28 February 2011

Psalm 1, 2, 3; Deut. 4:9-14; 2 Cor. 10:1-18; Matt. 6:7-15

Moses reminds the people of their formation, the day that the Lord constituted the nation, gave them the covenant commands. His admonition to them is that they keep their souls diligently lest they forget. We need to always remind ourselves of this covenant we have with the Lord lest we forget whose we are. The covenant forged at the mountain meant that these were God’s people, they had a treaty with Him. They were not their own, and neither are we, our souls were redeemed at the price of the blood of Jesus shed on the cross and since we take Him as Lord and Savior we take on His call on our lives. It is important that we continually remind ourselves of this and we do so in our worship, in the recollection of death, passion, resurrection and ascension of Jesus and then we go back to the table with Him and we renew the covenant in communion. Eating the bread and drinking the wine is our reminder of His sacrifice on our behalf and that the life we now live is the very life He has given to us.

Jesus teaches His disciples to pray and the first petitions are that God’s Name might be hallowed, kept sacred, exalted and then that His kingdom would come on earth as it is already in heaven. We need to start our prayers with those petitions, exalting the Lord and desiring His kingdom, ascribing worth and honor to Him alone and recognizing the fallen nature of this world. Is our desire to see His kingdom or are our prayers asking for more of this kingdom? The prayer continues by asking for our daily bread and it is important that we recognize that all things come from His gracious hand, not from anything in ourselves, that all we have and all we are is attributable to the Lord. Then we recognize that we and others need forgiveness and Jesus says forgiveness is others is a condition of receiving forgiveness ourselves. Do we have unforgiveness in our hearts against others? If so, we need to deal with that to receive God’s forgiveness for our sins.

Paul’s boast is always and only in the Lord and the work He has done in Paul’s life and in the lives of those to whom Paul preaches. Paul does not want attention or applause for himself in the least, but for the Lord. His attitude is like that of Jesus who sought not approval from men but from the Father. It is always a temptation to us to seek approval and acclaim from one another and when we do we fall into the trap of the world and we will then always seek it. The Corinthians are being seduced by those who seek their approval and in that it is easy to see a new group of Pharisee leaders growing in the early church. Care must be taken to always ascribe glory, honor and power only to Him.

Thou rushing wind that art so strong
Ye clouds that sail in Heaven along,
O praise Him! Alleluia!
Thou rising moon, in praise rejoice,
Ye lights of evening, find a voice!

O praise Him! O praise Him!
Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!

27 February 2011

Psalm 146, 147; Deut. 4:1-9; 2 Tim. 4:1-8; John 12:1-8

Moses warns the Israelites to keep the commandments of God for it is in following Him and in their obedience to Him that they have been delivered from their enemies, kept safe and provided for in the wilderness and will now possess the land. Moses sees the danger of prosperity for the people clearly. The “prosperity gospel” is a dangerous thing for God’s people. We don’t see any evidence that the people were able to seek Him while in the midst of prosperity and in fact that was when they tended to wander from the Lord. We have too many things to distract us from Him and we become concerned with either making more or keeping what we have. It is important for us in the midst of plenty to recall that the Lord has given us all that we have and to always cling fast to Him and to set our hearts on Him.

Jesus and the disciples return to Bethany, the site of His greatest miracle, the raising of Lazarus from the dead. The family of Lazarus are his hosts and, presumably, Mary anoints Jesus out of thanksgiving for what He has done for her brother. The nard here would be worth a year’s wages for the average workingman and Judas with faux righteousness says it is wasted. Do we have that attitude towards what we do for the Lord? How we use our resources says much about us and our priorities. Judas’ callousness here is remarkable considering the miraculous work of Jesus in this family’s life and how it must have stung Mary to hear it. The saying of Jesus at the end of the passage is similar to His answer to those who questioned why His disciples weren’t fasting as John’s disciples did. Her offering is to the Lord and is an example of our own offering.

Paul’s admonition to Timothy is like Moses’ words to the people. He knows human nature and its propensity to reject the truth of God for some other preference. We do prefer some other truth, one that fits better with our preconceived notion of things, that requires less of us, less change, and allows us to live as we would prefer rather than according to God’s will. Paul’s prophecy about a time when people will no longer endure sound teaching surely came true then as it is true today. We must remain faithful to the Word and to the teaching of the church, not following after novelties that are culture-driven. It is for those who persevere in truth that a crown awaits.

All creatures of our God and King

Lift up your voice and with us sing,

Alleluia! Alleluia!

Thou burning sun with golden beam,

Thou silver moon with softer gleam!

O praise Him! O praise Him!

Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!

26 February 2011

Psalm 137, 144; Ruth 4:1-17; 2 Cor. 4:13-5:10; Matt. 6:1-16

The story of Ruth is one of the most beautiful stories in not only the Bible but anywhere. The nearer redeemer was unwilling to compromise his own children’s share of the inheritance by taking Ruth and providing her with a child which would have been part of his duty (see Genesis 38 and the silly little parable the Sadducees tell Jesus about the woman who married seven brothers). Boaz was willing to do whatever was necessary to marry this extraordinary woman and it all ties up nicely in a bow, just as God’s will. It is amazing as a story of redemption that this Moabite woman, a hated race, becomes the great-grandmother of the greatest king in the history of the nation and therefore the one who Messiah was to come.

Wait a minute. We are told to let our light shine and then we are told to practice righteousness in secret! How am I supposed to keep both those commands? There is a difference between doing what needs to be done and what the Lord would have us do and making a public display of doing our duty. Jesus draws a distinction here and says that we are doing no more than our duty so why should it draw attention to ourselves. All that these others do is commended, it is the ostentatious way in which they do it that is rebuked. When we do things this way we have indeed received our reward, the praise of men, for we are doing them for that very reason when they are to be done for the glory of God. In our theology as Anglicans we talk about good deeds done prior to salvation and acknowledge that they are not properly classed as good as they do not have their purpose as the glory of God but of self. Jesus says we can do the same after salvation as well and we must needs be careful.

Our aim is to please God and our portion is not of this world. Boaz was unconcerned about his own heritage and legacy in marrying Ruth and providing an heir for her dead husband that his name might be carried on. Jesus teaches that we are to practice righteousness not for the sake of our own renown but for the glory of God. Paul says that all that we do is for eternity and not for today. We are told to not concern ourselves with this world and what it brings but to press on to what Paul calls an “eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison.” Have we ever thought about glory being heaviness? We think of it as light unapproachable but heavy is not something we normally think of but that is what Paul says that what we experience in suffering and affliction is light in comparison that weight of glory that awaits us. Let us consider always His glory and not our own.

Praise to the Lord, O let all that is in me adore Him!
All that hath life and breath, come now with praises before Him.
Let the Amen sound from His people again,
Gladly for aye we adore Him.

25 February 2011

Psalm 140, 142; Ruth 3:1-18; 2 Cor. 4:1-12; Matt. 5:38-48

Some commentators have suggested that Ruth uncovering the feet of Boaz is something more altogether, that she uncovered something more indelicate as this uncovering of the feet is sometimes a euphemism. It seems completely out of character for either Ruth or Boaz or even Naomi who conceived the plan. It would be wrong, I believe, to conclude that anything remotely improper occurred here and that the words here are literally intended. The laws regarding kinsman redeemer require provision for widows and orphans not necessarily marriage though that is clearly the intent of all in question in this story. There arises a problem that must be dealt with, there is one who is a nearer kinsman who has essentially right of first refusal and under the law he must have the opportunity to claim his position in the family. Naomi is pleased to hear and see the results of her plan and counsels her charge to wait, that Boaz will not rest this day until the matter is determined, either way he will force the issue and they will be redeemed.

How do we relate to the world, including our enemies? Jesus says the answer is simple, treat them as you would have them treat you and then some. I had someone misapply this first passage re turning the other cheek with me once in telling me how I should deal with someone who was causing problems in the parish and who had harmed me personally. I was told that I should teach the church how to turn the other cheek and I had to teach something else, that this applies to wicked men, not brothers, that is a matter for Matthew 18. Jesus not only taught us these lessons in the Sermon on the Mount here but then lived into these teachings all the way to the cross. We were meant to live this way with respect to outsiders. We should expect to be persecuted in the world yet our response is to be love and prayer for our enemies. Sounds like, “Father forgive them for they know not what they do.” Paul says that God loved us when we were enemies, we would do well to always remember that.

Paul reminds them that indeed the world will always be as it is, all will not see the truth that they proclaim in their words and in their lives. The end of those who will not believe is the end of them as far as the Christians are concerned, they will reap what they have sown. His appeal is to the grace received, we should always be thankful for that grace that allowed us to see the true light and that allows us to walk by that light all the days of our lives if we will follow it. The world will do to us as it will yet we will never be defeated because Jesus persevered not only to the cross but through the cross and we have His life within us by the power of the Spirit. We are never without hope, we know that our redeemer lives, even more clearly than Job knew it.

There is a redeemer,
Jesus, God's own Son,
Precious Lamb of God, Messiah,
Holy One,

Jesus my redeemer,
Name above all names,
Precious Lamb of God, Messiah,
Oh, for sinners slain.

Thank you oh my father,
For giving us Your Son,
And leaving Your Spirit,
'Til the work on Earth is done.

24 February 2011

Psalm 131, 132; Ruth 2:14-23; 2 Cor. 3:1-18; Matt. 5:27-37

Boaz’ kindness towards Ruth was inspired, at least partially, by her devotion to her mother-in-law, the wife of Boaz’ kinsman. He goes above and beyond the duties of the law in regards to this Moabite woman in providing her protection and instructing his men to take some out of the sheaves they had gathered and provide it for her. His kindness towards her is great. When she finishes the work of separating the wheat from the chaff she has an ephah of barley. In the wilderness God’s decree concerning the manna was that they would gather a tenth of an ephah per day per person for their daily needs, so this is an extravagant provision by Boaz for Naomi and Ruth and Naomi knows it based on her reaction. She also knows the provisions of the law concerning kinsman redeemers and that Boaz is potentially one who will take the place of her husband concerning providing for the women and she begins to think of the future again.

Again in this teaching Jesus raises the bar on sinful conduct and its obverse, righteousness. They are indeed two faces of one coin. If we would know righteousness we must know what constitutes its opposite and vice versa. The standards are much higher than seem readily apparent in the words of the law. Adultery relates not just to observable action but also to the action of the mind and heart. The bonds and covenant of marriage are not as easily dissolved as legal proceedings would seem to indicate, and oaths are unnecessary for righteous people. We need the spirit if we would truly know and understand, much less do, righteousness. This teaching reveals to us just how sinful our lives are in the sight of a holy God. Our need of forgiveness is greater than we imagined and grace is more amazing than we can realize.

What a beautiful passage this is! Paul speaks of the law having a glory that fades away, using the example of the shining face of Moses which he veiled from the people. The glory of the law was great, as we see in the shekinah glory filling the tabernacle and the temple, but Paul sees that its glory is pale compared to the glory of Christ and he sees that in Jesus the law’s glory is done away with for this greater glory. We see the same in the Transfiguration with the light shining forth from Jesus there with the law and the prophets and in the end they are gone and only He remains with the voice from heaven declaring He is my beloved Son, listen to Him. In receiving the Holy Spirit the veils have been lifted from our faces and we can behold the fair beauty and the glory of the Lord face to face and not only that, we are being transformed into His likeness. Do we see that in ourselves, do we long for righteousness, that we might be like Him? It is easier to admire it in others like Boaz than to be those people.

Praise to the Lord, who doth prosper thy work and defend thee;
Surely His goodness and mercy here daily attend thee.
Ponder anew what the Almighty can do,
If with His love He befriend thee.