Lectionary for 4/30/08

Today's Bible readings are Numbers 10.11-36 ( http://www.gnpcb.org/esv/search/?q=Num.+10.11-36 ) and Luke 16.19-31 ( http://www.gnpcb.org/esv/search/?q=Luke+16.19-31 ).

 

As we read the parable of Lazarus and the rich man we see two different attitudes  which most of our culture holds. 

 

What about Lazarus?  He had a very hard life.  He was a beggar, he had nothing, no friends, no family, turned to dogs for comfort, a perfectly wretched life on this earth.  Whose sins made him so wretched?  Whose choices?  We really don't know.  It seems from the reward he receives later that he had some sort of faith for everlasting life.  Yet certainly he, like any of us, deserved every evil that happened during his lifetime.  In fact, like the rest of us, he surely deserved more evil than he received in his earthly life.  Maybe he just didn't have enough faith?  Maybe that's why he wasn't prosperous and healthy?  Hardly likely.  In this very parable Jesus tells us about someone who was faithless but is prosperous and healthy.  We simply need to leave Lazarus as we found him.  Poverty-stricken, trouble in this life, and blessed in the next.  This is the situation of countless people on this planet.  We can and should give comfort and help as we are enabled, yet we will not solve poverty and suffering, nor should we consider it the top priority.  The true life and eternal healing that Lazarus received is the priority.

 

How about the rich man?  Likewise many in our society would like to see that the rich man had it all together, but he clearly didn't.  We would like to say he was a total wretch, but Lazarus stayed around his household and managed to eke out a living from the rich man's leftovers, which is more than homeless people do around my household.  How about the rich man's request that someone should return from the dead to call people to repentance?  Won't that be convincing?

 

The fact is, someone has returned from the dead to call us to repentance, and he continues to call us to repentance through his spirit and everywhere that his word is read and proclaimed.  Not only does Jesus call us to repentance, but he proclaims his forgiving love and the fact that he has through his own faithfulness overcome the world.  Let us cast our cares on Jesus.  Let us proclaim him boldly.  And when his name is rejected, let us not take it personally.  Even if someone rises from the dead people won't believe.  Yet for all those who do, he has prepared peace, rest and blessing.

 

 

 

Lectionary for 4/29/08

Today's readings are Numbers 9.1-23 ( http://www.gnpcb.org/esv/search/?q=Num.+9.1-23 ) and Luke 16.1-18 ( http://www.gnpcb.org/esv/search/?q=Luke+16.1-18 ).

 

The parable of the "unjust manager" is our reading in Luke today.  While this is a difficult parable, as it is a little unclear about whether the manager was dishonest, shrewd, opportunistic, or possibly pleased his master by managing to settle accounts that needed settling before they were uncollectible, we do know that the manager, who is praised by his master, takes action which apparently ends up fitting in with what his master desired.

 

We who know the Scripture, who have the Holy Spirit working in us, ought to busy ourselves about obedience to the character and desires of our heavenly master.  Let us pray for wisdom in how to approach God's work, which he has given us to do with all our days.

 

 

Lectionary for 4/28/08

Today's readings are Numbers 8.5-26 ( http://www.gnpcb.org/esv/search/?q=Num.+8.5-26 ) and Luke 15.11-32 ( http://www.gnpcb.org/esv/search/?q=Luke+15.11-32 )

 

As we look at Luke 15.11-32 today, we see one of the more familiar parables.  How easy it is to gloss over something with which we are already familiar.  But this parable of the prodigal father deserves more than our cursory inspection.

 

First, see how in fact the father is the prodigal one.  He gives his inheritance away before his death.  He suspends his business duties to watch for the return of his son who is gone.  He doesn't give up his clothes to this filthy and defiled son who is returning, but he gets a special robe worn for affairs of state, then gives his son his ring and shoes - symbols of his authority and of possession of all his wealth.  He does not provide a normal meal but a huge party for which he seems to have been saving up for some time.  This indeed is a prodigal father.

 

Now look at the two sons.  One of them we think we know well.  Most of the story centers on him.  Desiring to run life his own way, he requests an advance on what will come to him, mistrusting his father's wisdom and disrespecting the possible needs of his father.  He takes the inheritance and spends it carelessly, without regard for what his father would consider important.  When he is beyond the end of his means, he comes up with a plan to gain subsistence on his father's estate, a plan which, if he knew his father, he would know is completely unacceptable.  He is taken aback when confronted by his father's true character upon his return.  Some of us are like this son.  We think we know better than God how to govern our lives.  We find ourselves condemned by the results of our management.  When we look to God with our plans firmly in hand, we are left with a clear view of how inadequate our plans are.

 

Some of us are more like the other son.  Though not much of the story centers on him, he is certainly one of the three main characters in the story Jesus tells. He has remained faithful, at least as far as he is concerned, to his father.  He did not ask for anything.  He has labored long and hard, guarding and increasing his father's investments.  He has friends, but is often burdened with his work so doesn't do much with the friends.  He watched his profligate brother act insolently, and has clearly harbored ill-will toward that brother in his heart.  When the brother returns, he is moved to anger with his father.  This indicates that the brother who remained at home did not know his father either.  He has not rejoiced in the presence and abundance of his father.  He has not, in fact, been a good steward of the interests of his father.

 

Both sons are failures.  Neither understands the father.  Yet at this critical moment, the end of the parable Jesus tells, both are in the father's presence.  The father is showing his character to his sons and giving them opportunity to rejoice in him, in his liberality, in his desire for their joy.  Likewise, our heavenly father calls us to his side, out of the ways we have been governing our lives.  He calls us to receive the gifts he gives, which are costly, precious, and not given according to our work or our failure, but according to his abundant mercy.  Let us look now, not to our failure, our need, or our self-discipline and rigor, but to our heavenly father.  Thanks be to God for his precious gifts, most of all, the priceless gift of life everlasting through Jesus, the one slain on our behalf.  Let us celebrate in the presence of our God and Father.

 

 

Lectionary for 4/27/08

Today's readings are Numbers 3.1-16 ( http://www.gnpcb.org/esv/search/?q=Num.+3.1-16 ), Numbers 3.39-48 ( http://www.gnpcb.org/esv/search/?q=Num.+3.39-48 ), Luke 14.25-15.10 ( http://www.gnpcb.org/esv/search/?q=Luke+14.25-15.10 ), and Numbers 4.1-8.4 ( http://www.gnpcb.org/esv/search/?q=Numbers+4.1-8.4 ).

 

Luke 14.26-27 is one of the more convicting statements that Jesus makes.  The ESV translates it this way.  "If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.  Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple."  We are often told this passage means something other than what it says.  We are supposed to love our family a great deal but not compared to loving Jesus.  We are to be willing to honor our families less than we honor Jesus, but we are still unconditionally linked to our families, so it really means we have an even greater regard for Jesus.  We can still be believers but not true disciples.  The list of bad interpretations of Jesus' command here goes on and on.  But when I said "convicting" I meant that literally.  If something is convicting, we are guilty.

 

Truth be told, we do come to Jesus as we are drawn by him.  And we are convicted by the fact that we cling to our families and our own lives rather than clinging to Jesus.  But in Jesus' economy there is no room for a rival.  He does not share power with our parents, with our spouses, with our children, or with us.  If we are following Jesus, we are required to reject all others.  There are no ifs, ands, or buts.  We cannot be a disciple of Jesus otherwise.  We have nothing to learn and he chooses to teach us nothing.  That's simply the end of the story.  If we have an attachment to that human life we were pursuing and are not ready to take up an instrument of torture by which no respectable person dies, we CANNOT be following Jesus.  Do not pass go, do not collect $200, do not take another turn, game is over.

 

Jesus has just told us that we are not able to follow him.  It's plain.  And it's not what we want to hear.  He is drawing us to himself, calling us through his word, by the Holy Spirit, holding the sacraments in front of us and reminding us that they are for our good, for our life, for our nourishment.  And we can't follow Jesus.  What will we do?

 

We confess that Jesus came and he gave his life for ours.  While we do not take up our cross, he does take up our cross.  While we do not leave our father, he leaves his Father.  While we don't forsake the joys of a family, Jeuss does, and all on our behalf.  As perplexing as it is, we find that when Jesus tells us to take up our cross and follow him, he has done it on our behalf.

 

Let us rejoice in Jesus Christ, the only person in the history of the world to be able to follow himself and to do it for us before we even knew he was going anywhere.

 

 

 

Lectionary for 4/26/08

Today's readings are Leviticus 26.21-33 (  http://www.gnpcb.org/esv/search/?q=Lev.+26.21-33 ), Leviticus 26.39-44 ( http://www.gnpcb.org/esv/search/?q=Lev.+26.39-44 ), Luke 14.1-24 ( http://www.gnpcb.org/esv/search/?q=Luke+14.1-24 ), and Numbers 1.1-2.34 ( http://www.gnpcb.org/esv/search/?q=Num.+1.1-2.34 ).

 

In Leviticus we have been reading about the curses God will pour out on people who forsake his teaching.  He has promised to pour out hunger, death of our families, and finally our own death.  We gain defilement, disgrace, dishonor, and deep pain for all our attempts to go our own ways.  And this is what each of us earns.  This is what we all deserve and more, because God has not treated us as our sins have deserved.  He repeatedly calls us to repentance and we reject him again and again.

 

Look now at Leviticus 26 starting at verse 40.  Though it is impossible for our repentance to be adequate, for our contrition to be deep enough, if we repent of our sin and turn from our ways, the Lord will run to us and bring us healing and plenty.  Not only will he do that, but he reminds us that he has not really left us in our sin and straying.  He was there all along.

 

In this last day, our God has shown his mercy through Jesus Christ, Immanuel, God with us.  He has been there all along and has never deserted us but in these last days has revealed himself to us through the person of our savior, whose job is to draw all men to himself in repentance and faith, as they would not turn themselves.  As Jesus is drawing us, let us repent of our sin, desire obedience, and rejoice in his great provision for us not only in this world but in the eternal life yet to come.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lectionary Confusion

Apparently I am blissfully unaware of what day of the week or month it might be.  Since the last post really used the readings for Friday the 25th and since today appears to be Wednesday the 23rd, I think I'll wait a while before posting again.

 

Rejoice in the Lord, as long as it is called TODAY!

 

Lectionary for 4/23/08

Today's readings are Leviticus 26.1-20 ( http://www.gnpcb.org/esv/search/?q=Lev.+26.1-20 ) and Luke 13.18-35 ( http://www.gnpcb.org/esv/search/?q=Luke+13.18-35 ).

 

We have just read, in Leviticus 25, about the sabbatical year and the year of jubilee, when property reverts to its historic owner.  Now look in Leviticus 26 at the blessings and cursings God gives.  To those who trust him and follow his commands, he will pour out his blessings.  They will be so busy with gaining food and wealth that they won't have time to turn around and rest except when the Lord has commanded them to rest.  To those who don't trust him, he will pour out cursings, such as hunger, one of the worst things to see in an agrarian community.

 

How do we trust in the Lord?  Are we saved and fed through obedience to a system of days of rest, years of rest, and giving property back to other people every fiftieth year?  On the contrary, we find that we are saved, fed, clothed, and guarded by entering into the rest that Christ has purchased through his perfect love, trust, and obedience to the Father on our behalf.  We may try to be faithful to the Lord and trust him, but will always fail, at least to some extent.  We fall short of his perfect standard.  But Jesus has kept the command of God perfectly.  Let us rejoice as we enter into the rest of Christ.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lectionary for 4/24/08

Today's readings are Leviticus 24.1-23 ( http://www.gnpcb.org/esv/search/?q=Lev.+24.1-23 ), Luke 12.54-13.17 ( http://www.gnpcb.org/esv/search/?q=Luke+12.54-13.17 ), and Leviticus 25.1-55 ( http://www.gnpcb.org/esv/search/?q=Lev.+25.1-55 ).

 

Leviticus 25 tells about taking a sabbatical year every seven years and celebrating a sort of big sabbatical in the fiftieth year (after seven sevens).  Throughout the Bible, seven tends to be a number indicating completeness.  A week is a group of seven days.  We forgive our brother the same sin seventy time seven times.  We have a day of rest on the seventh day, the land has a year of rest on the seventh year, and after seven sevens there's a big economic rest, in which land and other property reverts to its historic owner.

 

This pasage reminds us of a very important concept.  The earth belongs to the Lord.  It is't ours to keep, though it is ours to use.  It is the Lord's property which he has assigned us to work and care for.  All we have on this earth, including our very life, is on loan.  We are stewards for the one master.

 

Let us also remember that in Christ we have entered into our rest on this earth, and look forward to a time when we will enter into eternal rest.  Through the recollection of small opportunities of rest and celebrating the fact that our Lord and Savior owns all things, we can look forward to our eternal heavenly rest and fellowship with the owner of all things, including our souls.

 

Count the years - enter into your rest.

 

 

 

 

Lectionary for 4/21/08

Today's Bible readings are Leviticus 21.1-24 ( http://www.gnpcb.org/esv/search/?q=Lev.+21.1-24 ) and Luke 12.1-12 ( http://www.gnpcb.org/esv/search/?q=Luke+12.1-12 ).

 

In the beginning of Luke 12 we are told to "beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy" (12.1b, ESV).  Why is this so dangerous?

 

Sin and deceit, hypocrisy about who we are and what we value, is something that, like leavening, grows and spreads, multiplying itself and feeding off the nutrients in our lives.  It may seem to lie dormant for a while, even sometimes for a long time, but eventually it will take hold of our lives and eat them away.  This leaven in our lives becomes obvious to all, bringing shame on our Savior and defaming his character through us who are called by his name.

 

While I don't have the ability to make Jesus evil, I do have the ability to make him look really bad.  If God's people, called by the name "Christian" are hung up on themselves, on getting what they want when they want it, in serving their selfish interests, in waging war against one another, what impression do we expect people to get of Christ?  Rather, we are right to beware of that leaven.  We are to flee sin and pursue righteousness.  We are to be holy as God is holy.

 

Thanks be to God that when he convicts me of sin, of leaven in my life, I have Jesus Christ, my heavenly advocate, who takes that sin upon himself and gives me repentance and cleansing.  I try to get rid of the leaven of hypocrisy.  Jesus does take care of it.  I strive (not hard enough) to live a holy life.  Jesus lives a holy life on my behalf.

 

 

 

Lectionary for 4/20/08

Today's Bible readings are Leviticus 20.1-16 ( http://www.gnpcb.org/esv/search/?q=Lev.+20.1-16 ), Leviticus 20.22-27 ( http://www.gnpcb.org/esv/search/?q=Lev.+20.22-27 ), and Luke 11.37-54 ( http://www.gnpcb.org/esv/search/?q=Luke+11.37-54 ).

 

In Leviticus we see the words of society, while in Luke we see the best.  Both are examples of one pendulum, swinging back and forth, bringing destruction with it.  Let's see where we are.

 

Leviticus - man does what he thinks is right and is condemned by God.  Sinful people follow their sinful ideas, make sacrifices of their chldren to pagan gods, have illicit relationships within their families, and generally go their own way.  They have exalted themselves to the throne, to the judgment seat of what is good and practical, and will receive destruction in return for it.  Rather than hear God's voice as a bellowing thunderclap which shouts condemnation, I hope we can see God shaking his head, mourning that the people who have fallen into sin have fallen so effectively that they cannot be righteous even if they wanted to be.  He weeps over man who has blinded himself to the goodness and mercy of God, running rather on a straight course to self-destruction.

 

Luke - people who know what God has commanded are zealous to be redeemed from the curse by keeping the minutiae of God's commands.  These are the most respectable people in society.  They are striving to do what God has commanded, and to teach others to do so as well.  They are scrupulous to a fault, as they have considered the details of God's commands as what is important, rather than the character of God which led to those commands.  These people are condemned as well, and they are just as effective at bringing others into God's condemnation as the people in Leviticus.

 

Let us look not to keeping the Law or to freedom from the Law for our salvation.  Let us look to Jesus, the author and finisher of our salvation.  In him we will find all the riches of God's character.  In him we will find the gracious provision of true freedom, found in being redeemed from the curse of sin, in the ability to desire godliness, in the assurance of eternal life and blessing, in the understanding of God's blessed and perfect commands.  No matter what we try, if we seek to earn salvation, we will be like the man in Leviticus or Luke.  Let us rather look to the Lord of life.

 

 

 

Lectionary for 4/19/08

Today's Bible readings are Leviticus 19.9-18 ( http://www.gnpcb.org/esv/search/?q=Lev.+19.9-18 ), Leviticus 19.26-37 ( http://www.gnpcb.org/esv/search/?q=Lev.+19.26-37 ), and Luke 11.14-36 ( http://www.gnpcb.org/esv/search/?q=Luke+11.14-36 ).

 

These passages are like a great buffet.  There are treats galore, filling, satisfying, nutritious.  From start to finish, we find God's commands explained to us, showing us how the Lord would intend us to follow through on what he desires. I'd like to take one of the concepts from Leviticus 19 and see if we can figure out how God's Law is in use here.

 

Leviticus 19.33-34 (ESV) says "When a stranger sojourns with you in your land, you shall not do him wrong. You shall treat the stranger who sojourns with you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God." 

 

In the Book of Concord we find a very useful explication of the Law of God.  In brief, there are three uses of the Law classified.  First, the Law serves to convict us of sin, showing us guilty before God.  Second, the Law serves to restrain evil in the civil realm.  And finally, the Law serves to show us what is pleasing to God, since regenerate people are given a desire to please God.  Let's look at these two verses from Leviticus 19 and see how the Law may be used in these three ways.

 

The first use of the Law - we find that we in fact do not treat strangers as our own people.  We don't love strangers like ourselves.  We are quick to forget that we are ultimately aliens.  And we are quick to forget the love God has shed upon us, giving us a heavenly inheritance when we have wasted all our own resources.

 

The second use of the Law - foreigners are deserving of the same legal protections that natives receive.  They should likewise be subject to the same laws, which we passed with the understanding that they would be good when applied to all people in the community.  And yes, that applies to immigration laws as well, in my opinion.  If people are in a place they are not permitted to be by law, they should be quickly, gently, firmly, and respectfully removed to their lawful place in order to protect those who are present or desire to be present in accordance with civil law.  We care for people of all origins under the same statutory protections.

 

The third use of the Law - do we wish to please God by caring for our neighbors, no matter who they are?  We are reminded here that foreigners who are among us should receive fair and loving treatment at our hands.  We love our neighbor in a practical way when we treat strangers as we would treat natives.  As an employer this would indicate that we are being pleasing to God when we do not distinguish among people of different ethnic, racial, and regional backgrounds when we hire, pay, or promote employees.  As consumers, we take no preference in the national background of the people owning or employed at businesses where we engage in trade. 

 

In application of all these uses of the Law, we will consistently find that we fall short.  We are driven once again to thankful dependence on Jesus, who has reconciled the world to God through his death and resurrection.  He, the great reconciler, can also make us live in loving community with one another, regardless of our differences, even when we fail in part to keep this command of unity and fair treatment.

 

 

 

Lectionary for 4/18/08

Today's readings are Leviticus 18.1-7 ( http://www.gnpcb.org/esv/search/?q=Lev.+18.1-7 ), Leviticus 18.20-19.8 ( http://www.gnpcb.org/esv/search/?q=Lev.+18.20-19.8 ), and Luke 11.1-13 ( http://www.gnpcb.org/esv/search/?q=Luke+11.1-13 ).

 

In Luke 11 we read a slightly shorter version of what we commonly call the Lord's Prayer.  I say we commonly call it the Lord's Prayer because in fact it is the prayer the Lord taught his disciples to pray.  His own prayer might be found elsewhere, most notably in John chapter 17.

 

One of the very important ways that we show ourselves to be believers is that we believe.  That sounds like I am begging the question, but really I'm not.  In what do we believe?  Do we believe in God's provision of all we need?  Our acting on that belief and confessing that all we have comes from the Lord is a way we show our trust in God.  Do we believe that our sin and shame has been taken away by the perfect sacrifice of Christ on our behalf?  Then our forgiving other people is a powerful confession of that forgiveness we ourselves have received.  Do we believe that God has provided all we need and is the gracious and merciful heavenly father who wishes to care for his people?  Should we not pray that way?

 

Jesus has given us a prayer to pray which addresses our need and the Lordwho is both concerned about our need and able to meet our need.  Let us pray trusting our God and Savior.

 

 

 

 

Lectionary for 4/17/08

Today's readings are Leviticus 17.1-16 ( http://www.gnpcb.org/esv/search/?q=Lev.+17.1-16 ) and Luke 10.23-42 ( http://www.gnpcb.org/esv/search/?q=Luke+10.23-42 ). 

In our reading from Luke today, we find a passage that is frequently misused.  Do you want freedom from the Law?  Do you want to know how easy it is to do what is pleasing to God?  Jesus tells us right here what to do.  In fact, it isn't even Jesus who says this.  It is a teacher of the Law, interrogated by Jesus.  Jesus affirms that the lawyer is right.  Luke 10.27b-28 says "'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.'  And he [Jesus] said to him, 'You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live'" (ESV).

 

That's all it takes.  And so often we, unlike this lawyer, blithely go along our way, assuming that we are in fact doing what God has commanded us.  Thanks be to God for this lawyer, who, understanding what Jesus has just affirmed, tries to figure out how he can avoid some of the demands.  He doesn't even try to avoid the demand of loving the Lord with the entirety of his being.  He knows that is impossible.  But maybe, just maybe, he can find a restrictive definition of a neighbor which will exempt him from some of his obligation.  Jesus goes on to define the neighbor quite loosely, as anyone with whom we are in contact.

 

Here we find the whole weight of the Law of God.  If we can love and trust God and our neighbor, we will live.  Yet we must realize that we cannot even begin to accomplish this command.  We love God, indeed.  But we reserve ourselves within that love, depending on our own strength and wisdom.  We love our neighbor, some of the time, to some extent.  Not like we love ourselves.  We don't really care what our neighbor thinks about when he daydreams, do we?  But we do care about the intimate details of our own lives.  In the final analysis we fail miserably.

 

What is the answer?  We have Jesus, who does love and trust God and who has shown his loving kindness to us, his neighbors.  He has lived the life we must live and he has died in our place.  Through his resurrection, he grants us salvation and new life to all who believe.  It doesn't depend on our faithfulness.  We've already proven ourselves faithless.  It depends on Christ's perfect faithfulness, imputed to us.

 

Look to Jesus and live.

Lectionary for 4/16/08

Today's readings are Leviticus 16.1-24 ( http://www.gnpcb.org/esv/search/?q=Lev.+16.1-24 ) and Luke 10.1-22 ( http://www.gnpcb.org/esv/search/?q=Luke+10.1-22 ).

 

The concept of the "scapegoat" comes from Leviticus chapter 16.  We all know what a scapegoat is, the person who is blamed for everything.  And in most households, there is someone or something to serve as a scapegoat.  For years in our household it was Bob, my children's "invisible enemy" who was responsible for all sorts of wrongdoing.  Nowadays it is usually the cat.  Someone has to receive the blame.  Someone has to be punished.  It's only fair.

 

When Aaron had made sacrifice for himself and the sins of the people, he would come to this one remaining goat.  By laying his hands on the goat and confessing the sins of the people over the goat, the Scripture says he places the sins of the people on this goat.  While it may be allowed to escape and go free, it is also going to its death as it passes outside of the camp into the wilderness.  When the goat goes "free" it takes the sins of the people of Israel with it, to be sent outside of the camp, away from the people who once bore their sin.

 

Someone has to take the blame, right?  What does this have to do with me and my Christian life?  Jesus Christ, the lamb of God, has become sin for us.  He has taken the sin of his people upon himself.  He has provided the offering for their sin in himself, and has gone outside of the camp - outside of the city of Jerusalem, to die for the sin of his people in an unclean place, the place of execution.  And all those sins which are confessed are sins he receives, poured out on his head, as the sins of Israel are poured out on the head of the goat.  Jesus has taken our sin, has taken our blame, has died in our place, a place of uncleanness, pain and suffering.  Yet Jesus was not held by our sin.  Death itself could not hold our Lord and Savior, who, having died in our place, also lives that we might live.

 

Rejoice!  Christ is risen!  The Lord who died in our place now brings us eternal life!  Thanks be to the Lord who would take our sin upon himself and remove it from us!

 

 

Lectionary for 4/15/08

Today's readings are Leviticus 10.1-20 ( http://www.gnpcb.org/esv/search/?q=Lev.+10.1-20 ), Luke 9.37-62 ( http://www.gnpcb.org/esv/search/?q=Luke+9.37-62 ), and Leviticus 11.1-15.33 ( http://www.gnpcb.org/esv/search/?q=Lev.+11.1-15.33 ).

 

Let's draw our attention to the longer reading, from Leviticus 11-15.  Notice the unifying factors throughout this passage, giving laws which appear to protect the hygeine of the people of Israel. 

 

First, the vast majority of situations dealt with in these chapters are situations the individual Israelite cannot prevent.  God has provided a means of relief for the symptoms of those situations we find ourselves in due to no fault of our own.  Much of the suffering we endure is not due to our own sin, nor due to the sins of others around us, but due to the fact we live in a sin-cursed world.  We live, we suffer, we die, and our Lord has provided comfort and relief for us, on his own terms, following his own rules.  And we see that God's directives here for restoration are not the kind of directives we would come up with.  The sacrifices made, with variations depending on the relative wealth of the person making the offering, don't seem closely related to the actual situation.  They don't fit according to our wisdom.  But they fit according to God's wisdom.

 

Second, see the role of the priests in all restoration.  We don't work out our troubles ourselves.  A walk with God is not an individualistic thing.  We would like to pull ourselves up by our own bootstraps, go find ourselves, get our lives under control - all in vain.  Our individual strivings bring death and destruction.  Thanks be to God who has provided means of grace including other believers who can see our struggles, look at them rightly before the Lord, and move us toward the divinely provided restoration.

 

Finally, we see that the kind of offerings prescribed are different for different people.  Those who are wealthy may give noble and expensive offerings.  Those who are poor will give less.  God does not exclude people from his kingdom and a relationship with him based on wealth or poverty. 

 

If we should doubt God's provision and love for his people, let us consider our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, who owns all heaven and earth yet was born into poverty, of a mother who was able to give only the least expensive offering after he was born.  He has lived in community, subjected himself to his parents and the priests and teachers of his day, corrected the priests and teachers, served as our sacrifice, and risen from the dead to deliver to us the promise of eternal life.  Let us trust on God's provision in Jesus.

 

 

Lectionary for 4/14/08

Today's readings are Leviticus 9.1-24 ( http://www.gnpcb.org/esv/search/?q=Lev.+9.1-24 ) and Luke 9.18-36 ( http://www.gnpcb.org/esv/search/?q=Luke+9.18-36 ).

 

Look how in Leviticus God gives commands for sacrifice.  Aaron and the other people of Israel can follow God's commands, giving the animal without blemish, according to the command of God, not according to their own wisdom or commands.  The Lord has commanded it.  His command is trustworthy.

 

As we look at Luke's Gospel, we see that Jesus is making commands to those who would follow him.  These commands are serious.  Our Lord and Savior has made the commands and we are obligated to follow them.

 

See the heavy demands of the Law given by our Master.

1) Deny yourself.

2)  Voluntarily take up an instrument of torture and death.

3)  Leave your comfort and even life to follow God's command.

4) Lose your life counter to your own reason in order to save it.

5) Endure shame and condemnation on this earth.

 

If we do not do these things, we have no hope.  We are not able to follow Christ, there is no redemption.  The wisdom of God goes counter to our wisdom.  The will of God goes counter to our volition.  We are called to do the very things we avoid by nature.  And even when we try, we will fail.

 

What hope then do we have?  Trust in the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ who has become the perfect sacrifice for our sins, according to the good will and decree of his Father.  See how Jesus has lived this life that he commands us to do.  See how he has given his life for our salvation.  He has both lived the life we are to live and has died the death that we deserve.  Jesus has fulfilled his law and has taken away the condemnation.

 

What shall we do then?  In hope, love and trust we should throw ourselves on the mercy of our Lord and Savior.  Let us trust in his word.  His commands were good and right, so good and right that he followed them when we could not.  Let us strive to follow his commands and rejoice that he has done what we cannot do.

 

 

 

Lectionary for 4/6/08

Just a reminder that the lectionary readings are easy to access at www.pottersschool.org/MrSpotts/lectionary.html .

 

I'll be in a little and out a lot in the upcoming week so won't make my comments.

 

May the word of God dwell richly in your hearts and minds.

 

Alex

 

Lectionary for 4/5/08

Today's readings are Exodus 32.1-14 ( http://www.gnpcb.org/esv/search/?q=Ex.+32.1-14 ) and Luke 6.20-38 ( http://www.gnpcb.org/esv/search/?q=Luke+6.20-38 ).

 

We've all heard stories about people who do things because they just know they are right.  "It feels so right it can't be wrong."  "Trust your heart."  "Use the Force."  "A man's gotta do what a man's gotta do."

 

This tragedy in Exodus 32 is full of people acting just that way.  Moses has gone up to the mountain.  The leaders, who have very recently glimpsed the presence of God, do not know what has become of Moses.  Or rather they are impatient.  Their own hopes, their own desires, their own priorities are taking charge.  What has happened to Moses?  The people are going to be restless.  We'd better do something.  It wouldn't do to let these people have no hope.  We've brought them out into this wilderness with the promise of God's deliverance.  What will we do?  Hence the creation of a false god and the attempt to persuade the people using the tools of human religion.  And in response to this, Aaron, who has been intimately acquainted with the works of the true God, establishes the forms of worship for this false god.  How like us.  We've got to do something. 

 

How many times has this same pragmatism dragged us down in our lives, in our households and congregations?  We can't just stand there and let it happen, we must do something, so we design a solution that will pacify some other people.  We try to persuade ourselves that we are doing God's will when in fact we are putting forth a shabby substitute for that.

 

Charles Dickens, not exactly a good theologian, but certainly an astute observer of humans, created just such a character in his novel, Bleak House.  In Bleak House the characters are all somehow intertwined in a longstanding legal dispute about a will.  At one point, one character hires a different lawyer who promises to make more progress, though it will cost a great deal.  When the young plaintiff is tempted to relinquish his case, the lawyer dissuades him, telling him that they are making progress.  They are active.  They are doing things.  The case is in motion.  Of course, the case was in motion for some forty years before this lawyer began his activity.  Within the world of Bleak House, like in our real world, we find that our human striving is often, even always, a sorry substitute for divine activity which has begun processes and will bring them to completion.

 

Let us look to God's plan.  Let us look to divine mercy and provision.  Let us await his timing, being obedient to his stated desires.  When we try to create a "unique worship experience" or set up the situation for "life changing" ministry, usually including the latest in opinion polls, demographic statistics, and architectural fads which will make people feel at home, we are doing exactly what the Israelites were doing.  We are trying to manufacture spirituality based on our understanding.  We are backwards.  We bring grief to our Lord and give him reason to pour out his wrath.  Rather than our plans based on our understanding, let us look to the Christ who died on our behalf, who rose again as a forerunner, the one who brings us to God.  Let us come on his terms.  He's the real thing.

 

Don't just do something!  Stand there!

 

 

 

Lectionary for 4/4/08

Today's readings are Exodus 31.1-18 ( http://www.gnpcb.org/esv/search/?q=Ex.+31.1-18 ) and Luke 6.1-19 ( http://www.gnpcb.org/esv/search/?q=Luke+6.1-19 ).

 

God's Sabbath commands are often hotly debated and disputed.  How do we deal with these difficult commands?  What does it mean to keep the Sabbath?  Does this change in some way in our modern, 24/7, technological world? How would the early Christians in the Roman Empire deal with a calendar involving a seven day week, a Sabbath, and the conflict with a civic and work calendar which had days for rest and merchandising on Kalends, Nones, and Ides?

 

When we review the Old Testament we see that God makes no bones about it.  The Sabbath is to be kept, those who don't keep the Sabbath are stoned or cast out, no fuss, no muss.  Theonomistic Christians will assert that we are still to keep the Sabbath.  Some will make philosophical arguments that it changed from the sundown-Friday to sundown-Saturday period to start at sundown Saturday, midnight Saturday night, or sunup Sunday. 

 

Jesus makes this issue more difficult as he goes around purposely violating the Sabbath by allowing his disciples to do what their culture classified as harvesting (picking handfuls of grain), by healing people, even by having formerly crippled people pick up their mats and carry them home. 

 

A good understanding of this concept is that Jesus is the mighty God who gives a new covenant in his blood, and who has fulfilled the old covenant.  While Jesus restated all the other commandments, he did not restate the Sabbath.  He fulfilled it and calls believers to enter into his rest, a rest from sin, fear, guilt, doubt, and striving with this fallen world.  Jesus has instated a permanent Sabbath. 

 

 

Lectionary for 4/3/08

Today's readings are Exodus 25.1-22 ( http://www.gnpcb.org/esv/search/?q=Ex.+25.1-22 ), Luke 5.17-39 ( http://www.gnpcb.org/esv/search/?q=Luke+5.17-39 ), and Exodus 25.23-30.38 ( http://www.gnpcb.org/esv/search/?q=Ex.+25.23-30.38 ).

 

I'd like to focus briefly on Jesus' teaching in Luke 5.  It is common to find local churches which emphasize teaching.  You can go to this church and hear a seminar on fifteen ways to please God with your money.  You can go to another church down the street and find seven key elements to spiritual growth.  Maybe there's another local church with a Sunday evening series on family relationships.  How about the forty Sundays of purpose?  Then there's the movement recently that encouraged local churches not to meet on Sunday mornings but rather to do community service projects for a month so as to relate to the community.  Churches have studies on this, studies on that, Christian education for all ages, complete with study notebooks.  We are probably the culture that spends the most time and money ever in history on education.

 

In Luke 5 Jesus is teaching people.  We don't know the content of his teaching.  But people are coming from miles around to hear him.  They are hungry for this teaching that Jesus gives.  While we don't know much of what Jesus was teaching, we do see in two instances here, verses 20 and 32, Jesus makes his purpose very clear.  Jesus is all about forgiving sins.  He heals people by forgiving their sins.  He restores their relationship with God by forgiving their sins.  He celebrates with people as he forgives their sins.  The teaching of Jesus clearly has something to do with sin and salvation, and he points over and over again to the idea that we don't know either the depth of our sin or the riches of his forgiveness.  We are sick indeed.

 

In our education-heavy society, have we forgotten the central issue of Christian education?  Have we forgotten that Christ crucified for sinners is the heart and center of all our teaching?  Have we chosen to consider ourselves the righteous people who can bring healing to other people by telling them the seven habits of spiritually effective business managers?  All our striving toward relevance counts for nothing.  All indicators are that the only times in history when the Church has grown have been times when God's servants fearlessly proclaim Christ's atoning death for sinners.  If we are proclaiming anything else,we are simply marking time.  It's doing no good and it is eroding the society's perception of Christ.

 

Let us rather turn ourselves in desperate obedience to the Christ who died for us.  Let us beg him to have mercy on us.  Let us be filled with repentance knowing that our Lord and Savior will indeed bring us healing, grace, and forgiveness, provided at his cross.  Let us celebrate the redemption Christ has given us through our assembling together, through Word and Sacraments, as we meet from house to house, sharing in one another's needs.  Let us bring Jesus to this world.  That's what our world needs.

 

 

 

 

Lectionary for 4/2/08

Today's readings are Exodus 24.1-18 ( http://www.gnpcb.org/esv/search/?q=Ex.+24.1-18 ) and Luke 5.1-16 ( http://www.gnpcb.org/esv/search/?q=Luke+5.1-16 ).

 

I observe today that in Exodus 24 Moses erects altars and sacrifices animals to the Lord, pouring some blood on the altar and the rest on the people of Israel, who agree to hear and obey all the Lord has commanded.  He has a book of some sort which details what God demands.  When does this happen?  It happens before God gives his commands to Moses on the tablets.  I also see that God calls Moses and a crowd of witnesses to see his gracious presence at a distance on the mountain before he calls Moses to go receive the Law.  The leaders of Israel have been confronted with the presence of the Lord.

 

Some quick applications of this passage - that's all I have time for though I would love to pursue it farther.

 

First, even before the giving of the Commandments, God had revealed himself to his people, even in a written manner, presumably through Moses, so the people would have a definitive statement of his righteous demands.  Our Lord has never left his people to guess at his will, like the pagan gods.  He has always revealed himself in clear and understandable ways.

 

Second, since Adam's sin, the shedding of blood has been a required part of keeping the covenant of obedience to God.  Here the blood is shed at God's command, is an offering to him, and is also used to cover sinful people.  When we enter into worship and fellowship with God, we should be conscious that it happens only through blood shed on our behalf.  We have life in Christ through a covenant that involves death.

 

Third, God's person and presence is not without witnesses.  We will see in subsequent chapters how faithful those witnesses are.  But we must remember for now that they have witnessed God's presence, they have agreed to live in covenant with him, obeying his commands.  These are not casual observers.  God is not distant from his people.

 

Finally, God provides means to approach him, even for sinful people.  In these last days, he has provided a means to approach him, and that means is named Jesus, called the Christ, who shed his blood on our behalf, died that we might have life, and has covered us with his death, making us also partakers of his resurrection.  We and a great cloud of witnesses testify to this.  We have received testimony from people and directly from God through his inspired word.  Let us rejoice, believing that indeed God is calling us out of this world of death to live in him.

 

 

 

 

Lectionary for 4/1/08

Today's readings are Exodus 23.14-33 ( http://www.gnpcb.org/esv/search/?q=Ex.+23.14-33 ) and Luke 4.31-44 ( http://www.gnpcb.org/esv/search/?q=Luke+4.31-44 ).

 

In Exodus 23 we see God establishing festivals for his people Israel.  We'll just take a moment to notice a few important features about the festivals God has appointed.

 

1)  There are three at the outset.  Maybe this has something to do with the trinity, maybe not. 

2)  Two of the festivals have to do with ongoing routine events - the first and last crops of the year.  Our Lord gives us annual reminders of his faithfulness to us as he provides for our needs.  Our worship returns thanks to the God who gives us all we have.

3)  One of the festivals is an annual celebration of God's power and desire to deliver his people from bondage.  Like we would die if we did not receive food from the hand of God, we would also not find release from bondage and slavery without his mighty hand exercised on our behalf.

4)  Through the festivals the Lord establishes, he makes a distinction between his people and the people around them.

5)  God provides what we need for worship, he provides the reason to worship, and he tells how we are to worship.

 

Things have not changed much.  God's people still come to him to worship his mighty act of deliverance and sustenance, using the means he has established and the resources he has given.  Need we seek something new and different?  Let us rather seek the Lord and giver of all through the means he has given us.