misplaced worship

Do not trust in these deceptive words: ‘This is the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD.’

Jeremiah 7:4

When our faith is misplaced, when our trust shifts away from the Lord onto even the things that flow from our faith, we are loved enough by God that He won’t allow us to keep missing the beauty of relationship with Him. God will discipline His people when their worship strays from Him. In the case with Israel here, a certain segment of them had developed a superstitious confidence in the temple of God. They had begun to worship the temple of the LORD rather than the LORD of the temple.

God would eventually have to destroy this object of misplaced worship. A sovereign God would let the Babylonians ransack and burn His temple in order for Israel to be broken of this strange “temple-olatry”. He would take away all their familiar trappings that had become false worship so that all they would have left was His Word, and individual worship. And that was a good thing! That would be enough. Having God alone is the best way to know Him, love Him, and worship Him.

TRIGGER WARNING: I will now stir the stick. Read on at your own peril. I wonder right now if the Lord isn’t perhaps doing something very similar with the church worldwide. It dismays me to see Christians talking more about missing indoor buildings and age-graded programs than praising God for the ways we can worship... online, outdoors, house to house. God is using the corona virus and human governments (both of which, by the way, He is firmly guiding) to get the attention of His Church and to get our eyes away from any misplaced values. When this all started in mid-March it was wildly refreshing to be part of the explosion of innovative worship, ministry, and evangelism taking place. Now, just a short four months later I am dismayed to witness some Christian voices whining, sniping at society and one another, and filled with a focus on the past. It is just sad. God brought this wonderful, disruptive, explosive, sweeping cultural opportunity to blow away all that has cluttered evangelical culture for decades and has handed us the perfect opportunity to shine the light on the gospel! And now we want to go back? Why? It is as if like Israel we are stuck repeating our misplaced mantra: “the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord.” That’s just being stuck in the past. O Lord, whatever you need to do to keep us focused only on You! Do it for Your glory and our good! Amen

Great is the Lord!

But may all who seek you

rejoice and be glad in you;

may those who love your salvation

say continually, “Great is the LORD!”

Psalm 40:16

Great is the Lord! Every time that I have been in need, my God has seen me through. I’ve never gone hungry. I’ve never been abandoned. I’ve never been forsaken by my Savior. When I have sought Him, He has heard me and answered me. He has kept me safe in troubled times and always will.

Great is the Lord! He has made me glad. He brings such contentment and peace in His presence, by His Spirit, and through His Word. When I have been shaken and troubled and come to Him, He has brought such sweet comfort to my soul. He has turned my losses, by His consolation, into soul-strengthening experiences to bind my heart to His. He is giving me joy even in suffering. He has widened my perspective to the periphery of eternity so that what I’ve feared has simply ceased to be in my vision as I am in awe of the grand vista of grace spread out before me.

Great is the Lord! God has saved me! In Jesus alone is my salvation. What can this world do to me? I was by His mercy made aware of my sin and need of His grace when I was just a boy. And the good news that Jesus died to save me from sin’s rule, hell’s punishment, and my own selfishness, was just what my soul craved. I fell on His merciful love, calling on Jesus, turning from sin, believing my risen Lord will save me from death’s worst consequences. Trusting in Him for all my life now, I am His. And Jesus saved me! The love I have for my Savior is sweeter every day. Great is the Lord!

when kings go crazy

Saul was afraid of David because the LORD was with him but had departed from Saul.

1 Samuel 18:12

Saul’s fear was the result of many things, but at its root was his own impulsive disobedience. God had decreed that Saul’s kingship should cease because Saul had chosen to directly disobey God on more than one occasion. And when the Lord moved to anoint David as king over Israel, the Spirit of God left Saul and began to fill the life and actions of David. And all of this became very public and visible. Saul never had a heart of repentance, just a heart of regret. And slowly the fear that Saul had of David turned to hate.

Saul’s fear controlled him and contributed to his demise as king. He put David in a general’s role in the army, secretly hoping that battles with the Philistines might kill the young hero. Instead, God led David into repeated victories that only brought David more fame and favor with the people of Israel. This led to jealousy and rage in Saul. The king became so enraged that he even tried to pin David to the wall with his own spear one day. His sin led to fear, then to jealousy, then to hate, then to rage, then to an attempted murder.

Saul’s casual disregard of God’s Word was a serious problem. And as he degenerates into rage and madness as the kingdom slips from his hands, God already had David in place to lead the nation in the aftermath of all the insanity. Kings go crazy. God does not. Ironically the God that Saul disregarded was firmly in control despite Saul’s own failures and lack of control. David would be God’s servant even as Saul continued in his defiance and self-absorbtion.

Watching this story in scripture provides hope in uncertain situations. There are times I seriously question what I see happening in the world right now. The whole place seems as if the insane inmates have been given control of the asylum! But reading this ancient, true history in scripture gives us firm hope that God is in control of even the most outrageous of situations. And knowing that through David God has brought the True King, Jesus, the Son of David into this world already... that God is working in such a way that the insanity of self-absorbed human government will one day end in the rule of the King of Kings... that makes sense and gives relief. God has exalted and will continue to exalt His Son as the True King. 

God works in His own way.

He answered, “Who made you a prince and a judge over us? Do you mean to kill me as you killed the Egyptian?” Then Moses was afraid, and thought, “Surely the thing is known.” When Pharaoh heard of it, he sought to kill Moses. But Moses fled from Pharaoh and stayed in the land of Midian. And he sat down by a well.

Exodus 2:14-15

God will use the people that we might think are not worth considering. Moses is just that kind of person. God sovereignty saved him as an infant from death. He protected this little Israelite baby in the very household of Pharaoh... the king that had ordered the infanticide of Hebrew boys. Moses was raised in the courts of Egypt, but as a young man he indentified with the painful oppression of his enslaved kinsman trapped in state-mandated racist servitude. But Moses was also impulsive and violent. He struck down and killed an Egyptian taskmaster that he saw beating Hebrew slaves. Moses thought that he committed murder in secret and would get away with it.

But evidently by the next day it was public knowledge and Moses impulsively fled Egypt, becoming a fugitive from justice, guilty of murder. From the look of it at this point in his story, he does not seem to be the kind of person we’d respect as leadership material. In America today he’d be just another minority thrown in prison and considered a hopeless statistic. But God had very different plans. In Midian, God would cool down this hot-tempered fugitive by marrying him into a family of shepherds. And in this domestic setting, with a wife and family and his herds to care for, God calmly worked on Moses, turning a murderer into a shepherd whom He would eventually call to lead Israel out of slavery and into the freedom of living as His covenant people.

The lesson learned from the story of the development of Moses is that God graciously builds leaders as He sees fit, despite their past, and despite what others may think. And God will not be bound by human conventions and expectations when He does this! Yes, Moses was trained in Pharaoh’s courts. But it was not Egyptian protocol that made him a leader. One mistake ruined him for leading in Egypt’s estimation. But God would mold Moses despite the world’s rejection of him. God graciously makes new lives from stubborn sinners and He gets the glory when He does this!

a beautiful body

But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. If all were a single member, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, yet one body.

1 Corinthians 12:18-20

One of the beautiful parts of life in Christ is the experience of Christian community within the local church, His Body. God takes a diverse collection of individuals that He has uniquely created, and by His Spirit’s gifting and His Son’s saving work, the Father unites them into a Body where each member, uniquely gifted and placed, serves Him and ministers to the other members of the church. This unity within individual diversity is a glorious experience and is unmatched by anything else in the world. The church members care for one another as they bring the gospel to the world. It creates a sweet fellowship and family. I first knew this as a child fifty years ago when I knew firsthand the joy of knowing my family could minister and be ministered to within the local church.

And I believe the church is still this wonderful, caring community. It is my family. Even in 2020, with church services and ministries stretched and repurposed due to the contagious nature of COVID19, we still serve one another, and I must say this: the local church is still quite strong, thank you! Every request that my church (Mill Creek Community Church in Shawnee, KS) has put out to the attenders regarding a family or a person in need has been filled quickly, lovingly, and without lack! The Body of Christ does not fall ill in terms of ministry during a pandemic. The church continues to be strong, responding with grace, helpful resources, the sustaining message of the gospel to those who need to believe it, and the healing care of Christ.

Lord God,

I am thankful that You have made the Church the Body of Christ. When I was at my neediest as a young man, I never felt alone because Christians cared for me in a local church. And as I still have breath and life, I will work within Your Body as You have gifted me. I want to make sure nobody misses the care of Christ, the saving message of the gospel, the growth in Christ that comes in the fellowship of the redeemed, or the chance to serve as You have created them to do so. And as local churches follow You in this way around this world, You get the glory for this beautiful Body, Lord Jesus!

Amen

feeding the need

And taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven and said a blessing and broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples to set before the people. And he divided the two fish among them all. And they all ate and were satisfied.

Mark 6:41-42

It is easy

to get intimidated

by great need

by large numbers

by overwhelming challenges

by complex issues

But these things don’t bother Jesus!

When five thousand

came to the lakeshore

to spend the day

hearing the gospel

and learning Christ’s kingdom

Jesus taught them

Jesus did not want them to leave hungry!

The disciples saw

intimidating costs

overwhelming logistics

lack of supply

and unlike Jesus

wanted them sent away

The complications were simply not there for Jesus!

Jesus gathered five loaves

and two fish

He blessed them

the crowd was seated

and food distributed

and five thousand were full

Jesus would not ignore human need!

It is wrong for us to do so!

Let’s be like Jesus.

Let’s preach the gospel and let’s feed the need.

His kingdom will be known only by both.

soul stained

Though you wash yourself with lye

and use much soap,

the stain of your guilt is still before me,

declares the Lord GOD.

Jeremiah 2:22

A good look at what God is saying to Israel through Jeremiah in this passage convinces me that sin too easily draws us into unrestrained worship of what we want. This stains the soul. In the case of Israel, they repeatedly took up the worship of pagan gods of the nations around them. God does not have kind words for their sin. He calls their idolatry unfaithfulness and says that the nation acted like a whore (Jeremiah 2:20).

God saw their wanton idolatry as a degeneration.... a deep soul stain (Jeremiah 2:21). They could not just quickly wash up and be clean from this sort of betrayal of their covenant with God. They were wild and out of control. They were like wild animals bent on fulfilling their wildest urges (Jeremiah 2:24). And in all this they also abused and misled the poorest people of the land to follow their idolatry. Soul stains never affect just one person. (Jeremiah 2:34). But the end of this chapter, God promises to bring swift judgment to Israel and to the nations that Israel had grown to admire and trust more than God.

Judgment is not a pretty picture because sin is not a pretty picture. The magnitude of sin is revealed in passages like this. It should make us very uncomfortable. It should cause us to think about our own hearts, to then grieve for what sin does to us, and to turn from sin to trust only in what God has done for us. Jesus taught the reality of eternal punishment for sin. He also died and rose again to deliver humanity from that consequence. But we cannot wash ourselves of our own guilt. We cannot remove our own stain. Only the blood of Jesus can cleanse us (1 John 1:9), so to Him we must go, repenting and trusting only Him. And then our stain is washed... then our hearts are made new... then our guilt is removed by the work of Jesus for us and in us.

eternal perspective

In just a little while, the wicked will be no more;

though you look carefully at his place, he will not be there.

But the meek shall inherit the land

and delight themselves in abundant peace.

Psalm 37:10-11

This entire 37th psalm is a series of contrasts between the wicked person who tries to live without God under self-generated goals and achievements, and the righteous person who trusts and obeys the Lord. In the end the person without God has nothing. But the person who trusts God is rewarded with a stable life and blessings from the Lord that extend into eternity. The psalm encourages us to stay faithful, and not to envy the ungodly.

What’s to envy? It is a very real temptation, because there is this brief time where the wicked do seem to be having a really fun thing going on. They may even have wealth, and they may even appear to happily get away with all kinds of selfishness and wrongdoing. But they do fall into judgment, sometimes in this world. For sure, at death, they have no reward.

The prosperity this world appears to offer is very short-term. It lasts “just a little while” and then the wicked and righteous alike must answer to their Maker. Nobody lives on without this eventual experience. And since every person on the planet is born a sinner, answering for the wrong we do is inevitable. The wicked will be taken away, but the humble righteous who have turned meekly to God will go on to a full inheritance knowing peace with God as the true prosperity of soul that provides everything any human could ever want.

I take these insights from David’s song, and I think about them in the light of the gospel. It does appear that wicked people will temporarily prosper in this world. I don’t see the wealthiest people on earth committed to gospel proclamation. Yet they are also accountable to God, whether they believe it or not. Mortality is the great leveler of economic status! And wicked people who may have gotten away with wicked things? They will answer too! If they have not repented of sin to trust Jesus alone for salvation, even billions of dollars will not buy them eternal peace. The poorest of beggars that has entrusted everything to Jesus will know a richer inheritance forever. Everything this world offers to compete with Jesus loses out in the end.... and it doesn’t even come close. But Christ followers have an inheritance in which to delight in abundant peace... now and forever. God cares for us, provides for us, keeps us, blesses us with every spiritual blessing in Jesus, and will bring us into an eternal kingdom with Jesus forever. That is the life perspective I believe with all my heart!

Every political solution is fatally flawed.

Only fear the LORD and serve him faithfully with all your heart. For consider what great things he has done for you.

1 Samuel 12:24

Samuel spoke these words to the brand new “kingdom” of Israel as Saul is renewed king after leading Israel to a victory over their Ammonite oppressors. Samuel is now receding from leadership over the nation, the prophet-priest is fading from prominence. Now the “secular solution” Israel sinfully craved as they looked at other nations around them and demanded a king, has been given to them by God with the reign of Saul. Saul is fatally flawed. So is the system of government known as monarchy. All that sinners control will be marred by sin. It is inevitable. Every political solution is fatally flawed.

Although Samuel had to point out the sinful motivation behind the demand for the king, God still reassured the nation that He will take care of them if they will honor His covenant. It would be tempting to consider what the king had done in deliverance and forget the Lord. But the nation was called to remember God’s great deliverance and to worship the Lord is so doing. This could pull them away from the flawed trust of human government. Every political solution is fatally flawed.

Governments cannot deliver by their own strength. Human power is limited and handicapped. God is all powerful and without any wrong. He uses even broken human systems to bring about His plan, even as humans sin against one another and against Him. Saul would be an example of this, first as a reluctant ruler early in his reign... an insecure, inexperienced leader that God used anyway. Later he would become a power-mad tyrant intent on keeping control, leading to a tragic burnout that nearly wrecked the young nation. Every political solution is fatally flawed. God would use Saul despite his short-comings to keep Israel, His people, prospering.

Though not through the same covenantal commitments, God today is still sovereign over governments. He directs the courses of the nations. He is working it all toward the day when Jesus returns to rule the nations. God is sovereign over the decisions of parliaments, congresses, court systems, prime ministers, generals, and presidents. And even as some of those decisions increase suffering or hurt lives, God still works to make Himself known in the gospel. Nothing will change this truth. Even secular authorities that try to wipe out His purposes fail. And even as it appears that every potential political leader or solution is filled with mistakes and fatally flawed, it all points to our need of a Savior in Jesus! This is especially true in elections, where candidates all look simultaneously too good to be true, and too flawed to lead! It is now that we trust God, not broken people,  to control our lives. Every political solution is fatally flawed!

God of the good end

But Joseph said to them, “Do not fear, for am I in the place of God? As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.”

Genesis 50:19-20

We are often puzzled by what is wrong in the world. And sin does seem to run amuck, even hurting innocent and good people when it does. But this does not mean God is unable to work His good purposes. Joseph’s story is a vivid reminder that God uses all things... even bad choices people intend for really bad reasons... to work for our good and His glory.

We might be tempted in all the disruption and uncertainty of this odd year of 2020 to feel that God is absent. He is not. He is writing even in this story a really good ending! We just must wait for it. I’m reminded of some Waterdeep lyrics:

You can leave right now
You can ring a bell
You can tell 'em you think I ain't doin' too well
But when I stood like you
I eventually fell
Go on and leave right now
Go on and ring your bell

I'm amazed by life
And it's amazed by me
We're a strange old pair- me and eternity
It don't make good sense
It ain't easy to see
But I'm amazed by life
And it's amazed by me

It's a long hard road
With a good, good end
And if I keep on walking on past the crooked bend
I will meet my Maker
I will meet my Friend
It's a long hard road
With a good, good end

Christian deference and discipline for the sake of the gospel

So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. Give no offense to Jews or to Greeks or to the church of God, just as I try to please everyone in everything I do, not seeking my own advantage, but that of many, that they may be saved.

1 Corinthians 10:31-33

I have heard verse thirty-one cited as a “life verse” many times. I have been guilty of pulling it out of my hip pocket for some rapid-fire oneupmanship myself. But seeing it within its context, I am ashamed now of abusing it. 1 Corinthians 10:31 is not a verse with a generic goal for Christian living. Paul did not write it for inspirational posters to be printed. It is actually a very specific, focused call. I’ll put its true message like this: We glorify God by choosing self-sacrificing disciplines that emphasize our life’s focus as the gospel.

Two things are going on in the context of this passage: 1) The immediate context of the issue of food sacrificed to pagan idols (1 Corinthians 10), and 2) the more remote context of Paul’s discipline and willful choice among the Corinthians not to claim compensation as an apostle in order to make the gospel the focus of their attention (1 Corinthians 9). Verses thirty-one through thirty-three actually bring both of those concepts together to make a very important point. Paul is saying that all Christians should live with disciplined wisdom decisions for God’s glory by limiting our perceived “rights” and “freedoms” so that we can give the proclamation of the gospel message our full focus. It is better to find a way to shine the light on the gospel... a way that eliminates as much human offense as possible... so that Jesus can get all the attention and all the glory. 

We learn from the context that Paul could sit down with Gentiles and not ask questions of the meal set in front of him so that the conversation could be all about Jesus. Even if that meat had been purchased in a pagan market and butchered on a pagan idol’s altar. When with Jews, he was careful to eat what they offered for the same reason. In both situations, Jesus was glorified. It took wisdom and deference to live this way.

This principle still should drive us, even in a culture now pettily divided over the observance of wearing face masks and abiding by health guidelines. I will tell you what, fellow Christians... people DO NOT need to see us fighting over this! Shame on us for pulling the light off the gospel and focusing it on a 4 inch strip of cloth! Shame on us for making it about human government, and not about the King of Kings! Strong opinions by some Christians are definitely deflecting attention from the gospel work of preaching Jesus. So here is a modern paraphrase of this passage for us to consider: “So whether you mask or distance, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. Give no offense... wear a mask when asked for the sake of conscience and do so without complaint... don’t seek your own advantage or comfort... that they may be saved.”

stories of lamps, seeds, and soils

And he said to them, “Is a lamp brought in to be put under a basket, or under a bed, and not on a stand? For nothing is hidden except to be made manifest; nor is anything secret except to come to light.”

Mark 4:21-22

Jesus wrapped His teaching in parables in order to make the truth of the kingdom both memorable and searchable. The stories were attention-getting and stuck with the hearers. And the deeper explanation struck His disciples with deep truth. They are still striking as we uncover them today. And the words of Jesus shine light on contemporary issues and our own hearts. The parables of Jesus bring wisdom and insight.

The parable of the soils (Mark 4:1-20) teaches us to be faithful in the proclamation of the gospel, sowing gospel seed every where we can. We do not control the soil in which truth lands. But we still faithfully proclaim the message. And when prepared hearts receive the Word of God in the gospel, the kingdom of God expands organically by His efforts. We cannot control the response to the gospel. But we do steward the sowing of the message. God intends for it to take root, thrive, and bear fruit where He wills it.

I am reminded again that for me, as a follower of Jesus, as a citizen of His kingdom, I must submit to a process where I obey Him faithfully, trusting God to do His work with what I offer Him. Like the sower, I must be faithful to share the life of Jesus, the truth of the gospel, and my story with all people around me. But then it is up to God’s Holy Spirit and the power of gospel truth to plant itself in the soil of the heart of the hearer. I should be faithful, but it is God Who draws heart to Himself, convicts consciences, and redeems souls for His glory.

scattered and sent

For I know their works and their thoughts, and the time is coming to gather all nations and tongues. And they shall come and shall see my glory, and I will set a sign among them. And from them I will send survivors to the nations, to Tarshish, Pul, and Lud, who draw the bow, to Tubal and Javan, to the coastlands far away, that have not heard my fame or seen my glory. And they shall declare my glory among the nations.

Isaiah 66:18-19

Most Bible scholars will see this prophecy in reference to the Jewish Diaspora that occurred during and after Babylon’s capture of Jerusalem. Jews scattered all across the Mediterranean as a result of this... the overwhelming majority of survivors heading to Babylon. But this passage also describes the historical distribution of Jews over all the Middle East and Europe. From Libya to Spain to Greece and Turkey, the Jews would be flung into the nations in a dispersion lasting hundreds of years, both in judgment, and in a sovereign move that forced them to true repentance and worship. This would make their scattered remnant populations lights to the nations of the world to proclaim God’s greatness and glory among the peoples!

This judgment of God also prepared a way for the gospel. Nations all around Israel knew of Israel’s God. Jews made new homes in their adopted countries and cities, but eventually the common practice became to travel to Jerusalem for feasts. This practice was very common by the time Jesus came, making Jerusalem an international hub as a natural route of communication was already in place. And after the death, resurrection, and ascension of Christ, Jesus could send His disciples into the world with the best means of preaching the gospel already for them. In each new city they could enter the local Jewish synagogue and proclaim the good news. This scattering in judgment became a means for salvation. It is ultimately how God would make His glory known among all nations and tongues!

Lord,

You gather and You scatter in Your wisdom! You create ways for You to be known even as sinners are disciplined and do not understand why. Help us then to make You known where You have sovereignty sent us.

Amen

not quite unprecedented

My foot has held fast to his steps;

I have kept his way and have not turned aside.

I have not departed from the commandment of his lips;

I have treasured the words of his mouth more than my portion of food.

Job 23:11-12

Job lived in what for him was an unprecedented time. His world came crashing down completely. He was a devout worshiper of God, had a large family that he loved well, was well-to-do socially and monetarily, and God was pleased with him as a believer. Yet, God allowed Satan to bring unthinkable hardships to Job to prove and test the man’s faith. Job lost all his children to death. He lost all his wealth to thievery and natural disaster in the days before insurance. And then Job lost his health. He was reduced to mourning in an ash heap, covered in painful boils from head to toe. And Satan’s last strategy was to turn Job’s wife and best friends against him, relentlessly attacking with false guilt and reminders of Job’s own sinfulness to try and strike the last blow to Job’s faith. Job had never known such misery.

But Job knew God and he knew that God knew his heart. He trusted that. He kept holding on to his faith and his integrity despite the vicious spiritual and emotional attacks against him. Job had walked with God confidently even in all the trials. He kept all that he knew as God’s Word faithfully. He still obeyed God and loved God even in all the bewildering chaos that was his current situation. Job refused to concede his faith, holding doggedly to it and treasuring God and His Word more than even his meager daily food. Job was sustained through unthinkable suffering by faith in God.

The word “unprecedented”, though true of our present time, is now becoming overused in this corona-caused chaos. It is all quite bewildering... unless God is here at the center of the storm. Then it all makes sense. Then it has some purpose. Why? God does not change! He sustains us, He provides for us, He loves us... even as His purposes during the unprecedented are not going to be found out by us! God’s grace and God’s presence are still clear to us though. His Word is still and always will be, the truth! Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and into our yet to be experienced tomorrow!

I have tasted. I have seen.

Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good!

Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!

Oh, fear the LORD, you his saints,

for those who fear him have no lack!

Psalm 34:8-9

I know that God is good. I have tasted and seen His greatness. God is good to me in so many ways that I do not deserve. I will praise Him for I am a sinner saved by, kept by, and blessed by a grace freely given to me in the love of God in Christ! He has saved me from the slavery to sin that was my life without Jesus! He has protected me from the misery of a life without hope or divine perspective. He has kept me safe in all trouble. I have never been in dire need. God has always made a way.

The whirlwind of disruptive change that has been life since mid-March 2020 still swirls around me and really the entire world. Yet I have no problems at all in trusting God and believing He is good in all this. Life is uncertain. I believe that more than ever. But my hope is in God and He is good, and I know that with increased conviction! Change is all I see on the horizon even as I daily experience it. Still I am confident God will take care of those who trust in Him.

O Lord,

From ancient times You have kept those who trust in You so very close to You. I praise You for Your goodness and care. I trust You for what will be in store for me because I am secure forever in Jesus. I taste Your goodness every day. And I am confident You will never change Your care for me.

Amen

God of the awkward

Now when these signs meet you, do what your hand finds to do, for God is with you.

1 Samuel 10:7

The story of king Saul is very interesting and strangely awkward. It starts out so promising. Saul is this quiet country boy just trying to find his family’s lost donkeys when he is suddenly chosen by God to be Israel’s first king. Samuel the prophet is given the task of anointing him as king over the nation. Saul is so naive... so likeable... and so reticent to do this thing, even as God confirms it with three clear signs including filling Saul with a prophet’s spirit. God was with Saul from the first.

Awkwardly, it would take Saul and the nation time to get used to his new role as king. It is clear God is at work with him. The text says God changed his heart in a new way (1 Samuel 10:9). The young Saul is humble and submissive to the Lord, but has absolutely no desire to act on his anointing as king in any way (1 Samuel 10:16). It took Samuel later publicly appointing him (and even then Saul tried to hide from being brought out in front of the people) and declaring Saul as king for it all to finally set in (1 Samuel 10:22-23).

God will use whom God will use to do what God will do. Israel wanted a king but could not make one. God gave them the attractive but improbable Saul. God loves to use flawed people and newbies and awkward people to get His point across that He is the One in control here, not us! Will we believe this even now? Can Jesus save, change, use, and promote those weirdos He chooses? Will we give ourselves to Him, awkwardness and all? Will we be OK with that or will we think God is a poor developer of raw talent? Saul teaches us to let God make of us what He wants, especially when we don’t have it all together!

good news from the bad

When the report was heard in Pharaoh's house, “Joseph's brothers have come,” it pleased Pharaoh and his servants.

Genesis 45:16

There is a story

God is writing

every life lived

is His pen and pad

He is turning

for His glory

good news from the bad

God weaves the pieces

of pain or

sinful choices

all the suffering we have had

into compelling

redemptive drama

good news from the bad

It doesn’t matter

who the life is

God is greater

than all the bad

He will save

and be the hero

good news from the bad

And we will praise Him

as His grace shines

in the broken

places and the sad

God is changing

the hardest ending to

good news from the bad

We will be cheering

the story we are reading

how God changes everything

as Christ Jesus gave us all He had

plenteous grace

that fills our stories with

good news from the bad

Jesus gets real.

That evening at sundown they brought to him all who were sick or oppressed by demons. And the whole city was gathered together at the door.

Mark 1:32-33

Jesus had the kind of ministry that so authentically cared for people that everyone who heard or saw Him seemed to want to grab their friends and bring them to Jesus. Pretty quickly at the onset of public ministry, Mark shows us how widely Jesus became known. The whole region of Galilee learned of Him quickly (Mark 1:28) because of a sermon followed by the casting out of a demon in the synagogue at Capernaum. His teaching had authority and His action backed it up (Mark 1:27). Also, does anybody else wonder what a demon was doing in a church service? What about that synagogue made it a comfortable place for a demon to sit down? And what about Jesus changed that? Interesting questions to ponder...

After exiting the synagogue, Jesus goes into the home of Peter where he heals Simon Peter’s mother-in-law from a feverish illness. By the end of the day the whole town was at the door of Peter’s house with sick folks with them. Jesus healed the sick in the crowd, and again there were people possessed by demons being delivered. Jesus suddenly had a very impactful ministry. Mark is showing us a picture of Jesus as the very busy, very caring, servant of God. 

Jesus also came to confront the darkness that Satan and sin have over our world. After preaching the light of the gospel, He cast out demons. Mark records this as the first miracle of Jesus. Three of the five miraculous events in the first chapter of Mark involve casting out demons. It is clear there is a spiritual war being led by Jesus against the devil’s subjugation of mankind. It was serious business... the devil had infiltrated houses of worship. This was a battle of light vs darkness, truth vs lies, holy vs unholy, and freedom vs bondage.

The gospel engages the worst sins in society. It reveals where we are deceived even when we may be blind to it. The gospel isn’t just about words from a podium. The proclamation of the good news sets those in bondage free! Demons flee when Jesus comes into a life! Oh for the gospel to so change our people, our homes, our towns, our public policies, our perceptions of ethnic differences, our gatherings for worship, and our world today!

for the nations

“...these I will bring to my holy mountain,

and make them joyful in my house of prayer;

their burnt offerings and their sacrifices

will be accepted on my altar;

for my house shall be called a house of prayer

for all peoples.”

The Lord GOD,

who gathers the outcasts of Israel, declares,

“I will gather yet others to him

besides those already gathered.”

Isaiah 56:7-8

Even with Israel, God’s chosen nation, the Lord was inclusive. He told them that their job was to draw the world to worship Him. In this passage God focuses on two groups of excluded people: eunuchs and gentiles that were living among the Israelites. God promises that both groups deserved His acceptance and would be blessed when they obeyed the Law and worshiped Him.

Eunuchs would have more than likely been serving as government diplomats for other countries. It was a pagan practice to emasculate young boys in order to protect a foreign king’s harem and then give them governing responsibilities. God did not keep them from His worship, but instead promised them blessings forever and a legacy greater than any sons or daughter would leave (Isaiah 56:4-5).

The foreigners were those who either were immigrants working is Israel, or were gentiles who had married into Israelite families. Ruth was one such God-fearing gentile welcomed by God into worship. There were evidently many more at the time of Isaiah’s prophecy. And God’s point was to stop any prejudice from darkening His worship at the temple. The worship of the Lord is for the nations.

This is still true today in Christ. The gospel is for the world, not just the Church. I agree with John Piper when he states that missions happens because worship does not. Isaiah’s vision of nations welcomed by God and united in prayer and worship extends to its fullest in Jesus. At His name every knee shall bow and tongue confess He is Lord to the glory of God the Father. The worship of the Lord is for the nations!

the blessedness of forgiveness

Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven,

whose sin is covered.

Blessed is the man against whom the LORD counts no iniquity,

and in whose spirit there is no deceit.

Psalm 32:1-2

Bible scholars generally attribute this psalm of David to the period of time after his confession of sin in the whole Bathsheba incident. The “transgression” that God forgave involved adultery, abuse of power, lying, murder, conspiracy, and cover-up. But David would be confronted by God and would confess his sin. He would find forgiveness by God even though his life, and his kingdom, would never be quite the same.

There is a joy... a blessing that cannot be fully described... in the forgiveness that God gives. People can be fickle with forgiveness. But God is not that way. Look at the way in which David describes what God gave him: Transgression against God is forgiven. Sin is covered. No iniquity is counted against him. God grants a peace because deceit has been turned from with honest confession of sin. It is cause for praise when we repent and find God’s healing and restoring grace.

This was true for David as he followed the law, repented, offered sacrifices, and looked for a Deliverer yet to come. How much greater grace can we know in the full pardon and forgiveness now offered us in Christ?! I am blessed because Jesus carried my transgressions to the cross. I am blessed because He forgave me of ALL my sin. I am blessed because Jesus’ blood now covers every wrong! I am blessed because God, in gracious forgiving love now holds no iniquity against me, giving me the righteousness of Christ and adopting me as His own child. I am blessed when I continue to confess my wrong, not living in the deceit of thinking I can by holy or righteous without Jesus in my own efforts, but instead always trusting in what Jesus has done for me!

She saw the King.

The adversaries of the LORD shall be broken to pieces;

against them he will thunder in heaven.

The LORD will judge the ends of the earth;

he will give strength to his king

and exalt the horn of his anointed.

1 Samuel 2:10

This is how the prayer of Hannah ends as she leaves her son Samuel with Eli the priest. God answered her broken-hearted prayer for a son with the gift of Samuel. She vowed to give that son back to God to serve Him in His tabernacle. She leaves the boy in service to the Lord in order to fulfill this vow. She worships God in a a prophetic, personal, poetic prayer as she completes her vow.

And the prayer ends with this powerful, prophetic voice. Hannah trusts that God will raise up a delivering king. Where did she get that idea? At this point in Israel’s story there has never been a king. The events of Samuel’s early life really occur during the time of the judges. There is no king in Israel. Yet Hannah boldly trusts that God will bring His strength to judge all the earth through His anointed King. It appears her prophetic words look all the way ahead to the Messiah. Yes... Hannah is given through the Holy Spirit’s revelation a glimpse of Jesus in her faith. She praised God for His provision and grace in a son that she devoted to God’s service. And in that moment, she saw the King... Jesus... who was to come in God’s plan.

Hannah lived in a broken world yet she trusted in a King to come and by faith believed that God could heal all the divisions around her. Her home was chaotic... married to a polygamous husband in a painful rivalry with his second wife. Hannah knew the heart-breaking disappointment of infertility. Yet she trusted a sovereign God Who weighs the actions of all people, sees injustice and acts, answers prayer, and does as He pleases despite what people do. She experienced His providing grace and power that lifted her broken heart. She trusted that God does this not just personally, but also on a worldwide scale for His glory. And she looked for the day when His Anointed One, the King, would rule the world rightly forever.