"You've Ignored me Long Enough, God."

“Long enough, God— you’ve ignored me long enough. I’ve looked at the back of your head long enough.” (Psalm 13:1, The Message) 

“I’ve thrown myself headlong into your arms— I’m celebrating your rescue. I’m singing at the top of my lungs, I’m so full of answered prayers.” (Psalm 13:5–6, The Message) 

Psalm 13 is a good example of why I love the psalms.  David goes from asking God how long he is going to ignore him: “How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me?” (Psalm 13:1, ESV)—The Message captures this question very well in contemporary words—to words of faith at the end: I've thrown myself headlong into your arms.

We worship a God who allows us to ask him tough questions, indeed one wonders if God isn't positively happy when we ask him tough questions, because the psalmists never shy from posing them, from pouring out the feelings in their heart to God.  We do not have to hide our feelings from God—as if we could anyway.

You have some tough questions for God?  Go ahead and ask, but don't ask defiantly, as if God needs to justify himself to you, ask passionately.  Be like David. 

Riches Disappear in the Blink of an Eye

“Riches disappear in the blink of an eye; wealth sprouts wings and flies off into the wild blue yonder.” (Proverbs 23:5, The Message)

How quickly can wealth disappear through any number of causes; the stock market crashes, a partner runs off with the money, medical bills escalate.  We could go on and on, but to put one's hope in wealth is to be a fool.  Why hope in what can literally be gone in a day?  

Solomon doesn't list what to hope in positively here, but it doesn't take much though to figure it out, especially since we have the New Testament.  Our hope ought to be in the power of the cross to make us new; in the efficacy of the finished work of Christ; in a renewed spirit which cannot be taken away or lost.

Wealth is temporal; Christ is eternal.

Rescued from Certain Doom

“They marvel at how expectantly you await the arrival of his Son, whom he raised from the dead—Jesus, who rescued us from certain doom.” (1 Thessalonians 1:10, The Message)

I'm glad that Paul was not interested in being politically correct when he wrote to the church in Thessalonica—or any other letter for that matter.  Here he tells the believers in Thessalonica that the only person who can rescue us from certain doom is Jesus, or as the ESV puts it: Jesus, who delivers us from the wrath to come.

Notice what Paul either states implicitly or implies here:

1.  There is wrath coming

2.  We are by rights, subject to that wrath; we need deliverance from it.

3.  There is one person who can deliver us from this wrath: Jesus.

Much as the world (not to mention part of the Christian church itself) hates the idea of the penal substitutionary sacrifice of Christ—which is to say that in dying on the cross Christ paid the penalty for sin and was a substitute for us—Paul embraces it here, and well he should, because this is our only way of being delivered from the wrath to come. 

"I Lay out the Pieces of my Life on your Altar"

“Every morning I lay out the pieces of my life on your altar and watch for fire to descend.” (Psalm 5:3, The Message)

Love this.  

It is a psalm of David and speaks of his commitment to offer up an offering every morning and then watch for God.  Since we live in the New Covenant period in which Christ died for sins once for all, we have no need of a daily sacrifice as David thought of it.  I think Eugene Peterson strikes the right note here when he recognizes that what we do need to do every morning is lay out the pieces of our lives on a metaphorical altar and allow God to do with it what he will.

On Being God-loyal People

“God-loyal people, living honest lives, make it much easier for their children.” (Proverbs 20:7, The Message)

 One of the best ways that we can help our children is to be—as The Message paraphrase puts it—God-loyal people.  Which is to say, people who love and enjoy God and who treasure him above all other things.  In other words, the best  thing that we can do for our children is to put God in front of them in our affections. 

We are all Rebel-Kings

“So, rebel-kings, use your heads; Upstart-judges, learn your lesson: Worship God in adoring embrace, Celebrate in trembling awe.” (Psalm 2:10–11, The Message) 

If there is one thing that people-watching teaches us, it is that when it comes to life, and especially to our particular culture, we are all rebel-kings.  We live by our own authority (or so we think anyway); we have our own particular theology (with ourselves as god and God as a genie); we brook no opposition to our own set of beliefs and bow to no other god (okay, maybe we bow to the gods of materialism and entertainment, but not to the Creator-God).

Psalms 2 was written to strike down any hope we might have that being a rebel-king will be successful.  The only way we can be successful is to lay down our arms; to wave the white flag of surrender; to yield; to worship God in adoring embrace.

Lay down your arms, Oh rebel-king.  You who think that you can live by your own authority and will.  Yes, you.

"Kept Taut by Hope"

“The lines of purpose in your lives never grow slack, tightly tied as they are to your future in heaven, kept taut by hope. The Message is as true among you today as when you first heard it. It doesn’t diminish or weaken over time.” (Colossians 1:5, The Message) 

The Message is really, really good in Colossians 1.  Here Paul prays that the lines of purpose in the lives of the Colossian believers would never grow slack because they are so tightly connected to those who follow Christ's future in heaven.   These lines of purpose are kept taut by hope.  Beautifully paraphrased.

One of Webster's definitions of hope is to expect with confidence.  There is an element of waiting in hope—we do not yet have what we desire or anticipate—and there is an element of confidence—we have multiple proofs that what we hope for will come about.  This is never more true than the believer in Christ and the hope of our future in heaven with him.  We expect that we will indeed have a future in heaven and we wait for it with confidence.  Thus the lines of purpose in our lives are kept taut...by hope.

Emily Dickinson capture hope very well:

Hope is the thing with feathers

That perches in the soul

And sings the tune without the words

And never stops at all

I've seen it on the chillest land

And in the strangest sea

Yet never in extremity

It asked a crumb of me 

"From the Scripture"

“Then the other disciple, the one who had gotten there first, went into the tomb, took one look at the evidence, and believed. No one yet knew from the Scripture that he had to rise from the dead.” (John 20:8–9, The Message) 

I was struck, this morning (well, actually it is late last evening in the eastern time zone—11.57pm as I write—but I am in Germany so it is early in the morning, but I digress) while reading The Message in John 20 where John grounds his knowledge that Christ would rise again. 

It is Sunday morning, the third day after the crucifixion and a breathless Mary Magdalene arrives to explain to the gathered disciples that the tomb is empty!  Hardly daring to imagine what might have become of Christ, Peter and John run to Gethsemane.  Peter gets there first.  John is the first one into the empty tomb.  He—by his own testimony here—took one look at the evidence, and believed.  Jesus, who had raised others from the dead, had arisen from the dead himself.  Amazing moment.  John saw and believed.

No one yet knew, comments John as he writes this account many years later,  from the Scripture that he had to rise from the dead.  What John discovers by obvious physical evidence, he will find out later (along with the other followers of Christ) was written in the Scriptures all along.  Christ had to rise from the dead.  So for John, the Scriptures reinforced and solidified what he knew from being an eyewitness—Christ was prophesied that he would rise from the dead, and he did rise from the dead.  

What more evidence do we need to understand that by believing in Christ we might have life in Christ's name apart from the prophecy of Scripture and John's testimony in the Scriptures.

Straight for the Finish Line

“A life frittered away disgusts God; he loves those who run straight for the finish line.” (Proverbs 15:9, The Message) 

Solomon contrasts two types of people in this short proverb: Those who fritter away their lives on useless things and those who run straight for the finish line—meaning, we assume, live their lives with purpose and an aim.  It's unsurprising that a life frittered away disgusts God.  He means for us to live with purpose and intent

.

Paul works out this same truth in these words:

“Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it.” (1 Corinthians 9:24, ESV).  Run the Christian life with purpose, with the same aim of athletes (a favorite illustration of Paul's) who run so that they will obtain the prize.  

How about you?  Are you headed straight for the finish line, or do the swamps on each side of the path attract your attention?  

Laughter that Ends in Heartbreak

“There’s a way of life that looks harmless enough; look again—it leads straight to hell. Sure, those people appear to be having a good time, but all that laughter will end in heartbreak.” (Proverbs 14:12–13, The Message) 

The wisdom of Solomon here.  So many people live their lives pursuing what seems good, fun, or will make them happy for the moment.  "Look again" says Solomon, that path "leads straight to hell."  Sin looks fun for the moment, "but all that laughter will end in heartbreak."

Oh how we need the wisdom and insight to understand that the temporary is not worth pursuing and and ends in tears.  The eternal—following Christ and his way—will cost something in the short run but ends in a weight of glory beyond all comparison.  One might say that tears now end in joy for eternity.

Yep.  That's what I'm after.

"Sin Dumps the Wicked in the Ditch"

“A God-loyal life keeps you on track; sin dumps the wicked in the ditch.” (Proverbs 13:6, The Message)

Vivid imagery from The Message here.  This is the nature of sin.  It looks good.  It often feels good.  It seems like the right thing to do, but inevitably it dumps the sinner into the ditch of loneliness, despair, and dissatisfaction.  Sin promises freedom, but delivers slavery; it promises happiness, but delivers brokenness.  

How well Marilynne Robinson illustrates this truth in the character of Jack, in the novel Home.  Jack is the ne'er-do-well son of a pastor and is the perfect picture of a prodigal, living a life doing what he wants to despite the consequences of his choices.  He comes home in his '40's having discovered that the life he wanted to lead is no life at all, struggling with alcoholism, broken relationships, and his own realization that the life he pursued was a fantasy that delivered slavery instead of freedom.  

This is the end result of sin.  It dumps the sinner into the ditch and leaves him dejected and broken.

Extravagant Love

“Mostly what God does is love you. Keep company with him and learn a life of love. Observe how Christ loved us. His love was not cautious but extravagant. He didn’t love in order to get something from us but to give everything of himself to us. Love like that.” (Ephesians 5:2, The Message) 

The Message paraphrases Eph. 5.2 wonderfully.  Paul's command is that our approach to life ought to be shaped by Christ's approach to life—Observe how Christ loved us.  Christ's love wasn't about "getting," it was about giving.  This is extravagant love.

I wonder what extravagant love would look like in my life?  I think my wife would notice a difference in me, probably my children too.  I don't imagine strangers would notice a difference, since they don't know me, but maybe they would notice something different about me compared to other people.

Extravagant love—not getting, but giving.

Everything has to Go

“Since, then, we do not have the excuse of ignorance, everything—and I do mean everything—connected with that old way of life has to go. It’s rotten through and through. Get rid of it! And then take on an entirely new way of life—a God-fashioned life,” (Ephesians 4:22, The Message) 

"When God calls a man, he bids him come and die."  Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Bonhoeffer agrees with the statement of Eph 4.22.  When one comes to faith in Christ, everything connected with one's old way of life has to go.  It is rotten through and through.   Which is why when God calls a person to follow him, it is a bid to come and die to self and let Christ come and live in him (Gal. 2.20).

What does a man gain for this death?  Everything.  Jim Elliott once said: "He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep, to gain what he cannot lose."

Just so.

Wise Son, Glad Father; Stupid Son, Sad Mother

“Wise son, glad father; stupid son, sad mother.” (Proverbs 10:1, The Message) 

Eugene Petersen is succinctly brilliant in his paraphrase of Prov. 10.1.  A wise son makes his father glad.  Conversely, a stupid son, a foolish son, causes a mother to be sad.  

Solomon demonstrates that he was well aware of the inability of a parent to control the character outcome of their child.  A parent can work hard and give a good home environment, but at the end of the day, a child is going to make his own choices and sometimes those choices are bad.

Of course this makes a parent more dependent on God the father when it comes to child-rearing and less likely to boast in their parental prowess.  This is a good thing.

"My Ego is no Longer Central"

“Christ’s life showed me how, and enabled me to do it. I identified myself completely with him. Indeed, I have been crucified with Christ. My ego is no longer central. It is no longer important that I appear righteous before you or have your good opinion, and I am no longer driven to impress God. Christ lives in me. The life you see me living is not “mine,” but it is lived by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” (Galatians 2:20, The Message) 

Paul's confession of his life being transformed by the gospel.  I have been crucified with Christ.  My ego is no longer central is The Message's paraphrase.  What this means is that Paul (and we who follow Christ) are rid of two different desires:  We are not interested in having the good opinion of man, and we do not need to impress God, indeed we cannot  impress God, which is the whole point of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Welcome to the world of living by faith in Christ.

Jesus: The Scriptures are all About Me!

““You have your heads in your Bibles constantly because you think you’ll find eternal life there. But you miss the forest for the trees. These Scriptures are all about me!” (John 5:39, The Message) 

Christ to the Jewish leaders.  

A couple of things here.  First, we are confronted again with the sheer audacity of Christ's claims.  The Scriptures are all about me!   Either that statement is true, or it is not true.  Normal people don't make these kinds of statements especially when both parties, Christ and the Jewish leaders, fully understood the claim Christ was making when he said what he said.  It is either blasphemy of the highest order, or it is the truth; those are the options here.

Second, we followers of Christ need to tread very carefully here.  The people to whom Christ was talking had their heads in your Bibles constantly, but they missed Christ.  Surely, they thought themselves the most faithful of all of the Jews to the Scriptures, but they still missed Christ!  This should at least cause us to tread very carefully around our own preconceptions and expectations of Christ.  He was in the business of upsetting all preconceptions about him and offending all sides of an issue.  

We need to keep asking ourselves the question, "Am I with Christ on this issue, or am I expecting that Christ is with me and my own opinions about a matter?"  Too often we make the assumption that our side is Christ's side when it is not.  We need to repent of this.

 

Guessing in the Dark

“You worship guessing in the dark; we Jews worship in the clear light of day. God’s way of salvation is made available through the Jews.” (John 4:22, The Message) 

Christ to the woman at the well.  He was never afraid to speak clearly and truthfully.  We like to often take a general view of Christ's life and appreciate him, but neglect to consider his specific words.  You worship guessing in the dark.  Not much wiggle room for the woman there. Her worship was wrong, misguided, off the target, and Christ told her so.  

God's way of salvation is made available through the Jews.  To anyone but a Jew, this truth is humbling.  No matter how hard we try, salvation comes through the Jews.  They have, as Paul will say elsewhere, the oracles of God, and Messiah is a Jew.

Christ always forces us to either accept him as he is or to reject him completely.  There is no half-way belief in Christ.  He was either the Son of God and spoke truthfully, or a liar and spoke deceitfully, or crazy.  Those are the choices.  I believe he was, and is, and will be, Messiah. 

Did the Hawk Learn to Fly from You?

Job 39:26
"Was it through your know how that the hawk learned to fly,
soaring effortlessly on thermal updrafts?

God's question to Job at the dramatic conclusion to the book of Job. This is part of a long series of questions and statements from God to Job. Job can answer none of the questions that God poses.

I'm standing in my room on the 20th floor of the Hilton in Atlanta watching a red-tail hawk fly gracefully around downtown. He ends up perched on the highest point of the Georgia Power building and I watch him through my binoculars. he seems quite content living in downtown.

No one taught Mr. Hawk to fly. It was only in this past century that man learned how to harness flight, although he is no where near as adept at it as a lowly hawk who has been around since Job's time. God seems to be saying to Job, "If you're not even capable of giving a hawk the ability to fly, how do you expect to be able to judge my actions" (oh, and hawk's flying? That was me).

Job, to his credit, gets this point. God is God, and Job is not God, which means that however incomprehensible God's actions are in Job's life, Job has no where near enough information or wisdom to be able to judge them. Job must just trust.

And this is the great lesson of the book of Job for us. We must just trust that God knows what he is doing in and through all the pain and difficulty of our lives.

The Dangerous Dichotomy of Distress

“Now I’m glad—not that you were upset, but that you were jarred into turning things around. You let the distress bring you to God, not drive you from him. The result was all gain, no loss. Distress that drives us to God does that. It turns us around. It gets us back in the way of salvation. We never regret that kind of pain. But those who let distress drive them away from God are full of regrets, end up on a deathbed of regrets.” (2 Corinthians 7:9–10, The Message) 

How well The Message captures Paul's argument here.  Distress in our lives—whether financial or physical or spiritual or emotional—can lead us in one of two directions:  It can lead us to God, or it can lead us away from God.  The way that we allow it to lead us will in large part determine our relationship with God.  

The pain that drives us back into the way of salvation, that causes us to focus on the eternal and not the temporal, that helps us clarify that we are not God, but that God is God; this is pain that we will not ultimately regret (think the story of Job).

Pain that drives us away from God leads only to despair and denial (think the end of Mark Twain's infamous book The Mysterious Stranger).

The book of Psalms is filled with God-worshiping human beings with distress that will ultimately drive them to God; this is why I love the psalms.  

It's okay to question God when you are in distress; but allow the distress to humble you and to drive you to God in all his mystery, wonder, and love.  He sent his son to endure the worst distress imaginable.  For you.

A Stopover in an Unfinished Shack

“And we’ll never have to relocate our “tents” again. Sometimes we can hardly wait to move—and so we cry out in frustration. Compared to what’s coming, living conditions around here seem like a stopover in an unfurnished shack, and we’re tired of it! We’ve been given a glimpse of the real thing, our true home, our resurrection bodies!” (2 Corinthians 5:2–4, The Message) 

Paul here compares our lives now with what they will be in heaven.  In comparison to our resurrection bodies, the bodies that we are in now are like a stopover in an unfinished shack.  I'm pretty confident that anyone over 50 needs no further argument to be convinced.  Our bodies fall apart; we get aches and pains; we have medical problems; yep, the shack is falling apart.

We do not focus on now, however, we focus on what is coming; we focus on the real thing.  This is what gives us hope that this life is not lived in vain, that this shack is only temporary.  Christ at the cross secured for us who believe a body made in the heavens and fit for eternity.  I can't wait.

Stone blind to the Dayspring Brightness

“All they have eyes for is the fashionable god of darkness. They think he can give them what they want, and that they won’t have to bother believing a Truth they can’t see. They’re stone-blind to the dayspring brightness of the Message that shines with Christ, who gives us the best picture of God we’ll ever get.” (2 Corinthians 4:4, The Message).

Here at one of my favorite verses, Paul tells us that our best picture of God is found in Christ.  Christ reveals God; he makes God personal.  Do you want to understand God's compassion?  Study Christ.  Do you want to see God's heart revealed? Study Christ. You get the point.

The problem with men is that rather than study Christ all they have eyes for is the fashionable god of darkness.  Such a telling point.  Our God is not fashionable, indeed we might call him anti-fashionable, because he is always and ever going against the tide of the world.  Satan is happy to be a fashionable god of darkness because his desire is to draw as many people as he can away from God; unfortunately, men are happy to follow him, all the while thinking that they are "free" and "independent."  

The result?   Men are stone-blind to the dayspring brightness of the Message that shines with Christ.

Don't be stone-blind.  Open your eyes and see the character of God in Christ. 

The Fear of God

““If I’ve ever used my strength and influence to take advantage of the unfortunate, Go ahead, break both my arms, cut off all my fingers! The fear of God has kept me from these things— how else could I ever face him?” (Job 31:21–23, The Message)

Job's final summary argument with his three friends is contained in Job 31.  His whole argument is that he has not been unrighteous, nor taken advantage of the poor and needy.  The fear of God was the motive for Job's behavior.  Not fear as in scary; as if Job were afraid of God who was standing over him with a brickbat waiting to strike, but fear as in deep and abiding respect, that God was the one in authority and Job wanted to honor that authority by his actions.

The fear of God is the foundation for a lot of things in the Scriptures.  It's the foundation for wisdom and here it is the foundation for the way that we act.

Home to his Father

“He got right up and went home to his father. “When he was still a long way off, his father saw him. His heart pounding, he ran out, embraced him, and kissed him.” (Luke 15:20, The Message)

The (sadly in some sense too) familiar story of the prodigal son is one of my favorite portions in the Bible.   What need do we have to look for a better picture of grace than the portrait drawn here by Christ himself?  A profligate, wastrel who has squandered everything he was ever given (he inherited it).  A descent into the depths of misery.  A return to his wealthy father, expecting only to be hired as a servant.  But what is this?  My father, the dignified elderly man (in the culture in which this story is told an elderly father, patriarch of the family, would never run to greet anyone, more less a prodigal son) running! out to meet his long lost, but always remembered son?  The son welcomed back, not as a servant, but as the son he is (and always) was.  Grace upon grace.

How did it all start?  What set everything in motion?  He got right up and went home...to his father.

You are a prodigal?  Get up and go home, your father is waiting, eagerly.

It's Resurrection, Resurrection, always Resurrection

“I look death in the face practically every day I live. Do you think I’d do this if I wasn’t convinced of your resurrection and mine as guaranteed by the resurrected Messiah Jesus? Do you think I was just trying to act heroic when I fought the wild beasts at Ephesus, hoping it wouldn’t be the end of me? Not on your life! It’s resurrection, resurrection, always resurrection, that undergirds what I do and say, the way I live. If there’s no resurrection, “We eat, we drink, the next day we die,” and that’s all there is to it.” (1 Corinthians 15:31–32, The Message)

How concisely Paul gets to the important point here.  All that we do, say, and claim stems from the resurrection of Jesus Christ.  No resurrection?  No salvation.  We are still in our sins.  What drove Paul from early in the morning until late at night; what allowed him to endure persecutions, shipwreck, beatings, and wild beasts, was that fact that Christ was raised from the dead and so Paul was not working in vain, nor wasting his life.

Whatever God has called us to do in this life, it must be grounded in the same fact in which Paul's life was grounded:  resurrection.  Otherwise, eat, drink, and be happy, for tomorrow you shall die (and rot).

Strangers to Grace

““You’ll protest, ‘But we’ve known you all our lives!’ only to be interrupted with his abrupt, ‘Your kind of knowing can hardly be called knowing. You don’t know the first thing about me.’ “That’s when you’ll find yourselves out in the cold, strangers to grace. You’ll watch Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and all the prophets march into God’s kingdom.” (Luke 13:26–28, The Message)

Christ's response to the question: Master, will only a few be saved?

He doesn't answer their question (leaving it for theogians to argue about until literally the kingdom comes), as usual Christ redirects their question in an unexpected and uncomfortable way.  The ones who asked and who certainly expected that they would be saved were challenged.  "Don't assume you are getting into the kingdom, Christ says.  There will be many who do assume this and they will not get in.  Even though they say they know God, they do not know God. 

At first glance these are chilling words.  One asks the question, "Am I such a person?"  As I think about it, however, I see the compassion and grace in these words.  Christ does not speak in such a way to scare his listeners, to give them sleepless nights, and fearful days.  He says this so they will pay close attention to their lives, so that they don't find themselves strangers to grace.

You should not be offended by a person who carefully explains safety equipment and its use when you  go mountain climbing, even when experienced.  The guide is concerned for your safety, so he doesn't assume anything.

Christ is calling even those who follow him not to complacently assume that they are in because he does not want them to be strangers to grace.

Will we listen to him?

Bankrupt Without Love

“If I give everything I own to the poor and even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr, but I don’t love, I’ve gotten nowhere. So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I’m bankrupt without love.” (1 Corinthians 13:3, The Message)

Love is a central tenet of the Christian faith.  I think sometimes it is easy to forget this.  People tick us of; they take advantage of us; they are different from us; they are unlovely and needy (which when one thinks about it is a pretty good description of us in God's eyes); so it's easy to find excuses not to love them.

Of course what we find in Christ is exactly the opposite (which is why the Church might find it so hard to welcome him now, he just wouldn't act like we think he ought to).  Christ seems to have gone out of his way to love the unlovely; the Zaccheus's, the Mary Magdalene's, the Samaritan woman.

It's often a struggle to be like Christ.  When it comes to love, as Mother Teresa once said, we need to look at people as if they were Jesus.  Love will flow naturally from that.

Cultivating God-Confidence

“Don’t be so naive and self-confident. You’re not exempt. You could fall flat on your face as easily as anyone else. Forget about self-confidence; it’s useless. Cultivate God-confidence.” (1 Corinthians 10:12, The Message)

Cultivate God-confidence, Paul tells the Corinthians.  There is simply no way to do this apart from faith and trust.  We cannot cultivate confidence in God by trusting ourselves or waiting for God to tell us why.  Confidence in God comes when we trust first and then see him move.  This isn't easy, nor is it natural, but then neither is growing a plant. 

Cultivation takes effort whether you are growing a garden or growing in God-confidence.

Don't Become Misers of What You Hear

““No one lights a lamp and then covers it with a washtub or shoves it under the bed. No, you set it up on a lamp stand so those who enter the room can see their way.” (Luke 8:16, The Message)

   "Be careful that you don’t become misers of what you hear. Generosity begets generosity. Stinginess impoverishes.”” (Luke 8:18, The Message)

Christ to a crowd of listeners.  "What you are receiving from me is a message that I mean to be passed on to others.  Don't become misers of what you hear."  A miser is one who has treasure that he hoards.  He doesn't spend it; he doesn't share; he just hoards it. 

We do not want to be misers with the treasure of the eternal gospel.  The gospel does no good when we confine it to our hearts alone.  It is meant to be preached; it is meant to be shared.

May we freely pass on the gospel freely shared with us.

Quietly Worshipful; Noisily Grateful

“They all realized they were in a place of holy mystery, that God was at work among them. They were quietly worshipful—and then noisily grateful, calling out among themselves, “God is back, looking to the needs of his people!”” (Luke 7:16, The Message)

The reaction of the people at Nain when they witnessed Christ raise the widow's only son from the dead.  What an amazing event.  The poor widow undoubtedly goes from despair to elation in an instant.  The crowd can't believe what they'd witnessed—surely it was a place of holy mystery—and they react.

The Message paraphrases it as They were quietly worshipful then noisily grateful.  Quiet in regards to their worship of God who demonstrated his great and timely power.  What results?  What always results when God's people see God move in incredible ways.  They were noisily grateful. 

It's a good pattern don't you think?  Quiet worship and grateful noise.

Respond with the Energies of Prayer

“When someone gives you a hard time, respond with the energies of prayer for that person.” (Luke 6:28, The Message)

From a human standpoint it's rare that we respond to someone who is giving us a difficult time with prayer, or as The Message puts it with the energies of prayer.  We want to respond alright, but usually in a tit for tat way, compounding evil with our version of "good" which is evil. 

How much better to respond to difficult people with the energies of prayer for them.  Will this change them?  Perhaps.   It will definitely change us.

We are the Messiah's Misfits

“It seems to me that God has put us who bear his Message on stage in a theater in which no one wants to buy a ticket. We’re something everyone stands around and stares at, like an accident in the street. We’re the Messiah’s misfits. You might be sure of yourselves, but we live in the midst of frailties and uncertainties. You might be well-thought-of by others, but we’re mostly kicked around.” (1 Corinthians 4:9–10, The Message)

The Messiah's misfits.  It is an appropriate way to think of ourselves (along with Paul).  We have no home in this world. Everywhere and always we are at odds with the world's values.  We love people, but we must hold up a mirror to their sins.  Who wants to hear that message?

Yes.  We are misfits.  Happy misfits. 

Job and Mary

   Job:        Stones wear smooth, and soil erodes as you relentlessly grind down our hope

Mary:     I’m bursting with God-news;  I’m dancing the song of my Savior God.

Job:         Why don’t you just bury me alive  get me out of the way until your anger cools?

Mary:      His mercy flows in wave after wave on those who are in awe before him.








(All quotes from The Message)


I find this fascinating juxtaposition between Job and Mary in my Bible reading this morning.  Job is so seemingly pessimistic and Mary so optimistic.  Can they really be talking about the same God?


Of course they can. The two situations are radically different; Mary has just been informed that she will bear the Messiah; Job has lost everything he has, including all of his children.  Circumstances have a lot to do with our interaction with God.  Who wouldn't be questioning God if they were in Job's position?  Who wouldn't be praising God if they were in Mary's?

Some observations:

1. God's ways are mysterious.  Job was not being punished by God because of his bad behavior and Mary wasn't being rewarded by God because she was the only woman in history good enough to bear the Messiah.  Who can explain this?

2. It is okay to question God; it is okay to struggle.  Job is filled with questions until the very end of the book when God still doesn't answer Job's questions about pain and suffering.  God simply gives Job a glimpse of who he is.  Or, as Job put it: 

“You told me, ‘Listen, and let me do the talking. Let me ask the questions. You give the answers.’ I admit I once lived by rumors of you; now I have it all firsthand—from my own eyes and ears! I’m sorry—forgive me. I’ll never do that again, I promise! I’ll never again live on crusts of hearsay, crumbs of rumor.”” (Job 42:4–6, The Message)

Notice that Job is not punished for all of his questions; indeed, at the end of the book he is given double everything that he had before (see observation 1).

3. God is God in good times and in suffering.  Job and Mary were addressing the same God.  He was no different in Job's suffering than he was in Mary's blessing.  The same God who gave Mary blessing allowed pain and anguish in Job's life.  

All of this reminds me of Lucy's conversation with Mr. Tumnus in The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe.  Lucy referring to Aslan (allegory of God):  "He's not a tame lion."  Mr. Tumnus:  "No, he's not a tame lion, but he is good."

Oh that we would soak in that truth.  God is not a tame lion, but he is good.

God's Ultimate Miracle and Wisdom: Christ

“While Jews clamor for miraculous demonstrations and Greeks go in for philosophical wisdom, we go right on proclaiming Christ, the Crucified. Jews treat this like an anti-miracle—and Greeks pass it off as absurd. But to us who are personally called by God himself—both Jews and Greeks—Christ is God’s ultimate miracle and wisdom all wrapped up in one.” (1 Corinthians 1:22–24, The Message)

Everyone, and I mean everyone, wants to have their own way to get salvation.  The Greeks were looking for wisdom, if the message was wise and profound, they would listen.  The Jews were looking for the miraculous, do some demonstrations of God's power and perhaps you were from God.  We moderns are looking for a god who takes us on our terms, in other words, we want a genie who will obey us. 

What everyone gets—what everyone needs!—is Christ, the Crucified.  The Message connects Paul's statement on Christ back to his comment on Jews and Greeks.  You want a miracle?  God's ultimate miracle is Christ.  You want wisdom?  God's ultimate wisdom is manifested in Christ.  You (moderns) want a genie?  You're not going to get one.  You must take God on his terms, and that is Christ crucified.

Strength is for Service, not Status

“Those of us who are strong and able in the faith need to step in and lend a hand to those who falter, and not just do what is most convenient for us. Strength is for service, not status.” (Romans 15:1, The Message)

I love how the message ends this admonition from Paul:  Strength is for service, not status.  Those who are strong in the faith are not called to point that fact out so that everyone will notice.  They are called to use it in service of our Master, Jesus Christ.  They are to lend a hand to those who falter. 

Are you strong for status, or strong for service?

Stay at Your Post, Watching

“So, stay at your post, watching. You have no idea when the homeowner is returning, whether evening, midnight, cockcrow, or morning. You don’t want him showing up unannounced, with you asleep on the job. I say it to you, and I’m saying it to all: Stay at your post. Keep watch.”” (Mark 13:35–37, The Message)

Christ speaking to the disciples about his return.  What strikes me here is that we are to be doing our duty while we watch for Christ's return.  No quitting our jobs and going out to the desert to wait; no dropping all responsibilities and preparing for Christ's return.  We are to watch, yes; but we are to watch at our posts.

As a Marine, the way that The Message frames this appeals to me.  Every Marine had 11 general orders the second of which was: To walk my post in a military manner, keeping always on the alert and observing everything that takes place within sight or hearing. So I understand what it means to stay at my post and watch.  It means to do what God has called me to do; be a husband, be a father, be a grandfather, do my job to the best of my ability, serve in my church, but meanwhile I'm watching because Christ is going to return. 

Maranatha!  Come quickly, Lord, and heal this brokenness.  You will find me at my post doing my duty.

Making Somebodies of Nobodies

I’ll call nobodies and make them somebodies; I’ll call the unloved and make them beloved. Rom 9.25 Paul explains in Rom 9.25 that God will make somebodies of nobodies. He is talking about us there. We were nobodies—God was under no obligation to draw us to faith; he is the potter; we are the clay—however, God delights in taking a nobody and making him a somebody. This is a mystery and Paul keeps it a mystery. He does not explain why God does what he does, only that he does what he does. It is at this point that we must rest our seeking because God does not feel it necessary to explain his choice to us. His choice is something we rest in, not something we question. I'm grateful and happy that God took a nobody like me and made me his child; a somebody.

Acting Cozy with the Riffraff

Later Jesus and his disciples were at home having supper with a collection of disreputable guests. Unlikely as it seems, more than a few of them had become followers. The religion scholars and Pharisees saw him keeping this kind of company and lit into his disciples: “What kind of example is this, acting cozy with the riffraff?” The Message brilliantly captures Christ's passion for sinners here where he was accused by the Pharisees of acting cozy with the riffraff.  Why did they accuse him of this?  Because he was having supper with a collection of disreputable guests.  It's hard to escape the thought that our reaction to Christ would have been the same as the Pharisees.   The whole point of Christ's ministry was to go after the lost, the spiritually blind, the sinners, the riffraff.   Is your heart so constrained by Christ that others accuse you of acting cozy with the riffraff.  You are probably on the Christ-honoring path.

God's Promise: Pure Gift

This is why the fulfillment of God’s promise depends entirely on trusting God and his way, and then simply embracing him and what he does. God’s promise arrives as pure gift. Rom 4.16; The Message Love the way The Message frames Rom. 4.16: God's promise arrives as pure gift. This is hard to wrap my brand around because while we preach grace as followers of Christ, we live out law. We secretly want God's promise to arrive through our good works, but it will never come that way.  It arrives as pure gift from God.   You can't work for a free gift; you can only receive it.

Worshipping a Constructed God

“And all this because they traded the true God for a fake god, and worshiped the god they made instead of the God who made them—the God we bless, the God who blesses us. Oh, yes!” (Romans 1:25, The Message)

Paul describes the descent into sin of those who do not want to be accountable to God the creator.  What to do?  Answer:  Just create a god that can be accountable to you.  They worshiped the god they made instead of the God who made them. 

One can see this in our culture, homosexuality comes to mind.  One does not need to search very long to find those who espouse comitting homosexual sin and worshipping God as good and right.  The verses that seem to prove otherwise are conveniently explained away.  This is nothing other than doing away with God the creator and creating one's own god, a god who can be accountable to your own desires and aims.

This created god is used to justify any number of things; marrying an unbeliever, getting an unbiblical divorce, acting as one wants rather than as the Scriptures call one to act, justifying whatever sin seems convenient at the moment, etc. etc.  If we are honest, we all wrestle with this to one degree or another.

The question is not whether or not we all want to act like God ourselves---we do!  The question is whether we reject this desire and become accountable to the God who created us; to his requirements; to his standards.

A Hostage for Hope

“I did it for Israel. I asked you to come and listen to me today to make it clear that I’m on Israel’s side, not against her. I’m a hostage here for hope, not doom.”” (Acts 28:20, The Message)

Paul's explanation to the Jews in Rome as to why he had been brought as a prisoner to Rome to be tried before Caesar.  I'm a hostage here for hope, paraphrases The Message.

The ESV has it as:

“For this reason, therefore, I have asked to see you and speak with you, since it is because of the hope of Israel that I am wearing this chain.”” (Acts 28:20, ESV)

I think it's a pretty good paraphrase. 

There can be no doubt that Paul's first hope and desire was the salvation of Israel, and that his chains had come because of his devotion to the gospel of Jesus Christ which was the hope of Israel (and everyone else) for that matter.

The takeaway point?  Hope comes in the gospel.  Hope is there for Israel; it is there for the Gentiles.  The gospel of Jesus Christ, dead for our sins, risen to new life.  This is the hope of all people; and it is the only hope of all people.

Lazy as an Old Dog

“Stay alert; be in prayer so you don’t wander into temptation without even knowing you’re in danger. There is a part of you that is eager, ready for anything in God. But there’s another part that’s as lazy as an old dog sleeping by the fire.”” (Matthew 26:41, The Message)

The Message uses colorful language in this passage where Christ gently rebukes his disciples for sleeping as they were supposed to be praying.  He goes away to pray by himself again, and the disciples fall asleep again.  This time, Christ doesn't wake them.

I confess to battling with the lazy as an old dog sleeping by the fire sometimes, especially when it comes to prayer.  Satan wants us to be lazy as a dog in prayer for that means that we do not have, indeed cannot have, a close vital relationship with Christ and consequently will not understand how important prayer is.

Are you as lazy as an old dog sleeping by the fire when it comes to prayer?

The Overlooked and Ignored

““He will answer them, ‘I’m telling the solemn truth: Whenever you failed to do one of these things to someone who was being overlooked or ignored, that was me—you failed to do it to me.’” (Matthew 25:45, The Message)

The parable of the sheep and goats.  When the Son of Man comes his concern for the overlooked or ignored will be obvious, because here, the goats; the ones who fail to feed the hungry or thirsty or provide shelter for the homeless, find out that what they missed was that they were not serving the Son of Man himself when they neglected those who needed help.

Strong words.

We need to see that in serving the needy, the overlooked, the ignored; we are serving Christ.

Ending Up in the Dump

““But if that person only looks out for himself, and the minute the Master is away does what he pleases—abusing the help and throwing drunken parties for his friends—the Master is going to show up when he least expects it and make hash of him. He’ll end up in the dump with the hypocrites, out in the cold shivering, teeth chattering.”” (Matthew 24:48–51, The Message)

Vivid imagery from The Message in Matt 28:48-51.  The Master is looking for good and faithful servants, not servants that do what they please the minute the Master is away.  The unfaithful servant will end up in the dump along with the hypocrites, the actors, the ones who are faking things.

We will always be tempted to be unfaithful servants.  "Where is the promise of Christ's coming?  Since the creation of the world things have continued along like they always have been," goes the argument as Peter has the skeptics say it.  Of course even that argument is not correct for Christ has already broken into history, died for our sins and risen from the dead.

The faithful servant stays faithful. He does not end up in the dump.

"Don't You Read Your Bibles?"

“And regarding your speculation on whether the dead are raised or not, don’t you read your Bibles? The grammar is clear: God says,” (Matthew 22:31, The Message)

Christ is jousting with the Sadducees.  He answers their absurd question, and then throws out one of his own, which The Message paraphrases as: "Don't you read your Bibles?" 

Notice that Christ points the Sadducees to the Scriptures.  The Sadducees were very sad you see, because they did not believe in the resurrection of the dead.  They were equivalent, I think, to modern day atheists (“Sadducees have nothing to do with a resurrection or angels or even a spirit. If they can’t see it, they don’t believe it. Pharisees believe it all.” (Acts 23:8, The Message))  The implication from Christ is that they should  know the answer to his question, if they would only read the Scriptures. So Christ at once tells them that they are wrong about the resurrection of the dead, and that if they were in the Scriptures they would know they were wrong.

Notice Christ's high view of the Scriptures.  Where the Scriptures speak, they speak correctly, and if you do not believe what the Scriptures say, that is not the Bible's fault, that is your fault!  Strong words.

Is there a resurrection of the dead?  An emphatic yes, from both Christ and the Scriptures.

Conceding a Round to Jesus

“About the baptism of John—who authorized it: heaven or humans?” They were on the spot and knew it. They pulled back into a huddle and whispered, “If we say ‘heaven,’ he’ll ask us why we didn’t believe him; if we say ‘humans,’ we’re up against it with the people because they all hold John up as a prophet.” They decided to concede that round to Jesus. “We don’t know,” they answered. Jesus said, “Then neither will I answer your question.” (Matthew 21:25–27, The Message)

The Message summarizes the leaders' response to Christ's question as: They decided to concede that round to Jesus. I find that a quirky but memorable way to put their response. Christ had them well and surely trapped. They couldn't say that John's baptism was from heaven, because they themselves had not repented of their sins. If they said that it was from humans, the people would turn against them because they certainly understood that John was a prophet.

They punt. We don't know. What was really true was that they were afraid to say because it both condemned them and the people would now be opposed to them.

It would behoove us, when we recognize that God is at work, to admit that he is at work, even when what he is doing doesn't fit into our theological system, else we might find ourselves opposing God, as the Jewish leaders did.

Kingdom of Heaven: Finding Grace, not "Fairness"

Thinking through the implications of the parable of the vineyard workers in Matt. 20:1-16. The ways of the Kingdom of Heaven are exceedingly surprising! The only ones who did not get more than they expected were the laborers who started first, but they didn't get less than they expected either.

The gospel always shocks us because we want it to be about law and works and we do not want it to be about grace. The men who worked the longest saw grace in action, but they didn't like it. They wanted things to go by works.

Again and again the gospel surprises us. Sometimes we do not like the surprise, because if we are looking for fair as we define it, we are not going to find it in the gospel. In the gospel we will find grace, not fair.

The Great Reversal

“And not only you, but anyone who sacrifices home, family, fields—whatever—because of me will get it all back a hundred times over, not to mention the considerable bonus of eternal life. This is the Great Reversal: many of the first ending up last, and the last first.”” (Matthew 19:29–30, The Message)

Reversal of fortune is a theme which repeats itself over and over again throughout the Scriptures.  In the OT it is a type of the great reversal of fortune to come at the cross, when darkness seems ascendant, when evil appears to have won, but then comes Resurrection Day; the reversal of fortune is complete (as John Piper put it: "Darkness, you get one hour, then you die).

Christ speaks of another great reversal that will take place at the end of the age.  All of the things that his followers have lost and suffered and sacrificed because of their commitment to him; they will get it all back a hundred times over, and they will get eternal life.  This truly is the Great Reversal

One of the things that ought to sustain us in our journey of faith is that what we suffer now is not to be compared with the prize to come. Paul suffered the loss of all things so that he would gain Christ (Phil 3.8).   Paul calls the loss of all things "light, momentary affliction"

“For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison,” (2 Corinthians 4:17, ESV)

There is a reversal of fortune coming for those who are in Christ.

Back to Square One

I’m telling you, once and for all, that unless you return to square one and start over like children, you’re not even going to get a look at the kingdom,(Matt. 18.3, The Message)

The kingdom of God is not about getting high rank, which is what the disciples thought it was.  Christ disabuses them of this notion. The kingdom of God is about going back to square one and starting over like a child.  It's about humility.

Not high rank, but humility; like a little child. Dependent.

Chiseling Gods of Stone

“Well, if we are the God-created, it doesn’t make a lot of sense to think we could hire a sculptor to chisel a god out of stone for us, does it?” (Acts 17:29, The Message)

Paul to the gathered Athenians at the Aeropagus in Athens.  How beautifully The Message captures the irony of the moment.  Paul is informing them about the God-you-don't-know after seeing a shrine to "The Unknown God."  "What you boys worship in ignorance, I will explain to you," said Paul.

I love Paul's conclusion here.  "How much sense can it make, if God created everything [that means YOU, oh polytheistic Athenians!], that you go on chiseling gods out of stone and calling them gods?"

Are we "modern" people any different?  We don't worship gods of stone, but we worship silly gods, inferior gods, useless gods, all the same.  I just read yesterday a short advertisement where Brad Pitt, erstwhile movie star, talks about "religion."

Do you see what he is saying here?  God is not God.  I am God.  Me.  Brad Pitt.  "I had faith that I'm capable enough to handle any situation."  Let me think here.  Did Mr. Pitt create himself?  Did he give himself his own talent.  Did he put him in a place in which his talents could be used (imagine if Mr. Pitt had been born in India or Pakistan)? 

Modern man is, by and large, just like Brad Pitt.  They do not worship gods of stone any more.  They worship themselves.  At least ancient men were smart enough not to worship themselves.

Don't Run from Suffering

You’re not in the driver’s seat; I am


Don’t run from suffering; embrace it. Follow me and I’ll show you how. 


Self-help is no help at all. Self-sacrifice is the way, my way, to finding yourself, your true self. 
(Matt 16:24,25, The Message)

Some great examples of how The Message paraphrase strikes with such force sometimes.  "You're not in the driver's seat" an expression with which we are all too familiar.  The one in the driver's seat is the one in control. Christ is in control.  We are not.

What it is normal to do:  Run from suffering.  What Christ calls us to do:  Embrace suffering, after all, he has shown us what it means to live a life of suffering.  We are merely called to emulate him.

Don't listen to the "wisdom" of the world that tells you that you need to love and improve yourself; that there is no higher virtue than self-esteem.  Christ calls you to the opposite:  Self-sacrifice is the way, my way, to finding yourself, your true self.  And so it is.

The Christian life is a radically different life than what the world finds acceptable.

Trying to out-god God

““So why are you now trying to out-god God, loading these new believers down with rules that crushed our ancestors and crushed us, too? Don’t we believe that we are saved because the Master Jesus amazingly and out of sheer generosity moved to save us just as he did those from beyond our nation? So what are we arguing about?”” (Acts 15:10–11, The Message)

The account of the council at Jerusalem when the early Christians were trying to decide the issue of whether or not pagan believers needed to adhere to the law of Moses.  This sets the pattern for church councils of the future when theological issues that are not clear in the Scriptures, are clarified (Christ's nature, for instance). 

Paul is speaking to the council and The Message has him saying, so why are you now trying to out-god God?  Meaning, "God has established a way of salvation, it is through faith in Christ.  Why are you adding to God's way of salvation?"  Thus the attempt to out-god God.

Paul nicely summarizes the Christian message that will shake the whole Roman empire and within less than three centuries supplant all pagan faiths in the empire.

 

 "But we believe that we will be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, just as they will.”” (Acts 15:11, ESV)

Salvation does not come by following the Mosaic Law, or by adhering to certain rules and regulations.  Salvation comes through faith in Christ, in his death for our sin, in his resurrection, thus conquering death; or as Tullian Tchavidjian so eloquently puts it: Jesus + Nothing = Everying.

Plenty of Hard Times

“Putting muscle and sinew in the lives of the disciples, urging them to stick with what they had begun to believe and not quit, making it clear to them that it wouldn’t be easy: “Anyone signing up for the kingdom of God has to go through plenty of hard times.”” (Acts 14:22, The Message)

No one can accuse the apostles of sugar-coating the gospel.  Here Paul and Barnabas pass back through the cities in which they had established churches in order to instruct and encourage (putting muscle and sinew in the lives of the disciples, The Message) the new believers.  Their overall message: Anyone signing up for the kingdom of God has to go through plenty of hard times.  Interesting message, that.

The Christian life is no easy thing, a life of faith (Rom 1.17) is by definition, hard, because one is going to experience things that one does not understand; that don't make sense; that seem counter-intuitive. There are times when God seems to work against his own purposes.  Of course, he never does this, it just seems that way to our finite minds.  A good example: missionaries getting kicked out of China.  What was God up to there?  Why would he allow that?  How was the gospel going to advance now?  The end result: staggering, phenomenal, supernatural growth of the church--an estimated 1 million evangelicals in 1950, to an estimated 100 million today.  Amazing and totally unexpected.

Are you a believer in Christ? You're going to go through hard times.  Christ said it; Paul and Barnabas also.  Expect it.  Be prepared.

Herod Agrippa: Maggoty Old Man

“That was the last straw. God had had enough of Herod’s arrogance and sent an angel to strike him down. Herod had given God no credit for anything. Down he went. Rotten to the core, a maggoty old man if there ever was one, he died.” (Acts 12:23, The Message)

The Message is particularly eloquent when it comes to the death of Herod Agrippa, son of Herod the Great.  Herod had imprisoned Peter, planning on putting him to death, but Peter had miraculously escaped. Josephus says that he was in the ampitheatre at Caesarea, speaking to a delegation from Tyre and Sidon.  The morning sun shone on his garments, which were streaked with silver, and he shone brightly in all his finery, a perfect metaphor of earthly glory.  While he was still speaking, he was struck with stomach pains.  He suffered greatly for five days and died.  Sic transit gloria mundi - So passes the glory of the world.  Herod was "great" in this life; his greatness died with him.  He went to stand before God in all his pomposity and pride; or, as The Message puts it: Down he went.  Rotten to the core, a maggoty old man if there ever was one, he died.

All of Herod's wealth, power, and position did nothing when he was struck with an illness by God. 

May we be wise to see the temporal nature of life and not be sucked in by passing pleasures of sin and our pride.  It will all pass, and quickly.

The Unforced Rhythms of Grace

“Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you.” (Matthew 11:29, The Message)

Christ speaks these words while talking about coming to him for rest.  "Learn from me" ("Learn the unforced rhythms of grace," The Message), he says.

 

In grace striving is useless and unnecessary.  Christ did the work, we can take off the yoke of self-righteousness; the ever present need to redo what Christ already did, and rest in Christ's easy yoke, rest in the rhythms that come from understanding that our doing is only in response to delight in the One who saved us by his blood.  Will the burden be difficult at times?  Certainly.  Will it be inconvenient?  Most of the time.  We have Christ's promise that what he lays us on, as our master, will not be "heavy or ill-fitting."

So we rest in the unforced rhythms of grace.

"Separate Yourselves...from Your Foreign Wives"

“Now make your confession to God, the God of your ancestors, and do what he wants you to do: Separate yourselves from the people of the land and from your foreign wives.”” (Ezra 10:11, The Message)

An exercise in pain here in Ezra 10.  Many of those who returned (although it was a very small percentage) had married foreign wives against God's express command (Deut 7.3,4), and obviously had not learned the lesson of 70 years in exile!  Ezra prays a prayer of community repentance in Ezra 9; then, as the pericope heading states in Ezra 10: "Ezra takes charge." He obviously had a strong personality.

Was it God's will that they take this step?  Ezra prays a prayer of repentance for the sin of the people, however there is never a clear word from the Lord instructing him to take the next step...except what is clearly written in the law of Moses.  One presumes that this was all the "word" that Ezra needed, and it is instructive that the people all agreed with him.

This must have been a very painful scene and aftermath, but that is the nature of clearing out sin.  It is painful and it is costly.  There is no mention of what provision is made for the divorced wives and kids.  One assumes that the fiscal responsibility still rested on the fathers who had married foreign wives, so that they felt the pain of their sin for a long time afterward, but we can't be sure because the text doesn't say.

God takes sin very seriously.  We should also.

Healing Bruised and Hurt Lives

“Then Jesus made a circuit of all the towns and villages. He taught in their meeting places, reported kingdom news, and healed their diseased bodies, healed their bruised and hurt lives.” (Matthew 9:35, The Message)

The main business that Christ was in when he ministered on the earth was healing lives; physically,yes, but even more important he came to heal "bruised and hurt lives."  He came to heal the brokenness that lurks inside all of us (and you know that is intrinsically true in your own life, I don't even need to prove it to you).  Fortunately, as God in the flesh, he was a master physician, completely understanding men before psychology was even trendy. 

The thing about brokenness is that we want  to be healed of it.  There is something inside us that cries out to have ourselves "fixed," to be made right, or to be made whole.  This is why I love the way The Message puts this passage.  Christ made a circuit of towns healing bruised and hurt lives.

Has he healed your  brokenness?

Being About the Business of Life

“Jesus refused. “First things first. Your business is life, not death. Follow me. Pursue life.” ” (Matthew 8:22, The Message)

This is Christ's paraphrased response to the man who would go and bury his father before he follows Christ.  The statement Your business is life, not death. Follow me resonates.  There was nothing more important than following Christ, not even attending to the dead.  How tragic it would have been if this man skipped the chance of life because he was too worried about the business of death. 

Christ does not tell the man not to bury his father, or that burying his father is not worthy of his attention.  He wants the man to understand the weightiness of the decision, and not to miss what he is seeing.  Christ first.  Everything else, second.

Laying Down a Smoke Screen of Pious Talk

You only make things worse when you lay down a smoke screen of pious talk, saying, ‘I’ll pray for you,’ and never doing it, *(Matt 5.24).  Obviously, Petersen takes a little liberty with this passage which in the ESV reads:

“But I say to you, Do not take an oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God,” (Matthew 5:34, ESV)

However, he does get at the point of the passage: "Don't make hasty and needless promises which you are not going to keep."  I suppose Petersen's paraphrase hits close to home because I've told people "I'l pray for you," and then never done it.  If one is going to make a promise, then keep the promise.  Here, Christs' point seems to be: "Don't swear after this or that, just do what you say you're going to do."

Are you a man or woman of your word?

"Beat it, Satan!"

Jesus’ refusal was curt: "Beat it, Satan!" He backed his rebuke with a third quotation from Deuteronomy: "Worship the Lord your God, and only him. Serve him with absolute single-heartedness." (Matt 4.10, The Message).

Eugene Petersen puts the interaction between Christ and Satan into language that makes sense to us today.  Who wonders what the meaning of "Beat it, Satan" is?  Christ is sending Satan off in the clearest most direct terms we can imagine.  Notice that Christ has the power to do just that.  Satan "beats it" with all haste; he must obey the Son of God; he is bound by God's authority.

Is it not a good thing to put one's faith and trust and dependence in the one who can tell Satan to "Beat it!"?

"This is my Son..Delight of my Life."

I'm reading in Matt 3.17, this morning where God's voice speaks, as the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove, descends upon Christ after he is baptized.  God says (The Message paraphrase):  This is my Son, chosen and marked by my love, delight of my life. 

I love that.  Christ, the Son, is the delight of God, the Father.  How much more painful then, the passage becomes when Christ cries out at the cross, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?"   The one who delighted in him, had to turn his back upon him...and he was innocent.  It was done for us.

This is the depths to which Christ went for us.  Freely.  He became a curse for us, so that God might delight in us.  Ponder the depths of that truth.

Pitching Your Tent in the Land of Hope

I'm reading The Message this year in my devotional time.  What I've read of it, I've really enjoyed.  Eugene Petersen has a real knack for Bible paraphrase.  It's going to be a great year of devotions [sure I missed them yesterday and had to catch up today...].

I was really struck by the paraphrase of Acts 2.26:  I've pitched my tent in the land of hope.  This is Peter's great sermon at Pentecost where he is quoting David.  I love the imagery here, as he essentially invites them to pitch their own tents in the land of hope.  I think it is telling what David says here.  He doesn't say that he has pitched his tent in the land of certainty [ESV - my flesh also will dwell in hope], but in the land of hope.

This, after all, is the lot of the follower of Christ in this life.  We live in hope.  Perhaps the best definition of hope in this context is: a person or thing in which expectations are centered.  We pitch our tents in the land of hope in Christ!  It is a good place to pitch our tents.

Have you pitched your tent in the land of hope?

Calling Good, Evil; and Evil Good

Malachi rebukes the people for perversely twisting the character of God by saying that what God calls evil is really in fact, good; and what God calls good is really evil.  It is one thing to know what is good and not do it. It is a whole new level of depravity when one says that everyone who does evil is really doing good.  A people who turn to this level of depravity cannot last long without suffering judgment.

Which is interesting because in the same breath, these same people say, "Where is the God of judgment?"  I don't see him.  I don't see the wicked punished [which is full of irony, because as they say this, they don't recognize that THEY are wicked and deserving God's judgment].  Of course judgment will come.  It always does.  God's character is such that he would be unjust if he allowed wickedness to go unpunished.  The fact that it is not here now, at this moment in time; or that one cannot see judgment, is no indication at all that God will not bring judgment.

Indeed, it is most likely an indication of mercy; God is giving you more time to repent before he brings judgment.

“Ye have wearied the Lord with your words. Yet ye say, Wherein have we wearied him? When ye say, Every one that doeth evil is good in the sight of the Lord, And he delighteth in them; Or, Where is the God of judgment?” (Malachi 2:17, KJV 1900)

"I Am He" - Word and Power

I'm thinking about the implications of John 18.5-6 this morning.  The soldiers and chief priests come to arrest Christ.  Christ asks them whom they are seeking.  They answer: "Jesus of Nazareth."  He answers:  "I am he."

John records what happened:  "As soon then as he had said unto them, "I am he," they went backward and fell to the ground" (John 18.6; KJV). 

Word and power.  Christ spoke; the powerful fell. 

Do we need to fear authority that opposes God when we are on the side of word and power?  No.

May we live our lives in the security of and reliance upon Christ and his word and his power.

The Lamb Shall Overcome Them

“These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with him are called, and chosen, and faithful.” (Revelation 17:14, KJV 1900)

I'm reading in the book of Revelation this morning (SLC airport cooling my heels in a 3.5 hour sit!?!).  I love the certainty of the Scriptures when it comes to the end of history.   Here, when the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world goes up in battle against the titanic forces of evil, we find out the end result:  "The Lamb shall overcome them."  Not: "The Lamb might overcome them" or "We are very hopeful that the Lamb will overcome, but: "The Lamb shall overcome,"  Certain.  Sure. 

And so history will come to an end.  Christ wins.  Satan loses.

There are no Vineless Branches (that produce fruit)

Thinking about John 15.5 this morning: "I am the vine, ye are the branches; He that abideth in me and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit; for without me, ye can do nothing" (KJV).  Christ says: "There are no vineless branches that produce fruit." 

The essential thing for a branch is a vine.  It is only through the vine that a branch can sustain both its own life and the fruit which grows from it.  No vine; no branch; no fruit.

A sinking of one's life into Christ's is essential  in the faith because he sustains all good work; all faithful individuals; and all genuine fruit which comes from them.  He is everything.  There is no life without him.  None.

Sheep Know their Shepherd

Pondering the implications of John 10.5, this morning: "And a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him; for they know not the voice of strangers" (KJV).  Sheep know their shepherd.  They know that the voice of their shepherd means safety, food, provision, shelter.  They will not follow a stranger's voice because they only follow the voice of their shepherd.

It is pretty obvious what Christ is getting at here.  Christ's sheep will follow him.  This was true when Christ was on earth; it is true now.  We ought to know Christ so well, know his voice, his leading, his guidance, that we follow him and him alone.  We are not interested in following any other voice.  We are only interested in following the voice of our shepherd.

Give me ears, O Lord God, to follow my shepherd.

God the Father; God the Son

I'm thinking about John 5.26 this morning: For as the Father hath life in himself; so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself (KJV).  This is an extraordinary statement from Christ. 

God the Father has life in himself.  I don't believe that any of those who listened to him, be they Pharisees or Saduccees or any other Jewish sect, would have disagreed with that statement.  God gives life; on that everyone agreed.

Christ's second statement is the controversial one.  God the Father gave to his Son to also have life in himself.  What does this mean?  As the ESV Study Bible points out: This verse explains why the voice of Jesus is able to speak to dead people and grant them life.  Christ had the power to raise the dead to life because he was God in the flesh.

Think about  this statement for a minute.  What kind of person would make a claim this outlandish?  This is not something that a normal person would say.  As C. S. Lewis once pointed out; when Christ makes this kind of claim he is either a liar, a lunatic, or truly is God in the flesh.  Those are our only choices.  Of course, Christ not only made the claims, but he demonstrated them as well when he called Lazarus back to life and raised up the widow of Nain's son.

In Christ we see God coming in the flesh and dwelling among us.  Powerful truth for this advent season.

That Awkward Moment When...

Thinking through the implications of John 4.27 this morning.  Christ is in a discussion with the Woman at the Well (she will end up believing that he is the Messiah along with many of her fellow townsfolk), when his disciples suddenly appear.  The scene that greets them is strange and awkward, which made me think of the Twitter hashtag #thatawkardmoment.

The moment is awkward for several reasons.  First, Christ is talking with a Samaritan.  Samaritans were half-breed syncretists.  They were half Jewish and half Assyrian, brought in and settled after Israel was carried off into captivity.  This woman was a descendant of that particular resettlization program.  The Jews hated the Samaritans because they were half-breeds and syncretists, mixing Jewish belief with anything else that worked for them.

Second, Christ is talking with a woman.  This was particularly awkward.  A private conversation with a woman just wasn't done in that society.  One kept aloof from them, except perhaps in crowds.  Women were second class citizens, poorly educated, and liable to be driven by their emotions.  They really weren't worth worrying about.

Third, this particular woman was so despised by the rest of her fellow townsfolks, that she had to come draw water at noon in the heat of the day to avoid the disapprobation of those who came for water at the normal time (early in the morning).  As it so happened she had been married five different times and was shacking up with her current man, so the disciples' misgivings were essentially correct.  This was a woman with a very bad reputation.  Very bad.  So bad, it looks bad in our day, and that is very bad indeed.

The disciples see all this and they want to say something.  One senses that they want to tell Christ, "Um, Master, do you realize to whom you are talking?  Are you sure you should be talking with her?"  It is a very awkward moment, but Christ simply goes about his business and doesn't explain to his disciples what he is doing, though he surely felt their own disapproval of what he was doing.

It's a huge lesson for us.  First of all, if Christ was after the worst of the worst, then we ought to be also.  Second, we need not worry about or even address the disapproval of believers when we are doing what Christ has called us to do.  Let's just go about our business and ignore them.  Perhaps they will eventually figure it out.

God: "How Have I Loved Thee? Let me Count the Ways"

I'm thinking about God's love this morning in light of John 3:16-17.  For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.  For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved (KJV). 

Christ's mission was about God's love being communicated to the world. 

Christ's coming was not about judgment, but about salvation.  What could be more demonstrative of God's love for the world?

The world is broken.  Everyone understands this intrinsically.  Natural disasters are somehow unnatural.  Kids should not die of disease.  People should not be murdered.  Families should not be ripped apart by divorce.  If there is one thing that we all understand completely, without anyone explaining it to us, it is that the world is broken, shattered, ruined.

The Christian faith has the only logically consistent explanation of both the fact that the world is broken and how it can be made new.  Christ came to make it new.  He came to die for my sins.  He came to die for your sins.  He came in love.

Be What You Were Made to Be

Rev. 3:16 So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth (KJV) I'm thinking about Rev 3.16 this morning. The immediate inclination is to think of hot water as being a "hot" (vibrant, growing) Christian, and cold water to think of someone who acts like a Christian, but is not. This is not, however, what Christ means. He calls for the Laodiceans to be hot or cold. In other words he calls for them to be useful for what they were created to be. Hot water is great for bathing or drinking hot beverages. Cold water is great for refreshing oneself in the heat. Both types of water are useful depending upon their particular sphere and the situation. Lukewarm water is good for nothing. Christ seems to be saying, "Listen you Laodiceans, when you should be hot, you are lukewarm; when you should be cold you are lukewarm; you have a version of faith, but it is one which is not fully committed; not fully in. You are not being what you were created to be. So the obvious question is: "Am I a prracticing Laodicean? Do I have a form of the faith, but not the fire that ought to accompany it? Am I going through the motions of being a Christian, but without the power of the Holy Spirit present?

Prayer and Temptation

Christ comes back to the sleeping disciples the night of his arrest and says to them:  "Why sleep ye?  Rise and pray lest ye enter into temptation" (Luke 22:46, KJV).  I find it interesting how he links prayer so closely to resisting temptation.

It is not altogether clear what Christ means when he refers to temptation.  Does he mean the temptation to fall asleep in their fatigue?  The upcoming temptation to flee away from him when he is arrested?  Christ doesn't explain and the disciples do not ask so it was probably obvious to them both.  That is not the main point.

The main point is that resisting temptation is linked inextricably with prayer.  There are a lot of opportunities to fall into temptation of all sorts in our modern world.  It would appear that prayer ought to become that much more important to us.