Psalm 4: He Doesn't Go Back

Answer me when I call to you, my righteous God. Give me relief from my distress; have mercy on me and hear my prayer.

How long will you people turn my glory into shame? How long will you love delusions and seek false gods? Know that the Lord has set apart his faithful servant for himself; the Lord hears when I call to him.

Tremble and do not sin; when you are on your beds, search your hearts and be silent. Offer the sacrifices of the righteous and trust in the Lord.

Many, Lord, are asking, “Who will bring us prosperity?” Let the light of your face shine on us. Fill my heart with joy when their grain and new wine abound.

In peace I will lie down and sleep, for you alone, Lord, make me dwell in safety. - Psalm 4

When people are doing well-healthy, finances ok, relationships ok--other people who are watching just assume that they must be "doing something right." Like the people in this Psalm: "Who will bring us prosperity?" At the hint of prosperity, suddenly they are devout follows...of someone. 

But it turns out that success is a poor indicator of whether you have found the right god to follow. "How long will you love delusions and seek false gods?" It appears in this psalm that the leader is in trouble. The people seem to be having doubts and the God in whom the leader professed confidence is losing the popularity vote. Things aren't going in the direction that people assume would indicate God's favor, so they want a change in management.

But every other god, no matter how promising, will always end in disappointment, because only God has the real power to guarantee things. That's why the author of this psalm seeks to secure God's agreement on things, because once God says it, he doesn't go back.

Acts 3:12-20: Chapter 2 Depends on Chapter 1

When Peter saw this, he said to them: “Fellow Israelites, why does this surprise you? Why do you stare at us as if by our own power or godliness we had made this man walk? The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified his servant Jesus. You handed him over to be killed, and you disowned him before Pilate, though he had decided to let him go. You disowned the Holy and Righteous One and asked that a murderer be released to you. You killed the author of life, but God raised him from the dead. We are witnesses of this. By faith in the name of Jesus, this man whom you see and know was made strong. It is Jesus’ name and the faith that comes through him that has completely healed him, as you can all see.

“Now, fellow Israelites, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did your leaders. But this is how God fulfilled what he had foretold through all the prophets, saying that his Messiah would suffer. Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord, and that he may send the Messiah, who has been appointed for you—even Jesus - Acts 3:12-20

Here is my summary of what Peter said: People of Israel, you are watching Act 2 of this drama and you really shouldn't be surprised at what is going on. You must have been sleeping or come in late for Act 1, but that was where the action really was when Jesus, the author of life, was killed by you, the audience. This whole healing is just Act 2, the natural follow on to all the stuff that happened in Act 1. And if Act 1 and Act 2 aren't just a bad Hallmark drama, then you should really change your lives and start your new life as Act 3 of this story. What does that make me, reading this story? Probably Act 1,000, a spin-off, but still all based on what happened back in Act 1.

Luke 24:13-49

Now that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem. They were talking with each other about everything that had happened. As they talked and discussed these things with each other, Jesus himself came up and walked along with them; but they were kept from recognizing him.

He asked them, “What are you discussing together as you walk along?”

They stood still, their faces downcast. One of them, named Cleopas, asked him, “Are you the only one visiting Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days?”

“What things?” he asked.

“About Jesus of Nazareth,” they replied. “He was a prophet, powerful in word and deed before God and all the people. The chief priests and our rulers handed him over to be sentenced to death, and they crucified him; but we had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel. And what is more, it is the third day since all this took place. In addition, some of our women amazed us. They went to the tomb early this morning but didn’t find his body. They came and told us that they had seen a vision of angels, who said he was alive. Then some of our companions went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but they did not see Jesus.”

He said to them, “How foolish you are, and how slow to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Did not the Messiah have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?” And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.

As they approached the village to which they were going, Jesus continued on as if he were going farther. But they urged him strongly, “Stay with us, for it is nearly evening; the day is almost over.” So he went in to stay with them.

When he was at the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them. Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him, and he disappeared from their sight. They asked each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?”

They got up and returned at once to Jerusalem. There they found the Eleven and those with them, assembled together and saying, “It is true! The Lord has risen and has appeared to Simon.” Then the two told what had happened on the way, and how Jesus was recognized by them when he broke the bread.

While they were still talking about this, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.”

They were startled and frightened, thinking they saw a ghost. He said to them, “Why are you troubled, and why do doubts rise in your minds? Look at my hands and my feet. It is I myself! Touch me and see; a ghost does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have.”

When he had said this, he showed them his hands and feet. And while they still did not believe it because of joy and amazement, he asked them, “Do you have anything here to eat?” They gave him a piece of broiled fish, and he took it and ate it in their presence.

He said to them, “This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms.”

Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. He told them, “This is what is written: The Messiah will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance for the forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.” - Luke 24:13-49

 How to believe something that you fundamentally knew was not possible? The only evidence you have is that someone told you that there were indications something had happened and other people told you it did happen. From an experiential point of view, those who die are dead. From a theological perspective, those who die are dead. From a practical point of view, those who die are not coming back. From an emotional perspective, it was time to move through the seven stages of grief and move on. But things were niggling at them. The story told by the women who went to the tomb. The story of the disciples who went to the tomb. Then the Emmaus duo and Simon say that they saw him. Then Jesus shows up. Even though you are happy, perhaps you are hallucinating or dreaming or sick in the head or seeing a ghost. What would I do in this situation? Would we recognize Jesus and be willing to say so? Or would we put it down to my own misunderstanding and this miss the truth of our own experience. 

1 Corinthians 5:6-8: Advocating Almost Any Sin

Your glorying is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? Therefore purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, since you truly are unleavened. For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us. Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

When does tolerance go too far? We want to be seen as tolerant, understanding and wise in the ways that the world works. We want people who live in sin to feel like they can find a place of acceptance in the,  church. After all, didn't Jesus himself dine with tax collectors and sinners?  Look! How accepting we are! Not judgmental at all!

But where does it stop? If the church accepts behavior that even non-Christians find repulsive, how easy it is to justify--not just justify, but be proud of--almost any sin. At that point, we are indistinguishable from the world because we effectively advocating that sin. 

"...you must not associate with anyone who claims to be a brother or sister but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or slanderer, a drunkard or swindler." (1 Cor. 5:11)

So we don't play with these things or wink at these things, but call them out for the destructive things that they are.

Isaiah 25:6-9: Negentropy Defines Our Eternal Life

On this mountain the Lord Almighty will prepare a feast of rich food for all peoples, a banquet of aged wine—the best of meats and the finest of wines.

On this mountain he will destroy the shroud that enfolds all peoples, the sheet that covers all nations; he will swallow up death forever. The Sovereign Lord will wipe away the tears from all faces; he will remove his people’s disgrace from all the earth. The Lord has spoken.

In that day they will say, “Surely this is our God; we trusted in him, and he saved us. This is the Lord, we trusted in him; let us rejoice and be glad in his salvation.” - Isaiah 25:6-9

Benjamin Franklin once famously said, "In this world nothing is certain except death and taxes". We delay taxes until the last possible day, we avoid taxes with deductions and tax shelters, we want our taxes to go to things we are think are important. In a similar fashion, we try to stave off death or even the appearance of death. We avoid death. We want our death to mean something. Death's inevitability casts a long shadow, pronouncing a conclusion to every endeavor with finality.

In these verses, Isaiah paints a strange scene, saying "The Lord Almighty will prepare a feast of rich food for all peoples" who are all dead, covered with a shroud-"a cloth placed over or around a dead body". If someone were to do that we would call it morbid and wasteful and bizarre.

Unless it is God, who "will destroy the shroud...he will swallow up death forever." The inevitable is not so inevitable after all because God. And because "the Lord has spoken" we are confronted not with the grinding, wearing down entropy of death but with the wonder and gladness of life. We have grown up living in avoidance, when the removal of shroud allows living in the abundance from God. 

Negentropy is the opposite of entropy, it is the process of things because more ordered or organized. Science terms this as a temporary state that exists before entropy starts. God says that it is the permanent state of those who are his people. I want to see what that looks like.

 

John 3:14-21: Rescue from Our Own Testimoy

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. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God. - John 3:14-21

I think that people are not condemned by God so much as condemned by the standard that they have professed. We all have some mental red lines that we use to determine if something is good or bad. Then because we are unreliable in and of ourselves, we find that we have crossed that red line.  We stand condemned already. God passes judgement using the evidence that we hand to him. 

Paul asks: "you, then, who teach others, do you not teach yourself? You who preach against stealing, do you steal? You who say that people should not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? You who boast in the law, do you dishonor God by breaking the law?" (Rom. 2:21-23)

Maybe we claim that we know of no law or commandment that we disobey and are therefore innocent. I think that the judgement seat of Christ will be a replay of our words, deeds and thoughts to the jury of the saints. "so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God." It will be our own indisputable testimony in evidence against ourselves. But those who believe escape the condemnation because we agree with God that we need the rescue.

Ephesians 2:1-10: Discovered All the Good We Can Do

As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath. But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. - Ephesians 2:1-10

Paul wants to draw out the clear difference between who we were and what we deserved, who we are and what we received and who we will be and what we can do.

We were "dead in our transgressions" and "deserving of wrath". Without the leadership of Christ in our lives, our default setting is to follow the ways of this world and its ruler who leads us into his path of disobedience.

We are "alive with Christ" and "seated with him in the heavenly realms" because of his great love for us. It isn't something we work for ourselves or something that we bribe God to get or something that we extort from him, it is a gift--freely given.

We will be doing "good works" and witnessing the full extent of his "handiwork", the "incomparable riches of his grace" because that's what God has "prepared in advance for us to do."  We certainly weren't created to lounge about on clouds in heaven. Where's the challenge in that? No, we were created to discover all the good that we can do now that we are redeemed

Psalm 107:1-3,17-22: Redeemed Consequences

Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever. Let the redeemed of the Lord tell their story—those he redeemed from the hand of the foe, those he gathered from the lands, from east and west, from north and south.

Some became fools through their rebellious ways and suffered affliction because of their iniquities. They loathed all food and drew near the gates of death. Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and he saved them from their distress. He sent out his word and healed them; he rescued them from the grave. Let them give thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for mankind. Let them sacrifice thank offerings and tell of his works with songs of joy. - Psalm 107:1-3,17-22

We don't always get the result that can be logically tied to our actions. Actions have consequences. The odds would often predict a different result. Sometimes we expect better. The well-intentioned effort by us doesn't work out and we are left empty handed. Sometimes we expect worse. The petty words spoken or the lazy try seems to work out well and we are left with unexpected blessing. But that's why we live life, leaving the outcome in the hands of God.

It is the surprise happy outcome that fills out the meaning of "redeemed". Based on our foolish actions, our future had been mortgaged by our rebellious ways and now the time has come for the consequences.  When we realize how we have been, sadness and hopelessness sets in "they loathed all food and drew near the gates of death.". But then someone steps in and pays the karmic debt and we are left suddenly free. 

How often I have benefited this rescue? Jesus kept from me the natural, logical result of my own stupidity and wrong-headedess. And I know it is stupid and I am so worried about how bad things are going to be because of it. Then Jesus steps in  and lifts the burden from me. I can breathe and am so grateful. This is what it means to be "redeemed"

2 Corinthians 4:3-6: The Invisible Gorilla

And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. For what we preach is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ. - 2 Corinthians 4:3-6

The light is there but we cannot see. There is a term for things which are clearly visible, but which cannot be seen: inattention blindness, which is "a failure to notice unexpected but perceptible stimuli in a visual scene while one's attention is focused on something else in the scene." The most famous example of this was a study done at Harvard University where "six people-three in white shirts and three in black shirts-pass basketballs around. While you watch, you must keep a silent count of the number of passes made by the people in white shirts. At some point, a gorilla strolls into the middle of the action, faces the camera and thumps its chest, and then leaves, spending nine seconds on screen. Would you see the gorilla?" In the study, half of observers did not see the gorilla. It was, effectively, an invisible gorilla.

How could "God's glory displayed in the fact of Christ" not register in an environment of darkness? Isn't God so obvious? These verses attribute this blindness to the "god of this age" (the devil) which prevents us from seeing that which is projected in front of us. But what if the "veil" by which our vision is just a masterful piece of misdirection, a series of subtle or not so subtle ploys to direct our focus--our attention--on something else busy but inconsequential so that when God does appear we are busy trying to get him out of the way so we can count balls being passed. 

Lord, obscure the unimportant and bring Jesus into sharper focus so we can operate on the basis of reality, not on the basis of what draws our easily attracted attention.

Psalm 50:1-6: The Clear View of the Fire's Aftermath

The Mighty One, God, the Lord, speaks and summons the earth from the rising of the sun to where it sets. From Zion, perfect in beauty, God shines forth. Our God comes and will not be silent; a fire devours before him, and around him a tempest rages. He summons the heavens above, and the earth, that he may judge his people: “Gather to me this consecrated people, who made a covenant with me by sacrifice.” And the heavens proclaim his righteousness, for he is a God of justice. - Psalm 50:1-6

Around castles and other defensive fortifications, the land would always be cleared up to the distance of a bow shot so that the defenders could have a clear view of anyone who approached.  As cities grew up around castles, the view was no longer clear filled with the livelihood of those people who worked and supported the castle and no one had a way to see when the true situation. 

In this psalm, as God comes to judge his people, he wants a clear view, not for himself, but for others to witness what he has seen all the time. He is not quiet. His fire devours all that has grown up and obscures peoples' clear view.  They claim to be the "consecrated people" and the "covenant" people who pledged themself to him. The fire will show the truth, not to God who has known it all along, but to us and those around us.

Sometimes God does that in our lives. Fire reduces the clutter and we can see the truth. Those around us can see the truth. Then we get a clear view of how we stand with God, we cannot lie anymore or, if we do lie, we do it knowing full well that it is a lie. For a moment, we see what God sees and decide if we will agree with him--that is the test of a soul's confession. Heaven sees that God sees and decides if we are agreeing with him."And the heavens proclaim his righteousness, for he is a God of justice."

2 Kings 2:1-12: Knowing How to Live By The Time I Die

When the Lord was about to take Elijah up to heaven in a whirlwind, Elijah and Elisha were on their way from Gilgal. Elijah said to Elisha, “Stay here; the Lord has sent me to Bethel.” But Elisha said, “As surely as the Lord lives and as you live, I will not leave you.”

So they went down to Bethel. The company of the prophets at Bethel came out to Elisha and asked, “Do you know that the Lord is going to take your master from you today?” “Yes, I know,” Elisha replied, “so be quiet.” Then Elijah said to him, “Stay here, Elisha; the Lord has sent me to Jericho.” And he replied, “As surely as the Lord lives and as you live, I will not leave you.” So they went to Jericho.

The company of the prophets at Jericho went up to Elisha and asked him, “Do you know that the Lord is going to take your master from you today?” “Yes, I know,” he replied, “so be quiet.” Then Elijah said to him, “Stay here; the Lord has sent me to the Jordan.” And he replied, “As surely as the Lord lives and as you live, I will not leave you.” So the two of them walked on.

Fifty men from the company of the prophets went and stood at a distance, facing the place where Elijah and Elisha had stopped at the Jordan. Elijah took his cloak, rolled it up and struck the water with it. The water divided to the right and to the left, and the two of them crossed over on dry ground. When they had crossed, Elijah said to Elisha, “Tell me, what can I do for you before I am taken from you?”

“Let me inherit a double portion of your spirit,” Elisha replied. “You have asked a difficult thing,” Elijah said, “yet if you see me when I am taken from you, it will be yours—otherwise, it will not.”

As they were walking along and talking together, suddenly a chariot of fire and horses of fire appeared and separated the two of them, and Elijah went up to heaven in a whirlwind. Elisha saw this and cried out, “My father! My father! The chariots and horsemen of Israel!” And Elisha saw him no more. Then he took hold of his garment and tore it in two. - 2 Kings 2:1-12

There is something special about being with someone in their final moments. Everyone could see that the moment was coming for Elijah. Elijah saw it and didn't want to talk about it. Elisha saw it and didn't want to talk about it. The company of prophets in Bethel and Jericho saw it. You can feel Elisha's raw emotion as he watched that moment when Elijah left him, tearing his garment in two in grief.

It is doubly true when the person who is leaving is someone you have grown to respect and whose example you hope you can live up to. You wonder if there's enough in you to even live like that at all. You hope so, but you're not sure. So you ask God, even if you never chanced to ask them, if he can make you the sort of person they were. Or, if you are bold like Elisha, you ask for a double portion of his spirit. I think that Elijah was hesitant, saying it was difficult, because he knew truly what kind of person he was and what God had to bring him though to become the person standing beside Elisha. Character is not instant, it is hard earned. Maybe I'll know how to live by the time I die, God willing. 

1 Corinthians 8:1-13: The Idolatry of the Thing Denied

Now about food sacrificed to idols: We know that “We all possess knowledge.” But knowledge puffs up while love builds up. Those who think they know something do not yet know as they ought to know. But whoever loves God is known by God.

So then, about eating food sacrificed to idols: We know that “An idol is nothing at all in the world” and that “There is no God but one.” For even if there are so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth (as indeed there are many “gods” and many “lords”), yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we live; and there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we live.

But not everyone possesses this knowledge. Some people are still so accustomed to idols that when they eat sacrificial food they think of it as having been sacrificed to a god, and since their conscience is weak, it is defiled. But food does not bring us near to God; we are no worse if we do not eat, and no better if we do.

Be careful, however, that the exercise of your rights does not become a stumbling block to the weak. For if someone with a weak conscience sees you, with all your knowledge, eating in an idol’s temple, won’t that person be emboldened to eat what is sacrificed to idols? So this weak brother or sister, for whom Christ died, is destroyed by your knowledge. When you sin against them in this way and wound their weak conscience, you sin against Christ. Therefore, if what I eat causes my brother or sister to fall into sin, I will never eat meat again, so that I will not cause them to fall. - 1 Corinthians 8:1-13

We all have a history of sinning. There are triggers which lead us down patterns of behavior that we know are sinful yet seem unavoidable and distress us as reminders of our weakness. Those triggers are specific to our past. Only those closest to us may know us well enough to recognize the cause, only the effect.

Those who aren't close to us, may unintentionally stumble on something that triggers us and that can't be helped. And it isn't their fault. It is our relationship with God, after all. But if they know of something-something innocent in and of itself-something that they know is a problem and yet they still choose a that path, what is that? Is it not an abuse of the freedom we have? 

The hardest part of not choosing to exercise my rights is when "not choosing" happens over and over again. It is when my freedom is effectively denied by your repeated weakness. That is really frustrating. But if we focus on the one thing we are denied then we will forever be robbed of the joy of the ten thousand things are permitted. If our joy is tied to that thing, it has become an idol--a sad substitute for all of the generosity of God and a barrier between us and our neighbor. The one thing denied may be a way of God showing me more of himself and more of the beauty he has placed around me. 

 

 

Psalm 111: Sysadmin for 28 Decillion Organisms

Praise the Lord. I will extol the Lord with all my heart in the council of the upright and in the assembly.

Great are the works of the Lord; they are pondered by all who delight in them. Glorious and majestic are his deeds, and his righteousness endures forever. He has caused his wonders to be remembered; the Lord is gracious and compassionate. He provides food for those who fear him; he remembers his covenant forever.

He has shown his people the power of his works, giving them the lands of other nations. The works of his hands are faithful and just; all his precepts are trustworthy. They are established for ever and ever, enacted in faithfulness and uprightness. He provided redemption for his people; he ordained his covenant forever—holy and awesome is his name.

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; all who follow his precepts have good understanding. To him belongs eternal praise. - Psalm 111

It does not take me very long to be amazed by what God does. Really. As a computer programmer, I know how difficult it is to even to create even a relatively simple system running--and the universe is not a simple system. God does that effortlessly, like a sysadmin of an IT network who monitors and watches all things to keep them humming. "They are pondered by all who delight in them."

One of the ways that people try to understand God is to insist that his scope is narrow, as if he focuses on just a person, a people or a geographical scope. God does sharpen his vision sometimes, picking out a people from among the peoples. But that focus doesn't mean he has forgotten all of the rest or loses track of a nation, lets a clan drift away or let a family slip through the cracks. Focus is not a survival strategy for God--it is not of a way to conserve mental energy or to have enough headspace to track all of the ongoing checklist items.  No, his focus is a focus of favor not necessity--an intense regard for those he has chosen. That regard can be so intense that the people of Israel asked him to back off, as we saw in Deuteronomy.

God as sysadmin for 8 billion people and 28 decillion living organisms on earth (1 followed by 33 zeroes, 51.8% animal cited in the Science Journal, April 1992). "To him belong eternal praise."

Deuteronomy 18:15-20: Trying to Negotiate a Lesser Truth

The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your fellow Israelites. You must listen to him. For this is what you asked of the Lord your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly when you said, “Let us not hear the voice of the Lord our God nor see this great fire anymore, or we will die.”

The Lord said to me: “What they say is good. I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their fellow Israelites, and I will put my words in his mouth. He will tell them everything I command him. I myself will call to account anyone who does not listen to my words that the prophet speaks in my name. But a prophet who presumes to speak in my name anything I have not commanded, or a prophet who speaks in the name of other gods, is to be put to death.” - Deuteronomy 18:15-20

I guess this is a case of be careful what you ask for. Sometimes God can be too much. Moses had to go around veiled after speaking with God because his face shone so brightly. That is a tough way to live your everyday life: no one can look you in the eye. The people were even surprised that Moses survived.

So they asked and God said he would provide a prophet--essentially a second Moses--to stand as an intermediary between God and man and convey God's words to his people. The people all gave God and Moses the thumbs up. Some were thinking that this was great supernatural high, a mountaintop experience and now things could return to normal and they would return to their daily lives unmolested by sudden inbreakings of the supernatural.

But when God agreed to their request, he gave an alternative the ramifications of which they did not fully consider. Sure, they didn't have fire from heaven. but that was never the point. The point was the commandments. By making God's words come through Jesus as the prophet made them easier to hear but also easier to forgot. The words weren't going to be any less powerful or any less demanding. Note what God sayd: "I myself will call to account anyone who does not listen to my words that the prophet speaks in my name."  Sometimes we think we can negotiate a lesser settlement with God-a plea bargain. 

John said, "For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ." (John 1:17) Essentially saying, those words that were given on Sinai were the simple part. The complicated part is the grace and truth that come through Jesus.

Acts 19:1-7: Living in the Landscape of Grace

While Apollos was at Corinth, Paul took the road through the interior and arrived at Ephesus. There he found some disciples and asked them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?”

They answered, “No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.”

So Paul asked, “Then what baptism did you receive?”

“John’s baptism,” they replied.

Paul said, “John’s baptism was a baptism of repentance. He told the people to believe in the one coming after him, that is, in Jesus.” On hearing this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. When Paul placed his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they spoke in tongues and prophesied. There were about twelve men in all. - Acts 19:1-7

It would be a sad salvation if we only had repentance. Yes, we would truly recognize how had the things we had done were. It is like the hunger without the feast. Repentance is good for showing you how good God is and make you realize how much you long for the holiness of God and how much you lack that holiness. It can lead to life change, making you strive to attain that holiness with the strength within you, fueled by that sense of longing and that sense of guilt and opportunity lost. But it seems like a kind of losing cause, like you are pushing a giant boulder up a hill, trying to reach the very top but knowing realistically that at some point you will grow tired and your footing will slip and that boulder will roll right over you back down to the foot of the hill and then you must start over again, only this time with less strength--a strength that will eventually fade until it is overcome by death. 

But repentance isn't the end of the gospel story--instead it is just the beginning. The fresh wind of the Spirit and the rescue by the Messiah Jesus are for the life post-repentance. It is the life full of new opportunities, not based on avoiding regret but rather based on running fueled by gratitude. It is the new life, not just a grueling extension of the old life.  Repentance is key, because no recognition of the grace of God can fully come until we are willing to relinquish the past and accept that God's way is better. But repentance is not sufficient, because we must learn to live in the landscape of grace.

Psalm 29: There is the Storm and Then There is God

Ascribe to the Lord, you heavenly beings, ascribe to the Lord glory and strength. Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name; worship the Lord in the splendor of his holiness.

The voice of the Lord is over the waters; the God of glory thunders, the Lord thunders over the mighty waters. The voice of the Lord is powerful; the voice of the Lord is majestic.  The voice of the Lord breaks the cedars; the Lord breaks in pieces the cedars of Lebanon. He makes Lebanon leap like a calf, Sirion like a young wild ox. The voice of the Lord strikes with flashes of lightning. The voice of the Lord shakes the desert; the Lord shakes the Desert of Kadesh. The voice of the Lord twists the oaks and strips the forests bare. And in his temple all cry, “Glory!”

The Lord sits enthroned over the flood; the Lord is enthroned as King forever. The Lord gives strength to his people; the Lord blesses his people with peace. - Psalm 29

There were nights when we sat under our skylights and listened to the sound of rain in torrents pounding on the roof and the roar of the wind in fits and gusts assaulting the shade cloth on our patio with a high pitched whirring. In the Philippines, sheet metal roofing reverberated like a steel drum and you dare not look outside for fear of flying nails, branches and coconuts and rushing water invades the street, through rice fields and through the cement first floors of homes and offices.  

You imagine the raging typhoon force of the storm. But for every ounce of storm, there is a pound of power of the Lord. I join the people who, strengthened by the Lord and at peace in the storm, cry 'Glory!' There is the storm and then there is God.

Genesis 1:1-5: The Author of Beautiful

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.

And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness. God called the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day. - Genesis 1:1-5

What was God thinking back there in the beginning? There wasn't light. There wasn't darkness.  The Spirit was just hovering there over a vast roiling mass of nothing--no, not even nothing because that would allow me to measure its height, color, temperature and more, but it had none of that. It was the ultimate blank canvas--not just to paint and sculpt but fundamentally to speak. What brought order to the formless and substance to the empty and meaning to the meaningless were the words, "Let there be..." because they brought is to the is not. 

I have an unexpected emotional response to that phrase here in these few verses. How powerful are God's words! From the one who is and was and always will be--from the great "I am"  comes the verb "to be"--"let there be" That is uniquely God and uniquely beautiful. He spoke light and he took a moment to look at it and he had delight in it and he called it good. Why? Because God is good.  Sometimes just thinking about that moment when there was not and then there was and what was was good--makes me admire God because he is the author of beautiful.