Justice

Posted on by April 16, 2015
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Job 14:1-6 — Man that is born of a woman is of few days, and full of trouble. He cometh forth like a flower, and is cut down: he fleeth also as a shadow, and continueth not. And dost thou open thine eyes upon such a one, and bringest me into judgment with thee? Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? Not one. Seeing his days are determined, the number of his months are with thee, thou hast appointed his bounds that he cannot pass; turn from him, that he may rest, till he shall accomplish, as a hireling, his day.

Job does something I don’t think I’m brave enough to do! He’s prepare to challenge God’s fairness. But he does it in a passage which, to me, is wonderfully beautiful. 

“Man that is born of a woman”. Actually, “Adam that is born of a woman”. What a beautiful idea — the only Adam not born of a woman was the first Adam — who lived long. But every other Adam, tainted by original sin, has a limited lifespan. 

Man that is born of a woman is frail, ephemeral, and insubstantial. He makes a brave show in the flower of his youth, but soon withers or is cut down. Like a shadow he is changeable and dies as soon as the light of God’s support is removed from him.

“I am so limited,” says Job, “why would you ever even bother to look at me? Why would you bother to prosecute me? Surely I’m not worth the effort, no Adam is”. It seems to me that this is a key moment in Job’s tale. It will be a long time before the story comes to resolution and Job comes to redemption … but this moment when the realization of his littleness and God’s greatness strikes Job feels like a turning point. And Job goes on — “Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? Not one.” It’s a mysterious little question, but it seems a reinforcement of Job’s recognition of his own unworthiness — “Look, knowing me as You do, how could You expect me to be anything but what I am?” 

Job is so aware of his limitations. He is not alone amongst the patriarchs in knowing that His days are foreshortened. It’s the base of his proposal that God leave him to live them out in peace.

There’s a sort of Justice, to me, in Job’s plea. There is an imbalance in the forces — God is so great, and we are so small. But the realization has yet to dawn on Job that God has a perfect right to deal with us as He sees fit. This beautiful passage is, as it were, the plains before the higher grounds that Job will realize when He sees that God has a Justice much higher than man’s mere “fairness”.

Pilgrim

Posted on by April 15, 2015
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Psalm 84:5-7 — Blessed is the man whose strength is in thee; in whose heart are the ways of them. Who passing through the valley of Baca make it a well; the rain also filleth the pools. They go from strength to strength, every one of them in Zion appeareth before God.

Choir practice tonight. Perhaps that’s why I’m drawn to these thoughts about Psalm 84 which Myra and I read in our devotions this morning.

It’s a familiar admonition:

let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching. (Hebrews 10:24-25)

It translates to “go to church”! But there’s much more to it than that. God doesn’t just command church attendance, He commands praise and worship. Sometimes I have the feeling that many modern Christians don’t really “get”that idea. Church is a duty and enthusiastic praise is slightly embarrassing. The Israelites didn’t see it that way.

Worship — public worship — was a natural part of Jewish life. Worship was at its best in the temple at Jerusalem. Psalm 84 is an expression of that sentiment. 

It’s not clear who the author was — it might have been David, the “sweet singer of Israel”, but there’s no evidence to support a strong claim.

It’s also not clear if Psalm 84 is really a “pilgrim” psalm like Psalms 121-134, but it is full of the sense of pilgrimage. My chosen verses can be considered in that context.

Did you ever go on a long hike? Myra and I used to do it quite often. You’d think that it would get more and more tiring as the end approaches, but I never found it to be like that. I always found that the sight of journey’s end gave me an extra boost. That’s what the Psalmist was talking about when He said “Blessed is the man whose strength is in thee; … They go from strength to strength, every one of them in Zion appeareth before God.” As the pilgrim nears Jerusalem, he goes from strength to strength. That’s an experience that I can relate to. Drawing near for worship is a reliable source of refreshment.

Another part of my passage is very much about the journey to Jerusalem. “Who passing through the valley of Baca make it a well; the rain also filleth the pools.” The text might have been translated “Who passing through the vale of tears make it a well; the rain covers it with blessings”. As the pilgrim passed through the valley of the Rephaim, an arid waste, they were sometimes blessed with rain, but they were always blessed by the pilgrimage. So it is for me as I go from Sunday to Sunday, from worship service to worship service. The weeks can be dry and difficult, but there is always refreshment in knowing Sunday’s coming.

Life itself is, of course, a pilgrimage. We will pass through the vale of tears many times, but John Bunyan confirms the pilgrim’s confidence:

He who would valiant be ‘gainst all disaster,

let him in constancy follow the Master.

There’s no discouragement shall make him once relent

his first avowed intent to be a pilgrim.

With such certainty, how can we refrain from praise and worship as we live our pilgrim lives. Go to church. Worship with a will. Go from strength to strength!

It’s Better To Ask

Posted on by April 14, 2015
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Joshua 9:14 — And the men took of their victuals, and asked not counsel at the mouth of the Lord.

One of my heroes (heroines), Admiral Grace Hopper, is credited with first saying “It’s easier to ask forgiveness than it is to get permission.” It’s become a piece of conventional wisdom. It’s clever … but Biblically it’s wrong. The verse I’ve extracted from Joshua 9 is a good example of what I’m talking about.

Joshua and the Israelites were rampaging through the Promises Land wiping out the inhabitants, as the Lord had commanded.  A group of men arrived “ambassadors from a far country” — or so they claimed. In fact, they were Canaanites from the nearby city of Gibeon, pretending to be ambassadors from a far country in order to make a peace treaty with the Israelites to avoid the obliteration that would surely follow should they seek to resist them in battle. The Israelites weren’t pleased when they found out they’d been fooled, but were obliged to let the Gibeonites live, according to their agreement — although they did make them slaves, “hewers of wood and drawers of water unto all the congregation” (Josh. 9:21).

My verse of the day makes the point. The Israelites “took the victuals” of the strangers — shared bread and salt in the universal ceremony of hospitality and friendship. They did not “ask counsel at the mouth of the Lord”. So quickly they had declined into religious superficiality! They had forgotten the specific instructions given to Moses about Joshua’s commissioning:

And he shall stand before Eleazar the priest, who shall ask counsel for him after the judgment of Urim before the Lord: at his word shall they go out, and at his word they shall come in, both he, and all the children of Israel with him, even all the congregation. (Numbers 27:21)

It can at least be said for the Israelites that they did not break their oath, even though it might have been extracted by false pretense. They were, perhaps, fortunate that the consequences were no worse. The lesson is stated more bluntly by Solomon in one of my first “memory verses”:

Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. (Proverbs 3:5-6)

Foolish oaths are dangerous. Failing to seek the Lord’s guidance — in anything — is worse. Trust me, I know!

Blessed Are The Meek

Posted on by April 13, 2015
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Psalm 37:10-11 — For yet a little while, and the wicked shall not be: yea, thou shalt diligently consider his place, and it shall not be. But the meek shall inherit the earth; and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace.

The more I read the New Testament, the more I am struck by the frequency with which Jesus quotes, or at least alludes to, the Old Testament. The Sermon on the Mount is a great example. Matthew 5:5 is a clear reference to Psalm 37:11.

“Blessed are the meek”. No matter how you define meekness, it’s a virtue I need more of!

Actually the definition is interesting. Usually, the word used for “meek” Generally, just refers to a state of poverty or weakness that adds to defenselessness. The word is also used for to mean “humble”, as when Moses is described as “the most humble person on earth”. (Numbers 12:3). Which meaning, I wonder, did David and Jesus intend? Either makes sense … but in the Psalm the idea of inheriting the earth is an allusion to the way the Jews referred to their expectation as they wandered in the wilderness. “The earth” referred to Canaan. The thought is that those who have nothing, and who have no inflated opinion of themselves, will displace the wicked and live peacefully in their place.

Jesus quoted the Old Testament freely — but He always used it as the jumping off point for a new idea. The first thing to grasp in Matthew 5:5 is that to Jesus, there was an added dimension to “meekness”. It meant that perfect obedience to the Father’s will that He himself modeled so perfectly. That meekness is not a weak feeble thing. Nobody could call Jesus weak and feeble. Meekness in the Sermon on the Mount is “strength under control”.

What is “the earth” that Jesus’s meek will inherit? It’s too simple to think that it’s the land of Israel …especially as Jesus knows that His disciples are only the start of the universal church. It is the promise of all the blessings they could ever need. The Father knows what we need and if we place ourselves trustfully and obediently at His direction He will bless us with all that will make for our happiness … and with blessings for all eternity that are beyond our imagination. “Thus are the meek the only rightful occupants of a foot of ground or a crust of bread here, and heirs of all coming things.” (Jamieson, Fausset, Brown)

  

True Value

Posted on by April 12, 2015
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Romans 12:3 — For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.

A website called “Aha! Parenting” expresses a frighteningly prevalent perspective on parenting: 

Every parent wants their children to love themselves, to be confident, happy people. But some parents worry that children can have self esteem that is “too high.”

There is no such thing. We cannot see ourselves as too good, too capable, too valuable.

That’s hopelessly misguided of course. There is no doubting the incalculable value of children. Psalm 127 tells us, “Lo, children are a heritage of the Lord: and the fruit of the womb is his reward. As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man; so are children of the youth.” (Psalm 127:3-4). It’s important, though, to weigh the value properly, and Paul puts it in the right perspective.

He starts by making it clear that he’s making no claim to wisdom, but speaking with the wisdom God has given him. That gift, like all the gifts he will go on to speak of, are given by the grace of God.

We are not automatically good or capable. We are, though, incalculably valuable. Look what God says: “Since thou wast precious in my sight, thou hast been honorable, and I have loved thee: therefore will I give men for thee, and people for thy life.” (Isaiah 43:4). God placed so much value on us that He, in the person of Jesus, chose to die on the cross to open a path to eternal life for us.

We have a balance to find with our children. We need to teach them their true value, without foolishly inflating their egos. Perhaps they are no longer fashionable, but it seems to me that these verses from Proverbs still provide the “gold standard”:

Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it. (Proverbs 22:6) — I’ve put this one first, because it’s the master verse … Get this right, and all else follows.

He that spareth his rod hateth his son: but he that loveth him chasteneth him betimes. (Proverbs 13:24)

Chasten thy son while there is hope, and let not thy soul spare for his crying. (Proverbs 19:18)

Foolishness is bound in the heart of a child; but the rod of correction shall drive it far from him. (Proverbs 22:15 )

Withhold not correction from the child: for if thou beatest him with the rod, he shall not die. Thou shalt beat him with the rod, and shalt deliver his soul from hell. (Proverbs 23:13-14)

The rod and reproof give wisdom: but a child left to himself bringeth his mother to shame. …

Correct thy son, and he shall give thee rest; yea, he shall give delight unto thy soul. (Proverbs 29:15, 17)

Now please don’t misunderstand me. I’m not a big believer in beating children … In fact I believe that any kind of physical chastisement should be kept to an absolute minimum … but I’m convinced that to let a child run unchecked without proper discipline is to betray it into a future of folly. But to challenge it to reach it’s full potential according to the measure of grace accorded to it is to give the greatest of gifts …

True Love

Posted on by April 11, 2015
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1 John 3:16-18 — Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. But whoso hath this world’s good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him? My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth.

This is one of those “say it again” pieces. I was reminded of this truth today during my quiet time … and it’s worth saying again and again …

Are you old enough to remember Bing Crosby and Grace Kelly singing Cole Porter’s song “True Love” in the movie “High Society”? I remember it because when I was a kid we had an LP of the movie soundtrack …

While I give to you and you give to me true love, true love! So on and on it will always be, true love, true love

For you and I have a guardian angel onhigh, with nothing to do, butto give to you and to give to me love forever, true

It’s a charming simple song, and it encapsulates very sweetly the world’s confused idea of love.

The world’s view of love is that it is some mysterious romantic feeling, appearing from heaven. Then it lasts forever … Unless, of course, the loved one doesn’t live up to expectations. Love, of course, is sustained with gifts, romantic meetings, sweet nothings … And if you lose those loving feelings,then you’re “gone, gone, gone”. (Yes, another song, Phil Spector this time …).

God’s view of love, of course, is completely different. 

You don’t feel love. You do love. And love is completely not dependent on how the loved one behaves. Love has no limits.

God didn’t just tell us about love. He showed us. He did tell us, of course. The Bible is full of His thoughts on love. But let’s talk about the “doing”. 

God laid down His life for us. (By the by, notice that this truth in 1 John 3:16 confirms that Jesus was God in His own right, and that it was God who died on the cross). Before it came to that, though, God had already sacrificed greatly. Paul told the Philippians:

Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: but made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. (Philippians 2:5-8)

That’s doing love. When you’re prepared to give up position, possessions, and life itself, for your loved one — no matter what they might do — that’s true love.

Keeping On

Posted on by April 10, 2015
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Zechariah 4:6 — Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, This is the word of the Lord unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord of hosts.

In some ways it’s been a really tough week for Myra and me. There have been family challenges, work challenges and neighbor challenges. You know, one of those weeks when you wonder how you made it through.

The thing is, we’ve both been there before. This isn’t the first time we’ve had to keep on through a tough week — either on our own, or together … How do we make it through these times?

Do you remember Zerubbabel? He was the man in David’s line who, reared in Babylon, was sent by Cyrus to build a temple of the Lord in Jerusalem. At first the work went well, but then local opposition brought the building to a grinding halt:

Then the people of the land weakened the hands of the people of Judah, and troubled them in building, and hired counselors against them, to frustrate their purpose, all the days of Cyrus king of Persia, even until the reign of Darius king of Persia. And in the reign of Ahasuerus, in the beginning of his reign, wrote they unto him an accusation against the inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem. (Ezra 4:4-6)

Ahasuerus (Artaxerxes) gave instructions for the work to stop. But that wasn’t the end of the story …

Early in the reign of the Persian king Darius, at the urging of the prophets Haggai and Zechariah, Zerubbabel took up the challenge once more and this time the temple was completed. 

What was it that allowed Zerubbabel to drive through the disappointment and disillusion and pick up the task again …? Zechariah tells us, and knowing what sustained him will help us too.

Zerubbabel is assured of several things, the first of which is that his own power and abilities will not suffice for the challenge he faces.

The second assurance that Zerubbabel  receives is that the Spirit of the Lord will provide all that is needed to enable his task to be completed.

Thirdly, Zerubbabel is assured that although the obstacles in front of him appear to be mountainous, they will be leveled before him.

The promises made to Zerubbabel are the same promises Myra and I rely on when the going gets tough. 

First, there is the promise of our inadequacy. Does it seem strange that I call that a promise? It’s just that I love the idea of relying on God’s strength rather than my own! Then there are the combined promises of the help of the Holy Spirit and the removal of the obstacles that face us …

It’s knowing we can trust in the Lord that carries us through. When things get tough, the tough get going … To the foot of the cross!

Who Is Like Our God?

Posted on by April 9, 2015
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Isaiah 40:25-26 — To whom then will ye liken me, or shall I be equal? saith the Holy One. Lift up your eyes on high, and behold who hath created these things, that bringeth out their host by number: he calleth them all by names by the greatness of his might, for that he is strong in power; not one faileth.

Our God is amazing. I might have said that before …

The Holy One, He who is morally perfect, distinct and set aside from all others. The God who marshals the stars and calls them out one by one. He sustains them by the mere exercise of His will.

Examining the deep theology of Isaiah is not my purpose today. It’s worth noting, though, that in this passage  Isaiah is about the business of pointing out the folly of creating false images of God.  There is nothing to which God can be compared, and nothing which can be equal to  God.

It is not the unique incomparable nature of God that made me catch my breath when I read this passage in Isaiah tonight. It was the reminder, once again, that the God who encompasses the whole universe can narrow His focus so much as to care for the least significant creature in that universe — and for me

Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows. (Matthew 10:29-31)

Yesterday I wrote about amazing grace. Today I am moved by the recollection of God’s amazing love, even for me. English worship leader Graham Kendrick wrote about the mystery in the 1980’s:

Amazing love! O what sacrifice,

The Son of God giv’n for me!

My debt he pays, and my death he dies

That I might live, that I might live.

The sacrifice was amazing — but so is the way God feels about salvation. The prophet Zephaniah spoke about that:

The Lord thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; he will save, he will rejoice over thee with joy; he will rest in his love, he will joy over thee with singing. (Zephaniah 3:17)

Isn’t that a beautiful verse about God’s love? He is in the middle of us — He will never leave us or forsake us. He will snatch us from the jaws of Hell. He will rejoice exceedingly and sing for joy, His love will last forever …

There is nobody like our God. The Juggler of the stars rejoices over nothing so much as the redemption of the least of His children. That’s me … and you. How does that make you feel?

Amazing Grace!

Posted on by April 8, 2015
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2 Corinthians 4:15 — For all things are for your sakes, that the abundant grace might through the thanksgiving of many redound to the glory of God.

I didn’t know what I was going to write about tonight. Then there was choir. We practiced “This Is Amazing Grace”. It’s a wonderful song. The first verse and chorus are:

Who breaks the power of sin and darkness

Whose love is mighty and so much stronger

The King of Glory, the King above all kings

Who shakes the whole earth with holy thunder

Who leaves us breathless in awe and wonder

The King of Glory, the King above all kings

This is amazing grace

This is unfailing love

That You would take my place

That You would bear my cross

You would lay down Your life

That I would be set free

Jesus, I sing for

All that You’ve done for me

Grace is amazing. The usual definition of Biblical grace is God’s unmerited favor towards man. The whole idea is baffling. What have I ever done that God should do good to me? Nothing, that’s what! In fact not only have I never done anything, there is nothing I could do. Perfect Unchangeable God does good to me because that is His nature and because it suits His purposes. It’s nothing to do with me!

There’s another amazing thing about grace. It has no limits. Oh I get that there is nothing too large to ask God. What really delights me, though, is that there is nothing too small either. Do you want a little example? Myra was driving me to church tonight, and voiced a little prayer. “Father”, she said, “are you going to make it rain, so I don’t have to wash the car?” Well that was a funny little prayer on a beautiful dry evening. No way that was going to happen … except that when she collected me an hour and a half later … it was raining! It was a funny little prayer that it pleased an all powerful God to answer to please His children. I know some of you will say it was just coincidence, but if you’d been there you would know better …

Of course, in this week just after Easter the aspect of grace that’s top of mind is that amazing sacrifice on the cross. That’s what “leaves us breathless in awe and wonder”. The idea that God, the Son of God, would submit to the ugliest death imaginable is the most extraordinary unmerited favor … There are no limits to grace.

Mind Your Own Business!

Posted on by April 7, 2015
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1 Thessalonians 4:9-12 — But as touching brotherly love ye need not that I write unto you: for ye yourselves are taught of God to love one another. And indeed ye do it toward all the brethren which are in all Macedonia: but we beseech you, brethren, that ye increase more and more; and that ye study to be quiet, and to do your own business, and to work with your own hands, as we commanded you; that ye may walk honestly toward them that are without, and that ye may have lack of nothing.

This is an interesting little message from Paul. I wonder if there is the slightest hint of a  warning or even criticism wrapped up in a beautiful compliment.

Let’s look at the compliment first. The idea of “brotherly love” was not really widespread in the Roman Empire. Perhaps in many ways the cultures that Paul lived and moved among were not so different than ours. The idea of Christian fellowship didn’t fit into a world of warring people’s, tribes, cultures and classes. But Paul says to the Thessalonians that he has “no need” to write to them about brotherly love. Touched by the Holy Spirit, drawn into fellowship with Christ and each other, they have learned to love each other as it were directly from God.

So what about that hint of warning or criticism? It seems likely that many of the Thessalonians were manual workers and might have been neglecting their work in the expectation of an early second coming … or might have been fussing about other people’s activities instead of  “doing their own business”

If I’m right to read a warning in what Paul writes, it seems he might have been justified, because in his second letter to the Thessalonians we find:

For we hear that there are some which walk among you disorderly, working not at all, but are busybodies. Now them that are such we command and exhort by our Lord Jesus Christ, that with quietness they work, and eat their own bread. But ye, brethren, be not weary in well doing. (2 Thessalonians 3:11-13)

It’s a problem that seems to have persisted in the church through the ages … Even today, while churches are generally warm and welcoming places, every one seems to have its share of idlers and busybodies. There always seem to be those who would rather interfere with other people’s business than get on with their own!

What are we to do about the idlers and busybodies? Nothing! We are to mind our own business or, as Paul puts it, not to be weary in well-doing. We are not to be drawn away by bad example, but to do what we ought to do, to take care of ourselves and be able to help those who need it.