When Little Becomes Much

The last two days our readings have featured stories about little that becomes much.  In Mark 6, we saw Jesus take table scraps and turn them into a meal for 5,000 people.  And today in Mark 7, we saw a woman humbly accept "scraps" from Jesus and have her daughter healed.  Both stories speak to the greatness of Jesus.

What strikes me is how different the attitudes of those around Jesus are in the two stories.  In the incident of the loaves and the fishes, the disciples cannot understand how the little that they have could be used to blessed others.  In the incident of the Gentile woman, the woman knows that even a little with Jesus will become a lot.  This Gentile outsider has more insight on Jesus than the Jewish men who had followed Jesus everywhere day and night.

I am glad to know that a little is a lot with Jesus.  Like the disciples, I don't have much to offer, but it is reassuring to know that Jesus can take the little that I have and do more with it than I ever could.  Like the woman, I cannot make grand claims upon by Jesus, but I can know that even scraps of Jesus' grace are more than sufficient for the needs I find in my life and my soul.  Praise God that with Jesus a little becomes a lot.

The Complete Job Description (Mark 3)

In Mark 3, Jesus is overwhelmed.  Verse 9 tells us that He has to retreat from land to boat just to escape the crush of the crowds who were coming to be healed by Him and to hear Him teach.  In verses 13-19, Jesus appoints 12 to help in the work.  He realizes that He cannot go it alone.

As I read Mark 3 and see Jesus appoint His disciples, the thing that strikes me is their job description.  Note carefully in verses 14-15 what Jesus appointed His disciples to do.  It says that Jesus appointed His disciples to be with Him, to preach, and to drive out demons.  Don't miss that first part of the job description.  I did the first time I read it.  I heard that Jesus sent them to preach and to drive out demons (the very things He was doing).  But I missed the first part of the description.  Not only were the disciples called to preach and to liberate people from spiritual bondage, but they were also called to simply be with Jesus, to see what He was doing and to learn from Him.

It is important that being with Jesus came before the preaching and the liberating.  Hearing and knowing Him is the vital precedent to all ministry.  Yet, so often I have a busy ministry day ahead, and I think, "I don't have time for a quiet time.  I have real work to do."  That is so wrongheaded.  Being with Jesus is the real work also.  It is the thing out of which the work preaching and the liberating flow.  Never forget that as a Christian ministry and life flow out of Jesus.  The first part of being a disciple is spending time with Him, knowing His will and His way.

Critics (Mark 2)

Critics- they are everywhere.  Even in the church.  It is amazing how some Christians will review the relationships that other Christians have with God as though they were were evaluating a movie or a piece of music.  In my almost 47 years in the church, I don't know how many times I have heard Christians comment on and evaluate the godliness of another.  Certainly as Christians, we are to encourage and admonish one another.  More mature believers should help those who are just starting in their faith.  But usually the barbs of religious criticism aren't offered with helpful intent.  And often those barbs seem to come from those who are watching rather than doing.

Take for example Mark 2.  In Mark's narrative, Jesus has just begun His ministry.  Already, though, the criticisms are coming.  Four times in this chapter the religious leaders question Jesus and His disciples about their behavior.  First, they criticize Jesus for forgiving sin.  Second, they don't like the company He keeps.  Third, they don't like His fasting schedule.  And finally, these religious leaders find Jesus' disciples' Sabbath observance less than stellar.  In this chapter, Jesus has healed a paralytic and He has successfully evangelized a group that wanted nothing to do with God.  Before that, He healed dozens of people in miraculous ways in Mark 1.  What have the religious leaders accomplished in ministry during this time?  They have filled the complaint box with criticisms of Jesus while contributing nothing positive to God's work on earth.        

How is your walk with God?  It is characterized by active ministry and participation in the work of God in calling people to Himself?  Or is it plagued by carping and criticism toward those who are doing the real work of the church?  Godliness isn't found in maintaining a list of rules that God Himself didn't endorse.  Godliness is found in ministering to people and in letting God's mercy toward human need rule the day.  Mingle with the sinners.  Stop shouting snide remarks with the sideline saints. 

Good News (Mark 1)

In Mark 1, Mark introduces the subject that he will be writing about.  He says that he will be writing about the "gospel about Jesus Christ, the Son of God."  Most of us know that Gospel means "Good News," but what really is the Good News about Jesus?  When I grew up in the church, I was taught that the Gospel equaled salvation.  In other words, the Gospel could be reduced to Jesus died for you so that your sins could be forgiven and you could live forever in heaven.  As a child, I understood the Gospel to be future oriented.

As we read through Mark, though, we will see that Jesus' teaching is often as present centered as it is future oriented.  And we will see that while the forgiveness of sins through Jesus' death is an absolutely essential part of the Good News, the Good News cannot be reduced to that.  Note in Mark 1, where the Gospel is introduced, there is almost nothing about heaven or the future.  Instead, the truth of the Good News is revealed in the authority with which Jesus teaches and heals.  Jesus is not just bring a future kingdom.  He is reigning very much in the present as well.  He is ushering a new experience of God and the Spirit, and He is demonstrating a love and compassion for the poor and the broken.

Did Jesus die for our sins and make atonement for us? Yes.  Is that Good News? Yes.  Does the Good News only shape our future?  No.  If we think so, that is our mistake.  Mark 1 makes it clear that the Good News about Jesus shapes and transforms our present world as well.

What A Difference a Day Makes (Matthew 28)

There can be no doubt that the resurrection accounts are the most challenging passages in all of the Gospels.  Whereas most of the parallel passages in the Gospels dovetail together rather nicely, the four resurrection passages are rather messy things that really defy facile harmonization.  I have seen a harmonization attempt that seeks to show that none of the four resurrection accounts contradicts the other, but one has to admit that in the end that effort is rather unconvincing.  I don't know what the resurrection passages do to our evangelical doctrines of Scripture, but I do know that they show a world turned upside down and transformed after Jesus comes back to life.  Matthew is not afraid to let us know that some doubted.  But he also is eager to let us know that for those who believed everything was gloriously transformed.  Think about it.  On Friday, Jesus was killed by a powerful political alliance that combined the Temple authorities with their usual enemies the Romans.   On Good Friday, it seemed that Jesus took on some powerful people and paid dearly.  Now, after the resurrection, Jesus says, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me."  On Good Friday, the disciples were in hiding.  Now, they have a mission to the world.  "Go and make disciples..."  On Good Friday, and the day that followed, the disciples were alone.  Jesus, with whom they had walked for three years, was taken from them.  Now, He is with them always "even to the end of the world." 

The events surrounding the resurrection defied easy historical description because they forever turned the world upside down.  Don't let the chaos of the events lead to doubt.  Instead, see the glorious transformation that is made in the lives of those who believe.

Why I Am Glad Not to Live in Old Testament Times (And Why It Has Almost Nothing to Do with Mold)

Very often, I have heard Christians say: "Boy am I glad that I don't live in Old Testament times."  Often, this declaration of fondness for our New Testament times comes after reading Leviticus or some other particularly dense an foreign section of Old Testament Law.  How happy we are that we don't have to slaughter a goat to worship God.  How happy we are that we don't have to have the priest inspect the mold on our shower wall.  How happy we are that we can wear clothes made from more than one type of fabric. Our joy at being New Testament Christians rather than Old Testament saints usually stems from freedom from regulation.  In regard to covenants, we are all conservatives, desirous of less regulation rather than more.

I agree with Christians who say "Boy am I glad that I don't live in Old Testament times."  I feel the same way.  But it is not just because the regulations are less.  It is also because the benefits are more. In Jeremiah 31, we get a summary of the difference between the Old and New Testaments.  Here, Jeremiah has a prophetic vision of what New Testament life under Christ will be like.  Jeremiah 31:31-34 says:

"'The time is coming,' declares the LORD, 'when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. 32 It will not be like the covenant I made with their forefathers when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they broke my covenant, though I was a husband to them, ' declares the LORD. 33 'This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time,' declares the LORD. 'I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. 34 No longer will a man teach his neighbor, or a man his brother, saying, 'Know the LORD,' because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest,' declares the LORD. 'For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more'" (NIV).   

Jeremiah tells us at least three ways that the New Covenant under which we live is unique from the old:

1. Our law is not external but internal.  The Lord says: "I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts."  Under the New Covenant, we have the Holy Spirit to change our hearts and our minds and our personality.  The Old Covenant came with no power to obey.  Through Christ's work, the New Covenant grants us the Holy Spirit.  He slowly changes our sinful nature so that we can respond to the law properly and have the power to obey. 

2. We know God in a personal way.  "No longer will a man teach his neighbor, or a man his brother, saying, 'Know the Lord,' because they will all know me from the last of them to the greatest."  In the Old Testament, the message was keep away from God.  Only one person (the high priest) on one day of the year (Yom Kippur) could enter into God's presence.  Now, the presence of God is with all His people every day, and we as a community and as individuals are called temples of His Holy Spirit.

3. We are forgiven.  "For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more."  Our righteousness is not rendered by obedience to the Law (which is good for us because we can't obey it).  Our righteousness is granted by God, in His grace, through the atoning sacrifice of Jesus.

I'm very happy that as a pastor I don't have to inspect the mold in people's showers.  But the joy of the New Testament isn't merely freedom from regulation.  It is instead the positive blessing of God's power, God's presence, and God's pardon as ministered through Jesus and the Holy Spirit.   

A Slow Go

The story of Joseph reminds us that progress in godliness is often slow but with persistence it does come.  At the start of Genesis 31, Jacob is once again doing what he does best-- acting deceitfully.  The author of Genesis doesn't want you to miss that truth.  He spells it out in 31:20.  You would think that after deceiving and being deceived, Jacob might have learned another means of doing business, but decades after first deceiving Esau, Jacob is stuck in the same pattern.

Yet, Genesis 32 provides hope that perhaps Jacob is beginning to learn.  While Jacob hid his departure from Laban, he sends messangers to let Esau know he is arriving.  Jacob is not going to try deceit here.  When Jacob hears that Esau is coming to meet him with a mighty force, he prays to God and pleads for his help rather than relying on his own craftiness and schemes.  Genesis 32 gives us some signs that Jacob may be growing up ever so slightly.

Spiritual progress is often not a sprint.  In our lives and in the lives of others, growth requires patience.  Praise God that He is long suffering, that  He gives us the chance to grow in grace and to learn all the lessons that He has for us.   

What Goes Around Comes Around

Genesis 29-30 reminds us that God is not only just but He also has a sense of humor.  Jacob arrives at Laban fresh off participating in deceiving his father by dressing like his sibling Esau.  In Genesis 29, Jacob is now deceived when Leah dresses like her sibling Rachel.  The same thing that Jacob perpetrated on Esau is now perpetrated on him.  This certainly provides a vivid example of the Golden Rule: 'Do unto others as you would have them do unto you."  It also reminds us of the Golden Rule's first corollary: "As you do unto others, it will be done unto you."  I wonder if Esau ever got to know the tale of how Jacob and Leah came to be married.  If he did, I'm sure it was one of his favorite stories.

 

It's All in the Timing

Genesis 27 reminds us that sin is very often a matter of timing.  What Jacob desires in Genesis 27 is not wrong.  He wants his father's blessing.  This is a legitimate desire because God had told Isaac and Rebekah that the blessing would belong to Jacob not Esau, even though Esau was older.  In desiring the blessing, Jacob only wants what he was promised would be his.  The problem is that Jacob goes about acquiring this right desire in the wrong way.  Rather than trusting in God and waiting for his timing, he goes ahead to take what he has been promised by his own cunning and devices (along with some help from mom).

Much sin comes out of improper timing.  Sex is a wonderful gift from God, but God reserves it for a certain time and relationship.  Having material things is not in and of itself wrong, but taking stealing or going into debt is not what God desires.  Wanting a good job to provide for our family is a good desire.  We should not, however, sabotage the careers of others for our gain.  Avoiding sin is not only about aligning our desires with God's desires.  It is also about trusting in Him to fulfill those desires rather than trying to claim God's promises on our own.   

Let Go, Let God

In Genesis 13, Abram shows that one does not to be self assertive to hold on to one's possessions and things.  When Lot's herdsmen quarrel with Abram's herdsmen, it would have been natural for Abram to select first as to where he would settle.  He was older than Lot.  He was probably richer and more powerful.  He was certainly head of the clan.  But Abram doesn't assert his rights.  He lets Lot choose where Lot will settle.  And when Lot chooses the best, there is no quarreling or squabbling.  Abram quietly moves to the lesser of the lands.  In response, God renews the promise that the land will belong to Abram.  Abram doesn't need to fight because He entrusts God to watch over him and all that belongs to him. 

We need to have the same attitude.  Our culture tells us to be self-assertive and take what belongs to us.  The Scriptures show us something different.  Rather than claiming our own rights, we can let go and trust God to bring about His purposes for us.

Flood and Faith

As start the story of the ark in Genesis 6, one of the questions many people have about the ark regards feasibility.  Could the story of the ark possibly be true?  Here is a website that provides one way of answering that question: 

AIG: Really a Flood?

We might not have to agree with each answer provided there, but the page is helpful in pointing out the erroneous assumptions of those who want to deny the flood all historicity. 

In Sunday School, we are studying Genesis based on the commentary of John Walton, a professor at Wheaton College Graduate School.  He provides a different take arguing that the words of Scripture allow for a more localized flood and that one does not have to believe in a worldwide flood to believe in the inspiration and inerrancy of Scripture.  I can't link to his commentary but it is available as a Kindle download for those who are really interested.

Both approaches show that the flood need not be the stumbling block to faith that some imagine it to be.

In the Beginning (Genesis 1-4)

Who am I?  Where do I come from?  Why am I here?  These are questions that all of us need to answer at some point.  We sometimes search for answers to these questions on an individual level. We quiz our parents and grandparents about our past.  We do genealogical research to find out where we are from.  We read books about the lands from which our forebearers emigrated.  But questions like who am I and where do I come from can't just be answered individually.  They have to be answered corporately as well.  As a human race, we have to wrestle with the broad question of who are we as humans?  Where do we come from?  Why are we here?

Genesis is an ancient text that wrestles with such questions.  It does not always do so with the clarity that we (post)moderns would like.  There is a tendency among us to come to Genesis searching for answers to scientific questions about human origins.  Those answers may not be found as readily as we would like (despite the insistence by some that those answers are clearly there).  The opening chapters are not scientific texts.  The questions that an Israelite wandering in the wilderness would have asked of Moses are not our own.  Yet, Genesis has some very important answers to the questions that we opened with.

Who are we?  We are humans created male and female by an Almighty God in His own image.  Thus, we are extremely valuable.  Our worth comes not from some innate perception of ourselves but rather the fact that we are God's handiwork made to reflect Him.

Where do we come from?  We come from a paradise given to us by God.  But we have fallen ancestors whose sin and disobedience put all of us in a tough spot where we also sin and fail to obey.  Our sin creates a difficult situation in this world.  Life is painful and hard.  Paradise is lost for now.  But in God, there is hope of redemption as God works even in the midst of evil to bring people back to Him.

Why are we here? We are to be agents of God's will and work in this world.  We are to carry about His purposes.  We are also here to enjoy one another in community, according to the rules and commands that God provided.

Time doesn't allow more to be said nor do I really have the space to identify how each of these ideas is found in the opening chapters of Genesis 4.  I hope that the origin of most of these ideas is obvious.  The key is that Genesis 1 and beyond is not just about science.  It also address our fundamental understanding of ourselves.  Without this fundamental understanding, it is hard to grasp or accept anything that follows in the Scriptures.  It is also hard to find the type of life that we want to have in God's creation.

Some Practical Advice

The great things about Proverbs is that it is a very practical book.  6:1-19 certainly demonstrates that reality.  In these verses, Solomon gives his son a seemingly random series of admonitions about life.  Yet, from the perspective of my 45 years, I can verify that each of them is extremely valuable:

1. Don't be collateral for anybody's loan (verses 1-5).  If you do pledge to be collateral, get out of the arrangement as quickly as possible.  Claim insanity.  Beg for mercy.  Do whatever you have to do to not be responsible for someone else's repayment.

2. Work hard (verses 6-11).  As someone once said, there is no substitute in life for hard work.  The ant is a little creature but it is wise in that it outworks its size and plans for the future. Laziness is overpowering and takes all we have.

3. Beware of people who are always scheming (verses 12-15).  One alternate to hard work is scheming.  People who scheme always end up in trouble.  Ask Bernie Madoff.

4. Don't be an agitator (verses 16-19).  When you see sin lists like the one in the verses in Proverbs, the last sin is usually the capper.  It's the thing to which the whole list is building.  Solomon's point?  There are a lot of really bad things to do in this world.  Dividing family and close friends is one of the worst. 

All very practical wisdom best learned at an early age.

Another Musical Meditation

Another musical meditation by a group that feels called of God to give voice to the
psalms through contemporary arrangements.  Psalm 148 by the Sons of Korah:

Extra Post (Psalm 137)

I was on vacation when we read Psalm 137 so I didn't get to post the following musical interpretation.  One of my favorite songs by Sons of Korah:

Upholding the Cause

I love verses 5-9 of Psalm 146.  They reveal the heart that God has for his world.  Those verses say:

Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob,
whose hope is in the Lord his God,
⁶ the Maker of heaven and earth,
the sea, and everything in them—
the Lord, who remains faithful forever.
⁷ He upholds the cause of the oppressed
and gives food to the hungry.
The Lord sets prisoners free,
⁸ the Lord gives sight to the blind,
the Lord lifts up those who are bowed down,
the Lord loves the righteous.
⁹ The Lord watches over the alien
and sustains the fatherless and the widow,
but he frustrates the ways of the wicked. (NIV, 1984)

 

Who's side is the Lord on?  He's on the side of the disenfranchised and the downtrodden.  He works to help those who have been beaten down by corruption and abuse of power.  He helps the alien (apparently legal or otherwise).  If that is what God does, should we do any less?  We need to have the same heart for people that God does, helping the broken and the weary.  It's what Jesus did.  It's what we should do too. 

 

Defeating Sin

Many times I will have people come to me and ask me as their pastor how they stand against sin and temptation.  Psalm 141 provides a good answer.  In verses 3-5, David writes:

Set a guard over my mouth, O Lord;
keep watch over the door of my lips.
⁴ Let not my heart be drawn to what is evil,
to take part in wicked deeds
with men who are evildoers;
let me not eat of their delicacies.

⁵ Let a righteous man^[a] strike me—it is a kindness;
let him rebuke me—it is oil on my head.
My head will not refuse it. (NIV, 1984)

 

 

How do we stand firm against sin?  These verses suggest two ways.  First, we must pray for God's help in fighting sin.  Often we make the mistake of thinking our willpower can beat temptation.  It cannot.  We need to pray that God would guard our mouths, our actions, or desires that we might stay true to Him.  Second, we must be willing to take correction from godly people.  This means setting up relationships of accountability with strong Christians who can tell us if we are going the wrong way. Being struck with correction and rebuke is not pleasant, but there is no way to fight against sin if we are not willing to be corrected. 

 

So what are two important keys to defeating sin?  God's power and God's people.

A Well-Timed Psalm

Our reading of Psalm 118 is aptly timed.  On the one hand, Psalm 118 is clearly intended to be a Psalm of thanksgiving and thus it is appropriate to consider at our Thanksgiving season.  The timeliness of this Psalm does not end there however.  I think Psalm 118 also gives us a message that is quite worthwhile in the light of our recent election.  Commentators have noted that the election shows how deeply divided our country is on political issues.  My own personal experience bares this out.  Almost everyone I know had a rather visceral reaction to the election results.  Some of my friends (the smaller number) rejoiced at President Obama's re-election.  They saw the granting of a second term as a sure sign that our nation was heading in a healthy and prosperous direction.  Other of my friends literally wept at President Obama's reelection, and they were not weeping tears of joy.  These friends couldn't have been more depressed if we had elected the Antichrist. (Some think we did).  My own election days thoughts are not going to be revealed here.  If you think you know which way I leaned on the basis of this blog post, you don't.  Both sides, though, could probably stand to remember the words of verses 8-9:

"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." 

 

I don't blame either side for having their emotions vested in the election of their candidate.  There is probably a virtue in having the strength of one's convictions.  But both sides need to remember that our hope is in the Lord not a prince (or a President).  Elections matter.  But their outcomes seem less significant when we remember that the King and King and Lord of Lords reigns eternally.  He is the One in whom our hope is placed.  Elections can never change that.



God Has Not Forgotten Us; Don't Forget Him

Like many of the Psalms, Psalm 115 is written in a time of trouble.  A careful reading of the Psalm suggests that Israel is going through some sort of trial, probably at the hands of a foreign enemy, and that God seems far off.  The enemies taunt Israel for the impotence of their God, while the people wonder where God is during this struggle.  The Psalmist though reminds the people that God has not forgotten them.  They should not forget him.  The Psalmist reminds Israel that it is in fact the gods of the enemies that are the impotent ones (vv. 4-8).  He also reminds them that while men "rule" on earth, God rules in heaven (vv.16) and thus He is the one truly in charge of Israel's circumstances.  Psalm 115 is designed to rally the nation.  It reminds them that in times of trouble they should trust God because God has not abandoned them.

The same lesson holds true for us as Christians today.  God has not abandoned us.  And so we should seek His glory not our own (v. 1).  We should trust in the Lord and know that He will bless us.  God doesn't forget us; we should not forget Him. 

One of These Things Is Not Like the Other

Psalms 105 and 106 are basically Psalms that are both about the same thing.  They both recall the history of Israel, particularly its exodus from Egypt.  Yet, the way they tell the stories is very different.  Psalm 105 places the emphasis on God's faithfulness.  As I read the Psalm, I thought to myself: "This is a pretty sanitized version of the Exodus.  You would have no idea that the people of Israel spent most of their trip to the Promised Land in rebellion."  I did not have that thought as I read Psalm 106.  There I wondered why God was even faithful to Israel as I read about their sins.  Two stories concerning the same event are told in very different ways.  In some ways, I wonder if this isn't the story of our lives in Christ.  Told from one perspective, our lives are really histories of rebellion, disobedience, and sin.  Certainly none of us lives the Christian ideal and there are probably times we wonder why God doesn't abandon us.  Yet, from another perspective, sin isn't present in our stories.  Our lives are really testimonies to grace and God's goodness.  In Christ, our biographies are narratives of God's mercy and faithfulness with no need for the discussion of our failings.  I find the contrast between these Psalms to be encouraging.  While I see my life more from a Psalm 106 perspective, it is good to know that in the grace given by Jesus my story can also be told as Psalm 105.