Determination

Isaiah 50:7    But the Lord GOD helps me;
therefore I have not been disgraced;
therefore I have set my face like a flint,
and I know that I shall not be put to shame.

Luke 9:51   When the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem.

Our expectation of the future determines the way we will face it. How would you face the future if you knew what really would meet you around the invisible corner of time? Hope is something that uniquely belongs to human beings. Jesus fully knew what awaited Him on this journey to Jerusalem (see Mark chapter 9 and following, John 11 and following, Luke 9 and following, or Matthew 16 and following ). If he chose to go towards Jerusalem, it would lead an inevitable future: your forgiveness, His death.

Determination (look forward)

Israel had long awaited a deliverer. They awaited a Messiah who would rescue them; what this rescue would look like no one knew. Would it be religious freedom? A new definitive interpretation on religion? Would it be political freedom? A freedom from oppression and aggression from foreign rule? Would it be social freedom? Would everyone final be free from want and need?

The beauty of the Incarnation is that it leaves all previous understandings of the Messiah in tatters. Jesus’ rescue would be such that the world had never seen. The dreams of religious, political or social freedom held by all would be mere appetizers for the greatness of the miracle that Jesus would accomplish in Jerusalem.

The coach Vince Lombardi once commented, “The difference between a successful person and others is not a lack of strength, not a lack of knowledge, but rather a lack in will.” Jesus’ rescue is incredible because only he had the resolve to say, “Father, not my will but Yours be done.”

Determined (look back)

The only way to have the resolute determination to face your future and embrace it is to look back. Look back and see the story of relentless grace pursuing you. Easter is the story that long before you ever knew and loved God, He knew and loved you.

I Have Come

Matt 5:17 Do not suppose that I have come to destroy the law and the prophets. I did not come to destroy, rather to bring to its desired completion. (author’s translation)

I have come is a declaration of purpose. Though more ink has been spilled by commentators focusing on Jesus’ relation to the Torah and Matthew’s understanding of Jesus and the Torah, few scholars have gleaned the cosmic importance that Matthew gives to this passage. Jesus came with a purpose and a desired end. He came that we may have life.

The gospels are replete with, “I have come’ sayings (cf. Matt. 5:17; Matt. 9:13; Matt. 10:34; Mark 2:17; Luke 12:49; John 8:14; John 9:39; John 10:10; John 12:27; John 12:47; John 15:22). Some have mistaken these sayings as simply to be a prophet declaring that he has been sent from God with a specific message using Old Testament examples for such usage (Num 22:38; 1 Sam 16:5) However, in the earliest greek translations of the Old Testament most of the times in the word “I have come” or elthon is directly linked the speech of an otherworldly emissary sent to deliver a message or accomplish a specific task (Num 22:32; Josh 5:14; Daniel 9:23; 10:12). Overwhelmingly the text of the Old Testament introduces the formula “I have come” to indicate a divine commission, whether a natural or supernatural emissary. It is most commonly used of either the angel of YHWH (Num 22: 23; Josh 5:14), the angel Gabriel (Dan 9:23) and then an unnamed angel (Daniel 10:12). What we discern from this text is that Jesus claims to be the Messiah and bring the Torah to its intended completion.

“I have come” presupposes not only a place, origin or commission but also an intended goal. The overarching impetus of the phrase “I have come” is that Jesus is not some one who ‘adds’ to the Torah or modifies it. This same idea of “coming” is seen in the Babylonian Talmud. “I came neither to destroy the Law of Moses nor to add to the Law of Moses” Talmud (b. Shabbat 116b).

Jesus does not claim to be a new interpreter, or a new prophet. His statement of “I have come” is even more radical; Jesus is declaring that he is in fact the Lord of the Torah.

Jesus’ use of the double negative of both “do not think” and “I did not come” are not only strong and emphatic, but also all encompassing and final. Their usage indicates that in no way, shape or form would Jesus abolish the law and the prophets. In fact Jesus is the one who will bring the Law and the Prophets to their intended goal. The goal is covenant relationship.

Jesus came that we may have life, life to the full.

 

For Such a Time as This

Today around the world many will celebrate Purim. This is a celebration that thousands of years ago God delivered the Jewish people from near certain death. When the writer of the book of Esther chose to tell the story, their method of telling the story was very strange. For centuries Esther has baffled commentators and Bible scholars. It is the only book in the Bible where the word God is not mentioned – not  even once.

How we use our words can be very revealing. The lack of words can also be very revealing. If you have ever been involved in a polite work discussion in the British isles you may have heard the phrase. “That is very brave.” What an American hears a Brit saying is, “They think I am courageous,” when in fact the Brit is trying convey a completely different thought: “You are barking mad.” So it was many years ago, the writer of Esther wanted to convey the feeling that God was hidden and removed from the day to day life of His people. It felt like God was absent.

To top it all off. This book which tells the story of a hidden or surreal God, tells the story of a very real and clear existential threat to the Jewish people. The Jewish citizens living in Persia were faced with a life and death situation and God seemed painfully hidden. In the hiddenness God is actively working. Esther, in vicarious representation of her people, walked into the courtroom of the king and pleaded in proxy for her people.

“If I have found favor in your sight, O king, and if it please the king, let my life be granted me for my wish, and my people for my request.” (Esth. 7:3)

Esther risks power, privilege and position to petition the potentate for her people. We know of a true and better prince, who not only risks everything, but actually gave up everything to rescue his people.

Let those Purim words sink in this Lent. Hear Jesus plead on the cross, “Let my life be granted to me … and my people for my request.”

Conditions Are Perfect

Setting the scene is a vital part of a splendidly crafted play. This universe is the masterpiece play of God. The scene is set, conditions are perfect. Now enters our hero. Conditions are such that there is no other way than a majestic rescue.

Paul uses an amazing term when explaining the Gospel. He says, “it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead” (Acts 17:3). Often we think of the term necessary as something denoting inherent lack or dependance. This is not the way Paul is using the term. He is using a small three letter word in Greek, dei.  It is absolutely necessary, there is no other way.

A close approximation to this concept is the term necessary as used in philosophy. When something is necessary it inevitably results from or is produced by the nature of things, so that the contrary is impossible.

This Lent reflect on that necessary prayer that Jesus prayed in the Garden, “Father if there is any other way, let if happen. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours be done.”

Reflect on the awesome nature of Lent, Jesus not only needed to die for us, he wanted to. Let this melt and change us.

 

Old Friends

Psalm 44:24 Why do you hide your face?
     Why do you forget our affliction and oppression?

Recently I travelled to London to catch up with an old friend. We had not seen each other in quite while. The busyness of our lives, the pace of work makes it hard for us to meet up. There are some friendships which are so wonderful that no matter how long it has been you can just catch up and start the conversation right where you left it all those months ago.

So it is with God, his omnipresence is such that there is no place where we can go that he is not already there. And yet sometimes He feels distant. When Scripture uses the term “face” to refer to God’s presence, it is not implying that God has somehow left the conversation. There is that beautiful verse reminding of God’s favored presence, “May the Lord bless you and keep you and cause his face to shine upon you.” There is something about seeing a friends face and smile that makes the effort of meeting up worth it.

Seeing someone’s face is asking for a unique and special way of interacting. During Lent some Christians give things up. But what is the absence all about? The absence is designed to remind of the presence. Sometimes it feels like God may be far away.

Speak to the absent God about his absence. That is what this Psalmist is doing. Tell him how much you miss Him. Speak to him about His silence. There is nothing that turns a friends face towards you as when you speak of their heart-felt absence.

On the tree so many years ago, Jesus spoke of this absence. “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?” His prayer to the absent God about His absence had the most wondrous effect: God’s face is now forever turned towards us.

Hear the Sustain

2Sam. 22:37 You gave a wide place for my steps under me, and my feet did not slip;

Hiking on the Appalachian trail over a decade ago my foot slipped. I knew something had gone terribly wrong in my body. I felt intense pain. My ankle had broken. The Appalachian Trail is a 2160-mile footpath that extends from New England on the Canadian border all the way to Georgia in the deep South. All that was needed on this trail was a little slip of concentration and a little lack of attention to detail and your foot would slip. We forget the wonder of Providence – that beautiful doctrine that God is constantly sustaining His universe. He is not a blind watchmaker who has stepped away from his worktable.

How would you define a miracle?  Some would define it as “a direct intervention of God in the world.” This definition is unhelpful as it implies that God only intervenes every now and then.

A miracle is a less common kind of God’s activity in which he arouses people’s awe and wonder and bears witness to himself.

This Lent hear the sustain in this mighty chorus of God’s providence. Recover the Wonder. Creation vibrates with awe of the Creator.

On Good Friday Jesus slipped from consciousness. That same moment we slipped from darkness into light. Jesus’ self-sacrifice assures our wonder and awe.

Days of Awe

Gen. 2:7 then the LORD God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature. 16 And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, 17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”

Shmuel Agnon, the nobel literature prize winner, was once asked if Judaism ever had anything like Lent. Did Judaism ever practice 40 days of fasting?No that didn’t happen. But something amazing and awe inspiring happens from New Year (Rosh Hashanah) to the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur). Ten days of awe. After a pause and think he replied, “Yes, the Days of Awe.”

In many churches the Lenten season will begin with the minister speaking those ancient words, “Remember we are dust and to dust we shall return.” Lent reminds us of our mortality. More importantly Lent restores in us a sense of awe and wonder.

When God made humanity, he took lifeless, cosmic dust and breathed life into us. We became living souls. When we turned our back on Him, we chose entropy and dust. God would not leave us to death, but rather became one of us, even death and at that death on a cross. It is in Lent that we remember that God who gives life gave up his life that we would never ever have to return to the dust from where we came.

May these Lenten days be Days of Awe…

The Enemy is Within

“We have met the enemy and he is us.” This perfectly sums up the attitude of Nehemiah and his friends. He is now weeks into his building project. He is no longer mustering builders, inspiring ideas or repelling external threats. He has discovered that he is his own worst enemy.

Neh. 5:1 Now there arose a great outcry of the people and of their wives against their Jewish brothers.

Read Nehemiah 5:1-13

The Threat from Within

In this chapter the enemies and the city walls recede from view, to  reveal a more subtle problem. Here the menace is hunger and exploitation, and the structure at risk is the community itself. We see another aspect of Nehemiah’s burdens and his leadership. Certainly the final paragraph takes us twelve years further on.

Judah’s history had not begun with Nehemiah’s arrival, nor even with the ‘great trouble and shame’ which were reported to him in Susa. His diverting of manpower from raising crops to raising walls may have been the final burden; it did not have to be the first. Now the people were facing food shortages.

Nehemiah discovers and resolves this internal struggle in chapter 5 through solidarity. He is now the leader of his people. He does not solve the problem by booming commands. He solves the problem through the strength of identification. Their problems become his. His resources become theirs.

Just as Nehemiah solves his peoples dilemma with identification, so it is with us. Jesus’ identification with humanity, becoming one of us, leads to the greatest healing ever. It is in the incarnation that God heals the enemy within. Gregory of Nazianzus when speaking of Jesus, God’s Son, becoming human put it wonderfully, “That which is unassumed is unhealed.” It is only by Jesus becoming fully human that God can fully heal us.

Forget You

The bags were packed, there I was sitting in front of the ticket counter of Iberia Airlines. But smile as I may, charm as I may there was no way I would make my flight. Why? Forgetfulness. Did ever forget something on a trip that made your trip difficult? Nearly 20 years ago I left my passport in my dorm room at university. The drive from JFK airport to back to my dorm room would have made me late for my flight. No amount of money, talent or gifts were going to get me on that plane. The only thing that would get me on the airplane would be remembering.  To enjoy the privilege and access of all that God has done for you all you have to do is remember. Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome.

Nehemiah 4:14 And I looked and arose and said to the nobles and to the officials and to the rest of the people, “Do not be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome…”

More often than not, I discover that a lot of the stress in my life is due to forgetfulness. I forget who God is. I forget what he has done in my life. I forget what he has done collectively for his Church. The Psalmist says, “Bless the Lord, O my soul, Forget none of his benefits.”(Psalm 103:2)

So many times in our life our stress and anxiety are linked to one small thing: spiritual amnesia. But God is the ever loving Father who loves us through our faulty memory into a glorious remembrance.

Nehemiah understood how powerful our amnesia is, that is why he encourages us to remember. On the night that Jesus was betrayed he took bread, he broke it and said, “Do this in remembrance.” We repeat this beautiful supper regularly because we are so prone to forget. The whole point of God giving us bread, wine and the Word is that they might be signs, symbols, and gift that bring to heart his extravagant love. Only when we remember will we be filled with the peace that passes understanding. This peace will guard our hearts and minds greater than any wall ever would.

Powerful Weaklings

If you have ever done a life guarding course you will be familiar with the warning that when attempting a water rescue the life guard must be wary of the panic stricken swimmer. If the swimmer is drowning, their nervousness could be fatal not only to the swimmer but also the rescuer. It is only when the swimmer reaches a point of surrender that the life saver can intervene in a safe and effective way. The only way for the swimmer to be saved is to become a powerful weakling.

Neh. 4:10   In Judah it was said, “The strength of those who bear the burdens is failing. There is too much rubble. By ourselves we will not be able to rebuild the wall.”

The builders of Jerusalem are tired. You can feel the atmosphere of growing misgivings and unnerving rumours surrounding the pressures of rebuilding. The rebuilders can be heard saying, “I’m exahusted. There is just too much rubble. There is no way that we will be able to finish this task by ourselves.”

This language is not the language of quitters, it is the language of a tired company of builders wanting to see the reward of their labour. They want to see the project completed, but they are aware of their own limitations. Their strength is not enough. They require assistance. They need reinforcements. The only way they will be powerful is if they admit their weakness.

Years later, you can hear Mary sing a song similar to this plea for help.

Luke 1:51 He has shown strength with his arm;
he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts;

God did not turn a deaf ear to the people of Judah. He sent help in the form of the countryside labourers. He sent a prince from a far off land to win a fight that no one thought was winnable. Nehemiah would be the rescuer that the people of Israel would need. He would be their reinforcements. Years later God would send another prince and rescuer in the powerful weakness of a Carpenter. He would rebuild the ancient ruins that no one else could.