Now

This week we begin worship with:

Deuteronomy 10:12

And now, Israel, what does the LORD your God require of you, but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul.

When is "now"?

Moses had gone up the mountain for 40 days to receive the commandments of the covenant.  Then, only to find the people having gone the way of idolatry in his absence.  

Deuteronomy 9:11-12a

And at the end of forty days and forty nights the Lord gave me the two tablets of stone, the tablets of the covenant. Then the Lord said to me, ‘Arise, go down quickly from here, for your people whom you have brought from Egypt have acted corruptly.

After smashing the tablets in anger he returned to the mountain to protect the people from God's wrath.

Deuteronomy 9:25
“So I lay prostrate before the Lord for these forty days and forty nights, because the Lord had said he would destroy you. 

At the end of which, Moses received a second set of tablets, the assurance that God would not act on His anger, and the command to restart the journey.

Deuteronomy 10:11
And the Lord said to me, ‘Arise, go on your journey at the head of the people, so that they may go in and possess the land, which I swore to their fathers to give them.’

This is "now".  After stumbling, after messing up, after being protected from God's wrath, we are to restart our journey.  Let's go.

Kiln

This week we begin worship with:

Exodus 19:18-19

Now Mount Sinai was wrapped in smoke because the LORD had descended on it in fire. The smoke of it went up like the smoke of a kiln, and the whole mountain trembled greatly. And as the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder, Moses spoke, and God answered him in thunder.

This was a terrifying sight.  The "smoke of a kiln" is not like that of a placid camp fire, it roars out of the chimney.

Regardless, at the sound of the trumpet God had instructed Moses to have the people come to the base of the mountain.  

Exodus 19:13

. . . When the trumpet sounds a long blast, they shall come up to the mountain.”

This was not a man's trumpet summoning God, but rather God's angel summoning His people.  We are truly called into a terrifying relationship.  

Exodus 19:20
The Lord came down on Mount Sinai, to the top of the mountain. And the Lord called Moses to the top of the mountain, and Moses went up.

When Moses responded to the call, God spoke.  We should as well.

1 Samuel 3:10

And the Lord came and stood, calling as at other times, “Samuel! Samuel!” And Samuel said, “Speak, for your servant hears.”

 

 

Finger

This week we begin worship with:

Matthew 11:28-30

Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you

rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and

lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is

easy, and my burden is light.

Contrast this with the burdens placed on them by the Pharisees:

Matthew 23:4

They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on people's shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to move them with their finger.

Yes, this is where we get the complaint “He would not lift a finger to help!”, but that speaks moving something small and trivial.  Jesus was speaking of something huge that a priest could lift with one finger.  This was the finger of accusation in what scripture calls “binding”, when atonement is required.  An example occurs in the next few verses:

Matthew 12:1-2

At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry, and they began to pluck heads of grain and to eat.  But when the Pharisees saw it, they said to him, “Look, your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath.”

We should heed Jesus words to the Pharisees and be merciful as we ourselves enjoy His mercy to us:

Matthew 12:7

And if you had known what this means, ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the guiltless. 

 

Endures

This week we begin worship with:

Psalm 111:10
The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom; all those who practice it have a good understanding. His praise endures forever!

This verse is not unlike:

Psalm 19:9

the fear of the Lord is clean,

    enduring forever;

the rules of the Lord are true,

    and righteous altogether.

As we move through life the agencies to whom we give our allegiance change and often fail us.  The team we have rooted that changed its coach, the church that has changed its denomination, the organization that has changed its politics, they all disappoint.  

Or we change.   The ears that once could hear a pin drop, the knee that bent as we proposed, the stomach that once could handle most anything one would swallow, they begin to fail us.

But our choice to fear the Lord will never disappoint.  He will never be discredited.  Nor will we be discredited for having chosen to follow Him.

Reign

This week we begin worship with:

2 Timothy 2:10

Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they also may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory.

Before the game, at half-time, and during the last-minute time-outs just before the whistle is blown, the coach rallies the team.  This verse comes from one of those last-minute timeouts as Paul challenges Timothy with the images of a soldier, an athlete, and a farmer (2 Timothy 2:1-13), all the time knowing this may be his last season.  He concludes with:

2 Timothy 2:11-13

The saying is trustworthy, for:

If we have died with him, we will also live with him;

if we endure, we will also reign with him;

if we deny him, he also will deny us;

if we are faithless, he remains faithful—

for he cannot deny himself.

What Paul endured, what he is asking Timothy to endure, will not lead to a loss!  Go team.

Life

This week we begin worship with:

John 6:67-69
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.”

This happened after Jesus said this:

John 6:53
Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. 

To which many of his disciples responded:

John 6:60
“This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?”

Most if not all did not understand or accept that Jesus would become a sacrifice.  Had they, they would understand that they would have to eat his flesh.

Leviticus 7:16
But if the sacrifice of his offering is a vow offering or a freewill offering, it shall be eaten on the day that he offers his sacrifice, and on the next day what remains of it shall be eaten.

But, not so the blood.  That is forbidden.

Leviticus 17:14

For the life of every creature is its blood: its blood is its life. Therefore I have said to the people of Israel, You shall not eat the blood of any creature, for the life of every creature is its blood. Whoever eats it shall be cut off.

But this is, as Simon Peter said, are "the words of life".  The blood of Christ is life.  It is our eternal life.  Drink ye all of it.

Honored

As we approach the Lord's table this morning we read:

Philippians 1:18-21

Yes, and I will rejoice, for I know that through your prayers and the help of the Spirit of Jesus Christ this will turn out for my deliverance, as it is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be at all ashamed, but that with full courage now as always Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.

When this was written, Paul was not having a good day.  He was in prison because of the Gospel.  But it, like all other days, was sovereignly ordained and through its circumstances the Gospel would advance:

Philippians 1:12-13
I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel, so that it has become known throughout the whole imperial guard and to all the rest that my imprisonment is for Christ.

Paul's confidence was not because of his own skill or oratory, but because the Spirit of Christ dwelt in him, as He does in us.

Why does this make Paul certain that he "will not be at all ashamed"?  Because Jesus Christ is due glory and "now as always Christ will be honored"(megalynō)!

Victory

On this fourth Advent Sunday we celebrate with this:

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.

This is not the start of a battle.  This is the end of the war.  

The victor returns with the reward (śāḵār) [the spoils of war] and the recompense (pᵊʿullâ) [what had been lost but now recovered].

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.”

Our Lord was sent out with a task and he will fulfill it.

Savior

This third Advent week we start worship with:

Luke 2:8–14

And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. 

And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”

The glory of the Lord was last seen by the prophet Ezekiel as it was leaving the temple (Ezekiel 10:4; 10:18-19; 11:22-23) just before Judah was taken into the Babylonian captivity.   

Imagine being the first to see a glimpse of its return; would it be for judgement or for rescue?  

Imagine the relief to hear that it signaled the advent of our "Savior" (sōtēr)!

Decree

On  this second week of Advent 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.

This is the lifeless "stump of Jesse" that we heard about last week.  David's family line no longer reigned.  In fact, Joseph had to obey the distant decree of a foreign king and endure the disgrace of sleeping in the barn with the animals, when their place should have been among royalty.  

But a new shoot began to sprout about which Jesus himself said concerning the end times:

Matthew 24:32-34

“From the fig tree learn its lesson: as soon as its branch becomes tender and puts out its leaves, you know that summer is near. So also, when you see all these things, you know that he is near, at the very gates. Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.

While Caesar "decreed" (dogma) this inconvenient registration, the God the Father King Eternal is sovereign and we are under His Decree:

Matthew 24:35-36

“But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only. For as were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.

Righteousness

This first 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.

In today’s passage, nothing is left of Jesse’s kingdom.  It is a mere stump.  For this to work, God must act, and He does!

A new shoot comes forth and on Him, the Spirit (rûaḥ) rests (nûaḥ) [Listen to the rhyme].  This is not the inaction of resting.  It is the abiding presence that provides all that is needed for Him to take His rightful place as king - wisdom, understanding, counsel and might, . . . but He does not.

Instead His delight remained in the fear (yir'â) of the LORD (Yᵊhōvâ) [Again, listen to the rhyme] and He resisted the temptation to rule so that He could become our righteousness:

Matthew 4:8-11

Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written,

“‘You shall worship the Lord your God

and him only shall you serve.’”

Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and were ministering to him.