By grace we walk

This morning we begin worship with:

Proverbs 16:9 

The  heart of man plans his way, but the LORD establishes his steps.

My plan was to go to church today, but I am sick on the couch.  This is an easy thought.  What we intend does not always happen.

But this verse goes deeper than that,  While man plans (ḥāšaḇ), the LORD establishes (kûn).  Other translations use “directs”, but the sense is “orders aright” and “makes firm”.

This is not simply the deterministic sovereignty of God, it is also the kind grace of God.

Romans 8:28
And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose

Rain

 This week we start worship with:

Hosea 10:12 

Sow for yourselves righteousness; reap steadfast love; break up your fallow ground, for it is the time to seek the LORD, that he may come and rain righteousness upon you.

Most reading this have never been in a field or been on a tractor or played in the hay barn. I am so blessed to have. 

Farms have cycles.  Chickens lay eggs daily. Lambs calve yearly.  Fields are allowed to remain “fallow” (nîr) for a year within a cycle of crops. This allows the fields to recover from the hard work of growing crops and to break the cycles of weeds and pests.

Hosea 10:4 

They utter mere words; 

    with empty oaths they make covenants; 

so judgment springs up like poisonous weeds 

    in the furrows of the field

These verses however speak of fields that have fallen out of that cycle, where weeds are allowed to persist. The core issue is self:

Hosea 10:3 

For now they will say:

    “We have no king,

for we do not fear the Lord;

    and a king—what could he do for us?”

Both plowing and leaving it fallow are both a demonstration of faith.  

In this chapter, the prophet asks that one move from "empty oaths" to "righteousness" in our dealings with others.  It is indeed a leap of faith to respond in love to the unloving, in truth to the lying, and with care for the uncaring.  

Likewise it demonstrates faith to leave our toxic relationships fallow and to re-engage after toxic words have stopped re-seeding.

What happens when we do?  The rain comes.

Believed

 This week we begin worship with the following question:

John 6:68-69

“Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God.”

This question, by Peter, was in response to one asked by Jesus:

John 6:67

So Jesus said to the twelve, “Do you want to go away as well?”

And this occurred when many left the ministry after Jesus explained “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all.” and “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father.”

But Peter understood that the very fact that he, himself, believed was proof that God had granted him to come.  And that though his own flesh would eventually fail that God would remain faithful.  

To whom, indeed, would we turn instead?

Reflect

 This week we begin worship with:

Isaiah 60:1-3

Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD has risen upon you. For behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples; but the LORD will arise upon you, and his glory will be seen upon you. And nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising.

An unfortunate loss occurs when translating into modern English.  One loses whether the word "you" is singular or plural.  Each "you" or "your" in these verses is singular.  It is not until verse 14 that the singular subject is finally identified.

Isaiah 60:14

. . . they shall call you the City of the Lord,

    the Zion of the Holy One of Israel. 

Last night, as we traveled south returning from vacation, the fog and the low clouds were periodically illuminated by the lights of the cities that we past.  Our verse this morning describes that light.  The command is not directed toward God to shine brighter, but rather to His city, our home, to reflect that glory.  As we walk through the darkest of conversations and relationships, do we reflect His Glory?

Mercy

Last week we started worship with:

Luke 1:46-47, 54-55 

“My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior. ...He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy, as he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his offspring forever.”

This is not our word for magnification, where we make something appear bigger than it really is.  When Mary sang this song, she declared in a fresh way the reality of God's greatness (megalynō).

The Magnificat lists several things that the Lord was doing through the Incarnation, but it wraps them in the envelope of mercy (eleos).

God made an un-merited promise to Abraham (Genesis 12:1-3).  And after all the mis-steps and outright apostasy of his nation, God was still faithful to His word.  

For this Mary sang!

 

Government

 This Christmas week we start worship with:

Isaiah 9:6 

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.

The word in this verse that trips us up is "government" (miśrâ).  What does that have to do with a baby?  And in the United States we have a healthy disregard for government and power, so it does not roll off the tongue with ease when describing such a beautiful event.

The word is only used twice in the Bible and the second time is the very next verse.

Isaiah 9:7

Of the increase of his government and of peace

    there will be no end, . . 

In both verses, government and peace are connected.  In the second verse they are tightly coupled, but in the first verse it is the envelope that surrounds the rest of His title.

Without government there is no peace.  This child was to bring both!

Frequently, I remind people that Jesus wept more than once (The shortest verse of the Bible gets too much air time!).  The other time was when entering Jerusalem and the crowd was crying for what they were longing and what they were expecting "Peace!".  Jesus wept because, for yet a week, by God's plan, they were not permitted to know the way of or the cost of peace (Luke 19:36-44).

During this week before Christmas we know and we can worship.

Good News

 Today 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.

We are the herald of some really good news!

First that our God is here. Not somewhere far away.  Not somewhere inaccessible, but right here. 

Second, that we know His strong arm, that we are His reward, and know personally His recompense.

Third, that He will gather us, His Lambs, into his arms and gently lead us.

News good enough that we should share it!

Uphill

Today we begin worship on the second week of Advent 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.

In the previous chapter (Luke 1) Zechariah and Elisabeth were told their son would herald the Messiah. Their unborn son leapt in the womb to greet Mary upon her visit. And Mary sang at the opportunity to be part of God’s plan of salvation.  

The months later (Matthew 1:18-25) Joseph, assured by the angel, took Mary as his wife despite the untimely pregnancy. 

This young couple obeyed and “went” up (anabainō) to Bethlehem.  They obeyed to be registered. They obeyed to parent the Messiah. They obeyed to be an active part of God’s plan.  Their walk was 100 slow miles first up out of the natural bowl that is Nazareth, then across a series of east-west ridges, and then uphill to just south of Jerusalem, to which the Jews had ascended for generations.

Are we likewise willing to be named with Jesus?  Are we willing to walk with Him where that will take us?  Even if it is unplanned, inconvenient, and often uphill?  Even if it is a lifetime commitment?

Reflection

 Today we begin worship and this advent season with:

Isaiah 2:2-5

It shall come to pass in the latter days

    that the mountain of the house of the Lord

shall be established as the highest of the mountains,

    and shall be lifted up above the hills;

and all the nations shall flow to it,

    and many peoples shall come, and say:

“Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,

    to the house of the God of Jacob,

that he may teach us his ways

    and that we may walk in his paths.”

For out of Zion shall go forth the law,

    and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.

He shall judge between the nations,

    and shall decide disputes for many peoples;

and they shall beat their swords into plowshares,

    and their spears into pruning hooks;

nation shall not lift up sword against nation,

    neither shall they learn war anymore.

O house of Jacob,

    come, let us walk

    in the light of the Lord. 

The phrase "the latter days" speaks of what comes after history.  This is the Kingdom of God. 

We are used to judges, legislators, and presidents, whose power is divided and limited to prevent its corruption.  But our incorruptible God will instead serve as its king forever.  He will hold court and bring peace.

We are used to nations at war.  Each trying to either expand or defend their kingdom.  But under one King there is no need.  So the weapons of war become unnecessary and can be put to better use.

People from all nations will flow (nāhar) into it.  The word in Hebrew speaks of the shimmering light off of the stream as the water moves.  We are invited to walk in that light and to reflect it.

Forever

 Today we start worship with:

Psalm 30:5

For his anger is but for a moment,

    and his favor is for a lifetime.

Weeping may tarry for the night,

    but joy comes with the morning.

This psalm was chosen to be sung at the dedication of the temple. It is important. It spans the emotional spectrum from God’s anger to His favor, and from David’s mourning to his dancing.  It is the retelling of what appears to be David’s Job-moment (Job 19:21-27).

David had mistakenly said:

Psalm 30:6-7

As for me, I said in my prosperity,

    “I shall never be moved.”

By your favor, O Lord,

    you made my mountain stand strong;

you hid your face;

    I was dismayed.

When David declared himself immovable, God temporarily removed His favor.  In losing that favor, David came to understand his mortality, and the problem that it causes.

Psalm 30:9

“What profit is there in my death,

    if I go down to the pit?

Will the dust praise you?

   Will it tell of your faithfulness?

But then he came to understand the certainty of his resurrection, because God’s glory demands his eternal praise.

Psalm 30:12

O Lord my God, I will give thanks to you forever

 

Reason to love

 This week we begin worship with:

Deuteronomy 10:18-19

He executes justice for the fatherless and the widow, and loves the sojourner, giving him food and clothing.  Love the sojourner, therefore, for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt.

Other verses command us to love.  The last phrase of this verse gives us the reason to love.  

Speaking to Jews, who had been just redeemed from the slavery of Egypt, they were told to love sojourners because they, themselves, were sojourners.  They had been in that same condition. 

Stepping forward to today, one could metaphorically say we are still sojourners.  We are waiting for our redemption.  But that does not parallel this verse.  Our sojourning has not ended, so it is not the reason to love others.

If said to us today, the reason to love the unlovable is that we too were once dead in our sins.  We were once just as guilty, just as messy, just as rebellious. It is the reason to love.