Declare

"I have found a ransom," Job 33:24.

That's an angel talking to God about Job. Well, it's actually Job's friend Elihu who dreams that maybe God will receive a mediator, some spirit being, between God himself and Job. Could an angel find a ransom? Then, maybe, God would accept Job, save him from sure death, and restore his righteousness. Job would confess his crooked sin and declare that he did not receive the justice he deserved for warping what was right. If only. But no angel can mediate like that. No. It takes Jesus, son of God, son of man, to mediate. No angel could his place have taken, says the song. And the Good Book.

We fellowship with a brother or sister today with God in a new covenant. And together we give thanks for God's release from sin, guilt, and just consequence in Jesus's mediation.

Party

"Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant," Hebrews 12:24.

(Again? Yes. The Good Book seems to make a big deal about this.) Where are we? We are not at Mt. Sinai: material, fire, darkness, gloom, tempest, blaring horn, thundering voice, accusation, execution, fear. No. We are come to Mt. Zion: spiritual, city of the living God, Jerusalem in the sky, angels in party regalia, with numberless people on heaven's list, to God himself (!), to Jesus mediator, to his blood that speaks grace and forgiveness.

We visit with a brother or sister today looking into heaven where God is lifting us. And together we thank him for moving us from a terminal sentence of gloom into his eternity of joy.

Arbitrates

"He is the mediator of a new covenant," Hebrews 9:15.

Christ stands between God and humankind. He arbitrates a new agreement between God and humans so that God will not hold us accountable to our failures. (The old agreement held people utterly responsible for their failure.) Christ's sacrifice purifies human conscience from worthless action into God's service. Christ is the means through whom we humans become eternal heirs of God's promises of life.

So as we meet a brother or sister today we yield to Christ working between us and among us. And together we say, Thank You!

Go-between

"One mediator is between God and humans, the man Christ Jesus," 1 Timothy 6:5.

Just as God is one, there is only one go-between who works between us and the one God. God's mediator, Jesus, presents God to us. So he said to us: If you've seen me, you've seen the Father. God wants everyone to be saved. God wants everyone to come to the knowledge of truth. So Jesus paid the ransom for us all and, leading us as a host of captives, our mediator said to God: Here I am with the children you gave me.

With a brother or sister today we meet with God at his mercy seat. And thankful together in Jesus's name we praise him for life and truth.

Clean

"You were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified," 1 Corinthians 6:11.

Was a time when we had no hope. No hope of life. Without God in this world. Doing to others before they did to us. As someone said it, anticipating only death for the sin of having been born. But no more! We have been made holy. We are become saints. We are made right. We are made justified. We now live free from the things that enslaved us to death. And how is this possible? That's what the name of the Lord Jesus does. That's his authority. That's his agency. Ah! And yes. It's by the Spirit of our God. That's how.

We fellowship with a brother or sister today having been made saints by the Holy Spirit. And together we give God thanks for having washed us clean in the blood of Jesus.

Seen

"You have not seen Christ, yet you still you love him," 1 Peter 1:8.

Yes, we love him. We never saw him. But, Yes! we believe in him. We don't see him even now. But, Yes! we shine with such happiness that we can't even express it. And. And. And. The outcome of our faith in Jesus is the salvation of our souls! (And how do we know? because we were ransomed with Jesus's blood! God caused us to be born anew through his word to a living hope in Jesus's resurrection!)

So we meet a brother or sister today encouraging each other to live holy. And together we give thanks to God for the Good News we heard preached to us.

Calls

"The promise is for everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself," Acts 2:39.

What promise? The gift of the Holy Spirit. The forgiveness of sins. God gives his promised gift to those he calls. So who are these called people? They're the people who had just then moments earlier heard Peter's announcement of the Good News: Jesus died, was buried, but God raised him back to life as Messiah and Lord. (Hmm. So when did they hear God calling them? When they heard the preaching of Christ.) Yeah. And those who received God's call, these called on the name of the Lord. They repented. They were baptized. And they got added in, too. Free gift of God: eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

We visit with a brother or sister today sharing God's call on our hearts. And together we give thanks that God now summons all people everywhere to repent and live.

Everyone

"Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved," Romans 10:13.

Everyone. But not if they haven't called on him. But not if they have not believed in him. But not if they've never heard of who to believe in. But not if nobody announced the news. But not if nobody ever was sent to make the announcement. But, in fact, people have been sent to preach the gospel of Christ. And, in fact, people have preached the message. And, in fact, people have heard it. And, in fact, people have believed in whom they heard. And, in fact, people have called on the name of the Lord. And every one of these will be saved. Faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.

When we visit with a brother or sister today we cannot but share out loud the good news we've heard. And together we give thanks to God for saving us when we call on the name of the Lord Christ.

Record

"God made you alive together with Christ," Colossians 2:13.

We were (spiritually) dead due to our wrongdoings. God made us alive. God forgave us all our wrongdoings. God erased the record that showed our failures. God took the record and nailed it to the cross of Christ. God disarmed every authority or power that tried to disqualify us as God's children. God shamed these powers exposing them as impotent. God triumphed over them all in Christ. We are, indeed, by God's action, God's kids by faith in Christ.

Seeing a brother or sister today we remind each other of God's work. And alive together we thank God for Jesus's living victory!

One

"In Christ Jesus you are all sons of God through faith," Galatians 3:26.

Just think. When we were baptized into Christ we got clothed with Christ. We are now not what we were. No longer are we imprisoned under sin. No! God made us one with Christ. To become one with Christ is to become heirs with Jesus as the offspring of Abraham. And as God made promises to Abraham (and to his offspring) on account of his faith, and as Jesus is Abraham's offspring, and as Jesus is the recipient of God's promises to Abraham, so are we by faith!

We meet with other children of God, brothers and sisters, today God's heirs in his kingdom! And together we say: Thank You, Father for adopting us! Thank You, Brother for ransoming us! Thank You, Spirit for making us one!

Bursting

"The Father has qualified you," Colossians 1:12.

God qualified. The Olympic games show the best of the best. You have to qualify to even participate. You qualify by a lifetime of hard work and effort finally paying off in the games. But how do you qualify for heaven? For eternal life? How do you qualify to have a share in the inheritance? In the inheritance with stunningly good people? A share in the essence of light shining from the face of God? Here: Jesus, training as our human representative, ran the race, crossed the finish line heart bursting, won the gold. And God said: Perfect -- humans qualify!

We visit with a brother or sister today God-qualified in Jesus's labors. And together we live out thanksgivings to God by walking the path Jesus ran for us.

Boast

"Boast in the Lord," 1 Corinthians 1:31.

We boast in what God has done! We do boast, yes. We boast about God as he is the source of our life in Jesus. We boast that God made Jesus our wisdom. We boast that God made Jesus our good works. We boast that God made Jesus what made us holy. We boast that God made Jesus our redemption. Boast in ourselves? how like fools! Like boasting of the effort we expended to fly all the way from Juneau to Seattle by actually walking to our assigned seat and sitting on the plane that the pilot flew. Rather. We boast about the Lord who took us in our weakness and showed his power!

We visit with a brother or sister today debtors to God's grace. And together we boast big time about our God!

Workmanship

"You have been saved by grace through faith," Ephesians 2:8.

Yes! This is not our own doing. It's not because we worked so hard at being good. No. Not at all. We have been saved by God's gift. God's gift! We have been created by God, all over again. New creation. What workmanship! God's workmanship. Created in Christ Jesus. We don't boast about any of this. Instead, we praise God!

We meet with a brother or sister today as people saved by grace through faith. And together we praise God in thanksgivings for the plans God has made for us in this faith.

Fuzzy

"We have peace with God," Romans 5:1.

We do not misunderstand. This peace does not say we have warm, fuzzy feelings like we have about a puppy happy to see us. Or like we have about the favorite plush toy. No. We know it's a peace that Jesus fought hard to bring us in our rebel bitterness against God. It is peace from our hardened hearts warring against God's will. A peace that now rules even in our consequent sufferings. Peace that brings endurance. Peace that produces a new character in us. Peace that gives us confident hope. Peace that removes our shame. Peace arising from God's love poured into our hearts. Peace because God gave us his Holy Spirit. Justified by faith in Christ, therefore: Peace.

When we visit with a brother or sister today we exchange Christ's peace. And together we give thanks to God that he receives Christ's terms of peace in his cross.

Friends

"He has reconciled you in his body of flesh by his death," Colossians 1:22.

Who has done this reconciling work? Jesus. When? when his body was nailed to the cross and he died. Whom did he reconcile? us. he reconciled us. us, when we were aliens, hostiles, doing evil deeds. To whom did he reconcile such unworthy people? to God. Jesus presents us as saints. as holy people. as people without fault. as people beyond any blame. friends. worthy. worthy to be in God's presence. So we press on in faith. stable. steadfast. firm in the hope of the Good News: Jesus reconciled us with God.

We meet up happy with a brother or sister today, no aliens to God. And together we praise Him who made us holy friends to our Father.

True

"Christ Jesus gave himself a ransom for all," 1 Timothy 2:6.

This is the truth that God wants all people to understand for salvation. Yeah. Over there is the one God. Over here are all humans. And between them. Between them is one mediator. One mediator between the one God and all humans. One mediator, a man: Christ Jesus. Salvation. Deliverance. From despair of this broken world of broken people into the joy of restored souls belonging to a new world.

We meet with a brother or sister today ransomed from futility into the kingdom of God. And together we speak overflowing thanks from true hearts to Christ for his ransom made free to us.

Excessived

"In him we have redemption through his blood," Ephesians 1:7.

Him, who? God. In God. Redemption. That's what we have received from God. Redeemed by his blood. Whose blood? God's blood. Not God's personal blood, of course. (We remember God is spirit, not flesh.) The blood, that is, the death that God provided as our ransom. So (again) whose blood? Jesus's. God provided Jesus for us. And God lavished his grace. Lavished? Yes. Exceeded. Abounded. Excessived. Overflowed. Grace. Upon grace. We are swept up together in his river of generosity.

We visit with a brother or sister today treading together in God's fathomless pool of grace. And together we give thanks to him for such forgiveness.

Sinners

"Are justified by his grace as a gift," Romans 3:24.

Who's justified? Sinners. That's who. Yeah. All have sinned. And all these who have sinned, all of these, have fallen short of God's glory. Not a single one of us has escaped the fact. But. Because of the redemption we have in Christ Jesus ... (he paid our ransom, right?) ... because of his redemption all are made right with God by his generosity. His grace. As a gift. A gift. A free gift. Free to us. (But not free to Jesus, right?) He paid a debt he did not owe. We owed a debt we could not pay. And how do we, us sinners, receive this free gift? By faith. By grace through faith. God's just. And. God justifies sinners. Through faith in Jesus's work.

We meet up with a brother or sister today and together we thank God for receiving Jesus's ransom and making us all right. Thank you!

Bow

"Therefore God has lifted him up high," Philippians 2:9.

Therefore? Yes. because Jesus obeyed God to death. because Jesus endured the shame of the cross. So then. God lifted him up from death. God exalted him from the earth. God gave Jesus the name. What name? the name above every name. the name that every knee would bow before him. Every knee? Yes. Every being in the skies. Every being on earth. Every being under the earth. In heaven, in earth, in hell. Every single being throughout the cosmos and beyond would confess his name: Jesus Christ is Lord! And all this to glorify God, Father.

We meet with a brother or sister today to bow before Jesus, our Lord, God's chosen one. And together we join with all creation in eternal praise of our God.

Meet

"Why have you forsaken me?" Mark 15:34.

That's Jesus to his God. Direct quote from a psalm. Now sometimes we want to minimize the cost to Jesus so we note rightly that particular psalm ends with praises for God's faithfulness. But. No praises at the start. Yet. It expresses powerfully Jesus's state of mind as he dies scorned by those he had lived for. Where are you, God? Why have you, too, left me? Won't you save my precious life from the power of the dog? And then he died. Unsaved. He died. Scorned. He died. The price Jesus paid so that we would never have to pray the same.

We visit with a brother or sister today remembering the precious value Jesus placed on our lives. And throughout eternity together, unforsaken, we thank God by words and deeds meet to his love.

Blindfolded

"Woman, I do not know him," Luke 22:57.

That's what Peter was saying in the courtyard outside to accusers that he followed Jesus. Meanwhile, inside the high priest's court, men mocked and slapped around a blindfolded Jesus. Was it just an hour ago that Peter swung sword in hand for Jesus? Was it just the evening before that Peter averred he'd die for Jesus? Indeed. We'd die for a noble cause far more easily than for a fool's errand, wouldn't we? Than for an object of men's ridicule. We get it. So now he cursed: Never knew him. Jesus, one from whom men hide their eyes. The cost to Jesus for our ransom.

We meet humbly with a brother or sister today in covenant to live true. And together we give thanks for God's forgiveness and new start in the one who paid our full price.

Crawl

"Save yourself! Come down from the cross!" Mark 15:30.

Yeah, you went around all so arrogant saving others, let's see how much of a savior you are at all! Undo those nails! Show us! Crawl down off that cross! Then we'll believe you're somebody special! What?! Christ?! King?! King of Israel? Yeah. Sure. Come on down! Let's see you do that! Can't you even save yourself? Jeering the pretender. Mocking the joker. Humiliating the fool. (We're good at that.)

We meet a brother or sister today ashamed of our ancestral slur, and of our own. And together we plead for the mercy God's fool bought for us in his abasement.