Tuesday, October 13

Can we have faith that God will deliver this world from evil -- that he will uphold justice and break the wicked? In today's lectionary reading (Psalms 5, 10 and 11) King David is dealing with some unrighteous, faithless beasts in Israel, and he uses the crisis to show his faith. Psalm 10, especially, gives a clear description of the qualities of a wicked man. First, we are told the wicked man denies God's existence, although his words change in later verses to acknowledge God exists, though he believes Him to be ignorant and blind. The wicked also "boasts of the desires of his soul," and thus is a slave to the world (v. 3). Lastly, we learn of the incredible arrogance of an evil man: "He says in his heart, 'I shall not be moved; throughout all generations I shall not meet adversity" (v. 6). What is the result of this man's boasting and arrogance? "His ways prosper at all times" (v. 5). Isn't this unusual? The Lord, who is righteous and just, according to David, allows wicked people to prosper, even at the expense of God's fearful followers. This is the No. 1 reason non-believers give when asked why they have no faith: "How can a righteous and merciful God allow suffering and evil in this world?" In these Psalms, David gives us a definitive answer: "For you are not a God who delights in wickedness; evil may not dwell with you. The boastful shall not stand before your eyes; you hate all evildoers. You destroy those who speak lies; the Lord abhors the bloodthirsty and evil man" (Psalm 5:4-6). Evil and wickedness are the results of a fallen earth, but David says there is still justice to be had. The Lord tolerates the wicked only for so long, then he delivers his verdict on the spiteful and arrogant evildoers. We need to look at David as a pillar of faith, who believed strongly in the Lord's righteous judgment. Even in the face of continuous evil, David got on his knees and acknowledged the Lord's ability to bring justice. We are called to develop the same level of faith.

Monday, October 12

Who is the most trustworthy man in America? A New York Times blogger put this question to his readers back in 2006, and he got some really unusual answers. Alan Greenspan got 4 votes (if he had gotten one vote, I'd believe it was a joke, but 4?!), Oprah Winfrey had 6, Bill Clinton had 4, and Warren Buffett led the way with 8. The actual winner, according to a Wikipedia survey, was Walter Cronkite, but I think one responder had the real answer when he said, "God? I mean, we did print up a whole lot of paper that says 'In God We Trust.'" But it seems we Americans put a lot of trust in politicians, or at least in the newsmen who report on the politicians. In today's reading of Psalm 146, we find that we can put our trust only in the Lord. Verses 3-4 say, "Put not your trust in princes, in a son of man, in whom there is no salvation. When his breath departs, he returns to the earth; on that very day his plans perish." The Lord, however, lives forever, and his will is sovereign. He "made heaven and earth, the sea and all that is in them" (v. 6). Now that sounds like someone I can trust. Mere months ago, many people were putting their hope in Barack Obama, claiming he had the answer to America's economic and diplomatic issues. Where are those people now? Many would agree Obama has not done anything catastrophic while in office - in fact, he won the Nobel Peace Prize the other day. But, according to Rasmussen Reports, Obama's approval rating has plummeted from 65% to 49% in the last nine months alone. It sure doesn't take people long to change their minds! Is there someone you idolize, or in whom you place all your hope? Maybe it's even a friend or a loved one, who claims they'll always be there for you. But it's the Lord who has a plan for your life - who created you and who knows your thoughts. In these days of idolatry and misplaced trust, make sure your salvation lies in the will of God. "The Lord will reign forever, your God, O Zion, to all generations. Praise the Lord!" (v. 10).

Monday, October 5

Whatever you do, do for the glory of God...

I love Paul's statement at the end of the Corinthian reading today. We should not be focused on what looks Christian externally. Rather, we should be focused on what we embody internally. Are we manifesting holiness in our day to day. Paul redirects our attempt at holiness. It is not so much about what we abstain from, but what we embody. Are we living holy lives based on this definition?

Lord, help me to be holy...

Thursday, October 1

Today we're focusing on II Kings 18:28-37 from the daily lectionary reading. In this passage, we continue the story of Assyria's attempt to conquer Jerusalem. Earlier in the chapter, we were told the Assyrians had captured Samaria and taken the Israelites into exile, and now they are on a march to overtake the region of Judah. In yesterday's reading, Sennacherib, king of Assyria, sent his troops and a delegation of spokespersons to give the people of Jerusalem a choice: surrender to us and live in peace in our land, or be conquered by us and "eat (your) own dung and drink (your) own urine" (25). The Assyrian continues his discourse to the people of Jerusalem, saying, "Make your peace with me and come out to me. Then each one of you will eat of his own vine, and each one of his own fig tree, and each one of you will drink the water of his own cistern" (31). Doesn't this sound a little too good to be true? It reminds me of the promise made by Satan to Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, when they were tempted to eat the fruit: "For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil" (Genesis 3:5). And you know how that turned out. We'll learn in the next couple readings what the Israelites decide, but as objective observers we read this passage and scream to ourselves, "Don't believe him!" But let's be real; don't we deal with the same struggles in our lives? You may decide to copy a friend's homework answers because you were lazy and forgot to do the assignment yourself. "I really want to do good in this class," you say. When you sell out to get a selfish result, you sell out on your faith. That's what the Assyrian king was trying to get the Israelites to do: sell out their faith in God. Pray today that the Lord will help you recognize when you're guided more by your selfish desires than by the Holy Spirit.

Wednesday, September 30

Today, I want to focus on the I Corinthians passage from the daily lectionary, particularly chapter 8, verses 1-3. Paul is writing to a somewhat arrogant group of early Christians, who are struggling with the concept of eating food offered to idols. Corinth, like any Mediterranean city heavily influenced by Greek culture, was a know-it-all community. People craved knowledge there. Greek scholars and philosophers were the movie stars of their days - great orators who charged money to teach people how to advance socially and properly appease the many gods. And their arrogance was rubbing off on the church members in Corinth. Paul, knowing this, poked fun at the Corinthians when he said their "'knowledge' puffs up" (1). I love how he put "knowledge" in quotes. To Paul, the average Corinthian "does not yet know as he ought to know" because Christianity, unlike the other religions of the day, was not (and still is not) based on knowledge. They thought they knew it all, but they really had no understanding of God. Here's the full thought: "If anyone imagines that he knows something, he does not yet know as he ought to know. But if anyone loves God, he is known by God" (2-3). Our knowledge, no matter how many books we read or classes we attend, can never approach that of the Creator of the universe. Even the combined knowledge of today's "wise" and "eloquent" preachers and orators would be put to shame. However, Paul says we can be "known by God" because of our love. Isn't this a wonderful promise? I don't know about you, but I want the God of all creation to know who I am. So instead of praying for knowledge, pray for love. Our hearts can be filled much fuller than our minds.

Monday, September 28

The passage in 2 Kings disturbed me today. I couldn't help but to see parallels in my life to this. The author made the statement that God's people practiced fear of the Lord and practiced the worship of idols. They worshipped the gods of their culture while fearing the Lord. The author here makes it evident that the two cannot co-exist together. Fear of the Lord means a rejection of culture's gods. Fear of the Lord means following his statutes and commands; finding right what God defines as right, finding beautiful what God defines as beautiful, finding true what God defines as true. I have tried to keep this same relationship going in my life: fearing God and culture's gods. Like Paul says in Philippians, I have gotten comfortable with the god of my belly as I am surrounded by people who follow the same god. I feel like lately I have sacrificed purity of mind, heart, and actions for the sake of cultural relevancy, at least that is what I tell myself. Really though, I am following the god of my belly while trying to fear the Lord. These two cannot co-exist.

Father forgive me for following culture's gods. Be patient with me and do not turn away from me. I am frail and my will is weak. Remain with me based upon the faithfulness of your Son, Jesus. He is the only way that you are able to deal with me like you have. Thank you. Please do not let me mistake your loving patience for blessing over my actions. I want your kindness to lead me to repentance and not your harsh discipline (which I admit I deserve daily).

only prayer

I want to look at Jesus healing the boy this morning. I have a lot of questions. Is Jesus rebuking the faith of the disciples along with everyone else? Is he emphasizing that people don't believe Jesus is the Messiah who is God's saving force in the world? Is he simply making the point that the practice of prayer is necessary for this kind of power?

The only thing I can think of without looking into it further is that Jesus is condemning the lack of faith of the Jews who fail to see Jesus as the Messiah. They see the signs of miracles and healings, yet still act confused as to what God is up to among them. They always need more signs and more assurance. Then Jesus is teaching the disciples that prayer, which cultivates dependence and close relationship with God, is necessary to expanding this saving force to others.

I would love to know others' thoughts on this. My take away is the prayer aspect. I don't pray enough. It shows the bigger problem of how I really don't believe that Jesus has the power to do much in my life. I take it on myself. Just like the father of the possessed son, I say I believe, but I need to overcome my unbelief. There is some connection, based on this story, between prayer and being apart of God's saving force on earth.

Lord, help me to pray and recognize you as one who is able to accomplish everything. Help me to be dependent on you.