21 February 2010
Psalm 63, 98; Dan 9:3-10; Heb. 2:10-18; John 12:44-50
Daniel’s prayer is instructive for us in how to pray, confession first then a plea for mercy. Often, we have to be in a difficult place before we truly are sorrowful over our sins. The words of the confession from the Book of Common Prayer in the old form reflect what should be our attitude towards sin: “We acknowledge and bewail our manifold sins and wickedness, which we from time to time most grievously have committed, by thought, word, and deed, against thy divine Majesty, provoking most justly thy wrath and indignation against us. We do earnestly repent, and are heartily sorry for these our misdoings; the remembrance of them is grievous unto us, the burden of them is intolerable.” That should sound much like Daniel’s confession here and in our worship those words of contrition are followed by Have mercy on us, have mercy on us most merciful Father. We are able to make such an honest confession of our sinfulness because we make it to our merciful Father. There is no longer a need to hide in our sin or to attempt to justify sin or defensiveness over sin like Adam’s blaming Eve, we know Him to be merciful to sinners.
Jesus here explains that as He has done signs, so is His very life a sign pointing to the Father, the one who sent Him. He, in His mercy, calls us out of the darkness, out of hiding, and into the light that our sins might be dealt with, we might not be alone, and that we might be reconciled to the Father. His coming into the world was not to judge the world but that through Him the world might be saved. We have the assurance of forgiveness which leads to eternal life in Christ but only to the extent that we receive His word as truth and life. He also says the one who rejects ME and does not receive the word has a judge. It is not only the words but also the person of Jesus who we must accept.
Jesus was made perfect through sufferings and yet some preach a Gospel today that says that Christians should not suffer, be ill, have financial hardship, etc. What kind of spoiled children are we if that is the case? Why would He allow the only sinless one ever to live to suffer and us to have a life free of trouble? We are the ones who need to grow into Christ-likeness, Jesus didn’t need to grow and mature in His faith and life at all. He took on sufferings in order that we might know His sympathy with us in ours, He can say to us, I know how this feels when we hurt, when we are rejected, betrayed by friends, spoken ill of, etc, He took on all this in order that we might be able to have eternal life in a kingdom without any of the above.
Because your steadfast love is better than life,
my lips will praise you.
So I will bless you as long as I live;
in your name I will lift up my hands.
Sunday, February 21, 2010
Saturday, February 20, 2010
20 February 2010
Psalm 30, 32; Ezek. 39:21-29; Phil. 4:10-20; John 17:20-26
The people went into exile for their “treachery” but the Lord will bring them back. What reason does He give for the mercy? None. He simply chooses to bring them back, for the sake of mercy, not because of their righteousness. This is to display His holiness, to proclaim His Name, first given to Moses as "The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation." The prime characteristic revealed was mercy and yet it wasn’t the only characteristic revealed. Nothing in that self-description has changed.
Jesus continues to pray for the unity of the disciples. Their unity among one another is to be the same as the unity of the Father and the Son and their unity is to be their confession of Jesus and in that confession they will share in the unity and love of the Father and the Son. Not only does He pray for those gathered that night but also for those who will believe because of their testimony or their word. That would be us! Jesus prays that we will share in all that the disciples shared with Him, we don’t have a lesser degree of love and unity with Him simply because we were born, as Paul says, “out of time.” The fellowship they experienced is available to us via the Holy Spirit living in us. Not only does Jesus ask the Father that we have unity, He also asks that we be with Him, “where I am, to see my glory, which you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world.” Do we believe that the Father said yes to that prayer?
Paul gives thanks for the financial support he had received from the Philippian church. It seems Paul never liked asking for help. The work of missions deserves our support, in fact it requires our support. In that support we are connected with not only the missionaries but also the people served. The church is meant to be one throughout the world. Even where we have no immediate physical contact with one another, we can share in the joy of those who are being evangelized as brothers and sisters. Just as we are physically separated from Jesus yet together in Spirit, so do we share unity and love with those who are distant from us when we share our abundance to relieve their need.
You have turned for me my mourning into dancing;
you have loosed my sackcloth
and clothed me with gladness,
that my glory may sing your praise and not be silent.
O LORD my God, I will give thanks to you forever!
Psalm 30, 32; Ezek. 39:21-29; Phil. 4:10-20; John 17:20-26
The people went into exile for their “treachery” but the Lord will bring them back. What reason does He give for the mercy? None. He simply chooses to bring them back, for the sake of mercy, not because of their righteousness. This is to display His holiness, to proclaim His Name, first given to Moses as "The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation." The prime characteristic revealed was mercy and yet it wasn’t the only characteristic revealed. Nothing in that self-description has changed.
Jesus continues to pray for the unity of the disciples. Their unity among one another is to be the same as the unity of the Father and the Son and their unity is to be their confession of Jesus and in that confession they will share in the unity and love of the Father and the Son. Not only does He pray for those gathered that night but also for those who will believe because of their testimony or their word. That would be us! Jesus prays that we will share in all that the disciples shared with Him, we don’t have a lesser degree of love and unity with Him simply because we were born, as Paul says, “out of time.” The fellowship they experienced is available to us via the Holy Spirit living in us. Not only does Jesus ask the Father that we have unity, He also asks that we be with Him, “where I am, to see my glory, which you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world.” Do we believe that the Father said yes to that prayer?
Paul gives thanks for the financial support he had received from the Philippian church. It seems Paul never liked asking for help. The work of missions deserves our support, in fact it requires our support. In that support we are connected with not only the missionaries but also the people served. The church is meant to be one throughout the world. Even where we have no immediate physical contact with one another, we can share in the joy of those who are being evangelized as brothers and sisters. Just as we are physically separated from Jesus yet together in Spirit, so do we share unity and love with those who are distant from us when we share our abundance to relieve their need.
You have turned for me my mourning into dancing;
you have loosed my sackcloth
and clothed me with gladness,
that my glory may sing your praise and not be silent.
O LORD my God, I will give thanks to you forever!
Friday, February 19, 2010
19 February 2010
Psalm 31; Ezek. 18:1-4,25-32; Phil. 4:1-9; John 17:9-19
No longer will the children be punished for the sins of the parents. By the same token, no one gets credit for the righteousness of another. We all need a savior. Death is not the way of the Lord. It is not His desire that even one would die, but that doesn’t mean everyone will live. There is a condition in that passage that is plain, “repent and turn from your transgressions…get yourself a new heart and a new spirit.” He has provided the means by which we can live if we will simply accept it. We have no right to complain that it is unfair that people must turn to Him, turn from sin, turn to Jesus as the only way to eternal life. If He is creator and then offers to redeem us and give us eternal life as a gift, what right have we to demand alternatives. If we reject the sacrifice of Jesus, does it make sense to give us other choices?
What is the protection of God in this life? It can’t be keeping us safe from bodily or emotional harm, Jesus and all the disciples surely experienced that. It has to relate to keeping us from losing something more precious, eternal life. The key is those last couple of verses of the Gospel passage, sanctifying us in the truth. The protection of God is in order that we may be one in truth. The church is struggling with the idea of oneness and what are the boundaries of oneness. Jesus here is clear that those boundaries are set by truth. We can be as postmodern as we like and question whether there is such a thing as truth, but Jesus spoke of it often as though the category existed. I will, in faith, accept His word that there is truth and it can be known and that He has made it known and it takes in all of the Jewish Scriptures otherwise it makes no sense that the one time He came, He came as a Jewish man, sent to the Jews and affirmed to a Samaritan woman that salvation comes from the Jews. If He had simply wanted to win her He could have and should have left out that bit because it made it much harder for her to accept His offer to swallow her pride and accept that the ones whom she had always believed to have corrupted the pure faith were the ones in possession of truth and the true Israel.
Whatever is true, whatever is honourable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. Is there any better advice anyone could give us in any realm of life? Paul here is also concerned about the unity of the church, beginning with an admonition to two to agree in the Lord and continuing through this sentence. He begins this with whatever is true and everything else flows out of that one concept. Unity is important but the source of our unity is equally important, it must be our confession of Jesus, not some other bond.
You are my rock and my fortress;
and for your name’s sake you lead me and guide me;
you take me out of the net they have hidden for me,
for you are my refuge.
Into your hand I commit my spirit;
you have redeemed me, O LORD, faithful God.
Psalm 31; Ezek. 18:1-4,25-32; Phil. 4:1-9; John 17:9-19
No longer will the children be punished for the sins of the parents. By the same token, no one gets credit for the righteousness of another. We all need a savior. Death is not the way of the Lord. It is not His desire that even one would die, but that doesn’t mean everyone will live. There is a condition in that passage that is plain, “repent and turn from your transgressions…get yourself a new heart and a new spirit.” He has provided the means by which we can live if we will simply accept it. We have no right to complain that it is unfair that people must turn to Him, turn from sin, turn to Jesus as the only way to eternal life. If He is creator and then offers to redeem us and give us eternal life as a gift, what right have we to demand alternatives. If we reject the sacrifice of Jesus, does it make sense to give us other choices?
What is the protection of God in this life? It can’t be keeping us safe from bodily or emotional harm, Jesus and all the disciples surely experienced that. It has to relate to keeping us from losing something more precious, eternal life. The key is those last couple of verses of the Gospel passage, sanctifying us in the truth. The protection of God is in order that we may be one in truth. The church is struggling with the idea of oneness and what are the boundaries of oneness. Jesus here is clear that those boundaries are set by truth. We can be as postmodern as we like and question whether there is such a thing as truth, but Jesus spoke of it often as though the category existed. I will, in faith, accept His word that there is truth and it can be known and that He has made it known and it takes in all of the Jewish Scriptures otherwise it makes no sense that the one time He came, He came as a Jewish man, sent to the Jews and affirmed to a Samaritan woman that salvation comes from the Jews. If He had simply wanted to win her He could have and should have left out that bit because it made it much harder for her to accept His offer to swallow her pride and accept that the ones whom she had always believed to have corrupted the pure faith were the ones in possession of truth and the true Israel.
Whatever is true, whatever is honourable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. Is there any better advice anyone could give us in any realm of life? Paul here is also concerned about the unity of the church, beginning with an admonition to two to agree in the Lord and continuing through this sentence. He begins this with whatever is true and everything else flows out of that one concept. Unity is important but the source of our unity is equally important, it must be our confession of Jesus, not some other bond.
You are my rock and my fortress;
and for your name’s sake you lead me and guide me;
you take me out of the net they have hidden for me,
for you are my refuge.
Into your hand I commit my spirit;
you have redeemed me, O LORD, faithful God.
Thursday, February 18, 2010
18 February 2010
Psalm 37:1-18; Hab. 3:1-18; Phil 3:12-21 ; John 17:1-8
Habakkuk’s prayer recounts his knowledge of the Lord’s vengeance and judgments and yet ends in praise. How is that possible? One simple word, but an enormous concept, answers that question, righteousness. God is utterly righteous, He is consistent in all that He says and all that He does. He has made a covenant with humankind and more particularly with His people and what He has done in the past is completely consistent with both His nature and His words spoken. We tend to hear the question, “How could a good God…” when a disaster happens, and the answer to the question is in the word good. We must see and understand that as sin abounds, the earth cries out on behalf of a righteous and holy God for judgment. This prayer recollects the natural disasters and the reaction of nature to the working of its creator. Paul says that all creation groans in anticipation of the revelation of the sons of God. That groaning is for its own release from the grip of human sin and depredation and for the true image bearers to come and care for the earth as they were intended. In the end, Habakkuk is able to praise God and rejoice in Him as His salvation and strength.
Jesus is prepared for the end. It is amazing to think that God Himself came to earth and there were 12 men chosen to receive Him and His message from whom the world would be evangelized. With these 12 rested the responsibility of proclamation of the message and now 2000+ years later the Christian faith reaches nearly every corner of the globe and the future is with us. The glorification is certainly not what the disciples would have expected, the trial, beating and death on the cross that lay ahead in the next 24 hours. Nothing in this prayer could have prepared them for what was to come, what looked like God not hearing this prayer.
Paul urges the Christians at Philippi to press on, keeping their hearts and minds set on eternity. As Jesus saw beyond the cross and the tomb, so are we to see beyond the end of this life and begin living for eternity. As Christians we do not deny the essential goodness of creation and this life, they are both gifts from a good and loving God, but our decision-making isn’t defined by getting more of the things of earth, it is defined by doing God’s will no matter the cost. As Christians we need to show the world there is both something amiss in the world and that there is another way, even in the midst of all this. Lent is a time to show that the things of earth aren’t our primary concern.
I will trust in the You, and do good;
I will dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness.
I will delight myself in the LORD,
and he will give me the desires of my heart.
Psalm 37:1-18; Hab. 3:1-18; Phil 3:12-21 ; John 17:1-8
Habakkuk’s prayer recounts his knowledge of the Lord’s vengeance and judgments and yet ends in praise. How is that possible? One simple word, but an enormous concept, answers that question, righteousness. God is utterly righteous, He is consistent in all that He says and all that He does. He has made a covenant with humankind and more particularly with His people and what He has done in the past is completely consistent with both His nature and His words spoken. We tend to hear the question, “How could a good God…” when a disaster happens, and the answer to the question is in the word good. We must see and understand that as sin abounds, the earth cries out on behalf of a righteous and holy God for judgment. This prayer recollects the natural disasters and the reaction of nature to the working of its creator. Paul says that all creation groans in anticipation of the revelation of the sons of God. That groaning is for its own release from the grip of human sin and depredation and for the true image bearers to come and care for the earth as they were intended. In the end, Habakkuk is able to praise God and rejoice in Him as His salvation and strength.
Jesus is prepared for the end. It is amazing to think that God Himself came to earth and there were 12 men chosen to receive Him and His message from whom the world would be evangelized. With these 12 rested the responsibility of proclamation of the message and now 2000+ years later the Christian faith reaches nearly every corner of the globe and the future is with us. The glorification is certainly not what the disciples would have expected, the trial, beating and death on the cross that lay ahead in the next 24 hours. Nothing in this prayer could have prepared them for what was to come, what looked like God not hearing this prayer.
Paul urges the Christians at Philippi to press on, keeping their hearts and minds set on eternity. As Jesus saw beyond the cross and the tomb, so are we to see beyond the end of this life and begin living for eternity. As Christians we do not deny the essential goodness of creation and this life, they are both gifts from a good and loving God, but our decision-making isn’t defined by getting more of the things of earth, it is defined by doing God’s will no matter the cost. As Christians we need to show the world there is both something amiss in the world and that there is another way, even in the midst of all this. Lent is a time to show that the things of earth aren’t our primary concern.
I will trust in the You, and do good;
I will dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness.
I will delight myself in the LORD,
and he will give me the desires of my heart.
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
17 February 2010
Psalm 32, 143; Amos 5:6-15; Heb. 12:1-14; Luke 18:9-14
Lent begins. Today, Ash Wednesday is a call to keep a solemn fast in preparation for Easter. It is a call to examine our lives, our values and our habits and to see the sin in our lives and the crutches on which we rely that keep us from seeking the Lord. It might be a diet that we choose for Lent but only for the purpose of being thankful for what we have to eat. It might be alcohol which, even in moderation, can become a crutch to us for overcoming the day. In addition to what we give up we need to consider what we might add to our lives as an aid to seeking the Lord, whether that is an extension of our quiet time, the discipline of praying at set times during the day, or reading God’s Word instead of what we might normally read. The purpose of all these disciplines is to focus our attention on Him, to give up an earthly pleasure for the sake of knowing Him more and coming closer to Him.
The parable of the tax collector and the Pharisee is told to those “who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and regarded others with contempt.” We tend to think more highly of our righteousness than we have any right to. Primarily it is because we have poor standards for measurement, one another. The only standard of righteousness that matters is God’s standard and if we fail to meet it, we are under the penalty of death. That is, unless we have faith in Jesus who is our righteousness. In this parable, Jesus illustrates this truth that our prayer life needs to be more like the tax collector’s than the Pharisee who would have represented the epitome of righteousness for most Jews. Justification depends more on confession than works.
We don’t like discipline primarily because we don’t see that we deserve it. We don’t feel we deserve it because we compare ourselves with those around us in the world who we don’t see suffering it and we are certain they deserve it. The writer of Hebrews tells us that Jesus underwent discipline so how could we complain about it in our own lives if our goal is Christ-likeness. Anybody there yet? Discipline is for our good, for our growth, and yet we see no advantage so we complain and become bitter, demanding God explain Himself to us. At least Lent allows us to choose our own discipline at the human level, but who knows how He will use it in our lives.
Let me hear in the morning of your steadfast love,
for in you I trust.
Make me know the way I should go,
for to you I lift up my soul.
Psalm 32, 143; Amos 5:6-15; Heb. 12:1-14; Luke 18:9-14
Lent begins. Today, Ash Wednesday is a call to keep a solemn fast in preparation for Easter. It is a call to examine our lives, our values and our habits and to see the sin in our lives and the crutches on which we rely that keep us from seeking the Lord. It might be a diet that we choose for Lent but only for the purpose of being thankful for what we have to eat. It might be alcohol which, even in moderation, can become a crutch to us for overcoming the day. In addition to what we give up we need to consider what we might add to our lives as an aid to seeking the Lord, whether that is an extension of our quiet time, the discipline of praying at set times during the day, or reading God’s Word instead of what we might normally read. The purpose of all these disciplines is to focus our attention on Him, to give up an earthly pleasure for the sake of knowing Him more and coming closer to Him.
The parable of the tax collector and the Pharisee is told to those “who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and regarded others with contempt.” We tend to think more highly of our righteousness than we have any right to. Primarily it is because we have poor standards for measurement, one another. The only standard of righteousness that matters is God’s standard and if we fail to meet it, we are under the penalty of death. That is, unless we have faith in Jesus who is our righteousness. In this parable, Jesus illustrates this truth that our prayer life needs to be more like the tax collector’s than the Pharisee who would have represented the epitome of righteousness for most Jews. Justification depends more on confession than works.
We don’t like discipline primarily because we don’t see that we deserve it. We don’t feel we deserve it because we compare ourselves with those around us in the world who we don’t see suffering it and we are certain they deserve it. The writer of Hebrews tells us that Jesus underwent discipline so how could we complain about it in our own lives if our goal is Christ-likeness. Anybody there yet? Discipline is for our good, for our growth, and yet we see no advantage so we complain and become bitter, demanding God explain Himself to us. At least Lent allows us to choose our own discipline at the human level, but who knows how He will use it in our lives.
Let me hear in the morning of your steadfast love,
for in you I trust.
Make me know the way I should go,
for to you I lift up my soul.
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
16 February 2010
Psalm 26, 28; Prov. 30:1-4,24-33; Phil. 3:1-11; John 18:28-38
The prayer to be given neither poverty nor riches seems to me to be the petition for daily bread in the Lord’s Prayer. In the history of the people in the Old Testament we see that both these conditions are dangerous for God’s people. They didn’t handle the “poverty” of the manna well, craving meat, and they didn’t handle prosperity well at a later time, they honored God with their lips while their hearts were far from Him. Learning to be satisfied with and thankful for our daily bread is the beginning of discipleship in many ways. In the wilderness God tried to teach them to be thankful for that daily bread. If He didn’t miraculously provide for them there they would have starved to death. That time was to be the preparation for living in a land of milk and honey, provided by Him. The goal was a people that understood that it is important for us to recall that all things come from Him either directly or indirectly.
The leaders manage to maintain ritual purity to eat the feast while at the same time rejecting Jesus’ real righteousness. The irony in the first verse of this Gospel passage is thick. When Pilate asks of the charge they engage in circular logic, failing to offer a real explanation and simply arguing that if he weren’t a criminal we wouldn’t have brought him to you. Is it any wonder that Pilate’s initial response was to send them away? Pilate’s question of “Are you the king of the Jews?” is curious as we have no idea where he had heard that. As the conversation continues, Pilate asks what many would now say is the great question of postmodernity, “What is truth?” At least he is honest enough to admit he doesn’t know what truth is, and Jesus provides no verbal answer in spite of his declaration to the disciples, “I am the way, the truth and the life.”
Paul says that his value system has been turned upside down by Jesus. All that he had dedicated his life to prior to his encounter with Jesus he counts as loss and rubbish for the sake of knowing Jesus. Is that our attitude towards Him? Paul would say that he has found the truth and has now devoted His life to knowing and proclaiming the truth to the world, whatever the cost to him personally. The riches that we are to seek are heavenly treasures, not earthly ones. Paul seems to have known the true value of Christ in a way that should make the rest of us hit our knees and ask the Lord for hearts like Paul’s.
Blessed be the LORD!
For he has heard the voice of my pleas for mercy.
The LORD is my strength and my shield;
in him my heart trusts, and I am helped;
my heart exults,
and with my song I give thanks to him.
Psalm 26, 28; Prov. 30:1-4,24-33; Phil. 3:1-11; John 18:28-38
The prayer to be given neither poverty nor riches seems to me to be the petition for daily bread in the Lord’s Prayer. In the history of the people in the Old Testament we see that both these conditions are dangerous for God’s people. They didn’t handle the “poverty” of the manna well, craving meat, and they didn’t handle prosperity well at a later time, they honored God with their lips while their hearts were far from Him. Learning to be satisfied with and thankful for our daily bread is the beginning of discipleship in many ways. In the wilderness God tried to teach them to be thankful for that daily bread. If He didn’t miraculously provide for them there they would have starved to death. That time was to be the preparation for living in a land of milk and honey, provided by Him. The goal was a people that understood that it is important for us to recall that all things come from Him either directly or indirectly.
The leaders manage to maintain ritual purity to eat the feast while at the same time rejecting Jesus’ real righteousness. The irony in the first verse of this Gospel passage is thick. When Pilate asks of the charge they engage in circular logic, failing to offer a real explanation and simply arguing that if he weren’t a criminal we wouldn’t have brought him to you. Is it any wonder that Pilate’s initial response was to send them away? Pilate’s question of “Are you the king of the Jews?” is curious as we have no idea where he had heard that. As the conversation continues, Pilate asks what many would now say is the great question of postmodernity, “What is truth?” At least he is honest enough to admit he doesn’t know what truth is, and Jesus provides no verbal answer in spite of his declaration to the disciples, “I am the way, the truth and the life.”
Paul says that his value system has been turned upside down by Jesus. All that he had dedicated his life to prior to his encounter with Jesus he counts as loss and rubbish for the sake of knowing Jesus. Is that our attitude towards Him? Paul would say that he has found the truth and has now devoted His life to knowing and proclaiming the truth to the world, whatever the cost to him personally. The riches that we are to seek are heavenly treasures, not earthly ones. Paul seems to have known the true value of Christ in a way that should make the rest of us hit our knees and ask the Lord for hearts like Paul’s.
Blessed be the LORD!
For he has heard the voice of my pleas for mercy.
The LORD is my strength and my shield;
in him my heart trusts, and I am helped;
my heart exults,
and with my song I give thanks to him.
Monday, February 15, 2010
15 February 2010
Psalm 25; Prov. 27:1-6,10-12; Phil. 2:1-13; John 18:15-27
Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring. Could the disciples have ever imagined how dramatically their lives were going to be thrown upside down? We live as though tomorrow were guaranteed to us and we have no such guarantee at all. Wisdom for daily living is truly important to us and the book of Proverbs is there for us to learn from in order that we might truly keep the commandments of God but also that we might have wisdom for the journey of life.
Peter and the other disciple (presumed to be John the Gospel writer), have an up close and personal view of the trial before the high priest. We know this as Peter’s betrayal of Jesus after Jesus had prophesied it at the dinner table, and the memory of this night must have been one Peter replayed time and again. Wisdom here says to do exactly what Peter does, save your own skin, for what good would it do Jesus if Peter aligns himself with Him? The measure of love, however, is entirely different from that of worldly wisdom. Jesus’ identification with us, persevering all the way to the cross, is the way to which we are called, the way of love.
This great passage from Philippians is the perfect example of love triumphing over self-interest. Paul calls us to “Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility regard others as better than yourselves.” Culturally, this was against the grain for the times, and it isn’t much different now. Clearly it requires us to be born again to act in this way, selfish ambition is who we are, who we have always been, if you doubt that re-read the first four chapters of Genesis or the story of Jacob that we have just been through. Jesus showed us the way to live in a sinful, fallen world in order to reveal God’s true way. He is our example and our guide for the journey.
Make me to know your ways, O LORD;
teach me your paths.
Lead me in your truth and teach me,
for you are the God of my salvation;
for you I wait all the day long.
Psalm 25; Prov. 27:1-6,10-12; Phil. 2:1-13; John 18:15-27
Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring. Could the disciples have ever imagined how dramatically their lives were going to be thrown upside down? We live as though tomorrow were guaranteed to us and we have no such guarantee at all. Wisdom for daily living is truly important to us and the book of Proverbs is there for us to learn from in order that we might truly keep the commandments of God but also that we might have wisdom for the journey of life.
Peter and the other disciple (presumed to be John the Gospel writer), have an up close and personal view of the trial before the high priest. We know this as Peter’s betrayal of Jesus after Jesus had prophesied it at the dinner table, and the memory of this night must have been one Peter replayed time and again. Wisdom here says to do exactly what Peter does, save your own skin, for what good would it do Jesus if Peter aligns himself with Him? The measure of love, however, is entirely different from that of worldly wisdom. Jesus’ identification with us, persevering all the way to the cross, is the way to which we are called, the way of love.
This great passage from Philippians is the perfect example of love triumphing over self-interest. Paul calls us to “Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility regard others as better than yourselves.” Culturally, this was against the grain for the times, and it isn’t much different now. Clearly it requires us to be born again to act in this way, selfish ambition is who we are, who we have always been, if you doubt that re-read the first four chapters of Genesis or the story of Jacob that we have just been through. Jesus showed us the way to live in a sinful, fallen world in order to reveal God’s true way. He is our example and our guide for the journey.
Make me to know your ways, O LORD;
teach me your paths.
Lead me in your truth and teach me,
for you are the God of my salvation;
for you I wait all the day long.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)