Archive for the ‘Anger’ Category

Day 118: I Samuel 8:1-22 — “Precious”

Wednesday, April 28th, 2010

It has never been easy to live in a covenant relationship with God. No matter what period of time we live in, we want to be like the world. God led Israel out of Egypt and saved them, protected them, and loved them. Israel looks around at other countries and decides they need a king. Forget the fact that they had the Almighty as their king. Things haven’t changed much in thousands of years because we in America are not much different. We need a government (“our precious”) to take care of us. There are those that stand up and talk of a worship alternative, governmental alternatives, lifestyle alternatives. We all want an alternative lifestyle. We want change (“our precious, we must have our precious!”). We don’t want to recognize God’s sovereignty, which did not require hierarchical forms of leadership in the human community or in His spiritual church. But the lure of conformity is seductive, and the pressures toward cultural accommodation are great. Is this our “precious?” “Appoint for us a king…like other nations” (1 Samuel 8:5). The people said to Samuel, in effect, “We don’t want to be different anymore. We want to be like everyone else (“our precious”). The pressures of alternative living are too great.” One of the issues raised by this episode for the community of faith in every generation is the lure and the danger of cultural accommodation (“our precious”). Isn’t this just a big slap on the face of God? Samuel raised his rejections to having a king and God settled him down and reminded him that the people were rejecting God and not Samuel (1 Samuel 8:7). Samuel tells the people what the consequences are of rejecting God as king and getting a man to become their leader (Read 1 Samuel 8:10-18). It’s funny that these are some of the same complaints we hear today about our government.

I get a kick out of us today. We think we are so much greater than the ancients. We think we are more sophisticated. We think we have evolved but we haven’t. We still make the same mistakes and most of all we reject our God and are surprised that He gets angry at us. We want our “precious”!

Questions: When does trust in human power become a rejection of divine power? To what degree have we let our trust in human authority overshadow our trust in God? Have we become like Gollum/Smeagol searching for “our precious”?

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Day 112: Judges 15:1-20 — Samson

Thursday, April 22nd, 2010

Samson states, “As they did to me, so have I done to them” (Judges 15:11). He makes this statement because he goes home to be with his wife and finds that his father-in-law has given her away to another man (Judges 15:1-2).  Samson’s anger defeats the Philistines.  A similar statement was used by the Canaanite king Adoni-bezek who was known for cutting the thumbs and big toes off of his enemies to keep them from ever fighting again (Judges 1:7).  We see within Samson a polarity between love for women who in the end betray him and yet he goes to their aide in an attempt to avenge them or save them.  What is even more interesting is that maybe Samson is experiencing what God has had to go through.  All throughout Judges, we have seen the cycle of sin by Israel.  Israel does evil, and God sends an enemy in punishment. Israel cries out in distress, and God sends a deliverer to save them. As Israel’s sin and disloyalty have increased over the course of the judges era, however, God’s love and generosity have been strained to a near breaking point. On one hand, God proclaims to Israel, “I will never break my covenant with you” (Judges 2:1). On the other hand, God threatens to end the relationship and let Israel receive its just punishment: “Yet you have forsaken me and served other gods; therefore I will save you no more” (Judges 10:13). Is this not the story of the Bible that man has sinned against God and God still wants a relationship with us.  In order to regain our relationship with God, we need a savior.  God saves us again by the blood of Christ that atones and restores our relationship with God. I am thankful that God has not ended our relationship with Him and that in Christ we have not received our just punishment.

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Day 110: Judges 10:6-18 — “Oops!…I did it again.

Tuesday, April 20th, 2010

Oops! 
… I did it again.
I played with your heart.
Got lost in the game.
Oh, baby; baby.
Oops!
… You think I’m in love.
That I’m sent from above…
I’m not that innocent.

I was reading the story of Israel’s continued disobedience in Judges 10:6-18 and the immortal words of Brittany Spears popped into my head, “Oops!… I did it again.” I didn’t know the words, just the title, so I googled the song and found the lyrics and a theological parallel to our text.  I think we are a lot like Brittany, we are not that innocent.  We play with God’s heart.  He loves us, He cherishes us, that much is clear as we look at the cross.  We like to look at God’s Word from our point of view.  What we can and cannot do.  If we don’t like one of the commands, we just justify it away and change it to fit our needs.  In Judges 10:6, we see that oops! … The Israelites did it again.  They did evil in the sight of the Lord.  In Judges 10:7, we see that God’s anger was kindled against them.  People claim a text like this shows God’s wrath and meanness.  I see His grace.  God is angry because we have damaged our relationship with Him. Think about it from God’s point of view.  His anger rises from our disobedience.  How many times would you women folk listen to your man say, “Oops!… I did it again,”  I cheated on you honey?  I am sure all of you women will say thats Ok, I love you and there is no problem (just to be clear, I am being sarcastic).  There is a problem!  Our disobedience to God deserves an angry response.  God is Holy and our cheating on Him is not acceptable because it breaks our relationship with Him.  It was not acceptable for Israel, nor, for us.  Brittany is right, we are not that innocent.  At least, I know I am not. I see the grace and innocence of God that He sends His innocent Son to die for us!

By the way, I can’t believe I made a theological argument using Brittany Spears.

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Day 73: Mark 11:1-26 — A Closer Look…

Sunday, March 14th, 2010

Fig treeOpen your Bible with me to Mark Chapter 11. More specifically, I’d like to concentrate on Mark 11:12-26. The story about the fig tree is probably not new to you. For so many years I struggled with why Jesus was so angry at a tree. Doesn’t the scripture say that figs were not in season? Why would Jesus expect figs to be there? I wouldn’t go into a cotton field in May and expect there to be white bolls waiting to be picked. But if you read the passage a few times, and then look at the story sandwiched between the two encounters with the fig tree….it begins to make sense.

Beginning in verse 12, Jesus is hungry. He sees a fig tree from a distance “in leaf”. Expecting to find fruit, Jesus reaches out only to find that this tree, while appearing to be able to bear fruit, is nothing but leaves and no fruit. Let me stress two items: The purpose of this tree is to bear fruit. Secondly, from a distance, this tree appears to bear fruit. When the reality doesn’t match the purpose….Jesus is disappointed.

Jesus overthrowing the tables in the TempleStay with me here. Read on to Mark 11:15-17. Jesus enters the temple and drives out those that are buying and selling there. He overturns the money changer’s table and the benches of those selling doves. He says, “Is it not written: ’My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations’? But you have made it ‘a den of robbers.’” Let me stress two things: First, the purpose of the temple is to be a place of worship and prayer. Secondly, the reality of the temple doesn’t match purpose….Jesus is angry.

Coming back by the fig tree after leaving the temple, Peter points out that the fig tree has withered (Mark 11:20-21) Read on through Mark 11:22-26 and see that Jesus is telling us that our faith, obedience and action are our fruits to God.

A closer inspection by Jesus found that appearances can be deceiving. A leafy fig tree from a distance gave the false pretense that it would bear fruit. The temple appears to be a holy place but had, in fact, been turned into a “den of robbers”. You have a purpose. When you arose out of the water at your baptism your purpose changed. But does the reality of your life match your purpose? Does mine? Just as a fig tree bears fruit, you too are purposed with bearing fruit. The Master will take a closer look. What will he find?

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Day 56: Mark 2:18-3:12 — Jesus is Angry

Thursday, February 25th, 2010

Have you ever had your buttons pushed? I worked for many years in the mental health field and this is one of the favorite terms of clinicians. The ironic thing is that mental health professionals love to talk about how clients push buttons but they never like to discuss how they themselves push their clients’ buttons. I guess that in remembering this, I have allowed my button to be pushed. I digress. Today, I want to try a different kind of post. Read Mark 2:1-3:6 and when you get to Mark 3:5, you will find that Jesus gets angry, why? We often get angry (assuming we are not neurotic) because we are passionate about something. I heard a quote once from John Lloyd Ogilvie that says, “Tell me what ticks you off, and I will tell you what makes you tick.” What makes Jesus tick? What ticks Jesus off? I will give you some hints. Look at the questions in Mark 2:1-12; Mark 2:13-17; Mark 2:18-22; Mark 2:23-28; and Mark 3:1-6.

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