Psalm 131
Lord, my heart is not proud.
I don't look down on others.
I don't do great things and
I can't do miracles.
But I am calm and quiet.
I am like a baby with its mother.
I am at peace,
like baby with its mother.
People of Israel,
put your hope in the Lord now and
forever.
"He ends the first in order to set up the second," Hebrews 10:9.
He who? God. The first what? the former covenant. The second what? the new covenant. So. What's God's action? God ends the former covenant with its deadly inaccessibility for real people into God's presence. All the stuff about the temple, its instruments and its divisions, all the stuff about thousands upon thousands of animals slaughtered in sacrifice, all the meticulous stuff about the priesthood, its incessant cleansings ... all this stuff goes away. God sets up a new covenant providing regular people living access into God's presence through Jesus. By faith in Jesus as the Christ, the son of God, being made holy by Jesus' single sacrifice, people now draw near to God with confident assurance.
We meet with a brother or sister today assured of God's forgiveness in the new covenant. And, together, we live thankfully following Jesus confidently right into God's graceful hand.
"He is the brilliance," Hebrews 1:3.
The brightness. The shining. The radiance. The reflection. The effulgence. The shining rays. Who is? the Son. Whose son? God's. He's the dazzling flash of what? of God's glory. Lately, God has spoken through him. Too, God created the whole cosmos through him. Oh yeah, and, too, God made him inherit everything. All things. Every thing. Anyway. We look at Jesus. We see his luminosity. Just like that one blind guy, whose eyes Jesus opened, saw him. And we are changed.
We seek out a brother or sister today and see the brightness of Christ in them. And, together, we give thanks to God whom Jesus shows to us so transparently as personified love.
"He put the mud on the man's eyes," John 9:6.
Weird. But Jesus had said God's work would be done in this guy born blind. Jesus usually spoke a word or touched somebody. And it all got fixed immediately, right now. Periodically, though, is this weird thing. Spitting. Or demanding answers to questions first. Or pocking fingers in ears. And here, smearing blind eyes with mud made from dirt and his spit. A cascade of troubles started ending with his culture's spitting the poor guy out in disgust. And finally the (formerly) blind guy ends up confessing faith in Jesus and worshiping him as Lord. God's work got done.
Seeing a brother or sister today, we recognize God's long cascading work in each other moving us to obedient worship. And, thankfully, together, we praise God's Christ, Jesus, light of the world.
"You are now light in the Lord," Ephesians 5:8.
True, once we were darkness. Yes, once we participated in blind endeavors that got us nowhere. Once we bore no fruit in darkness. Once we did shameful stuff that now embarrasses us to even think about. But God shined his light to expose our deadening secrets. God's light awakened us to his brightness. His light seared away our shame. God lifted us from the dead. Christ's light shined on us. And we became God's children. No longer will we participate in rotting seductions. We walk now as children of light!
We meet a brother or sister today, our path clearly illuminated by eternal light. And, together, we shine in the light of the Risen Christ, our Lord! Sky kingdom.
"I will cry out like a woman in labor, I will gasp and pant," Isaiah 42:14.
Who will? God. Jehovah God. Why? because God's straining for pagans to honor him. God's leading blind pagans into his light. God's calling deaf pagans to his voice. But why does God do this? because his chosen people will not see him. the people he crafted for himself will not listen to him. because the chosen turn from him to trust their handcrafted handicrafts. Pretty images. Shiny idols. So. A new song swells up to the end of the earth. Renewed voices everywhere answer to God's intense labor and praise him whose wonderful teachings show his goodness.
Visiting today with a brother or sister, we declare God's goodness who let us see Christ. And, together, we offer thanksgivings to God who birthed us children of his sky kingdom.
"Jehovah God is the great God," Psalm 95:3.
Oh, Yes! You are the great King over all gods! Your hand fires earth's molten interior. Your hand holds the realm of the dead. You own the mountain tops. The skies bow to your laws. Yours are the ocean depths. Your hands kneaded the land. We worship you! We sing to you! We come to you with thanksgiving. You rock! You're the rock of our salvation! We kneel before you. You're our God. And we. (Amazing!). And we. (Incredible!). And we are the people of your private pastures. We are your own sheep. Your tended treasure. We open our hearts to you.
As we meet a brother or sister today, we enter joyfully into our great God's presence. And, together, with deepest thanks, we soften our hearts wholly and listen to him.
"We hope in the living God," 1 Timothy 4:10.
That's the setting of our great expectations. He's the foundational basis of our hope: the living God. The living God remains the only locus of life. Only the living God is savior of all. And, especially, the living God is savior of believers. Of the faithful. Especially. Our hope. The living God. Yes. We serve the living God. We buckle down for the living God. We endure suffering for the living God. We train assiduously for godliness.
As we encounter a brother or sister today, we anticipate the living God's salvation. And, together, we give thanks for his assurance for life, Jesus, the Christ.
"Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners," 1 Timothy 1:15.
Now that's a saying worth hanging on to. Jesus came to save even the worst of the lot. And everyone else, saint or sinner. He has brought mercy to any who believe in him. He has proved his patient endurance. Totally. For us. Who believe in him. But, who believe in him to what end? Life! Life without end. Life of glory. Of honor. Eternal life. Yes. His grace, along with the faith and love belonging to him, flows over us.
We recognize in a brother or sister today our common lot, sinner people, saved by Christ. And, together, we are swept along in thanksgiving to God overwhelmed by grace.
"Could he be the Christ?" John 4:29.
Again, that's the question, isn't it? But who's the question about? Jesus, of course. And who's asking? A woman. A Samaritan. A stranger from whom Jesus had asked for a favor, for a drink of water. A woman who then had a private audience with Jesus. Who told her everything she had ever done. A woman who's lived with five men and the man she's with now isn't even her man. That's who's asking. So Jesus offered to give her water that would spring up within her to forever life. But who's she asking? Her townspeople. What do they answer? After hearing him they agree with her - he is the savior of the world.
We meet a brother or sister today confessing wholeheartedly that Jesus is the Christ, Yes!. And, together, we give thanks to God that Jesus is indeed the savior of the world. And savior of us, too.
"Through whom also we have access by faith to this grace in which we have stood," Romans 5:2.
Through whom? Through our Lord Jesus Christ. And what have we obtained access to? Grace. And by what means did access to grace come? By faith. By believing in God's promise and power, who raised Jesus from the dead. In consequence of faith, even to this very moment, right now, we stand, right now, in this grace. Right now. God placed us upright in his generosity. So we joy in hope of God's future glory! Yeah. Suffering cannot delete that joyful hope. It leads to endurance, to proving, to vindicating hope. Because God's love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit given to us.
When we see a brother or sister today, we see them standing firmly in God's grace. And, together, we give confident thanks for the access we enjoy in Jesus to God's unimaginable generosity.
"Is the Lord with us or not?" Exodus 17:7.
That's ever the question. Especially when things aren't going right. When we're thirsty, really thirsty, and there's no water in the fridge. Or the faucet. And the river's dried up. When there's no food. When the cupboards are empty. Really empty, not like when there's no corn, so we'll have to do with beans. Empty. Nothing. Nothing for the kids. And we see no food coming tomorrow, or the day after. When our hearts have been ripped out and we're left devastated. And there's no respite from sorrow. Is God there or not? Well, he said he would be.
We contact a brother or sister today trusting our God will provide somehow in the midst of distress. And, together, in faith's thanksgiving, we anticipate his provision.
"Jehovah God will keep your going out and coming in," Psalm 121:8.
Dearest God: My help comes from you. I may look to the top of hills or mountains, but it's from you, you alone! You made the skies and the earth, but you, you yourself, are my help. You keep me from being defeated in the midst of harsh hardship. You never sleep. You keep your people whole, and you keep me personally. Your right hand shades us from the beating heat. Darkness cannot seep through your protection. You keep us from evil - you keep our lives precious to you. We look to you. To you alone for our keeping from now into eternity.
As we speak with a brother or sister today we remind of our God's faithfulness in life's struggles. And, together, we give thanks to Jesus, God's agent, who will lose none of us, his own.
"All things and in all things: Christ." Colossians 3:11.
Exactly. Christ is all that matters. Christ is in all that matters. Were we once of the Gentiles? No longer. Were we once of the Jews? No longer. Were we once of the circumcised? No longer. Were we once of the uncircumcised? No longer. Were we once of the outsiders? No longer. Were once of the uncivilized? No longer. Were we once of the slaves? No longer. Were we once of the free? No longer. Things that belong to this passing world below don't matter any more. Not at all. All that matters: Christ. Being made new. Becoming like the One who made us. New life in the wisdom of God.
We meet a brother or sister today in a new way of life focused in the love of Christ. And, together, we give God thanks that Jesus shows life real beyond earth's timely limits.
"They desire a better country," Hebrews 11:16.
Better than what? Better than a country of earth. Better than their birth land. But, pray tell, who desires something better than their own land? Strangers do. Exiles. People who could go back to wherever they came from. But they don't. These keep wandering. Keep looking for a homeland, one firmly founded in the sky. Not in earth's earth. Temporary wanderers on earth, these don't belong to earth. Who, having seen their homeland way off up high, welcome that distant sight. Who depend wholly upon the man from the sky, Jesus, to bring them home.
As we visit with a brother or sister today, we make it clear that we seek Jesus' heavenly homeland. And, together, we praise our Father that he is not ashamed for his children to call him our God.
"As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up," John 3:14.
Moses led the Israelites out of Egyptian slavery into a wilderness on the way to the promised land. In their stubbornness, the Israelites faced terrors such as venomous snakes. Moses crafted a bronze snake and lifted it up on a pole. Anybody that looked up at it would not die from the venom. So. Jesus said that he himself, likewise, would be lifted up (on a cross). Why? So that, likewise, whoever believed in him might not die from sin but have eternal life. Born from above.
We meet a brother or sister today looking up to Jesus for healing from sin. And, together, we give thanks to God for ever for forgiving all our sin through Christ. Sky kingdom.
"It was counted to make him right," Romans 4:3.
What counted? That he believed God. That's what counted. He believed what God told him. His faith in God counted. Who counted it? God did. Whose faith? Abraham's. And what did this faith do? It made Abraham as righteous as God cared. (God cared a lot.) Abraham's living faith led him to follow God. No dead faith here. No careless nod to an absent Sovereign. This, a faith that caught Abraham on the brink of sacrificing his and Sarah's only son, Isaac. Living faith in God makes people children of promise to Sarah, God's free woman. Indeed, makes them righteous children of God.
We visit a brother or sister today believing God. And, together, we praise God who counted us righteous through the faith of his one and only son, Jesus.
"Go. Leave your country, your relatives and your father's family," Genesis 12:1.
That's the Genesis introduction of God to Abraham. (Abram). First thing out of the starting block. Yes. Leave. And, Go. Go where? To where God wanted to lead him. So, he and his bride Sarah (Sarai) went. God said Go. They went. They left hearth and home for a Home they'd never seen. (Noted: they did take a bunch of stuff with them, and their nephew, and a lot of servants. Not exactly destitute. But the point is, they went.) They went wandering for God's promised land, a heavenly one. But they never got there. Well, they got to the land, yes, but they never got There (capital T). In another place the Bible says: They died in faith not receiving the promises. Why not? because God planned something. Better. For us (us? Yes. us.). They would become whole (believe it!) but only together with us. Amazing!
As we meet a brother or sister today, fellow exiles and strangers, we wander under God's guidance toward our Homeland. And, together, we give God thanks for Jesus who's getting Home ready for us.
"Blessed is the one whose wrongdoing is forgiven," Psalm 32:1.
Dear God: When I didn't confess my sins to you, your hand pressed me down heavily, my strength wasted away pushing back, groaning crushed my bones. But then. But then I acknowledged my sin to you freely. And then you forgave me! You took away my iniquity! You covered my sin! You are our hiding place. You save us from trouble. You surround us with deliverance cheers. We listen to your instructions. We hear the way we should go. We trust you, O Lord: your steadfast love surrounds us. We're happy in you, Lord God! You've made us upright, we shout out in joy!
When we meet up with a brother or sister today we joy in God's forgiveness. And, together, we give thanks to God for Jesus through whose blessing we have received life. Sky kingdom.
"They who believe without seeing," John 20:29.
They who? People who did not see. But they believe anyway. They did not experience. But they believe anyway. Well. Hmm. What (or who) did they not see? Jesus. They did not experience Jesus. What do they believe, anyway? That Jesus was raised from the dead to life. They did not experience the Risen Christ, yet they believe God resurrected him. Well, then, how do they know to believe? The folks who did experience Jesus indeed, wrote down their experience. And those things were written so that by believing we may life in his name. And what did the Risen Christ say of us who did not experience, but believe anyway? They are blessed!
We pause to rest a moment with a brother or sister along the faith pathway Christ pioneered for us. And, in that moment, we praise God together for the presence of Christ's blessing.
"The Spirit that he placed in us wants us for himself alone," James 4:5.
Who yearns jealously? The Spirit. The Spirit longs for whom? Us. God wants our exclusive loyalty. God placed his Spirit in us and does not want to share with anybody, anything, else. So. Bickering with each other shows our own divided loyalties. Our own pride and passion. We think something that somebody else has will make us happy. Will fulfill us. But that thinking arises from worldly will. Entirely opposed to God. God opposes the proud. Yes. And God gives grace to the humble. To whoever resists devilish ways. To whoever yields to God. That God draws near to them. That yearning God. Jesus did exactly that.
As we talk with a brother or sister today God's Spirit reminds us whose we are, exclusively. And, together, we give thanks that our Lord, Jesus, gave himself completely to the Father's will, to grace us.
"You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve," Matthew 4:10.
That's what Jesus said when he was astonishingly hungry but didn't miraculously change rocks into bread to satisfy his belly. That's what Jesus said when he could have called on a ton of angels to catch him from breaking his neck if he jumped off the top of a tall building. That's what Jesus said when he saw all the world's nations and their power and could have ruled them all right now. (He also said, in the middle of all those lost opportunities: Don't live by bread alone, but by every word from God's mouth; Don't test God. Yeah.). Then Jesus said to the tempter: Get out of here, Satan! Then Jesus said: Serve God alone. So is it written.
Meeting up with a brother or sister today, we forgo all shortcuts to life, and we worship God alone. And, together, we praise God for Jesus' astonishingly loyal love, and we serve him alone.
