God Has Our Back

Readings:
I Kings 19
John 12:12-19

Focus:
I Kings 19:18:"But I shall leave seven thousand in Israel, all who have not bowed the knee to Baal, all whose lips have not kissed him."
John 12:12-13a:"The next day the great crowd of pilgrims who had come for the festival, hearing that Jesus was on the way to Jerusalem, went out to meet him with palm branches in their hands...."

Elijah hears that King Ahab's wife Jezebel has threatened to kill him, and he flees into the desert. God meets him there and assures him that he has work for him to do, and that, even though Elijah thinks that he is the only worshipper of the Lord who is left, there are actually 7000 more in Israel who still worship him. God still has his back.

Jesus knows that many of the religious leaders want to kill him. Nevertheless, he goes to Jerusalem, their center. There the crowds who have heard of his raising of Lazarus greet him with adulation. God has his back, too. Nonetheless we know that the religious leaders eventually win the crowd over and turn them against Jesus. But God has ultimate control. Jesus knows this, and that is why he can confidently go to Jerusalem.

The First Christmas Card

Readings:
Isaiah 53

Focus:
Isaiah 53:5a:"But he was pierced for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities...."
Isaiah 53:8a:"He was arrested and sentenced and taken away, and who gave a thought to his fate...?"

My husband Jim preached on this passage this morning, and called his sermon "The First Christmas Card." He discussed how Isaiah announced, centuries before Jesus was born, exactly what Jesus would come to earth to do.

I have reflected on this passage this evening, and about Christmas cards. So often our cards tell about wonderful winter scenes, about happy family occasions, about highlights of the past year, and about hopes for the coming year. But who has given a thought to Jesus?

Jesus came to earth in order to be pierced for our transgressions and crushed for our iniquities. In the midst of the coming Christmas cheer, we must remember to take time to reflect on the Jesus of Isaiah 53, by whose wounds we are healed.

Going to Lengths to Avoid God

Readings:
I Kings 18:21-46
John 11:55-12:11

Focus:
I Kings 18:29:"All afternoon they [the priests of Baal] raved and ranted till the hour of the regular offering, but still there was no sound, no answer, no sign of attention."
I Kings 18:38::"The fire of the Lord fell, consuming the whole-offering, the wood, the stones, and the earth, and licking up the water in the trench."
John 12:10-11:"The chief priests then resolved to do away with Lazarus as well, since on his account many Jews were going over to Jesus and putting their faith in him."

When God is put to the test, he comes through. False gods cannot do what God can do. The priests of Baal called upon him to show the people of Israel that Baal was god, but they received no answer. However, the Lord God himself answered abundantly when Elijah called upon him.

Similarly, Jesus had asked God to raise Lazarus from the dead, and he had done so. But, incredibly, instead of putting their trust in God because of this, the chief priests decide instead not only to kill Jesus, but to kill Lazarus as well, to keep people from going to see him and believe in Jesus. And in Elijah's day, the Israelites turned away from God soon enough as well.

It is amazing the lenghths we will go to in order to avoid God's call on our lives, even when we have had proof of his reality. We think of reasons that he must not be real after all, and then we do whatever it takes to avoid him. But what he has to offer us is so much better than what we think we want. We need to rethink our reactions.

Troubler of Israel?

Readings:
I Kings 18:1-20
John 11:45-54

Focus:
I Kings 18:17:"As soon as Ahab saw Elijah, he said to him, 'Is it you, you troubler of Israel?'"
John 11:47-48:"Thereupon the chief priests and the Pharisees convened a meeting of the council. 'This man is performing many signs,' they said, 'and what action are we taking? If we let him go on like this the whole populace will believe in him, and then the Romans will come and sweep away our temple and our nation.'"

Ahab, King of Israel, thought of Elijah as the troubler of Israel, because Elijah kept pointing out the things that Ahab was doing that were wrong. Instead of repenting and changing his ways, Ahab just blamed Elijah. Similarly, when Jesus did notable deeds, including even raising Lazarus from the dead, instead of being overcome with awe and placing their faith in him, the religious leaders were concerned of the effect this would have on the status quo.

People who have vested interests in power, or in their comfortable way of life, or in their standing with other people, or in their jobs or money, or in any number of things, miss the point when God intervenes in their lives. Instead of throwing themselves at his feet in wonder, they say that God is too demanding and must not be real, because if they took him seriously, he sure would mess things up, or he sure is counter to current ideas, and who would want to go counter to current ideas?

Yet here is someone who can raise the dead. Isn't that a lot better than anything we have going for us?

Death and Resurrection

Readings:
I Kings 17
John 11:1-44

Focus:
John 11:25-26a:"Jesus said, 'I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever has faith in me shall live, even though he dies; and no one who lives and has faith in me shall ever die.'"

It was through Jesus' death that the punishment for our sins was laid on him instead of us, and it was through his resurrection from the dead that God's power and victory over death were shown. But beforehand these things were also shown in prefiguring events pointing to Jesus' ultimate death and resurrection. When Elijah stays with the widow and her son, the boy becomes ill and dies, but Elijah prays and God raises him back from the dead. And when Jesus' friend Lazarus dies, Jesus comes and raises him back from the dead. These things foreshadow Jesus' own resurrection. Jesus is so moved by the death of Lazarus and the grief of his family that he weeps. God truly loves us and cares about our sorrows. That is why he provided Jesus' death instead of ours, so that we don't have to take the punishment for our sin; if we have faith in him, we can live even though we die, and if we live and have faith in him, we shall never die.

Believe the Deeds

Readings:
I Kings 16
John 10:31-42

Focus:
John 10:37-38:"If my deeds are not the deeds of my Father, do not believe me. But if they are, then even if you do not believe me, believe the deeds, so that you may recognize and know that the Father is in me, and I in the Father."

People are confronted with what Jesus has done--miraculous deeds of healing and restoration. And then he says that he is one with the Father. Ignoring his amazing deeds, they decide to stone him for his supposed blasphemy in saying this. It is incredible that this is more logical to them than thinking, "He has done miracles that no one else can do! He must be the awaited Messiah!"

Before the day of Jesus, the kings of Israel turned to Baal rather than follow the God who had brought Israel out of Egypt with great signs and wonders.

It is the same today. People hear not only of the miracles of Jesus, but also of his rising from the dead. Yet it seems easier for many people to believe in "vibes", or the occult, or new age spirituality, or a host of other things, than in Jesus and the good news he offers. Perhaps it is easier to believe these other things than to change behaviors in order to follow Jesus.

No One Can Snatch Us From God's Care

Readings:
I Kings 15
John 10:22-30

Focus:
John 10:28-29:"I give them eternal life and they will never perish; no one will snatch them from my care. My Father who has given them to me is greater than all, and no one can snatch them out of the Father's care."

When we put our faith in Jesus, we are secure forever. God is greater than everyone and everything. There is no reason to fear anyone or anything whatsoever. There may be pain and trouble and distress to go through, but ultimately, we cannot be snatched out of God's care. In the end we will be free and safe.

Laying Down Our Lives and Receiving Them Back

Readings:
I Kings 14
John 10:14-21

Focus:
John 10:17:"The Father loves me because I lay down my life, to receive it back again."

Jesus laid down his life, of his own will, in order to save us. He did it of his own volition. We also can give our entire lives to him. Jeroboam, king of Israel, took the easy way, and allowed his subjects to worship other gods so that their loyalty to him would not be distracted. The result for Jeroboam was death of his son, and ultimately the destruction of his family's rule of Israel. But when we give our lives to God, like Jesus, we receive them back again. Not, of course, in the same way that Jesus did; our giving up of ourselves does not result in the eternal salvation of others. But in God's economy, as my husband calls it, the more we give, the more we receive, and what we receive is so much better than what we might have gotten had we been merely looking out for ourselves. It's the best pattern to follow.

Always There

Readings:
Romans 9:30-10:13

Focus:
Romans 9:32b-33:"They tripped over the 'stone' mentioned in scripture: 'Here I lay in Zion a stone to trip over, a rock to stumble against; but he who has faith in it will not be put to shame.'"

On Sundays I break from my regular sequence of Bible readings and think about the passage my husband Jim preached from in the morning. As Jim was going through this passage, he emphasized that whether people believe in Jesus or not, nevertheless they always run into him. Either he is a rock that they trip on, or he is the source of salvation, but he is never nothing. I reflected that great thinkers always deal with the question of God (I thought of diverse people such as Mark Twain and Woody Allen) even if they don't put faith in him. Literature, art, music, all are filled with humankind's wrestling with the question of God. God is unavoidable. That's because he puts himself in our path; he is a rock to stumble against, or he is the source of our faith, and he will not put us to shame.

The One and Only Door

Readings:
I Kings 13
John 10:6-13

Focus:
I Kings 13:18:"The old man urged him, 'I also am a prophet, as you are; and an angel commanded me by the word of the Lord to bring you to my home to eat and drink with me.' He was lying...."
John 10:7b & 10:"I am the door of the sheepfold....A thief comes only to steal, kill, and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and may have it in all its fullness."

The passage in John continues to speak of paths to God. Jesus is again very clear that the many ways to God that our culture speaks of do not exist. Instead, Jesus says that there is only one way, and that he is that way. To get to God, one must go through the door, and Jesus is that door. But it is a good door. It offers life. In I Kings a man of God--someone one ought to trust--offers good-sounding words to another prophet, and convinces him to deviate from what he had already learned from God. But when he does that, the ultimate result for him is death. It is only in following God's way that we find life. And as Jesus says, it is life in all its fullness.

False Shepherds and Gods

Readings:
I Kings 12
John 10:1-5

Focus:
I Kings 12:"After taking counsel about the matter he made two calves of gold and said to the people, 'You have gone up to Jerusalem long enough; here are your gods, Israel, that brought you up from Egypt.'"
John 10:1:"In very truth I tell you, the man who does not enter the sheepfold by the door, but climbs in some other way, is nothing but a thief and a robber."

We often hear these days that all religions are the same and that there are many paths to God. But Jesus was clear that this is not the case. He says that there is a shepherd who goes in by the door, and that shepherd is the correct one for the sheep to follow. Others who don't go in by the door are thieves and robbers. Giving a different path for the sheep to follow, a path that doesn't go through the door, is not something that will help the sheep. It will do them harm.

How extraordinary!

Readings:
I Kings 11
John 9:6-41

Focus:
John 9:30:"How extraordinary! Here is a man who has opened my eyes, yet you do not know where he comes from!"

I love this story of the man born blind who is healed by Jesus. I love it partly because there is quite a bit of ironic humor in it. People try to duck the real issues just to stay safe, and they profess not to understand what is going on, because they are trying to keep Jesus down. But the man born blind cuts right through their pretensions and calls them on their obfuscations.

There is more than that, though. Jesus comes to a man who has been blind all his life, and takes away his blindness. This is an astonishing healing. And yet the Pharisees and religious leaders of the time are taken up with concern about procedural details; they are bothered that Jesus healed on the Sabbath. As the man born blind says, how extraordinary! They miss the wonder of the miracle because they are too concerned with trying to oppose Jesus. The sad thing is, Jesus is there for them to see. As he says, if they were truly blind, they would not be guilty, but because they claim to see, their guilt remains.

This is why, if we claim that we can see, we must look to God and ask him to clear away our blindnesses, so that we will truly see what he wants us to see, and not what we think we ought to be seeing. Even Solomon, the wisest king, son of David, who was a man after God's own heart, became unfaithful to God. His wisdom was not sufficient. We must always keep asking God to keep us looking the right direction.

We Must Carry on While Daylight Lasts

Readings:
I Kings 10
John 9:1-5

Focus:
John 9:4:"While daylight lasts we must carry on the work of him who sent me; night is coming, when no one can work."

This little passage, John 9:1-5, was so loaded that I hardly knew which part to concentrate on. I finally decided to think about verse 4. It fits with my thoughts of my cloud of witnesses (see the sidebar). I want to carry on for them in doing the work of him who sent Jesus. And it does seem that night is coming. There is so much hostility in our culture towards Christian values, or where there is not hostility, there is great indifference. When night does come, no one can work, so while daylight lasts, we must carry on the work of him who sent Jesus--that is, the work of God our Father. This is something to do consciously and proactively. We must actively love others and serve them in his name, and show others what God's love is about. We will have the help of Jesus, the light of the world.

If We Obey, God Will Give Us His Gifts of Love and Life

Readings:
I Kings 9
John 8:48-59

Focus:
I Kings 9:4a: "If you, for your part, live in my sight as your father David lived, in integrity and uprightness, doing all I command you and observing my statutes and my judgments, then I shall establish the throne of your kingdom over Israel for ever...."
John 8: 51: "In very truth I tell you, if anyone obeys my teaching he will never see death."

God has always been about the business of promising to us that if we follow what he asks of us, we will have his love and favor. This was not an Old Testament teaching that Jesus nullified, nor was it a new commandment that Jesus brought that differed from before. Rather, it was both an Old Testament teaching and a commandment from Jesus. God wants us to obey him, and when we do that, he promises us his love and our very lives. It's a good promise!