Hear the word of the Lord:
Job 38:1-7, (34-41)
Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind:
Who is this that darkens counsel
by words without knowledge?
Gird up your loins like a man,
I will question you, and you shall declare to me.
Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth?
Tell me, if you have understanding.
Who determined its measurements--surely you know!
Or who stretched the line upon it?
On what were its bases sunk, or who laid its cornerstone
when the morning stars sang together
and all the heavenly beings shouted for joy?
Can you lift up your voice to the clouds,
so that a flood of waters may cover you?
Can you send forth lightnings,
so that they may go and say to you, 'Here we are'?
Who has put wisdom in the inward parts,
or given understanding to the mind?
Who has the wisdom to number the clouds?
Or who can tilt the waterskins of the heavens,
when the dust runs into a mass
and the clods cling together?
Can you hunt the prey for the lion,
or satisfy the appetite of the young lions,
when they crouch in their dens,
or lie in wait in their covert?
Who provides for the raven its prey,
when its young ones cry to God,
and wander about for lack of food?
Friday, October 23, 2009
Thursday, October 22, 2009
To deal gently ...
Hear the word of the Lord:
Hebrews 5:1-10
Every high priest chosen from among mortals is put in charge
of things pertaining to God on their behalf,
to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins.
He is able to deal gently with the ignorant and wayward,
since he himself is subject to weakness;
and because of this he must offer sacrifice for his own sins
as well as for those of the people.
And one does not presume to take this honor,
but takes it only when called by God, just as Aaron was.
So also Christ did not glorify himself in becoming a high priest,
but was appointed by the one who said to him,
"You are my Son, today I have begotten you";
as he says also in another place,
"You are a priest forever, according to the order of Melchizedek."
In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications,
with loud cries and tears,
to the one who was able to save him from death,
and he was heard because of his reverent submission.
Although he was a Son,
he learned obedience through what he suffered;
and having been made perfect,
he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him,
having been designated by God a high priest
according to the order of Melchizedek.
Hebrews 5:1-10
Every high priest chosen from among mortals is put in charge
of things pertaining to God on their behalf,
to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins.
He is able to deal gently with the ignorant and wayward,
since he himself is subject to weakness;
and because of this he must offer sacrifice for his own sins
as well as for those of the people.
And one does not presume to take this honor,
but takes it only when called by God, just as Aaron was.
So also Christ did not glorify himself in becoming a high priest,
but was appointed by the one who said to him,
"You are my Son, today I have begotten you";
as he says also in another place,
"You are a priest forever, according to the order of Melchizedek."
In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications,
with loud cries and tears,
to the one who was able to save him from death,
and he was heard because of his reverent submission.
Although he was a Son,
he learned obedience through what he suffered;
and having been made perfect,
he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him,
having been designated by God a high priest
according to the order of Melchizedek.
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
The second kick ...
Today, a friend with whom I grew up posted a wise proverb on his Facebook page:
"There is nothing to be learned from the second kick of the mule."
You might find a lot of wisdom in this, and I have to say that I agree with it. If this is so, then why do we so often find that we can recognize a particular mule by the way that it kicks? I think that there is more than one reason.
Many of us live in denial. We don’t believe that it will happen again. Just because we think that we didn’t deserve it, we magically believe that it won’t happen again. Surely the mules will figure out the error of their ways eventually!
Sometimes we’re willing the pay the price because it seems like a fair trade for doing what we want to do. I do not know what particular benefit might accrue from standing near the posterior of a mule, but I can’t rule out the possibility. Perhaps I would come running up to the back side of a mule if Kate was riding a mule and began to fall off its rump. Which is just a good reason to keep Kate away from mules (literal or figurative).
It could be that our self image is so poor that we think that we deserve the kick. Poor me. I deserve to stand behind mules. The fact that God created me and loves me is irrelevant compared to the fact that Jaime Bob or Billy Bob think that my nose hairs are too long. Just kick me. That will increase my justification for acting pathetic and helpless. If God knew that having long nose hair would be so socially painful, why did he give me this unbearable burden?
Perhaps the second kick comes because we don’t have a teacher like Jesus. Jesus seems to want to keep those he loves from the second kick. This is what I hear when I read Mark 10:35-45:
James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came forward to him and said to him, "Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you."
And he said to them, "What is it you want me to do for you?"
And they said to him, "Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory."
But Jesus said to them, "You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?"
They replied, "We are able."
Then Jesus said to them, "The cup that I drink you will drink; and with the baptism with which I am baptized, you will be baptized; but to sit at my right hand or at my left is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared."
When the ten heard this, they began to be angry with James and John.
Jesus called them and said to them, "You know that among the Gentiles those whom they recognize as their rulers lord it over them, and their great ones are tyrants over them. But it is not so among you; but whoever wishes to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you must be slave of all. For the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many."
Did we catch what Jesus said? “You know that among the Gentiles . . . .” You already know this to be true. You have already been kicked by that mule. Do you really want to be kicked by that mule again because you do the very same thing again? Be wise. Learn from the first kick.
When I read this story, I think about the children that we love. Even the wisest of them have times when they get the second kick. It’s not that they don’t feel the kick. They tend to make the same irrational excuses for receiving the kick that we do. If we warn them, sometimes they will refuse to listen to us, or refuse to make the connection. Sometimes, if we are willing to be patient enough, they will let us be Jesus to them and allow us to guide them from the second kick.
This means that they will have to trust us. After all, they prejudge the usefulness of our advice by the day-to-day kindness evident in our language, the hour-to-hour love revealed by our action. If they don’t feel safe with us, how can they feel safe taking our advice?
If we want children to see us as a savior in the time of trouble, then we must first be the servant who serves, and walks, and suffers alongside them.
Blessings,
Ron
"There is nothing to be learned from the second kick of the mule."
You might find a lot of wisdom in this, and I have to say that I agree with it. If this is so, then why do we so often find that we can recognize a particular mule by the way that it kicks? I think that there is more than one reason.
Many of us live in denial. We don’t believe that it will happen again. Just because we think that we didn’t deserve it, we magically believe that it won’t happen again. Surely the mules will figure out the error of their ways eventually!
Sometimes we’re willing the pay the price because it seems like a fair trade for doing what we want to do. I do not know what particular benefit might accrue from standing near the posterior of a mule, but I can’t rule out the possibility. Perhaps I would come running up to the back side of a mule if Kate was riding a mule and began to fall off its rump. Which is just a good reason to keep Kate away from mules (literal or figurative).
It could be that our self image is so poor that we think that we deserve the kick. Poor me. I deserve to stand behind mules. The fact that God created me and loves me is irrelevant compared to the fact that Jaime Bob or Billy Bob think that my nose hairs are too long. Just kick me. That will increase my justification for acting pathetic and helpless. If God knew that having long nose hair would be so socially painful, why did he give me this unbearable burden?
Perhaps the second kick comes because we don’t have a teacher like Jesus. Jesus seems to want to keep those he loves from the second kick. This is what I hear when I read Mark 10:35-45:
James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came forward to him and said to him, "Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you."
And he said to them, "What is it you want me to do for you?"
And they said to him, "Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory."
But Jesus said to them, "You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?"
They replied, "We are able."
Then Jesus said to them, "The cup that I drink you will drink; and with the baptism with which I am baptized, you will be baptized; but to sit at my right hand or at my left is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared."
When the ten heard this, they began to be angry with James and John.
Jesus called them and said to them, "You know that among the Gentiles those whom they recognize as their rulers lord it over them, and their great ones are tyrants over them. But it is not so among you; but whoever wishes to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you must be slave of all. For the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many."
Did we catch what Jesus said? “You know that among the Gentiles . . . .” You already know this to be true. You have already been kicked by that mule. Do you really want to be kicked by that mule again because you do the very same thing again? Be wise. Learn from the first kick.
When I read this story, I think about the children that we love. Even the wisest of them have times when they get the second kick. It’s not that they don’t feel the kick. They tend to make the same irrational excuses for receiving the kick that we do. If we warn them, sometimes they will refuse to listen to us, or refuse to make the connection. Sometimes, if we are willing to be patient enough, they will let us be Jesus to them and allow us to guide them from the second kick.
This means that they will have to trust us. After all, they prejudge the usefulness of our advice by the day-to-day kindness evident in our language, the hour-to-hour love revealed by our action. If they don’t feel safe with us, how can they feel safe taking our advice?
If we want children to see us as a savior in the time of trouble, then we must first be the servant who serves, and walks, and suffers alongside them.
Blessings,
Ron
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Wrapped in light ...
Meditate on the word of the Lord with me:
Psalm 104:1-9, 24, 35c
Bless the LORD, O my soul.
O LORD my God, you are very great.
You are clothed with honor and majesty,
wrapped in light as with a garment.
You stretch out the heavens like a tent,
you set the beams of your chambers on the waters,
you make the clouds your chariot,
you ride on the wings of the wind,
you make the winds your messengers,
fire and flame your ministers.
You set the earth on its foundations,
so that it shall never be shaken.
You cover it with the deep as with a garment;
the waters stood above the mountains.
At your rebuke they flee;
at the sound of your thunder they take to flight.
They rose up to the mountains,
ran down to the valleys to the place
that you appointed for them.
You set a boundary that they may not pass,
so that they might not again cover the earth.
O LORD, how manifold are your works!
In wisdom you have made them all;
the earth is full of your creatures.
Praise the LORD!
How do we bless God? What is it that we have to give God? The praise from our heart and our mind, the songs and prayers that cross our lips, these are the blessings we place at the feet of the Holy One. Yes, even praise offered out of duty is praise. Yet the praise that is purest and the greatest blessing to the giver and recipient is that offered from a grateful heart.
The beautiful praise of this song begins with God as this powerful other, in the distant reaches of our universe, the place where light begins. God gradually descends, closer and closer to the divine creation. The song will end with God on the face of the world where we live, shaping the life that surrounds us.
This God is so holy, so other, that only light is suitable for clothing. This God is so powerful that God stretches the stars, the planets, and moons to cover us with the same dexterity and sureness that parents pitch tents for their families in the desert. Every night God stops the journey to stretch this amazing cover over our heads. Every morning God gathers it up again.
The greatest of kings, the pharaohs, ride their barges down the river in order to see the full extent of their kingdom. God places the beams of heavenly chambers into the river of the firmament itself, regally observing the work of the people of God, and fully aware of the actions of those who oppose them.
The great kings ride their glorious chariots, decorated with precious metals, pulled by the noblest and most beautiful of horses. God rides a chariot of cloud through the sky, simple, yet beautiful beyond description. It is beyond human ability to create, changing shapes in the sky as might please its maker. The winds are the horses that pull the chariot of God: powerful, invisible, mysterious. As God travels, the divine one sends forth messengers: fire, flame, lightning make known the divine presence.
God set this world in its place. As God has clothed Godself with light, God clothes the world with water. The ancients saw water to be dangerous and destructive, the seas as chaos itself. Yet these rebellious waters retreat to where God sends them, and flee like disobedient children from his angry presence. Submissive, they follow their divinely prescribed course from the heavens, to the mountains, down the streams and rivers, to the seas. The waters may crash and rage, but never again will their rebellion be allowed to rage unbridled.
All the world submits to the power of God, because God made all of the world. As if this universe were not glorious enough, God populates this planet with life: diverse, plentiful, amazing. And among this life he creates the human. This humanity can see, can comprehend, and can praise the work of this Creator God.
So may we praise the name and work of God today.
Blessings,
Ron
Psalm 104:1-9, 24, 35c
Bless the LORD, O my soul.
O LORD my God, you are very great.
You are clothed with honor and majesty,
wrapped in light as with a garment.
You stretch out the heavens like a tent,
you set the beams of your chambers on the waters,
you make the clouds your chariot,
you ride on the wings of the wind,
you make the winds your messengers,
fire and flame your ministers.
You set the earth on its foundations,
so that it shall never be shaken.
You cover it with the deep as with a garment;
the waters stood above the mountains.
At your rebuke they flee;
at the sound of your thunder they take to flight.
They rose up to the mountains,
ran down to the valleys to the place
that you appointed for them.
You set a boundary that they may not pass,
so that they might not again cover the earth.
O LORD, how manifold are your works!
In wisdom you have made them all;
the earth is full of your creatures.
Praise the LORD!
How do we bless God? What is it that we have to give God? The praise from our heart and our mind, the songs and prayers that cross our lips, these are the blessings we place at the feet of the Holy One. Yes, even praise offered out of duty is praise. Yet the praise that is purest and the greatest blessing to the giver and recipient is that offered from a grateful heart.
The beautiful praise of this song begins with God as this powerful other, in the distant reaches of our universe, the place where light begins. God gradually descends, closer and closer to the divine creation. The song will end with God on the face of the world where we live, shaping the life that surrounds us.
This God is so holy, so other, that only light is suitable for clothing. This God is so powerful that God stretches the stars, the planets, and moons to cover us with the same dexterity and sureness that parents pitch tents for their families in the desert. Every night God stops the journey to stretch this amazing cover over our heads. Every morning God gathers it up again.
The greatest of kings, the pharaohs, ride their barges down the river in order to see the full extent of their kingdom. God places the beams of heavenly chambers into the river of the firmament itself, regally observing the work of the people of God, and fully aware of the actions of those who oppose them.
The great kings ride their glorious chariots, decorated with precious metals, pulled by the noblest and most beautiful of horses. God rides a chariot of cloud through the sky, simple, yet beautiful beyond description. It is beyond human ability to create, changing shapes in the sky as might please its maker. The winds are the horses that pull the chariot of God: powerful, invisible, mysterious. As God travels, the divine one sends forth messengers: fire, flame, lightning make known the divine presence.
God set this world in its place. As God has clothed Godself with light, God clothes the world with water. The ancients saw water to be dangerous and destructive, the seas as chaos itself. Yet these rebellious waters retreat to where God sends them, and flee like disobedient children from his angry presence. Submissive, they follow their divinely prescribed course from the heavens, to the mountains, down the streams and rivers, to the seas. The waters may crash and rage, but never again will their rebellion be allowed to rage unbridled.
All the world submits to the power of God, because God made all of the world. As if this universe were not glorious enough, God populates this planet with life: diverse, plentiful, amazing. And among this life he creates the human. This humanity can see, can comprehend, and can praise the work of this Creator God.
So may we praise the name and work of God today.
Blessings,
Ron
Monday, October 19, 2009
An ancient story ...
Some stories are true, not just because they were true once, but because they happen more than once, each telling true in its own way.
There is an ancient story, told again and again. In one of its more recent tellings, this huge black man, John Coffey, is sent to a Louisiana prison for murder. The irony is that he was not the killer of the young victims, but one who sought to bring back to the living those who were dead. As those responsible for John’s keeping soon discover, he does have the power to bring back those recently dead, at least in the case of Mr. Jingles. His power of healing, though, is thoroughly amazing. As a part of the healing, John takes the sickness and pain into himself in order to free the sufferer.
In the end, though, the head guard, Paul, finds that he must “kill one of God’s true miracles” for a crime that he did not commit. Paul offers John escape, even though he realizes that this will cost him his job, and perhaps time in prison. Yet John declines. This simple man is weary from carrying the wickedness, the evil in the world that surrounds him. So he dies a horrible and public death, an innocent suffering for a crime that was not his.
Does this story sound familiar? It should. It was told hundreds of years before even Jesus was born:
Isaiah 53:4-12
Surely he has borne our infirmities and carried our diseases;
yet we accounted him stricken, struck down by God, and afflicted.
But he was wounded for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the punishment that made us whole,
and by his bruises we are healed.
All we like sheep have gone astray;
we have all turned to our own way,
and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
He was oppressed, and he was afflicted,
yet he did not open his mouth;
like a lamb that is led to the slaughter,
and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent,
so he did not open his mouth.
By a perversion of justice he was taken away.
Who could have imagined his future?
For he was cut off from the land of the living,
stricken for the transgression of my people.
They made his grave with the wicked and his tomb with the rich,
although he had done no violence,
and there was no deceit in his mouth.
Yet it was the will of the LORD to crush him with pain.
When you make his life an offering for sin,
he shall see his offspring, and shall prolong his days;
through him the will of the LORD shall prosper.
Out of his anguish he shall see light;
he shall find satisfaction through his knowledge.
The righteous one, my servant, shall make many righteous,
and he shall bear their iniquities.
Therefore I will allot him a portion with the great,
and he shall divide the spoil with the strong;
because he poured out himself to death,
and was numbered with the transgressors;
yet he bore the sin of many,
and made intercession for the transgressors.
Before Jesus, who knew what this story meant? Did anyone struggle to believe that this could ever be true? Since Jesus, this story has credibility. Since Jesus this story has power even though it has been told more than once. It still rings true without being trite. Interestingly, the newer stories told in our lifetime tend to echo the story of Jesus. Is it coincidence, after all, that John Coffey’s initials are what they are?
Even though the story of the suffering servant has been told more than once, it is the story of Jesus that gives all of the other stories believability and meaning. Because God might choose to die for his people, it becomes believable that one person might choose to die for another. That kind of sacrifice is now plausible.
Yet must we die in order to live a sacrificial life? Or is that question an oxymoron?
Jesus said that one who would keep life would lose it, but that one who would lose life may keep it. If we stop for a moment and think about what we have learned about our faith, we realize that God calls us daily to sacrifice our wishes, our way, our will, and yes even our life for others. If we live the story of Jesus, we do this for our children. We do this for our family. We do this for those to whom we minister.
If we live the story of Jesus.
Blessings,
Ron
There is an ancient story, told again and again. In one of its more recent tellings, this huge black man, John Coffey, is sent to a Louisiana prison for murder. The irony is that he was not the killer of the young victims, but one who sought to bring back to the living those who were dead. As those responsible for John’s keeping soon discover, he does have the power to bring back those recently dead, at least in the case of Mr. Jingles. His power of healing, though, is thoroughly amazing. As a part of the healing, John takes the sickness and pain into himself in order to free the sufferer.
In the end, though, the head guard, Paul, finds that he must “kill one of God’s true miracles” for a crime that he did not commit. Paul offers John escape, even though he realizes that this will cost him his job, and perhaps time in prison. Yet John declines. This simple man is weary from carrying the wickedness, the evil in the world that surrounds him. So he dies a horrible and public death, an innocent suffering for a crime that was not his.
Does this story sound familiar? It should. It was told hundreds of years before even Jesus was born:
Isaiah 53:4-12
Surely he has borne our infirmities and carried our diseases;
yet we accounted him stricken, struck down by God, and afflicted.
But he was wounded for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the punishment that made us whole,
and by his bruises we are healed.
All we like sheep have gone astray;
we have all turned to our own way,
and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
He was oppressed, and he was afflicted,
yet he did not open his mouth;
like a lamb that is led to the slaughter,
and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent,
so he did not open his mouth.
By a perversion of justice he was taken away.
Who could have imagined his future?
For he was cut off from the land of the living,
stricken for the transgression of my people.
They made his grave with the wicked and his tomb with the rich,
although he had done no violence,
and there was no deceit in his mouth.
Yet it was the will of the LORD to crush him with pain.
When you make his life an offering for sin,
he shall see his offspring, and shall prolong his days;
through him the will of the LORD shall prosper.
Out of his anguish he shall see light;
he shall find satisfaction through his knowledge.
The righteous one, my servant, shall make many righteous,
and he shall bear their iniquities.
Therefore I will allot him a portion with the great,
and he shall divide the spoil with the strong;
because he poured out himself to death,
and was numbered with the transgressors;
yet he bore the sin of many,
and made intercession for the transgressors.
Before Jesus, who knew what this story meant? Did anyone struggle to believe that this could ever be true? Since Jesus, this story has credibility. Since Jesus this story has power even though it has been told more than once. It still rings true without being trite. Interestingly, the newer stories told in our lifetime tend to echo the story of Jesus. Is it coincidence, after all, that John Coffey’s initials are what they are?
Even though the story of the suffering servant has been told more than once, it is the story of Jesus that gives all of the other stories believability and meaning. Because God might choose to die for his people, it becomes believable that one person might choose to die for another. That kind of sacrifice is now plausible.
Yet must we die in order to live a sacrificial life? Or is that question an oxymoron?
Jesus said that one who would keep life would lose it, but that one who would lose life may keep it. If we stop for a moment and think about what we have learned about our faith, we realize that God calls us daily to sacrifice our wishes, our way, our will, and yes even our life for others. If we live the story of Jesus, we do this for our children. We do this for our family. We do this for those to whom we minister.
If we live the story of Jesus.
Blessings,
Ron
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