understanding of that reality, that there are crumbs for even the dogs and she is asking for those crumbs. The people speak well of Jesus, the leaders aren’t in view here to shape public opinion yet.
Don’t ask, don’t tell. Paul is speaking on the distinction between buying in the open market without regard to what may or may not be the seller’s practices concerning the meat they sell and dining with someone who tells you that this has been sacrificed to idols. We have fellowship in the Lord Jesus when we receive communion. We have confessed our faith in the creed and we have made confession of sin together, we are gathered then as believing, forgiven sinners to receive physical and spiritual food and drink. If we share in the fellowship of Jesus, how can we also share in a feast with others who have other beliefs, other gods and who have dedicated the meal to those gods? Table fellowship is certainly possible with non-believers but that isn’t what Paul is speaking about here, this implies a sacrificial meal the intent of which is to honor a god, even in a private setting.
I will sing of the steadfast love of the LORD, forever;
with my mouth I will make known your faithfulness to all generations.
Let the heavens praise your wonders, O LORD,
your faithfulness in the assembly of the holy ones!
Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne;
steadfast love and faithfulness go before you.
Psalm 89:1-18; Gen. 49:1-28; 1 Cor. 10:14-11:1; Mark 7:24-37
Jacob’s blessings of his sons are part prediction and part prophetic oracle. They are all based on observable evidence of their character which is generally an accurate predictor of destiny but some go beyond the available evidence in their casting of the future of these men. It is similar to the words Noah spoke over his sons after the sin of Ham in Genesis 9. It is true that God has no grandchildren, that we all must decide for ourselves who we will follow, but it is also true that apples don’t generally fall far from trees. We have seen these men grow from impetuous young men to, in some cases like Judah, men who have matured and become very different. We are called to be like our older brother, Jesus, and we have been empowered by the Holy Spirit to live anew. We aren’t doomed to repeat the sins and mistakes of the past generations of our family tree, we have been given that Spirit that will change our destiny if we live according to the Spirit.
The way Jesus answers the Syrophoenician woman call for a response of faith. She is an “uppity” woman in that she, a gentile, comes to the Jewish rabbi to ask for healing. She is desperate for her child to be healed and her attitude is that she accepts His statement about the dogs but her belief is that there is enough for even the dogs to eat. In the land, there was to be one law for those in the covenant and those outside the covenant, and the temple itself was to express the reality that God’s message was for everyone, Jew and Gentile alike, but the presence of God was guarded from the Gentiles, they could only come near if they were willing to fully enter the covenant relationship and become Jews by circumcision. This woman’s response indicates her own understanding of that reality, that there are crumbs for even the dogs and she is asking for those crumbs. The people speak well of Jesus, the leaders aren’t in view here to shape public opinion yet.
Don’t ask, don’t tell. Paul is speaking on the distinction between buying in the open market without regard to what may or may not be the seller’s practices concerning the meat they sell and dining with someone who tells you that this has been sacrificed to idols. We have fellowship in the Lord Jesus when we receive communion. We have confessed our faith in the creed and we have made confession of sin together, we are gathered then as believing, forgiven sinners to receive physical and spiritual food and drink. If we share in the fellowship of Jesus, how can we also share in a feast with others who have other beliefs, other gods and who have dedicated the meal to those gods? Table fellowship is certainly possible with non-believers but that isn’t what Paul is speaking about here, this implies a sacrificial meal the intent of which is to honor a god, even in a private setting.
I will sing of the steadfast love of the LORD, forever;
with my mouth I will make known your faithfulness to all generations.
Let the heavens praise your wonders, O LORD,
your faithfulness in the assembly of the holy ones!
Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne;
steadfast love and faithfulness go before you.
Sunday, March 14, 2010
14 March 2010
Psalm 66, 67; Gen. 48:8-22; Rom. 8:11-25; John 6:27-40
Could Jacob have done anything differently at the last than to bless the youngest son first and in the process give his favorite an additional portion of the inheritance? All his life he had been the youngest but had received what was not due to him by the laws of inheritance. It is surprising that his son didn’t simply smile at his father’s crossing of the hands to bless Ephraim with the right hand. In the story of the family in the book of Genesis the blessing continually goes to the youngest son, Isaac over Ishmael, Jacob over Esau, and now in this generation Joseph over his brothers and Ephraim over Manasseh. We will see that same pattern in the choosing of David and then of Solomon as kings. We must be careful to bless what God blesses rather than following custom or tradition blindly.
Jesus here has just fed 5000 people and they have come back the next day and propose that if He wants them to believe in Him then He needs to do it again. Their proposal is that He do what Moses did in giving their fathers manna, but that didn’t turn out so well, they tired of the manna after a time and rebelled against God’s provision. This conversation is very similar to the conversation Jesus had with the Samaritan woman (John 4), speaking of the bread that comes down from heaven and give life to the world and they respond, “Sir, give us this bread always,” just as the woman had asked Him for the water of which He spoke. From there, however, the conversation doesn’t go quite the same. Jesus begins to speak of that bread and uses the words, “I am the bread of life.” Their interest in this bread has now gone down dramatically. What is it that we want Jesus to do to prove Himself to us?
The two images here that Paul uses, the spirit of adoption and all creation groaning in anticipation of the revelation of the sons of God are powerful and moving. Adoption into the family of God from the previous state of spiritual orphans is a theological statement. As John has said in the prologue to his Gospel, Jesus has given us the right to become children of God, implying that until we believe in Him we are not children, simply creatures, even if image bearers. Do we have the spirit of adoption which is gratitude for the love and grace we have received in that transaction? The second image, of creation groaning in anticipation for the revealing of these children of God is the relief of all creation that a new humanity is here. The new humanity will care for the creation in the same way the creator cares for it, we will live into our original mandate, to be stewards of creation for our heavenly Father. Living from the Spirit will change everything for all of creation. John’s vision tells us that this stewardship awaits a new creation, itself liberated from the effects of the fall of mankind, but we are to begin the work now.
May God be gracious to us and bless us
and make his face to shine upon us,
that your way may be known on earth,
your saving power among all nations.
Let the peoples praise you, O God;
let all the peoples praise you!
Psalm 66, 67; Gen. 48:8-22; Rom. 8:11-25; John 6:27-40
Could Jacob have done anything differently at the last than to bless the youngest son first and in the process give his favorite an additional portion of the inheritance? All his life he had been the youngest but had received what was not due to him by the laws of inheritance. It is surprising that his son didn’t simply smile at his father’s crossing of the hands to bless Ephraim with the right hand. In the story of the family in the book of Genesis the blessing continually goes to the youngest son, Isaac over Ishmael, Jacob over Esau, and now in this generation Joseph over his brothers and Ephraim over Manasseh. We will see that same pattern in the choosing of David and then of Solomon as kings. We must be careful to bless what God blesses rather than following custom or tradition blindly.
Jesus here has just fed 5000 people and they have come back the next day and propose that if He wants them to believe in Him then He needs to do it again. Their proposal is that He do what Moses did in giving their fathers manna, but that didn’t turn out so well, they tired of the manna after a time and rebelled against God’s provision. This conversation is very similar to the conversation Jesus had with the Samaritan woman (John 4), speaking of the bread that comes down from heaven and give life to the world and they respond, “Sir, give us this bread always,” just as the woman had asked Him for the water of which He spoke. From there, however, the conversation doesn’t go quite the same. Jesus begins to speak of that bread and uses the words, “I am the bread of life.” Their interest in this bread has now gone down dramatically. What is it that we want Jesus to do to prove Himself to us?
The two images here that Paul uses, the spirit of adoption and all creation groaning in anticipation of the revelation of the sons of God are powerful and moving. Adoption into the family of God from the previous state of spiritual orphans is a theological statement. As John has said in the prologue to his Gospel, Jesus has given us the right to become children of God, implying that until we believe in Him we are not children, simply creatures, even if image bearers. Do we have the spirit of adoption which is gratitude for the love and grace we have received in that transaction? The second image, of creation groaning in anticipation for the revealing of these children of God is the relief of all creation that a new humanity is here. The new humanity will care for the creation in the same way the creator cares for it, we will live into our original mandate, to be stewards of creation for our heavenly Father. Living from the Spirit will change everything for all of creation. John’s vision tells us that this stewardship awaits a new creation, itself liberated from the effects of the fall of mankind, but we are to begin the work now.
May God be gracious to us and bless us
and make his face to shine upon us,
that your way may be known on earth,
your saving power among all nations.
Let the peoples praise you, O God;
let all the peoples praise you!
Saturday, March 13, 2010
13 March 2010
Psalm 87, 90; Gen. 47:27-48:7; 1 Cor. 10:1-13; Mark 7:1-23
Jacob wants to be buried in the land of the promise. After seventeen years in Egypt he is concerned that he be returned to his land, whether he possessed the land or not. Egypt is not his home nor is it to be the home of his family and the people of Israel. It is odd that Jacob includes the sons of Joseph in the family, which would have included both inheritance and blessing. At the time it may not have seemed like much to offer, but ultimately it would mean that these two families would share in the promise of God, far more than the man himself had to offer. The motivation seems to have been connected to his love for Rachel and a desire to see these children, the second generation fruit of her womb, well blessed. Joseph could offer his children the best of Egypt but his father could pass along something in some ways less tangible for not being seen at present but more tangible in that it was backed by the full faith and credit of Yahweh.
Jesus confronts the scribes and Pharisees, but only because they come to Him for confrontation. The washing of hands was an important topic in Judaism. They were to be a holy people and defilement came through contact with “the world.” They were the people of God and those people out there were not. The earth itself was a source of defilement through the fall. Things like mold and other airborne bacteria were not simply hazardous to health, they were proof that the world was defiled by sin. Jesus’ answer seems obtuse in that it doesn’t respond to the question but He raises the bar by pointing to the commandment to love and honor your parents. They have been focusing on the wrong things. His comments concerning defilement rearrange their perspective. The problem isn’t “those people” it is us and the desires of our heart. How do we deal with defilement from within? We are at war with our own hearts, we need divine help to conquer that enemy.
Paul sees the danger in complacency. We have the Holy Spirit within us if we confess Jesus as Lord but does that mean that we cannot fall into sin? Paul says that we remain capable of horrible things, we aren’t better than those who came before us, our desires continue to have the power to control and devour us if we choose to give in to them. We must consciously live by the Spirit, filling our hearts and minds with those things which build up the inner person in the Spirit of God. We must live by prayer and the disciplines of the life of faith that have sustained those who have gone before us in order that we might truly follow the Lord rather than our desires.
Lord, you have been our dwelling place
in all generations.
Before the mountains were brought forth,
or ever you had formed the earth and the world,
from everlasting to everlasting you are God.
Psalm 87, 90; Gen. 47:27-48:7; 1 Cor. 10:1-13; Mark 7:1-23
Jacob wants to be buried in the land of the promise. After seventeen years in Egypt he is concerned that he be returned to his land, whether he possessed the land or not. Egypt is not his home nor is it to be the home of his family and the people of Israel. It is odd that Jacob includes the sons of Joseph in the family, which would have included both inheritance and blessing. At the time it may not have seemed like much to offer, but ultimately it would mean that these two families would share in the promise of God, far more than the man himself had to offer. The motivation seems to have been connected to his love for Rachel and a desire to see these children, the second generation fruit of her womb, well blessed. Joseph could offer his children the best of Egypt but his father could pass along something in some ways less tangible for not being seen at present but more tangible in that it was backed by the full faith and credit of Yahweh.
Jesus confronts the scribes and Pharisees, but only because they come to Him for confrontation. The washing of hands was an important topic in Judaism. They were to be a holy people and defilement came through contact with “the world.” They were the people of God and those people out there were not. The earth itself was a source of defilement through the fall. Things like mold and other airborne bacteria were not simply hazardous to health, they were proof that the world was defiled by sin. Jesus’ answer seems obtuse in that it doesn’t respond to the question but He raises the bar by pointing to the commandment to love and honor your parents. They have been focusing on the wrong things. His comments concerning defilement rearrange their perspective. The problem isn’t “those people” it is us and the desires of our heart. How do we deal with defilement from within? We are at war with our own hearts, we need divine help to conquer that enemy.
Paul sees the danger in complacency. We have the Holy Spirit within us if we confess Jesus as Lord but does that mean that we cannot fall into sin? Paul says that we remain capable of horrible things, we aren’t better than those who came before us, our desires continue to have the power to control and devour us if we choose to give in to them. We must consciously live by the Spirit, filling our hearts and minds with those things which build up the inner person in the Spirit of God. We must live by prayer and the disciplines of the life of faith that have sustained those who have gone before us in order that we might truly follow the Lord rather than our desires.
Lord, you have been our dwelling place
in all generations.
Before the mountains were brought forth,
or ever you had formed the earth and the world,
from everlasting to everlasting you are God.
Friday, March 12, 2010
12 March 2010
Psalm 88; Gen. 47:1-26; 1 Cor. 9:16-27; Mark 6:47-56
It is interesting that Jacob comes into Pharaoh’s presence and blesses him twice, once when he comes in and once when he departs. How can Jacob bless a man who believes himself to be a god? He has blessed Pharaoh with his son Joseph already and in the end we will see that Pharaoh is indeed blessed through Joseph’s wise administration. By the end of this passage Pharaoh will own all the money in Egypt and Canaan, all the livestock, all the land and eventually all the people and 20% of their produce. It is most profitable for him that Joseph was sold into slavery. Fortunately, Joseph’s family is provided for and they seem not to have been part of this bargain. Jacob’s description of his life to Pharaoh is poignant and yet the question remains why has his life been as difficult as it was? Jacob spent too many of those years relying on his wits and deceit, how could his life have been otherwise.
The disciples “didn’t understand about the loaves.” They were astonished when Jesus walked on water and calmed the waves and Mark tells us that these things had some connection with the loaves. He has power that cannot be imagined or limited, and nothing was too hard for Him or impossible for Him. Is our faith in Jesus complete? Do we believe that He is able to do some things but not others? Mark is telling us that nothing is impossible for Him to overcome and we should understand that faith is meant to be total.
Our verbal proclamation of faith in the Gospel must match our living proclamation. Our faith and our life cannot be at odds with one another. Paul says that he has no choice but to proclaim this Gospel, it is his charge and also his honor, it is the most important thing in his life. He says that he proclaims it at all times, in all places and with all people but he talks about changing his strategy depending on his audience. It isn’t that Paul is disingenuous in his witness, he simply adapts his style to his company in a way that the Gospel connects with them. We see Jesus doing the same kinds of things when He speaks to different people. With some, those who are outside the Jewish community either because of sin or nationality, He is gentle and offers grace first and then truth. With insiders, Pharisees, scribes and others, He leads with truth, confronting them in their sins of hypocrisy and pride, but the offer of grace is there for those who will humble themselves to acknowledge their need of it. As Israel learned that God was able to work in any circumstance in any place, and the disciples learned that Jesus was able to overcome any obstacle, so we must have faith and trust in the truth of our testimony of Jesus to overcome obstacles.
O LORD, God of my salvation;
I cry out day and night before you.
Let my prayer come before you;
incline your ear to my cry!
Psalm 88; Gen. 47:1-26; 1 Cor. 9:16-27; Mark 6:47-56
It is interesting that Jacob comes into Pharaoh’s presence and blesses him twice, once when he comes in and once when he departs. How can Jacob bless a man who believes himself to be a god? He has blessed Pharaoh with his son Joseph already and in the end we will see that Pharaoh is indeed blessed through Joseph’s wise administration. By the end of this passage Pharaoh will own all the money in Egypt and Canaan, all the livestock, all the land and eventually all the people and 20% of their produce. It is most profitable for him that Joseph was sold into slavery. Fortunately, Joseph’s family is provided for and they seem not to have been part of this bargain. Jacob’s description of his life to Pharaoh is poignant and yet the question remains why has his life been as difficult as it was? Jacob spent too many of those years relying on his wits and deceit, how could his life have been otherwise.
The disciples “didn’t understand about the loaves.” They were astonished when Jesus walked on water and calmed the waves and Mark tells us that these things had some connection with the loaves. He has power that cannot be imagined or limited, and nothing was too hard for Him or impossible for Him. Is our faith in Jesus complete? Do we believe that He is able to do some things but not others? Mark is telling us that nothing is impossible for Him to overcome and we should understand that faith is meant to be total.
Our verbal proclamation of faith in the Gospel must match our living proclamation. Our faith and our life cannot be at odds with one another. Paul says that he has no choice but to proclaim this Gospel, it is his charge and also his honor, it is the most important thing in his life. He says that he proclaims it at all times, in all places and with all people but he talks about changing his strategy depending on his audience. It isn’t that Paul is disingenuous in his witness, he simply adapts his style to his company in a way that the Gospel connects with them. We see Jesus doing the same kinds of things when He speaks to different people. With some, those who are outside the Jewish community either because of sin or nationality, He is gentle and offers grace first and then truth. With insiders, Pharisees, scribes and others, He leads with truth, confronting them in their sins of hypocrisy and pride, but the offer of grace is there for those who will humble themselves to acknowledge their need of it. As Israel learned that God was able to work in any circumstance in any place, and the disciples learned that Jesus was able to overcome any obstacle, so we must have faith and trust in the truth of our testimony of Jesus to overcome obstacles.
O LORD, God of my salvation;
I cry out day and night before you.
Let my prayer come before you;
incline your ear to my cry!
Thursday, March 11, 2010
11 March 2010
Psalm 83; Gen. 46:1-7,28-34; 1 Cor. 9:1-15; Mark 6:30-46
The verses omitted are a list of the children of the children of Jacob. Before he leaves the land of promise, Jacob offers sacrifices to God, presumably in thanksgiving for the life of Joseph. As he does so, he receives a word from the Lord concerning leaving the land and going down to Egypt. He is assured that this is the Lord’s will and that they will return to the land, the promise is sure, this leaving does not compromise it and the Lord will be with them in Egypt. No promise is made on the date of the return and we can wonder if Jacob thought it meant that he would return in a few years or not. The reunion with his favorite son is emotional, Joseph wept on his neck “a good while.” Joseph, perhaps remembering the story of Lot and his accommodation to Sodom, moving from outside the city to become a prominent citizen who sat in the gate, decides that the best place for them to settle is apart from the Egyptians and so they are told that their occupation is shepherd because shepherds are abhorrent to Egyptians. Over 400 years later their descendants will continue to live outside of Egypt in Goshen.
Jesus’ desire is to go away with the disciples to debrief their recent mission and the crowds recognize them and follow. In spite of having his own plans, Jesus has compassion on these seekers and spends time teaching them. As great as the disciples faith may have been on their return, they weren’t prepared for what was to come. Jesus tells them to feed the multitude and they have no faith for such a thing, thinking of money only. Jesus provides all that is needed for the feast. The feedings are some of the most remarkable miracles Jesus does, provision of abundance out of scarcity. The fact that He blessed so many with so little sets the feeding apart from individual healing works. At the end of the work Jesus goes away to pray by Himself rather than re-joining the disciples immediately. We need to make time after we have been used by God to be re-filled by setting aside time alone for prayer, just as Jesus has attempted to do with the disciples here.
Paul says that the Corinthians have not treated him with the proper respect and deference he is due as the one who first shared the Gospel with them. It would seem that they are paying others to do what he has done for nothing and in that arrangement have forgotten him as their father in Christ. He is no mercenary and simply because he has not made claims he has every right to make is no reason to discount him or his message. Paul is not asserting supremacy here or is not jealous of others, he is asserting that he has a rightful place among this church that is not compromised by the fact he doesn’t receive pay for his work, the pay to which he is entitled but chooses not to accept. It was here that Paul had first determined to go exclusively to the Gentiles in his ministry and it bore fruit in this place over the 18 months of his ministry there.
O God, do not keep silence;
do not hold your peace or be still, O God!
Psalm 83; Gen. 46:1-7,28-34; 1 Cor. 9:1-15; Mark 6:30-46
The verses omitted are a list of the children of the children of Jacob. Before he leaves the land of promise, Jacob offers sacrifices to God, presumably in thanksgiving for the life of Joseph. As he does so, he receives a word from the Lord concerning leaving the land and going down to Egypt. He is assured that this is the Lord’s will and that they will return to the land, the promise is sure, this leaving does not compromise it and the Lord will be with them in Egypt. No promise is made on the date of the return and we can wonder if Jacob thought it meant that he would return in a few years or not. The reunion with his favorite son is emotional, Joseph wept on his neck “a good while.” Joseph, perhaps remembering the story of Lot and his accommodation to Sodom, moving from outside the city to become a prominent citizen who sat in the gate, decides that the best place for them to settle is apart from the Egyptians and so they are told that their occupation is shepherd because shepherds are abhorrent to Egyptians. Over 400 years later their descendants will continue to live outside of Egypt in Goshen.
Jesus’ desire is to go away with the disciples to debrief their recent mission and the crowds recognize them and follow. In spite of having his own plans, Jesus has compassion on these seekers and spends time teaching them. As great as the disciples faith may have been on their return, they weren’t prepared for what was to come. Jesus tells them to feed the multitude and they have no faith for such a thing, thinking of money only. Jesus provides all that is needed for the feast. The feedings are some of the most remarkable miracles Jesus does, provision of abundance out of scarcity. The fact that He blessed so many with so little sets the feeding apart from individual healing works. At the end of the work Jesus goes away to pray by Himself rather than re-joining the disciples immediately. We need to make time after we have been used by God to be re-filled by setting aside time alone for prayer, just as Jesus has attempted to do with the disciples here.
Paul says that the Corinthians have not treated him with the proper respect and deference he is due as the one who first shared the Gospel with them. It would seem that they are paying others to do what he has done for nothing and in that arrangement have forgotten him as their father in Christ. He is no mercenary and simply because he has not made claims he has every right to make is no reason to discount him or his message. Paul is not asserting supremacy here or is not jealous of others, he is asserting that he has a rightful place among this church that is not compromised by the fact he doesn’t receive pay for his work, the pay to which he is entitled but chooses not to accept. It was here that Paul had first determined to go exclusively to the Gentiles in his ministry and it bore fruit in this place over the 18 months of his ministry there.
O God, do not keep silence;
do not hold your peace or be still, O God!
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
10 March 2010
Psalm 119:97-120; Gen. 45:16-28; 1 Cor. 8:1-13; Mark 6:13-29
Joseph reveals himself to his brothers and sends for the rest of the family to come to Egypt to ride out the famine with him there. This is the second time these people have gone to Egypt in time of famine, Abram and Sarai were there in a similar time. Joseph has learned to think with the Lord in understanding the world. He tells his brothers that their act of treachery in selling him into slavery was the Lord’s doing, he saw the sovereignty of God in this reunion, God had sent him here to save his own family, the very ones who had sought to do him harm. Pharaoh is delighted to hear of Joseph’s family and readily provides for them, so great is his admiration for Joseph.
John, like Joseph, had won the admiration, if grudgingly, of an earthly ruler. Mark tells us, “Herod feared John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man, and he protected him.” John’s way of life, his fearless proclamation of truth, gave Herod cause to believe that this man should be protected not persecuted. His wife had reason to fear John’s influence on her husband and she believed that if she could have him removed from the scene, all would go back to normal. Jesus’ appearance on the scene and the works that He was doing surely caused Herod and Herodias some grief and fear that their sins had found them out and that John would come back to haunt them. The beliefs of the people sound a bit like reincarnation with superpowers given by the power of the one who worked the resurrection.
Paul tells the Corinthians, whose culture was thoroughly pagan, that idols are nothing at all. In Corinth, a major trading and religious center, it would have been difficult to buy food that had not been sacrificed to idols prior to its sale. Also, there were many temples and shrines in this city. The Christian community was working out how to live as Christians in the midst of this pagan culture and it is no surprise that they were having difficulty sorting out what it means to participate in social life while maintain a distinctive identity. We see these same kinds of dilemmas in our society where some believe abstinence from alcohol, for instance, is the best policy although the Bible has no absolute proscription against it. I understand the choice that says it is best not to lead others into temptation if they are weak and liable to alcoholism but it is indeed a choice on how to use our freedom. We must navigate the line between being culturally conditioned and distinctively Christian and that requires us to think about the choices we make if we are to maintain our integrity as Christians in a way that witnesses to the world.
Your word is a lamp to my feet
and a light to my path.
You are my hiding place and my shield;
I hope in your word.
Psalm 119:97-120; Gen. 45:16-28; 1 Cor. 8:1-13; Mark 6:13-29
Joseph reveals himself to his brothers and sends for the rest of the family to come to Egypt to ride out the famine with him there. This is the second time these people have gone to Egypt in time of famine, Abram and Sarai were there in a similar time. Joseph has learned to think with the Lord in understanding the world. He tells his brothers that their act of treachery in selling him into slavery was the Lord’s doing, he saw the sovereignty of God in this reunion, God had sent him here to save his own family, the very ones who had sought to do him harm. Pharaoh is delighted to hear of Joseph’s family and readily provides for them, so great is his admiration for Joseph.
John, like Joseph, had won the admiration, if grudgingly, of an earthly ruler. Mark tells us, “Herod feared John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man, and he protected him.” John’s way of life, his fearless proclamation of truth, gave Herod cause to believe that this man should be protected not persecuted. His wife had reason to fear John’s influence on her husband and she believed that if she could have him removed from the scene, all would go back to normal. Jesus’ appearance on the scene and the works that He was doing surely caused Herod and Herodias some grief and fear that their sins had found them out and that John would come back to haunt them. The beliefs of the people sound a bit like reincarnation with superpowers given by the power of the one who worked the resurrection.
Paul tells the Corinthians, whose culture was thoroughly pagan, that idols are nothing at all. In Corinth, a major trading and religious center, it would have been difficult to buy food that had not been sacrificed to idols prior to its sale. Also, there were many temples and shrines in this city. The Christian community was working out how to live as Christians in the midst of this pagan culture and it is no surprise that they were having difficulty sorting out what it means to participate in social life while maintain a distinctive identity. We see these same kinds of dilemmas in our society where some believe abstinence from alcohol, for instance, is the best policy although the Bible has no absolute proscription against it. I understand the choice that says it is best not to lead others into temptation if they are weak and liable to alcoholism but it is indeed a choice on how to use our freedom. We must navigate the line between being culturally conditioned and distinctively Christian and that requires us to think about the choices we make if we are to maintain our integrity as Christians in a way that witnesses to the world.
Your word is a lamp to my feet
and a light to my path.
You are my hiding place and my shield;
I hope in your word.
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
9 March 2010
Psalm 78:1-39; Gen. 45:1-15; 1 Cor. 7:32-40; Mark 6:1-13
If we look back one generation we see brothers who were separated from one another by deception and we see them in a moment where reconciliation is possible but instead of reconciliation we see détente, Jacob goes his way and Esau goes his own. Here, we see reconciliation in the same family. Jacob has tested his brothers to see if they have repented of their sin against him, if they are different men, if they can be trusted and finds, likely to his surprise, that they have changed and that real reconciliation is now possible. That reconciliation is based on truth, he doesn’t deny the sin against him, they are confronted with the truth and yet the desire is there to reconcile at the level of Joseph providing for his entire family. The dream of his youth is realized and yet the reality is greater and better than the dream, there is no lord and servant relationship, it is the relationship of family although Joseph is the one who has positional leadership he lays that down for the greater relationship of family. See any parallels with the incarnation and Jesus’ relationship with us?
The mission of the disciples is a test run for the mission that will come later, after Jesus’ death and resurrection. They go out on their own, He isn’t with them, but God is, and miraculous things happen through them. This comes after opposition begins to form against Jesus, the seeds of what will eventually be the cause of his death. They believe they know who He is, they know His parents and His siblings, so who does he think he is. The brothers of Joseph thought they knew who he was as well and got an incredible surprise. Does the world know you as the Father’s child, through whom great things are possible?
Paul’s instructions to remain free of cares other than the Lord continue. Those who are married rightly concern themselves with their obligations to their spouse and children, they have a responsibility to them in the Lord. Paul has already spoken of our witness to our spouse. Here he writes truth, it is easier when you are able to devote yourself entirely to the Lord and a married person has divided attention. There are, however, benefits to being married besides the worldly, obvious reasons. Loving another person, forgiving and being forgiven by another person, companionship in prayer and study, bring an intimacy of their own that is truly powerful and teaches us much about loving beyond ourselves. Unfortunately, the experience of pain and sin becomes more intensely personal as well when we have committed our lives to another.
I will open my mouth in a parable;
I will utter dark sayings from of old,
things that we have heard and known,
that our fathers have told us.
We will not hide them from their children,
but tell to the coming generation
the glorious deeds of the LORD, and his might,
and the wonders that he has done.
Psalm 78:1-39; Gen. 45:1-15; 1 Cor. 7:32-40; Mark 6:1-13
If we look back one generation we see brothers who were separated from one another by deception and we see them in a moment where reconciliation is possible but instead of reconciliation we see détente, Jacob goes his way and Esau goes his own. Here, we see reconciliation in the same family. Jacob has tested his brothers to see if they have repented of their sin against him, if they are different men, if they can be trusted and finds, likely to his surprise, that they have changed and that real reconciliation is now possible. That reconciliation is based on truth, he doesn’t deny the sin against him, they are confronted with the truth and yet the desire is there to reconcile at the level of Joseph providing for his entire family. The dream of his youth is realized and yet the reality is greater and better than the dream, there is no lord and servant relationship, it is the relationship of family although Joseph is the one who has positional leadership he lays that down for the greater relationship of family. See any parallels with the incarnation and Jesus’ relationship with us?
The mission of the disciples is a test run for the mission that will come later, after Jesus’ death and resurrection. They go out on their own, He isn’t with them, but God is, and miraculous things happen through them. This comes after opposition begins to form against Jesus, the seeds of what will eventually be the cause of his death. They believe they know who He is, they know His parents and His siblings, so who does he think he is. The brothers of Joseph thought they knew who he was as well and got an incredible surprise. Does the world know you as the Father’s child, through whom great things are possible?
Paul’s instructions to remain free of cares other than the Lord continue. Those who are married rightly concern themselves with their obligations to their spouse and children, they have a responsibility to them in the Lord. Paul has already spoken of our witness to our spouse. Here he writes truth, it is easier when you are able to devote yourself entirely to the Lord and a married person has divided attention. There are, however, benefits to being married besides the worldly, obvious reasons. Loving another person, forgiving and being forgiven by another person, companionship in prayer and study, bring an intimacy of their own that is truly powerful and teaches us much about loving beyond ourselves. Unfortunately, the experience of pain and sin becomes more intensely personal as well when we have committed our lives to another.
I will open my mouth in a parable;
I will utter dark sayings from of old,
things that we have heard and known,
that our fathers have told us.
We will not hide them from their children,
but tell to the coming generation
the glorious deeds of the LORD, and his might,
and the wonders that he has done.
Monday, March 8, 2010
8 March 2010
Psalm 80; Gen. 44:18-34; 1 Cor. 7:25-31; Mark 5:21-43
Judah, from whose tribe Jesus came, offers himself as substitution for the brother whom he presumes to be guilty. Judah knows himself to be innocent in this matter and can only assume that Benjamin has done what he is accused of doing, all the evidence points to his guilt. In spite of that, and out of love for his father, Judah offers to take the punishment of his brother. Simple and straightforward, in spite of the reality he has just expressed, that his father loves this other son more than he loves Judah. The jealousy that previously infected the siblings seems now to have been accepted as simply the reality of the situation.
As we pick up the story again, Jesus has returned to a more Jewish setting from the healing of the demon possessed man. I remind you that he has come into contact with more ritual defilement than anyone could imagine: demons, among the tombs of the dead, gentiles, pigs, a man with open sores, etc. In spite of this, a synagogue leader comes and asks Jesus to enter his home to heal his son. His desperation overcomes his religious scruples. It is unthinkable that he should have Jesus in his home after all the defilement, but his love for his son is greater than those things. To add to the defilement, a woman with an issue of blood that won’t cease touches Jesus, further contaminating Him, but as with the demoniac, she is cleansed and healed. Now the word comes that this boy is dead and Jesus calls him to not fear but to have faith. The man clearly already believes Jesus, whom the others describe as “the teacher” is more than a teacher and needs to have this word spoken to strengthen his faith. Jesus raises the girl to life again and once again in Jewish territory, instructs them to tell no one. With the gentiles Jesus allows the word to spread, but among the Jews, who have the word and the promise and are looking for Messiah, He insists they come to faith on their own.
Paul clearly believes that the end of the world as we know it is coming to an end in his lifetime. For that reason, he gives particular advice or instructions here concerning how to live in a world that is passing away. We have to re-interpret these instructions for our situation, even though we do live closer to the end than Paul chronologically yet we know not when that hour will arrive. We may and should marry and have children and all the other things we were designed to do, but we are not to be defined by or controlled by these things. Living by the Spirit and following Jesus requires us to lay down our lives and be willing to do as Judah has done if required.
Let your hand be on the man of your right hand,
the son of man whom you have made strong for yourself!
Then we shall not turn back from you;
give us life, and we will call upon your name!
Restore us, O LORD God of hosts!
Let your face shine, that we may be saved!
Psalm 80; Gen. 44:18-34; 1 Cor. 7:25-31; Mark 5:21-43
Judah, from whose tribe Jesus came, offers himself as substitution for the brother whom he presumes to be guilty. Judah knows himself to be innocent in this matter and can only assume that Benjamin has done what he is accused of doing, all the evidence points to his guilt. In spite of that, and out of love for his father, Judah offers to take the punishment of his brother. Simple and straightforward, in spite of the reality he has just expressed, that his father loves this other son more than he loves Judah. The jealousy that previously infected the siblings seems now to have been accepted as simply the reality of the situation.
As we pick up the story again, Jesus has returned to a more Jewish setting from the healing of the demon possessed man. I remind you that he has come into contact with more ritual defilement than anyone could imagine: demons, among the tombs of the dead, gentiles, pigs, a man with open sores, etc. In spite of this, a synagogue leader comes and asks Jesus to enter his home to heal his son. His desperation overcomes his religious scruples. It is unthinkable that he should have Jesus in his home after all the defilement, but his love for his son is greater than those things. To add to the defilement, a woman with an issue of blood that won’t cease touches Jesus, further contaminating Him, but as with the demoniac, she is cleansed and healed. Now the word comes that this boy is dead and Jesus calls him to not fear but to have faith. The man clearly already believes Jesus, whom the others describe as “the teacher” is more than a teacher and needs to have this word spoken to strengthen his faith. Jesus raises the girl to life again and once again in Jewish territory, instructs them to tell no one. With the gentiles Jesus allows the word to spread, but among the Jews, who have the word and the promise and are looking for Messiah, He insists they come to faith on their own.
Paul clearly believes that the end of the world as we know it is coming to an end in his lifetime. For that reason, he gives particular advice or instructions here concerning how to live in a world that is passing away. We have to re-interpret these instructions for our situation, even though we do live closer to the end than Paul chronologically yet we know not when that hour will arrive. We may and should marry and have children and all the other things we were designed to do, but we are not to be defined by or controlled by these things. Living by the Spirit and following Jesus requires us to lay down our lives and be willing to do as Judah has done if required.
Let your hand be on the man of your right hand,
the son of man whom you have made strong for yourself!
Then we shall not turn back from you;
give us life, and we will call upon your name!
Restore us, O LORD God of hosts!
Let your face shine, that we may be saved!
Sunday, March 7, 2010
7 March 2010
Psalm 93, 96; Gen. 44:1-17; Rom. 8:1-10; John 5:25-29
Yet another test from Joseph. Who can honestly blame him for putting his brothers to the test after what he had experienced of them. The test is the test of filial love, will they throw Benjamin under the bus or will they stand with him in this hour. The test itself is reminiscent of something Joseph and Benjamin’s mother, Rachel, had done when they were fleeing from her father Laban in stealing his household gods, so it is easy to see where he got this idea. That the brothers return with Benjamin and plead for him says much. Judah’s question, “How can we clear ourselves?” is ironic in a way that he can’t imagine. These tests are actually designed to clear them but not of any recent crime.
Jesus’ words sound somewhat like the work Joseph was doing with his brothers, executing judgment. We are tested by temptation, temptation abounds all around us, the test is will we walk with the Lord and not be led into temptation or will we walk alone. Jesus tells us that the secret of living successfully on this earth is abiding in the Father and He has given us the Spirit by which we are able to do exactly that. This sounds like we are judged according to our deeds rather than the content of our faith, but the two are inseparable, we are able to know “good” and do “good” only to the extent we truly believe and follow the Lord Jesus.
Anglican theology says this:
Works done before receiving the grace of Christ and the inspiration of his Spirit are not pleasing to God. This is because they do not spring out of faith in Jesus Christ. Nor do they make people fit to receive grace or (as the schoolmen say) to deserve grace of congruity. On the contrary, because they are not done as God has willed and commanded that they should be done, it is undoubtedly the case that they have the nature of sin. (Articles of Religion – Article 13)
We have been set free from living at the level of the desires of the flesh, those things that fail to satisfy us eternally. We are always going to be hungry enough to need food and we will always need water to drink, we have been given the fulfillment of our deepest desire in Jesus and it is from satisfaction of that desire that all others can now be brought under control and prioritized properly. Paul’s argument is that the controlling desire of our lives is actually the restless craving of the heart and once it is satisfied, we begin to understand the other desires as an attempt to fill that first desire but with that which will fail to satisfy it. All the sins in our life come from the desire for things other than God crowding out that desire and pushing it into the background.
The LORD reigns; he is robed in majesty;
the LORD is robed; he has put on strength as his belt.
Yes, the world is established; it shall never be moved. 2 Your throne is established from of old;
you are from everlasting.
Psalm 93, 96; Gen. 44:1-17; Rom. 8:1-10; John 5:25-29
Yet another test from Joseph. Who can honestly blame him for putting his brothers to the test after what he had experienced of them. The test is the test of filial love, will they throw Benjamin under the bus or will they stand with him in this hour. The test itself is reminiscent of something Joseph and Benjamin’s mother, Rachel, had done when they were fleeing from her father Laban in stealing his household gods, so it is easy to see where he got this idea. That the brothers return with Benjamin and plead for him says much. Judah’s question, “How can we clear ourselves?” is ironic in a way that he can’t imagine. These tests are actually designed to clear them but not of any recent crime.
Jesus’ words sound somewhat like the work Joseph was doing with his brothers, executing judgment. We are tested by temptation, temptation abounds all around us, the test is will we walk with the Lord and not be led into temptation or will we walk alone. Jesus tells us that the secret of living successfully on this earth is abiding in the Father and He has given us the Spirit by which we are able to do exactly that. This sounds like we are judged according to our deeds rather than the content of our faith, but the two are inseparable, we are able to know “good” and do “good” only to the extent we truly believe and follow the Lord Jesus.
Anglican theology says this:
Works done before receiving the grace of Christ and the inspiration of his Spirit are not pleasing to God. This is because they do not spring out of faith in Jesus Christ. Nor do they make people fit to receive grace or (as the schoolmen say) to deserve grace of congruity. On the contrary, because they are not done as God has willed and commanded that they should be done, it is undoubtedly the case that they have the nature of sin. (Articles of Religion – Article 13)
We have been set free from living at the level of the desires of the flesh, those things that fail to satisfy us eternally. We are always going to be hungry enough to need food and we will always need water to drink, we have been given the fulfillment of our deepest desire in Jesus and it is from satisfaction of that desire that all others can now be brought under control and prioritized properly. Paul’s argument is that the controlling desire of our lives is actually the restless craving of the heart and once it is satisfied, we begin to understand the other desires as an attempt to fill that first desire but with that which will fail to satisfy it. All the sins in our life come from the desire for things other than God crowding out that desire and pushing it into the background.
The LORD reigns; he is robed in majesty;
the LORD is robed; he has put on strength as his belt.
Yes, the world is established; it shall never be moved. 2 Your throne is established from of old;
you are from everlasting.
Saturday, March 6, 2010
6 March 2010
Psalm 75, 76; Gen. 43:16-34; 1 Cor. 7:10-24; Mark 5:1-20
Do you think the steward knew the plan? His response to their story about the money appearing in their sacks is almost too practiced. It is surprising that he speaks of their God and the God of their father. Can we assume that his master, Joseph, has told him of this God who has done remarkable things in his own life? The dream is fulfilled as Joseph walks in and his brothers bow in obeisance, it must have been a powerful moment for Joseph to see this and yet his love for Benjamin overwhelmed all of that in the moment. The testing was not quite done, however. Benjamin received more than five times as much as they, was this simply because of Joseph’s love for his brother, the one who wasn’t part of the group who sold him into slavery, or is it a test to see how the brothers will react to the favoritism?
It seems Jesus crossed the lake for one reason only, to heal this man. How would He have known of him and why would He have cared? Everything about this scene is wrong from a Jewish perspective. They are in gentile territory, and a man who would have had open sores from beating himself with rocks, who lived among the tombs and who had a demon encounters Jesus. All of this would have combined to ritually defile Jesus completely but He went to meet him and when the man saw Jesus he came running and bowed before him. Then, the demon took over and spoke. All Jesus had to do with the speaker was to cast him out, but his work with the man was not done. Amazingly, Jesus does not do with this man what He has done with others He has healed, tell them to tell no one. This man He commissions as a witness to his friends, just as He did the Samaritan woman at the well in John 4.
What does it mean that a believing spouse makes the unbelieving spouse holy? And their children as well? I believe Paul is returning to his Jewish roots and the laws of purity in some ways but is also working out what it means to have the Holy Spirit in the believer. We just saw how Jesus transformed the situation of incredible impurity into something different by his presence and we have seen Him reach out and touch a leper and make him clean. The Jewish law recognized that God was holy, set apart, and that humans never reached that level. Clean was the normal state of a person but much of the world would make her unclean by touch or proximity, and that state had to be rectified through sacrifice, time and ritual. No one could render an unclean thing clean by touch, that worked only the other way round. Jesus, however, could touch uncleanness and make it clean without defiling Himself, and the proof was that the unclean became clean, only God had that power. Paul, here, gives recognition to the reality of the Holy Spirit in the life of the believer in the same way between spouses. He doesn’t, however, mean to say that this saves the unbelieving spouse, as indicated by his words in verse 16. Again, his final admonitions in this chapter make clear the belief that this is the final generation and therefore energy expended in changing status is energy better spent on proclaiming and preparing for the coming of the kingdom.
We give thanks to you, O God;
we give thanks, for your name is near.
We recount your wondrous deeds.
Psalm 75, 76; Gen. 43:16-34; 1 Cor. 7:10-24; Mark 5:1-20
Do you think the steward knew the plan? His response to their story about the money appearing in their sacks is almost too practiced. It is surprising that he speaks of their God and the God of their father. Can we assume that his master, Joseph, has told him of this God who has done remarkable things in his own life? The dream is fulfilled as Joseph walks in and his brothers bow in obeisance, it must have been a powerful moment for Joseph to see this and yet his love for Benjamin overwhelmed all of that in the moment. The testing was not quite done, however. Benjamin received more than five times as much as they, was this simply because of Joseph’s love for his brother, the one who wasn’t part of the group who sold him into slavery, or is it a test to see how the brothers will react to the favoritism?
It seems Jesus crossed the lake for one reason only, to heal this man. How would He have known of him and why would He have cared? Everything about this scene is wrong from a Jewish perspective. They are in gentile territory, and a man who would have had open sores from beating himself with rocks, who lived among the tombs and who had a demon encounters Jesus. All of this would have combined to ritually defile Jesus completely but He went to meet him and when the man saw Jesus he came running and bowed before him. Then, the demon took over and spoke. All Jesus had to do with the speaker was to cast him out, but his work with the man was not done. Amazingly, Jesus does not do with this man what He has done with others He has healed, tell them to tell no one. This man He commissions as a witness to his friends, just as He did the Samaritan woman at the well in John 4.
What does it mean that a believing spouse makes the unbelieving spouse holy? And their children as well? I believe Paul is returning to his Jewish roots and the laws of purity in some ways but is also working out what it means to have the Holy Spirit in the believer. We just saw how Jesus transformed the situation of incredible impurity into something different by his presence and we have seen Him reach out and touch a leper and make him clean. The Jewish law recognized that God was holy, set apart, and that humans never reached that level. Clean was the normal state of a person but much of the world would make her unclean by touch or proximity, and that state had to be rectified through sacrifice, time and ritual. No one could render an unclean thing clean by touch, that worked only the other way round. Jesus, however, could touch uncleanness and make it clean without defiling Himself, and the proof was that the unclean became clean, only God had that power. Paul, here, gives recognition to the reality of the Holy Spirit in the life of the believer in the same way between spouses. He doesn’t, however, mean to say that this saves the unbelieving spouse, as indicated by his words in verse 16. Again, his final admonitions in this chapter make clear the belief that this is the final generation and therefore energy expended in changing status is energy better spent on proclaiming and preparing for the coming of the kingdom.
We give thanks to you, O God;
we give thanks, for your name is near.
We recount your wondrous deeds.
Friday, March 5, 2010
5 March 2010
Psalm 69; Gen. 43:1-15; 1 Cor. 7:1-9; Mark 4:35-41
Some family patterns never seem to end. Jacob/Israel is hungry so he is willing to risk losing Benjamin to satisfy his appetite (there is a famine so it isn’t sinful for him to need food, but recall his brother’s need for food was how he got the birthright and his father’s desire for food was exactly how he got the blessing). Additionally, he wants to know why they didn’t deceive the man about having another brother, as he would likely have done. Finally, the brothers are allowed to leave and go with Benjamin back to Egypt to meet with “the man.” The first of Joseph’s two dreams will have come true, but not until many years had passed and much has occurred to make him a very different man from the young man who dreamed dreams. He has seen the dreams of others come true quickly but his had to wait, God was doing something in his life and clearly in the life of his brothers during all that time.
The disciples ask a question the answer to which they can scarcely imagine at this point in their lives, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” Jesus seems unconcerned about their predicament, sleeping on a cushion while the storm rages about them. Have you ever felt this way, that your life is completely in turmoil and it seems God is asleep somewhere and doesn’t care about the storm you’re struggling with alone? With a word, Jesus calms the storm and the sea and the disciples are amazed. Their second question “Who is this that even the wind and the sea obey him?” also has an answer they can’t imagine at this point, the one who created them by His powerful word is in the boat with them. The wind and sea have always obeyed His Word.
Paul’s words here are interesting in that it seems that God said it was not good for man to be alone and Paul commends that very thing. We have to remember that they thought Jesus’ return was imminent and that their manner of life was only a temporary thing at any rate. Much like the exiles to whom Jeremiah wrote were these early Christians. Jeremiah had to tell them of their exile that it was going to be a while before they came back to the land so they were to marry and settle in the land in the interim, be a witness where they were. Joseph accommodated himself to Egypt by marrying an Egyptian woman. We know the answers to the disciples questions and we are waiting for Jesus’ coming again but in the interim we follow the words of the prophecy of Jeremiah on how to live in exile.
I will praise the name of God with a song;
I will magnify him with thanksgiving.
For the LORD hears the needy
and does not despise his own people who are prisoners.
Let heaven and earth praise him,
the seas and everything that moves in them.
Psalm 69; Gen. 43:1-15; 1 Cor. 7:1-9; Mark 4:35-41
Some family patterns never seem to end. Jacob/Israel is hungry so he is willing to risk losing Benjamin to satisfy his appetite (there is a famine so it isn’t sinful for him to need food, but recall his brother’s need for food was how he got the birthright and his father’s desire for food was exactly how he got the blessing). Additionally, he wants to know why they didn’t deceive the man about having another brother, as he would likely have done. Finally, the brothers are allowed to leave and go with Benjamin back to Egypt to meet with “the man.” The first of Joseph’s two dreams will have come true, but not until many years had passed and much has occurred to make him a very different man from the young man who dreamed dreams. He has seen the dreams of others come true quickly but his had to wait, God was doing something in his life and clearly in the life of his brothers during all that time.
The disciples ask a question the answer to which they can scarcely imagine at this point in their lives, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” Jesus seems unconcerned about their predicament, sleeping on a cushion while the storm rages about them. Have you ever felt this way, that your life is completely in turmoil and it seems God is asleep somewhere and doesn’t care about the storm you’re struggling with alone? With a word, Jesus calms the storm and the sea and the disciples are amazed. Their second question “Who is this that even the wind and the sea obey him?” also has an answer they can’t imagine at this point, the one who created them by His powerful word is in the boat with them. The wind and sea have always obeyed His Word.
Paul’s words here are interesting in that it seems that God said it was not good for man to be alone and Paul commends that very thing. We have to remember that they thought Jesus’ return was imminent and that their manner of life was only a temporary thing at any rate. Much like the exiles to whom Jeremiah wrote were these early Christians. Jeremiah had to tell them of their exile that it was going to be a while before they came back to the land so they were to marry and settle in the land in the interim, be a witness where they were. Joseph accommodated himself to Egypt by marrying an Egyptian woman. We know the answers to the disciples questions and we are waiting for Jesus’ coming again but in the interim we follow the words of the prophecy of Jeremiah on how to live in exile.
I will praise the name of God with a song;
I will magnify him with thanksgiving.
For the LORD hears the needy
and does not despise his own people who are prisoners.
Let heaven and earth praise him,
the seas and everything that moves in them.
Thursday, March 4, 2010
4 March 2010
Psalm 71; Gen. 42:29-38; 1 Cor. 6:12-20; Mark 4:21-34
Did Joseph know the test that was in store for the brothers? He and they all knew how Jacob would react to the suggestion that Benjamin needed to go to Egypt with them in order to ransom Simeon but did he know that this would pose an additional test for them in that they would be again relegated to second class status by their father? Jacob clearly cares more for Benjamin than his brothers, preferring the children of Rachel to the children of Leah. The original jealousy against Joseph was for this very reason and here it was going to raise its head again, yet another repetition of the story of Cain and Abel within the book of Genesis. Reuben offers two of his own children if anything happens to Benjamin, and it isn’t for the sake of food that he makes this offer. You can easily imagine the scene when they see that all the money is there and the expectation of the accusations against them when and if they return to Egypt. They have every reason to fear that journey.
Jesus continues to speak in parables and use common examples of life in that time and place to explain the kingdom and the role of the people of God within that kingdom. The kingdom is a mystery to us in many ways. In Isaiah 55 He spoke through the prophet to say that our ways aren’t his ways nor his thoughts our thoughts. The ways of God are known only to Him and to those to whom He chooses to reveal them. In the story of Joseph we see the mystery of the working of God in one man’s life through trials and adversities and then His work in the lives of his brothers through famine and adversity, all of this to reunite the family and restore it in wholeness that it did not possess prior to all these things.
Everything you do matters. If the body is a temple then we should treat it with great dignity and respect. The temple in Jerusalem was a perfect example of how our lives should be lived, what we allow into that temple determines what kind of temple it is and what god it is dedicated to. What does Paul mean, however, when he says all things are lawful? I believe he is saying that none of those things of which he speaks are bad in and of themselves but the way in which they are used makes all the difference. Sex isn’t wrong between a husband and wife but it was meant to serve the purpose of making one flesh of two and if we misuse it or abuse it, it continues to unite flesh and our flesh is meant to be united with God in Spirit. In Joseph we see him flourishing in Egyptian culture and speaking its language but his love for his family is something quite apart from that, they are one flesh.
In you, O LORD, do I take refuge;
let me never be put to shame!
In your righteousness deliver me and rescue me;
incline your ear to me, and save me!
Be to me a rock of refuge,
to which I may continually come;
you have given the command to save me,
for you are my rock and my fortress.
Psalm 71; Gen. 42:29-38; 1 Cor. 6:12-20; Mark 4:21-34
Did Joseph know the test that was in store for the brothers? He and they all knew how Jacob would react to the suggestion that Benjamin needed to go to Egypt with them in order to ransom Simeon but did he know that this would pose an additional test for them in that they would be again relegated to second class status by their father? Jacob clearly cares more for Benjamin than his brothers, preferring the children of Rachel to the children of Leah. The original jealousy against Joseph was for this very reason and here it was going to raise its head again, yet another repetition of the story of Cain and Abel within the book of Genesis. Reuben offers two of his own children if anything happens to Benjamin, and it isn’t for the sake of food that he makes this offer. You can easily imagine the scene when they see that all the money is there and the expectation of the accusations against them when and if they return to Egypt. They have every reason to fear that journey.
Jesus continues to speak in parables and use common examples of life in that time and place to explain the kingdom and the role of the people of God within that kingdom. The kingdom is a mystery to us in many ways. In Isaiah 55 He spoke through the prophet to say that our ways aren’t his ways nor his thoughts our thoughts. The ways of God are known only to Him and to those to whom He chooses to reveal them. In the story of Joseph we see the mystery of the working of God in one man’s life through trials and adversities and then His work in the lives of his brothers through famine and adversity, all of this to reunite the family and restore it in wholeness that it did not possess prior to all these things.
Everything you do matters. If the body is a temple then we should treat it with great dignity and respect. The temple in Jerusalem was a perfect example of how our lives should be lived, what we allow into that temple determines what kind of temple it is and what god it is dedicated to. What does Paul mean, however, when he says all things are lawful? I believe he is saying that none of those things of which he speaks are bad in and of themselves but the way in which they are used makes all the difference. Sex isn’t wrong between a husband and wife but it was meant to serve the purpose of making one flesh of two and if we misuse it or abuse it, it continues to unite flesh and our flesh is meant to be united with God in Spirit. In Joseph we see him flourishing in Egyptian culture and speaking its language but his love for his family is something quite apart from that, they are one flesh.
In you, O LORD, do I take refuge;
let me never be put to shame!
In your righteousness deliver me and rescue me;
incline your ear to me, and save me!
Be to me a rock of refuge,
to which I may continually come;
you have given the command to save me,
for you are my rock and my fortress.
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
3 March 2010
Psalm 72; Gen. 42:18-28; 1 Cor. 5:9-6:8; Mark 4:1-20
Joseph continues to test his brothers. It is interesting that he reassures them in their test, promising if they are honest they will live “for I fear God.” It would be interesting to know what they believed he meant by that statement. He has compassion on their families in sending food to them and demands that they bring the younger brother back. They immediately leap to the conclusion that this test is punishment for what they did so many years before to their brother Joseph. His weeping is surely for the fact that they have expressed remorse for their sin against him. The test, however, continues with the money being returned to them without their knowledge, a gift of mercy and grace. As we read through the Joseph stories, try and see where there are parallels with Jesus.
The parable of the sower is one that for a long time caused me grief. I would hear the word with gladness and yet my life didn’t show any indication that I had ever received it. Over a long season of time I believe that the Lord prepared the ground of my heart to receive that truth in such a way that I not only received it but it also began to take root and grow. I am still not where I want to be on this journey but God is still at work in my heart, softening the ground to receive His Word and His Spirit in order that I can be as fruitful as He desires me to be. We see in the story of Joseph that God took an arrogant young man and used the circumstances of his life to mold his heart into the man who can forgive his brothers completely.
Church discipline, if we follow Paul’s prescription, requires us to be ruthless about sin in the body, a zero tolerance policy for known sins. He says do not associate with those who would take the name of Jesus and then live lives characterized by immorality. Our Prayer Book, in the preface for Ash Wednesday, speaks of the season of Lent as a time when those who, because of notorious sins, had been separated from the body of the faithful were reconciled by penitence and forgiveness, and restored to the fellowship of the Church. The Church is the place where sin is dealt with, where we hold one another accountable for our confession of Jesus lest we bring His Name into disrepute. Joseph didn’t excuse the sins of his brothers, he sought to determine if they were indeed different men, who acknowledged their sin and who had repented, had a change of life.
Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel,
who alone does wondrous things.
Blessed be his glorious name forever;
may the whole earth be filled with his glory!
Psalm 72; Gen. 42:18-28; 1 Cor. 5:9-6:8; Mark 4:1-20
Joseph continues to test his brothers. It is interesting that he reassures them in their test, promising if they are honest they will live “for I fear God.” It would be interesting to know what they believed he meant by that statement. He has compassion on their families in sending food to them and demands that they bring the younger brother back. They immediately leap to the conclusion that this test is punishment for what they did so many years before to their brother Joseph. His weeping is surely for the fact that they have expressed remorse for their sin against him. The test, however, continues with the money being returned to them without their knowledge, a gift of mercy and grace. As we read through the Joseph stories, try and see where there are parallels with Jesus.
The parable of the sower is one that for a long time caused me grief. I would hear the word with gladness and yet my life didn’t show any indication that I had ever received it. Over a long season of time I believe that the Lord prepared the ground of my heart to receive that truth in such a way that I not only received it but it also began to take root and grow. I am still not where I want to be on this journey but God is still at work in my heart, softening the ground to receive His Word and His Spirit in order that I can be as fruitful as He desires me to be. We see in the story of Joseph that God took an arrogant young man and used the circumstances of his life to mold his heart into the man who can forgive his brothers completely.
Church discipline, if we follow Paul’s prescription, requires us to be ruthless about sin in the body, a zero tolerance policy for known sins. He says do not associate with those who would take the name of Jesus and then live lives characterized by immorality. Our Prayer Book, in the preface for Ash Wednesday, speaks of the season of Lent as a time when those who, because of notorious sins, had been separated from the body of the faithful were reconciled by penitence and forgiveness, and restored to the fellowship of the Church. The Church is the place where sin is dealt with, where we hold one another accountable for our confession of Jesus lest we bring His Name into disrepute. Joseph didn’t excuse the sins of his brothers, he sought to determine if they were indeed different men, who acknowledged their sin and who had repented, had a change of life.
Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel,
who alone does wondrous things.
Blessed be his glorious name forever;
may the whole earth be filled with his glory!
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