Advent and Epiphany Meditations

The Branch - 5th Day of Advent

This is a stream of conscious meditation on the scriptures for the 5th day of Advent, 2022.

There are several recurring themes. Consider who and what the branch is at how the hints and glimpses of the messianic moment reveal God's intention for humanity and this world.

If Jesus is the Branch and where are the body of Jesus in the world, are we not part of the Branch reflecting the intention and mission and presence of God in the world?

Psalm 18: Part II

Et retribuet mihi

The Lord rewarded me because of my righteous dealing; 

because my hands were clean he rewarded me;

For I have kept the ways of the Lord 

and have not offended against my God;

For all his judgments are before my eyes, 

and his decrees I have not put away from me;

For I have been blameless with him 

and have kept myself from iniquity;

Therefore the Lord rewarded me according to my righteous dealing, 

because of the cleanness of my hands in his sight.

With the faithful you show yourself faithful, O God; 

with the forthright you show yourself forthright.

With the pure you show yourself pure, 

but with the crooked you are wily.

You will save a lowly people, 

but you will humble the haughty eyes.

You, O Lord, are my lamp; 

my God, you make my darkness bright.

With you I will break down an enclosure; 

with the help of my God I will scale any wall.

As for God, his ways are perfect;
the words of the Lord are tried in the fire; 

he is a shield to all who trust in him.

For who is God, but the Lord? 

who is the Rock, except our God?

It is God who girds me about with strength 

and makes my way secure.

He makes me sure-footed like a deer 

and lets me stand firm on the heights.

He trains my hands for battle 

and my arms for bending even a bow of bronze.

You have given me your shield of victory; 

your right hand also sustains me;
your loving care makes me great.

You lengthen my stride beneath me, 

and my ankles do not give way.

I pursue my enemies and overtake them; 

I will not turn back till I have destroyed them.

I strike them down, and they cannot rise; 

they fall defeated at my feet.

You have girded me with strength for the battle; 

you have cast down my adversaries beneath me;
you have put my enemies to flight.

I destroy those who hate me;
they cry out, but there is none to help them; 

they cry to the Lord, but he does not answer.

I beat them small like dust before the wind; 

I trample them like mud in the streets.

You deliver me from the strife of the peoples; 

you put me at the head of the nations.

A people I have not known shall serve me;
no sooner shall they hear than they shall obey me; 

strangers will cringe before me.

The foreign peoples will lose heart; 

they shall come trembling out of their strongholds.

The Lord lives!  Blessed is my Rock! *

Exalted is the God of my salvation!

He is the God who gave me victory 

and cast down the peoples beneath me.

You rescued me from the fury of my enemies;
you exalted me above those who rose against me; 

you saved me from my deadly foe.

Therefore will I extol you among the nations, O Lord, 

and sing praises to your Name.

He multiplies the victories of his king; 

he shows loving-kindness to his anointed,
to David and his descendants for ever.

 

Psalm 72:1-7, 18-19

 

Give the king your justice, O God,
    and your righteousness to a king’s son.
May he judge your people with righteousness
    and your poor with justice.
May the mountains yield prosperity for the people,
    and the hills, in righteousness.
May he defend the cause of the poor of the people,
    give deliverance to the needy,
    and crush the oppressor.

May he live while the sun endures
    and as long as the moon, throughout all generations.
May he be like rain that falls on the mown grass,
    like showers that water the earth.
In his days may righteousness flourish
    and peace abound, until the moon is no more.

Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel,
    who alone does wondrous things.
Blessed be his glorious name forever;
    may his glory fill the whole earth.
                Amen and Amen.

 

Isaiah 2:12-22

For the Lord of hosts has a day against all that is proud and lofty, against all that is lifted up and high; against all the cedars of Lebanon, lofty and lifted up; and against all the oaks of Bashan; against all the high mountains, and against all the lofty hills; against every high tower, and against every fortified wall; against all the ships of Tarshish, and against all the beautiful craft. The haughtiness of people shall be humbled, and the pride of everyone shall be brought low; and the Lord alone will be exalted on that day. The idols shall utterly pass away. Enter the caves of the rocks and the holes of the ground, from the terror of the Lord, and from the glory of his majesty, when he rises to terrify the earth. On that day people will throw away to the moles and to the bats their idols of silver and their idols of gold, which they made for themselves to worship, to enter the caverns of the rocks and the clefts in the crags, from the terror of the Lord, and from the glory of his majesty, when he rises to terrify the earth. Turn away from mortals, who have only breath in their nostrils, for of what account are they? 

Isaiah 4:2-6

On that day the branch of the Lord shall be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the land shall be the pride and glory of the survivors of Israel. Whoever is left in Zion and remains in Jerusalem will be called holy, everyone who has been recorded for life in Jerusalem, once the Lord has washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion and cleansed the bloodstains of Jerusalem from its midst by a spirit of judgment and by a spirit of burning. Then the Lord will create over the whole site of Mount Zion and over its places of assembly a cloud by day and smoke and the shining of a flaming fire by night. Indeed, over all the glory there will be a canopy. It will serve as a pavilion, a shade by day from the heat and a refuge and a shelter from the storm and rain.

Luke 20:27-40

Some Sadducees, those who say there is no resurrection, came to him and asked him a question, "Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if a man's brother dies, leaving a wife but no children, the man shall marry the widow and raise up children for his brother. Now there were seven brothers; the first married, and died childless; then the second and the third married her, and so in the same way all seven died childless. Finally the woman also died. In the resurrection, therefore, whose wife will the woman be? For the seven had married her." Jesus said to them, "Those who belong to this age marry and are given in marriage; but those who are considered worthy of a place in that age and in the resurrection from the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage. Indeed they cannot die anymore, because they are like angels and are children of God, being children of the resurrection. And the fact that the dead are raised Moses himself showed, in the story about the bush, where he speaks of the Lord as the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. Now he is God not of the dead, but of the living; for to him all of them are alive." Then some of the scribes answered, "Teacher, you have spoken well." For they no longer dared to ask him another question.

 Acts 1:12-17, 21-26

Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day’s journey away. When they had entered the city, they went to the room upstairs where they were staying: Peter, and John, and James, and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James son of Alphaeus, and Simon the Zealot, and Judas son of James. All these were constantly devoting themselves to prayer, together with certain women, including Mary the mother of Jesus, as well as his brothers.

Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day’s journey away. When they had entered the city, they went to the room upstairs where they were staying: Peter, and John, and James, and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James son of Alphaeus, and Simon the Zealot, and Judas son of James. All these were constantly devoting themselves to prayer, together with certain women, including Mary the mother of Jesus, as well as his brothers.

In those days Peter stood up among the brothers and sisters (together the crowd numbered about one hundred twenty persons) and said, “Brothers and sisters, the scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit through David foretold concerning Judas, who became a guide for those who arrested Jesus, for he was numbered among us and was allotted his share in this ministry.”

“So one of the men who have accompanied us during all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, beginning from the baptism of John until the day when he was taken up from us—one of these must become a witness with us to his resurrection.” So they proposed two, Joseph called Barsabbas, who was also known as Justus, and Matthias. Then they prayed and said, “Lord, you know everyone’s heart. Show us which one of these two you have chosen to take the place in this ministry and apostleship from which Judas turned aside to go to his own place.”

And they cast lots for them, and the lot fell on Matthias, and he was added to the eleven apostles.

1 Thessalonians 3:1-13

Therefore when we could bear it no longer, we decided to be left alone in Athens; and we sent Timothy, our brother and co-worker for God in proclaiming the gospel of Christ, to strengthen and encourage you for the sake of your faith, so that no one would be shaken by these persecutions. Indeed, you yourselves know that this is what we are destined for. In fact, when we were with you, we told you beforehand that we were to suffer persecution; so it turned out, as you know. 

For this reason, when I could bear it no longer, I sent to find out about your faith; I was afraid that somehow the tempter had tempted you and that our labor had been in vain. But Timothy has just now come to us from you, and has brought us the good news of your faith and love. He has told us also that you always remember us kindly and long to see us-- just as we long to see you. For this reason, brothers and sisters, during all our distress and persecution we have been encouraged about you through your faith. For we now live, if you continue to stand firm in the Lord. How can we thank God enough for you in return for all the joy that we feel before our God because of you? Night and day we pray most earnestly that we may see you face to face and restore whatever is lacking in your faith. 

Now may our God and Father himself and our Lord Jesus direct our way to you. And may the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all, just as we abound in love for you. And may he so strengthen your hearts in holiness that you may be blameless before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints.

 

 

 

Advent Devotions, Days 3 and 4

City of Righteousness, the Faithful City.

God's Covenant for the Earth

 

Isaiah 1:21-31 NRSV

 

See how the faithful city has become a prostitute! She once was full of justice; righteousness used to dwell in her— but now murderers!

Your silver has become dross, your choice wine is diluted with water.

 

Your rulers are rebels, partners with thieves; they all love bribes and chase after gifts. They do not defend the cause of the fatherless; the widow’s case does not come before them.

 

Therefore the Lord, the LORD Almighty, the Mighty One of Israel, declares: “Ah! I will vent my wrath on my foes and avenge myself on my enemies.

 

I will turn my hand against you; I will thoroughly purge away your dross and remove all your impurities.

 

I will restore your leaders as in days of old, your rulers as at the beginning. Afterward you will be called the City of Righteousness, the Faithful City.”

 

Zion will be delivered with justice, her penitent ones with righteousness.

 

But rebels and sinners will both be broken, and those who forsake the LORD will perish.

 

“You will be ashamed because of the sacred oaks in which you have delighted; you will be disgraced because of the gardens that you have chosen.

 

You will be like an oak with fading leaves, like a garden without water.

 

The mighty man will become tinder and his work a spark; both will burn together, with no one to quench the fire.

 

Genesis 9:1-17 NRSV

God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth. The fear and dread of you shall rest on every animal of the earth and on every bird of the air, on everything that creeps on the ground and on all the fish of the sea; into your hand they are delivered. Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you, and just as I gave you the green plants, I give you everything. Only, you shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, its blood. For your own lifeblood I will surely require a reckoning: from every animal I will require it and from human beings, each one for the blood of another, I will require a reckoning for human life.

Whoever sheds the blood of a human,
by a human shall that person’s blood be shed,
for in his own image
God made humans.

“And you, be fruitful and multiply, abound on the earth and have dominion over it.”

Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him, “As for me, I am establishing my covenant with you and your descendants after you and with every living creature that is with you, the birds, the domestic animals, and every animal of the earth with you, as many as came out of the ark. I establish my covenant with you, that never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of a flood, and never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth.” God said, “This is the sign of the covenant that I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all future generations: I have set my bow in the clouds, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth. When I bring clouds over the earth and the bow is seen in the clouds, I will remember my covenant that is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh, and the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh. When the bow is in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.” God said to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant that I have established between me and all flesh that is on the earth.”

Hebrews 11:32-40 NRSV

And what more should I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets, who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, obtained promises, shut the mouths of lions, quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, were made strong out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight. Women received their dead by resurrection. Others were tortured, refusing to accept release, in order to obtain a better resurrection. Others suffered mocking and flogging and even chains and imprisonment. They were stoned to death; they were sawn in two; they were killed by the sword; they went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, persecuted, tormented— of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and mountains and in caves and holes in the ground.

Yet all these, though they were commended for their faith, did not receive what was promised, since God had provided something better so that they would not, apart from us, be made perfect.

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And One More Word

People who overcome great obstacles make great heroes. We stand back observing their lives and find hope that we can also overcome. People who seemingly live without problems offer us little encouragement. In our ignorance of their true struggles, we chalk up their successes to luck, privilege, or fate.

The heroes of faith were people who faced tragedy, distress, doubts, and even disaster. Staring death in the face, the heroes of the Old Testament harbored a hope that God’s anointed would some day rise on the scene of human history as the champion of all who would follow Him to victory.

Faith, according to Hebrews 11:1 is substantive and evidential in and of itself.

Does that suggest that faith in anything proves the thing?

Yes and no.

Yes, faith, because of divine and universal principles set in motion from the time when God first created wisdom, dictates laws of belief and reality. No, because some things are real and other things are not. Truth is not relative, but it is dynamic.

There are realities that can be changed by our beliefs. Mountains can be moved. Circumstances can bend. Choices made in faith between a positive or negative outlook on the moment can change the meaning of the moment. Faith can change the individual who is doing the "faithing." Often that is enough to change the truth of the moment itself.

On the other hand, there are eternal truths and realities outside of our influence that simply are what they are and cannot be manipulated by our beliefs about them. God and His Word are constants in the universe and not even the universe and universal principles can alter them.

In the case of God and His Revelation, the only valid faith response is to conform, by faith to faith in Him and His will. It is unchanging and persistent and greater than our own realities or beliefs about them.

You may call it limits without limitations - the kind of freedom I give my 18 month old grandson when I define parameters within which he can wander at will and in which he feels absolute liberty to explore, express himself, and grow while enjoying, often without his own ability to understand, the safety of my watchful eye and protective gaze.

If he transgresses the limits into the realm of unknown dangers, I am there. As he grows older and more accountable for himself, he will venture forth into areas where I do not guide him. He will hit some walls and consequences which are real. Love compels me to let him grow and discover these for himself.

Even now, I must be willing to let him fall down on occasion. when he does, the ground below him does not move.

Grounding is real whether we believe in it or not.

The faith that the author of Hebrews addresses is faith founded on foundational fundamentals and in the person of Jesus Christ. With Him are infinite possibilities but also, unbending truths. "Faithing" is what we do when we embrace the reality of God's sovereignty and filter everything we believe through faith in Him. It becomes the substance of all that we embrace and the evidence of all we proclaim in spite of all other indicators to the contrary.

Ask me how I am. I am great. It doesn't matter how I feel in the moment. By faith I know, it is well with my soul.

Go move a mountain!

 

 

Matthew 4:18-22

As he walked by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea-- for they were fishermen. And he said to them, "Follow me, and I will make you fish for people." Immediately they left their nets and followed him. As he went from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John, in the boat with their father Zebedee, mending their nets, and he called them. Immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed him.

Since Andrew was the first person to bring someone else to Jesus, you might say, based upon the following words of Paul, that he had beautiful feet.

 

'Do you and I have beautiful feet?

 

We confess with our lips, Jesus as Lord. We back that with heart belief. That justifies us and saves us by God's merciful grace. and we are never, ever, ashamed.

 

So we tell; we share; we invite; we testify.  In word and in deed, we bring the good news of  Jesus to all who will see and hear.

 

Romans 10:8b-18 

But what does it say? "The word is near you, on your lips and in your heart" (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim); because if you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For one believes with the heart and so is justified, and one confesses with the mouth and so is saved. 

 

The scripture says, "No one who believes in him will be put to shame."

 

For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; the same Lord is Lord of all and is generous to all who call on him. For, "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved."

 

But how are they to call on one in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in one of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone to proclaim him? And how are they to proclaim him unless they are sent? As it is written, "How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!" 

 

But not all have obeyed the good news; for Isaiah says, "Lord, who has believed our message?" 

 

So faith comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes through the word of Christ. 

 

But I ask, have they not heard? Indeed they have; for "Their voice has gone out to all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world."

 

First in nature; next in that word, spoken by God in Torah, through the prophets, and through the Incarnation. the Word goes forth. It is near us. It is very real. We have been been invited as Andrew invited Simon and as Moses invited the congregation in the wilderness/

Deuteronomy 30:11-14

Surely, this commandment that I am commanding you today is not too hard for you, nor is it too far away. It is not in heaven, that you should say, "Who will go up to heaven for us, and get it for us so that we may hear it and observe it?"

 Neither is it beyond the sea, that you should say, "Who will cross to the other side of the sea for us, and get it for us so that we may hear it and observe it?" 

No, the word is very near to you; it is in your mouth and in your heart for you to observe.

 

Psalm 19

The Voice That Has Gone Forth!

 

Psalm 19:1 - The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.

Nature is God’s troubadour announcing His glory to humanity. The activity of God in creation is true to His character and there is much to be known of Him through observation, meditation, and contemplation prompted by an appreciation of all that He has made.  The old adage that we must stop and smell the roses is an appropriate reminder to look for examples of the glory of God in the work of His hands. Open your eyes and heart today to His voice in all that is around you.

Psalm 19:2 - Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge.

One of the characteristics of God’s disclosure of Himself in nature is the consistency of the message. One of the characteristics of human beings as receptors of His message is our inattention and inconsistency in seeking Him through all He has offered us. Make up your mind to seek God today in the smallest things and He will show Himself clearly. There is much to be gained by reading the handiwork of God.

Psalm 19:3 – There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard.

God’s truth, as disclosed in the cosmos, is universal. It is not given in isolation or exclusion. It provides a common language for humanity to talk about God and explore His ways. It provides a meeting place and point of contact for seeking His deeper and more specific revelation through His Word and through His Son. Prayerfully be on the lookout today for opportunities to seek God more deeply with others to whom He has spoken through His handiwork in creation.

Psalm 19:4 - Their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world. In the heavens he has pitched a tent for the sun,

Even in creation, God is busy about the work of evangelism. His purposes are inclusive and magnanimous. He makes provision for every necessity and extends His reach to every man, woman, boy, and girl. He pavilions the sun to shine on all humanity. He sends forth His Word of life to every corner of the earth. If we are to join Him in His own work, we will adopt His priorities and mission.

Psalm 19:5 - …which is like a bridegroom coming forth from his pavilion, like a champion rejoicing to run his course.

The sun, sheltered against the backdrop of the cosmos, does not remain cloistered in its pavilion of safety. It emanates; it extends, it goes forth with purpose and clarity to fulfill its mission and run its appointed course. God made it to do so and to be so and He has made us to be a people of extended purpose and profound significance. As part of His creation, our voices are available for His voice to reveal Himself through us and in us.

Psalm 19:6 - It rises at one end of the heavens and makes its circuit to the other; nothing is hidden from its heat.

Consider the orderliness of God’s creative work in the cosmos. The rotations of the planets, moons, and stars proceed with a sense of direction that is consequential and graceful. Out of seeming chaos emerges an order that is indisputable. The changing relationship of the earth and the sun for example, forms a pattern by which we set our calendars and our clocks and order our lives. The heat of our private star brings light and life and through it, God speaks. How is your life radiating God’s warmth today in its appointed rounds?

Psalm 19:7 - The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul. The statutes of the LORD are trustworthy, making wise the simple.

Having noted the general way God shows Himself to every person, we bring His very specific and personal self-disclosure into focus. Though present in creation in all of its truth, the written and spoken Word of God speaks with a clarity and grace that cannot be ignored. It marshals the forces of language to revive the soul and make wise the simple. In His Word, God describes and defines what He has made and why and shows us how to come into proper relationship with Himself and His creation.

Psalm 19:8 - The precepts of the LORD are right, giving joy to the heart. The commands of the LORD are radiant, giving light to the eyes.

When things are right, they do not constrain but liberate us. Truthful precepts do not introduce legalistic bondage to our lives, but exuberant joy because they inform us who we are and how we relate to God and His truth. When God commands us, the lights go on, we no longer stumble in ambiguous darkness. Seek God’s truth in His Word today and expect radiant joy and you apply those truths to your life guided by the Holy Spirit.

Psalm 19:9 - The fear of the LORD is pure, enduring forever. The ordinances of the LORD are sure and altogether righteous.

There is fear and there is fear. Fear can be irrationally muddled and deathly or pure and lifegiving. Fear of God is not a cowering dread or a fleeing terror as much as an awesome recognition that He is Other and in His holy brilliance, we are consumed but for His merciful grace. And that kind of fear never wears off. At the same time, what God orders can be counted as sure and certain and absolutely right. Bank on God today and turn from anything that views with Him for attention with extreme prejudice.

Psalm 19:10 - They are more precious than gold, than much pure gold; they are sweeter than honey, than honey from the comb.

Again, the psalmist is describing God’s ordinances, His disclosure of Himself through His revelation of covenant expectations. When God makes demands upon our lives, they are indications of His own holiness, and they are precious, sweet, and nurturing. They are signets of His love and call to us. He sets standards for us that are high because His esteem for us is high. We cannot attain to them in our strength, but He intends to come live them out Himself, in us and through us. This psalm is, after all, about God showing Himself.

Psalm 19:11 - By them is your servant warned; in keeping them there is great reward.

There are two functions of God’s ordinances toward us that are equally valuable and precious. One is to warn us. God’s warnings are not the results of His desire to “get us” or trap us in untenable situations. He deeply desires that we will avoid the pitfalls that He sees ahead of us in our sinful pursuits. The second is similar. The rewards of keeping God’s commands are intertwined with the deeds themselves. Obedience is self-rewarding because it draws us into a closer and more intimate love relationship with God.

Psalm 19:12 - Who can discern his errors? Forgive my hidden faults.

Search as you will, and you will find no place of error with God. There is no basis for correction in anything He has done or said. He is simply always, infallibly, right and all that He does is in plain view even though His purposes may at times be hidden. To the contrary, we of human seed work our sinful deeds under the cover of darkness. Like Adam, We hide our faults and ourselves. Our healing comes when we come into the light and acknowledge our need of mercy, hiding nothing from God. Begin today to be set free.

Psalm 19:13 – Keep your servant also from willful sins; may they not rule over me. Then will I be blameless, innocent of great transgression.

The problem with willful sin is that it takes on a life of its own and comes to think of itself as the ruler of our lives. They begin to dominate us addictively. Willfulness then obliterates our free will, and we need divine deliverance. I am not certain what the great transgression might be but I suspect it is that place of no return where we stop praying the prayer of this verse and seeking the help of the only One who can keep us from sin, blameless, and innocent.

Psalm 19:14 - May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer.

Without a doubt, this is one of the great prayers of the scriptures. In its words, if we mean them and allow our spirits to pray them, is all the power and grace needed to face any day. Words and meditations lead our deeds. The centering point for our lives is the pleasure of God.  When we get to the place where this is the deepest, most delightfully resounding prayer of our hearts, we will find that God is our Rock and Redeemer. As fearfully holy and demanding as He may be, His presence is mercy, grace, and love to us.

 

Isaiah 54:1-10

Shout for joy, O barren one who has borne no children;
    burst into song and shout,
    you who have not been in labor!
For the children of the desolate woman will be more
    than the children of the one who is married, says the Lord.
Enlarge the site of your tent,
    and let the curtains of your habitations be stretched out;
do not hold back; lengthen your cords
    and strengthen your stakes.
For you will spread out to the right and to the left,
    and your descendants will possess nations
    and will settle desolate towns.

Do not fear, for you will not be ashamed;
    do not be discouraged, for you will not suffer disgrace,
for you will forget the shame of your youth,
    and the disgrace of your widowhood you will remember no more.
For your Maker is your husband;
    the Lord of hosts is his name;
the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer;
    the God of the whole earth he is called.
For the Lord has called you
    like a wife forsaken and grieved in spirit,
like the wife of a man’s youth when she is cast off,
    says your God.
For a brief moment I abandoned you,
    but with great compassion I will gather you.
In overflowing wrath for a moment
    I hid my face from you,
but with everlasting love I will have compassion on you,
    says the Lord, your Redeemer.

This is like the days of Noah to me:
    Just as I swore that the waters of Noah
    would never again go over the earth,
so I have sworn that I will not be angry with you
    and will not rebuke you.
For the mountains may depart
    and the hills be removed,
but my steadfast love shall not depart from you,
    and my covenant of peace shall not be removed,
    says the Lord, who has compassion on you.

 

 

Advent Devotions - Days 1 and 2 - 2022

Devotion for the First Sunday of Advent

Photo by Ava Tyler on Unsplash

But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only…Therefore
be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh. -Matthew 24:3, 44

As is a long-time tradition, the first Sunday of Advent points us to the Second Coming of Christ.

It presupposes that we understand a basic truth. He came once to show us the Father, announce the Kingdom, make the way of salvation, and commission his servants to spread the good news of God’s ultimate triumph.

He would come again to usher in that Kingdom in power and glory once and for all.

That is why we sing a Second Coming hymn in anticipate of Christmas.

Joy to the world,
The Lord has come.
Let earth receive her King.
Let every heart prepare him room
And Heaven and nature sing.
He rules the world
With truth and grace
And makes the nations proves
The glories of his righteousness
And wonders of his love.
-Isaac Watts

When know, roughly, when he came the first time.

We have no idea when he will come again.

What we know is that it is always just around the corner and Advent reminds us to always be standing on tiptoes, ready, joyfully expectant, diligently faithful, and always full of wonder like a child at Christmas.

That is because the very best Christmas is yet to come.

And for that, we can be thankful in advance.

Joy to the world, the Savior reigns
Let men their songs employ.
While fields and floods,
Rocks, hills, and plains
Repeat the sounding joy,
Repeat the sounding joy
Repeat the sounding joy.

 

 

Photo by Lucas Dial on Unsplash

 

Psalm 124

New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition

A Song of Ascents. Of David.

If it had not been the Lord who was on our side
    —let Israel now say—
if it had not been the Lord who was on our side,
    when our enemies attacked us,
then they would have swallowed us up alive,
    when their anger was kindled against us;
then the flood would have swept us away;
    the torrent would have gone over us;
then over us would have gone
    the raging waters.

Blessed be the Lord,
    who has not given us
    as prey to their teeth.
We have escaped like a bird
    from the snare of the hunters;
the snare is broken,
    and we have escaped.

Our help is in the name of the Lord,
    who made heaven and earth.

Genesis 8:1-19

New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition

 

But God remembered Noah and all the wild animals and all the domestic animals that were with him in the ark. And God made a wind blow over the earth, and the waters subsided; the fountains of the deep and the windows of the heavens were closed, the rain from the heavens was restrained, and the waters gradually receded from the earth. At the end of one hundred fifty days the waters had abated, and in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, the ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat. The waters continued to abate until the tenth month; in the tenth month, on the first day of the month, the tops of the mountains appeared.

 

At the end of forty days Noah opened the window of the ark that he had made and sent out the raven, and it went to and fro until the waters were dried up from the earth. Then he sent out the dove from him to see if the waters had subsided from the face of the ground, but the dove found no place to set its foot, and it returned to him to the ark, for the waters were still on the face of the whole earth. So he put out his hand and took it and brought it into the ark with him. He waited another seven days, and again he sent out the dove from the ark, and the dove came back to him in the evening, and there in its beak was a freshly plucked olive leaf; so Noah knew that the waters had subsided from the earth. Then he waited another seven days and sent out the dove, and it did not return to him any more.

 

In the six hundred first year, in the first month, on the first day of the month, the waters were dried up from the earth, and Noah removed the covering of the ark and looked and saw that the face of the ground was drying. In the second month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, the earth was dry. Then God said to Noah, “Go out of the ark, you and your wife and your sons and your sons’ wives with you. Bring out with you every living thing that is with you of all flesh—birds and animals and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth—so that they may abound on the earth and be fruitful and multiply on the earth.” So Noah went out with his sons and his wife and his sons’ wives. And every animal, every creeping thing, and every bird, everything that moves on the earth, went out of the ark by families.

Romans 6:1-11

New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition

 

What then are we to say? Should we continue in sin in order that grace may increase? By no means! How can we who died to sin go on living in it? Do you not know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? Therefore we were buried with him by baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we also might walk in newness of life.

For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. We know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be destroyed, so we might no longer be enslaved to sin. For whoever has died is freed from sin. But if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. The death he died, he died to sin once for all, but the life he lives, he lives to God. So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.

The Seventeenth Day of Advent - These Are the Days!

 

 

Prophet Elijah detailed in the Madonna and Child with Saints by Andrea di Bonaiuto

God makes our choices very clear in the Day of New Beginnings. He makes repentance possible. He empowers us to do what is right and righteous as the sun of righteousness shines upon our paths to light our way. Elijah has come to turn our hearts. Truth has come to reorient our thinking. Life has come to bring us hope. It is Advent. These are the days!

Malachi 3:16-4:6
New Revised Standard Version

Then those who revered the Lord spoke with one another. The Lord took note and listened, and a book of remembrance was written before him of those who revered the Lord and thought on his name. They shall be mine, says the Lord of hosts, my special possession on the day when I act, and I will spare them as parents spare their children who serve them. Then once more you shall see the difference between the righteous and the wicked, between one who serves God and one who does not serve him.

See, the day is coming, burning like an oven, when all the arrogant and all evildoers will be stubble; the day that comes shall burn them up, says the Lord of hosts, so that it will leave them neither root nor branch. But for you who revere my name the sun of righteousness shall rise, with healing in its wings. You shall go out leaping like calves from the stall. And you shall tread down the wicked, for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet, on the day when I act, says the Lord of hosts.

Remember the teaching of my servant Moses, the statutes and ordinances that I commanded him at Horeb for all Israel.

Lo, I will send you the prophet Elijah before the great and terrible day of the Lord comes. He will turn the hearts of parents to their children and the hearts of children to their parents, so that I will not come and strike the land with a curse.
--------------------------------

Malachi gives us plenty to chew on.

Here are some bites I am taking:

Sometimes it is confusing to sort the good from the evil. It is not really our job.

But God says there will come a day when it will be very obvious who serves God and who does not.

We might even be a little vague in our understanding of ourselves as we compartmentalize our lives. We think we are serving in this area, but not in another. We name some activity in our lives and designate it as something that honors the Lord.

But maybe it is more self-serving than we think.

We might dismiss some menial task we do as not worthy of God. Yet, it is this that pleases Him most.

We might be equally confused about people as a whole.

Stubble is what has no substance in our lives, Arrogance and evil burn away in the heat of God's righteous judgment. Nothing is left of them. Pray for that heat to come early in your life. You don't need the stubble.

The hotness of God's wrath will be manifest to His people differently. The sun of righteousness rises with healing in its wings.

We bounce like young calves with the joy of new life.

We tread down the wicked who oppress.

We win.

But first comes the prophetic word, the Elijah voice that calls us to repentance and restoration of broken relationships. It is time for hearts to be turned.
--------------------------------

Mark 9:9-13
New Revised Standard Version

As they were coming down the mountain, he ordered them to tell no one about what they had seen, until after the Son of Man had risen from the dead. So they kept the matter to themselves, questioning what this rising from the dead could mean.

Then they asked him, “Why do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?”

He said to them, “Elijah is indeed coming first to restore all things. How then is it written about the Son of Man, that he is to go through many sufferings and be treated with contempt? But I tell you that Elijah has come, and they did to him whatever they pleased, as it is written about him.”
--------------------------------
The disciples knew Malachi's words about Elijah coming before the Messianic Age could commence.

For them it was a barrier.

For Jesus, it was just a matter of fact. There is always an Elijah. In fact, he seems to be referring to John the Baptist as having most recently fulfilled that role.

There is nothing that keeps people from turning around, turning to God, turning to their parents, their children, their loved ones, their friends, their neighbors, and their enemies in love, forgiveness and restoration.

There is nothing that keeps God's people from doing righteousness.

There is nothing that keeps the wicked from turning from sin and oppression and deeds that make them stubble to a new life.

There is nothing that any of us need to wait for before we can answer the call of Jesus to stop doing as we please to the messengers of truth and start following the one to whom the message points.

The day and age of fulfillment has come and any hesitation we have is all on us.

--------------------------------

Now, let us sing. You can make up your own tune:

Psalm 125
New Revised Standard Version
A Song of Ascents.

Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion,
which cannot be moved, but abides forever.
As the mountains surround Jerusalem,
so the Lord surrounds his people,
from this time on and forevermore.
For the scepter of wickedness shall not rest
on the land allotted to the righteous,
so that the righteous might not stretch out
their hands to do wrong.
Do good, O Lord, to those who are good,
and to those who are upright in their hearts.
But those who turn aside to their own crooked ways
the Lord will lead away with evildoers.
Peace be upon Israel!

 

The Sixteenth Day of Advent - Taking the Mantle

17th Century, Orthodox Icon

 

Psalm 125
New Revised Standard Version
A Song of Ascents.

Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion,
which cannot be moved, but abides forever.
As the mountains surround Jerusalem,
so the Lord surrounds his people,
from this time on and forevermore.
For the scepter of wickedness shall not rest
on the land allotted to the righteous,
so that the righteous might not stretch out
their hands to do wrong.
Do good, O Lord, to those who are good,
and to those who are upright in their hearts.
But those who turn aside to their own crooked ways
the Lord will lead away with evildoers.
Peace be upon Israel!

Whom God raises up to walk in His ways, He makes strong. He lifts them up. He surrounds them. He entrusts them to increase and to lead because He leads them. God does good to those who do good. He is, to them, the God of peace.

To be the people of God is to be people who represent righteousness and truth. Such people have received a legacy that has been passed down through generations.

To be the people of God is to be prophets of God, messengers of truth and righteousness, bearers of the image of God, conduits of love and grace.

Sometimes there is an Elijah who fills such a role and he seems to be one of those solitary figures that can never be replaced. We see such a soul as being like Mout Zion, but we could never be that. We could never stand that tall.

He mentored a younger man who felt that way, Elisha.

2 Kings 2:9-22
New Revised Standard Version

When they had crossed, Elijah said to Elisha, “Tell me what I may do for you, before I am taken from you.” Elisha said, “Please let me inherit a double share of your spirit.”

He responded, “You have asked a hard thing; yet, if you see me as I am being taken from you, it will be granted you; if not, it will not.”

As they continued walking and talking, a chariot of fire and horses of fire separated the two of them, and Elijah ascended in a whirlwind into heaven. Elisha kept watching and crying out, “Father, father! The chariots of Israel and its horsemen!”

But when he could no longer see him, he grasped his own clothes and tore them in two pieces.

He picked up the mantle of Elijah that had fallen from him, and went back and stood on the bank of the Jordan. He took the mantle of Elijah that had fallen from him, and struck the water, saying, “Where is the Lord, the God of Elijah?”

When he had struck the water, the water was parted to the one side and to the other, and Elisha went over.

When the company of prophets who were at Jericho saw him at a distance, they declared, “The spirit of Elijah rests on Elisha.”

They came to meet him and bowed to the ground before him. They said to him, “See now, we have fifty strong men among your servants; please let them go and seek your master; it may be that the spirit of the Lord has caught him up and thrown him down on some mountain or into some valley.”

He responded, “No, do not send them.” But when they urged him until he was ashamed, he said, “Send them.”

So they sent fifty men who searched for three days but did not find him. When they came back to him (he had remained at Jericho), he said to them, “Did I not say to you, Do not go?”

Now the people of the city said to Elisha, “The location of this city is good, as my lord sees; but the water is bad, and the land is unfruitful.”

He said, “Bring me a new bowl, and put salt in it.”

So they brought it to him. Then he went to the spring of water and threw the salt into it, and said, “Thus says the Lord, I have made this water wholesome; from now on neither death nor miscarriage shall come from it.”

So the water has been wholesome to this day, according to the word that Elisha spoke.

Elisha could not bear the loss of his mentor and take his role unless he received a double portion of God's blessing on his life. It was not false humility. It was more like terror and desperation.

Yet, when the time came and Elijah was taken away, God came through and raised up Elisha as one like Mount Zion.

God's hand was mightily upon him. His works were powerful and his words were strong. He impacted his generation.

He was in a long line of men and women who received a commission and became forerunner types of an ultimate Messianic promise incarnate perfectly in Jesus' whose Advent we celebrate in this season.

After the resurrection, perhaps more than in the hours leading up to Christ's crucifixion, the disciples must have trembled with apprehension on what the ascension of Jesus might mean to them. How could they carry on with his mission? How could they represent him? Could they be like Mount Zion?

Jesus told them that it would not be a detriment to their work they he was going away. It would be a propellant because he would be with them by sending the promise of the Father, the Holy Spirit.

So, when their turn came, they were bold, passionate and effective as we see in this snapshot from the early days of the church.

Acts 3:17-4:4
New Revised Standard Version

“And now, friends, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did also your rulers. In this way God fulfilled what he had foretold through all the prophets, that his Messiah would suffer. Repent therefore, and turn to God so that your sins may be wiped out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send the Messiah appointed for you, that is, Jesus, who must remain in heaven until the time of universal restoration that God announced long ago through his holy prophets. Moses said, ‘The Lord your God will raise up for you from your own people a prophet like me. You must listen to whatever he tells you. And it will be that everyone who does not listen to that prophet will be utterly rooted out of the people.’

And all the prophets, as many as have spoken, from Samuel and those after him, also predicted these days. You are the descendants of the prophets and of the covenant that God gave to your ancestors, saying to Abraham, ‘And in your descendants all the families of the earth shall be blessed.’ When God raised up his servant, he sent him first to you, to bless you by turning each of you from your wicked ways.”

While Peter and John were speaking to the people, the priests, the captain of the temple, and the Sadducees came to them, much annoyed because they were teaching the people and proclaiming that in Jesus there is the resurrection of the dead. So they arrested them and put them in custody until the next day, for it was already evening. But many of those who heard the word believed; and they numbered about five thousand.

Generations of God's people and prophets come and go. We stand on their shoulders and launch forth from them.

The apex of it all is the coming of God in scruffy diapers, vulnerable and tiny. Flowing from that is the reality and hope that we can take up our mantles, follow him, and change the world.

The Fifteenth Day of Advent - Be Strong in the Lord

 

Photo by Karsten Winegeart on Unsplash

Psalm 125 (NRSV)

A Song of Ascents.

Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion,
which cannot be moved, but abides forever.
As the mountains surround Jerusalem,
so the Lord surrounds his people,
from this time on and forevermore.
For the scepter of wickedness shall not rest
on the land allotted to the righteous,
so that the righteous might not stretch out
their hands to do wrong.
Do good, O Lord, to those who are good,
and to those who are upright in their hearts.
But those who turn aside to their own crooked ways
the Lord will lead away with evildoers.
Peace be upon Israel!

Trust makes us strong because it starts with our need, which implies a certain weakness without the one we trust. God surrounds us. He is like an exoskeleton which fortifies us and protects us from evil.

God's promises are strong and, therefore, we are strong. 

1 Kings 18:1-18 (NRSV)

After many days the word of the Lord came to Elijah, in the third year of the drought, saying, “Go, present yourself to Ahab; I will send rain on the earth.” So Elijah went to present himself to Ahab. The famine was severe in Samaria. Ahab summoned Obadiah, who was in charge of the palace. (Now Obadiah revered the Lord greatly; when Jezebel was killing off the prophets of the Lord, Obadiah took a hundred prophets, hid them fifty to a cave, and provided them with bread and water.) Then Ahab said to Obadiah, “Go through the land to all the springs of water and to all the wadis; perhaps we may find grass to keep the horses and mules alive, and not lose some of the animals.” So they divided the land between them to pass through it; Ahab went in one direction by himself, and Obadiah went in another direction by himself.

As Obadiah was on the way, Elijah met him; Obadiah recognized him, fell on his face, and said, “Is it you, my lord Elijah?” He answered him, “It is I. Go, tell your lord that Elijah is here.”

And he said, “How have I sinned, that you would hand your servant over to Ahab, to kill me? As the Lord your God lives, there is no nation or kingdom to which my lord has not sent to seek you; and when they would say, ‘He is not here,’ he would require an oath of the kingdom or nation, that they had not found you. But now you say, ‘Go, tell your lord that Elijah is here.’ As soon as I have gone from you, the spirit of the Lord will carry you I know not where; so, when I come and tell Ahab and he cannot find you, he will kill me, although I your servant have revered the Lord from my youth. Has it not been told my lord what I did when Jezebel killed the prophets of the Lord, how I hid a hundred of the Lord’s prophets fifty to a cave, and provided them with bread and water? Yet now you say, ‘Go, tell your lord that Elijah is here’; he will surely kill me.”

Elijah said, “As the Lord of hosts lives, before whom I stand, I will surely show myself to him today.”

So Obadiah went to meet Ahab, and told him; and Ahab went to meet Elijah.

When Ahab saw Elijah, Ahab said to him, “Is it you, you troubler of Israel?” He answered, “I have not troubled Israel; but you have, and your father’s house, because you have forsaken the commandments of the Lord and followed the Baals.

What strength and courage Elijah had at that moment to stare down Ahab and speak truth to such brutal power!

None of us can know if he had butterflies in his stomach or trembling hands, but he spoke with boldness.

Elijah's reputation proceeded him as troubler of Israel. What is your reputation?

What will make us strong for the words we must speak and the deeds we must do?

Ephesians 6:10-17 (NRSV)

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his power.

Put on the whole armor of God, so that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.

For our struggle is not against enemies of blood and flesh, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, so that you may be able to withstand on that evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm.

Stand therefore, and fasten the belt of truth around your waist, and put on the breastplate of righteousness.

As shoes for your feet put on whatever will make you ready to proclaim the gospel of peace.

With all of these, take the shield of faith, with which you will be able to quench all the flaming arrows of the evil one.

Take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

Over this last period of my life, I have come to of Advent seasons in weakened physical condition. Surgeries, illnesses, life crises has sapped me of strength and vigor. It is at those times I have found renewed spiritual strength.

Being strong in the Lord and the strength of His power has made the difference. It is more than coping; it is overcoming,

God's armor protects us.

God's provision of specialized clothing equips us to meet any challenge.

God's shoes are fashioned to aid in our gospel travels and make us swift of feet.

We are shielded by faith and armed with God's word even as our minds are protected by His Spirit.

That kind of strength cannot come out of a workout or a protein smoothie.

That is Advent strength. He has come and made us strong to face whatever lies ahead.

The Third Sunday and Fifteenth Day of Advent- Rejoice!

Today's Devotional Meditations, Music, and Video of This Morning's Service

Third Sunday of Advent: My Soul Magnifies the Lord

“And Mary said, My soul doth magnify the Lord …” – Luke 1:46

The Magnificat remains one of the most glorious expressions of praise in all of musical literature. Perhaps, someday, in Heaven, God will allow us to hear a replay of the day Mary visited her cousin Elizabeth or the day the angel visited Mary and announced God’s intentions to her. We would hear that conversation that altered history and sweet sound of her acceptance of God’s great gift of His Son to and through her. The music of absolute surrender would call us to worship and we would join her in exclaiming,

“My spirit hath rejoiced in God my Savior!”

No less significant was the day your heart responded to God’s grace and declared, “be it unto me according to thy word.”

That God would regard the low estate of His handmaiden and plant the seed of redemption within her womb is a magnificent thing indeed. That God would regard our low estates that Christ might be conceived and born in our hearts by faith is astounding!

We cannot help but sing His praise. We cannot resist the call the worship. We cannot feign to exalt His Name and rejoice in the miracle of His coming. As Mary conceived without human agency, so, that which is born in us of God is without human effort.

Welcome Him to your life anew today and join in chorus:

Prophets foretold Him,
Infant of wonder;
Angels behold Him
On the throne;
Worthy our Savior
Of all our praises;
Happy forever are His own.
(Mary Macdonald, 1888)

Rejoice!

BEHOLD THE LAMB!

“… Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.” – John 1:29

It is not enough to have a theoretical understanding of God’s redemption through Jesus and how He came to fulfill the Old Testament system of sacrifices as the Paschal Lamb – as important as that information may be.
No, it is of greatest importance that we behold Him.
Some translate the word, “Look,” but the meaning is the same. We must linger over the vision of Jesus and stare into His eyes.

We must be captivated by His presence so that to even blink we would disrupt the flow of His radiance into our souls.

We must drink deeply of His beauty that transcends human comeliness. We must experience Him in all His glory and behold Him.

In Jesus Christ, the Living Word, we have beheld the glory of the Only Begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. God has allowed us to glimpse Himself and touch His own incarnate flesh.

Why wouldn’t we stop everything else we might be doing and bathe in the wonder of a moment of Lamb of God?

Oh, Lamb of God
Upon whose sinless shoulders
All sin has pressed down its awful weight,
We pause amidst the frivolous trivialities of our lives
To behold You
In a manger, on the cross, ascending to Your throne
Coming once again in glory
Amen.

The Lights on the Tree of Life

“In him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.”  John 1:4-5

By now, your community is lighted with beautiful reminders of the Christmas season. The colors shining in the night can be seen from afar and even from space. They are at the same time happy and holy, gaudy and dignified. They serve as reminders of joy and correctives to the harsh edges that so often dominate the landscape of our cities and our lives.

It is clearly, visibly, and festively Christmas where we live and the light is shining in the darkness.

In fact, it is in the darkness of night that we most often venture forth from our homes to view these lights and celebrate the profound contrasts that they afford.

From simple candle lights in the windows of homes to magnificent displays in the public squares, we behold temporal illustrations of eternal reality: The evergreen trees which live long through Winter when planted in the soil of the earth are types of the tree of life which is planted in the fertile soil of God’s truth. In and from that life, which is Christ, flows the life and light of men.

And that light shines in the darkness beckoning men and women who live in darkness to come.

To those outside on the cold dark streets of our cities, shivering from the frosty darkness that envelopes them, the flickering lights from a Christmas tree in the window of a warm home serve as an invitation to come to something better. They softly hum the call of God to enter into His brightness and the warmth of His presence. They sway to the melody of each sweet carol, “O come, let us adore Him.”

The light is shining and it is, indeed, the light of men.

Father of Lights,
Lord of Glory,
Master of the Universe,
Arbiter of Covenants,
Leader in Battle,
Thou Who stillest the storm and declares peace,
Giver of good gifts,
Creator of all,
God of Heaven Whose footstool is earth,
King of Glory,
God of Peace in Whom is peace,
God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
Father,
Son,
Holy Spirit,
to Thee we come ...
I come ...
empty,
troubled,
wondering,
wandering,
confounded,
complicated,
confused,
committed to Thee,
waiting upon Thee,
ready to speak Thy Word and do Thy bidding ...
this day.
I come.
I stand.
I wait.
May I bring Thy Word of peace to troubled waters today that they may be stilled.
May Thy presence be in my presence and may that presence speak peace to a world at war with itself.
In Jesus' name.
Amen.

 

The Fourteenth Day of Advent - Yet, I Will Rejoice

 

The Choice to Rejoice

"Yet" is a powerful word. 

"Yet I will rejoice," is a powerful statement of faith and obedience in defiance of our circumstance.

Habakkuk 3:13-19 (NRSV)

You came forth to save your people,
to save your anointed.
You crushed the head of the wicked house,
laying it bare from foundation to roof. Selah
You pierced with their own arrows the head of his warriors,
who came like a whirlwind to scatter us,
gloating as if ready to devour the poor who were in hiding.
You trampled the sea with your horses,
churning the mighty waters.

I hear, and I tremble within;
my lips quiver at the sound.
Rottenness enters into my bones,
and my steps tremble beneath me.
I wait quietly for the day of calamity
to come upon the people who attack us.

Though the fig tree does not blossom,
and no fruit is on the vines;
though the produce of the olive fails,
and the fields yield no food;
though the flock is cut off from the fold,
and there is no herd in the stalls,
yet I will rejoice in the Lord;
I will exult in the God of my salvation.
God, the Lord, is my strength;
he makes my feet like the feet of a deer,
and makes me tread upon the heights.

To the leader: with stringed instruments.

Habakkuk invites the people to sing.

The first stanza of this hymn reminds us that God has come to save, but that His salvation comes in the midst of profound suffering, opressions, persecution, and tribulation. The Mighty God acts with decisive force and power to crush the enemy whose intention is to destroy.

The second stanza is an invitation to lament. Worse things are coming. What do we do? What can we do? We wait. Waiting becomes our response of faith and trust, even our act of obedience.

The third stanza is a reaffirmation of faith with a choice to rejoice. It is an inward call to exult, to praise, and to commit to the God of our salvation. It is God who strengthens us, God, who causes us to walk upon the rocky soils of life.

-------------------

Consider the Ibex.

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Matthew 21:28-32 (NRSV)

“What do you think? A man had two sons; he went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work in the vineyard today.’ He answered, ‘I will not’; but later he changed his mind and went. The father went to the second and said the same; and he answered, ‘I go, sir’; but he did not go. Which of the two did the will of his father?” They said, “The first.” Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are going into the kingdom of God ahead of you. For John came to you in the way of righteousness and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him; and even after you saw it, you did not change your minds and believe him.

-----------------------

If I asked you how many groups Jesus described, you might say two.

However, I would suggest there were three.

The first two were in the parable. The third was in the application. First, there were those heard the call and refused, but later, they changed their minds, answered, and obeyed. Second, there were those who heard the call, gladly embraced it with commitment to go to the vineyard. Later, however, they were nowhere to be found. Finally, Jesus said, there was his audience of critics. They heard, refused, and never changed their minds. They persisted in their harness of heart, disbelief, and disobedience to the call.

These, Jesus said, would trail behind the dregs of society entering the Kingdom of God.

Belief, Jesus says, is about changing our minds.

As wise person gave us some advice once as we were adoptive parents of children who met many of our directives with bold, loud, and defiant objections. She said, "Don't engage with the words; wait and see what they do."

We tried it and it worked. The kids worked though their objections and we all avoided a pointless argument.'

God lets us vent, but His call remains to come and labor in His vineyard.

Faith and obedience are far more about what we ultimately do than what we immediately say.

Sometimes, when we hear, we are like the prophet, Habakkuk. We hear; we tremble within; our lips quiver; rottenness enters our bones; our steps tremble beneath us. We recoil at bad or unpleasant news. We resist it. We protest it, but we land in the place of faith where we declare, "Yet, I will rejoice."

It is the choice to rejoice.

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"... yet I will rejoice in the Lord;
I will exult in the God of my salvation.
God, the Lord, is my strength;
he makes my feet like the feet of a deer,
and makes me tread upon the heights."

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Jesus had a specific purpose for his parable. He wanted those who perceived themselves to be righteous, pious, spiritual, spiritually superior, and above others to know that their words, pronouncements, and positions did not impress God. He is impressed by the response of faith and obedience with our lives, even if it comes through the process of protest, struggle, and emotional turmoil. It is not how we start that matters most, but how we end.

We are granted permission to wrestle with the bad news, struggle with the demands of discipleship, and agonize over the call to faith because God knows they lead us to trust.

They lead us to rejoicing.

Advent is a time of struggle and anticipation as well as ultimate joy.

The Thirteenth Day of Advent - Renewed and Pressing On

Photo by MIL-TECH PHARMA LTD on Unsplash

Habakkuk 3:2-6 (New Revised Standard Version)

O Lord, I have heard of your renown,
and I stand in awe, O Lord, of your work.
In our own time revive it;
in our own time make it known;
in wrath may you remember mercy.
God came from Teman,
the Holy One from Mount Paran. Selah
His glory covered the heavens,
and the earth was full of his praise.
The brightness was like the sun;
rays came forth from his hand,
where his power lay hidden.
Before him went pestilence,
and plague followed close behind.
He stopped and shook the earth;
he looked and made the nations tremble.
The eternal mountains were shattered;
along his ancient pathways
the everlasting hills sank low.

 

The prophet has heard about יְהוָ֗ה , the God who IS. He has heard about God's reputation. He has known the history of the manifestations of God's power and might. He has reveled in awe at the accounts of the LORD's demonstrations of authority over nature and intervention in the physical universe.

Now, he wants God to do it again.

He wants God to make Himself known.

He cried for God to act as God has always acted. Namely, in his mind, he knows, that out of God's wrath flows the mercy of God.

God's wrath is not like the wrath of man. It is no knee jerk, emotionally immature reaction to what does not go our way. It is not an explosion of uncontrollable anger with no purpose. It is, rather, God's wall of resistance toward anything that goes against His purpose. It is His response to what defies His love and mercy. It is His expression of indignation against all that oppresses and dehumanizes people.

It is God's strategic message to a rebellious people to return to the shelter of His love and mercy.

As we turn to our verses from Philippians today, we follow the journey of one who has turned from wrath to mercy to find that God was already and always there. Paul shares, with us, his personal reflections on what it is like to strive toward that place where God has called us upward. He let's us know that we, having been revived from the dead, have not yet arrived at the goal and yet, we keep moving toward it, not to be accepted by God, but because God has already accepted us.

Not Yet

Advent reminds us that something us ahead of us, beginning, and unfolding.

We are not there yet.

(Philippians 3:12) Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus.

I’m not there yet, but thank God, I’m not where I was.

Progress is the word of the day. It is that quality which enables me to “follow after” and not be discouraged by the distance ahead. As a Christian, I have already been captured, apprehended, and held secure by Jesus Christ. That is a great comfort. But it is not that false comfort that lulls one to sleep. It is not that sinister imposter that whispers in the ear, “You have arrived; now rest quietly. No further progress is necessary.”

It is not that at all. Rather, it is the assurance that what we are becoming is not to be stifled by our inadequacies. It is not to be prevented by our lack of ingenuity. It is not dependent upon our own strength. It is not limited by our lack of vision.

We are still to work out that which His has worked within us. We are to pursue the prize. We are to follow the course. We are to move forward in faith.

We are not there yet, but the race is not over. We keep on keeping on.

Do not lose heart. Others have gone before and they had no more and no less than you to propel them on. We are given the stamina and the fortitude for the pursuit in whatever quantities are necessary for our unique calling under God.

Never give up. Your life is no accident; your calling is no second thought of God. This journey you are on is His purpose for your life. No, you are not there yet, but neither are you where you were. Press on!

One Thing

(Philippians 3:13-14) Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.

This Advent season, we have an opportunity to refocus on the one thing. It is the thing Habakkuk longed for, Paul longed for, and we long for.

What if you had to leave everything behind except one thing?

What if you had to sort through your prized possessions and you only had a few minutes to make the decision? The storm is coming and you can only carry one thing with you.

What if you had to surrender all your trophies, all the reminders of your past success? What if your most cherished disappointments – that’s right, I said “cherished” disappointments – had to be forgotten. Men and women often treasure their failures out of some misguided sense of safety and security.

Forgetting what is behind means unshackling oneself from the comforts of past victories and the comfortable excuses of past defeats.

We are called to press forward toward a goal we have not yet achieved. The press involves some stress – the right kind of stress that is the tension between where we are and where we ought to be. It involves energy and intensity. It calls for commitment and consecration.

More than anything else, it demands a clear fix on the prize. Without knowing all the details, we can know that there is a clear mark. It is the calling of God in Christ Jesus, but it is not just any calling. It is the high calling.

It doesn’t matter where you’ve been, who you’ve been, or what you’ve done – great or small. The high calling is higher, loftier, and more wonderful than anything. It deserves to be the ONE thing in your life to which anything else of value is attached. If it cannot be attached, then it must be left behind because it is not worthy of the one great thing in your life: the prize.

A Complete Mind

We have all heard it said, when we complained about a pain, that it was all in our minds. That was probably not entirely true. Yet, it is true that our minds are powerful and how we set our minds and upon what we set them is vital to everything in our lives. That is why the Christian calendar devotes days of preparation for great celebrations like Christmas and Easter.

How much more so can be preparing for the great event of the unfolding of God's purposes in the culmination of all history?

(Philippians 3:15) Let us therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus minded: and if in any thing ye be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto you.

There are two profound truths in this often-confusing verse. One is that if we are perfect in every other way, let us think as such – all thoughts fully integrated and focused on one great goal: the mark, the prize, the calling.

Of course, no one has arrived, but some think they have. Paul challenges such folks to live what they profess. Other ways of understanding perfection evoke visions of completion and maturity – relative terms. The point is this: if we have reached a certain point of maturity, it should affect the way we think. Our attitudes must be those reflected by Paul when he declared that he had not arrived and was committed to pressing on.

Mature people are always growing, always climbing, never satisfied with where they are spiritually, and always looking forward.

Another great truth is the principle of relaxed concern as regards the spiritual growth of our brothers and sisters. Relaxed concern means that we care, we help, and we pray, but we don’t take the whole burden for their choices on ourselves. We trust that God can handle the misconceptions of His children about themselves.

Our trust is in God and that, “He which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.” (1:5)

So, like Paul, we can encourage our brothers and sisters not to become self-satisfied, but we cannot judge their progress. That is God’s job and He does it well. What we can and must do is pray for spiritual dissatisfaction in our hearts and in the hearts of our fellow believers that is characterized by the words of the old hymn:

I am satisfied with Jesus.
He has done so much for me.
He has suffered to redeem me.
He has died to set me free.
I am satisfied. I am satisfied.
I am satisfied with Jesus.
But the question comes to me as I think of Calvary:
Is my Master satisfied with me?

Don’t Lose Ground

The prophet would not have had to pray for revival if the people of God had not lost so much ground in their pilgrimage of faith and obedience. Paul knew that it was possible to move backwards as well as forward.

(Philippians 3:16) Nevertheless, whereto we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule, let us mind the same thing.

You shouldn’t have to start over again and again.

Nothing is as frustrating as having to retrace old ground. The solution then, is not to lose ground in the first place.

Have you ever wondered why some of us as Christians have to seemingly deal with the same issues over and over again? Why is it that we forget the lessons we have learned? Why do we insist that God rescue us from the same old tired errors and sins?

Why do we need so many personal revivals in our lives?

We grow complacent and the Spirit finds a way to wake us up. We stay focused on the prize for a time and then we get distracted. From distraction, we move toward boredom and from boredom to spiritual coldness and before we know it we are as useful as dead folks to the Kingdom of God.

And then we need revival again.

Revival is a good thing – especially if it is not always about reclaiming lost ground. Revival ought to be about encouraging us to the next step of spiritual progress, reminding us of the goal set before us, and stirring us up with a fresh breath of spiritual energy.

Sadly, it is often about waking the dead who ought to be alive. To that dilemma, Brother Paul speaks and admonishes us to walk by the rule of humble progress with our minds all focused on the one thing that surpasses all else.

Don’t lose ground – not this time. And if you do, regain it quickly and move on. The more you practice your faith, exercising it in daily discipline, the less likely you will be to fall, the more likely you will be to keep moving on toward the mark.

Let us keep moving forward, as we do, sing this song of ascent from Psalm 126.

When the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion,
we were like those who dream.
Then our mouth was filled with laughter,
and our tongue with shouts of joy;
then it was said among the nations,
“The Lord has done great things for them.”
The Lord has done great things for us,
and we rejoiced.

Restore our fortunes, O Lord,
like the watercourses in the Negeb.
May those who sow in tears
reap with shouts of joy.
Those who go out weeping,
bearing the seed for sowing,
shall come home with shouts of joy,
carrying their sheaves.

 

The Twelfth Day of Advent - Go Out Weeping ... Come with Shouts of Joy!

Sow in Tears; Reap in Joy!

Photo by engin akyurt on Unsplash

Psalm 126

A Song of Ascents.

When the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion,
we were like those who dream.
Then our mouth was filled with laughter,
and our tongue with shouts of joy;
then it was said among the nations,
“The Lord has done great things for them.”
The Lord has done great things for us,
and we rejoiced.

Restore our fortunes, O Lord,
like the watercourses in the Negeb.
May those who sow in tears
reap with shouts of joy.
Those who go out weeping,
bearing the seed for sowing,
shall come home with shouts of joy,
carrying their sheaves.

Habakkuk 2:1-5

I will stand at my watchpost,
and station myself on the rampart;
I will keep watch to see what he will say to me,
and what he will answer concerning my complaint.
Then the Lord answered me and said:
Write the vision;
make it plain on tablets,
so that a runner may read it.
For there is still a vision for the appointed time;
it speaks of the end, and does not lie.
If it seems to tarry, wait for it;
it will surely come, it will not delay.
Look at the proud!
Their spirit is not right in them,
but the righteous live by their faith.
Moreover, wealth is treacherous;
the arrogant do not endure.
They open their throats wide as Sheol;
like Death they never have enough.
They gather all nations for themselves,
and collect all peoples as their own.

In our readings this morning, the joyful, hopeful song of ascent is followed by a word of prophetic lament. They go together.

Things will not always be as they are now.

The challenges of today are today's challenges.

As we live and breathe, we shall always face challenges, problems, difficulties, pains, discouragements, and obstacles, but they do not last forever. Advent is about hope unfolding and sustaining us.

Let's visit with the Apostle Paul writing from prison.:

Look Out for the Joy Robbers

 (Philippians 3:1-2)  Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord. To write the same things to you, to me indeed is not grievous, but for you it is safe. Beware of dogs, beware of evil workers, beware of the concision. For we are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh.

Beware of anything that will rob you of your joy. A sad hearted apostle grieves that he has to remind his flock of something so foundational. Nevertheless, he does so because they are in danger.

We are in danger of robbers – not the kind we can lock out of our homes. We purchase expensive alarm systems to warn us of approaching burglars, but we allow the real thieves to sneak in unnoticed and establish themselves in our lives.

Paul calls them dogs and evil workers. He also refers to them as mutilation artists. The bottom line is a warning against people who teach that Christianity can be summarized in rituals, rules, and religiosity.

The Christian faith is much more and its most obvious outward manifestation is joy. It is the first thing people notice when they see you. It may take longer for them to see your love and piety, but your joy oozes from every pore of your being. It cannot be concealed or downplayed.

Where there is no rejoicing, there is very little manifestation of Christian experience. It accompanies our worship and overrides our inadequacies.

Joyful Christians entertain no illusions that they can impress God with their righteous deeds. They know that they cannot work hard enough to meet God’s standards. They have no confidence in the flesh and have boundless confidence in God.

Activate your spiritual filters against anything that will rob you of your joy whether it is cold, dead legalism, human perfectionism, or pharisaical dogmatism. The gospel liberates us to become more than we ever imagined we could be, changing us from within and filling our hearts with joy.

So, rejoice!

A Vote of No Confidence

 (Philippians 3:4-7)  Though I might also have confidence in the flesh. If any other man thinketh that he hath whereof he might trust in the flesh, I more: Circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, an Hebrew of the Hebrews; as touching the law, a Pharisee; Concerning zeal, persecuting the church; touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless. But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ.

In some nations, governments can topple in a day through a vote of no-confidence by the majority of the members of that country’s parliament. So ought the reign of our flesh to topple through a no-confidence vote originating in our hearts.

It is with an argument from absurdity that we are convicted here. If anyone could have confidence in the flesh to save, it would be Paul. And Paul throws up his hands and proclaims that he has no such confidence.

Take your very best day, the very best day you could ever have and duplicate it for every day of your life. Reach your highest potential every moment of every hour. Do all that you can do in your own power. Resist every temptation you can resist in your own strength. Rectify every wrong you can correct from the past. Arrest your thoughts and submit them to the rigors of positive thinking. Miss no opportunities for kindness that you can see. Attend church every time the doors open. Pray so often that even your Christian friends question your sanity. Add it all together and more and you will not accumulate enough “points” to win a consolation prize according to God’s standards.

You just can’t impress God in the flesh and all your efforts to do so fall flat. In fact, whatever you do in your own strength is an offense to God and waste of effort to you. You can only please God through Jesus Christ.

First, it is necessary that His blood cover your sins. Then, you must have His righteousness imparted to you by grace through faith. Then, if your life is to count, if anything you do is to matter, it must be accomplished in and through His Spirit at work in you.

Give your flesh a vote of no-confidence and let Jesus Christ on the throne of your life once and for all. All else is loss.

Christ Jesus, My Lord

“… I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord …” - Philippians 3:8

 Nothing is of greater value than knowing Jesus. He is the very essence of all that is good and excellent. He is life and love and He is the center of all things. He is Christ Jesus, my Lord.

He is Christ, born at the right moment in the right place, He is God’s agent of redemption. He is Messiah, which is what the word, ‘Christ’ means. He comes as the fulfillment of an ancient promise by a God who never forgets.

He is Jesus. Everything about Him, His name, His character, His life, His death, and His resurrection as well as His words and deeds speak boldly the meaning of that name: God Saves.

He is mine – MY Lord. In a very personal and intimate way, He is all that He is to me and is the object of my love, devotion, and faith. He is mine and I am His.

He is Lord and that means He is Master and He is God. The extent to which I allow Him to rule my heart and life is the extent to which I find real success in the Christian life. Because He is Lord and MY LORD. His status does not require ratification from me, but my relationship with Him demands that I acknowledge Him for who He is.

Lord Jesus, You are my all in all. Nothing compares with You. You are my Savior and only in You do I have hope. You are the Messiah, the fulfillment of prophecy. You are the Lord and You are my Lord. Rule my heart today. Dismiss all the competition for my loyalty and devotion. Renew my mind with such a profound vision of You, that everything else that vies for my attention will show itself as rubbish. Nothing I have ever accomplished or valued is of any worth except that which I have found in You. Be glorified in my heart today. Amen.

The Cross, the Loss, the Gain

 (Philippians 3:8-9)  Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ, And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith:

“All the vain things that charmed me most, I sacrifice them to His blood.” goes a verse from the great hymn, “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross.”

The cross changes our perspective on everything. The knowledge of Jesus Christ enlightens all other knowledge. The tables are all turned. Truth emerges from the obscurity of our prejudicial thinking. All that we have cherished and pursued is seen in the light of His excellency and we count all earthly laurels as loss.

We stand at some distance from the cross on Palm Sunday and even on Maundy Thursday and Good Friday. Separated by time and geography, we might think ourselves unscathed by the reality of its severity. But the regal reality of the cross cannot be negated. It surpasses all things.

All of our boasting comes to nothing. Our pride melts. Our arrogance wilts away. Our righteousness is of no value. All that matters is to be found in Him, fully identified with His death and resurrection, completely overwhelmed by His sacrifice, His righteousness imputed to us vicariously through faith.

Lift up the palm branches and wave them with all your strength. Welcome Him as He rides along the corridors of your life, the highways and byways of your realm. He comes to reign and He is all in all.

All that you possess in your own strength is worthless. All that He has and is, He offers you.

“Were the whole realm of nature mine,

That were a present far to small.

Love so amazing, so divine

Demands my soul, my life, my all.”

The Power of His Resurrection

 (Philippians 3:10-11)That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death; If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead.

“That I may know Him!” Those words ring out through the centuries and sink deeply into our hearts evoking the most poignant cry of a believer’s soul; “I want to know You, Lord.”

More and more and more, I want to know Him. Anything less is nothingness. Anything more is unnecessary.

I want to know the power of His resurrection, even if that power is known only in the fellowship of His sufferings.

If He were in the grave, we could not know Him. If He had merely passed away and stayed away, there would be no basis for hope. But alas, He is risen and we may experience His victory.

I want to experience the fullness of His presence in my life, by any means.

I want to be made conformable to His death because there are those lingering remnants of my sin in me that must go if I am to be fully alive. Death must do its work in me that I might also rise from the ashes of despair.

I want to conform to His death because there is nothing of that old life worthy to bring over into the new. By death I am made free without actually dying. I can stand with Him as He stood with me and be liberated from all that would have destroyed me.

Because He lives, everything is different. Because He has been raised from death, I can live forever. Because He is alive, I can know Him and experience all that resurrection means in my own life

And so, we exclaim with joy and anticipation, with assurance and conviction this glorious day:

The Lord is risen! He is risen indeed!”

 

 

Philippians, meditations from “The Confidence Factor.”

Scriptures: New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.