Holy Thursday  

John 13:34-35  

A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another.  By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another."

Today is Holy Thursday (or Maunday Thursday), the day we remember the Last Supper.  It was during the Passover, when Jesus and His disciples joined with people from all over Israel. They remembered when God brought deliverance and judgment to Israel when they were enslaved and made them a separate nation.  It was during this observance that Jesus declared that bread and wine represented His broken body on the cross and His lifeblood shed for sin, thus bringing about our Sacrament of Holy Communion.  On this night, when all had failed and, by any observance, evil would win, that Jesus said and did all this.

Our church will have a Tenebrae worship service tonight.  It's an ancient tradition that consists mostly of readings from Scripture and music.  During the service, the lights of the Sanctuary are progressively dimmed.  The purpose is to worship the Lord aware of the context of what He endured; that all this happened in the presence of fear, denial, betrayal and death, and it was in this context that Jesus commanded us to love one another and then He secured our salvation on the cross.  As we remember and worship, we note that the Holy Spirit is at work in our lives, and even the darkest moments do not overwhelm Him.  All this we remember when we gather in church tonight.   

Thursday, April 6, 2017

Luke 16:16-17  The law and the prophets were until John.  Since that time the kingdom of God has been preached, and everyone is pressing in to it.  And it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one tittle of the law to fail.

Love People, Use Money

Jesus had just told the parable of the Unjust Steward, which, among other points, teaches us that we are to love people and use money, not the other way around.  Before that He had told the parable of the Prodigal Son, showing how valuable people are to the Lord, including those who, at times, are far from God as well as those who are near.  

The Pharisees, a tragic group

The Pharisees, religious leaders of the day, derided Him.  The Pharisees were, to me, a tragic group.  They had some things in common with modern-day evangelicals.  They believed that all people should be zealous and dedicated to prayer and to study carefully the Scriptures with an eye toward living accordingly.  They should have gladly followed Jesus as their Messiah but they were troubled with pride and love of money.  They became some of Jesus' biggest enemies.  

Be in earnest to seek God

Christ responded with another parable, Lazarus and the Rich Man, but before that He said something that struck my eye.  In the two verses noted above Jesus said that the preaching of the Kingdom of God saw people pressing into it, implying that our spiritual and devotional lives should be a matter of earnest to us.  

All of the Bible is valuable, even the parts with which we struggle

Then He said that not one "tittle" would pass from the Law.  In some of the letters of the Hebrew alphabet, the letters that correspond to the English "r" and "d" for example, are almost identical.  One little change in the marking can turn the letter from one to another, implying that He had no intention of doing away with the Law of the Hebrew Scriptures.

  Jesus then gave an example of the law against adultery in the Scriptures.  He affirmed it, and held His disciples to a very high standard.  The moral law of the Hebrews Scriptures is affirmed in the teachings of our Lord, and, it seems to me, that even the more ceremonial aspects of the Law are still valid.  They are not essential to our salvation (writes the guy who had a very non-kosher breakfast this morning), but it all still has much to teach us.  All of the Bible is important, even the parts we don't like, or don't understand, or can't see how they apply to day.  Consider it all carefully, but be careful not simply to disregard something just because it is hard to understand.

PS  I claim no expertise at all in biblical languages.  I'm just trying to learn.

Tuesday, March 14, 2017

Luke 15:12 (NRSV)

¹²The younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of the property that will belong to me.’ So he divided his property between them.

This is part of the story of the Prodigal Son, and the commentaries that I have available to me note that it was not unheard of to divide an estate before death, but the son who wants his share is not showing much respect for his parents and family.  The precedent for that in the Hebrew Scriptures is Deuteronomy 21:7, and soon after that (Deuteronomy 21:18-23) the death penalty is imposed on a "willful, rebellious and disrespectful son who refused to change".  I wonder if the father in this story could have gotten his younger son in serious trouble if he wanted to do so.  As the passage in Deuteronomy continues, the penalty for such behavior in a son is that he was to be stoned and hung on a tree.  Paul, in Galatians 3:13, wrote that Jesus took the curse of the Law for us when he was hung on a tree.  There's a connection between the cross of our Lord Jesus and the story of the Prodigal Son.  The prodigal is us-you and me-but he is treated with restraint, and later great grace, because Jesus was hung on a "tree" and cursed for us.  Such grace is offered freely, but purchased at immeasurable price. 

Luke 13:35  "See!  Your house if left to you desolate; and assuredly, I say to you, you shall not see Me until the time comes when you say, 'Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!'"

Friday  February 17, 2017  The words of Jesus, particularly the part about the "house" being left desolate, arise in various statements of judgment in the Hebrew Scriptures.  Ironically, the second part-"blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord"-is a quote from Psalm 118:26, which is part of the greeting the people of Jerusalem give to Jesus during His triumphal entry. (Luke 19:38)  According to the Anchor Bible Commentary, This psalm was a hymn of thanks for "deliverance from battle" that became part of the greeting pilgrims received on high holy days, particularly Passover.  One could surmise that Jesus in this statement refers to the re-establishment of  the Temple in the latter days, but that is  something for the Lord to achieve.  For us today, let's  consider the matter of motive.

While some of the people sincerely cried out "blessed is the One who comes in the Name of the Lord" in worship to Jesus, it is not far-fetched to guess that some, perhaps many, worshipped with an agenda.  What they really meant was "blessed be the One who finally gets rid of these Romans".  I don't blame them for feeling that way about the Roman Empire.  Had I lived back then I would have felt the same.  But if that is the case, then many rejected praise for anger when their expectations were undone; and their praise came to nothing.  The question for me today is, am I willing to worship without an agenda, to worship even if I don't understand or are disappointed, or find my dearest hopes have not come to pass?  Perhaps praise is true praise only when it is without "strings".  For our praise to be truly so, we must echo the prophet Habakkuk:

Habakkuk 3:17-19 (NKJV)
¹⁷  Though the fig tree may not blossom, Nor fruit be on the vines; Though the labor of the olive may fail, And the fields yield no food; Though the flock may be cut off from the fold, And there be no herd in the stalls--
¹⁸  Yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will joy in the God of my salvation.
¹⁹  The LORD God is my strength; He will make my feet like deer's feet, And He will make me walk on my high hills. To the Chief Musician. With my stringed instruments.

Dear Lord, teach me to worship with a sincere heart, with no demands and with a consistency that defies circumstance, disappointment and even heartache.  In the name of Jesus I pray, Amen

Luke 13:22-24  And He went through the cities and villages, teaching, and journeying toward Jerusalem.  Then one said to Him, "Lord, are there few who are saved."  And He said to them, "Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I say to you, will seek to enter and will not be able."

Thursday, January 26, 2017  Another narrow place is the narrow path, with walls on either side, where the Angel of the Lord confronted Balaam while he was riding him mule. (Numbers 22:22-40)  Perhaps one characteristic of the "narrow way" is that we cannot avoid being confronted by the Lord in prayer.  We must be vulnerable, honest and willing to be convicted of sin.  There is no "sneaking by" on a narrow road.  There is if the road is crowded and wide.

Tuesday, January 11, 2017

Luke 12:1-12 (NKJV)

¹  In the meantime, when an innumerable multitude of people had gathered together, so that they trampled one another, He began to say to His disciples first of all, "Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.

            The word for "hypocrisy" literally means "a reply".  The word indicated an actor-someone playing a role.  It later developed the negative connotation of being false, insincere, acting like someone you're not.  Think of an actor who wears a mask in order to portray a role.  The hypocrite wears a "mask" by being insincere, unreal and untruthful; by acting like they're someone other (usually better) then they really are.  An interesting application of this is in Galatians 2:13 in which the Apostle Paul confronts Peter and other Christians who have separated themselves from other Christians of a Gentile background because they do not keep the proper dietary laws, etc.  Paul knew that Peter and his friends did not, could not, adequately keep those laws so he confronts them for thinking of themselves better than they ought.  Perhaps also because they did not consider these other Christians with a different background and different habits and attitudes as unworthy of fellowship; that they were someone less than who they really are.  Could it be that we are hypocrites not only when we act like we are better, or other than who we really are, but also when we treat others as someone less than who they really are.  Maybe we are hypocrites when we force others to wear a "mask" as well as when we wear a "mask" ourselves?

Tuesday, January 3, 2017

To Fear or Not to Fear

Luke 12:4-7

"And I say to you, My friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do.  But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear Him who, after He has killed, has power to cast into hell; yes, I say to you, fear Him!  Are not five sparrows sold for two copper coins? And not one of them is forgotten before God.  But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.

In this challenging passage Jesus gives what appears to be impossible advice:  Do not fear those who can kill the body.  I, for one, find the thought of confronting people willing to kill my body pretty frightening, so I move on to the next verse, which I believe tells me how one overcomes a fear of murder.  It is the fear of God.  The word for "fear" also can mean "awe" or "reverence" and I tend to lean more toward that connotation because for the follower of Jesus, God is our Father.  We are invited to approach Him boldly.  Jesus clearly depicts the Father as God who loves us most dearly.

Yet, the word "fear" as in "do not fear therefore; you are more value than many sparrows" is the same word for "fear" that we find in "fear Him...who has power to cast into hell".  So we are to fear and yet not fear, and I think there is a balance in this somewhere.  There is hell.  There is damnation, and a person trifles with God at their own risk.  Perhaps, while still holding on the understanding of God as our loving Father in Christ, we should dare to pray for a vision of God as Judge of justice and wrath.  Perhaps those people who have a clear understanding of that side of God find that is the reason they have in themselves the resolve to choose death rather than to face Him in such circumstances.  I am not suggesting that we back away from the understanding of God is our loving Father, but perhaps just a little bit of trembling in the midst of our awe and reverence wouldn't be such a bad thing after all.