Mid-Week Worship; Ps 95

May the mumbling commence!

There is nothing like a mid-week worship service to provide me with a pick-me-up.  A week ago Monday, I began to bicycle to the school bus I drive in the mornings (the afternoons were too HOT).  It is a ten-mile round trip.  I thought it would be good for exercise and would save some money on fuel.  This week, since it has been cooler, I decided that I would add bicycling to my school bus in the afternoons.  Well, this morning I felt the strain on my legs.  Double the mileage makes a difference!

Well, I sat behind the steering wheel of the school bus (after I had pre-tripped my bus) and read the Scriptures for today from my chronological Bible.  Weary as I was, I was welcomed into a worship service.  I was drawn to the words of Psalm 95.  Read the below:

Come, let us sing for joy to the Lord;

let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation. 

Let us come before him with thanksgiving

and extol him with music and song. 

For the Lord is the great God,

the great King above all gods. 

In his hand are the depths of the earth,

and the mountain peaks belong to him. 

The sea is his, for he made it,

and his hands formed the dry land. 

Come, let us bow down in worship,

let us kneel before the Lord our Maker; 

for he is our God

and we are the people of his pasture,

the flock under his care.

Today, if you hear his voice, 

do not harden your hearts as you did at Meribah,

as you did that day at Massah in the desert, 

where your fathers tested and tried me,

though they had seen what I did. 

For forty years I was angry with that generation;

I said, "They are a people whose hearts go astray,

and they have not known my ways." 

So I declared on oath in my anger,

"They shall never enter my rest." 

All things are in the hands of the Great Creator.  When the psalmist includes the sea, the psalmist is stating that the Lord has control of the chaos of the sea.  The sea, for Hebrews, was the greatest symbol of chaos.

All of us are under the care of this Great Shepherd.  Why should we let present and transitive obstacles deter us from our goals – especially when those goals align with the Lord’s will for our lives.  Neither will I allow sore legs and a sore back stop me.  Bike riding has another fringe benefit – I am not hurtling by in a car, which prohibits conversation.  I am hoping that I will make some acquaintances that may grow into friendships.

Tired as I may feel physically, emotionally or spiritually, if I find the path that the Lord has laid before me; I will be able to enter God’s rest.  For those who go astray, that rest is elusive.  I invite you: Walk along with the Great Shepherd, Jesus the Christ, and enter that rest with me.

Enough mumbling for now… 

Peace Out  

Perspective Matters; Ezra 3

May the mumbling commence!

It is all a matter of perspective.  It depends upon your perspective how you react to something new.  It matters where you come from and how long you’ve been around.  Read from Ezra 3:10-13 –

When the builders laid the foundation of the temple of the Lord, the priests in their vestments and with trumpets, and the Levites (the sons of Asaph) with cymbals, took their places to praise the Lord, as prescribed by David king of Israel.  With praise and thanksgiving they sang to the Lord:

"He is good; his love to Israel endures forever."

And all the people gave a great shout of praise to the Lord, because the foundation of the house of the Lord was laid.  But many of the older priests and Levites and family heads, who had seen the former temple, wept aloud when they saw the foundation of this temple being laid, while many others shouted for joy.  No one could distinguish the sound of the shouts of joy from the sound of weeping, because the people made so much noise. And the sound was heard far away. 

When the new foundation for the Temple of the Lord was laid by the returning exiles, there was great celebration – especially from those who did not remember the former temple.  The Levites lead in a psalm of praise: “[God] is good; His steadfast love to Israel endures forever.”

But those who were older and remembered the former Temple of the Lord wept aloud.  They wailed because they remembered the former glory of the Temple that Solomon built.  With the young and the old there is opposite reactions to the building of the new Temple of the Lord.  Who was right?  I truly do not believe that one was right and the other was wrong.  It is all a matter of perspective. 

Let me explain.  Those who were younger knew only the exile, where there was nowhere magnificent to gather in the Name of the Lord.  They had nothing to compare the dimensions and splendor to.  Anything would have been an improvement.  They looked at the newly laid foundation and imagined how it would look completed. They were overwhelmed the by size and grandeur that would be raised up from the ground.

On the other hand, those who were older remembered the glory of the Lord in the Temple.  They looked at the newly laid foundation, and they imagined how it would look when it finished.  It must not have matched their memories of the glory of the Temple built by Solomon.

One gave a great shout of praise; the other gave a great weeping wail.  But the song of praise to the Lord brought them together.  Those on the outside looking in could not distinguish the sound of the praising from the sound of the wailing.  Both sounds were loud and carried a far distance.  If told, these outsiders would not understand the source of the disagreement.

Sometimes, we, as churches, need to listen carefully to the perspective of outsiders.  Sometimes, outsiders can see more clearly what is going on than those on the inside.  Outsiders are not encumbered with past history of the church.

We must remember these valuable lessons when we think about our spaces for worship and when we think about how we worship.  We must hold loosely our preferred way of worship – even as we explain the stories behind our preferences.  We must hold our preferences loosely so that we might be able to listen to the preferences of those different from us – and the stories behind those preferences.

Let us live into a flexible way of worshiping.  As long as the center of the praise and worship remains on Christ Jesus, little else matters.  So let us lay aside the swords and shields of the worship wars so that we might worship the Lord with all the beautiful differences that each of us brings to worship.

Enough mumbling for now… 

Peace Out  

The Right Pedigree; Ezra 2, Nehemiah 7

May the mumbling commence!

Here again is another one of those days in reading the Old Testament where we read more names and numbers than stories.  Take heart!  There is less than a month of readings before we dive into the New Testament.  Also be on alert for those hidden nuggets of stories within the name lists.  Read one on those hidden stories from Ezra 2:61-63 (also recorded in Nehemiah 7:63-65):

And from among the priests:

The descendants of Hobaiah, Hakkoz and Barzillai (a man who had married a daughter of Barzillai the Gileadite and was called by that name). 

These searched for their family records, but they could not find them and so were excluded from the priesthood as unclean.  The governor ordered them not to eat any of the most sacred food until there was a priest ministering with the Urim and Thummim.

We may read these words and think:  “What an exclusive people!”  In order to be clean for the priesthood, people needed to have the right pedigree.  Without the right family records, these people were excluded from priestly duties and the benefits that went along with the priesthood.

Before we get to sanctimonious in our wrath for these people returning from exile, we should take two things into account.  Number One:  Israel was finally returning to the Promised Land after many years spent in exile.  And this exile came about because the people of Israel did not observe the commands and laws and decrees of the Lord properly.  There was due and just concern that they not make the same mistake twice.  So, proper and committed priest were needed to lead the people into right relationship with the Lord.

Number Two:  Let us examine how well we welcome those new people (whether they are seekers or from another denominational tradition) into our houses of worship on Sunday morning (or any other time and function of the church).  How many times do we use peoples’ last names to play the Mennonite or Brethren or Methodist or Presbyterian game (I could go on, but I think you get the point.)?  I’ve been on the outside of these conversations and looking in more times than I wish to remember.  Or how many times to do speak in hushed tones about those people who only seem to turn up for church meals?  Those “other people” are either our brothers or sisters in Christ or they have the potential of becoming our brothers and sisters in Christ.

Okay.  Now, that we have our feet back on the floor; let’s tackle that last clause at the end of the passage.  What is it with this priest ministering with the Urim and Thummim?  The Urim and the Thummim were a part of the priests’ trade.  Read a verse from Exodus 28:

Also put the Urim and the Thummim in the breastpiece, so they may be over Aaron's heart whenever he enters the presence of the Lord. Thus Aaron will always bear the means of making decisions for the Israelites over his heart before the Lord.  (Verse 30)

The Urim and the Thummim were used to discern the will of the Lord in a matter.  How was this done?  Scholars cannot seem to agree.  There seems to be a possible usage of the Urim and Thummim when Jonathan disobeyed the command of his father King Saul (1 Samuel 14:41).  In the Septuagint (the Greek translation of the Hebrew text of the Old Testament), Saul declared, “If the fault is with me or my son respond with the Urim, but if the fault is with the men of Israel respond with the Thummim.” 

But what do these words mean in relation to the Hebrew language.  Some think that the Thummim has the meaning of innocent, and the Urim has the meaning of light.  Thus, the people who think this think they have the meaning of lights and perfections.  OR they could have been related to Babylonian words meaning oracle (Urim) and command (Thummim).  OR the Urim could be related to the Hebrew word Arrim, which means curses.  Then, one would know the guilt or innocence of the person or statement made before the drawing (or throwing) of the Urim and Thummim. 

Regardless of how this item (or these items) were used, for today, I would lean toward the thought of light and perfections.  These concepts have the greatest meaning for changing our lives.  May the light of the Lord reveal and heal our imperfections so that we may be better children of God as we relate to all people in our midst. 

Enough mumbling for now… 

Peace Out  

Dare to be a Daniel; Daniel 6

May the mumbling commence!

Oh, to be thrown into the lions’ den on account of faithfulness to the Lord!  Jesus told us to take up our crosses and follow him.  Well, Daniel was following the promise of the Messiah without ever seeing him born.  Read from Daniel chapter six:

Now Daniel so distinguished himself among the administrators and the satraps by his exceptional qualities that the king planned to set him over the whole kingdom.  At this, the administrators and the satraps tried to find grounds for charges against Daniel in his conduct of government affairs, but they were unable to do so. They could find no corruption in him, because he was trustworthy and neither corrupt nor negligent.  Finally these men said, "We will never find any basis for charges against this man Daniel unless it has something to do with the law of his God." 

So the administrators and the satraps went as a group to the king and said: "O King Darius, live forever!  The royal administrators, prefects, satraps, advisers and governors have all agreed that the king should issue an edict and enforce the decree that anyone who prays to any god or man during the next thirty days, except to you, O king, shall be thrown into the lions' den.  Now, O king, issue the decree and put it in writing so that it cannot be altered – in accordance with the laws of the Medes and Persians, which cannot be repealed."  So King Darius put the decree in writing. 

Now when Daniel learned that the decree had been published, he went home to his upstairs room where the windows opened toward Jerusalem. Three times a day he got down on his knees and prayed, giving thanks to his God, just as he had done before.  Then these men went as a group and found Daniel praying and asking God for help.  So they went to the king and spoke to him about his royal decree: "Did you not publish a decree that during the next thirty days anyone who prays to any god or man except to you, O king, would be thrown into the lions' den?"

The king answered, "The decree stands – in accordance with the laws of the Medes and Persians, which cannot be repealed." 

Then they said to the king, "Daniel, who is one of the exiles from Judah, pays no attention to you, O king, or to the decree you put in writing. He still prays three times a day."  When the king heard this, he was greatly distressed; he was determined to rescue Daniel and made every effort until sundown to save him. 

Then the men went as a group to the king and said to him, "Remember, O king, that according to the law of the Medes and Persians no decree or edict that the king issues can be changed." 

So the king gave the order, and they brought Daniel and threw him into the lions' den. The king said to Daniel, "May your God, whom you serve continually, rescue you!" 

A stone was brought and placed over the mouth of the den, and the king sealed it with his own signet ring and with the rings of his nobles, so that Daniel's situation might not be changed.  Then the king returned to his palace and spent the night without eating and without any entertainment being brought to him. And he could not sleep. 

At the first light of dawn, the king got up and hurried to the lions' den.  When he came near the den, he called to Daniel in an anguished voice, "Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God, whom you serve continually, been able to rescue you from the lions?" 

Daniel answered, "O king, live forever!  My God sent his angel, and he shut the mouths of the lions. They have not hurt me, because I was found innocent in his sight. Nor have I ever done any wrong before you, O king." 

The king was overjoyed and gave orders to lift Daniel out of the den. And when Daniel was lifted from the den, no wound was found on him, because he had trusted in his God. (Verses 3-23)

Daniel was making his co-workers green with envy.  They were looking desperately for a way to discredit Daniel.  They could find a way of discrediting Daniel only through his faithfulness to the Law of the Lord.  Could that statement be true to us?  As the old song says, do you and I “dare to be a Daniel”? 

The king realized the worth of Daniel, and he immediately began to sing the blues if he were to lose his trusted servant.  Daniel was not only faithful to God, but he was also faithful to the king whenever that faithfulness did not conflict with the Law of the Lord. 

May we be as trusted and faithful to our Lord first then to our government. 

Enough mumbling for now… 

Peace Out

Daniel's (And Our) Confession; Daniel 9

May the mumbling commence!

The prayers of a righteous man (or woman) avail much.  Daniel was a righteous man who did not separate himself from the sins of the community in which he lived.  Read the prayer of Daniel, recorded in Daniel 9:

"O Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love with all who love him and obey his commands, we have sinned and done wrong. We have been wicked and have rebelled; we have turned away from your commands and laws.  We have not listened to your servants the prophets, who spoke in your name to our kings, our princes and our fathers, and to all the people of the land. 

Lord, you are righteous, but this day we are covered with shame – the men of Judah and people of Jerusalem and all Israel, both near and far, in all the countries where you have scattered us because of our unfaithfulness to you.  O Lord, we and our kings, our princes and our fathers are covered with shame because we have sinned against you.  The Lord our God is merciful and forgiving, even though we have rebelled against him; we have not obeyed the Lord our God or kept the laws he gave us through his servants the prophets.  All Israel has transgressed your law and turned away, refusing to obey you.

Therefore the curses and sworn judgments written in the Law of Moses, the servant of God, have been poured out on us, because we have sinned against you.  You have fulfilled the words spoken against us and against our rulers by bringing upon us great disaster. Under the whole heaven nothing has ever been done like what has been done to Jerusalem.  Just as it is written in the Law of Moses, all this disaster has come upon us, yet we have not sought the favor of the Lord our God by turning from our sins and giving attention to your truth.  The Lord did not hesitate to bring the disaster upon us, for the Lord our God is righteous in everything he does; yet we have not obeyed him. 

Now, O Lord our God, who brought your people out of Egypt with a mighty hand and who made for yourself a name that endures to this day, we have sinned, we have done wrong.  O Lord, in keeping with all your righteous acts, turn away your anger and your wrath from Jerusalem, your city, your holy hill. Our sins and the iniquities of our fathers have made Jerusalem and your people an object of scorn to all those around us. 

Now, our God, hear the prayers and petitions of your servant. For your sake, O Lord, look with favor on your desolate sanctuary.  Give ear, O God, and hear; open your eyes and see the desolation of the city that bears your Name. We do not make requests of you because we are righteous, but because of your great mercy.  O Lord, listen! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, hear and act! For your sake, O my God, do not delay, because your city and your people bear your Name." (Verses 4b-19)   

Over the course of his exile, Daniel had done everything he knew how to be faithful to the Lord.  Still, Daniel did not attempt to separate himself from the evil sins of his community.  Daniel recognized the right that the Lord had in punishing Israel.  In fact, Daniel knew that these punishments were recorded in the book of the Law of Moses.

If you have ever wondered what confession is, you could look at this prayer of Daniel as a good guidepost to confession in all its fullness.  Daniel was not reticent to speak and claim the sins of Israel as his own.  That is one side of confession – confessing our sins to the Lord, even ones that happened around us that we did nothing to stop (the sins of the community).

Daniel’s prayer also shows the other side confession.  Daniel confessed the righteousness and mercy of the Lord.  Daniel knew that the answer to his prayer counted not upon human effort but upon the mercy and righteousness of the Lord.

I pray along with Daniel:  Heal the ills of our time.  Forgive our sins.  We, as Christians, bear Your Name, O God.  Help us, O Holy Spirit, be better bearers of the Name of the Lord.

Enough mumbling for now…

Peace Out

Be Kind; Daniel 4

May the mumbling commence!

Ill news makes a bad partnership.  Ill news makes an even worse a servant master relationship – particularly when the servant must bring bad news to his master.  Yeah, Daniel was singing that type of blues when King Nebuchadnezzar called him forth to interpret another dream.  This time, Daniel did not need to hear the dream from the Lord; this time, Nebuchadnezzar told him the dream.  The dream meant ill news for the king.  Read Daniel’s interpretation from Daniel 4:19-27 –

Then Daniel (also called Belteshazzar) was greatly perplexed for a time, and his thoughts terrified him. So the king said, "Belteshazzar, do not let the dream or its meaning alarm you."

Belteshazzar answered, "My lord, if only the dream applied to your enemies and its meaning to your adversaries!  The tree you saw, which grew large and strong, with its top touching the sky, visible to the whole earth, with beautiful leaves and abundant fruit, providing food for all, giving shelter to the beasts of the field, and having nesting places in its branches for the birds of the air – you, O king, are that tree! You have become great and strong; your greatness has grown until it reaches the sky, and your dominion extends to distant parts of the earth. 

You, O king, saw a messenger, a holy one, coming down from heaven and saying, 'Cut down the tree and destroy it, but leave the stump, bound with iron and bronze, in the grass of the field, while its roots remain in the ground. Let him be drenched with the dew of heaven; let him live like the wild animals, until seven times pass by for him.' 

This is the interpretation, O king, and this is the decree the Most High has issued against my lord the king:  You will be driven away from people and will live with the wild animals; you will eat grass like cattle and be drenched with the dew of heaven. Seven times will pass by for you until you acknowledge that the Most High is sovereign over the kingdoms of men and gives them to anyone he wishes.  The command to leave the stump of the tree with its roots means that your kingdom will be restored to you when you acknowledge that Heaven rules.  Therefore, O king, be pleased to accept my advice: Renounce your sins by doing what is right, and your wickedness by being kind to the oppressed. It may be that then your prosperity will continue."

Talk about a time for thinking of strategy and word choice!  Daniel knew that the dream bore bad news for Nebuchadnezzar.  The king was to be struck down by the Lord for wickedness in his heart.  The dream also gave reason for hope when the king would acknowledge the Most High God.  Prosperity would continue if sins were renounced and wickedness was left behind.  Daniel was bold enough to give positive advice to the king:  “Be kind to the oppressed.”

The Scriptures does not record how Nebuchadnezzar reacted to Daniel’s interpretation.  We do know, however, that the dream had no influence over the life of Nebuchadnezzar – at least not a lasting one.  The dream was eventually fulfilled – a year later.  Perhaps, the king was laughing off the warning of the Lord a year later.  Nebuchadnezzar perhaps thought, “I have changed nothing in my life; and yet, nothing ill has happened to me.”

Like Nebuchadnezzar, we may feel like we’ve gotten away with something.  Not so fast!  It is the patience of the Lord.  God is waiting for us to correct our ways.  Our Great Creator desires for us to choose life.  Even with God’s patience, sooner or later, our evil ways will bear the bad fruit.  The consequences of our actions will catch up with us.

Heed God’s word!  Be kind to the vulnerable and oppressed.  Choose life!

Enough mumbling for now…

Peace Out

Into the Deep End; Ezekiel 47

May the mumbling commence!

Today’s reading was an extra-special treat – especially after a day or two of details, details, details.  The first twelve verses of Ezekiel 47 are special to me.  I heard a sermon on this passage the summer before I left my hometown to live elsewhere for the first time in my life.  I was going to seminary, and I wasn’t sure where the Lord would lead me.  Little did I know then that I would meet my wife at seminary, and I had no idea where I would end up geographically.  I was as ready as I would ever be to be swept away by the awesome power of the Holy Spirit of God.  Read the passage below:

The man brought me back to the entrance of the temple, and I saw water coming out from under the threshold of the temple toward the east (for the temple faced east). The water was coming down from under the south side of the temple, south of the altar.  He then brought me out through the north gate and led me around the outside to the outer gate facing east, and the water was flowing from the south side. 

As the man went eastward with a measuring line in his hand, he measured off a thousand cubits and then led me through water that was ankle-deep.  He measured off another thousand cubits and led me through water that was knee-deep. He measured off another thousand and led me through water that was up to the waist.  He measured off another thousand, but now it was a river that I could not cross, because the water had risen and was deep enough to swim in – a river that no one could cross.  He asked me, "Son of man, do you see this?"

Then he led me back to the bank of the river.  When I arrived there, I saw a great number of trees on each side of the river.  He said to me, "This water flows toward the eastern region and goes down into the Arabah, where it enters the Sea. When it empties into the Sea, the water there becomes fresh.  Swarms of living creatures will live wherever the river flows. There will be large numbers of fish, because this water flows there and makes the salt water fresh; so where the river flows everything will live.  Fishermen will stand along the shore; from En Gedi to En Eglaim there will be places for spreading nets. The fish will be of many kinds – like the fish of the Great Sea.  But the swamps and marshes will not become fresh; they will be left for salt.  Fruit trees of all kinds will grow on both banks of the river. Their leaves will not wither, nor will their fruit fail. Every month they will bear, because the water from the sanctuary flows to them. Their fruit will serve for food and their leaves for healing."  

Ask yourself a question:  Am I in the kiddies’ wading pool of the Spirit, OR am I diving into the deep end?  The Holy Spirit will sweep you off your feet – if you allow it.  There is no telling where you will end up geographically.  But, one thing you will know is that you are living God’s will for you – your original design by the Great Creator.  Letting go can be scary stuff – especially for those who like the routine.  There is nothing routine or tamable about our living Lord!

And, wherever the Spirit flows, there will be teeming life.  Fish of all kinds will be caught in the torrents of the river of God, the river of life.  For those of you out there who think you are an odd fish indeed, like me, it gives us comfort.  The only other alternative would be the salt-filled marshes and swamps were life stagnates and dies.

And there will be magnificent trees that will bear fruit every month.  The fruit is food for the world, and the leaves will be for healing.  Are these trees of life?  You know, like the one in the Garden of Eden?  The tree of life in the Garden of Eden was not forbidden fruit until humanity are from the one tree that they shouldn’t have – the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.  We can also look forward in the Scriptures to the verses toward the end of Revelation.  Read them below:

Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. (22:1-2)

We have a hope that can neither diminish nor die out!  Let us celebrate it now!  Celebrate in the midst of an uncertain nation and world.  Point to the Savior of us all – Jesus the Christ. 

Enough mumbling for now… 

Peace Out