The Prerequisite

 Today we begin our time of worship with:

John 3:3

Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

Imagine hearing this for the first time.  Imagine being Nicodemus, the first person to whom it was said.  Confused, his mind immediately went to the act of being born.

John 3:4

Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?”

So Jesus had to redirect him to a more obvious and required thought.  

John 3:5

Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.

God is a spirit.  To be part of His kingdom, we must also be spirit.  The thought we naturally want to avoid is that we must die.  It is the ultimate prerequisite.

2 Corinthians 5:6-8

So we are always of good courage. We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, for we walk by faith, not by sight. Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord.

Be of good courage. 

God So Loved

 Today as we begin worship we read:

John 3:16

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 

The little word "so" (hoytō) describes the verb "to love".  It does not speak of intensity, as in "I love you so much".  It speaks of method, as in "Let me count the ways".

It is the prior verses that describe the method.

John 3:14-15

And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.

A campfire story is told of a bridge operator whose son came with him to work one day.  As the passenger train approached, it was his job to lower the bridge into position.  But his inquisitive son had slipped away from him and had fallen into the giant mechanism.  With tears in his eyes, the operator knew the only method to save those on the train.

I know!

 This week we begin worship with:

Job 19:25

For I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last he will stand upon the earth.

This was Job's rebuttal to his "friends" whose "advice", which was "if Job, then God".   Three friends visited him and repeatedly challenged him to make himself right before God as a means to recover from the terrible series of calamities that befell him.  If only Job would do this or that, then God would restore him.

Based only on the evidence that Job could see, that is creation and his own life, regardless of his present difficulties, Job concluded that God loved him.

Job 10:11-13

“You clothed me with skin and flesh,

    and knit me together with bones and sinews.

You have granted me life and steadfast love,

    and your care has preserved my spirit.

Yet these things you hid in your heart;

    I know that this was your purpose.”

Job knew it was instead, "because God, then Job".  It was on this foundation, Job knew that this steadfast love would result in his redemption.  Job knew.

Ululate!

This week we start worship with:

Psalm 34:2

My soul makes its boast in the LORD; let the humble hear and be glad.

The word for "boast" is hālal, which is what in English is called ululation (Yes, that is a real word!).  It is a most joyous sound.  It is the African sound of celebration.  

I dare you to boast in the Lord with that joy and with that abandon.

Fighting!

 This morning we start worship with:

1 Timothy 6:12

Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called and about which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.

Koreans have a wonderful phrase "paiting", which people use to encourage others in a difficult task before them.  It is borrowed from the English word "fighting", but is used in the most endearing way.  It applies here.

The fight we fight, however, is not with each other or with those around us.  This fight is internal.  We must battle our own pride to prevent our efforts from becoming the foundation of self-made redemption, which is doomed to failure.  

Job said it, using the absurd image of trying to save himself, as a lioness would save a cub by grabbing it by the fold of skin at the back of its neck.

Job 13:14

Why should I take my flesh in my teeth

    and put my life in my hand?

Fight the urge to grab your own boot straps.  Grab (epilambanomai) by faith instead the eternal life freely offered.

Fighting!