watch

This Advent week we begin worship with:

Exodus 34:1-2

The Lord said to Moses, “Cut for yourself two tablets of stone like the first, and I will write on the tablets the words that were on the first tablets, which you broke. Be ready by the morning, and come up in the morning to Mount Sinai, and present yourself there to me on the top of the mountain.  

 

Exodus 34:11

“Observe what I command you this day. Behold, I will drive out before you the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites.

 

Psalm 5:3

O Lord, in the morning you hear my voice;

    in the morning I prepare a sacrifice for you and watch.

Imagine hearing the words ". . . which you broke . . .".  Let that fade into the background and hear the refrain that God then repeats "I will . . . ".

His only command is for us, when forgiven from the sin of yesterday, is to be ready.  Ready to receive his Word;  Ready to win the war;  Read to daily stand watch and defend the hard fought ground.

guard

This week we begin worship with:

2 Timothy 1:13–14

Follow the pattern of the sound words that you have heard from me, in the faith

and love that are in Christ Jesus. By the Holy Spirit who dwells within us, guard

the good deposit entrusted to you.

Only Paul used the word “deposit” (parakatathēkē) and he only used it in his letters to Timothy. Not in any other letter.  It is what Paul entrusted to Timothy.  What he said and wrote. For that he would need the Holy Spirit:

John 14:26

“But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.”

But Paul did not simply mean the “faith”; he also instructed Timothy to guard the “love”.  It is the Holy Spirit that will prompt us to love, when we let our own guard down.

James 4:17

“So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.”

sake

This week we begin worship with:

2 Corinthians 12:9-10

But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

Sometimes Christians read this and are surprised.  Shouldn't the Christian life be perfect, if we are leading it the way God wants us to?  Sorry, but no.  This is not what Jesus promised.  Jesus described two requirements for the kingdom (the bookends for the Beatitudes):

Matthew 5:3

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."

Matthew 5:10

“Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."

It is our "weakness", our "poverty", that permits us entrance and it is for the "sake of Christ" that we bear any marks because of our confession.

What is "sake" (hyper)?  The Greek word means "above".  We must always hold up the name of Christ.  Just as we would leap to keep the American flag from falling to the ground, we must jump at the opportunity to lift high the name of Jesus.

Acts 21:13b

[Paul] “For I am ready not only to be imprisoned but even to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.”

ponder

 This week we begin worship with:

Psalm 77:11-12

I will remember the deeds of the LORD; yes, I will remember your wonders of old. 

I will ponder all your work, and meditate on your mighty deeds.

Some of us can't remember where we left our keys or the name of a person.  And we have all said stepping into a room "What was I coming for?".  Frustrated we pause a moment (or even for longer than a moment) and then remember.  

In the first nine verses, the Psalmist is upset (Psalm 77:1-9).  Whatever the circumstances, he is filled with such anxiety that "my soul refuses to be comforted" (v2).

But then, in verse 10 something odd happens.  So odd, translators struggle to convey it.

Psalm 77:10 (NIV)

Then I thought, “To this I will appeal:

    the years when the Most High stretched out his right hand. 

Psalm 77:10 (ASV)

And I said, This is my infirmity;

But I will remember the years of the right hand of the Most High. 

In the Hebrew, the grief of his circumstance begins the verse, but there is a pause, a turning, a recollection.  It is so abrupt that many translations leave off the word "infirmity"(ḥālâ).

The Psalmist then makes a conscious decision, instead of staying in that place, he declares that he will actively pause and remember, and not just for a moment (to be forgotten again!).  Once recalled the mighty works of God will be pondered over (hāḡâ) and meditated upon (śîaḥ), for it is that internal repetitive conversation that is the ladder out of the pit of anxiety.

reach

This week we begin worship with:

2 Peter 3:9

The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.

The Beatitudes are often read quickly and forgotten (Matthew 5:1-10).  The first and the last are different from the others and the difference is often missed.  The middle six are a blessing received in the future.  The first and the last are a blessing received today!

The first reads:

Matthew 5:3

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."

When we approach Him with nothing in our hands, he instantly gives us citizenship in the kingdom of heaven.  This is not after a test.  This is not after we atone.  This is not after we become perfect.  This is when we become poor.

Back to today's verse.

When explaining God's patience, Peter explains that God is being patient with us.  We are the slow bit.  We don't want to be poor.  We want to continue our own way.  He is patiently waiting for us to reach the place, where we turn around.

When we do, He is right behind us, with arms open wide.  For, there is no distance between the Gates of Hell, and the Kingdom of Heaven.