31 October 2012

Psalm 119:49-72; Ecclus. 28:14-26; Rev. 12:1-6; Luke 11:37-52

Do you know the truth about the power of the tongue?  Have you ever experienced being lied about and rumors spread about you?  Have you ever passed a rumor only to find it isn't true and hurt someone?  Indeed the pain of slander is greater than physical pain because it touches the soul and spirit.  In leading a church I have certainly experienced the power of the tongue to destroy.  In the early days of our church planting we had a woman who had great gifts and talents that helped us a great deal.  In the past she had become addicted to prescription painkillers as the result of a botched surgery.  She had shared this with one of our other leaders.  That woman was jealous of the first woman and began spreading it about that the first woman had been a drug addict without supplying the context.  Soon, others began to question why we would allow such a person to be a leader in the church.  The truth is that all of us are redeemed sinners, saved by grace, and that even if the circumstances were different it wouldn't disqualify someone from being a leader, but the rumor damaged trust, damaged the person's heart, and damaged the church.  I wish that were the last time I dealt with such things.

It is the stuff inside us already that defiles us.  We are full of envy, covetousness, and anger and occasionally it either bubbles out or comes rushing out in torrents.  The reason the world doesn't come to the church is because of us, we are indeed hypocrites.  We need more of the Holy Spirit if we are to progress in the inner life, we need discipline and confession.  In our tradition there are forms of worship for morning, noon and night and all of them have the reality of sinfulness embedded in them either by a confession or other acknowledgment.  The forms of Morning and Evening Prayer begin with a confession and our Sunday worship begins with an acknowledgement that we need to be cleansed, has confession just before Communion, the Eucharistic Prayer has the cross at the center, the acknowledgement of our sin, and the last thing before we come to the table is the acknowledgement that we are unworthy to come without mercy.  We need to be reminded that we need mercy and grace, all of us, all the time.  That will keep us humble and away from slandering others. 

After the vision of the heavenly host proclaiming the reign of God's kingdom we see the battle being waged against the woman pregnant with child.  If we look back to the second chapter, in the letter to the church at Thyatira, we will see something about the identity of this child who will rule all the nations with a rod of iron.  We see Jesus described as "authority over the nations—`He will rule them with an iron scepter . . . . just as I have received authority from my Father".  At the end of this passage we see Him taken up protectively to heaven and the woman fleeing to the wilderness, to the place prepared by God, for 3 1/2 years.  We are already in a battle but not with flesh and blood, why do we insist on making the battle harder by fighting one another?

30 October 2012

Psalm 45; Ecclus. 24:1-12; Rev. 11:14-19; Luke 11:27-36

True wisdom comes from the one place possible, God.  Let's use a bit of logic.  If there is a God who existed prior to the universe and who also created all that is, He would then know things that couldn't be known by anyone else.  If He chose to make Himself known and chose to set up a way to communicate with human beings then it would seem logical that we would set ourselves to listen to Him.  The writer says that the God who created it all has chosen one particular people group, the descendants of Abraham, the Israelites, as the people to whom He reveals wisdom.  The Law is the wisdom of God, see Psalm 119, and life according to the precepts of the Law would therefore be a life lived with wisdom.  Why then do we spend so much time leaning on worldly wisdom, the wisdom of, "Did God really say?" 

Jesus was incredibly consistent in saying, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it!”  The final phrase of that sentence is wisdom.  Hearing the word of God is one thing, keeping it reveals wisdom in that if God truly said, it must be right so I will do according to His Word I have received.  This time it was in response to a blessing pronounced on His mother, and she was indeed blessed for her obedience to the will of God, "be it done to me according to your will."  Mary's wisdom is seen in her lack of understanding of what God's will would mean but acquiescing to it. 

There are a couple of interesting statements in this passage.  The first is, “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever.”  Since there are ten more chapters to the book of the Revelation we know there is much more to be done before we see the kingdom of God established.  Remember in the book of Daniel that the angel is delayed, but that the outcome has been determined.  Here, from the perspective of heaven, the battle is won even though it rages.  The Lord is establishing His kingdom even now, since Jesus came and announced it.  We proclaim that victory even now.  The second odd statement is "God's temple in heaven was opened, and the ark of his covenant was seen within his temple."  The Revelation tells us later that there is no temple in the new Jerusalem.  Here the praise of the heavenly host opens the temple and John sees the ark of the covenant, the place where His glory abides in the earthly temple.  It is a glimpse of God that John sees here. 

29 October 2012

Psalm 41, 52; Ecclus. 19:4-17; Rev. 11:1-14; Luke 11:14-26

It isn't just what we hear and what we gossip that is problematic.  The conclusions we leap to about what we hear are equally damaging.  It is quite amazing sometimes when we hear either what we have said interpreted in ways that are unimaginable to us.  Our minds can leap from point to point with amazing rapidity and with only the barest logical connections.  Our insecurities and our desire to tear down others are lurking just under the surface of every relationship and every conversation.  Communication is the most daring thing we can attempt to undertake for that reason.  For leaders it is the most frustrating thing we do, every word becomes parsed, people read their own emotions into the written word, hear things that aren't there, and then conclude what we really meant to say was something quite different from what was actually said.  Some days you have to wonder if the ability to communicate with others in complex ways is really a gift from God to human beings.

What a bizarre idea that Jesus cast out demons via the power of darkness, by Beelzebul!  Jesus immediately applies basic logic to the idea and shows it is ridiculous.  The people have formed opinions about who Jesus cannot possibly be, Messiah, because they "know" His father and mother, that He is from Galilee, He breaks Sabbath and causes others to do the same, etc., so they have to come up with alternate explanations for how He does such things.  Their logic sounds like, He isn't of God, humans, without spiritual assistance can't drive out demons, so He must get His power from the only other source of spiritual power, He is therefore of satan.  If your logic is based on a flawed premise, you will only by accident come to the right conclusion.  Here, they come to a wrong conclusion.  Jesus also then instructs that it isn't enough to get rid of the demon, it is equally important to fill that voided space so there is no room for it to return with friends.

The two witnesses tell the truth about things, but the people of the earth won't listen to them and will conclude that they are evil, a curse to humanity because of their power to shut the skies of rain and bring plagues on the earth.  Elijah, remember, was considered a troubler of Israel because his prophecy was that there would be no rain and therefore no crops.  Moses prophetically announced the plagues in Egypt and the Israelites became an abomination to the Egyptians.  When they have killed the two witnesses they will consider that this is a service to humanity even though their message and the signs that attend it are to prepare the people for judgment, warning them of what is to come.  We don't like privation, however, so we often reject and misinterpret such signs.

28 October 2012

Psalm 63, 98; Ecclus. 18:19-33; 1 Cor. 10:15-24; Matt. 18:15-20

Forewarned is forearmed.  The advice we are given relates to being prepared for all things and in all things.  Before this happens, do this.  Measure twice , cut once.  It is best if we slow things down, don't put ourselves into situations where we are simply reacting to changed circumstances.  It is best to prepare ourselves and take care of ourselves, to do what we can to take charge of situations.  Deliberation is usually a good idea, if I take this action, what is the likely outcome.  It is always the wise thing.

The process Jesus lays out for dealing with sin among Christians is simple and also a process.  If I am sinned against by a brother or sister, we are to first attempt to deal with it among ourselves.  If that doesn't work, we are to add some people who can help us sort things out and if that doesn't work, we are to involve the church.  If all those steps fail, the church is to take action as a unified body.  Unfortunately, this process usually breaks down in two ways.  First, we have to recognize when to use the process, when is sin serious enough to involve anyone else in the discussion, we often simply make it about small things and then it is for no reason other than gossip and to get sympathy and support rather than actually confronting things.  The second problem we have in the church today is that it is simpler to go across the street to another church rather than resolving things at the current church.  We take our baggage with us.  This process Jesus lays out allows for deliberation and cooling off, getting some perspective. 

We are one body. We share one bread.  Those are the words of the Kenyan liturgy we use in our church.  There is a cause and effect relationship between the two sentences.  Because we all share the same bread, the body of Christ, we are one.  The act of making communion together is meant to literally make us one.  Prior to the liturgy of the table we make our confession of sin, receive absolution and are therefore at peace with God.  When Paul speaks of eating the sacrifice as participation in the altar here he is thinking of what is known as the peace offering, an offering meant not to establish peace with God but one that celebrates an existing peace.  In such cases all who are present have an opportunity to come and share in a meal from the sacrifice.  Our confession re-establishes the peace between us and God that has been established and grounded in Jesus' sacrifice so the priest proclaims, "The peace of the Lord be always with you."  We then share the peace with one another as a sign that we are not only at peace with God but also with one another, sins are forgiven because He has forgiven us.  Instead, we too often cheapen that time with how's it going and small talk.  Can we change that and make it deliberate?

27 October 2012

Psalm 30, 32; Ecclus. 15:9-20; Rev. 10:1-11; Luke 11:1-13

Freedom to choose.  Paul would say that we don't have that freedom, that it is merely an illusion.  His judgment was based on a fuller understanding of righteousness.  We can choose at some level not to engage in theft, lying, bearing false witness, dishonoring our parents, adultery, etc. but we cannot control desire, coveting, the thoughts of our hearts.  When Jesus gave the sermon on the mount He blew all our righteousness out the window.  We know that we can't stop our thoughts and desires.  We can control many of our actions but it is an act of the will to avoid the fulfilling of the desires of our hearts.  Jesus says that the desire itself is sin and if that is God's definition we are all condemned.  We need grace and mercy.

I wonder if the disciples were disappointed by this brief prayer.  It is a beautiful prayer and it encapsulates so much theology it is amazing but it seems so simple.  It begins with a term of endearment and intimacy, Father, but immediately understands that the very Name of the Father is to be hallowed, set apart as holy, and then asks that His kingdom will come, as preferable to the current state of affairs.  In the meantime, give us what we need each day and acknowledges our need of forgiveness and expects that we will be like Him in forgiving others.  Finally, we ask not to be led into temptation, keep us from sinful situations.  Jesus promises that the Father hears our petitions, is good and gracious and will give us those gifts that are truly good for His children.  Sometimes we struggle with His definition of good, don't we?

This time, John sees not only an angel, but a mighty angel standing astride sea and land and raising his right hand to heaven and proclaiming the one who created the heavens, and the earth, and the sea and all that are in them, sealing up the voices of the seven thunders and declaring the end, the coming of God's kingdom as foretold by the prophets and for which we are told to pray, is near.  John is then given a scroll, not to read, but to eat, as Ezekiel was instructed.  Ezekiel also found the scroll of the prophecy he was to give sweet to the taste but bitter in the stomach.  The word of God is necessarily sweet but also it is a word against us, not of condemnation but of conviction and John is now blessed to be given a great commission but one that will not, ultimately, achieve the purpose he might hope to achieve.  The word of God never returns to Him void no matter what we might estimate, but it achieves the purpose for which He intends, even if no one responds.  Sometimes His purpose is that we will have no excuse, we have heard and not responded.