Law

 Today we begin worship with:

Romans 8:1-2

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ

Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus

from the law of sin and death.

Not even a little bit (oudeis).  In Christ there is nothing that condemns us. 

Right now (nyn). While most of the Beatitudes (Matthew 5:1-10) point to a future blessing, the first and last bless us instantly with citizenship in the Kingdom, when we acknowledge we need the Spirit of life and are willing to be persecuted for that citizenship.

With this new citizenship comes a new law.  Death is no longer on the throne.  The life-giving Spirit reigns instead.  Ironically, we are then asked, as part of this citizenship, to sacrifice ourselves, but not in death, rather in life.

Romans 12:1

I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.

Gaze

Today we begin worship with:

Psalm 11:4, Habakkuk 2:20

The LORD is in his holy temple; the LORD’S throne is in heaven; his eyes see, his eyelids test the children of man. 

The LORD is in his holy temple; let all the earth keep silence before him.

Back in the day, we as kids would challenge each other who could hold their breath the longest and who would keep their eyes open the longest.  The first one to breathe or blink would lose.

These verses describe God as ever with His eyes open.  Job's complaint included:

Job 7:17-19

What is man, that you make so much of him,

    and that you set your heart on him,

visit him every morning

    and test him every moment?

How long will you not look away from me,

    nor leave me alone till I swallow my spit?

Job felt examined so closely that he did not have a moment outside His gaze.

But this Psalm is not a complaint.  

At camp, we know the day at the beach is ending when the lifeguard announces with their bullhorn that they are going off-duty and that if you swim, you swim at your own risk.  

God does not go off-duty, and in this Psalm David was enjoying his protective gaze.

Psalm 11:1,7
In the Lord I take refuge;
how can you say to my soul,
    “Flee like a bird to your mountain,
For the Lord is righteous;
he loves righteous deeds;
    the upright shall behold his face.

Veil

 This morning we begin worship with:

Isaiah 25:8

He will swallow up death forever; and the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from all faces, and the reproach of his people he will take away from all the earth, for the LORD has spoken.

The two previous verses describe how this is to be done:

Isaiah 25:6-7

On this mountain the Lord of hosts will make for all peoples

    a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wine,

    of rich food full of marrow, of aged wine well refined.

And he will swallow up on this mountain

    the covering that is cast over all peoples,

    the veil that is spread over all nations.

    He will swallow up death forever; 

No longer will the wailing sound of mourners be heard.  The veil of death will be removed to reveal a feast for His people.  

The reproach (ḥerpâ) that has been the constant derision from our enemy will be removed and replaced with honor as we take our seat at the table.

Sword

This week we begin worship with:

Micah 5:4

And he shall stand and shepherd his flock in the strength of the LORD, in the majesty of the name of the LORD his God. And they shall dwell secure, for now he shall be great to the ends of the earth.

A shepherd must stand to watch over their flocks. They must defend them from robbers and predatory animals.  The whole time the sheep are grazing they must stand watch. Only when they return to the sheep fold, could the shepherd lie at its gate and rest.

But this passage speaks of a different time, when the sheep need not fear at all, anywhere.

Micah 5:5-6
When the Assyrian comes into our land

and treads in our palaces,
then we will raise against him seven shepherds
and eight princes of men;
they shall shepherd the land of Assyria with the sword,
and the land of Nimrod at its entrances;
and he shall deliver us from the Assyrian
when he comes into our land
and treads within our border.

Not simply within their borders but “to the ends of the earth”, our Great Shepherd will shepherd with a sword.

Rescue

 This week we begin worship with:

Habakkuk 3:2

O LORD, I have heard the report of you, and your work, O LORD, do I fear. In the midst of the years revive it; in the midst of the years make it known; in wrath remember mercy.

When a king would take up his army and go off to war, they would not be a surprise for their enemy.  They would slowly advance on foot with their supplies and weapons.  And what would speed forward in front of them was "the report" (šēma).  Many a surrender occurred simply because of the report of what took place in the previous town.

Based on that report, the prophet's prayer was that the LORD's army would once again break camp and advance, for another army has invaded (Habakkuk 3:16).  He was calling for their rescue.

"In the midst of the years", our years, there is an enemy, our enemy.  We need God's wrath.  We need God's mercy.  We need His rescue.

Refine

 Today we begin worship with:

1 Peter 4:12–14

Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed. If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you.

This summer the fridge went out, when we had a house full of people, the stove stopped working in the strangest way, and the boat decided when it would start and when it would not.

Those were not "fiery trials".  A fiery trial (pyrōsis) comes when you are "insulted for the name of Christ".  It is the refiner's fire.

There is a curious verse in Proverbs that illustrates this:

Proverbs 27:21

The crucible is for silver, and the furnace is for gold,

    and a man is tested by his praise.

One is refined by who and what one praises.  

When you praise a Ford, when you are with a group of Mopar buddies; when you are the only one rooting for the Yankees at a Braves watch-party; when stand up of the name of Christ when it is taken in vain.  You will be tested.  That lick of flame will refine you.

Weakness

 Today 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.

God does not pick people based on what He can receive from them, but rather for quite the opposite.  We are chosen for how He can demonstrate His power through our weakness. 

Growing up not only was I in the running for the worst handwriting of the class, I labored to form a cohesive a sentence.  To God’s glory, today I write. 

Do I have my shortcomings (or better said “faults”)?  Yes, absolutely.  But I know that when God wants the corresponding strength demonstrated, He will supply it.

LORD

Today we begin worship with:

Philippians 2:9-11

Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

“Jesus” (iēsous) was and is today a common name.  It derives from the Hebrew Joshua (yᵊhôšûa) and was used by many a Jewish parent to charge their son to achieve the same level of courage that Joshua demonstrated in his many victories. In fact, some Greek texts and English translations include the full name of the notorious prisoner released by Pilate as “Jesus Barabbas” (See Matthew 27:16 NIV).

“Jesus” is not the name referred to by this passage. The name higher that all names in Hebrew is “LORD (Yᵊhōvâ) or in Greek kyrios (via the Septuagint):

Exodus 3:14-15
God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” And he said, “Say this to the people of Israel: ‘I AM has sent me to you.’” God also said to Moses, “Say this to the people of Israel: ‘The LORD, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.’ This is my name forever, and thus I am to be remembered throughout all generations.

That is why we are told in today’s passage that “Jesus Christ is Lord”.  He is the self-existent, unchanging, and eternal God.

Know

This morning we begin worship with:

John 6:66-69

After this many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him. So Jesus said to the twelve, “Do you want to go away as well?” Simon Peter answered him, “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.”

At first it was easy to walk with Jesus.  He said pleasant words of blessing, healed many, and fed even more.  In fact our passage today is just after the feeding of the Five Thousand (John 6:1-14).

But in this chapter which is occurring at the time of the Passover (John 6:4) Jesus says for the first time “I am the Bread of Life” (John 6:35) and begins to speak of the eternal and the spiritual and many walked away with their focus on the temporal and the physical.

To His disciples He asks “Do you want to go away as well?”.  This not to encourage it, but rather to settle the question, for it was to these twelve that He was entrusting the words of eternal life.

Peter’s response reveals some of the internal questioning that occurred during their walk with Jesus.  They heard.  They believed.  But eventually they came to “know” (ginōskō) His were truly the words of eternal life.

Birthday

Today we begin worship with:

Romans 13:11

Besides this you know the time, that the hour has come for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed.

The phase "Besides this" means that something important precedes our verse.  It was the command to fulfill the Law through the love of others (Romans 13:10).  

Our verse then begins a paragraph of pitfalls that would prevent reaching that goal.  Namely, the love of self.

Our verse reminds us that we don't have much time to make this true in our lives.  And last week I had a birthday.  So, I am now one year closer to Salvation (sōtēria).  

When we stand with our fellow heirs of salvation, we will truly understand who we loved.

Matthew 25:37-40

Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers [and sisters], you did it to me.’

Ask

Today we begin worship with:

Hebrews 10:19-22a
Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith.

When I was a child I stuttered badly.  Even today, I will pause unpredictably when speaking.

In today's verse we enter the holy places with confidence (parrēsia).  The root of this word is "speech" (reō).

We are not being told to enter the throne room of God with our head held high and our back straight.  That we must always do with a humble spirit (Luke 18:9-14).  We are being told to speak!  

We are to approach our Heavenly Father like a child, without the filters that come with adulthood.

Matthew 7:7-11

“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!