Luke 4:14-30 (The Message)
To Set the Burdened Free
14-15Jesus returned to Galilee powerful in the Spirit. News that he was back spread through the countryside. He taught in their meeting places to everyone's acclaim and pleasure.
16-21He came to Nazareth where he had been reared. As he always did on the Sabbath, he went to the meeting place. When he stood up to read, he was handed the scroll of the prophet Isaiah. Unrolling the scroll, he found the place where it was written, God's Spirit is on me; he's chosen me to preach the Message of good news to the poor, Sent me to announce pardon to prisoners and recovery of sight to the blind, To set the burdened and battered free, to announce, "This is God's year to act!"He rolled up the scroll, handed it back to the assistant, and sat down. Every eye in the place was on him, intent. Then he started in, "You've just heard Scripture make history. It came true just now in this place."
22All who were there, watching and listening, were surprised at how well he spoke. But they also said, "Isn't this Joseph's son, the one we've known since he was a youngster?"
23-27He answered, "I suppose you're going to quote the proverb, 'Doctor, go heal yourself. Do here in your hometown what we heard you did in Capernaum.' Well, let me tell you something: No prophet is ever welcomed in his hometown. Isn't it a fact that there were many widows in Israel at the time of Elijah during that three and a half years of drought when famine devastated the land, but the only widow to whom Elijah was sent was in Sarepta in Sidon? And there were many lepers in Israel at the time of the prophet Elisha but the only one cleansed was Naaman the Syrian."
28-30That set everyone in the meeting place seething with anger. They threw him out, banishing him from the village, then took him to a mountain cliff at the edge of the village to throw him to his doom, but he gave them the slip and was on his way.
This passage from Luke’s Gospel is a really big deal. The scene is this: Jesus is well known as a teacher and has traveled to many places to teach. Jesus returns to his hometown of Nazareth and goes to teach in the meeting place there. He reads Scripture to the people, the Scripture written by the prophet Isaiah. The people had probably heard this passage many times, and many lessons to go a long with it. (Do we not have familiar passages that are preached in our churches, on which we have heard many different sermons?)
After Jesus reads the Scripture, he sits down. Teachers in his day did not stand at the front of a classroom but sat down. So we know from this detail that Jesus is about to start his teaching. And his whole lesson is this: "You've just heard Scripture make history. It came true just now in this place."
Now, we have the advantage of knowing all of Jesus’ story. We know he has given sight to blind people, preached to the poor, and gave people freedom from sin and illnesses. But the people to whom Jesus was teaching on that day had not seen him do all these things. To them Jesus was just another teacher. They even knew his parents and had seen him grow up. How could this man they had always know claim to be sent and chosen by God? So the people to whom Jesus is teaching are very skeptical of him and his message. What he says next sends them over the edge, makes them very, very angry.
He uses some examples of Old Testament heroes who were not welcomed in their hometowns. He tells them that just as Elijah and Elisha were sent to do God’s work in places other than where they were from, so also will he, Jesus, be sent to do God’s work in places outside his hometown. Jesus is comparing himself to Elijah and Elisha, two famous and great prophets.
This makes the people angry. How could Jesus, think he is as great and as famous and Elijah and Elisha. The people get so mad that they chase Jesus to a cliff and try to throw him off of it. They want to kill him! Fortunately, Jesus escapes.
The good news for us is that Jesus was and is who he claimed to be. He did give sight to blind people. He does set people free from what keeps them in bondage.
Pray a prayer of praise to God. Thank him for sending Jesus on a mission to heal and free people. Praise him for the ways he has healed you and set you free. Thank him for telling the truth, even when it made people angry.
Tuesday, February 27, 2007
Monday, February 26, 2007
Tuesday, February 27, 2007
Romans 10:8-13 (TNIV)
8 But what does it say? "The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart," that is, the message concerning faith that we proclaim: 9 If you declare with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved. 11 As Scripture says, "Anyone who believes in him will never be put to shame." 12 For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, 13 for, "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved."
Many people believe you have to be good in order to be saved; it’s something for which you have to work. But Scripture does not support that view point at all. Paul wrote the passage from Romans that we just read, and he of all people was not good. In fact, before he became a Christian, he made it his job to punish Christians.
Paul learned something though about the power of Jesus. He learned that there is nothing we can physically do to be saved. All we have to do is say that “Jesus is Lord” and believe in your heart that God did not leave Jesus dead, but raised him back to life.
The good news is that anyone can do this. It does not matter where we are from, what our religious background has been, or who our parents are. Anyone and everyone can call on the name of Jesus and be saved. Have you?
8 But what does it say? "The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart," that is, the message concerning faith that we proclaim: 9 If you declare with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved. 11 As Scripture says, "Anyone who believes in him will never be put to shame." 12 For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, 13 for, "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved."
Many people believe you have to be good in order to be saved; it’s something for which you have to work. But Scripture does not support that view point at all. Paul wrote the passage from Romans that we just read, and he of all people was not good. In fact, before he became a Christian, he made it his job to punish Christians.
Paul learned something though about the power of Jesus. He learned that there is nothing we can physically do to be saved. All we have to do is say that “Jesus is Lord” and believe in your heart that God did not leave Jesus dead, but raised him back to life.
The good news is that anyone can do this. It does not matter where we are from, what our religious background has been, or who our parents are. Anyone and everyone can call on the name of Jesus and be saved. Have you?
Sunday, February 25, 2007
Monday, February 26, 2007
Deuteronomy 26:1-11 (The Message)
1-5 Once you enter the land that God, your God, is giving you as an inheritance and take it over and settle down, you are to take some of all the firstfruits of what you grow in the land that God, your God, is giving you, put them in a basket and go to the place God, your God, sets apart for you to worship him. At that time, go to the priest who is there and say, "I announce to God, your God, today that I have entered the land that God promised our ancestors that he'd give to us." The priest will take the basket from you and place it on the Altar of God, your God. And there in the Presence of God, your God, you will recite: 5-10 A wandering Aramean was my father, he went down to Egypt and sojourned there, he and just a handful of his brothers at first, but soon they became a great nation, mighty and many. The Egyptians abused and battered us, in a cruel and savage slavery. We cried out to God, the God-of-Our-Fathers: He listened to our voice, he saw our destitution, our trouble, our cruel plight. And God took us out of Egypt with his strong hand and long arm, terrible and great, with signs and miracle-wonders. And he brought us to this place, gave us this land flowing with milk and honey. So here I am. I've brought the firstfruits of what I've grown on this ground you gave me, O God.
10-11 Then place it in the Presence of God, your God. Prostrate yourselves in the Presence of God, your God. And rejoice! Celebrate all the good things that God, your God, has given you and your family; you and the Levite and the foreigner who lives with you.
Do you know your family history? Were you ancestors from Europe? Were they German, English, or Dutch? Did they come from Asia? Were they Japanese or Vietnamese? Are you descended from Africans? From Nigerians or Kenyans? Or are you ancestors the native people of the Americas?
Family history was very important to the people who lived in ancient times. The Bible follows the story of God’s chosen people, the Israelites. They lived in the area that we now know as Israel, Iraq, and Iran. God wanted to make himself known to all the peoples of the earth, but he chose the Israelites first. God promised to lead the Israelites into a place where they could have their own land. God promised that land to them. The people depended on God to protect them and bless them in that land.
In this passage from Deuteronomy we read about a command God gave the Israelite people concerning their offerings, once they have settled in the land God hand promised to them.
They are to bring a basket of the best of their crops and place it before God. Then they are to recite their family history. They are to tell God about Joseph who went to Egypt and how all of the people of Israel joined him there and grew in number until there were so many of them that the Egyptians were afraid of them and forced them to be slaves. And then the Israelite bringing the offering recites how God was faithful and rescued them from Egypt and brought them to the promised land.
After remembering their family history, the Israelites are to bow before God, to worship Him and to celebrate all the good things he has done.
This is not just the family history of the Israelite people. This is part of Jesus’ family history. And now, since we are part of his family, it is our family history, too.
When we worship God, we remember our family history in a sense. We remember all of the people who have lived and worshiped before us because we tell their stories and sing their songs. As we worship, let us bow before God as our ancestors did. Let us celebrate all the good things He has done, how He has rescued us from our own slavery to sin and death and how He has promised to us new life.
1-5 Once you enter the land that God, your God, is giving you as an inheritance and take it over and settle down, you are to take some of all the firstfruits of what you grow in the land that God, your God, is giving you, put them in a basket and go to the place God, your God, sets apart for you to worship him. At that time, go to the priest who is there and say, "I announce to God, your God, today that I have entered the land that God promised our ancestors that he'd give to us." The priest will take the basket from you and place it on the Altar of God, your God. And there in the Presence of God, your God, you will recite: 5-10 A wandering Aramean was my father, he went down to Egypt and sojourned there, he and just a handful of his brothers at first, but soon they became a great nation, mighty and many. The Egyptians abused and battered us, in a cruel and savage slavery. We cried out to God, the God-of-Our-Fathers: He listened to our voice, he saw our destitution, our trouble, our cruel plight. And God took us out of Egypt with his strong hand and long arm, terrible and great, with signs and miracle-wonders. And he brought us to this place, gave us this land flowing with milk and honey. So here I am. I've brought the firstfruits of what I've grown on this ground you gave me, O God.
10-11 Then place it in the Presence of God, your God. Prostrate yourselves in the Presence of God, your God. And rejoice! Celebrate all the good things that God, your God, has given you and your family; you and the Levite and the foreigner who lives with you.
Do you know your family history? Were you ancestors from Europe? Were they German, English, or Dutch? Did they come from Asia? Were they Japanese or Vietnamese? Are you descended from Africans? From Nigerians or Kenyans? Or are you ancestors the native people of the Americas?
Family history was very important to the people who lived in ancient times. The Bible follows the story of God’s chosen people, the Israelites. They lived in the area that we now know as Israel, Iraq, and Iran. God wanted to make himself known to all the peoples of the earth, but he chose the Israelites first. God promised to lead the Israelites into a place where they could have their own land. God promised that land to them. The people depended on God to protect them and bless them in that land.
In this passage from Deuteronomy we read about a command God gave the Israelite people concerning their offerings, once they have settled in the land God hand promised to them.
They are to bring a basket of the best of their crops and place it before God. Then they are to recite their family history. They are to tell God about Joseph who went to Egypt and how all of the people of Israel joined him there and grew in number until there were so many of them that the Egyptians were afraid of them and forced them to be slaves. And then the Israelite bringing the offering recites how God was faithful and rescued them from Egypt and brought them to the promised land.
After remembering their family history, the Israelites are to bow before God, to worship Him and to celebrate all the good things he has done.
This is not just the family history of the Israelite people. This is part of Jesus’ family history. And now, since we are part of his family, it is our family history, too.
When we worship God, we remember our family history in a sense. We remember all of the people who have lived and worshiped before us because we tell their stories and sing their songs. As we worship, let us bow before God as our ancestors did. Let us celebrate all the good things He has done, how He has rescued us from our own slavery to sin and death and how He has promised to us new life.
Saturday, February 24, 2007
Sunday, February 25, 2007
Luke 4:1-13 (TNIV)
Jesus Is Tested in the Wilderness
1 Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, left the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, 2 where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and at the end of them he was hungry.
3 The devil said to him, "If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread."
4 Jesus answered, "It is written: 'People do not live on bread alone.'"
5 The devil led him up to a high place and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. 6 And he said to him, "I will give you all their authority and splendor; it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to. 7 If you worship me, it will all be yours."
8 Jesus answered, "It is written: 'Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.'"
9 The devil led him to Jerusalem and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. "If you are the Son of God," he said, "throw yourself down from here. 10 For it is written: " 'He will command his angels concerning you to guard you carefully;
11 they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.'"
12 Jesus answered, "It is said: 'Do not put the Lord your God to the test.'"
13 When the devil had finished all this tempting, he left him until an opportune time.
When Jesus was baptized, the Holy Spirit came upon him and filled him. After being baptized, the same Holy Spirit led Jesus into the wilderness. Jesus was in the wilderness forty days and he was tempted all forty of those days by the devil.
The devil tempts Jesus in three ways. He wants Jesus to use his power as God’s Son to create food for himself (Jesus did not eat for the forty days he was in the wilderness.) And the devil tempts Jesus to take authority over all the world. Jesus will be given this authority, but the road to get it is his death on the cross, it is not by worshiping the devil. Finally, the devil tempts Jesus to prove that God will protect him, by jumping off the temple and letting the angels catch him. The devil even quotes Psalm 91, which we read yesterday!
What is so hard about all of these temptations is that they are temptations to accomplish something good. Jesus is hungry, what would be the harm in making bread his own way? Jesus is going to be king over the earth eventually, why not take a short cut to getting to rule? Certainly Jesus, of all people dwells with God. Of course God will let no harm overtake him.
Even though these temptations sound so good, Jesus resists all of them. He does not use his own power to meet his own need for food. Nor does he compromise his path to becoming king. And Jesus knows he does not have to prove God will protect him.
What about us in our own lives? How many temptations do we face that sound good, that will actually give us what we want and what we believe God wants? Do we ever fall to temptations even when we know God has a different path for us?
Jesus Is Tested in the Wilderness
1 Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, left the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, 2 where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and at the end of them he was hungry.
3 The devil said to him, "If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread."
4 Jesus answered, "It is written: 'People do not live on bread alone.'"
5 The devil led him up to a high place and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. 6 And he said to him, "I will give you all their authority and splendor; it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to. 7 If you worship me, it will all be yours."
8 Jesus answered, "It is written: 'Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.'"
9 The devil led him to Jerusalem and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. "If you are the Son of God," he said, "throw yourself down from here. 10 For it is written: " 'He will command his angels concerning you to guard you carefully;
11 they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.'"
12 Jesus answered, "It is said: 'Do not put the Lord your God to the test.'"
13 When the devil had finished all this tempting, he left him until an opportune time.
When Jesus was baptized, the Holy Spirit came upon him and filled him. After being baptized, the same Holy Spirit led Jesus into the wilderness. Jesus was in the wilderness forty days and he was tempted all forty of those days by the devil.
The devil tempts Jesus in three ways. He wants Jesus to use his power as God’s Son to create food for himself (Jesus did not eat for the forty days he was in the wilderness.) And the devil tempts Jesus to take authority over all the world. Jesus will be given this authority, but the road to get it is his death on the cross, it is not by worshiping the devil. Finally, the devil tempts Jesus to prove that God will protect him, by jumping off the temple and letting the angels catch him. The devil even quotes Psalm 91, which we read yesterday!
What is so hard about all of these temptations is that they are temptations to accomplish something good. Jesus is hungry, what would be the harm in making bread his own way? Jesus is going to be king over the earth eventually, why not take a short cut to getting to rule? Certainly Jesus, of all people dwells with God. Of course God will let no harm overtake him.
Even though these temptations sound so good, Jesus resists all of them. He does not use his own power to meet his own need for food. Nor does he compromise his path to becoming king. And Jesus knows he does not have to prove God will protect him.
What about us in our own lives? How many temptations do we face that sound good, that will actually give us what we want and what we believe God wants? Do we ever fall to temptations even when we know God has a different path for us?
Saturday, February 24, 2007
Psalm 91 (TNIV)
1 Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.
2 They say of the LORD, "He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust."
9 If you say, "The LORD is my refuge," and you make the Most High your dwelling,
10 no harm will overtake you, no disaster will come near your tent.
11 For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways;
12 they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.
13 You will tread on the lion and the cobra; you will trample the great lion and the serpent.
14 "Because they love me," says the LORD, "I will rescue them; I will protect them, for they acknowledge my name.
15 They will call on me, and I will answer them; I will be with them in trouble, I will deliver them and honor them.
16 With long life I will satisfy them and show them my salvation."
This psalm assures us that God will protect us if we live with him. The very first line tells us that if we dwell in the shelter of the Most High we will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. Have you ever thought about how big God’s shadow is? Seriously, if God is so big that He is everywhere, all the time, can you imagine how big a shadow He must have? We know God is Spirit and that he probably does not have a body like we do, yet the person who wrote this psalm uses the image of a shadow anyway. Maybe it is because shadows are everywhere, we cannot go anywhere without seeing them. Even on a cloudy day, sunlight causes the casting of shadows. Trees have long shadows; buildings can shade entire parking lots. We even have shadows that follow us and change and grow as we walk.
If we were outside at a summer picnic we may chose to sit underneath a tree. Why? Because the tree provides us some shade from the sun. The tree’s shadow protects us from getting too hot and getting sunburned.
God’s shadow does not keep us from getting sunburned. But just like being under a tree protects us, being under God protects us; it allows us a place to rest. When we live with God, when we dwell with God, He will be our safe place. He will not let us be overtaken by harm, nor will He abandon us in our time of trouble.
You will see many shadows as you go about your day today. May they all remind you of how big God’s shadow is, and how He protects you because you dwell with Him.
1 Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.
2 They say of the LORD, "He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust."
9 If you say, "The LORD is my refuge," and you make the Most High your dwelling,
10 no harm will overtake you, no disaster will come near your tent.
11 For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways;
12 they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.
13 You will tread on the lion and the cobra; you will trample the great lion and the serpent.
14 "Because they love me," says the LORD, "I will rescue them; I will protect them, for they acknowledge my name.
15 They will call on me, and I will answer them; I will be with them in trouble, I will deliver them and honor them.
16 With long life I will satisfy them and show them my salvation."
This psalm assures us that God will protect us if we live with him. The very first line tells us that if we dwell in the shelter of the Most High we will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. Have you ever thought about how big God’s shadow is? Seriously, if God is so big that He is everywhere, all the time, can you imagine how big a shadow He must have? We know God is Spirit and that he probably does not have a body like we do, yet the person who wrote this psalm uses the image of a shadow anyway. Maybe it is because shadows are everywhere, we cannot go anywhere without seeing them. Even on a cloudy day, sunlight causes the casting of shadows. Trees have long shadows; buildings can shade entire parking lots. We even have shadows that follow us and change and grow as we walk.
If we were outside at a summer picnic we may chose to sit underneath a tree. Why? Because the tree provides us some shade from the sun. The tree’s shadow protects us from getting too hot and getting sunburned.
God’s shadow does not keep us from getting sunburned. But just like being under a tree protects us, being under God protects us; it allows us a place to rest. When we live with God, when we dwell with God, He will be our safe place. He will not let us be overtaken by harm, nor will He abandon us in our time of trouble.
You will see many shadows as you go about your day today. May they all remind you of how big God’s shadow is, and how He protects you because you dwell with Him.
Thursday, February 22, 2007
Friday, February 23, 2007
Psalm 51 (The Message)
1-3Generous in love—God, give grace! Huge in mercy—wipe out my bad record. Scrub away my guilt, soak out my sins in your laundry. I know how bad I've been; my sins are staring me down. 4-6 You're the One I've violated, and you've seen it all, seen the full extent of my evil. You have all the facts before you; whatever you decide about me is fair. I've been out of step with you for a long time, in the wrong since before I was born. What you're after is truth from the inside out. Enter me, then; conceive a new, true life. 7-15 Soak me in your laundry and I'll come out clean, scrub me and I'll have a snow-white life. Tune me in to foot-tapping songs, set these once-broken bones to dancing. Don't look too close for blemishes, give me a clean bill of health. God, make a fresh start in me, shape a Genesis week from the chaos of my life. Don't throw me out with the trash, or fail to breathe holiness in me. Bring me back from gray exile, put a fresh wind in my sails! Give me a job teaching rebels your ways so the lost can find their way home. Commute my death sentence, God, my salvation God, and I'll sing anthems to your life-giving ways. Unbutton my lips, dear God; I'll let loose with your praise. 16-17 Going through the motions doesn't please you, a flawless performance is nothing to you. I learned God-worship when my pride was shattered. Heart-shattered lives ready for love don't for a moment escape God's notice.
We believe that David wrote this psalm after he had an affair with Bathsheba. David was king over the people of Israel. He stayed home once, while he was supposed to be out fighting in a war. While he was home he saw Bathsheba and he thought she was beautiful. Since he was the king and had the power to do whatever he wanted, he had her brought to him, and he had sex with her, even though he knew she was already married to one of his soldiers. After that, everything that could go wrong, did go wrong. Bathsheba found herself pregnant with David’s baby, and David had her husband killed in order to try and cover his tracks. The baby did not live very long; it died a few days after being born.
David tried to hide these big sins. Unfortunately, or fortunately depending on how you look at it, that did not work. God sent the prophet Nathan to David on God’s behalf. God had Nathan confront David over his sins. Nathan told David that God would forgive David’s sin, but there were consequences to his actions. You can read the story for yourself in 2 Samuel 11 and 12.
We can tell from David’s psalm that he felt remorse for his actions. He was guilty and he knew it. Yet he also recognized that God was merciful and had, as the TNIV translates “unfailing love.” David knew that God could cleanse him of sin; God could get rid of his dirty laundry. David also knew that God does not desire our going through the motions and routine offerings. No, what God wants are our true selves, especially when we come to him broken and sorry for what we have done. Coming to God when our lives are empty and broken, when we know we cannot do anything on our own, is a pleasing act of sacrifice.
Psalm 51 (TNIV)
17 My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart you, God, will not despise.
Everybody, like David, makes wrong choices and ends up trapped in their own sins. Sometimes it makes us sick to think about the wrong things we have done and how everything that could go wrong did go wrong. Maybe we have not slept with someone else’s spouse and then ordered a murder, but we have sinned against God in many more ways than we would like to admit.
Read Psalm 51 again. Confess your sins along with David in verses 1-6. Ask God to cleanse you like David did in verses 7-9. Then ask God to renew you, to “Create in me a pure heart, O God…” to stay with you, and restore your relationship with Him (10-12). Be assured that He will. And like David sings in verses 13-17, praise God for giving you new life, for always forgiving, and for his unfailing love.
1-3Generous in love—God, give grace! Huge in mercy—wipe out my bad record. Scrub away my guilt, soak out my sins in your laundry. I know how bad I've been; my sins are staring me down. 4-6 You're the One I've violated, and you've seen it all, seen the full extent of my evil. You have all the facts before you; whatever you decide about me is fair. I've been out of step with you for a long time, in the wrong since before I was born. What you're after is truth from the inside out. Enter me, then; conceive a new, true life. 7-15 Soak me in your laundry and I'll come out clean, scrub me and I'll have a snow-white life. Tune me in to foot-tapping songs, set these once-broken bones to dancing. Don't look too close for blemishes, give me a clean bill of health. God, make a fresh start in me, shape a Genesis week from the chaos of my life. Don't throw me out with the trash, or fail to breathe holiness in me. Bring me back from gray exile, put a fresh wind in my sails! Give me a job teaching rebels your ways so the lost can find their way home. Commute my death sentence, God, my salvation God, and I'll sing anthems to your life-giving ways. Unbutton my lips, dear God; I'll let loose with your praise. 16-17 Going through the motions doesn't please you, a flawless performance is nothing to you. I learned God-worship when my pride was shattered. Heart-shattered lives ready for love don't for a moment escape God's notice.
We believe that David wrote this psalm after he had an affair with Bathsheba. David was king over the people of Israel. He stayed home once, while he was supposed to be out fighting in a war. While he was home he saw Bathsheba and he thought she was beautiful. Since he was the king and had the power to do whatever he wanted, he had her brought to him, and he had sex with her, even though he knew she was already married to one of his soldiers. After that, everything that could go wrong, did go wrong. Bathsheba found herself pregnant with David’s baby, and David had her husband killed in order to try and cover his tracks. The baby did not live very long; it died a few days after being born.
David tried to hide these big sins. Unfortunately, or fortunately depending on how you look at it, that did not work. God sent the prophet Nathan to David on God’s behalf. God had Nathan confront David over his sins. Nathan told David that God would forgive David’s sin, but there were consequences to his actions. You can read the story for yourself in 2 Samuel 11 and 12.
We can tell from David’s psalm that he felt remorse for his actions. He was guilty and he knew it. Yet he also recognized that God was merciful and had, as the TNIV translates “unfailing love.” David knew that God could cleanse him of sin; God could get rid of his dirty laundry. David also knew that God does not desire our going through the motions and routine offerings. No, what God wants are our true selves, especially when we come to him broken and sorry for what we have done. Coming to God when our lives are empty and broken, when we know we cannot do anything on our own, is a pleasing act of sacrifice.
Psalm 51 (TNIV)
17 My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart you, God, will not despise.
Everybody, like David, makes wrong choices and ends up trapped in their own sins. Sometimes it makes us sick to think about the wrong things we have done and how everything that could go wrong did go wrong. Maybe we have not slept with someone else’s spouse and then ordered a murder, but we have sinned against God in many more ways than we would like to admit.
Read Psalm 51 again. Confess your sins along with David in verses 1-6. Ask God to cleanse you like David did in verses 7-9. Then ask God to renew you, to “Create in me a pure heart, O God…” to stay with you, and restore your relationship with Him (10-12). Be assured that He will. And like David sings in verses 13-17, praise God for giving you new life, for always forgiving, and for his unfailing love.
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
Thursday, February 22, 2007
Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21 (The Message)
The World Is Not a Stage
1 "Be especially careful when you are trying to be good so that you don't make a performance out of it. It might be good theater, but the God who made you won't be applauding.
2-4"When you do something for someone else, don't call attention to yourself. You've seen them in action, I'm sure—'playactors' I call them— treating prayer meeting and street corner alike as a stage, acting compassionate as long as someone is watching, playing to the crowds. They get applause, true, but that's all they get. When you help someone out, don't think about how it looks. Just do it—quietly and unobtrusively. That is the way your God, who conceived you in love, working behind the scenes, helps you out.
Pray with Simplicity
5"And when you come before God, don't turn that into a theatrical production either. All these people making a regular show out of their prayers, hoping for stardom! Do you think God sits in a box seat?
6"Here's what I want you to do: Find a quiet, secluded place so you won't be tempted to role-play before God. Just be there as simply and honestly as you can manage. The focus will shift from you to God, and you will begin to sense his grace.
16-18"When you practice some appetite-denying discipline to better concentrate on God, don't make a production out of it. It might turn you into a small-time celebrity but it won't make you a saint. If you 'go into training' inwardly, act normal outwardly. Shampoo and comb your hair, brush your teeth, wash your face. God doesn't require attention-getting devices. He won't overlook what you are doing; he'll reward you well.
A Life of God-Worship
19-21"Don't hoard treasure down here where it gets eaten by moths and corroded by rust or—worse!—stolen by burglars. Stockpile treasure in heaven, where it's safe from moth and rust and burglars. It's obvious, isn't it? The place where your treasure is, is the place you will most want to be, and end up being.
These words are Jesus’ teaching in what we know as the Sermon on the Mount. He is telling us how we ought to give to others, pray, and fast (an appetite-denying discipline). We do not engage in any of these activities in order to brag on ourselves. We have heard people act that way though.
“Well, I’m already giving so much to the offering plate, but I added extra last week, isn’t that a blessing?”
“Dear heavenly, hallowed, Father, thank you for gracing me with such an extensive and developed vocabulary so that I can pray to you with enormous words and complex sentences regular people do not understand.”
“Well, I decided to give up drinking coffee for Lent this year, and this morning as I passed Starbucks I just had to congratulate myself for driving right on by. I am doing a good job if I say so myself.”
When we give so others can see us, or pray so others can hear us, or fast so others can admire us, we miss the point. Other people are not our audience. God is. We give to others because it is really God giving quietly through us. We pray honestly to God who hears us and is not impressed by our vocabulary or speaking skills but cares about our hearts. We fast to focus more on God, not to focus on ourselves and our abilities to sacrifice.
Gracious God, thank you for giving us ways to seek you and focus on you. Taking care of other people and being able to talk to you are gifts we often take for granted. Forgive us for not seeking you with our whole hearts. Forgive us for being actors and using these gifts to draw attention to ourselves instead of drawing attention to you. Teach us to give, to pray, and to fast honestly, sincerely. May others see You when they look at us. Amen.
The World Is Not a Stage
1 "Be especially careful when you are trying to be good so that you don't make a performance out of it. It might be good theater, but the God who made you won't be applauding.
2-4"When you do something for someone else, don't call attention to yourself. You've seen them in action, I'm sure—'playactors' I call them— treating prayer meeting and street corner alike as a stage, acting compassionate as long as someone is watching, playing to the crowds. They get applause, true, but that's all they get. When you help someone out, don't think about how it looks. Just do it—quietly and unobtrusively. That is the way your God, who conceived you in love, working behind the scenes, helps you out.
Pray with Simplicity
5"And when you come before God, don't turn that into a theatrical production either. All these people making a regular show out of their prayers, hoping for stardom! Do you think God sits in a box seat?
6"Here's what I want you to do: Find a quiet, secluded place so you won't be tempted to role-play before God. Just be there as simply and honestly as you can manage. The focus will shift from you to God, and you will begin to sense his grace.
16-18"When you practice some appetite-denying discipline to better concentrate on God, don't make a production out of it. It might turn you into a small-time celebrity but it won't make you a saint. If you 'go into training' inwardly, act normal outwardly. Shampoo and comb your hair, brush your teeth, wash your face. God doesn't require attention-getting devices. He won't overlook what you are doing; he'll reward you well.
A Life of God-Worship
19-21"Don't hoard treasure down here where it gets eaten by moths and corroded by rust or—worse!—stolen by burglars. Stockpile treasure in heaven, where it's safe from moth and rust and burglars. It's obvious, isn't it? The place where your treasure is, is the place you will most want to be, and end up being.
These words are Jesus’ teaching in what we know as the Sermon on the Mount. He is telling us how we ought to give to others, pray, and fast (an appetite-denying discipline). We do not engage in any of these activities in order to brag on ourselves. We have heard people act that way though.
“Well, I’m already giving so much to the offering plate, but I added extra last week, isn’t that a blessing?”
“Dear heavenly, hallowed, Father, thank you for gracing me with such an extensive and developed vocabulary so that I can pray to you with enormous words and complex sentences regular people do not understand.”
“Well, I decided to give up drinking coffee for Lent this year, and this morning as I passed Starbucks I just had to congratulate myself for driving right on by. I am doing a good job if I say so myself.”
When we give so others can see us, or pray so others can hear us, or fast so others can admire us, we miss the point. Other people are not our audience. God is. We give to others because it is really God giving quietly through us. We pray honestly to God who hears us and is not impressed by our vocabulary or speaking skills but cares about our hearts. We fast to focus more on God, not to focus on ourselves and our abilities to sacrifice.
Gracious God, thank you for giving us ways to seek you and focus on you. Taking care of other people and being able to talk to you are gifts we often take for granted. Forgive us for not seeking you with our whole hearts. Forgive us for being actors and using these gifts to draw attention to ourselves instead of drawing attention to you. Teach us to give, to pray, and to fast honestly, sincerely. May others see You when they look at us. Amen.
Ash Wednesday
Ash Wednesday February 21, 2007
Joel 2:1-2, 12-17 (TNIV)
An Army of Locusts
1 Blow the trumpet in Zion; sound the alarm on my holy hill. Let all who live in the land tremble, for the day of the LORD is coming. It is close at hand—
2 a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and blackness. Like dawn spreading across the mountains a large and mighty army comes, such as never was of old nor ever will be in ages to come.
Rend Your Heart
12 "Even now," declares the LORD, "return to me with all your heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning."
13 Rend your heart mn and not your garments. Return to the LORD your God, for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, and he relents from sending calamity.
14 Who knows? He may turn and relent and leave behind a blessing— grain offerings and drink offerings for the LORD your God.
15 Blow the trumpet in Zion, declare a holy fast, call a sacred assembly.
16 Gather the people, consecrate the assembly; bring together the elders, gather the children, those nursing at the breast. Let the bridegroom leave his room and the bride her chamber.
17 Let the priests, who minister before the LORD, weep between the portico and the altar. Let them say, "Spare your people, LORD. Do not make your inheritance an object of scorn, a byword among the nations. Why should they say among the peoples, 'Where is their God?' "
At first glance, this sounds like a pretty dark passage: “a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and blackness” is coming. These are the words of the prophet Joel, who lived many years before Jesus was ever born. Joel proclaimed a word from God, that the “day of the LORD” is coming, and it does not sound like that will be a good day, at least for those who have not repented and turned to God.
BUT, this passage does not leave us in despair and without hope. In verse 13 Joel tells us that God is “gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, and he relents from sending calamity.” God is indeed good and faithful, even as or perhaps because he has wrath against sin.
So what are we to do? The prophet Joel tells us to gather together, to consecrate or cleanse ourselves. Everyone, young and old, male and female, even people in the midst of celebration are to come. And we are to “declare a holy fast.” What does this mean?
Fasting is a spiritual activity that, honestly, we do not really like to do. It may be because it involves so much sacrifice and unselfishness on our parts. Fasting is about not depending on our luxuries but depending solely on God. When we fast, we give up a favorite food or activity in order to focus ourselves more on God. We do not give up food in order to lose weight or to brag about how we are doing a good job not eating it. Rather, we give up a particular food to remind us that God is the one who gives us life. We remind ourselves that soft drinks are a luxury and we can survive without them because our true life comes from God. Or we might give up an activity like watching TV or playing on the internet and make more time to pray to God or read the Bible. Could we give up MySpace completely?
The forty days prior to Easter Sunday are called “LENT.” Traditionally, followers of Jesus have fasted during Lent. People might give up a meal, meat, desserts, any drink besides water, or people might stop smoking, watching TV, or listening to music that they know is not good for them.
Will you join in this community fast? Will you fast not because of tradition, but because God asks it of you?
Will you remember that true life comes from God, and not from all our luxuries?
Joel 2:1-2, 12-17 (TNIV)
An Army of Locusts
1 Blow the trumpet in Zion; sound the alarm on my holy hill. Let all who live in the land tremble, for the day of the LORD is coming. It is close at hand—
2 a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and blackness. Like dawn spreading across the mountains a large and mighty army comes, such as never was of old nor ever will be in ages to come.
Rend Your Heart
12 "Even now," declares the LORD, "return to me with all your heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning."
13 Rend your heart mn and not your garments. Return to the LORD your God, for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, and he relents from sending calamity.
14 Who knows? He may turn and relent and leave behind a blessing— grain offerings and drink offerings for the LORD your God.
15 Blow the trumpet in Zion, declare a holy fast, call a sacred assembly.
16 Gather the people, consecrate the assembly; bring together the elders, gather the children, those nursing at the breast. Let the bridegroom leave his room and the bride her chamber.
17 Let the priests, who minister before the LORD, weep between the portico and the altar. Let them say, "Spare your people, LORD. Do not make your inheritance an object of scorn, a byword among the nations. Why should they say among the peoples, 'Where is their God?' "
At first glance, this sounds like a pretty dark passage: “a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and blackness” is coming. These are the words of the prophet Joel, who lived many years before Jesus was ever born. Joel proclaimed a word from God, that the “day of the LORD” is coming, and it does not sound like that will be a good day, at least for those who have not repented and turned to God.
BUT, this passage does not leave us in despair and without hope. In verse 13 Joel tells us that God is “gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, and he relents from sending calamity.” God is indeed good and faithful, even as or perhaps because he has wrath against sin.
So what are we to do? The prophet Joel tells us to gather together, to consecrate or cleanse ourselves. Everyone, young and old, male and female, even people in the midst of celebration are to come. And we are to “declare a holy fast.” What does this mean?
Fasting is a spiritual activity that, honestly, we do not really like to do. It may be because it involves so much sacrifice and unselfishness on our parts. Fasting is about not depending on our luxuries but depending solely on God. When we fast, we give up a favorite food or activity in order to focus ourselves more on God. We do not give up food in order to lose weight or to brag about how we are doing a good job not eating it. Rather, we give up a particular food to remind us that God is the one who gives us life. We remind ourselves that soft drinks are a luxury and we can survive without them because our true life comes from God. Or we might give up an activity like watching TV or playing on the internet and make more time to pray to God or read the Bible. Could we give up MySpace completely?
The forty days prior to Easter Sunday are called “LENT.” Traditionally, followers of Jesus have fasted during Lent. People might give up a meal, meat, desserts, any drink besides water, or people might stop smoking, watching TV, or listening to music that they know is not good for them.
Will you join in this community fast? Will you fast not because of tradition, but because God asks it of you?
Will you remember that true life comes from God, and not from all our luxuries?
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