Psalm 118:1-24: The Strength of God's Hands On Ours

Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever.

Let Israel say: “His love endures forever.” Let the house of Aaron say: “His love endures forever.” Let those who fear the Lord say: “His love endures forever.”

When hard pressed, I cried to the Lord; he brought me into a spacious place. The Lord is with me; I will not be afraid. What can mere mortals do to me? The Lord is with me; he is my helper. I look in triumph on my enemies.

It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in humans. It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in princes. All the nations surrounded me, but in the name of the Lord I cut them down. They surrounded me on every side, but in the name of the Lord I cut them down. They swarmed around me like bees, but they were consumed as quickly as burning thorns; in the name of the Lord I cut them down. I was pushed back and about to fall, but the Lord helped me. The Lord is my strength and my defense; he has become my salvation.

Shouts of joy and victory resound in the tents of the righteous: “The Lord’s right hand has done mighty things! The Lord’s right hand is lifted high; the Lord’s right hand has done mighty things!” I will not die but live, and will proclaim what the Lord has done. The Lord has chastened me severely, but he has not given me over to death. - Psalm 118:1-18

"When hard pressed, I cried to the Lord; he brought me into a spacious place." There is a certain point in everyones' life where there is nothing you can do. For whatever reason, you are brought to a place where you can do nothing and you fail. Your resources are insufficient, your strength is weak, your options are reduced to zero, your friends are gone, your prayers unanswered. When this happens, you prepare yourself for the worst: the consequences of bad choices or bad situations come fully to fruition.

But sometimes...but sometimes it just works out. It just resolves. New resources materialize, strength rejuvenates, options unexpectedly multiply, friends stand up for you and prayers are answered. But why? We could try to take credit. We look for reasons why we are responsible for things turning out ok. We could try to say it is because we are resilient or good or lucky or have good karma. But in our heart of hearts, we know we had nothing to do with it.

When this happens, I think it is God giving us a chance to recognize him, his care, his strength. Sure, we could wave it off and act like it was nothing--a nothing that removes meaning from the whole universe. Or we could see it for what it is, God's intervention. And recognizing that these happened because of a person who cares reframes the supposedly random aspects of our lives.

Then if we start working back from these extreme cases, when we are desperate, we can get a vision of how God is involved in the many small graces we receive. That it's not just when we are at the end of our rope that God appears, but also in the smaller moments and decisions where we found a way forward, not realizing it was the same God who saw us through. Yes, tradgedy still happens, but when it does or doesn't we can see the caring hand of God sustaining us. We thought it was the strength of our hands, but it was really the strengh of God's hands resting on ours

Acts 10:34-43: Being OK With Having The Same Grace As Them

Then Peter began to speak: “I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism but accepts from every nation the one who fears him and does what is right. You know the message God sent to the people of Israel, announcing the good news of peace through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all. You know what has happened throughout the province of Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John preached—how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and how he went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was with him.

“We are witnesses of everything he did in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They killed him by hanging him on a cross, but God raised him from the dead on the third day and caused him to be seen. He was not seen by all the people, but by witnesses whom God had already chosen—by us who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one whom God appointed as judge of the living and the dead. All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.” - Acts 10:34-43

 "I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism" Who is God trying to save? We make a mistake when we think that because we get the news first that we are now in a special position of privilege. This is sometimes done very consciously. For example: when James and John tried to secure a special place on the left and right hand of Jesus in eternity because they were earlier than the others who had come to believe in Jesus. (I wonder what Peter thought about being demoted, since he was also one of the earliest)

Sometimes it is not done so deliberately but it is common and subtle. I call it "This sin, when solved, will be simple." We all struggle with being godly and we struggle with sins. Some of those sins are more obvioius to other people and some of them are between us and God and no one else may know at all. But God is gracious and helps us to make us intensely aware of that sin and guides us and provides us the strength perhaps to conquer it. And we look and that whole journey as precious, full of setbacks and small victories. But heaven help someone else who has similar problems in their spiritual journey on their way to a fuller, richer relationship with God. We are often not sympathetic and are often critical. "How could you do that?" and "How could you be so stupid?" and "What happened to your willpower?" and "Coward!"

In this story, Peter has realized something. He has realized that his own people have killed the Messiah and he has denied that same Messiah and there are many "from every nation" who God is looking favorably upon who "fears him and does what is right" Yes, the Jews were the special people of Israel through whom the prophets spoke. But that wasn't the limit of God's plan. Other people could also call Jesus the Messiah and follow him and God would be happy to have them also, even if they didn't have the special law and special diet and special history. 

I realize that I am also in the "This sin, when solved, will be simple" camp. I tend to have trouble understanding why people struggle with various sins and addictions just because I don't struggle. And I tend to minimize the struggles I do have as "reasonable" problems that every "normal" person would have. So I need forgiveness for that attitude that makes the spiritual journey that other people are on less acceptable. It's OK to have the same grace as them, even on a different journey. I need to give the same grace that I have received. 

Psalm 121: It Is No Bother To Watch Over Us

I lift up my eyes to the mountains—where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.

He will not let your foot slip—he who watches over you will not slumber; indeed, he who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.

The Lord watches over you—the Lord is your shade at your right hand; the sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon by night.

The Lord will keep you from all harm—he will watch over your life; the Lord will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore. - Psalm 121

 "My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth." There is a shift from the first two verses of this psalm and the next six verses. The psalm was a song sung by pilgrims heading up to worship in Jerusalem. Each of the mountains around were "high places" that were often mentioned in the rest of the Old Testament as places where people had traditionally tried offering sacrifices to petition God--or a god--for help. The psalmist testifies how the God who made the earth, the mountain and the heavens had helped him and in the remaining six verses he says that same help is available to the rest of his people.

I realize that sometimes I have a slightly different picture of God in my head--even though I wouldn't say it out loud--a picture of God who needs to be actively "petitioned" or "pleaded with" or "begged" or "bargained with" before he will act on behalf of me or his people. As if he's busy doing other important business and we need to raise our hand to signal that we need some special help. 

But when I read these verses, it doesn't seem like it is such a bother for God to act for us. In fact, it says "he will watch over your life; the Lord will watch over your coming both now and forevermore" When it comes to his children, his default posture is watchfulness while my own tends towards forgetfulness. God has enough bandwidth and enough care that it is no bother to watch over his children and that is really warming for me to know that God thinks that way about me.

John 3:1-17: Figuring It Out Is As Likely As Being Born Again

Now there was a Pharisee, a man named Nicodemus who was a member of the Jewish ruling council. He came to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the signs you are doing if God were not with him.”

Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.”

“How can someone be born when they are old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely they cannot enter a second time into their mother’s womb to be born!”

Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”

“How can this be?” Nicodemus asked.

“You are Israel’s teacher,” said Jesus, “and do you not understand these things? Very truly I tell you, we speak of what we know, and we testify to what we have seen, but still you people do not accept our testimony. I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things? No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven—the Son of Man. Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.”

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. - John 3:1-17

 You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’  This is the most amazing thing that Jesus says in his discussion with Nicodemus. How could Nicodemus not be surprised? Jesus tells him that the thing which is necessary to see the kingdom of God is something that literally doesn't ever happen. People are not born again. They are born once and then they die. 

But I think that is the point of what Jesus is saying: seeing the kingdom of God is not gained by an incremental change in the way we live. It is not a "try a little bit harder and you'll get it" sort of problem. Seeing the kingdom of God requires a reworking of our soul at a fundamental level and it is not a change that we engineer ourselves. We can't get there from here. God's Spirit changes in ways that are outside the scope of our imagination or capabilities. 

Nicodemus had lived in the world of the Pharisees who thought they had a path to the kingdom of God if the people of God would just try a little bit harder and they would pass the threshold of holiness which would permit the kingdom of God to be established. Tim lives in a world of Christians and non-Christians who think that a path exists to the kingdom of God if we would just try a little harder or work a little smarter so that we would pass the threshold of holiness which would permit us to get to a stable, good place in our lives. Sometimes I think that my little kingdom would be better if I was just smarter or less selfish or richer or (fill in the blank). But Jesus says throw that out and let the Spirit do a reboot based on God's doing it his way. And he won't necessarily fill me in on how that's going to go. And I guess that I have to wait and see rather than trying to force it in my preferred direction. As Jesus said, The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.

Haiku March 21-May 22

It doesn't sit right
Can't nail it down exactly
But it unsettles.

The day stretches long,
What to do with extra hours?
Maybe sit and dream.

The lone bird sings out
Into the stillness of night.
Not fearing the cat.

Let decisions go
Let me see how they turn out.
Then to choose again.

Writing ideas
Out fully takes so much work.
It takes too much time.

Romans 4:1-17: I Have Nothing But What Christ Gave Me

What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh, discovered in this matter? If, in fact, Abraham was justified by works, he had something to boast about—but not before God. What does Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.”

Now to the one who works, wages are not credited as a gift but as an obligation. However, to the one who does not work but trusts God who justifies the ungodly, their faith is credited as righteousness. David says the same thing when he speaks of the blessedness of the one to whom God credits righteousness apart from works:

“Blessed are those whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is the one whose sin the Lord will never count against them.”

Is this blessedness only for the circumcised, or also for the uncircumcised? We have been saying that Abraham’s faith was credited to him as righteousness. Under what circumstances was it credited? Was it after he was circumcised, or before? It was not after, but before! And he received circumcision as a sign, a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. So then, he is the father of all who believe but have not been circumcised, in order that righteousness might be credited to them. And he is then also the father of the circumcised who not only are circumcised but who also follow in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised.

It was not through the law that Abraham and his offspring received the promise that he would be heir of the world, but through the righteousness that comes by faith. For if those who depend on the law are heirs, faith means nothing and the promise is worthless, because the law brings wrath. And where there is no law there is no transgression.

Therefore, the promise comes by faith, so that it may be by grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham’s offspring—not only to those who are of the law but also to those who have the faith of Abraham. He is the father of us all. As it is written: “I have made you a father of many nations.” He is our father in the sight of God, in whom he believed—the God who gives life to the dead and calls into being things that were not. - Romans 4:1-17

 "For if those who depend on the law are heirs, faith means nothing and the promise is worthless, because the law brings wrath. And where there is no law there is no transgression." 

It is funny how religious people treat the law in a way that is different from the law in the rest of our lives. In normal life, we don't gain credits by obeying the law, only demerits. That is, there is no way to earn favor by obeying the law. I don't get a gold star for driving by obeying the law. All I can do is avoid getting a ticket when I transgress the law. 

So what are religious people hoping? They are hoping that they don't get sufficient demerits that will get demoted from the reward offered the most righteous group. That is, they are hoping for a future in spite of the penalties associated with the laws they have broken.  They hope that their mistakes can be wiped out with some sufficiently large act of penance so that what they have done wrong is erased or at least covered up. That is: they have piles of demerits and hope that they somehow can reduce or hide parts of that pile. Or, as the Old Testament puts it, we need the mercy of God. We fail, and because of God's pity, he gives us what we don't deserve. 

But, as Paul says, the law isn't designed to prove our righteousness, but to show us our sinfulness.  In the same way that traffic laws aren't designed to show that we are good drivers but catch bad drivers.  

One way that we try to convert law-following into merit is by comparing ourselves to other sinners. We rig the ranking system so that we come out ahead of at least some other poor sinners because we maintain confidence that God isn't going to condemn everyone so as lone as we make the percentile that is above the cut off point for eternity, we're ok. Or, to put it another way, we think ourselves as good drivers if we never get pulled over by police. Even if we try to become perfect drivers, obeying every law and even avoid circumstances where we might accidentally disobey a law ("drive 50 so that you never accidentally exceed the speed limit of 55"), we are not getting closer to God.

I have always been a rule follower and have silently critiqued those who don't follow rules. But doing this put me at risk of nullifying the grace of God in my life, by thinking I was better than others and never fully accepting the full extent of God's love for me. "I don't need him like that person needs him." What a lie! I have nothing except what Christ gave me. 

1 Corinthians 1:18-31: Only He Is The Solution

For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written: “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.”

Where is the wise person? Where is the teacher of the law? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe. Jews demand signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength.

Brothers and sisters, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him. It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. Therefore, as it is written: “Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord.” - 1 Corinthians 1:18-31

"For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God." One of the common strategies for politicians when they are being attacked is to engage in 'mud slinging' - Find any issue-old, weak or untrue but plausible-and accuse your opponent publicly and repeatedly so that the truth and the justice is obscured by the 'filth'. 

And in an environment of many 'gods'-each god had a full bag of muck to sling around, arguments to show the weakness, foolishness and stupidity of opposing deities so that their faithful adherents could rest confident in the superiority of their beliefs. When Christianity came on the scene, they pulled out their book of the ridiculous that they'd been using on the Jews, dusted it off and retooled it for Jesus. They threw out their old skepticism about the unbelievable "invisible God" and exchanged it for ridicule of the crucified Messiah.

Crucifixion wasn't just about a painful death. but it was also shameful. And if the gods of the pagan world wanted anything, it was preeminence and glory.  Most wise. Most powerful. 

Here were the Christians celebrating a loser--not just a failed human being but an executed god who didn't really accomplish much, wandered in the back corners of the empire, betrayed or abandoned by his followers and then disappeared. So they dismissed Jesus as irrelevant, to join other religious figures on the trash heap of history.

But it was in this anonymity and the weakness that God worked his miracle. Why? So that “Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord.” Everyone was searching for wisdom and power--how to control the world. In Jesus, God showed them different and in doing so, he also gave them a glimpse of his real character--the God who let himself be confined in a limited body and killed because he loved the people. 

Sometimes I think I have an idea about how God works and what he's going to do in the situation. I get this idea by first tossing out all of the bad ideas and the ideas which have obvious flaws. My solution often comes down to getting more influence and power and intelligence and smarts. Then I read passages like this and realize that I'm probably looking in the wrong place because I am discounting God who does his best work in people and situations where only he is the solution.