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Day 170: 1 Chronicles 6 — He knows my name!

Saturday, June 19th, 2010

1The sons of Levi: Gershon, Kohath and Merari. 2The sons of Kohath: Amram, Izhar, Hebron and Uzziel. 3The children of Amram: Aaron, Moses and Miriam. The sons of Aaron: Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar…

33Here are the men who served, together with their sons: From the Kohathites: Heman, the musician, the son of Joel, the son of Samuel…47the son of Mahli, the son of Mushi, the son of Merari, the son of Levi. 1 Chronicles 6, excerpts

list of namesTrue confession time here — you didn’t read it, did you? Eighty verses; mostly names. “I can go ahead on to our New Testament reading for today, John 14:1-24.” That’s all right; you’re in good company. Not to point out anyone specific here, but I know someone pretty well who may have done that a time or two.

When reading the New Testament, do you skip over Matthew 1? Luke 3?

Let’s step back a minute. I know you believe as I do, that “all scripture is God-breathed” (2 Timothy 3:16). Surely you don’t believe God inspired prophets, apostles, and other writers to pen words that were unimportant. I don’t believe that. So what possible importance could a simple list of names have to us?

I suggest that’s the wrong question. I further suggest a better question is this: what possible importance could a simple list of names have to God? I can’t answer that, but I know two things. One, that Mahli and Mushi, Amram and Izhar, Heman the musician, and the tribe of Reuben were all just as precious to the Father as was Moses, Abraham, and Isaiah, and so are Bob and Randy, Powell and Matt, Scott and Charles…

He knows our names! (Matthew 10:29-30)

Two, He knows their works of service. “Here are the men who served”, we are told (1 Chronicles 6:33). Many times, people who perform works of service for the Lord or for His church are named. We know Bezalel’s craftsmanship was responsible for the Ark (Exodus 37:1), and two chapters earlier, Oholiab is also named as an artisan. But in Exodus chapter 36 alone, mentioned 27 times, the unnamed congregation of “they” performed the numerous other works of service toward building the tabernacle. How many people today perform works of service for the Lord that only they and the Lord know about?

And yet He knows your name.

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Day 169: 1 Chronicles 5:1-26, John 13:18-38 — Shoutout

Friday, June 18th, 2010

Today’s passage in 1 Chronicles 5:1-18 is what in modern day language might be considered a “shoutout”. It’s like when you call up a radio station to wish someone a happy birthday and have their name read aloud over the air. Or when you put their name on the scoreboard at a sporting event. Here is a list of names of the descendants of the sons of Israel. While I realize they were important to the Hebrew people, it can be hard to read the long, seemingly pointless genealogies. But I like to look at passages like this in another way. Imagine that the creator of the universe mentioned you in his instruction book to his children. In a sense, he’s giving you a “shoutout”. That’s quite an honor. The point is that whether these people did good or evil or nothing more notable than being born to someone else who was mentioned, God knew their names. God knows my name. He knows who I am. Just like he knew who each of these people was. He’s not too busy running the universe that he can’t take just a moment and think about me.

In return do we ever give God a “shoutout”? Do those around us know the name of God? In John 13:35 Jesus clearly tells us how we can reciprocate: “By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” When we choose to love those around us, we’re spreading the name of Jesus around and honoring him.

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Day 159: 2 Kings 10:1-12:3; John 8:46-9:7 — Power

Tuesday, June 8th, 2010

EF2 tornado hits Rockport. Over 65,000 without power in the Corpus Christi area; my electricity off for thirty hours. Took two people a full day to get all the things fixed the lightning destroyed. People are looking at God and wondering “Why?”. Why did God allow these terrible storms to cause all this destruction?

Good question and the answer will not be found in the news reports on TV, newspaper or the internet. All they will do is report a list of items that were destroyed, but provide no answers. Men will analyze the weather patterns and put their combined knowledge on display and cite the various conditions that allowed the storms to develop, but this still does not answer the question “Why?”.

In his trials Job kept asking “Why?” God never told him about Satan bringing false charges against Job and that Job had to prove Satan wrong. Job’s friends keep pointing a finger at Job accusing him of great sin. Isn’t that just like us to think all bad things are punishment from God?

John 9:1-3

In John we find a different view of things. The disciples thought they knew the answer to the question but just not the specific ones responsible. Jesus blew them away with His answer. “It was neither that this man sinned, nor his parents; but it was so that the works of God might be displayed in him.”

Wow! So life isn’t all about us. It really has to do with the Creator of the universe. Has anyone stopped to think the number of man hours it has taken, and continues to take, to put back what God changed with what to Him was just a gentle breeze? God’s power is on display. Can we see it?

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Day 141: John 1:1 — Logos/Word

Friday, May 21st, 2010

John 1:1 (Prologue) contains three short phrases. Each phrase builds upon the other creating a parallelism — “in the beginning was the Word (logos), and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” The Prologue draws on the Word of God in the Old Testament. The creation accounts in Genesis reveal creation from God’s spoken word. He spoke creation into existence, He spoke through the law at Sinai. He spoke to and through the prophets. The Word in John reflects both the word and deed of God. The Word links with Jewish wisdom tradition. In Proverbs 8:22-31, Wisdom has been God’s companion “before the beginning of the earth,” working alongside God logosto accomplish God’s plan for humanity. John reshapes the wisdom tradition to reflect the historical reality of the incarnation. In the use of logos, then, John has chosen a term familiar to both Jews and Greeks, but uses it in a new context.

John 1:1 stresses the eternal existence of the Word with God, an existence outside the bounds of time and history. The opening words of John 1:1, “in the beginning…,” recall the first words of Gen 1:1, but point to a time before the creation of the world. Creation is not spoken of until John 1:3. The eternal Word will not stay outside of time and history. The Word enters into our history. The contrast between the eternal and the temporal is seen in the contrast of the “to be” verb with the verb “to become” or “to come into being.” John proclaims that the Word is fully God. This is similar to Paul in Philippians 2:6 when he reveals that Jesus “was in the form of God” and was equal to God. Through this phrase, John states that the Word is what God is and the Word does what God does. John tells us that when one sees Jesus, one sees God; when one hears Jesus, one hears God (e.g., John 5:37-38; John 8:19; John 14:9-11). The oneness of the Word and God means that the revelation spoken and enacted by the Word makes God known (John 1:18).

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Day 133: Luke 22:14-20 — The Last Supper

Thursday, May 13th, 2010

DaVinci's The Last Supper

The Last Supper has come to represent an image in a recent movie of a conspiracy of the church to hide Jesus’ wife and children. It has resulted in arguments between churches over how often you take it. I have often heard discussions about the mundane repetition that is not entertaining…in other words, it is boring. I am always surprised by these points of view. The Lord’s Supper is a historical fact that has been an integral part of worship since the early church. In today’s world of entertaining worship, it would be sacrilege not to have a praise team perform. However, to follow Jesus’ command to eat the bread and drink the cup of the new covenant is boring. How things have been turned upside down and our forms of worship ignores a command of Jesus to replace it with our worship desires. To ignore the Last Supper is to refuse to stand in the presence of mystery and wonder. It is disdain on the body of Christ. Have we forgotten its foundational message of what God has done to correct our broken relationship with Him and our neighbor?

The act of eating together paved the way for Jesus’ fellowship with his disciples, the crowds, and the outcasts in Galilee on various occasions and Luke emphasizes the meal scenes of Jesus’ ministry. Instituted at the time of the Passover meal, the Lord’s Supper also embraces and fulfills the celebration of God’s deliverance of the Israelites from Egypt. When we eat the bread and drink the cup, we declare that the Lord whom we worship is also the God committed to the deliverance of His people today. In the early church, the Lord’s Supper was observed in connection with a fellowship meal. The risen Lord becomes known to the early disciples in the breaking of bread (Luke 24:30-31). The early Christians broke bread at home (Acts 2:46), they gathered on the first day of the week to break bread (Acts 20:7), and problems arose when the meal did not express the oneness and fellowship of the church (1 Cor. 11:17-22). The supper, therefore, relates the community of believers physically and spiritually to the Lord, who laid down his life that we might live. It is a commemoration of the life and death of Jesus, a celebration of his real and spiritual presence now, and an affirmation of the hope that we shall eat and drink with him in the kingdom of God. I look forward to this Sunday, the next Sunday, and the next Sunday to take the Lord’s Supper and remember my Lord’s death until He comes again. I do not find this mundane, nor do I find the banquet in heaven something that I choose not to participate in. Each opportunity to take the bread and drink the cup is an opportunity to live the gospel and experience the grace of God that invites me to salvation.

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Posted in Discipleship, Exodus, God, Grace, Jesus, Lord's Supper, Worship | 2 Comments »

Day 132: Luke 21:25-36 — Good News, Jesus is Coming Back!

Wednesday, May 12th, 2010

Second Coming of ChristI have preached many funerals and have noticed two things. First, a person who did not believe in Jesus makes for a difficult service. Second, a person who was faithful to the Lord makes the funeral service easy for the family and for me. I don’t know why but it seems more and more sermons stay away from the topic of the Second Coming. The coming of the Son of Man is one of the important themes of Jesus’ teaching. It is emphasized over and over in the New Testament (e.g., Mark 13; Matthew 24; John 14; 1 Corinthians 15; 1 Thessalonians 4; 2 Thessalonians; 2 Peter 3; Revelation 22, etc.).

The old joke tells us that there are two inescapable aspects of life: we pay taxes and we will die. Death lends urgency and significance to each new day. For those who have no faith and no knowledge of God, death stands as a final denial of life. All that we may attempt or do is eventually swept away by time. The unavoidable philosophy of those who do not believe is the desire to make the most of every moment (“Go for the gusto”) with no respect for others. On the other hand, the Good News of Jesus Christ is that He is returning and that beyond the end of our time is the Lord, who has come among us in the person of Jesus. We believers live expectantly, filling each day with activity that is meaningful because this life is a precursor to something better and we hold our heads high, knowing that our redemption is near (Luke 21:28). These verses encourage me. When the very foundation of life seems to be shaken and times are tough (Luke 21:26) we read:

“And then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.” Luke 21:27, ESV

Our redemption is near (Luke 21:28), God’s Word will never pass away (Luke 21:33), Good News, Jesus is coming back!

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Day 127: Like 19:11-27 — God Reigns!

Friday, May 7th, 2010

In Luke 19:11-27, we have the parable of the ten minas. Luke has two components in his parable. He focuses on talents and a king’s vengeance on those who oppose him. Luke wants us to consider a role of God’s kingdom that we don’t like to focus on. God opposes those who do not accept His sovereignty.

In Jesus’ day many kingdoms were corrupt, greedy, and violent. In many ways things are still the same today. There appears to be a growing mistrust of our government, as we see corruption in almost every aspect of our leaders. The beauty that we often miss is the contrast that Luke is putting forward. The value system of Jesus’ kingdom is diametrically opposed to that of the kingdoms of Jesus’ day and our governments today. On the other hand, the law of retribution still applies, for those who serve God faithfully will be rewarded, and those who resist God’s kingly rule will perish.

The kingdom will not appear immediately (Luke 19:11). We as disciples are called to be trustworthy while we wait for the coming of the king. We are to advance God’s interests and if there are those who may oppose God’s interests and do not want Him to reign over them, rest assured, He will deal with them in His own time (Luke 19:27). Our job is to continue to advance the Kingdom of God because GOD REIGNS!

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Day 125: Luke 18:1-8 — “An Unjust Judge”

Wednesday, May 5th, 2010

In Luke 18:1-8, A widow cries for vindication and deliverance. Yet right before the cries, Luke announces the thrust of the coming parable as encouragement to persist in prayer to God. He does not say it in so many words, but it is clear from the context that this prayer is about the end-time resolution of the problems of the present and not simply about answered prayer in the normal sense. Luke describes the judge that undermines all confidence that one could look to him for justice. He is exactly the opposite of what a judge should be. He answers to no one, not God or the needs of those around him. When the widow is introduced, we have to remember she has absolutely no leverage at all in society. Luke sets us up for a complete failure of justice. However, the widow persists in her request for the protection of the law.

How much more can God be relied upon to provide vindication than can the wicked judge of our story who, despite his wickedness, when he faces the prospect of public embarrassment will change his mind to deliver justice? How much more should we continue to trust in God, seek His guidance, and ask for vindication and deliverance from an unjust world? Will we continue to ask until the end? Will we be faithful when Jesus returns? How much more will the justice of our God be than the wicked judge?

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Day 124: 1 Samuel 20:1-42 — Torn Between the Two!

Tuesday, May 4th, 2010

How many times have we been torn between our loyalties to two people? It is a good question and I know I have. What do we do? Who do we side with? How do I let one down? Our reading is a fascinating and moving story and it has a significant part in David’s life. Jonathan was in such a predicament. He loved his father Saul and was a good friend with David. I suppose it would be easy to criticize Jonathan for this but I really do think we have had a similar problem. Saul was driven by excessive fear and by a paranoid jealousy of David and David was set to be king but continued to show loyalty and respect to Saul as the Lord’s anointed. So, how do you resolve the dilemma of being torn in two?

It is easy to answer the question in Jonathan’s case. As readers of the text, we are privy to the outcome. We know that David is ultimately to be king. So, we side with David. But what do we do in our relationships? I think this story may point us in a spiritual direction. We might should take some time to think about what God’s plans are. What does God want me to do? I think in my own case these situations have been resolved more easily when I look at it from this perspective. I get in trouble when I look at it from my point of view, from my feelings, or from what most benefits me. Just one more thing, it may be beneficial for us to be respectful to the one in authority even if we disagree. We succeed like David did when we stay within the realm of God’s plan through His Word.

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Day 120: 1 Samuel 12:19-25 — “I Told You So…”

Friday, April 30th, 2010

Two days ago (Day 118), I told you that getting a king for Israel was a problem.  Go back and read that post.  I don’t want to rewrite it.  However, today in our reading.  Samuel is giving his farewell speech. In fact, I think Samuel is saying, “I told you so!”  In 1 Samuel 12:19, the people realize that they have sinned by asking for a king.  Their “precious” was not what they thought after all.  Good news, they can repent and try again.  Samuel tells them even though they have sinned they can still put God first (1 Samuel 12:20-22).  Let’s all repent of our sins…our trust in a government or any other human being.  Let’s quit trusting in everything but God and see what happens.

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