Seeking the Lord’s Face - Psalm 27

Psalm 27 is a psalm of confidence and trust in the Lord, even while showing a few moments of uncertainty. King David begins with a confidant declaration of trust in the Lord, “The Lord is my light and salvation—whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life—of whom shall I be afraid?” The question is rhetorical, meaning that David knows he doesn’t need to fear because the Lord is his light, a picture of life, hope, and well-being in the scriptures. The Jews regularly pictured those who are against God as being in darkness. David declares that he belongs to the Lord, his light is his stronghold, his fortress, his place of safety.

Because David belongs to the Lord, he’s not afraid of the wicked who are trying to take him down, even though their amies are powerful and fearsome. David chooses to trust in the Lord. “When the wicked advance against me to devour me…. Though an army besiege me… though war break out against me, even then I will be confidant.” Trust is a choice, especially when you’re being knocked around. We’re not in a time of war such as Ukraine or Gaza, yet we do find ourselves more and more at odds against the values of our culture as the moral and ethical paths of our culture are moving further away from what the Lord has given us in Scripture. Even basic concepts like love are often disagreed on. This has even led to conflict in our churches and this can, and has brought hurt.

In Bethel, we take what I call a compassionate conservative approach in following Jesus where we choose to trust that the way God reveals in Scripture to live by guides us into becoming the people God has created us to be; that God’s way leads to flourishing and health spiritually, emotionally, relationally, and in community. We seek to recognize the image of God in each person, remembering that God so loved the world that he sent his son Jesus so that whoever believes in him will experience eternal life. We remember that people matter to God and this shapes how we live with each other and in our communities.

David goes on and shares his heart’s desire, “One thing I ask from the Lord, this only do I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze on the beauty of the Lord and to seek him in his temple.” People in David’s day believed that gods were limited in their power and influence to regional areas. David knows the Lord is Israel’s God, believing that the Lord’s power is greatest in the land of Israel, especially where his temple is. This helps us to understand his confidence in the Lord’s protection and ability to keep him safe, even if his enemies have advanced, and even surround Jerusalem. The ark of the covenant is in the tabernacle, the Lord is with David. I wonder if this psalm begins the desire in David to build the Lord a temple in response to who the Lord is as their God. David’s even looking forward to worshipping God with praise and sacrifices, even as his enemies surround him. The depth of David’s trust in the Lord is inspiring!

David is describing who the Lord is, expressing his trust and faith in the Lord, now in verse 7, David moves from talking about the Lord to talking to the Lord. “Hear my voice when I call, Lord; be merciful to me and answer me.” He knows the best place to go when he needs help is the Lord. David’s prayer is rooted in a deep trust he’s just shared with us. By first reminding himself of who the Lord is, the deeper David’s faith and trust grows. This shows us a basic principle of faith: the more we learn, study God’s story and history with us, reflect on who the Lord is, and remember his presence in our lives, the closer to God we find ourselves coming, the more confident we become in God and the deeper our trust grows. I have found that we then talk more to God, not just about God. God becomes more real to us.

Now David’s not looking to text God, send him an email, or leave him a voicemail, David seeks the Lord’s face, to come to him personally. As a king, David has seen how he’s impacted by people coming to him personally to plead their case, Jesus later tells a parable about a widow seeking justice who comes to the king personally instead of the judges, and she finds justice. In the same way David humbly seeks the Lord’s help. David listens to his heart, the place Scripture tells us our character is found, where our core identity lies. “My heart says of you, ‘Seek his face!’ Your face, Lord, I will seek.” In seeking the Lord’s face, David’s seeking his favour, blessing, and help. He knows he hasn’t earned it, yet he also knows that the Lord is the only one he can fully trust in his time of trouble and need.

Pastor Rebecca Jordan Heys writes, “When I am reminded of the larger reality of God’s loving control, I can face the smaller realities of fear and evil in the world around me and within my own self. I need to hear the words of Psalm 27: “The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?” So I ask God, “Are you in control?” This happens at many points along my faith journey because I am genuinely not sure of the answer. The chaos I face seems so powerful that I fear it may overwhelm me. When the psalmist cries out in confidence, “Whom shall I fear?” I want to reply, “I can think of a few things.” Other times that same prayer is more of a calm request for a reminder. Then I feel my spiritual feet more firmly underneath me, and I can join my voice to the psalmist’s: “Whom shall I fear?”

David asks the Lord to not hide his face or reject him, yet David relies on the Lord’s character and commitment to him and to Israel, “Though my father and mother forsake me, the Lord will receive me.” In a family-based culture, rejection by parents and family is one of their greatest fears, and yet David trusts. Trust is easy in good times, much harder when things are hard. Trust is a choice you make. It used to be that trust was given and developed through relationships, today we’re both more and less trusting. We easily trust online news and bloggers and personalities, while at the same time often expressing much less trust in people around us with whom we have the ability to actually have relationships with. Trust is often easily given to those online because they tickle our ears with what we already believe. People who know us don’t always tickle our ears, and because we don’t want to be told something different from what we’ve decided to believe, we withhold our trust.

David does the opposite. Instead of asking God to confirm his beliefs, David turns to the Lord and asks, “Teach me your way, Lord; lead me in a straight path because of my oppressors.” David is willing to change what he believes, give up what he wants in order to be guided and shaped by God. The Jews see the Ten Commandments as a gift because God’s showing them exactly who they’re called to be, what they’re called to believe, no guessing required. Jesus calls us to do the same, telling us that he’s “the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” To see the Father’s face, we choose to follow Jesus, trusting his way as the path to life. Following Jesus is a choice to trust him through obedience. Jesus challenges us to trust him when he tells us, “If you love me, you will keep my commands.” Jesus earned our trust on the cross where he takes our sin on himself, when he chooses the path of forgiveness and grace, even forgiving all those who placed him on the cross.

David’s faith is focused on living in this world, not escaping to heaven, “I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.” Jesus teaches us the same focus, teaching us how to live with trust in God and how to live with each other as image-bearers of God. This takes trust. David ends by reminding himself “to wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart.” Patience, endurance, and trust can be hard at times, but knowing who you place your trust in helps you to go through life in strength and hope.

Our prayers are important to God, this is why we’ve been given the psalms. Prayers don’t always get answered right away. Sometimes we’re called to wait, to be strong, to trust in who God is, because we know his commitment to us is found in Jesus. While waiting can be hard, especially in a culture that values instant gratification, David shows us the power of trusting and talking to our God regularly in a spirit of worship.

The Work of Your Fingers - Psalm 8

                      

Psalm 8 is one of those psalms where you simply have to take a step back and say “Wow!” Sometimes that’s the only way we can respond to who God is. Can’t you just see David sitting on his throne and realizing just how amazing God is and trying to find the words to express something that can’t quite be expressed with just words. He’s in awe of God and wants everyone to share in this awe of God with him. “Lord our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory in the heavens.” I can see David remembering those nights in the fields with the sheep, lying on his back when the skies were clear and the stars shining like diamonds against the blackness, and if he was by water, watching the wonderous beauty reflect back as with a mirror.

The Lord setting his glory in the heavens gives us a tiny glimpse of the amazing mind of our creator: an artist extraordinaire, a creator of beauty and wonder, a God who is extravagant in sharing the wonder of his creativity, offering us soul feeding glory. C. S. Lewis called Psalm 8 a “short, exquisite lyric.” The scholar Derek Kidner writes, “This psalm is an unsurpassed example of what a hymn should be, celebrating as it does the glory and grace of God, rehearsing who he is and what he has done, and relating us and our world to him, all with a masterly economy of words, and in a spirit of mingled joy and awe.”

Tim Mackie from the Bible Project helps us understand why Psalm 8 is placed where it is. “Our psalm, Psalm 8, is right in the middle of psalms 3-14. And the fact that it’s in the center is important… First in Psalms 3-7, we’re invited to reflect on David’s story from the past, when he was powerless and had to hide from his enemies. In these poems, David cries out to God to deliver him and restore him to his role as king. Then, after Psalm 8, come Psalms 9-14. David is joined by a group of people called the poor and afflicted ones. Like David, they’re oppressed by powerful rulers. And they too cry out to God, asking him to confront these world empires and vindicate his people. Both David and the afflicted ones are really powerless and weak. And yet they are the ones God has chosen to rule the world. And this is what Psalm 8, in the center, is all about.”

David writes this psalm to marvel at who God is, how he pays attention to us, and how we’re important to him. then comes an unexpected thought, another thing to wonder at, “Through the praise of children and infants you have stablished a stronghold against your enemies, to silence the foe and the avenger.” The praise of children is a mountain fortress against God’s enemies, a force that is mighty and overpowers the criticisms and lies of God’s foes and enemies. The praise of children and infants silences the voices of the enemies through songs and hymns of praise and trust in the Lord. Children trust more easily; they don’t have their own agendas in following God; they simply accept God’s grace and gifts. Jesus points this out to the chief priests and teachers of the law when they get upset on Palm Sunday at the people celebrating Jesus as king. Matthew 21:14–16, “The blind and the lame came to him at the temple, and he healed them. But when the chief priests and the teachers of the law saw the wonderful things he did and the children shouting in the temple courts, “Hosanna to the Son of David,” they were indignant. “Do you hear what these children are saying?” they asked him. “Yes,” replied Jesus, “have you never read, “‘From the lips of children and infants you, Lord, have called forth your praise?” When we see God at work, the proper response is to praise him, not complain, and it helps us understand why Jesus calls us to have the faith of a child.

David turns to the Lord’s relationship with us and he’s overwhelmed with awe again. “When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is mankind that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them?” David’s continuing his first thought here, recognizing not only the beauty of the heavens, but also the intricacy of how every star and planet has their place, that they all dance together in heavens in harmony in a pattern only God can create. Our universe is so vast, that even with all our technology, we still have no real clue at just how big it is, or what wonders it holds, and David is struck by the fact that the God who created all of this still takes the time to pay attention to us, rather insignificant creatures in comparison to the vastness of the rest of creation.

The work of his fingers is so much more than we can imagine, and yet the Lord desires a relationship with us. Of all the creatures he created, he made us in his image, giving us life by breathing his Spirit in us after forming us with his own hands from the dust of the earth. Truly he is the potter and we are the clay, as Isaiah reminds us. Even though we keep turning away from him to follow other voices and gods, the Lord still cares for us, never gives up on us, and even sends his own Son Jesus to wash us clean from our rebelliousness and sin. The immenseness of his love for us is even greater than the immenseness of the rest of creation, greater than anything we can ever imagine.

David recognizes our place in the creation order, but only after helping us see how magnificent God is. David’s praising God, pointing out his power and majesty, reminding us that there is nothing more glorious than our God, nothing and no-one is greater than the creator of all things! We only understand who we are when we understand who God is, our creator and giver of life and soul. We’re not an accident, we’re created to respond to God, and to be responsible to God, to worship him along with all creation. David is amazed at who God has created us to be, “You have made them a little lower than the angels and crowned them with glory and honour. You made them rulers over the works of your hand; you put everything under their feet: all flocks and herds, and the animals of the wild, the birds in the sky, and the fish of the sea, all that swim the paths of the sea.” God trusts us with his creation, to develop it according to God’s design and plan. We’re called to reflect God’s glory into the world as carriers of his image as the Shorter Westminster Catechism reminds us, “What is the chief end of man? Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him forever.”

We see glimpses of God’s glory in a baby held in the arms of loving parents, in the laughter and joy of children, in youth calling out a leader’s name and scattering in shouts of joy as he chases them in a glorious moment of play, as a older couple sit beside each other with arms around each other, in the smile of a senior as they watch their family gather together, in folded hands in prayer, in a young couple offering vows of commitment to each other for life, in empty nesters helping their children build their own home, in a young person serving at a soup kitchen or helping an older member. In so many ways, we see glimpses of God’s glory in relationships as we reflect him in big and small ways.

David reveals humility in this glorious psalm of praise. God created us lower than angels even while we are crowned with glory and honour. We are small and insignificant and yet at the same time we’re wonderful and magnificent, created in the image of God and an important part of God’s plan for caring for his creation. We’re part of God’s plan of redeeming the earth; it’s through David’s family line that Jesus comes to earth to bear the weight of our sin. We’ll escort Jesus back to earth when he returns and we’re part of the plan of restoring the earth. We’ve been made rulers over the works of God’s fingers, an immense privilege.

As we enter into a new church year filled with worship, learning, working, and growing together, my hope is that in all our ministries that we keep reminding each other that we are the work of God’s fingers, created in his image to reveal God’s glory and the majesty of the Lord’s name as we’re shaped by the Holy Spirit more and more into the image of God, redeemed by Jesus to carry on the work of his fingers.

 

Shepherd and Guide - Psalm 23

                                    

This fall we’ll be journeying through the psalms. The psalms are Israel’s songbook, giving us words to talk to God, helping us find the words we need to talk to him as they speak to life and all that life can throw at us. They speak of joy and worship, of fear and hopelessness, of anger and confusion, and even of revenge, yet in all the psalms, except one, they end in trusting in God.

We begin our journey with Psalm 23, one of the most loved and well-known psalms in the Bible. This is a psalm of trust and hope written from the perspective of the sheep, from our perspective, as we look to God and Jesus. Psalm 23’s about belonging, being part of the flock. It’s an honest psalm, acknowledging our need for a shepherd who sticks by his sheep in quiet and in difficult times, a shepherd who’s diligent in his responsibilities. We need a shepherd because we’re not nearly as capable of taking care of ourselves as we believe we are. Of course, many of us can do fine without a shepherd when things go smoothly; it’s when life doesn’t go smoothly that we look to our shepherd, or we end up struggling along without hope, without peace, without a foundation of meaning, purpose, or belonging.

King David wrote this psalm in a spirit of trust and faith. “The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing.” David has no ordinary shepherd, his shepherd’s the Lord himself, a powerful claim. “I lack nothing,” doesn’t mean that we get everything we want, but it means that we turn to our shepherd when we need something. David calls us to trust that our shepherd knows us and our needs better than we know ourselves. He provides for us in our needs: physically, spiritually, emotionally, mentally, relationally. Our shepherd provides enough for the entire flock; it’s up to us to make sure that we care for each other. There are always those who have more, those capable of creating more, while others aren’t able to provide for themselves and their families as well. This is why we’re part of a flock, we bring what we have to the table and make sure all have enough, whether it’s physical help, encouragement, a sense of belonging, or even a sense of purpose as we walk together. The early church in Acts 2 understood this, it made Roman emperors crazy.

The shepherd “makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he refreshes my soul.” The Lord takes his sheep to pastures filled with healthy grazing, to quiet waters so they can drink safely. Sheep dislike running water and Israel’s filled with mountain streams so good shepherds would divert water from the streams to create quiet pools so the sheep would drink. Our shepherd cares about rest for our souls, about the worries, fears, and anxieties that fill many of our hearts and minds. More people are living with stress today, many of our teens and young adults confess to living with almost constant stress and growing levels of anxiety, but adults aren’t immune to this either.

Part of this comes from our economic situation, part of it comes from our obsession with social media and the freedom many people feel to strike out, bully, mock, and hurt others. Social media can have a negative influence on us, there’s growing nastiness and followers of Jesus are often part of it or impacted by it. We complain about our children and youth constantly on their phones, but parents and grandparents are often as much at fault. When camping, I noticed families and friends sitting at their campsites, staring at their phones rather than being with each other. It’s difficult to refresh your soul on social media, we need to turn to our shepherd to refresh our souls.

We need our shepherd’s guidance to keep on the right path, for our soul’s sake, and for the sake of our families, church, and community. How we live impacts others. Many of us aren’t always so self-aware and fail to recognize those times when we need those green pastures and quiet waters or wander down questionable paths. We’re not always good at listening to our shepherd’s guidance and how the Spirit urges us to keep our eyes on our shepherd. Over the next few years, we’ll be working as a church family to focus more deeply on faith formation and faith practices to help us in each of our households to grow deeper in our trust in Jesus and shape our lives more deliberately on Jesus’ way.

David recognizes the Lord has a destination and path in place for us, but that path will not always be easy. Jesus’ way is different than our society’s way and he doesn’t always fill us in on the why of his way. It takes trust that Jesus’ path is the right path, that he’s leading us on a path that leads to flourishing and shalom for us personally and as communities. Jesus has given us the Holy Spirit to guide us, but we often choose our own paths instead like wandering sheep. Trust is hard, and we’ve been influenced by our culture’s insistence that we know better than God what’s best for us. This attitude goes back all the way to Adam and Eve who figured they knew better than God what was best for them and didn’t trust God completely and listened to voices different than God’s. This is one of  the reasons why we may find our path sometimes leading into dark valleys.

David gets real now about the importance of those times in green pastures and beside quiet waters. There are going to be times when we’ll walk through the darkest valleys, times when evil will feel close, when the shepherd’s path will be hard. There will be times when we’ll walk through sorrow, fear, loss, and brokenness that will sap away our strength and hope and make it hard to trust our shepherd as our souls and hearts get overwhelmed when life becomes turbulent and chaos engulfs us. This is a sharp turn from green pastures and quiet waters.  Our shepherd doesn’t always protect us from dark times, allows them to enter into our lives. I’ve experienced dark times like many of you, and what’s carried me through those times is the knowledge that I don’t walk those times alone. In experiencing darkness, I’ve learned to trust that Jesus will lead me back into times of light. I’ve learned to appreciate those times of green pastures better.

David trusts that, “Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.” Jesus offers us this same assurance when he tells his disciples, John 14:15–18, “If you love me, keep my commands.  And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever—the Spirit of truth…. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.” We hear an echo of this in Hebrews 13:5–6, “God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” So we say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can mere mortals do to me?” Jesus doesn’t come with a punishing rod or staff. Jesus’ rod and staff pulled me from times of potential disaster while protecting me from situations and people who only wished to hurt and destroy. Jesus’ presence gave hope and strength to make it through those dark times, even when they lasted longer than I wished.

David sees his shepherd as a protector and provider, especially in dangerous times, “You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.” In the fields and wilderness are lions, bears, bandits and more and the shepherd protects his vulnerable sheep from these dangers. In the middle of danger, the shepherd sets a table, a place of hospitality and acceptance, a place of safety and plenty. In biblical times, it was custom to invite travelers and strangers to come eat while the host provided a safe place to refresh themselves. The table echoes ahead to Jesus’ parables of banquets and wedding feasts; for me it also echoes ahead to our communion table where we remember Jesus saving us from our sin through his sacrifice.

Enemies don’t always become friends; evil will always be part of our world until Jesus returns. This psalm doesn’t pretend that everything is always going to be alright, but it does promise that the Lord is with us, will provide for us, that he’s not stingy in providing us with what we need, whether it’s material things, grace, forgiveness, comfort, peace, or his presence. “My cup overflows.” The sheep’s trust in the shepherd shines brightly in the end, “Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.” The sheep are confident in their shepherd who lays down his life for his sheep; Jesus, who took all our sin away on the cross, who protects us from Satan and evil, and who will come when our place in the Father’s mansion is ready, to take us home to be with him forever. Until that time, we choose to trust in our shepherd.

Signs and More Signs - Matthew 24:1-35

               

When you listen to the news, it seems as if persecution is growing in our world. People from many faith backgrounds are being killed for what they believe, but followers of Jesus are often the main targets. Christians are being killed in the Middle East and Africa, while persecution also happens in China and other parts of the world. The Western World is becoming more secular and the Christian faith has become a target in our culture. Since the pandemic, I hear more people talking about the end days, convinced Jesus’ return is close. But how can we know?

A good place to start is Matthew 24. Israel is proud of her temple. It's a sign of the presence of God among his people. As Jesus and his disciples are leaving the temple, the disciples call Jesus' attention to the magnificent building. But rather than marvelling at the wonder of the temple, Jesus tells them, "Do you see all these things? Truly I tell you, not one stone here will be left on another; everyone will be thrown down." Then they all go to the Mount of Olives outside the city overlooking Jerusalem and Jesus continues his teaching as the disciples ask, "When will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?"

Jesus has mentioned a number of times that he has to die, but the disciples are still looking to the beginning of a new kingdom of Israel with Jesus on the throne as king. Jesus isn’t first of all teaching here about his second coming, he's talking about the more immediate future using images from the Old Testament prophets. Jesus warns them that there will be a number of signs so that they won't be deceived and led away from following Jesus. When Jesus leaves, there will be many who will claim they've been sent by Jesus with special messages.

Israel had a problem with false Messiahs, many coming from among the Zealots, which led to the destruction of Jerusalem. One historian writes, "The Jewish zealots, reacting in opposition to Caligula’s campaign began a revolt against Rome, a revolt which led to Roman legion soldiers from Syria destroying the food stocks of the Zealots and the local Jewish population. The inhabitants of the city of Jerusalem died in great numbers via starvation. Roman General Titus encircled the city, and began the siege of Jerusalem in April, A.D. 70…. On the 10th of August, in A.D. 70 ..., the very day when the King of Babylon burned the Temple in 586 B.C., the Temple was burned again. Titus took the city and put it to the torch, burning the Temple, leaving not one stone upon another.  Thus, Jerusalem was totally destroyed as Jesus had predicted, and not one stone was left upon another."

As for signs of Jesus' coming, Jesus tells them, "There will be wars and rumors of wars, famines, persecution, hatred against Jesus' followers, increase in wickedness, and more, and because of all these things, the love of many will grow cold." Jesus talks about "the abomination that causes desolation" that will stand in the holy place which the prophet Daniel predicted. Daniel 9:26 says, "After the sixty-two ‘sevens,’ the Anointed One will be put to death and will have nothing. The people of the ruler who will come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end will come like a flood: War will continue until the end, and desolations have been decreed."

This first happened when Antiochus, emperor of the Seleucid Empire defeated Jerusalem. He devastated Jerusalem in 168 BC, defiled the temple, offered a pig on its altar, erected an altar to Jupiter, prohibited temple worship, made circumcision illegal on pain of death, sold thousands of Jewish families into slavery, destroyed all the copies of Scripture he could find, savagely torturing the Jewish people to force them to renounce their faith. This led to the Maccabean revolt.

Studying predictions and prophecies in the Bible is like coming up on a mountain range. When you drive through the prairies towards the Rocky Mountains, at first all you see are the majestic mountains rising up from the earth reaching up to the heavens. It all looks like massive range of mountains, but as you come close you see that there are a series of mountain ranges all standing in a row, beginning with the foothills, then comes another line of ranges that are higher and then another range that stands higher still. Prophecies are like that, they may be fulfilled once, like Daniel's prophecy of the abomination that causes desolation standing in the holy place first being Antiochus who sacrificed pigs on the altar in the temple, then it was Titus who raised the Roman Legion's standard in the temple and also offered sacrifices there, and some say that the mosque that stands on the original site of the temple is another fulfillment of Daniel's prophecy.

The Old Testament prophecies pointing to the coming of the Messiah aren’t completely fulfilled with Jesus' first coming. The prophecies of the Suffering Servant who comes as a lamb to save his people are fulfilled in Jesus' first time here, but the prophecies that talk about the Day of Judgment will only be completely fulfilled at his return. When the disciples talk about the end of the age, they’re talking about the Roman oppression, not about Jesus' return. We need to be careful not to read back into Jesus' teaching more than what he's talking about. Too often we’ve been influenced by theologies and people who’ve tried to figure out the time of Jesus' return. There are many preachers who’ve made a fortune off of Christians' desire to know the exact time of Jesus’ return. Jesus himself said that he doesn't know when his return is going to be, only his Father knows.

There are always going to be wars and rumours of wars, famines and drought, plagues and natural disasters. There will be false Messiahs rising up and calling on people to follow and trust in them for meaning, purpose and salvation. Satan’s loose in this world, and while the Holy Spirit limits the damage Satan can do, Satan still has a lot of power. When Jesus talks about cutting the days short or the abomination in the holy place, he's talking about the siege of Jerusalem by the Romans. Jerusalem's defences had never been fully completed, allowing the Roman legions to defeat the Jews more quickly than expected.

The mountains were the only safe option left to the Jews after the city walls fell. When Jesus talks about being on the housetops and not going onto their houses to grab anything, it’s because rooftops were living spaces and the houses were built close enough together that you could go from rooftop to rooftop without having to go into the streets. They could reach the city walls this way and escape as long as they didn't go into their homes to grab things they thought were too special to leave behind. Jesus' reference to the Sabbath referred to those who would refuse to run away on the Sabbath because their religious rules forbid certain acts as being work and running was one of them.

When Jesus talks about his return, he emphasizes that everyone will know so if someone tells them to go out into the wilderness or an inner room, don't trust them. Jesus uses lightning as an example, you can see lightening for miles around, especially when you're on a mountaintop like Jerusalem. There's no hiding a lightning storm that's coming. Jesus quotes Daniel, "The sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from the sky, and the heavenly bodies will be shaken." Jesus uses Daniel's Son of Man imagery. Part of this happens at Jesus' crucifixion; the darkness shows Jesus has conquered the forces of evil on the cross, and darkness during the second coming of the Son of Man is a sign of his power over all forces, especially Satan. It also points to political and spiritual upheavals. The Son of Man coming down on clouds is from Daniel; while trumpets called Israel to gather for announcements from the king, pointing to Jesus’ coming back as King.

Signs will always be here to remind us that even though evil is active in the world, Jesus is returning, and we need to be ready for his return at any moment. Jesus tells us not to worry about tomorrow, but focus on today and the works God’s prepared for us to do. Be a presence of grace and extend grace so that the world can know there’s a God and a way that builds community and wholeness. Jesus is returning and until that time, we have the privilege of inviting others to follow him so that the world might look more and more like God's kingdom; a place of shalom; peace with God, each other, creation and ourselves. You’ll hear the trumpets when Jesus returns. Until that time, we’re called to live as disciples, following Jesus as he taught us to live; with love for God and others guiding us in everything we do as we work in his kingdom as we wait for Jesus’ return.

 

The King is Coming - 1 Thessalonians 4:13-5:11

 

There’s a lot of strange ideas out there about Jesus' return. Some believe that Jesus is coming to take his people out of the world for a time and then let the world destroy itself over 7 years before Jesus comes back again. If your faith isn't strong enough, you’ll have to survive those years of tribulation. The Left Behind books teach this, saying you still have a chance to repent in those 7 years. I call this second chance theology; if you miss out on being with Jesus the first time, you get seven years to get it right. There’s a fear aspect to these views of Jesus’ return. That’s always bothered me. We should have a joy-filled anticipation.

Jesus has gone back to heaven and Paul doesn't want the Thessalonian church to grieve without hope like the pagans do. In Jesus there's great hope, even when death comes. Paul takes them back to the cross where Jesus died, but then he reminds them that Jesus rose again. Death is not the last word; Jesus is. Jesus has returned to heaven and he's preparing to return again as king. This is “Day of the Lord” imagery from the Old Testament; when the Lord comes to claim his people and punish those against him. Even those who follow God and died will be with Jesus when he returns.

Paul uses the picture of a king coming to visit one of his cities. Notices would be sent to the leaders of the city that the king was planning to come visit his subjects. Time is given so that the leaders can mobilise the citizens to clean up the city and prepare for the king's arrival. The streets are cleaned up, the buildings in the city are repaired and whitewashed so that as the sun is rising or setting on the city, it gleams and shines and sparkles. The king will time his arrival for sunrise and approach from the west so that the rising sun shines on the city, making it beautiful. This is where we get a lot of our images of the new Jerusalem coming down from heaven; gleaming in splendour. Watchers are set outside the city and on the city walls to let everyone know as soon the king comes into sight so everyone can get into their finest clothes to greet the king as he approaches.

As the king and his entourage come closer, the king's trumpeters sound their trumpets to let everyone know the king is close. The nobles of the city quickly gather all the citizens together and go out of the city to meet the king, kneeling before him and acknowledging him as their king. Everyone then escorts the king with honour, fanfare, and celebration into his city. The word Paul uses here is 'parousia' which has often been translated as 'rapture.' The goal of the parousia is not to escape and leave the world to its sin and suffering, but the people loyal to the king come out to meet him in order to escort the king into what belongs to him. After everyone enters the city, all those who had stayed behind are rounded up and thrown out of the city since they’re considered traitors for not coming out to acknowledge the king as theirs. I hear Palm Sunday happening here but on a cosmic scale now, instead of just a few hundred people cheering Jesus into Jerusalem the week before his death, now all the followers of Jesus are escorting him back to his world.

Jesus is coming back. He’s the king Paul’s referring to. Luke tells us that when Jesus left, as everyone had their eyes glued to the skies trying to get that last glimpse of Jesus before he disappears out of sight, two angels appear, “Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.” The problem is that it happened so long ago that we really don't let this promise affect how we live anymore. We have the same priorities as everyone else; get a job, pay our bills, save a little so we can retire, make sure our kids get a decent education so they can get good jobs, help out others when we find some time or a few extra dollars, try to be good people, and so on. We try to get some devotions in each day, pray over our meals, and come to church on most Sundays. All good things, and yet I wonder if we took Paul and Luke more seriously if our lives might not look different from what they do right now.

Paul encourages the people in Thessalonica to live like Jesus is coming back soon. This is about preparing yourselves, getting dressed in your best, making sure you're sober. This isn't about being dour, but being awake with all your senses tuned to Jesus and the leading of the Holy Spirit. Put on faith and love, Paul encourages us a few verses later, let these two virtues shape who you are and how you live with each other because this is who God is. Faith trusts that the way of life Jesus has laid out in his teaching and life is really the best life for you, and then living it. Love’s about how we treat each other. It’s grace in our words, peace in our actions, patience, self control and kindness towards others, especially towards those we might find hardest to be kind to when they know how to push our buttons. Paul adds hope to the list of things to shape our lives with. This is confidence that Jesus is with us, no matter what we’re going through, that we belong to him and he doesn’t let go of us.

Paul reminds us that we belong to Jesus, we’re his subjects. We are not our own, but belong, body and soul to our Saviour Jesus Christ as the Heidelberg Catechism reminds us in Lord's Day 1. Our king cares about his subjects, loving you so much that he died for you so that, whether you are awake or asleep, you may live together with him. Nothing can separate you from Jesus' love; nothing can tear you away from him, not even death. One of the most promising scenes in Scripture is Jesus' conversation with the thief on the cross who asks, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom," and Jesus tells him, "Today you will be with me in paradise."

You belong to Jesus and he wants you to keep an eye out for his return. It's like the teenage girl who stands by the window eager for that first glimpse of her boyfriend's car coming down the street to pick her up. Paul wants you to have that same sense of anticipation as you walk through each day, making yourself as beautiful or handsome as you can for when Jesus shows up; building each other up so you all can be who God has created you to be as you get ready to greet his Son. This reminds me of what Paul talks about how a husband should love his wife in Ephesians 5:25–27, “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless.” Jesus is working to make us beautiful, but we need to accept the work of the Holy Spirit in us that guide and shapes us into a radiant church and people.

But there's that second part; getting the city ready for the arrival of the king. We do this work because the king’s important to you and you want to honour him. This is about putting your beauty, putting your life at the service of the city to get everything ready for the coming of the king because the king is your king and he means everything to you. You can go back to the beginning of time and God's call on us to take care of creation and to discover and develop the potential and wonders in his creation to God's glory.

This means getting involved in a deliberate way in the world, in our culture and neighbourhoods as part of developing creation. It's not just the physical creation we're called to be part of and grow, it's the arts, culture, music, business, sports, politics, and more because these are all pieces of how God’s created us to be as humans in relationship with him and each other. God has given you skills and abilities to develop and help your family, your church, your community, your workplace, your places of play to flourish, and he calls you to invest in these things as part of preparing for Jesus’ return so they reflect who Jesus is.

What we believe matters. The Reformed view of Jesus’ return fills us with hope for the future and a call to be deeply invested in the day to day living out of our faith in Jesus; good news that can shape our lives, the lives of those around us, and the flourishing of the communities we live in.

Run the Race Well - Hebrews 12:1-3

                      

Over this past week, we hosted our Athletes in Action soccer camp. We learned new soccer skills, played lots of games, and cheered each other on. I enjoyed watching the different age groups; the older teams were focused on growing their skills, while a number of younger players were distracted by dandelions, butterflies, and pets walking by, especially by the end of the day. I noticed how cheering each other on made a difference in our energy levels.

Competition was a big deal in Greece and Rome. It’s from Greece that we get the Olympic games. The games then were about celebrating and worshipping the physical body. Today, no matter where you grew up, games and competition are a natural and normal part of being human with soccer being one of the most popular sports in the world.

The author of the book of Hebrews describes life as a race. This isn’t a 100-yard dash though; life is a marathon, a gruelling long-distance race that takes, training, focus, and determination to run. I can’t expect to sign up to run a marathon for next weekend and expect to do well, or even to finish. I need to do some serious training with someone who knows how to run long distances if I want to finish the race and run the race well. Knowing what to expect is important and having someone who has run before is a huge blessing. There are predictable times in a race when all you want to do is stop because your body’s telling you that it’s done. Knowing this is coming helps you prepare for it, giving you the determination, strength, and ability to push through it, knowing that on the other side of that wall you’ll find the strength and will to carry on.

In Bethel we focus on mentoring, especially our youth because following Jesus is a marathon. We’re on a life-long journey following Jesus and it takes training, encouragement, and the wisdom and experience of others to help us run our race well. Hebrews talks about a great cloud of witnesses. The writer talks about some amazing faith stories in chapter 11; reminders of people who leaned on their faith in hard times, some even dying because of their faith in God; people like Abel, Noah, Abraham, Rahab, and many others.  

Life isn’t always easy. Hebrews 11, “There were others who were tortured, refusing to be released so that they might gain an even better resurrection. Some faced jeers and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. They were put to death by stoning; they were sawed in two; they were killed by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated—the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, living in caves and in holes in the ground. These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised, since God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect.” I won’t promise you easy, but I will promise you it’s worth it to run your race to Jesus instead of away from him.

A Taizé website shares that “The “great cloud of witnesses” that surrounds us are people from every age whose lives were determined by their faith in God. The author of the Letter to the Hebrews compares them to sports fans in the stands of a stadium. They have already finished their race. But they do not lose interest in those who are still struggling and running. They urge them on and applaud them. That is how witnesses support our faith.” It’s like when we were playing soccer this past week, it’s much more fun when your team and coaches cheer you on. The encouragement of the witnesses comes because they understand how hard the race can be. Yet they kept their eyes on God; they ran their race even when it included suffering because they know God’s at the finish line. Our children and youth need coaches and encouragers, teachers who are investing them. Grandparents and older members are especially important in these roles; you bring a wisdom that’s so needed for our children and youth. Ministries like Sunday School, Children in Worship, Treasure and Truth Seekers are beautiful ways for older members to share their wisdom and life experiences with our children and youth, and they’re eager to learn from you how to run the race of life, keeping their eyes on Jesus.

We’re called to “throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles.” This gives us 2 different images of what it looks like to get distracted or side-tracked from running our race well. There are those things that can hamper us from running or keeping our eyes on Jesus. They’re not even bad things or sins, and can even be blessings that God gives us. These good things can be family and children and allowing their desire and wants to draw you away from Jesus and his desires for you. We’re constantly being told to put ourselves and our wants first, and these messages sink in so when it comes to making choices to please ourselves over kingdom activities, the kingdom is often our second choice. It can be our toys and pleasure activities, which are blessings, but can take precedence over spending time with God or engaging in engaging in activities that are focused on blessing others and creating a community of blessing. Often, our first priority is to bless ourselves, our eyes are on our mirrors instead of Jesus and our race suffers. As Tim Keller reminds us, “We take God’s good things, and make them gods.” Faith looks to God and neighbours before ourselves, we live into a sacrificial faith.

We’re given an image of a fishing net entangling us. A fisherman would go out in his boat and cast his net into the water and hope for fish to swim into it, making it possible for the fisherman to pull them into the boat. If a fisherman’s not careful, a fishing net can get all tangled up, and if it’s bad enough, it can become useless and need extreme measures to salvage it. Think of Jesus’ need to leave heaven and become human and die on the cross for our sin. We get so entangled in sin, distracted by God’s blessings instead of keeping our eyes on Jesus, that Jesus needed to become one of us and take our punishment on himself to untangle us from sin and free us to run our race again.

We don’t run our race on our own. Just like runners have people along the road handing out water or oranges to help us keep up our strength, and coaches who run alongside us for a bit to tell us how we’re doing and how to run the next stretch, we need others to help us run our life race. From parents, to teachers, counsellors, coaches, mentors, faithful friends, we need others to help us run the best race we can. Just like we need others to help us, we need to use our gifts to help others run their races well. Seeing a number of our youth step up as assistant coaches this week was wonderful. There are no spectators in the Christian race of life; we do it together as a team, as a family. You’re never too young or too old to run your race well. In the history of the church there are children and youth who did great things for Jesus, as well as senior members of the church.

The best way to run our race is by keeping our eyes on Jesus. The call is not to keep our eyes on the heroes of faith; they’re there to encourage us, our goal is Jesus. Jesus is called the pioneer and perfecter of faith. Pioneer means “originator” or “founder.” A pioneer is at the beginning of, and center of, something new. Jesus is the one through whom everything is created, he’s the founder of creation and the universe and as the origin of everything, he’s the center of our faith; he’s God. Jesus is the perfector of our faith. The word used is “telos” meaning finishing, end goals, and completeness. For our soccer camp, the goal was for the kids to learn about Jesus, to gain soccer skills, and to play the game. We keep our eyes on Jesus because he’s our finish line and knows what it takes to get there and how to help us complete our race through life. It’s not just about finishing, it’s about running the best race we can. A great race is about representing Jesus well, about creating peace, living with grace, and equipping others to run their race for Jesus.

Jesus gives us the Holy Spirit who keeps pointing us to Jesus, reminding us that he is our best coach and guide in life, that he lived life with us and knows how hard it can be, but he also knows exactly what we need to make it to the finish line and gladly gives it to us. My encouragement to you is keep your eyes on Jesus, allow him to be your coach and guide, and he will give you everything you need to run your life race well and finish strong.

 

 

Covenant of Redemption Fulfilled - Revelation 5

          

This morning we’re wrapping up our series on covenants. In Revelation, we see how the covenants get wrapped up in Jesus. We’re given a glimpse into the throne room of heaven and a foretaste of what’s to come and an overview of history and our place with the spiritual kingdom that we can often sense but normally not see. God is on his throne surrounded by fantastic creatures worshipping him, confessing their allegiance, “You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honour and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being.” We see a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain.

John the Baptist calls Jesus, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” David Bast writes, “That is an imperative. Behold him; look at him; look at him. This is God in our world. This is how God is God in our world. This is what it means to be God. It means to have your hands bound and your feet bound and maybe nailed to a cross, and like a lamb, your throat is cut – in this case, maybe it is a spear in the side – but in all of that weakness and suffering and sacrifice and death, the life and power of God is there. So look; look at him; this is who he is; this is how he is…. the Agnus Dei: Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world; have mercy on us, grant us your peace.”

There’s so much imagery here from the Old Testament; there’s the scroll of destiny echoing back to Psalm 139. There are strange images that echo back to Ezekiel, Daniel, Genesis and other books. This Lamb is first referred to as the Lion of Judah in Genesis when Jacob blesses Judah, but it looks like a lamb that has been sacrificed, deliberately pointing to the sacrifices of Israel, especially the Passover lamb, reminding the people how God saved his people from slavery, pointing to Jesus’ death on the cross, the moment that changed the history, setting it on God’s path as revealed here in Revelation.

John’s overwhelmed with what he sees. Then his eyes are drawn to the person sitting on the throne and John notices a scroll in his right hand with writing on both sides and sealed with seven seals. John knows this scroll is the book of God’s decrees. The story on this scroll is a long and crowded story and needs both sides of the scroll to tell it. It’s sealed with seven seals like a Roman will, only to be opened when the legal representative appears. The seals tell us this is a scroll filled with secrets, secrets only God himself knows. Now they’re waiting for the one who can open the scroll.

A mighty angel calls out in a loud voice. It carries through all creation, “Who is worthy to break the seals and open the scroll?” But no one’s found who can open the scroll and John weeps because it looks as if God’s plan can’t move forward. He weeps because the world has moved so far away from God that there’s no one left that God can reveal his secrets to. John senses that the people have become so focused on themselves that they’ve left God behind. He weeps because he knows that this means pain, hurt, and loneliness for the world.

The elders turn to the Lamb, to Jesus. Jesus takes the scroll, “because you were slain, and with your blood purchased men for God from every tribe and language and people and nation.” The image John gives us here is of a slave market where people go to buy slaves. This is a business transaction, treating people like livestock. This is a common image for John’s readers. The slaves come from defeated nations, or are people who’ve fallen on hard times and can’t pay their bills and so sold into slavery, or people who deliberately sold themselves into slavery so they could be sure of eating everyday.   

The purchase price isn’t money, it’s blood; it’s life. The Lamb buys these slaves from every nation, tribe, and language at the cost of his own life blood, “with your blood purchased people for God.” We’ve been bought for life. We sold ourselves into slavery by allowing Satan and our own hearts lie to us that we are free when we listen to them instead of God, echoing back to Adam and Eve. Jesus pays with his blood for people who should never have been slaves; he pays the blood price for rebelling against God, all so we can experience freedom. Jesus pays our ransom; paying for what’s already his.

Jesus is able to reveal the secrets that are in the scroll and carry out the plan of God written in it. He’s more than just a Lamb. This Lamb has seven horns which are horns of power. There’s no one more powerful than the Lamb that was slain and then raised up to the throne of God. This Lamb has seven eyes. There’s nothing it doesn’t see happening on the earth, under the earth, or in the heavens above. There are no secrets hidden from him; he sees everything, including what the devil does in the darkness.

The Lamb takes the scroll from his father’s hand. The heavens erupt in adoration. The four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fall to their knees in front of the Lamb. They carry golden bowls filled with incense. These are our prayers. They’re so precious to God that they come to him in precious bowls, through the fragrance of incense, making them pleasing in all ways. They’re carried to him and offered as part of the worship of God. Our prayers that seek relief from pain and suffering, looking for God to come and carry us through the valleys and deserts of our lives, are priceless and brought before God.

The reason we’ve been purchased is “to make them, us, a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and to reign on earth.” Those people Jesus bought with his blood are us; you and me and all those people God is calling to become his children, to become followers of his son Jesus. Peter puts it this way, “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.”

God takes us from slavery and gives us a new identity by making us a new kingdom, echoing back to the covenant with David. As priests, we connect people to God and his kingdom, which is what the priests’ role is, echoing back to the covenants with Abraham and at Sinai. God gives us the Holy Spirit to help us be priests and grow God’s kingdom through telling others about the new life that’s possible in Jesus and inviting them to be part of it by following Jesus. This is done in a context of praise, which is why coming together as God’s people on a Sunday is important to who we are, but also important in showing the world who we are.

Pentecost is the moment where God equips us to be kingdom builders; turning our focus towards the world, fulfilling the charge to Abraham to be a blessing to all the nations. Jesus gives us his Spirit to remind us of what we’ve been taught in order to reassure us, echoing to the new covenant in Jeremiah. This challenges us to go out and share the good news of Jesus with the world; a world God loves so much that he sent his only son to die so that if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. God’s so generous in his love that he wants the entire world to know of the new life he offers and his desire for everyone to come to him. Paul writes Timothy, “This is good and pleases God our Savior, who wants everyone to be saved and to understand the truth.” In the Old Testament, God tells Ezekiel, “Do you think that I like to see wicked people die? says the Sovereign LORD. Of course not! I want them to turn from their wicked ways and live.” Peter writes, “The Lord isn't really being slow about his promise, as some people think. No, he is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent.”

God gives John a vision of the Lamb who’s won the battle against sin; filling us with a hope that never fails because Jesus is King over all creation. The future’s in Jesus’ hands; directing his Father’s plan written on the scroll; preparing everything for his return when every knee will bow and confess that he is Lord and all God’s covenant promises are completely fulfilled. We’re all part of our Father’s plan!