I know we have moved into the New Testament, but I have been mulling over last week's sermon about the elder brother in the parable in Luke 15. As we have read through the prophets, the character of Jonah has resonated with the lessons of that parable.
The biggest sin of both the brothers in Luke 15 was idolatry - they wanted the father's things instead of the father. The problem with idolatry is that it enslaves us. The younger brother ends up by saying that the best he can hope for is to be a slave, rather than a son. The elder brother, who is always with the father, views himself as a slave.
Jonah 2:8 sums up the elder brother's plights very well: "those who cling to worthless idols forfeit the grace that could be theirs."
The prophets spoke against false gods which people could easily see. We need to be against our own false goods, and as in the case of Jonah, our own self-righteousness and mean-spiritedness.
Why was Jonah so angry? We read in 4:1-2 it is because he knew God was a merciful God who would extend mercy and forgivenss to his enemies. This is the heart of the God we worship - the God who calls us his children, not slaves. It is we who deprive ourselves of that gift.
We may not end up in a giant fish, but clinging to our own idols can leave us in a similarly unattractive place, if we are not careful.
Friday, 19 March 2010
Friday, 12 March 2010
Verse to remember when reading the Old Testament
One of the comments I often hear is how difficult it is to relate to the bloodthirsty, judgemental God of the Old Testament rather than the warm, loving and forgiving God of the New Testament.
Rather than going off on a long rant on this, this verse from yesterday's passage is worth writing out and putting somewhere visible:
Ezekiel 33:11 - "Tell them that as surely as I am the living LORD God, I don't like to see wicked people die. I enjoy seeing them turn from their sins and live. "
That it is the heart of the one true God, the God of the Old Testament and the New, the unchanging, the only true God. In the words of Deut 4:39, "The Lord is God both in heaven and on earth, and there is no other."
Rather than going off on a long rant on this, this verse from yesterday's passage is worth writing out and putting somewhere visible:
Ezekiel 33:11 - "Tell them that as surely as I am the living LORD God, I don't like to see wicked people die. I enjoy seeing them turn from their sins and live. "
That it is the heart of the one true God, the God of the Old Testament and the New, the unchanging, the only true God. In the words of Deut 4:39, "The Lord is God both in heaven and on earth, and there is no other."
Tuesday, 9 March 2010
Donkeys
This morning there was a story on Sky News about a retired British couple, who have sold up in the UK and moved to Delhi to rescue donkeys who work on the various construction sites in that city. My original reaction was that this was typical British sentimentality about animals, and couldn't they use their time, money and efforts on helping people.
But the more I thought about this story, I realised that the absurdity of their lavishing love on poor dumb animals should make me think of the lavishness of our prodigal God, who sent His only Son to die for us and rescue us from our sins, when we are completely helpless to do anything about our predicament.
In one passage of the news clip, the lady tells how she was only allowed by its owner to take away a particularly weak donkey, if she brought back a donkey she had earlier rescued, and which was now recovering well. Our rescue is not cost-free exercise either. In the song, "Isn't it love", there is this:
Isn't it love to look down from the sky
And see Your only Son on the cross asking "Why?"
And somehow let Him die that way
So as I drove in to work thinking about this lavish love of God, my mind wanders as it does. In referring to World War I, you often hear the expression "lions led by donkeys", but in our case we are donkeys (or stupid sheep) rescued by the Lion of Judah, the lion who C.S. Lewis' badger tells us "is not tame, but he is good".
One final thought, St Paul's is proud to support the work of International Justice Mission in working to set slaves free in India. IJM has as its mission statement Isaiah 1:17 "Seek justice, encourage the oppressed, defend the cause of the fatherless,plead the case of the widow." You can find out more about their work at an Indian evening, which we will hold in May.
But the more I thought about this story, I realised that the absurdity of their lavishing love on poor dumb animals should make me think of the lavishness of our prodigal God, who sent His only Son to die for us and rescue us from our sins, when we are completely helpless to do anything about our predicament.
In one passage of the news clip, the lady tells how she was only allowed by its owner to take away a particularly weak donkey, if she brought back a donkey she had earlier rescued, and which was now recovering well. Our rescue is not cost-free exercise either. In the song, "Isn't it love", there is this:
Isn't it love to look down from the sky
And see Your only Son on the cross asking "Why?"
And somehow let Him die that way
So as I drove in to work thinking about this lavish love of God, my mind wanders as it does. In referring to World War I, you often hear the expression "lions led by donkeys", but in our case we are donkeys (or stupid sheep) rescued by the Lion of Judah, the lion who C.S. Lewis' badger tells us "is not tame, but he is good".
One final thought, St Paul's is proud to support the work of International Justice Mission in working to set slaves free in India. IJM has as its mission statement Isaiah 1:17 "Seek justice, encourage the oppressed, defend the cause of the fatherless,plead the case of the widow." You can find out more about their work at an Indian evening, which we will hold in May.
Monday, 8 March 2010
A couple of things from Jeremiah
I will shortly post a more personal piece on the struggles I have been having while reading Jeremiah, but I have a couple of thoughts that I don't know whether anyone has any answers to or has even thought about.
1) Should Jeremiah have gone off to Babylon with the rest of the exiles, when he is given the choice in chapter 40?
2) Isn't 9:24 fantastic? We often remember Micah 6:8, but this is equally good to memorise. In the CEV it reads:
If you feel you must brag,
then have enough sense
to brag about worshiping me,
the LORD.
What I like best
is showing kindness,
justice, and mercy
to everyone on earth
3) Knowing God - 22:15-16
"More cedar in your palace
doesn't make you a better king
than your father Josiah.
He always did right--
he gave justice to the poor
and was honest.
That's what it means
to truly know me.
4) Since we have Jesus' teaching that He and the Father are One, and that He has revealed the Father to us, we can get quite blase on this point. Yet there is much less of this theme generally in the Old Testament. However, this time reading Jeremiah, I noted two instances - 3:19; 31:9.
So three themes - justice, knowing God and God as a Father to His people.
1) Should Jeremiah have gone off to Babylon with the rest of the exiles, when he is given the choice in chapter 40?
2) Isn't 9:24 fantastic? We often remember Micah 6:8, but this is equally good to memorise. In the CEV it reads:
If you feel you must brag,
then have enough sense
to brag about worshiping me,
the LORD.
What I like best
is showing kindness,
justice, and mercy
to everyone on earth
3) Knowing God - 22:15-16
"More cedar in your palace
doesn't make you a better king
than your father Josiah.
He always did right--
he gave justice to the poor
and was honest.
That's what it means
to truly know me.
4) Since we have Jesus' teaching that He and the Father are One, and that He has revealed the Father to us, we can get quite blase on this point. Yet there is much less of this theme generally in the Old Testament. However, this time reading Jeremiah, I noted two instances - 3:19; 31:9.
So three themes - justice, knowing God and God as a Father to His people.
Jeremiah and me
In previous years, I have always found Jeremiah to be something of a hard slog. Two years ago, we were reading it over Christmas, where the unremitting grimness of the plight that Jeremiah found himself in was an interesting counterpoise to the general "jollity" around.
This time, I found there was more light in Jeremiah's situation. What does God want from Jeremiah? In a word - obedience. Jeremiah is called to speak God's word to the people of Judah, even though they will not listen. The people are told to submit to the Babylonians and accept the seventy years of exile, but they do not obey and suffer a much worse fate.
Sometimes, we are asked to do something which requires a lot of faith. It may require a lot of faith, because the task seems daunting, beyond our capabilities or simply not to our tastes, or just out of our comfort zone.
Not for the first time, I have heard a still small voice in the lyrics of an Andrew Peterson song, which I reproduce below.
No More Faith - Andrew Peterson
This is not another song about the mountains
Except about how hard they are to move
Have you ever stood before them
Like a mustard seed who's waiting for some proof?
I say faith is a burden
It's a weight to bear
It's brave and bittersweet
And hope is hard to hold to Lord,
I believe
Only help my unbelief
Till there's no more faith
No more hope
I'll see your face and Lord, I'll know
That only love remains
Have you ever heard that Jesus is the answer
And thought about the many doubts you hide
Have you wondered how he loves you
If He really knows how dark you are inside
I say faith is a burden
It's a weight to bear
It's brave and bittersweet
And hope is hard to hold to
Lord, I believe
Only help my unbelief
Till there's no more faith
No more hope
I'll see your face and Lord, I'll know
When there's no more faith
And no more hope
I'll sing your praise and let them go
'cause only love
Only love remains
So I will drive these roads in thunder and in rain
And I will sing your song at the top of my lungs
And I will praise you, Lord, in glory and in pain
And I will follow you till this race is won
And I will drive these roads till this motor won't run
And I will sing your song from sea to shining sea
And I will praise you Lord, till your kingdom comes
And I will follow where you lead
Till there's no more faith
No more hope
I'll see your face and Lord, I'll know
When there's no more faith
And no more hope
I'll sing your praise and let them go
'cause only love
Only love remains
Faith can really feel like a burden and can be bittersweet. In such circumstances, we need to remind ourselves that, in the words of 1 Cor 13, only these three things remain - faith, hope and love. And the greatest of these is love.
In the crescendo of defiance of this song, there is the willingness to embrace what Paul wrote in Phil 3:12-14, "Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus."
Let us encourage each other as we commit to driving these roads in thunder and rain, singing His song at the top of our lungs, praising Him in glory and pain, following where He leads until His kingdom comes.
This time, I found there was more light in Jeremiah's situation. What does God want from Jeremiah? In a word - obedience. Jeremiah is called to speak God's word to the people of Judah, even though they will not listen. The people are told to submit to the Babylonians and accept the seventy years of exile, but they do not obey and suffer a much worse fate.
Sometimes, we are asked to do something which requires a lot of faith. It may require a lot of faith, because the task seems daunting, beyond our capabilities or simply not to our tastes, or just out of our comfort zone.
Not for the first time, I have heard a still small voice in the lyrics of an Andrew Peterson song, which I reproduce below.
No More Faith - Andrew Peterson
This is not another song about the mountains
Except about how hard they are to move
Have you ever stood before them
Like a mustard seed who's waiting for some proof?
I say faith is a burden
It's a weight to bear
It's brave and bittersweet
And hope is hard to hold to Lord,
I believe
Only help my unbelief
Till there's no more faith
No more hope
I'll see your face and Lord, I'll know
That only love remains
Have you ever heard that Jesus is the answer
And thought about the many doubts you hide
Have you wondered how he loves you
If He really knows how dark you are inside
I say faith is a burden
It's a weight to bear
It's brave and bittersweet
And hope is hard to hold to
Lord, I believe
Only help my unbelief
Till there's no more faith
No more hope
I'll see your face and Lord, I'll know
When there's no more faith
And no more hope
I'll sing your praise and let them go
'cause only love
Only love remains
So I will drive these roads in thunder and in rain
And I will sing your song at the top of my lungs
And I will praise you, Lord, in glory and in pain
And I will follow you till this race is won
And I will drive these roads till this motor won't run
And I will sing your song from sea to shining sea
And I will praise you Lord, till your kingdom comes
And I will follow where you lead
Till there's no more faith
No more hope
I'll see your face and Lord, I'll know
When there's no more faith
And no more hope
I'll sing your praise and let them go
'cause only love
Only love remains
Faith can really feel like a burden and can be bittersweet. In such circumstances, we need to remind ourselves that, in the words of 1 Cor 13, only these three things remain - faith, hope and love. And the greatest of these is love.
In the crescendo of defiance of this song, there is the willingness to embrace what Paul wrote in Phil 3:12-14, "Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus."
Let us encourage each other as we commit to driving these roads in thunder and rain, singing His song at the top of our lungs, praising Him in glory and pain, following where He leads until His kingdom comes.
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