“Religion is one of the safest places to hide from God.”
Richard Rohr
That just about sums it up. There is something about being a good “religious” person that makes us feel good. In many ways it is like a “to-do” list. Our goal is to get everything checked off by the end of the day or week and then we feel a sense of accomplishment…
Those whom we call “sinners”, God calls “beloved.” Those whom we call “tax collectors”, Jesus calls “friend.”
I find it striking that Jesus never refers to people as “sinners.” This does not mean that people do not sin, nor does it excuse their sin. What it does imply is that people are not ultimately identified or defined by their sin. As Jesus said, let the one who is without sin cast the first stone…
It’s all about people. It’s always been about people. When it comes to people, there’s only one thing that really matters.
Every person is created in the image of a God who deeply loves him or her.
I am created in the image of a God who deeply loves me.
You are created in the image of a God who deeply loves you.
Your neighbor is created in the image of a God who deeply loves him or her.
Your enemy is created in the image of a God who deeply loves him or her.
Get the point yet? …
… Relationships matter.
Love of one another bridges the barrier between us and a loving God.
… How do we respond when our desires for security, approval and control are triggered?
Are we even aware when these desires become the driving force behind our actions?
As this year comes to a close, let us examine our hearts and prepare to respond as Jesus did. Rather than allowing our desire for security, approval and control to define us and drive our behaviors, let us simply learn to quiet our restless hearts and find grace at the center.
We often think of Zechariah’s silence as a punishment or consequence of his doubt. In Luke 1:20, we read: “because you didn’t believe, you will remain silent, unable to speak until the day when these things happen.”
Yes, the silence is a result of Zechariah’s unbelief, but nowhere does it say he is being punished. What if in fact the silence was a gift, a difficult gift to be sure, but a gift nonetheless. For it is in this silence that Zechariah’s faith grows beyond measure. When he is again able to speak, he can only speak the prophetic words of the Lord which the Holy Spirit had written on his heart all those months. Silence clears out the rambling chaos of our minds and fills the emptiness with the Word which speaks all of Creation into being.
As Dietrich Bonhoeffer writes, “It is silence in which God in known and through the silence of His mysteries that God declares Himself to us…”
The temple has been rebuilt. The city walls are under construction. Jerusalem is being restored. God’s people have come home.
And yet as they gather to dedicate the temple we read that the older priests and heads of the families who had seen the first temple wept aloud. No matter how much they tried to make it look like home, it would never be quite the same again. Their weeping reminds us that we are not home yet…
Something deep within us knows that we are far from home. We long to get back to Eden but sometimes it feels more like a foolish dream rather than a hopeful reality. This is what Israel felt in exile. They were so far from Jerusalem and there seemed to be no way home. God had left them to face the consequences of their rebellion and now, like the prodigal son, they found themselves eating with the pigs, desperate to return home as slaves in their father’s household.
Yet here in Isaiah 40, God speaks into the silence of their exile… “Comfort, O Comfort my people…” God’s voice speaks into the chaos of life and declares a new hope, a new reality, a new creation. He calls the people to prepare a way in the wilderness, but it is not the way we might expect.
This “highway in the desert” is not a highway for the people to travel to get home. We cannot make our own path to God. Rather, they are to build the highway so that God can come to them. In the wilderness God met Moses on the mountain, but now God wants to come down from the mountain and dwell among the people. “Comfort, O Comfort,” the Lord declares. “I am coming to you. I will meet you in your exile. I will be your shepherd. Prepare the way!”…
…Jesus wasn't born in a bubble of tinsel and shining lights. He came as a light into darkness, hope into despair, peace into chaos, joy into suffering and love to overcome the hatred and violence of the world, but to truly know Christ, we must first learn to sit with the reality of violence and suffering in our world. Like Job, we can’t go home just yet…
…God’s people cry out in lament, “How can we possibly sing the Lord’s song on foreign soil?” We have all found ourselves in this place at some point in life, even if we were not altogether willing to admit it. Maybe there is someone here tonight and you moved your lips to the songs of praise we sang, but nothing came out. Maybe there is someone listening who even now is choking back tears because you feel like you have lost so much or maybe even as though God has abandoned you altogether. You try to be strong. You try to put on a happy face for your family and friends, but as soon as your head hits the pillow at night the smile cracks and you feel like a broken shell. You know you are not supposed to feel this way and you believe that God is always with you, but if you’re really honest, you’re not always sure God is listening to your prayers. Maybe you’ve felt this way for so long you’ve simply stopped praying…
THIS MESSY LIFE: BECOMING AN ADULT - PART 4
WHAT IF MOM AND DAD WERE RIGHT?
Sunday, November 24, 2019
2 Kings 22:1-10 (14-20), 23:1-3
Go and ask the Lord on my behalf, and on behalf of the people, and on behalf of all Judah concerning the contents of this scroll that has been found. The Lord must be furious with us because our ancestors failed to obey the words of this scroll and do everything written in it about us…
…Because your heart was broken and you submitted before the Lord when you heard what I said about this place and its citizens—that they will become a horror and a curse—and because you ripped your clothes and cried before me, I have listened to you, declares the Lord. That’s why I will gather you to your ancestors, and you will go to your grave in peace. You won’t experience the disaster I am about to bring on this place.
2 Kings 22:13, 19-20
Sometimes you can’t outrun consequences. Sometimes we look at all the things we’ve done in life to try to make up for our mistakes, to repent, to seek forgiveness from those we’ve hurt, to make amends, and none of it seems to matter. We still have regrets. Some relationships are never fully reconciled. The things we have lost by our own poor choices may never be regained. We may let go and move forward having learned many valuable lessons, but the consequences stay with us no matter what.
By the time we get to King Josiah, the consequences of Israel’s sin were certain. Nothing could stop the coming disaster of exile they would face. The wheels were already in motion. Yet in 2 Kings 22:20 we read that Josiah will not experience the disaster that is coming. Somehow the consequences will be delayed and he will be spared. Why?
If we go back to verse 13 we see that Josiah’s priest came across a scroll in the process of renovating and cleaning out the temple. Some have said this is the scroll of Deuteronomy while others say it only includes a partial list of the God’s instructions, but either way, this scroll clearly contained the Word of the Lord. What’s more, Josiah quickly realizes that the people have not obeyed these particular instructions for quite some time. “The Lord must be furious with us,” he says, “because our ancestors failed to obey.”
Josiah’s reforms do not ultimately prevent the exile, but his faithfulness to this re-discovered law spared him and potentially his entire generation from suffering the worst of those consequences. At least for a short time, Josiah broke the cycle of sin and idolatry that previous generations had perpetuated.
Most of us have had moments in our adult lives when we look back and realize our parents were right about more than we care to admit. That doesn’t mean they were always right, and sometimes like Josiah, we may have to go back a few generations to find a faithful role model for our spiritual lives. We may even have to look to other families. Regardless of the source, Josiah reminds us that we are not the first generation trying to figure out how the Scriptures apply to our everyday lives. There are many lessons to be learned from the past, both in how to live and how not to live. For Josiah, the first lesson was how not to live. We cannot continue in the idolatry of our ancestors. And yet in the scroll he discovered the promises of God that dated back generations and he came to understand that those promises were just as real in his day as they ever had been. God is faithful in every generation.
We may not be able to stop the decline of a denomination or even a congregation. We may not be able to prevent the exile that is already in process. But we can choose how we will live in the face of these consequences. For ourselves, our families, our communities and our generation, we can choose life, so that our descendants might live faithfully in the place God has for them. No matter what consequences haunt us from our past, we can choose this day to serve the Lord.
I call heaven and earth as my witnesses against you right now: I have set life and death, blessing and curse before you. Now choose life—so that you and your descendants will live — by loving the Lord your God, by obeying his voice, and by clinging to him. That’s how you will survive and live long on the fertile land the Lord swore to give to your ancestors: to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
Deuteronomy 30:19-20
So now, revere the Lord. Serve him honestly and faithfully. Put aside the gods that your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates and in Egypt and serve the Lord. But if it seems wrong in your opinion to serve the Lord, then choose today whom you will serve. Choose the gods whom your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you live. But my family and I will serve the Lord.
Joshua 24:14-15
