Thanks

 This week we begin worship with:

Psalm 107:1-3

Oh give thanks to the LORD, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever! Let the redeemed of the LORD say so, whom he has redeemed from trouble and gathered in from the lands, from the east and from the west, from the north and from the south.

This whole chapter deserves to be read!  It describes group after group, that is lost or in trouble.  

"Some wandered in desert wastes,"

"Some sat in darkness and in the shadow of death,"

"Some were fools through their sinful ways,"

"Some went down to the sea in ships, doing business on the great waters;"

Whatever the cause, they could cry out to Him, with an empty hand:

"Then they cried to the Lord" 

And at His expense, He redeems.

Then only one thing is required of them:

"Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love,

    for his wondrous works to the children of man!"

Salt

This Epiphany Sunday we begin worship with:

Matthew 5:13

You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet.

Because Jesus was speaking with substance and authenticating that substance with miracles, He was being followed by a great crowd. Wanting to say many important things, He moved up the mountainside so He could be heard and gathered His disciples around Him.  So, the Sermon on the Mount was at times to the crowd and sometimes to His disciples. 

The Beatitudes, which precede this verse, were to the crowd.  They conclude with Jesus turning to His disciples and speaking directly to them (Matthew 5:11-13).  First, He warns them and explains to them the blessing of being persecuted for His sake.  Then, He speaks today's truism.

Salt does not lose its taste. It is either salty or it is not salt. 

They are either His disciple, who is willing to stand out, be different, not work on Sunday, who prays before meals, and then, for His sake, loves the unlovable . . . or they are not salt.

Found

This week we begin worship with:

2 Peter 3:13-14
But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. 

Therefore, beloved, since you are waiting for these, be diligent to be found by him without spot or blemish, and at peace.

We spend a lot of time thinking about the future.  What will the next year bring?  Will COVID once again cause havoc?  How will the war in Ukraine end?  Is it time to retire?  

But today, we are being instructed to lift our eyes to the horizon.  When we do, we see heaven approaching at the speed of life.  

With that change of focus, we will no longer be concerned with the conditions in which we find ourselves, but rather in what condition we will be found.

Witness

 This last week of Advent, we begin worship with:

Luke 2:15-20
When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.” And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger. And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child. And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them. But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart. And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.

The shepherds, having heard the announcement, went and saw, but did not stop there.  They "made known" (diagnōrizō).  The KJV adds the word "abroad" to emphasize the scope of their conversations.  

Everyone that they knew or met heard the story and being at least two in number, gave a certain witness of the events.

Flock

This Advent week we begin worship with:

Isaiah 40:9-11

Go on up to a high mountain,

    O Zion, herald of good news;

lift up your voice with strength,

    O Jerusalem, herald of good news;

    lift it up, fear not;

say to the cities of Judah,

    “Behold your God!”

Behold, the Lord God comes with might,

    and his arm rules for him;

behold, his reward is with him,

    and his recompense before him.

He will tend his flock like a shepherd;

    he will gather the lambs in his arms;

he will carry them in his bosom,

    and gently lead those that are with young.

When the victor returns, the watchtowers ring out with the news.  The heralds trumpet the good news that their victorious army has returned.  Normally, what is driven before the army are the captives; what is pulled in their wagons is what has been looted after the battle.

But not so here.  His reward (śāḵār) [what was paid] and his recompense (pᵊʿullâ) [what was owed] are before him.  For, our Lord was sent out with a task and he will fulfill it.

John 6:38-40
For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me.  And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day.  For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”

In doing so, He will tend, gather, carry, and lead us ever so gently.

Peace

This Advent week we begin worship with:

Isaiah 9:6-7

For to us a child is born,

to us a son is given;

and the government shall be upon his shoulder,

and his name shall be called

Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,

Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Of the increase of his government and of peace

there will be no end,

on the throne of David and over his kingdom,

to establish it and to uphold it

with justice and with righteousness

from this time forth and forevermore.

The zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this.

The word used for “government” (miśrâ) only occurs here.  Elsewhere memšālâ is used, which speaks of one’s dominance and authority.  But our verses instead speak of the effort and ongoing burden to bring about order and peace.

For a period of 200 years Rome’s power produced an era of peace. They called it “Pax Romana” (The peace of Rome).  The peace brought by our Messiah will, however, not end.  For we are His eternal zeal (qin'â).  We see it demonstrated when Jesus entered Jerusalem:

Luke 19:41-42
And when he drew near and saw the city, he wept over it, saying, “Would that you, even you, had known on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes.

Subject

This Advent week we begin worship with:

Luke 2:1-7

In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. This was the first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria. And all went to be registered, each to his own town. And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.

From the throne room of heaven to the feed trough of a stable, the King of Kings came to Bethlehem to be listed with his parents as a subject of Caesar. The one, whose finger wrote the Law of God on tablets of stone, came under the law of man.   And it was under that law, that Jesus remained subject until He broke the Roman seal on His tomb at His Resurrection.

Breath

 This Advent week we begin worship with:

Isaiah 11:1-5
There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit. 
And the Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD. 
And his delight shall be in the fear of the LORD. 
He shall not judge by what his eyes see, or decide disputes by what his ears hear,
but with righteousness he shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth; 
and he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked. 
Righteousness shall be the belt of his waist, and faithfulness the belt of his loins.

Up from a lifeless stump a shoot will grow, put down roots, and bear fruit.  That tree, our Lord Jesus Christ, upon whom the Spirit would come to rest, would have authority to stand as judge over all the earth. 

Yet, with all that authority, it would not be His own will that He would do.  For his “delight” (rîaḥ) would be in the fear of the LORD.  It would be like a fragrance so wonderful, He would repeatedly seek it out for His next breath. 

He would find it in judging with equity and He would execute that justice with that very same breath. 

Temple

This week we begin worship with:

2 Thessalonians 2:13

But we ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers beloved by the Lord, because God chose you as the firstfruits to be saved, through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth.

We are justified by the redeeming work of Jesus Christ. But this verse speaks of something different, that of sanctification (hagiasmos). This can be understood as the opposite of profaning and it is the work of the Holy Spirit.

A long time ago we would worship in a “sancti-nasium”.  All week it was used by the school children and the scouts, then it would be transformed into a sanctuary for Sunday morning.  Only to be broken down after the evening service in the raucous tradition of the weekly stacking of the chairs.

It is the very presence of the Holy Spirit in us that pushes out the profane and sanctifies us:

1 Corinthians 3:16

Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you?

There is no room for both. 

With Him

This week we begin worship with:

1 Thessalonians 5:9-11

For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us so that whether we are awake or asleep we might live with him. Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing.

Our Lord Jesus Christ “died for us”.

We no longer must fear the “king of terrors” (Job 18:14).  Instead, our physical death will be as if sleeping (katheudō).  From which we will be called to life, much like Lazarus:

John 11:11

After saying these things, he said to them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I go to awaken him.”

John 11:43

When he had said these things, he cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out.”

Why did Christ die for us?  

So that we “might live with him”.  This is His desire.  This is His identity.  He is called Immanuel (ʿimmānû'ēl):

Isaiah 7:14

Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.

Work

This week we start worship with:

John 6:35

Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst."

This event comes after the feeding of the Five Thousand, when Jesus blessed the lunch of a little boy and multiplied it until all were fed . . . and twelve baskets were left over. 

Intrigued by a free source of food that did not require the work of neither milling and baking, nor the planting and harvesting, the crowd sought out and found Jesus, who had left that area by walking on the water. 

When they found Him, Jesus told them:

John 6:27

Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For on him God the Father has set his seal.”

Intrigued further, and being already burdened by the Law, they asked:

John 6:28
Then they said to him, “What must we do, to be doing the works of God?”

To which He replied by dropping the “s”:

John 6:29

Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.”

Faith in Him is the only necessary work.  They continued to press him to repeat the sign of manna which Moses performed. To which he replied with today’s verse, that He was indeed the bread of life.

Let’s eat.