very present

 This week we begin worship with:

Psalms 46:1-3

God is our refuge and strength,

    a very present help in trouble.

Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way,

    though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea,

though its waters roar and foam,

    though the mountains tremble at its swelling. Selah

Our God, our protector, is a “very present help”.  Is He here now?  Yes.  Now? Yes.  Now? Yes!!!

So, during a time of trouble we will not fear.  Yes, you read that correctly.  We won’t fear.  This is not a command that we are to do our best not to fear, it is a fact that we will continuously not fear during times of trouble.  Why?

Philippians 4:5b-7

The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

In a way that we cannot phantom (“surpasses all understanding”), the peace of God will “guard” or “keep” our hearts and minds.  These are military terms.  It is how an army is garrisoned (phroureō) or how a guard is set.  

But for a guard to be effective, they must be there in advance.  So, we must continuously (yes, even in the good times) place our anxiety about the future at His feet. So, when an actual time of trouble does occur, we will be covered by the peace of God.  

Fight anxiety with prayer.  Anxiety is fear about a future that has not occurred.  And it will be a future where God will be “very present”!

Lamb

This week we begin worship with:

John 1:26–29

John answered them, “I baptize with water, but among you stands one you do not know, even he who comes after me, the strap of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie.” These things took place in Bethany across the Jordan, where John was baptizing. The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!”

Those that heard this announcement must have been stunned.

Under the Law, when a person sinned they were bound by the priest to make atonement.  They themselves would sacrifice in a literal sense, because the animal that would be sacrificed would come from their flock.  But John declared that this Lamb was "of God".  

Our atonement would be at His cost.

Also striking is the use of a lamb, for goats that were used for atonement.  Even on the annual Day of Atonement, it was a living goat that would be sent into the wilderness carrying the guilt of the nation.  Lambs are not associated with guilt and were only used when a sin was unintentional. 

Our Lord Jesus would be a sacrifice without guilt.

 

with all my heart and all my soul

This week we begin worship with:

Jeremiah 32:37b, 41

I will bring them back to this place, and I will make them dwell in safety. 

I will rejoice in doing them good, and I will plant them in this land in faithfulness, with all my heart and all my soul.

This pair of verses are part of a prophecy in response to the fall of Jerusalem to the Babylonians.  It is God's promise to remove His wrath from them and restore them to what will then be an everlasting covenant.

Jeremiah 32:40

I will make with them an everlasting covenant, that I will not turn away from doing good to them. And I will put the fear of me in their hearts, that they may not turn from me.

But, it concludes uncharacteristically using terms that describe God's joyous response to that reconciliation as if He were a man.  That is, "with all my heart and my soul".  God has no need for either a "heart" (lēḇ) or a "soul" (nep̄eš).  For He is spirit.

These words describe the moment God's wrath was completely assuaged, when our Lord Jesus Christ, God-incarnate, rejoiced and cried "It is finished" (John 19:30).

mercy

 This week we begin worship with:

Psalm 103:2-5

Bless the Lord, O my soul,

    and forget not all his benefits,

who forgives all your iniquity,

    who heals all your diseases,

who redeems your life from the pit,

    who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy,

who satisfies you with good

    so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's.

This is not the “Blessed” of the Beatitudes (makarios), which describes the favored state of a person.  This is bāraḵ, which like the Greek eulogeō, praises someone worthy of adoration.

Our God is worthy of praise because of what He does and because of what He will do.  

He forgives all our iniquity.  This is not an event in the past or an event we are waiting for, this is happening now.

But the other benefits that the Psalmist lists must wait.  They will happen, because we are forgiven, on the Last Day.  We will be healed.  We will be raised up from the grave.  Our youth that we once enjoyed will be renewed.  

For that is when we will receive the Crown of Life (James 1:12).  Not because of us, but because of a love that is so steadfast that it will show even us mercy.

sown

 We begin worship this week with:

Psalm 97:11-12

Light is sown for the righteous,

    and joy for the upright in heart.

Rejoice in the Lord, O you righteous,

    and give thanks to his holy name!

When dawn ends the night, the benefit of the sun is for everyone.  But not so here.  When one sows (zāraʿ) a seed it lands in a very specific location.  This light is sown only in the righteous.

Likewise, joy.  Joy is not the result of the light but rather a second miraculous seed which is also sown in the upright.

We often forget, those of us who have been filled with this light and this joy for many years, that others around us have no light and no joy.  They celebrate Halloween in an effort to chase away the curse of death that awaits them.  But the believer celebrates death, knowing the resurrection is to come.

We are instead told:

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

Please connect "will of God" to "circumstances", and not to rejoicing and giving thanks.  That is, we are not to rejoice because that is what God wants us to do, but rather because our circumstances are specifically designed (sown) for us. 

glory

This week we begin 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 angel's announcement ended a very dark period.  It is sometimes called "Time of God's Silence".  

In 586 BC Solomon's temple was destroyed, for it was no longer protected by God's presence.  A few years prior, the prophet Ezekiel witnessed the Glory of God departing the temple:

Ezekiel 10:18-19

Then the glory of the Lord went out from the threshold of the house, and stood over the cherubim. And the cherubim lifted up their wings and mounted up from the earth before my eyes as they went out, with the wheels beside them. And they stood at the entrance of the east gate of the house of the Lord, and the glory of the God of Israel was over them.

God was silent until the shepherds were given the privilege of witnessing its return, for it was not the glory of the angel that shown around them, it was "the glory of the Lord".   In Jewish tradition, it is called the "Shechinah" glory, which comes from the Hebrew šāḵan, which means to dwell:

Exodus 25:8

And let them make me a sanctuary, that I may dwell in their midst.

This is why, Jesus would be called "Immanuel" (ʿimmānû'ēl), as Matthew explained from Isaiah 7:14:

Matthew 1:23

“Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,

    and they shall call his name Immanuel”

(which means, God with us).

 

uphold

This 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.

What is zeal (qin'â)?  Is it power and might?  No.  Is it holiness and purity?  No.  Zeal is passion.  Sent in the wrong direction it is envious and jealous.  Sent in the right direction it can motivate a young person, build a family, or unify a nation.

What is God zealous for?  The translators highlight the answers by the little word “to”.  God wants to establish and to uphold the kingdom through which He will rule with justice and righteousness, under this child, our Lord Jesus Christ.

To “establish” (kûn) sets the foundation, but to “uphold” (sāʿaḏ) includes the comfort and assurance of regularly sitting down to a well set meal.  The best example in scripture of this was Nehemiah who daily fed 150 at his table (Nehemiah 5:16-18) while he was rebuilding Jerusalem.  But God wants to do even better:

Revelation 19:6-9

Then I heard what seemed to be the voice of a great multitude, like the roar of many waters and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, crying out,

“Hallelujah!

For the Lord our God

    the Almighty reigns.

Let us rejoice and exult

    and give him the glory,

for the marriage of the Lamb has come,

    and his Bride has made herself ready;

it was granted her to clothe herself

    with fine linen, bright and pure”—

for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints.

And the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.” And he said to me, “These are the true words of God.”

 Pass the plate!

dwell

 This week we begin worship with:

Micah 5:1-5a

Now muster your troops, O daughter of troops;

    siege is laid against us;

with a rod they strike the judge of Israel

    on the cheek.

But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah,

    who are too little to be among the clans of Judah,

from you shall come forth for me

    one who is to be ruler in Israel,

whose coming forth is from of old,

    from ancient days.

Therefore he shall give them up until the time

    when she who is in labor has given birth;

then the rest of his brothers shall return

    to the people of Israel.

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.

And he shall be their peace.

In this passage, we move from their violent past ("daughter of troops") to their future peace ("he shall be their peace").  

Normally this is done by winning a war, but there is an issue.  Bethlehem is "too little to be among the clans of Judah".  The word for "clans" ('elep̄) means thousands.  To be a clan you must be able to must a thousand fighting men.

So, instead of through a thousand soldiers, we are told that peace will come through a lone shepherd.

Normally, peace is regional.  There is always a region beyond the reach of a king where it is either lawless or where another king reigns.  But this peace will be "to the ends of the earth".

So, instead of simply a local peace, we are told that the peace will be universal.  

There will be one King, our Lord and Shepherd Jesus Christ in whose "strength" (ʿōz) we will "dwell" (yāšaḇ).  This is better said "sit" and no, the word "secure" is not present in the Hebrew.  We are not "secure" with a wall about us capable of withstanding the siege-works of the world.  We sit as any lamb would, vulnerable, yet protected, wherever we are led to graze.

let us

 This advent season we begin worship this week 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.

[For those with a sense of deja vu, Micah repeats this revelation (Micah 4:1-5).]

This passage is often used to advise pacifism.  But that omits the battle that must be won to create the peace.  Only then, a peace will reign that is so complete that the instruments of war are no longer needed and education in its tactics will simply cease. 

That battle will be the last battle, which occurs on the day that ends history, for "latter days" is literally describing the end (singular) of the “last” ('aḥărîṯ) days (plural).  See the battle in Revelation 18 and offer praise for its brevity (v. 8).

Yes, there will be disputes but at the center of this peace will be law.  During a business meeting of peers if a dispute occurs over policy or direction and voices are raised, one can settle the room, by simply escalating to leadership.  Imagine being able to escalate to the true source of justice.

Today we have a foreshadowing of this peace within the church, where its members are fellow citizens of the Kingdom of God and under His law.  Yes, disputes will occur but we have a common remedy Matthew 18:15-18) to which we have all taken vows.  

So, let's keep plowing instead.

I/me/my

This week we begin worship with:

Psalm 138:1, 3

I give you thanks, O LORD, with my whole heart; before the gods I sing your

praise. ...On the day I called, you answered me; my strength of soul you

increased.

In this verse we explore a person (Reread it looking for "I/me/my").  

The heart (lēḇ) is the center of emotions and from which true thankfulness pours. A healthy heart is whole (Psalms 86:11).  When it is sick it is divided (Matthew 6:24).

The soul (nep̄eš) is the center of our being into which the spirit enters to give the body life (Genesis 2:7) and what exits the body with the spirit upon death (John 19:30).  A healthy soul is strong, but not in might but rather stability, in which we rest (Psalm 62:1-2).

To strengthen the soul you call upon God.  To heal the heart we worship Him alone.

sanctify

This week we begin worship with:

John 17:17-19

Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. And for their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth.

Our verse this week is part of the High Priestly Prayer, that Jesus prayed following the Upper Room Discourse and the institution of the Lord's Supper.  It may have been spoken on the way to or at the Garden of  Gethsemane (See transition at John 14:31).

Knowing that His time on earth was short, and that His work to guard what was entrusted to Him would soon end, Jesus prays that God the Father would ". . . keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one" (John 17:11).

But there was a second unfinished task.  Jesus had also been entrusted with the word (John 17:14).  He had faithfully spoken that word, but the word had not yet had its full effect.  Jesus prayed then that God the Father would continue that process and "sanctify" (hagiazō) them through the word.

To sanctify is the opposite of the verb to "profane".  To profane takes something holy and makes it unsuitable for the act of worship.  To sanctify means to make something suitable for the act of worship.  

This prayer, in part, was answered though Paul who explained the process of sanctification in the first half of his letter to the Romans and the new form or worship in the last portion of that book, where he explained that we are now "holy and acceptable" so we can be a "living sacrifice" (Romans 12:1-2).

May the word spoken today encourage and equip us to do so.