QLCC has changed its name to "Hope Community Church." I have moved our online Bible Study notes/Evotionals to a new domain to reflect the name. For all the new posts, please visit:
Hope Community Bible Study
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
Monday, July 16, 2007
John, Jesus, and the Wilderness: Mark 1
Mark 1:4-13
The wilderness breaks people. Over and over in the Old Testament, the wilderness is symbolic of those times when God’s people were at their lowest or where their relationship with God suffered its greatest blow. When Elijah reached the depths of his own depression and anxiety about his future, he put himself out to pasture – he goes to the wilderness to die. Over and over the prophets and psalmists warn God’s people against doing what their forefathers did when they rebelled in the wilderness. And the ultimate example of this theme: after their consistent rebellion during the exodus, God turned his people back into the wilderness until an entire generation was dead and gone. God’s people struggle in the wilderness, they rebel in the wilderness, they die in the wilderness.
But then there came a voice. This one came crying from the wilderness saying the Messiah was on his way. This voice – the voice of John the Baptist - set up his ministry in the middle of the wilderness. What this voice did was baptize people for the cleansing of their sins. And what is more, “All the country of Judah and Jerusalem” went out to the wilderness to be baptized (Mark 1:5).
John’s baptism was unique in its day. Instead of a baptism of initiation into a religion, it was a baptism of repentance for those who already belonged. John’s baptism is a baptism of discipleship. It is powerfully symbolic that John the Baptist drew God’s people out to the wilderness – the location of their greatest failure and rebellion – to be forgiven of their sins and have their hearts and minds turned back to God. The repentance is not just symbolic, it is obvious. John’s sermon was clear, “Repent for the Kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matt. 3:2).
During this brief story of Mark’s, the scene turns from the masses lined up east of the Jordan to a single man. Jesus traveled to the wilderness to be baptized by John. Why was Jesus baptized? Even John knew who needed to baptize whom, but Jesus persisted (Matt. 3:14-15). Jesus obviously did not need to repent and turn back to God like the masses did, but he was baptized just like they were.
I think the bottom line is that Jesus was baptized because I need to be. He was baptized not for his sin but mine, not for his impending judgment, but mine. Even when I turn my heart and mind back to God, I will, soon enough, fail and need to be “baptized” again. Jesus has no such weaknesses and was baptized once and for all for my sins.
At his baptism, the Spirit of God descends and rests “in” Jesus and God’s voice completes the circle of Trinitarian activity. Those witnessing this event know God is fully and completely present in this Jesus. And then an interesting move. Instead of sending Jesus into Judah with the masses in tow, the Spirit has a different task for the Messiah.
“The Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness.” (vs. 12)
The same Spirit that was part of the beauty and glory of the baptism is the driving force behind his forty days in the wilderness.
Mark wants us to know something about what is happening now that Jesus is here. John the Baptist came in the wilderness baptizing people for the cleansing of their sins, but even John knew it was just a washing of the outside. Then the Messiah is himself baptized in the wilderness, and driven even further into the desert to be tempted by the enemy – and ultimately, to defeat him. Jesus exited the wilderness victorious.
That thing that overwhelms me 100% of the time, that nature that is constantly at my side separating me from my God, has been defeated by the Messiah. In Christ, the wilderness no longer needs to break me.
The wilderness breaks people. Over and over in the Old Testament, the wilderness is symbolic of those times when God’s people were at their lowest or where their relationship with God suffered its greatest blow. When Elijah reached the depths of his own depression and anxiety about his future, he put himself out to pasture – he goes to the wilderness to die. Over and over the prophets and psalmists warn God’s people against doing what their forefathers did when they rebelled in the wilderness. And the ultimate example of this theme: after their consistent rebellion during the exodus, God turned his people back into the wilderness until an entire generation was dead and gone. God’s people struggle in the wilderness, they rebel in the wilderness, they die in the wilderness.
But then there came a voice. This one came crying from the wilderness saying the Messiah was on his way. This voice – the voice of John the Baptist - set up his ministry in the middle of the wilderness. What this voice did was baptize people for the cleansing of their sins. And what is more, “All the country of Judah and Jerusalem” went out to the wilderness to be baptized (Mark 1:5).
John’s baptism was unique in its day. Instead of a baptism of initiation into a religion, it was a baptism of repentance for those who already belonged. John’s baptism is a baptism of discipleship. It is powerfully symbolic that John the Baptist drew God’s people out to the wilderness – the location of their greatest failure and rebellion – to be forgiven of their sins and have their hearts and minds turned back to God. The repentance is not just symbolic, it is obvious. John’s sermon was clear, “Repent for the Kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matt. 3:2).
During this brief story of Mark’s, the scene turns from the masses lined up east of the Jordan to a single man. Jesus traveled to the wilderness to be baptized by John. Why was Jesus baptized? Even John knew who needed to baptize whom, but Jesus persisted (Matt. 3:14-15). Jesus obviously did not need to repent and turn back to God like the masses did, but he was baptized just like they were.
I think the bottom line is that Jesus was baptized because I need to be. He was baptized not for his sin but mine, not for his impending judgment, but mine. Even when I turn my heart and mind back to God, I will, soon enough, fail and need to be “baptized” again. Jesus has no such weaknesses and was baptized once and for all for my sins.
At his baptism, the Spirit of God descends and rests “in” Jesus and God’s voice completes the circle of Trinitarian activity. Those witnessing this event know God is fully and completely present in this Jesus. And then an interesting move. Instead of sending Jesus into Judah with the masses in tow, the Spirit has a different task for the Messiah.
“The Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness.” (vs. 12)
The same Spirit that was part of the beauty and glory of the baptism is the driving force behind his forty days in the wilderness.
Mark wants us to know something about what is happening now that Jesus is here. John the Baptist came in the wilderness baptizing people for the cleansing of their sins, but even John knew it was just a washing of the outside. Then the Messiah is himself baptized in the wilderness, and driven even further into the desert to be tempted by the enemy – and ultimately, to defeat him. Jesus exited the wilderness victorious.
That thing that overwhelms me 100% of the time, that nature that is constantly at my side separating me from my God, has been defeated by the Messiah. In Christ, the wilderness no longer needs to break me.
Monday, June 25, 2007
Mark: Jesus, Servant, Savior, Sovereign
Mark
The verse that is almost universally acknowledged to be a kind of thematic capsule of Mark’s Gospel is 10:45:
“For even the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
If you read through the first nine chapters and came across this verse, you would not be surprised. Mark is a Gospel of action—the action of the Son of God among God’s people. Mark does not portray Christ through several long teachings, but through his action. There are parables in Mark, but they are all short. By the time the reader is settled into the first chapter, Mark is already into the life and deeds of Jesus. The word “immediately” shows up more than 40 times in this short Gospel. And though it is significantly shorter than every other Gospel, Mark records more miracles.
It is true - Mark wants us to know that God himself, in the person of Jesus Christ, came to serve.
Jesus Christ also came to give his life so that we might live. As The Message puts it, Jesus came, “to give away his life in exchange for many who are held hostage.” A full half of the Gospel is dedicated to Jesus’ journey to the cross. In the middle of chapter 8, Jesus begins to make his way to Jerusalem in the last physical journey he will take with his disciples. Mark devotes a great deal of time and space revealing to us how Christ walked to the cross, and what it means to follow him there.
When we picture Roman persecution of Christians, the images we conjure up are typically dominated by mass arrests and innocent families in the Coliseum preparing to meet the wild beasts. Those images represent a small fraction of the actual persecutions of the early church, but Mark writes to the Christians who do represent that persecution. Nero burned Rome to the ground, and in an effort to curry favor with the angry masses, turned their hatred on a common enemy, the despised and misunderstood Christians. During this persecution the Christians who were not driven into the catacombs were arrested in droves and tortured to turn in their fellow believers. As the Roman historian Tacitus put it, “their deaths were made farcical.” They were dressed in animal skins and torn to pieces by wild beasts; they were crucified; they were turned into torches to light Nero’s garden by night.
Jesus not only came to serve, he came to be the Suffering Servant. Jesus willingly walked into Jerusalem toward the cross so that in this life and the next we might live.
There is one more element that is crucial to the purpose of Mark’s Gospel. Jesus is not only the Suffering Servant, he is sovereign. Jesus is never out of control of events and their consequences. The Son of Man has power over sickness, disease and death, and the cross does not take him by surprise.
The cross is not a moment of failure for Jesus, but the defining event of his sovereignty. Even that level of hatred and suffering does not diminish the power of a savior who came to serve and give his life so that I might live.
The verse that is almost universally acknowledged to be a kind of thematic capsule of Mark’s Gospel is 10:45:
“For even the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
If you read through the first nine chapters and came across this verse, you would not be surprised. Mark is a Gospel of action—the action of the Son of God among God’s people. Mark does not portray Christ through several long teachings, but through his action. There are parables in Mark, but they are all short. By the time the reader is settled into the first chapter, Mark is already into the life and deeds of Jesus. The word “immediately” shows up more than 40 times in this short Gospel. And though it is significantly shorter than every other Gospel, Mark records more miracles.
It is true - Mark wants us to know that God himself, in the person of Jesus Christ, came to serve.
Jesus Christ also came to give his life so that we might live. As The Message puts it, Jesus came, “to give away his life in exchange for many who are held hostage.” A full half of the Gospel is dedicated to Jesus’ journey to the cross. In the middle of chapter 8, Jesus begins to make his way to Jerusalem in the last physical journey he will take with his disciples. Mark devotes a great deal of time and space revealing to us how Christ walked to the cross, and what it means to follow him there.
When we picture Roman persecution of Christians, the images we conjure up are typically dominated by mass arrests and innocent families in the Coliseum preparing to meet the wild beasts. Those images represent a small fraction of the actual persecutions of the early church, but Mark writes to the Christians who do represent that persecution. Nero burned Rome to the ground, and in an effort to curry favor with the angry masses, turned their hatred on a common enemy, the despised and misunderstood Christians. During this persecution the Christians who were not driven into the catacombs were arrested in droves and tortured to turn in their fellow believers. As the Roman historian Tacitus put it, “their deaths were made farcical.” They were dressed in animal skins and torn to pieces by wild beasts; they were crucified; they were turned into torches to light Nero’s garden by night.
Jesus not only came to serve, he came to be the Suffering Servant. Jesus willingly walked into Jerusalem toward the cross so that in this life and the next we might live.
There is one more element that is crucial to the purpose of Mark’s Gospel. Jesus is not only the Suffering Servant, he is sovereign. Jesus is never out of control of events and their consequences. The Son of Man has power over sickness, disease and death, and the cross does not take him by surprise.
The cross is not a moment of failure for Jesus, but the defining event of his sovereignty. Even that level of hatred and suffering does not diminish the power of a savior who came to serve and give his life so that I might live.
Friday, June 15, 2007
Pour Me!: Jeremiah 48
Jeremiah 48
In this chapter Jeremiah moves to Judah’s familiar neighbor, the nation of Moab. What the prophet describes is the fall of that nation, the cities that become a waste, and some of the reasons why Moab was judged.
One thing that becomes clear is that Moab was destroyed at the height of its prosperity. It was nestled, securely it was thought, in a rich valley. They were off the beaten path between mortal enemies, and a relatively small and unimportant nation. But it turns out that none of these things saved them. So what is the root of their collapse and destruction? Jeremiah is clear about their pride—it was a fundamental factor in their demise, and it was something that broke the heart of God.
In the midst of the judgment on Moab, God laments:
“We have heard of the pride of Moab--he is very proud--of his loftiness, his pride, and his arrogance, and the haughtiness of his heart. I know his insolence, declares the LORD; his boasts are false, his deeds are false. Therefore I wail for Moab; I cry out for all Moab; for the men of Kir-hareseth I mourn.” (vs. 29-31)
Their pride cut them off from God, and in what I find to be a fascinating twist, it broke the heart of God. Isn’t the God of Judah supposed to be “against” their enemies? Every other god in the ancient world might lack compassion on those who despise them, but Jeremiah’s God is completely different—he is a lover of sinners.
It is crucial to note that pride cuts us off from God. In every area of my life where pride has reign, I have excluded God; pride is the primary roadblock between God and me. Any way in which I feel self-satisfied or self-sufficient is a guaranteed hole in my relationship with God. If I feel I can handle my tomorrows, God is no longer sovereign. If I feel emotionally and relationally self-sufficient, God is no longer the God of comfort or my redeemer and friend. If in any way God is not my all-in-all, I have shut God out of my life.
The solution? My life needs to be stirred up and poured out. The problem the Moabites had was that they lived in luxury and never felt the need to rely on something greater than themselves. The imagery is stunning. When wine is left too long to ferment in the same barrel, the sediment that settles to the bottom turns the wine sour. The barrels need to be stirred up and poured out from time to time to guarantee good aging.
“Moab has been at ease from his youth and has settled on his dregs; he has not been emptied from vessel to vessel, nor has he gone into exile; so his taste remains in him, and his scent is not changed.” (vs. 11)
Disturbance in life, the difficulties we face, serve to ripen us—to make us deeper and richer in flavor. Instead of crying, “poor me!” we should pray, “pour me!” If we turn to the God of all comfort (2 Cor. 1:3), we can be turned into something deep and powerful. Scripture is unambiguous: “Count it all joy…when you meet trials” (James 1:2), “In this you rejoice [that]…you have been grieved by various trials” (1 Peter 1:6), “Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake” (Col. 1:24).
The key to moments like these is to whom we turn. Will I let my pride turn me within myself, to a shallow and foolish well of advise, or will I allow God to be my strength and comfort when all my faculties fail me? Billy Graham once said, “Mountaintops are for views and inspiration, but fruit is grown in the valley.”
In this chapter Jeremiah moves to Judah’s familiar neighbor, the nation of Moab. What the prophet describes is the fall of that nation, the cities that become a waste, and some of the reasons why Moab was judged.
One thing that becomes clear is that Moab was destroyed at the height of its prosperity. It was nestled, securely it was thought, in a rich valley. They were off the beaten path between mortal enemies, and a relatively small and unimportant nation. But it turns out that none of these things saved them. So what is the root of their collapse and destruction? Jeremiah is clear about their pride—it was a fundamental factor in their demise, and it was something that broke the heart of God.
In the midst of the judgment on Moab, God laments:
“We have heard of the pride of Moab--he is very proud--of his loftiness, his pride, and his arrogance, and the haughtiness of his heart. I know his insolence, declares the LORD; his boasts are false, his deeds are false. Therefore I wail for Moab; I cry out for all Moab; for the men of Kir-hareseth I mourn.” (vs. 29-31)
Their pride cut them off from God, and in what I find to be a fascinating twist, it broke the heart of God. Isn’t the God of Judah supposed to be “against” their enemies? Every other god in the ancient world might lack compassion on those who despise them, but Jeremiah’s God is completely different—he is a lover of sinners.
It is crucial to note that pride cuts us off from God. In every area of my life where pride has reign, I have excluded God; pride is the primary roadblock between God and me. Any way in which I feel self-satisfied or self-sufficient is a guaranteed hole in my relationship with God. If I feel I can handle my tomorrows, God is no longer sovereign. If I feel emotionally and relationally self-sufficient, God is no longer the God of comfort or my redeemer and friend. If in any way God is not my all-in-all, I have shut God out of my life.
The solution? My life needs to be stirred up and poured out. The problem the Moabites had was that they lived in luxury and never felt the need to rely on something greater than themselves. The imagery is stunning. When wine is left too long to ferment in the same barrel, the sediment that settles to the bottom turns the wine sour. The barrels need to be stirred up and poured out from time to time to guarantee good aging.
“Moab has been at ease from his youth and has settled on his dregs; he has not been emptied from vessel to vessel, nor has he gone into exile; so his taste remains in him, and his scent is not changed.” (vs. 11)
Disturbance in life, the difficulties we face, serve to ripen us—to make us deeper and richer in flavor. Instead of crying, “poor me!” we should pray, “pour me!” If we turn to the God of all comfort (2 Cor. 1:3), we can be turned into something deep and powerful. Scripture is unambiguous: “Count it all joy…when you meet trials” (James 1:2), “In this you rejoice [that]…you have been grieved by various trials” (1 Peter 1:6), “Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake” (Col. 1:24).
The key to moments like these is to whom we turn. Will I let my pride turn me within myself, to a shallow and foolish well of advise, or will I allow God to be my strength and comfort when all my faculties fail me? Billy Graham once said, “Mountaintops are for views and inspiration, but fruit is grown in the valley.”
Wednesday, June 06, 2007
For All The Nations: Jeremiah 46-47
Jeremiah 46-47
These chapters mark a distinct change in the book of Jeremiah. We move from narration of the life of Jeremiah, to his litany of prophecies against the surrounding nations. Though the oxen yokes and baskets of figs are gone, we still have a lot to learn about Jeremiah and his God.
As much as anything, these chapters are about the sovereignty of God. Though there is ultimately nothing “simple” about it, we can say that on one level, God’s sovereignty simply means He is the final ruler and judge of humanity. For the average Hebrew in Jeremiah’s day, it would have been a stretch to see their God as Lord over the Egyptians and Babylonians. The common view of gods in their day was that they were geographically and nationally located. If a nation or empire was small, so was their god; if it was large and powerful, so what their god. Part of what Jeremiah needs to communicate to his people is that their God is so big, no geography can contain him; he is God, even of the Egyptians and Philistines.
One surprising reality here is how well-versed Jeremiah is in the society and economy of Egypt and Philistia. Some scholars note that Jeremiah may refer to things in these chapters we may never fully understand. Jeremiah has a keen sense of Egyptian geography, politics, and medicine. Why would Jeremiah know so much about the enemy?
To begin with, Jeremiah’s call is anything but provincial. Jeremiah was told by God:
“I appointed you a prophet to the nations….See, I have set you this day over nations and over kingdoms, to pluck up and to break down, to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant.” (1:5, 10)
The truth God wants conveyed covers all people in every culture. As a faithful prophet to God’s truth, Jeremiah knows how it works in surrounding cultures. And in direct opposition to the conventional religious wisdom of the day, Jeremiah saw the Egyptians and Philistines as potential people of God.
“Afterward Egypt shall be inhabited as in the days of old, declares the Lord.” (47:26)
There are plenty of hints in the Old Testament that God desires that all nations, no matter how wicked or pagan, belong to him (Psalm 87:4-6 names the Egyptians and Philistines).
God’s revelation has always rejected the kinds of social and ethnic barriers erected by the rest of the world. Paul, for instance, is fond of saying that in Christ there are no distinctions between people (Gal. 3:28, Col. 3:11). It is why we call each other “brother” and “sister” no matter what we drove to church in.
What Jeremiah models for us is, in fact, one of the genius strokes of the faith. Our call to reach out to the rest of the world with the love and forgiveness of God is not put to us in abstract terms. The call to love our neighbor is very concrete, even specific. This is what makes the command so difficult and so right. Jeremiah did not display a generalized concern for humanity, but a specified love for his neighbors--Egyptians and Philistines. “Love humanity” can mean, “love everyone in general and no one in particular,” or, “love those easy for you to love.” “Love your neighbor,” means, “love this person next to you.”
In his book, Heretics, G.K. Chesterton put it this way:
We make our friends; we make our enemies; but God makes our next-door neighbor….That is why the old religions and the old scriptural language showed so sharp a wisdom when they spoke, not of one’s duty towards humanity, but one’s duty toward one’s neighbor….[W]e have to love our neighbor because he is there—a much more alarming reason for a much more serious operation.
These chapters mark a distinct change in the book of Jeremiah. We move from narration of the life of Jeremiah, to his litany of prophecies against the surrounding nations. Though the oxen yokes and baskets of figs are gone, we still have a lot to learn about Jeremiah and his God.
As much as anything, these chapters are about the sovereignty of God. Though there is ultimately nothing “simple” about it, we can say that on one level, God’s sovereignty simply means He is the final ruler and judge of humanity. For the average Hebrew in Jeremiah’s day, it would have been a stretch to see their God as Lord over the Egyptians and Babylonians. The common view of gods in their day was that they were geographically and nationally located. If a nation or empire was small, so was their god; if it was large and powerful, so what their god. Part of what Jeremiah needs to communicate to his people is that their God is so big, no geography can contain him; he is God, even of the Egyptians and Philistines.
One surprising reality here is how well-versed Jeremiah is in the society and economy of Egypt and Philistia. Some scholars note that Jeremiah may refer to things in these chapters we may never fully understand. Jeremiah has a keen sense of Egyptian geography, politics, and medicine. Why would Jeremiah know so much about the enemy?
To begin with, Jeremiah’s call is anything but provincial. Jeremiah was told by God:
“I appointed you a prophet to the nations….See, I have set you this day over nations and over kingdoms, to pluck up and to break down, to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant.” (1:5, 10)
The truth God wants conveyed covers all people in every culture. As a faithful prophet to God’s truth, Jeremiah knows how it works in surrounding cultures. And in direct opposition to the conventional religious wisdom of the day, Jeremiah saw the Egyptians and Philistines as potential people of God.
“Afterward Egypt shall be inhabited as in the days of old, declares the Lord.” (47:26)
There are plenty of hints in the Old Testament that God desires that all nations, no matter how wicked or pagan, belong to him (Psalm 87:4-6 names the Egyptians and Philistines).
God’s revelation has always rejected the kinds of social and ethnic barriers erected by the rest of the world. Paul, for instance, is fond of saying that in Christ there are no distinctions between people (Gal. 3:28, Col. 3:11). It is why we call each other “brother” and “sister” no matter what we drove to church in.
What Jeremiah models for us is, in fact, one of the genius strokes of the faith. Our call to reach out to the rest of the world with the love and forgiveness of God is not put to us in abstract terms. The call to love our neighbor is very concrete, even specific. This is what makes the command so difficult and so right. Jeremiah did not display a generalized concern for humanity, but a specified love for his neighbors--Egyptians and Philistines. “Love humanity” can mean, “love everyone in general and no one in particular,” or, “love those easy for you to love.” “Love your neighbor,” means, “love this person next to you.”
In his book, Heretics, G.K. Chesterton put it this way:
We make our friends; we make our enemies; but God makes our next-door neighbor….That is why the old religions and the old scriptural language showed so sharp a wisdom when they spoke, not of one’s duty towards humanity, but one’s duty toward one’s neighbor….[W]e have to love our neighbor because he is there—a much more alarming reason for a much more serious operation.
Wednesday, May 30, 2007
Pentecost, The Spirit-With-Us: Romans 8
Romans 8
When we approach the Day of Pentecost, our minds are often drawn to the events of Acts 2, or to the instruction of the apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians. We tend to think of the relatively spectacular events of the early church or of the public gifts of tongues and prophecy. These are certainly realities in the life of the Spirit-filled church, but when we pay attention to the New Testament we discover a wealth of information about the role of the Spirit in the life of a believer today. Why is the Spirit with us? What is it the Spirit does among us and in my life? One chapter in particular, maybe surprisingly so, provides us with a lot information about the work of the Holy Spirit.
When Paul opens Romans 8, we read one of the most pivotal moments in the epistles:
“There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death.” (vs. 1,2)
Paul has just described the back-breaking frustration we are left in, caught between the Mosaic law—that tells us what to do to please God—and the law of sin and death—that makes it impossible for me to please God on my own. The only thing that can break the tension set up in chapter 7 is the activity of the Spirit in me; the only thing more powerful than the law of sin and death is the law of the Spirit of life. Because the Spirit-with-us does its work, there is no condemnation for those in Christ. In other words, the believer no longer lives under the “continuous, low-lying black cloud” of guilt and sin (The Message).
Paul then introduces another facet to the Spirit-led life:
“in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.” (vs. 4)
The believer is described as someone who now has the option to walk according to a Spirit-lead life instead of being bound by sin and death. Not only are we asked to live this new kind of life, we are given access to the mind and will of the Father and the power to live it out through the work of the Spirit. The Spirit knows the mind of God (Rom 8:27), reveals it to us (1 Cor. 2:10), and empowers us to lead a new kind of life (Acts 1:8, Gal. 5:18).
The Spirit gives life to my mortal body: “If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he…will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you” (vs. 11). I have the hope of eternal life with God and a taste of his presence here and now because the Spirit is with me.
The Spirit is my adoption document: “but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, ‘Abba! Father!’” (vs. 14). I am heir to the kingdom of my Abba, Father because the Spirit dwells within me.
The Spirit communicates with me: “The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God” (vs. 16). Elsewhere we know the Spirit communicates many things (John 14:26; 16:8-11), but here, the message is one of adoption, forgiveness, grace, and “no condemnation.”
The Spirit aids me in my weakness, praying through me and for me: “Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words” (vs. 26). It is a great encouragement that the Spirit, who walks every step of life with me, is constantly advocating for me before my Father in heaven. Likewise, the Spirit provides for me a language of prayer I don’t always understand, but is nonetheless genuine intercession.
Paul also describes the Spirit as a taste of eternity. We, and creation, stumble along in a broken and deeply imperfect world, but because of the Spirit-with-us, we carry a seed of the kingdom of God. We are, so to speak, pregnant with eternity.
“For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.” (vs. 22, 23)
Everything else we know from Romans 8 is true in our lives because the Spirit is the experiential, lynch-pin in the life of the believer.
“And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose....If God is for us, who can be against us?...No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.... I am sure that [nothing] will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
God’s Spirit-with-us makes all this real.
When we approach the Day of Pentecost, our minds are often drawn to the events of Acts 2, or to the instruction of the apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians. We tend to think of the relatively spectacular events of the early church or of the public gifts of tongues and prophecy. These are certainly realities in the life of the Spirit-filled church, but when we pay attention to the New Testament we discover a wealth of information about the role of the Spirit in the life of a believer today. Why is the Spirit with us? What is it the Spirit does among us and in my life? One chapter in particular, maybe surprisingly so, provides us with a lot information about the work of the Holy Spirit.
When Paul opens Romans 8, we read one of the most pivotal moments in the epistles:
“There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death.” (vs. 1,2)
Paul has just described the back-breaking frustration we are left in, caught between the Mosaic law—that tells us what to do to please God—and the law of sin and death—that makes it impossible for me to please God on my own. The only thing that can break the tension set up in chapter 7 is the activity of the Spirit in me; the only thing more powerful than the law of sin and death is the law of the Spirit of life. Because the Spirit-with-us does its work, there is no condemnation for those in Christ. In other words, the believer no longer lives under the “continuous, low-lying black cloud” of guilt and sin (The Message).
Paul then introduces another facet to the Spirit-led life:
“in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.” (vs. 4)
The believer is described as someone who now has the option to walk according to a Spirit-lead life instead of being bound by sin and death. Not only are we asked to live this new kind of life, we are given access to the mind and will of the Father and the power to live it out through the work of the Spirit. The Spirit knows the mind of God (Rom 8:27), reveals it to us (1 Cor. 2:10), and empowers us to lead a new kind of life (Acts 1:8, Gal. 5:18).
The Spirit gives life to my mortal body: “If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he…will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you” (vs. 11). I have the hope of eternal life with God and a taste of his presence here and now because the Spirit is with me.
The Spirit is my adoption document: “but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, ‘Abba! Father!’” (vs. 14). I am heir to the kingdom of my Abba, Father because the Spirit dwells within me.
The Spirit communicates with me: “The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God” (vs. 16). Elsewhere we know the Spirit communicates many things (John 14:26; 16:8-11), but here, the message is one of adoption, forgiveness, grace, and “no condemnation.”
The Spirit aids me in my weakness, praying through me and for me: “Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words” (vs. 26). It is a great encouragement that the Spirit, who walks every step of life with me, is constantly advocating for me before my Father in heaven. Likewise, the Spirit provides for me a language of prayer I don’t always understand, but is nonetheless genuine intercession.
Paul also describes the Spirit as a taste of eternity. We, and creation, stumble along in a broken and deeply imperfect world, but because of the Spirit-with-us, we carry a seed of the kingdom of God. We are, so to speak, pregnant with eternity.
“For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.” (vs. 22, 23)
Everything else we know from Romans 8 is true in our lives because the Spirit is the experiential, lynch-pin in the life of the believer.
“And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose....If God is for us, who can be against us?...No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.... I am sure that [nothing] will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
God’s Spirit-with-us makes all this real.
Wednesday, May 16, 2007
God's Comfort to Baruch: Jeremiah 45
Jeremiah 45
Between the narrative of Jeremiah’s life and the list of prophecies against the nations, we read a small chapter concerning his scribe and close friend, Baruch. Though our attention has been on Jeremiah and what he has endured to bring God’s Word to his people, we discover that Baruch has been with him almost every step of the way, and suffered his own setbacks and frustrations.
To hear what chapter 45 wants to say, we need to review a moment in Baruch’s life. This chapter takes place in the “fourth year of Jehoiakim.” In Baruch’s timeline, this corresponds with the events of Jeremiah 36 where Jeremiah has Baruch transcribe everything he said and take it into the Temple to read it.
Imagine, for a moment, what it means for Baruch to transcribe Jeremiah’s words. First of all, Baruch is from a family of religious and political scribes. This is Baruch’s vocation, and he does it for God. He is not a prophet, politician, or priest that people should notice him as a powerful public figure. He is a scribe and he has decided to dedicate his gift to his God. In some ways, Baruch may be easier for us to relate to than Jeremiah. He is a common man who simply wanted to take what God gave him and use it for God’s purposes.
Secondly, this transcription had to have taken months to finish. Jeremiah could be a long-winded individual at times, and Baruch is tasked with handwriting each and every syllable. If a mistake is made, Baruch needs to start all over. No word-processing, no auto-correction, no short cuts. In every sense of both words, this was a labor of love.
Back in chapter 36, we read that Baruch is initially received well as a group of people sympathetic toward Jeremiah take Baruch and his scroll to the king. There, in his winter lodging before his fire, king Jehoiakim tears each column as it is read and throws it into the fire.
Baruch literally watches as his labor for God goes up in flame.
Baruch expresses himself to God:
“Woe is me! For the LORD has added sorrow to my pain. I am weary with my groaning, and I find no rest.” (vs. 3)
What would you counsel Baruch at a moment like this when he exposes his anger and anguish at the pain in his life? Would you tell him everything will be OK? Would you tell him that God works everything for good? Would you tell him God has a plan for his life? Would you tell him to search for sin in his life?
Here is the gist of God’s answer: “I know.”
This is comforting almost beyond words to me. I have a God who knows the evil in the world, the pain I suffer, and in fact, suffered it right alongside of me. I do not worship a God who is not touched by my anguish and sorrow (Heb. 4:14-16).
The payoff for Baruch is more than he could ever accomplish on his own or hope for as a reward for his labor.
"But I will give you your life as a prize of war in all places to which you may go." (vs. 5)
Baruch’s reward for his faithfulness is that God will go before him everywhere he goes and keep him in every situation. It is more than any of us has a right to ask for.
Express yourself to God. Remain faithful to your Savior. And the Father of all compassion and the God of all mercy will comfort you will the comfort you need.
Between the narrative of Jeremiah’s life and the list of prophecies against the nations, we read a small chapter concerning his scribe and close friend, Baruch. Though our attention has been on Jeremiah and what he has endured to bring God’s Word to his people, we discover that Baruch has been with him almost every step of the way, and suffered his own setbacks and frustrations.
To hear what chapter 45 wants to say, we need to review a moment in Baruch’s life. This chapter takes place in the “fourth year of Jehoiakim.” In Baruch’s timeline, this corresponds with the events of Jeremiah 36 where Jeremiah has Baruch transcribe everything he said and take it into the Temple to read it.
Imagine, for a moment, what it means for Baruch to transcribe Jeremiah’s words. First of all, Baruch is from a family of religious and political scribes. This is Baruch’s vocation, and he does it for God. He is not a prophet, politician, or priest that people should notice him as a powerful public figure. He is a scribe and he has decided to dedicate his gift to his God. In some ways, Baruch may be easier for us to relate to than Jeremiah. He is a common man who simply wanted to take what God gave him and use it for God’s purposes.
Secondly, this transcription had to have taken months to finish. Jeremiah could be a long-winded individual at times, and Baruch is tasked with handwriting each and every syllable. If a mistake is made, Baruch needs to start all over. No word-processing, no auto-correction, no short cuts. In every sense of both words, this was a labor of love.
Back in chapter 36, we read that Baruch is initially received well as a group of people sympathetic toward Jeremiah take Baruch and his scroll to the king. There, in his winter lodging before his fire, king Jehoiakim tears each column as it is read and throws it into the fire.
Baruch literally watches as his labor for God goes up in flame.
Baruch expresses himself to God:
“Woe is me! For the LORD has added sorrow to my pain. I am weary with my groaning, and I find no rest.” (vs. 3)
What would you counsel Baruch at a moment like this when he exposes his anger and anguish at the pain in his life? Would you tell him everything will be OK? Would you tell him that God works everything for good? Would you tell him God has a plan for his life? Would you tell him to search for sin in his life?
Here is the gist of God’s answer: “I know.”
This is comforting almost beyond words to me. I have a God who knows the evil in the world, the pain I suffer, and in fact, suffered it right alongside of me. I do not worship a God who is not touched by my anguish and sorrow (Heb. 4:14-16).
The payoff for Baruch is more than he could ever accomplish on his own or hope for as a reward for his labor.
"But I will give you your life as a prize of war in all places to which you may go." (vs. 5)
Baruch’s reward for his faithfulness is that God will go before him everywhere he goes and keep him in every situation. It is more than any of us has a right to ask for.
Express yourself to God. Remain faithful to your Savior. And the Father of all compassion and the God of all mercy will comfort you will the comfort you need.
Friday, May 11, 2007
Why do I Worship this God?: Jeremiah 44:15-23
Jeremiah 44:15-23
By now in the book of Jeremiah, God and Jeremiah have warned the people of Judah and Jerusalem that their rebellion would bring destruction, the destruction came, and they have been warned again that if they continue in their sinfulness they will suffer even more for their sins. Everything Jeremiah said would come to pass came to pass, and the people he talks with in this passage know it. So what might be their reaction to another warning and promise from Jeremiah: a warning that sin will bring more pain and a promise that repentance will bring the blessing of God?
“As for the word that you have spoken to us in the name of the LORD, we will not listen to you.” (vs. 16)
That is a pretty straightforward response. Instead of listening to Jeremiah, they decided to move ahead with their pagan family traditions teaching their children how to worship foreign gods. Part of what is so valuable about their full response is their reason for ignoring God.
“For then we had plenty of food, and prospered, and saw no disaster. But since we left off making offerings to the queen of heaven and pouring out drink offerings to her, we have lacked everything and have been consumed by the sword and by famine.” (vs. 17-18)
In the Message paraphrase, they literally say, “In the good old days” things were great. What they are more than likely referring to are the days before Josiah’s reforms. Josiah, the last good king of Judah, tried to return the nation to God a generation before. For a while and in some circles the reform found fertile ground, but on the whole, it did not work. These people’s perception now is that things were all wine and roses before Josiah came along talking about God. Josiah’s reign coincided with the rise of their Babylonian conquers. In their minds, worshiping God fouled everything up.
Jeremiah responds by clarifying their memory. Instead of their obedience to God, it was their insistence on making offerings to foreign gods that brought disaster. In fact, when one traces the historical fact, Jeremiah is right. The way the rebellious people are remembering the past is exactly wrong.
If their facts are all wrong, why, then, did they make the religious decisions they made? In their perception of things, these pagan religions worked for them—they were religious pragmatists. As far as they were concerned, if religion did stuff for them, or if a god served their needs, that was all the reason they needed. Notice this decision has nothing to do with whether it is actually true or false.
Our culture views religion in general and Christianity specifically this way. As a whole, we want God and Christianity to do stuff for us. In light of the rebellious, doomed worshipers in Egypt, we need to pose this question: why do I make the faith decisions I do?
Is my faith about what “works” for me according to my own definitions? Is church about what they have for me? Do I read the Bible to find God’s promises to me? Do I worship when it fits my needs, my tastes, and my schedule? Do I pray because it may get God to do stuff for me?
Don’t get me wrong. These things are realities in my journey through life and faith. But, ultimately, do I come to Christ as a genie in the sky, or as the Creator and sovereign Ruler of the universe and Lord of my life? God resists being told what to do. The unfathomable riches of the Kingdom of God are open to the worshiper who humbly comes to God saying, “Thy will be done.”
By now in the book of Jeremiah, God and Jeremiah have warned the people of Judah and Jerusalem that their rebellion would bring destruction, the destruction came, and they have been warned again that if they continue in their sinfulness they will suffer even more for their sins. Everything Jeremiah said would come to pass came to pass, and the people he talks with in this passage know it. So what might be their reaction to another warning and promise from Jeremiah: a warning that sin will bring more pain and a promise that repentance will bring the blessing of God?
“As for the word that you have spoken to us in the name of the LORD, we will not listen to you.” (vs. 16)
That is a pretty straightforward response. Instead of listening to Jeremiah, they decided to move ahead with their pagan family traditions teaching their children how to worship foreign gods. Part of what is so valuable about their full response is their reason for ignoring God.
“For then we had plenty of food, and prospered, and saw no disaster. But since we left off making offerings to the queen of heaven and pouring out drink offerings to her, we have lacked everything and have been consumed by the sword and by famine.” (vs. 17-18)
In the Message paraphrase, they literally say, “In the good old days” things were great. What they are more than likely referring to are the days before Josiah’s reforms. Josiah, the last good king of Judah, tried to return the nation to God a generation before. For a while and in some circles the reform found fertile ground, but on the whole, it did not work. These people’s perception now is that things were all wine and roses before Josiah came along talking about God. Josiah’s reign coincided with the rise of their Babylonian conquers. In their minds, worshiping God fouled everything up.
Jeremiah responds by clarifying their memory. Instead of their obedience to God, it was their insistence on making offerings to foreign gods that brought disaster. In fact, when one traces the historical fact, Jeremiah is right. The way the rebellious people are remembering the past is exactly wrong.
If their facts are all wrong, why, then, did they make the religious decisions they made? In their perception of things, these pagan religions worked for them—they were religious pragmatists. As far as they were concerned, if religion did stuff for them, or if a god served their needs, that was all the reason they needed. Notice this decision has nothing to do with whether it is actually true or false.
Our culture views religion in general and Christianity specifically this way. As a whole, we want God and Christianity to do stuff for us. In light of the rebellious, doomed worshipers in Egypt, we need to pose this question: why do I make the faith decisions I do?
Is my faith about what “works” for me according to my own definitions? Is church about what they have for me? Do I read the Bible to find God’s promises to me? Do I worship when it fits my needs, my tastes, and my schedule? Do I pray because it may get God to do stuff for me?
Don’t get me wrong. These things are realities in my journey through life and faith. But, ultimately, do I come to Christ as a genie in the sky, or as the Creator and sovereign Ruler of the universe and Lord of my life? God resists being told what to do. The unfathomable riches of the Kingdom of God are open to the worshiper who humbly comes to God saying, “Thy will be done.”
Monday, April 02, 2007
The Goodness and Mercy of God: Jeremiah 44:1-14
Jeremiah 44:1-14
In many ways, this chapter is like letting the air out of a balloon. After all the build up in Jeremiah’s life and career, and after everything the Judean people experience, we find them finally in Egypt where they will literally fade into the sands of time. We might not be too surprised that a group of rebellious Judeans have disobeyed God again and headed to Egypt, but we are saddened for Jeremiah when we learn that this chapter represents the final chronological scene we have in his life. He followed God’s people to Egypt to speak God’s Word to them, and he died in a foreign land among obstinate people.
But he still has things to teach us before we let him go. In fact, as soon as Jeremiah is able to gather a crowd of Judean refugees, he preaches another sermon. The first point Jeremiah makes is something like, “some people never learn!” As he says:
"You have seen all the disaster that I brought upon Jerusalem and upon all the cities of Judah. Behold, this day they are a desolation, and no one dwells in them, because of the evil that they committed, provoking me to anger,...Yet I persistently sent to you all my servants the prophets, saying, 'Oh, do not do this abomination that I hate!' But they did not listen or incline their ear, to turn from their evil and make no offerings to other gods." (44:2-5)
A few of the things Jeremiah has to say tell us a lot about God and his relationship toward us. First of all, God told the Judeans exactly what they did wrong. They made offerings and served other gods. They refused to listen to the prophets when God sent them. God did not, and God does not, hide his intentions from us. He does not allow judgment into the path of our lives for no reason: God has told us exactly why these things happen.
Secondly, God gave them plenty of opportunities to stop their rebellion. He told them, “Yet I persistently sent to you all my servants the prophets, saying, ‘Oh, do not do this abomination that I hate!’” (vs. 4). And, to us, God is still speaking. The author of Hebrews tells us that while God spoke to our forefathers in the faith in many ways, he now speaks to us by the life of his Son, Jesus Christ (Heb. 1:1-2).
And third, we discover that the Judeans witnessed the entire cycle of rebellion and consequences Jeremiah is bearing witness to. In other words, they have first-hand knowledge of what happens when the people of God rebel. God said, “You have seen all the disaster that I brought upon Jerusalem and upon all the cities of Judah.” (vs. 2) There should be no surprise, no sudden shock of self-righteous horror when they suffer the consequences of their own sins—they know what is coming.
The bottom line in this story is quite possibly the bottom line to the book of Jeremiah. God is a God of steadfast love and enduring mercy. Look at it through Jeremiah’s eyes: God is so good to me, that he makes it explicit what I need to avoid, I get to read stories of rebellious people who refused to avoid them, then God is patient with me while I work it out in my life and then he gives me his Spirit so that I can draw on His power to avoid them.
The goodness and mercy of God cuts through all the anguish and judgment of Jeremiah’s book if we are willing to pay attention to him speaking. God speaks in many ways: through his prophets and apostles, through his Son, Jesus Christ, and through the stories of our lives.
In many ways, this chapter is like letting the air out of a balloon. After all the build up in Jeremiah’s life and career, and after everything the Judean people experience, we find them finally in Egypt where they will literally fade into the sands of time. We might not be too surprised that a group of rebellious Judeans have disobeyed God again and headed to Egypt, but we are saddened for Jeremiah when we learn that this chapter represents the final chronological scene we have in his life. He followed God’s people to Egypt to speak God’s Word to them, and he died in a foreign land among obstinate people.
But he still has things to teach us before we let him go. In fact, as soon as Jeremiah is able to gather a crowd of Judean refugees, he preaches another sermon. The first point Jeremiah makes is something like, “some people never learn!” As he says:
"You have seen all the disaster that I brought upon Jerusalem and upon all the cities of Judah. Behold, this day they are a desolation, and no one dwells in them, because of the evil that they committed, provoking me to anger,...Yet I persistently sent to you all my servants the prophets, saying, 'Oh, do not do this abomination that I hate!' But they did not listen or incline their ear, to turn from their evil and make no offerings to other gods." (44:2-5)
A few of the things Jeremiah has to say tell us a lot about God and his relationship toward us. First of all, God told the Judeans exactly what they did wrong. They made offerings and served other gods. They refused to listen to the prophets when God sent them. God did not, and God does not, hide his intentions from us. He does not allow judgment into the path of our lives for no reason: God has told us exactly why these things happen.
Secondly, God gave them plenty of opportunities to stop their rebellion. He told them, “Yet I persistently sent to you all my servants the prophets, saying, ‘Oh, do not do this abomination that I hate!’” (vs. 4). And, to us, God is still speaking. The author of Hebrews tells us that while God spoke to our forefathers in the faith in many ways, he now speaks to us by the life of his Son, Jesus Christ (Heb. 1:1-2).
And third, we discover that the Judeans witnessed the entire cycle of rebellion and consequences Jeremiah is bearing witness to. In other words, they have first-hand knowledge of what happens when the people of God rebel. God said, “You have seen all the disaster that I brought upon Jerusalem and upon all the cities of Judah.” (vs. 2) There should be no surprise, no sudden shock of self-righteous horror when they suffer the consequences of their own sins—they know what is coming.
The bottom line in this story is quite possibly the bottom line to the book of Jeremiah. God is a God of steadfast love and enduring mercy. Look at it through Jeremiah’s eyes: God is so good to me, that he makes it explicit what I need to avoid, I get to read stories of rebellious people who refused to avoid them, then God is patient with me while I work it out in my life and then he gives me his Spirit so that I can draw on His power to avoid them.
The goodness and mercy of God cuts through all the anguish and judgment of Jeremiah’s book if we are willing to pay attention to him speaking. God speaks in many ways: through his prophets and apostles, through his Son, Jesus Christ, and through the stories of our lives.
Thursday, February 15, 2007
Failing at the Moment of Faith: Jeremiah 43
Jeremiah 43
Johanan was a hero—at least he tried to be. In service to God’s will that the Judeans stay in the Promised Land in the face of all odds, Johanan tried to stop a plot against their leader’s life, and when that failed, he pursued the assassins and ran them off. When Judah’s social structure was thin at best, Johanan was a man who stood for the strength of his people and the will of God in their lives.
Circumstances, however, have a way of changing a person’s outlook. When the dust settled, Johanan was left in charge of a motley group of Judeans without any kind of political or military structure to speak of and looking at the potential of Babylon’s wrath. And into this situation he asks Jeremiah, God’s prophet, to tell him what God wants them to do. It turns out that though they want to flee to Egypt, God wants them to trust Him and stay in Judah.
So how does our hero respond? “Johanan…and all the insolent men said to Jeremiah, ‘You are telling a lie.’”(vs. 2)
Where does this shocking response come from? Before we get to that question, I think we can benefit from reading Johanan’s reasoning. He actually gives two reasons why he doesn’t believe the word of Jeremiah.
First of all, what Jeremiah spoke was not the Word of God: “The Lord our God did not send you to say.” (vs. 2) This is, in all reality, a common response to the Word of God when it does not fit our preconceived categories or our comfort zones. We like to say that the Word of God is not actually the Word of God. If we allow God to speak into our lives from His point of view, that word will be, from time to time, uncomfortable or difficult. Our ears like to hear what we already “know” and what we already “understand.” Being a disciple of Christ, however, means allowing Him to teach me to see and know the way He does. After all, I may be one who has ears and cannot hear, who has eyes but cannot see. (Matt. 13:15)
Secondly, Johanan attributes the sacred Word of God to the scheming of just a man: “but Baruch…has set you against us.” (vs. 3) Any conspiracy in a storm will do, I guess. If we shift the voice we hear from the heavens to a common, ordinary man, we can take and leave what we will and stand as judge over the words spoken. When the words of Scripture become just the words of other humans, I am just as competent to judge and interpret those words as the composer.
Ultimately, Johanan failed at a moment of faith. He showed a great deal of faith and resolve in the past, but later, when they were in a very tight spot and that faith would have done him a world of good, he decided to look elsewhere for his wisdom. Past success in faithfulness does not guarantee a future of the same. The Christian life is one of constant attention and diligence. Satan is ready to devour believers (which he usually does slowly, bite by bite) and we need to be moving forward in our discipleship even when we have times of great success.
Six centuries later, the Apostle Paul reflects on stories like Johanan’s and has this advice to give us:
“Now these things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction.…Therefore, let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall.” (1 Cor. 10:11-12)
Johanan was a hero—at least he tried to be. In service to God’s will that the Judeans stay in the Promised Land in the face of all odds, Johanan tried to stop a plot against their leader’s life, and when that failed, he pursued the assassins and ran them off. When Judah’s social structure was thin at best, Johanan was a man who stood for the strength of his people and the will of God in their lives.
Circumstances, however, have a way of changing a person’s outlook. When the dust settled, Johanan was left in charge of a motley group of Judeans without any kind of political or military structure to speak of and looking at the potential of Babylon’s wrath. And into this situation he asks Jeremiah, God’s prophet, to tell him what God wants them to do. It turns out that though they want to flee to Egypt, God wants them to trust Him and stay in Judah.
So how does our hero respond? “Johanan…and all the insolent men said to Jeremiah, ‘You are telling a lie.’”(vs. 2)
Where does this shocking response come from? Before we get to that question, I think we can benefit from reading Johanan’s reasoning. He actually gives two reasons why he doesn’t believe the word of Jeremiah.
First of all, what Jeremiah spoke was not the Word of God: “The Lord our God did not send you to say.” (vs. 2) This is, in all reality, a common response to the Word of God when it does not fit our preconceived categories or our comfort zones. We like to say that the Word of God is not actually the Word of God. If we allow God to speak into our lives from His point of view, that word will be, from time to time, uncomfortable or difficult. Our ears like to hear what we already “know” and what we already “understand.” Being a disciple of Christ, however, means allowing Him to teach me to see and know the way He does. After all, I may be one who has ears and cannot hear, who has eyes but cannot see. (Matt. 13:15)
Secondly, Johanan attributes the sacred Word of God to the scheming of just a man: “but Baruch…has set you against us.” (vs. 3) Any conspiracy in a storm will do, I guess. If we shift the voice we hear from the heavens to a common, ordinary man, we can take and leave what we will and stand as judge over the words spoken. When the words of Scripture become just the words of other humans, I am just as competent to judge and interpret those words as the composer.
Ultimately, Johanan failed at a moment of faith. He showed a great deal of faith and resolve in the past, but later, when they were in a very tight spot and that faith would have done him a world of good, he decided to look elsewhere for his wisdom. Past success in faithfulness does not guarantee a future of the same. The Christian life is one of constant attention and diligence. Satan is ready to devour believers (which he usually does slowly, bite by bite) and we need to be moving forward in our discipleship even when we have times of great success.
Six centuries later, the Apostle Paul reflects on stories like Johanan’s and has this advice to give us:
“Now these things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction.…Therefore, let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall.” (1 Cor. 10:11-12)
Thursday, February 08, 2007
God and Making Decisions: Jeremiah 42
Jeremiah 42:8-22
In this passage the people of Judah stand at a crossroads, and on the cusp of a major decision. Their nation has been decimated by Babylon and torn further by internal strife. There are very few of them left and their governor has been assassinated. To the south lies the nation of Egypt where they believe they can find a stable nation, economy and society to protect them from the revenge of the dreaded and unstoppable Babylonian army.
Into this crisis steps Jeremiah with the word of God. The people asked Jeremiah for God’s advice, and, after ten days of waiting, Jeremiah returned. That the answer is not what the people wanted to hear we can gather from God’s take on the situation. In verses 13-14, God knows their thoughts that Egypt appears to them to be a place, “where [they] will not see war or hear the sound of the trumpet or be hungry for bread.” God’s people see no hope in Judah, and placed all their hope in Egypt.
God is also clear about something else. He tells them in no uncertain terms that if they stay in Judah, He will take care of them. Notice how often God uses the personal pronoun in verses 10-12. God tells them things like, “I will build you up,” “I will plant you,” “I relent of (grieve for) the disaster,” “I am with you to save you,” and “I will grant you mercy.”
God promised them two things. If you stay here in the land I have given you, I will be your guardian and savior. And secondly, if you go to Egypt, you will all perish one way or another. So which decision do the people make and why? They went directly to Egypt because staying in Judah just seemed too hard and way too unreasonable. But when God is involved, the decision making process should be entirely different. One pastor put it this way, “Many things that seem risky are actually quite safe….It is safe to do these things provided they are done in obedience to God. No matter how frightening it may seem at the time, it is always safest to obey God.” In a culture that often tells us just the opposite, it is safe to sacrifice for God, to give financially to God, to get married, to raise a family, to move your life across the world in service to God.
What is God telling us about what is crucial in our decision making as His children? God, not what is before our eyes, should be the primary factor in our decision-making. There will be times when what looks like the reasonable decision is also God’s path for us, but we should make that choice based on God’s wisdom and direction, not just our own.
Even though there are places and decisions that seem to offer everything I want and need, including a future of promise and hope, any real hope I have is to follow the wisdom and word of God. The decision of faith in our lives, if done in obedience to God, will always lead us down the right path where we can find that God is with us, where He will plant and build us, where He will grant us His mercy, and where He will save us.
In this passage the people of Judah stand at a crossroads, and on the cusp of a major decision. Their nation has been decimated by Babylon and torn further by internal strife. There are very few of them left and their governor has been assassinated. To the south lies the nation of Egypt where they believe they can find a stable nation, economy and society to protect them from the revenge of the dreaded and unstoppable Babylonian army.
Into this crisis steps Jeremiah with the word of God. The people asked Jeremiah for God’s advice, and, after ten days of waiting, Jeremiah returned. That the answer is not what the people wanted to hear we can gather from God’s take on the situation. In verses 13-14, God knows their thoughts that Egypt appears to them to be a place, “where [they] will not see war or hear the sound of the trumpet or be hungry for bread.” God’s people see no hope in Judah, and placed all their hope in Egypt.
God is also clear about something else. He tells them in no uncertain terms that if they stay in Judah, He will take care of them. Notice how often God uses the personal pronoun in verses 10-12. God tells them things like, “I will build you up,” “I will plant you,” “I relent of (grieve for) the disaster,” “I am with you to save you,” and “I will grant you mercy.”
God promised them two things. If you stay here in the land I have given you, I will be your guardian and savior. And secondly, if you go to Egypt, you will all perish one way or another. So which decision do the people make and why? They went directly to Egypt because staying in Judah just seemed too hard and way too unreasonable. But when God is involved, the decision making process should be entirely different. One pastor put it this way, “Many things that seem risky are actually quite safe….It is safe to do these things provided they are done in obedience to God. No matter how frightening it may seem at the time, it is always safest to obey God.” In a culture that often tells us just the opposite, it is safe to sacrifice for God, to give financially to God, to get married, to raise a family, to move your life across the world in service to God.
What is God telling us about what is crucial in our decision making as His children? God, not what is before our eyes, should be the primary factor in our decision-making. There will be times when what looks like the reasonable decision is also God’s path for us, but we should make that choice based on God’s wisdom and direction, not just our own.
Even though there are places and decisions that seem to offer everything I want and need, including a future of promise and hope, any real hope I have is to follow the wisdom and word of God. The decision of faith in our lives, if done in obedience to God, will always lead us down the right path where we can find that God is with us, where He will plant and build us, where He will grant us His mercy, and where He will save us.
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