Acts 2:1-41 "What Shall We Do?"

Today we're celebrating Pentecost. How many of you knew it was Pentecost when you got up this morning and thanked God for this special day? Pentecost is not celebrated like Christmas or Easter where we can see in our mind's eye what is happening because Jesus is physically present as a child or God raising him up from the grave. On Pentecost Jesus is also present, but not in a way we can physically see him, this is the day of his Spirit coming, the day of the Holy Spirit. Pentecost is not a new festival; the Jews celebrated Pentecost 50 days after Passover to remember the gift of God's Law given to them at Sinai after they left Egypt and slavery. God gave them the Law to shape them into his people and into his image as a people distinct from the other nations of the world. It was one of the more popular festivals for the Jews to attend because it came at a good time of the year for traveling.

The disciples are all together in a house in Jerusalem because Jesus had told them to stay in Jerusalem. Luke writes in chapter 1, "On one occasion, while Jesus was eating with them, he gave them this command: “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit." While the disciples are all together, a sound like a violent wind blowing came from heaven and filled the house. In Greek and Hebrew, the words for wind, spirit and breath are the same. Because we live after this happened, we can translate this as, "Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind, spirit, or breath came from heaven." It fascinates me that they understood right away that this is a God thing, something coming from heaven.

Luke records that what looked like tongues of fire settled on each of their heads and they were filled with the Holy Spirit, immediately beginning to preach in various tongues or languages so that everyone around them could understand what they were saying. This is an echo back to the tower of Babel where God gave multiple languages to the people so they could not understand each other and would therefore spread across the earth. Now languages are given so everyone can understand the gospel news of Jesus Christ. With the coming of the Holy Spirit, the disciples feel compelled to move out into the streets to share the gospel message of Jesus Christ in the language of the people; so different from today where we keep the gospel message so often hidden inside the church because we are afraid to talk about Jesus wherever God has placed us.

There are always some who will mock the gospel story and the messengers, even the apostles are not immune to having this happen to them. Jesus made it a point to tell his followers that exactly this would happen, that it will even go beyond mocking at times right into persecution and even death for Jesus' sake. Mocking and criticizing is easy, listening and understanding is harder. Even in the church we are not immune to this. Often I hear Christians make fun of other Christian traditions because they might be quite different from how they worship or understand who God is. It is not unusual to hear Christians criticize others, even within their own church because they wish to do something different, wish to express their faith in a way that is not how it was done in the past, or exploring different Biblical images found in the Scripture and looking to see how these images of God might help us understand God better, or do some who wish to explore doings things in ways different from how it is presently being done. It's a shame that there is too often little grace found in churches who name themselves after Jesus who taught and modeled extreme grace. So we should not be surprised to hear that there are Jews who mock Peter and the other disciples as they preach the gospel news of Jesus.

Peter, the one who betrayed Jesus stands up and addresses the crowd. Jesus has forgiven Peter; it's amazing how forgiveness and grace can change a person. Peter now preaches the gospel of Jesus Christ; the good news that God has sent the Messiah, the saviour promised to Israel and it's the very man they had arranged to have executed by the Romans on a cross. this has all been talked about by their own prophets hundreds of years earlier already. Peter points to the prophet Joel, "In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy." This is the Spirit being poured out, the beginning of the last days, waiting for the return of Jesus while making disciples and inviting people to join them following Jesus.

For Peter, the proof that Jesus is the promised Messiah is found in the miracles, wonders and signs Jesus performed in front of them all, and yet they still killed him, just as it had been prophesied. However the good news is that God raised Jesus from the dead because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him. This was,  and is all part of God's plan. Jesus is at the center of all this.

Peter uses the Hebrew scriptures to show how the prophets and the great King David had all pointed to Jesus and what was happening. All that happened and was going on, happened just as the prophets had pointed to, all under the guidance and will of God, from the death and resurrection of Jesus to what was happening with the Holy Spirit, "Fellow Israelites, I can tell you confidently that the patriarch David died and was buried, and his tomb is here to this day. But he was a prophet and knew that God had promised him on oath that he would place one of his descendants on his throne. Seeing what was to come, he spoke of the resurrection of the Messiah, that he was not abandoned to the realm of the dead, nor did his body see decay. God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of it. Exalted to the right hand of God, he has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear." This is a God thing happening and the people can accept or reject it, but God is moving and inviting them to be part of what's coming. The gift Jesus had told them to wait for has come, the Holy Spirit. God is there with them again, now in the presence of the Holy Spirit while Jesus sits at the right hand of God, the place of power.

This gift has come on the day the Jews celebrate the giving of the Law, the tool God used to shape his people and now God has given the people the Holy Spirit to shape them into the people of God; into the family of God with God as our Father. The Law taught the people how to live with God and each other, the Holy Spirit now points us to Jesus who taught us how to live with God and each other, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbour as yourself." The Law was given as a gift to teach the people about who God was, and now the Holy Spirit is given to the people as a gift to help them do as Jesus had commanded them, "Go and make disciples of all nations, teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you."

The Jews who were there that Pentecost heard the gospel message and many of them cut to the heart, hearing the truth in what Peter was preaching; they knew their Scriptures and how God has called them to live since Jesus simply summarized what God had been saying for thousands of years. They know they need to respond, they know that how they've done things in the past hasn't worked somehow, after-all, they had been part of the crucifixion of the promised Messiah and Lord. So the people ask, "Brothers, what shall we do?" 

The answer is simple, "Repent and be baptized, everyone one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins." Repent. A message going back to the prophets, it was John the Baptist's message and Jesus came with the message, "Repent and believe, for the kingdom of God is near." This is not a new message, but for the prophets, for John, for Jesus and now for the apostles, repentance is at the heart of being a disciple. But repentance is hard because you then have to admit that you have sinned and made God less and yourself more. Repenting means confessing that you have made something other than Jesus you Lord and master and turning back to Jesus. It's about turning to God and what he has done; it's not about what you can do, it's about what Jesus has already done.

Repenting is tied to forgiveness and forgiving; forgiveness from God of your sins and your forgiving others. And as Jesus teaches in Mark 11, "And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins." Repenting is more than feeling bad, saying sorry and than doing exactly the same thing all over again; that's what my grandson does, but he's only 3. Repentance is about changing. Confess and change. Change your priorities, change your focus, change your values, change your lifestyle, change your habits and desires, change so that you line up with Jesus' teaching and life examples. Give up who you are and become who Jesus is commanding you to be. Stop looking in the mirror and look to Jesus and allow him to transform you. This is what the Holy Spirit has come to do that the Law was unable to do. And then while you are being transformed by the Holy Spirit, it becomes a joy to invite others to change with you and explore what that change needs to look like. This is making disciples, this is what Pentecost is all about.

Repentance is about humility, about putting Jesus first, putting his agenda for your life as your highest priority, humbling yourself to his plan for your life, to pursuing his kingdom rather than building your own. Humility gives the Holy Spirit space in your heart and life to begin the process of change within you, creating a deeper desire in you to be more like Jesus, working deliberately to imitate Jesus. Just as Jesus invited others to be his disciples, so the Holy Spirit is able to give you the wisdom and courage to invite others to become disciples along with you, investing in them, making them into disciples, teaching them to obey all that Jesus taught by showing them how to do this in your own life.

Pentecost is often seen as the birth of the church as we know it today, but Pentecost is about the acceptance of the gift of transformation from God. Just as the Law at Sinai was the beginning of the transformation of a slave people into a nation shaped by God, so Pentecost reminds us that God has given us the Holy Spirit in order to be transformed into a family or body made up of people from all nations and backgrounds to reveal to the world who God is. The Holy Spirit has a way of turning lives upside down in positive up building ways where your life begins to take on new meaning and purpose as the Spirit turns you more and more to Jesus and taking on Jesus' call to make disciples while becoming deeper more intimate disciples of Jesus yourself. I will never promise easy when it comes to following Jesus and accepting the challenge of the Holy Spirit to be transformed through repentance and transformation, but I can promise that your life will never be the same again.

So this Pentecost, repent and believe and accept the gift of the Holy Spirit. Keep your eyes on Jesus as his disciple and partner with the Holy Spirit to become a disciple maker for Jesus.

2 Samuel 11 David and Bathsheba

There’s a saying, “Power tends to corrupt; absolute power corrupts absolutely,” meaning a person's sense of morality lessens as his or her power increases according to Lord Acton, a British historian in the early 1900s. We see this play out in this story of King David and his neighbour’s wife Bathsheba. David has become arrogant; instead of going out on the battlefield with his men, David stays at home like an eastern emperor, staying safe in his luxury while others fight his battles for him. This arrogance and use of power and privilege is what gets David into deep moral trouble. One evening David sees his neighbour’s wife taking a bath and he wants her, even after his servant tells him she’s someone else’s wife, a close friend’s wife.

The servant remembers Bathsheba’s first encounter with the King, “I remember the first time that she met King David. It was a hot spring evening and she went to take a bath on the roof of the house where there was a cool breeze. This is what we all did, it was normal and even though King David lived right next door, she thought he was with her husband Uriah on the battle field. Even if she had known he was home, men never looked, they had too much respect for other people, especially a best friend’s and trusted general’s wife. Uriah, like Bathsheba’s father, was one of David’s most trusted and dearest friends, one of his 30 mighty men who had pledged their lives to the king.”

This story of David and Bathsheba is one of deep betrayal where King David steals the wife of one of his most trusted generals. Emily Dickinson wrote, “The heart wants what it wants." Depending on how old you are, you might connect this quote with Woody Allen or Selena Gomez instead. This is how David acts in his relationship with Bathsheba; but God calls for our hearts to want God more than anything else. David treats Bathsheba horribly, treating her like something you buy, use, and then throw away. He doesn’t treat her with any kind of respect and when Bathsheba tells David she’s going to have his baby, David becomes even more cruel and calculating, sinking even deeper into sin, walking even further away from God’s will. David moves from lust and adultery into something even worse. 

Bathsheba’s maid servant told me that when Bathsheba found out that she was going to have a baby, she right away sent her to let King David know. Then, a few weeks, later she learned that her husband Uriah had stayed a couple of days at the King’s palace, believing that the king wanted to talk to him about what  was happening on the battle field since her husband was one of his most trusted generals, it was a good idea to consult with him. The king told Uriah to spend the night with Bathsheba, but I’m not surprised that Uriah spent the night with the king’s servants instead. Uriah is an honourable man and he would never sleep in a comfortable bed while his men were on the battle field. She’s not saying that King David was wrong to stay home, but that Uriah was a very honourable man who loved God and his people.

David’s plans to have Uriah spend the night at home with Bathsheba fails, so he creates an evil plan to solve his problem. David knows he has to do something because if his other generals find out what he’s done, they will rebel against him because he betrayed one of the great men in the army and Israel, all because David’s become greedy, arrogant and cruel, just like so many other kings of that time. David knows he has to hide his sin, so he writes a letter to Joab, a general known for being ruthless. David tells him to make sure that Uriah dies in battle. David then tells Uriah to take the letter to the general Joab. David trusts that Uriah will not read the letter, even though he’s a general himself and it would be natural for him to need know of David’s battle plans. Uriah’s honour and loyalty are a contrast to David’s cruel evil ways.

The maid servant remembers the day Bathsheba heard her of husband’s death, it was devastating for her. A couple of weeks after Uriah had come to the palace to talk to King David, a messenger came to our home with the horrible news; our master Uriah was killed in battle! I couldn’t believe it, Uriah’s one of King David’s mighty men and has fought with the king for years, even going into hiding with the king when King Saul had tried to take King David’s life before he was king. How can he be dead? Who’s going to take care of us, who’s going to help my lady Bathsheba raise her baby and protect us from King David? I’m so afraid, Uriah’s gone!

David thinks he’s gotten away with his sin; he even takes Bathsheba into his palace after her time of mourning for Uriah is over. Bathsheba becomes another one of David’s wives, and when the baby is born, it’s a son and David’s feeling blessed, even though he’s created enormous chaos and put the kingdom of Israel at risk; all so he could have another man’s wife and hide his sin. David’s put God’s plan of redemption at risk with his selfish sins. If any of the other generals or any of David’s 30 mighty men learned of David’s callous murder of Uriah, they would have rebelled against him, bringing the nation into civil war, destroying Israel. In David’s arrogance, he counts on knowing that the only one who knows what really happened is Joab, and he’s fiercely loyal to David and will never say anything. But even if Joab doesn’t tell a soul, God knows and we learn that “the thing David had done displeased the Lord.”

Bathsheba’s maid servant remembers King David’s servant coming to take my lady Bathsheba as one of his wives. Then more heartbreak, when their son was born, he died. Bathsheba mourned again; her heart was broken. But the Lord heard her cries and saw her broken heart. The prophet Nathan came and was really hard on the king, but it did change the him, King David turned back to the Lord and even asked Bathsheba for forgiveness after repenting to God. The Lord blessed her with another son, Solomon, who became king after David. Life isn’t always easy, but I know the Lord watches over us.

This story echoes forward to Jesus and how he is betrayed by someone close to him, one of his twelve disciples. Judas betrays Jesus because Jesus isn’t claiming the throne of David in Jerusalem. This betrayal leads Jesus to the cross, where Jesus claims kingship over all creation as he defeats death and bring healing and wholeness into creation again. The cross brings forgiveness, even for betrayals such as David’s and Judas’. Jesus’ death and resurrection are a sign that forgiveness isn’t easy or cheap. Jesus’ grace is costly, even as it’s offered free to us. It calls us to respond by offering our lives to Jesus.

God sends Nathan to confront David with what he’s done and who he’s becoming. It’s not just what David’s done, it’s about who David has become: a king in the image of other earthly kings rather than following God who calls us to love him above everything else, and to love his neighbour as himself, to show mercy, fight for justice and to walk humbly with God. As Jesus teaches, you get more out of life by giving than taking. When David’s confronted with who he’s become and how he’s destroyed the lives of people he’s called to protect, David repents; he changes and begins working on becoming who God has called him to be.

The cross calls us to repentance, to a searching of our souls and hearts to recognize how we’ve hurt others because we want to be gods of our own lives.  We are called to embrace Jesus’ call to follow him so that God’s will is done on earth as it is in heaven. The cross confronts us, calls us to focus on our character, on who we are, and whether we allow what we say we believe about Jesus to actually shape who we are. Faith is about how our relationship with Jesus shapes our character. It comes down to obedience in becoming who Jesus calls us to be: people shaped by grace, mercy, forgiveness, desiring justice, fighting against oppression within our cultures, creating communities of health where people are able to flourish; summed up in Jesus’ command to love God above everything and to love our neighbours as ourselves.

Genesis 27:1-40 Jacob the Liar

Today we’re taking a look at Jacob and his tendency to lie and deceive the people around him. This is a character issue for Jacob, one of the flaws and cracks in his jar of clay. It can be really hard sometimes to see how the light of Jesus shines through Jacob’s cracks since it seems like he has so many flaws, yet his story also gives us hope as God never gives up on him.

Deceit or lying is one of those character traits that sneaks up on you and changes you before you even realise it. It starts off small, using the express lane in the grocery store when you have 17 items in your cart, telling your hostess that you love her food while trying to figure out how to slip it to the dog, telling the boss you’ve sent the email, or maybe it’s the old tried and true school lie, the dog ate my homework, though that won’t work right now! You get away with it for a while and it seems to make life to go more smoothly, but slowly it becomes a part of who you are. Sadly, many people today believe that deceit and lying isn’t a big deal and will find lots of times where lying saved a person’s life; like during war or in a domestic abuse situation. Yet how often do these situations really happen? Most of the lying we do is about more day to day common things and we do it to make life simple and easy for us, not for the other person.

Often, we don’t recognize how often we lie during the course of a day. The movie, Liar, Liar stars Jim Carrey, a crooked lawyer and divorced father. He loves spending time with his son Max; though he has a habit of breaking promises to Max and then lying about the reasons. His lying builds him a reputation as a successful defense lawyer, but when he misses Max’s birthday party and lies about it, Max makes a birthday wish that his father would be unable to tell a lie for an entire day, a wish that comes true. The rest of the movie is about how hard it is to always tell the truth.

Question: how easy is it to tell a small lie? Does that make it easier to tell a big lie later on?

Lying’s always about making life easier for you; but there’s always someone affected. At the very least, it affects who you’re becoming as a person. If deceit and lying is becoming too normal in your life, no matter how large or small, you need to deal with it. Carey Nieuwhof writes, “Sin is like a weed: It grows fast and you never have to water it. The best way to tackle sin is to pull it out by its root before it creeps into other areas of your life.” Lying slowly changes you, you become less kind and less compassionate since lying is about you. Lying slowly fills up our hearts, it slowly stains our souls so that we find it harder to hear God, to see him at work in our community, to feel the guiding of the Holy Spirit.

Jacob’s encouraged by his mother to deceive his father to get the family blessing. Jacob goes along with her and deceives his father into thinking that he’s really his brother Esau. It’s not just a simply lie that Jacob and Rebekah tell, it’s an elaborate set-up to deceive Isaac. Rebekah takes Esau’s clothes for Jacob, they cover Jacob with goatskins so he feels like his brother, they take a goat instead of hunting, and cook it up just the way Isaac likes. Finally, there’s the direct lie when Isaac asks Jacob, “Are you really my son Esau,” and Jacob replies, “I am.” Jacob and Rebekah get what they want.

Wisdom tells us that lies and deceit will always catch up with us at some point. Growing up, I remember being told that if I planned on lying at home, church or school to keep it simple and close to the truth because otherwise the lies will grow until they fall apart since lies are always based on weak and shifting foundations. We see this in Jacob’s life. Because of what Jacob and Rebekah did, Jacob has to leave home. He ends up with relatives in Haran where he ends up marrying sisters. Deceit and lying mark Jacob’s life; he deceives his father and brother, he deceives and manipulates his father-in-law Laban, he gets deceived by his father-in-law, his wives and his own children. All these lies and deceits bring great pain and brokenness in Jacob’s life and family.

Question: have you ever gotten caught in a lie? Did that change your relationship with the other person?

With a family as messed up as Jacob’s family is, why does God bother with them? Yet it’s through Jacob’s family that Jesus comes to earth. Still, I sometimes wonder why Jesus doesn’t come from a healthier family; why are there so many cracked clay jars in his family line? Then I look at myself, my family and the family I come from and realise that I am who I am because they’re all a part of making me who I am. It’s the same with Jesus, his family line shapes him. He knows the brokenness that deceit creates because it’s part of his family heritage. Jesus knows the importance of truth because he is truth, “I am the way, the truth, and the life,” Jesus tells us. Jesus experiences how deceit twists truth and he knows how lying and deceit can take away from the full life he intends for us because lying breaks relationships, breaks up friendships and marriages because where there is lying, there can be no trust.

Jesus teaches about how destructive lying is, calling Satan the Father of Lies, referring back to Genesis 2 and 3 where Satan twists God’s words, leading Eve and Adam to choose Satan’s lies over God. We’re not a whole lot different; we keep choosing all kinds of things over Jesus to make ourselves feel good whether it’s our work, our play, our toys, power, influence or whatever. We talk a lot today about being true to ourselves, but often our truth is based on what makes us feel good. When we create truth this way, it keeps changing because we keep changing as people. Jesus identifies himself as the truth and says that if you want to be true to yourself, make him the first priority in your life because he’s truth; allow him to shape who you are, your values and focus.

Question: do you think that doing something like lying changes who you are, what kind of a person do you want to be? What do you need to do to be that person?

Jesus leads us into the truth, the truth that we are sinners in need of forgiveness and grace, in need of a transformation of our hearts, minds and souls because we’re slaves to every thing we make more important than Jesus. Jesus calls his message the gospel of the grace of God the truth in John 8. Jesus goes on to say that it’s truth that sets us free, free from the lies of Satan that tells us we’re in control and can save ourselves. The gospel of grace is that Jesus comes to take our sin, our lies and deceit to the cross. He transforms and changes us through his death and resurrection, washing the stain of sin off our hearts and souls, and uses us to bring transformation into the world. Jesus shows us the kingdom of heaven is already here through the church. It looks like humility and grace, forgiveness and serving others, where people are encouraged to develop the potential God has placed in each of us, to focus on justice and rightness in our communities. Jesus comes to create people that offer hope to those searching for healing, meaning, and a new start in life.

Jacob’s story provides hope for us. Jesus comes from the family of Jacob, the man known as a deceiver, a man whose name is changed to Israel, one who struggles with God. Jacob needed to put aside the lie that he was the most important person in the world and that everything was good if it benefited him. Jacob slowly learned to trust in God Almighty who is truth and trustworthy and shows his deep commitment to his people by sending his beloved son Jesus so that we can experience new life in him.

Faith is not just words and getting into heaven; faith is about how we live and who we are becoming, shaped by Jesus’ truth. Jesus invites you to allow him to help you become the true you, the person God has created you to be.

Genesis 38 Tamar: All Honour Sacrificed

Life can be messy and chaotic. Sometimes you got to wonder why God would be bothered to get involved in the mess our lives can sometimes be. Often the messiness comes because we walk our own journey without really including God. Yet God works in our messiness for his own plans.

Judah walks his own path separate from his family and God. He definitely has cracks in his life. He sold his brother, deceived his father, letting Jacob believe Joseph is dead, and then Judah marries a pagan woman. Still God blesses Judah and he has three sons; Er, Onan and Shelah. But Judah’s sons do the same thing as Judah; walking their own paths without paying attention to God. Judah finds his oldest son Er a wife named Tamar. When God kills Er because of his wickedness, Judah tells his second son Onan to have a child with Tamar to keep his brother’s name alive. But Onan uses Tamar like a prostitute, using her for sex while making sure she never gets pregnant. Onan dishonours Tamar; shaming her. God kills Onan.

This is a hard story; it’s about abuse. Tamar is used and abused and put aside when Judah feels threatened, only God looks out for her. Even though God kills Er and Onan, Tamar still suffers abuse, rejection, and abandonment. She’s put aside, her voice and future taken away from her. In times of stress, abuse grows behind closed doors, women and children get hurt and their dignity and worth gets stripped away. Alberta has some of the highest rates of abuse in Canada. How can we, as a church, be a safe place for those who are abused to seek help, to share their stories, to regain their dignity and worth as precious children of God that Jesus went to the cross for, in order to bring shalom: peace, rightness, restored relationships where we are built up instead of torn down, where potential is developed and invested in instead of beaten down? If you are in an abusive situation, please call a women's shelter, the police or us and we will walk with you through this.

Question: these are hard stories; how can we help people who are bullied? How can you let someone know how much Jesus loves them?

Judah’s family life is messy and chaotic, even worse than his father Jacob’s family. Judah’s afraid and wants to protect his youngest son from Tamar who seems to be attracting God’s anger. Judah sends Tamar back to her father until Shelah is old enough to marry; Judah has no intentions to let his last son marry her. Tamar goes home in disgrace, a shamed woman rejected by her husband’s family. Judah neglects his daughter-in-law’s needs as a helpless widow, needs he should be providing for. Rather than turning to God to make sense of what’s happening, Judah continues to walk his own path apart from God.

Judah stops letting God guide his life. Judah takes control of his life, depending on himself to make decisions on how to live. Judah loses touch with God and chaos shapes his life. This is an echo of our fall into sin, we figure we know better than God on how we should live. We want to be god of our own lives. This is why Jesus comes, to bring order and healing into our chaos and hurt. Jesus comes to bring the kingdom of heaven near again. The cross is Jesus’ way of establishing the kingdom of heaven here, pouring out the Holy Spirit into the world to help us recognize our need to Jesus and help us become part of bringing healing and hope back into the world. In our story today, a number of years pass when, “Judah’s wife, the daughter of Shua dies.”

Question: are there times in your life that you did your own thing instead of God’s? how did that work out?

One of the church’s prayers is, “Lord Jesus, have mercy on me, a sinner.” By doing this, we gain a sense of God’s presence and his grace and mercy; great values to guide us through the day. It comes from a desire to be more in tune with God and his will for us. Charles Sheldon's 1896 book, In His Steps is about a church that tries to live by the principle, “What would Jesus do?” Some Christians find this hard; they ask, “Can we really know what Jesus would do in different situations,” yet if we let Jesus’ values of love, mercy, grace and forgiveness guide us through prayer and Bible reading, I believe we can know what Jesus would do.

Tamar hears that Judah is going to be nearby and recognises that Judah has no plan to marry her to his youngest son, she crafts a plan to honour her first husband by dishonouring herself. Not sure if this is what Jesus would do, but she is desperate. Tamar disguises herself as a prostitute in order to give her dead husband a child and carry on his family name by tempting Judah. Judah uses Tamar and gives her his personal seal and staff because he has no money on him. Tamar sees that she can’t trust Judah. God blesses Tamar and she becomes pregnant; Judah condemns her, then Tamar reveals that he’s the father by presenting his seal and staff as proof. Judah confesses, “She is more righteous than I… Since I wouldn’t give her to my son Shelah.”

A former mentor said, “this sordid story where Judah impregnates his daughter-in-law does not thwart God’s plans to bless the world through Abraham.” This story is an expression of God’s grace. Tamar’s illegitimate son finds a place in Jesus’ family tree as Tamar’s blessed with twins; Perez and Zerah. Perez, an ancestor of Jesus, becomes a symbol of blessing by the time of Ruth and Boaz, “We are witnesses. May the LORD make the woman who is coming into your home like Rachel and Leah, who together built up the family of Israel. May you have standing in Ephrathah and be famous in Bethlehem. Through the offspring the LORD gives you by this young woman, may your family be like that of Perez, whom Tamar bore to Judah.” Ruth and Boaz are blessed with a son so that Ruth’s first husband’s line doesn’t end in his death, just as Judah was supposed to do for Tamar. Ruth’s son is Obed, grandfather of King David, ancestor of Jesus. God works in and through the messes we create when we walk our own paths. God always works to draw us back to him.

Question: what have you learned about Jesus during the messy times of your life? What can you share with others about how Jesus was there?

Tamar sacrifices her honour and dignity out of faithfulness to her husband. Paul reminds us in his letter to the Philippians that Jesus also sacrifices his honour and “made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant... and became obedient to death---even death on a cross.” This was a shameful death, there’s no dignity in the cross, yet Jesus willingly walks that path in faithfulness to God. Jesus enters the messiness of life and experiences it all. Jesus shows us the path to God through faithfulness and obedience, to guide us through the messiness, and when the messiness gets chaotic and you can’t make sense of it, we find hope and peace in knowing that God’s in control and is with us.

Pastor Jim Dekker writes about Judah and Tamar, “Jesus is revealed here by people who are broken jars of clay whom God mysteriously leads to do what must be done. God’s family members still today often break promises, or compromise ourselves. Paul says nobody should sin so grace may abound, but we should know our own self-absorbed hearts and desires. Then we should fall in awe before God and his mysterious forgiveness. I’m glad I can’t pick my relatives. I am thankful that God picked loved ones whom I might not like to be part of Jesus’ family. In the merciful power of forgiveness, strive to live in forgiveness, without trickery, deceit, envy, lust; with trust, hope, joy, gentleness, peace, joy, self-control, and love.”

We’re blessed in Bethel Church. Even in these difficult times, God’s providing for us. Part of being a follower of Jesus is to bless our community. Salvation’s not about going to heaven, but about living heaven here. How are we shaping our youth and their morals: modelling to our young men and women deep respect for each other out of Jesus’ love, protecting each other’s dignity and worth as children of God, building Godly character into our children and youth so they become godly men and women. We need to be a safe people for Lacombe; a church committed to protecting and blessing those in difficult situations and relationships, helping them to be safe and to recover their identity as daughters and sons of God and experience Jesus’ restoring love.

1 Kings 19:1-21 Elijah-All Hope Lost

Have you ever accomplished something pretty special and then a few days later felt kind of let down, or maybe someone disses it and your emotions take a tumble? How did you feel; angry or maybe a bit depressed? Depression’s real and its roots are varied; sometimes people wrestle with depression because they feel alone or disconnected, they may feel threatened and helpless, or sometimes they might go through a time when there seems to be no meaning or direction in life. In times like this, depression can rise up because there’s no real focus to the fear, anxiety, and frustration that many of us are wrestling with. How can you get angry at a virus with no feelings, a virus you can’t see or touch? Depression is hard. It may come from your circumstances, or it may be a biological chemical imbalance in the make-up of your brain, or a combination of both. It’s always important that if you’re going through a time of depression that’s affecting your day-to-day living, that you see a doctor. It’s not surprising that in this time of isolation and COVID 19 that more people are wrestling with depression.

Elijah defeats 850 prophets of Baal in a God vs god competition. Yahweh, Israel’s God, completely humiliates the foreign god Baal. Yahweh is more powerful than Queen Jezebel imagined, but that doesn’t stop her from threatening to kill Elijah. Elijah knows Jezebel’s anger and hatred and is filled with fear and he runs. Even though he’s just seen Yahweh in action, Jezebel’s threat feels more real than Yahweh’s power right now.

Elijah falls into a depression and runs. It feels as if life has smacked him across the face. It’s common after spiritual highs to experience spiritual letdowns which are often deepened by fear and doubt. It can be hard to understand Elijah’s fear after seeing how powerful God is, but fear is powerful and can paralyze us. It’s also important to remember that Fear is a Liar, as the song by Zack Williams reminds us, but it’s a convincing liar. Fear tells us that God isn’t powerful enough to deal with our situation; or if he’s powerful enough, he doesn’t care enough to help us out.

Question: when you are afraid, is it harder for you to pray or feel God near? What lies has fear told you about who you are or who God is?

Fear creates doubt and fear in our hearts; barriers to experiencing the trust, joy and strength that comes from being close to Jesus. Jesus experiences this separation from God on the cross for us where he cries out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Jesus goes to the cross for the sin of the world so that we no longer need to experience feeling apart from him anymore; giving us the gift of his Spirit who makes our hearts his home now. Jesus invites you to experience his presence and strength that comes through the Holy Spirit. But the reality is that many of us struggle with times of hopelessness, with feelings of not measuring up, of rejection and deep hurt and some of us have even wondered, like Elijah if it’s worthwhile to carry on; we fear that God has forsaken us.

Elijah runs into the wilderness; the place Jews expect to meet God. Elijah’s so depressed he sees no future where God is powerful enough to draw Israel back to him. The depression is so deep Elijah even asks to die, “I’ve had enough, Lord. Take my life; I’m no better than my ancestors.” He’s alone, exhausted and afraid and right now, this is more powerful than his faith in God. Elijah feels that he’s failed, just like every other prophet, to lead the people away from Baal and back to God.

Question: where do you go to meet God? Some people to the mountains, some go to the Bible, some go to close friends who are Christians, where do you go?

God sends an angel to minister to Elijah and Elijah finds the strength to go to Mount Horeb. This is God’s mountain, a place to go to meet God, similar to what Jesus calls his church to be today, a place and a people who allow Jesus to shine through them. God comes and asks Elijah, “What are you doing here?” Elijah answers God, “I’ve been passionate for you, but for what? Your own people don’t accept you and kill your prophets and now I’m the only one left standing!”   

Elijah’s cracks and nicks in his heart and soul are showing through. Elijah, having accomplished amazing things for God, is still a jar of clay and he’s being hard pressed now and the pressure’s showing through in his depression as he’s overwhelmed emotionally and spiritually. God invites Elijah to go out and stand on the mountain on the presence of the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by… Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper.” In the whisper comes the question, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” It’s the same question asked gently and Elijah gives the same answer, the cracks in his soul are large.

Our emotions are a gift from God; our faith is for both head and heart. But they can get overwhelmed with life. When our hearts are empty of hope and our head is thinking in circles, it can feel impossible to find a way forward, we want to curl up under a tree like Elijah. But God is a God of hope and healing who sees and hears our heart cries, who reaches out when we can’t. Jesus comes close and invites us to come to him when life becomes too much, Matthew 11:28–30, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

God reassures Elijah that he’s not alone, “Go to the Desert of Damascus. When you get there, anoint Hazael king over Aram. Also, anoint Jehu son of Nimshi king over Israel, and anoint Elisha son of Shaphat from Abel Meholah to succeed you as prophet. Jehu will put to death any who escape the sword of Hazael, and Elisha will put to death any who escape the sword of Jehu. Yet I reserve seven thousand in Israel—all whose knees have not bowed down to Baal and whose mouths have not kissed him.” God’s going to save his people. In anointing Elisha to succeed Elijah as prophet, God’s providing Elijah with someone to walk with him who can understand the pressure of being called by God.

Question: who has God placed in your life to be with you and help you in hard times?

We’re not created to walk alone, we’re created for community, to support, encourage and build each other up. This has been the most difficult part of this time of physical distancing, I can hardly wait until we can get together again as a church family! I’ve learned in my own walk following Jesus, the importance of having people who are close to you who understand what you’re going through because they know you. Our perception of what’s going on isn’t always completely truthful. Elijah feels he’s all alone and that Jezebel’s a greater danger than God can handle and yet God already has plans in place to free his people. There are way more who follow God than Elijah thought. Elijah finds the hope and strength he needs in God’s gentleness.

Jesus comes into the world as a whisper, rejecting Satan’s temptation to be bold and noisy in establishing the kingdom of heaven here on earth. Jesus creates community around himself as a source of strength and encouragement, he promises that he will not leave us alone and sends his Spirit to be with us always. Jesus establishes the church, as fragile and cracked as it may be at times, as a place to find encouragement and strength, community, love and blessing, especially through hard times when life becomes overwhelming. Jesus has placed us here as a place to meet Jesus and find hope again. You can call and we will listen, love you, and walk with you, helping you to see where Jesus is in your life.

Jesus sends us out into the world to invite those who are suffering to come to Jesus to find healing and hope. May the Lord be with you as you bring God’s love to others at this time.