Bowling Green First Presbyterian Church

1/30 Ordinary Men doing the Heavy Lifting (Exodus 36-38). The ark of the covenant would be quite heavy. It would be a wooden box, 4 1/2 feet long by 1 1/2 feet by 1 1/2 feet: a hefty chest, all by itself (Exodus 37:1). But then the wooden chest would be plated with gold inside and out, strengthened with a gold molding (37:2), and then covered with the mercy seat, a lid of pure gold (37:6): that would add considerably to the weight. Plus there were two gold statues of ...angels with wings, one at each end, with their wings spread upward to meet across the middle of the cover (37:7-9). These could not be overly large, or the weight would surely have been too much for transport; yet to be to scale with the rest of the ark, these could not be just small statuettes, either. Even at midsize, they would add considerably to the weight that needed to be carried. The carrying shafts would have to be quite stout, to support all this weight; and then those shafts were themselves plated with gold (37:4), adding even more heft to the whole assembly. Once fully put together, the ark would be carried by four Levites, but even with four it would not be an easy burden. Could four strong men carry that weight on their shoulders for as much as an hour of each day's march before they had to trade off with others to continue the journey? The text does not give us details as to how the roster was organized, to carry the ark from one day's camp to the next: but surely it would have taken many men on transport duty. When we tell the story of the Exodus, everyone knows about Moses, Aaron, and Miriam; and perhaps we will also take notice of skilled craftworkers like Bezalel and Oholiab, who get the credit as the chief builders in charge of all the furnishings of the tabernacle (36:1). But there were a lot of ordinary men whose names were not recorded, and they were the ones who did the heavy lifting involved from day to day as the people moved toward the promised land. * * * * * So much of your purpose gets accomplished by everyday people, Lord: hard workers, putting in the steady labor and scarcely getting recognized for it. Help us to do the job you have assigned to us, content that you see our steadfastness, even if nobody else notices.

1/29 It is an Awesome Thing God will Do with Us (Exodus 33-35). After the incident with the golden calf, God called Moses back up the mountain again, with two new stone tablets to replace the two that had been broken (Exodus 34:1-5). There God appeared before him with these words: The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness (34:6). Yet God's abundant mercy does not mean that anyone can get away with... anything; indeed, it will often be the case that our sins will have consequences for many generations to come (34:7). Still, the primary thing is this rich faithfulness on the part of the Lord, forgiving iniquity, transgression, and sin (34:7) Moses responded to this declaration with prayer and intercession for the people of Israel: although this is a stiff-necked people, pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us as your inheritance (34:9). And God responded with this affirmation: I hereby make a covenant. Before all your people I will perform marvels it is an awesome thing that I will do with you (34:10). Indeed, Put these words in writing, for they are the terms of the covenant I am making with you and with Israel (34:27). Once again, though we often call them the Ten Commandments, we can see that they are referred to simply as the words of the Covenant (34:28). The NRSV translates the next phrase as the ten commandments, but the footnote tells you that the Hebrew text simply calls them the ten words (34:28). It is a key point, that we so desperately need to get: God does not present us with a list of rules to follow, but invites us into this relationship: into an awesome covenantal relationship with the Lord Almighty, the God of mercy and graciousness, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness. * * * * * We need your mercy so much, Lord! Like ancient Israel we make other gods for ourselves; we bequeath the consequences of our own appetites to our children and grandchildren; we pay so little attention to the covenant you give us. Forgive us our sins, we pray, and even now restore us to be your heritage once again.

1/28 So that We’ll Learn that the Lord Sanctifies Us (Exodus 30-32). The Lord instructed Moses to tell the people, You shall keep my Sabbaths, for this is a sign between me and you throughout your generations, given in order that you may know that I, the Lord, sanctify you (Exodus 31:13). Surely we ought to have an uneasy conscience for the cavalier way we as the church disregard the Sabbath in the present day. We know that Jesus recognized that certain emergencies requi...red labor on the Sabbath (Matthew 12:1-12); yet we have extended that recognition into a dismissal of Sabbath-keeping altogether. It is quite unusual for Christians today even to ponder on the idea of Sabbath let alone to make the conscious definition to refrain on the Sabbath from a particular activity that would be fine on some other day. Yet Sabbath-keeping is established as part of the Ten Commandments; and the requirement is reiterated throughout the Old Testament. Today’s text goes on to say this: You shall keep the Sabbath, because it is holy for you; anyone who profanes it will be put to death; whoever does any work on it shall be cut off from among the people (Exodus 31:14). Because we are so dismissive of the Sabbath, we are quick to shrug this off for its absoluteness, saying that such harsh penalties cannot be applicable for us today. Yet at the least we should allow the severity of the text to speak to us: we should let it tell us of the seriousness with which the Lord intends the Sabbath. Notice the reason for the Sabbath listed here: so that you will know that I, the Lord, sanctify you (31:13). Better-known reasons for the Sabbath are listed in other places: so that we will remember the ordinance of creation (20:11), for example, or to make sure that not only the boss but also all the laborers get a day off each week (Deuteronomy 5:14). The reason given in today’s text offers this additional insight: the Sabbath is part of the way that we come to know that the Lord is in the business of making us holy. But when we have become so dismissive of the Sabbath, as we have in present-day culture, it will be hard for us to learn the lesson of holiness: or to experience the sanctification that God would work in our hearts through keeping the Sabbath. * * * * * You are the Lord, and we are your people: yet we are so stubborn, so slow to keep Sabbath, so unwilling to interrupt our own schedules to take time, week by week, to devote ourselves to knowing and following you. Grant us repentance, O God: change our hearts!

1/27 An Aroma Pleasing to the Lord (Exodus 28-29). The instructions are very detailed regarding the vestments for Aaron and his sons (Exodus 28:1-43). The details are also quite specific regarding how these men were to be ordained (29:1-25). We often think that the finer points of worship should be up to our individual preferences: but the suggestion here is that these details are set the way they are because that's how the Lord likes it. When we get to the book of Levit...icus, we will see how God gave directions for particular offerings to be made to atone for particular sins; but a different kind of instruction is given here. There is to be a morning and evening sacrifice: two lambs a year old regularly each day (29:38), one at dawn and one at twilight. Each will be accompanied by a cereal offering and a drink offering: one-tenth of a measure of choice flour mixed with one-fourth of a hin of beaten oil and one-fourth of a hin of wine for a drink offering (29:40). What is the purpose of this offering? Not, apparently, because of any human preference: these are simply a pleasing odor, an offering by fire to the Lord (29:42). It seems that God enjoys the aroma of these offerings. This may look odd or even unseemly to our way of thinking: we might suppose that surely the Lord of the universe has better things to do than to worry about the aroma of a sacrificial offering! Indeed later generations of philosophers and theologians would develop the doctrine of the impassibility of God, which proposes that God does not feel any feelings at all, and certainly not such anthropomorphic emotions as getting pleasure from the aroma of meat roasting in the flames. But here and elsewhere, the scripture talks about God in terms of pleasure, in terms of emotional response. All of it obviously is expressed in human terminology we only have human language available to describe things, after all yet texts like this point to the reality that God really does have specific feelings about us love, and sometimes disappointment, and sometimes great delight. * * * * * It is an astonishing thing, O Lord, to think that you would find our actions pleasing: especially when so much of what we do is self-centered, or petty, or inconsequential. Yet we pray that you would grant us hearts that are ready to do your will, just so that we can bring you joy.

1/26 The Offering for the Tabernacle (Exodus 25-27). So God instructed Moses to gather offerings from the people in order to construct the Tabernacle (Exodus 25:1-9), which is really just a large tent, but (as we shall see in a moment) there are very specific details regarding how it is to be constructed. We should especially notice, though, that the point of making the Tabernacle will be so that there will be a particular place a sanctuary where we can experience the ...presence of God dwelling among us (25:8). As to the furnishings for the Tabernacle, there will be an ark of acacia wood, overlaid with pure gold, carried by shafts run through rings on the side of the ark (25:10-14). There will be a table (25:23-28), a lampstand (25:31-36), and an altar (27:1-8). An entire chapter will be devoted to the directions for constructing the tent itself (26:1-37). It is to be formed from 10 fine linen sheets, each 42 feet long and six feet wide, and dyed violet-purple, red-purple, and crimson: they will be embroidered with great winged creatures (26:1-2). All of this material is to be provided by voluntary offerings: The Lord instructs Moses to receive a contribution from anyone whose heart is moved to give. All the contributions come as materials: gold, silver, and bronze; cloth and leather and dye; wood, oil, and spices; precious stones (25:3-7). Of course, the Israelites had been impoverished slaves, and had none of these rich items; but they had despoiled the Egyptians of great wealth when they left Egypt (12:35-36). Now all their families were suddenly in possession of all these costly items: and how would they respond when called on to give up some of these goods, if their heart felt moved? As it would turn out, they gave generously (35:20-29), indeed more than enough to make everything (36:3-7). * * * * * All things in heaven and earth are yours, O Lord: whatever we hold in our hands is a gift that has come to us from you. We are often quick to forget that: but we pray that you would move our hearts, so that we may indeed be people of generosity, in service to you, in all our lives.

1/25 We Will Do What God Has Said (Exodus 22-24). Today’s text contains a strong sequence of actions regarding the word of the Lord. It tells us that Moses came down from the mountain and told the people all the words and ordinances that God had spoken (Exodus 24:3). Then it tells us that Moses wrote down all the words of the Lord (24:4). Then it reports that Moses took the book of the covenant, and read it in the hearing of the people (24:7). We should be attentiv...e to the four-fold level of familiarity that Moses had gained by the end of this sequence. First, he had heard God speak; second, he had proclaimed the message to the people; third, he had written it down; and fourth, he had read the book to the people. We can see how this repetition would have planted the content of God’s revelation deeply in Moses’ heart. If we are wise, we will ask ourselves how much familiarity with the word we also might attain if we followed a similar methodical process of reading and reciting the text. It is noteworthy as well that the Book of the Covenant is all the words of the Lord which Moses wrote down (24:4) and then read to the people (24:7), not just the Ten Commandments, written on tablets of stone by God (24:12). The Ten Words summarize the Covenant; but the Covenant is more than just those 17 verses (20:1-17). Finally, we should appreciate the people’s response. All the words that the Lord has spoken we will do (24:3), they said, after Moses had recited this message from God to them. Then, after Moses had written down the words of the Lord in a book and then read it to the people, they said it again. All that the Lord has spoken we will do, and we will be obedient (24:7). Most of us are not too good at obedience. Most of us, indeed, don’t really have much intention of being obedient, preferring to do whatever we happen to feel like at any given moment. Along the way the people of Israel would sometimes fail to keep their promise. Still, the strength of their desire to follow the will of the Lord is exemplary. * * * * * Help us, Lord! Our hearts are frail, and our resolution is weak. Teach us your word: grant us diligence in reading it and meditating on it, and grant us the courage to put it into practice: so that all that you have spoken we may do: so that we may be obedient to your will.

Please join us for the Second Sunday in Advent. https://vimeo.com/channels/1616110

12/5 The Lesson of the Healing (Acts 3-4). On their way to the temple to pray Peter and John encountered a crippled beggar, asking for alms (Acts 3:1-3). Peter told him he had no money, but he would give him what he had: a command to stand up and walk, in the name of Jesus (3:6). The man's legs and ankles became strong, and he entered the temple, walking and leaping and praising God. It caused quite a stir (3:7-10). Peter explained to the gathered crowd that it was not ...because he and John had any special power or piety that the miracle happened; instead, it had been done by Jesus, the Servant of the Lord a phrase that hearkens back to Isaiah 42. Although Jesus, the righteous one, had been rejected by the people, God had raised him from the dead; and it was his name that had healed the man (3:11-16). The application for our lives, Peter informs us, is not the let's-bring-more-crippled-people-to-get-healed that we might have expected, but rather that we need repentance: we need to turn to God so that our sins may be wiped away, and so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord (3:19-20). There is a time of universal restoration coming, that God announced long ago through his holy prophets (3:21); and in the meantime, God's intention in Jesus is this: to bless you by turning each of you from your wicked ways (3:26). That's hard to hear. I've always liked my wicked ways (that's why I've stuck with them for so long). Why can't I just have more healing miracles, which (a) are spectacular to see, and (b) don't require me to respond in holiness and devotion. But the blessing that God proposes is not to show me lots of physical miracles, but to make me into a spiritual miracle: a saint, filled with holiness given by God. * * * * * Teach me repentance, O Lord: teach me to yield my heart to you, promptly and sincerely, so that I might see the miracle of your light shining upon my heart, and of your grace turning me away from my own selfishness, and toward your holiness.

12/4 What You Can Know, What You Can Do (Acts 1-2). [Robinson proposes a date of '62+' for Acts.] So Luke decided to write Volume II, he told Theophilus, to follow up on what he had written about all that Jesus did and taught from the beginning (Acts 1:1). He recounts that after his resurrection Jesus presented himself alive to his disciples with many convincing proofs over a period of forty days (1:3). And he told them to wait in Jerusalem for the promised Holy Spiri...t to come to them (1:4-5). But the disciples had a question they wanted to ask, regarding whether the time had come when Jesus would restore the kingdom to Israel (1:6) would he now kick out the Romans and let Israel function as an independent kingdom again. His response is instructive: It is not for you to know the times or periods that the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you: and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth (1:7-8). There are two parts to his response. First, there are things that we as disciples would like to know: but just because we want to know something doesn't mean we're going to get an answer. As it turns out, there are certain things that are not for you to know. And second, there is something that we as disciples are specifically commissioned to do: bear witness to all the nations about Jesus, empowered by the Spirit. Alas, much of the time we get this exactly backwards. First, we presume to know what we cannot know: we set dates for the second coming, we judge who is saved and who is lost, we claim our limited biblical knowledge as an absolute. Second, we avoid doing what we have been told to do: we are afraid to testify about how the gospel has changed our lives, we ignore the power of the Spirit, we watch TV instead of helping the poor. We need humility, when it comes to discussions of doctrine; and we need obedience, when it comes to living the Christian life. * * * * * Teach us, Lord, that some knowledge is too wonderful for us: and where you have said we cannot know it, teach us that it is all right for us not to know it. And grant us, by the power of your Spirit, to have the boldness and the articulation to tell and live the truth of your gospel, right where we are, day by day.

12/3 Clear Eyewitness Testimony (II Peter, Jude). [Robinson dates these two books '61-62'.] For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we had been eyewitnesses of his majesty. For he received honor and glory from God the Father when that voice was conveyed to him by the Majestic Glory, saying ‘This is my Son, my Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.’ We ourselves heard this voice come from he...aven, while we were with him on the holy mountain (II Peter 1:16-18). That’s how Peter emphasized the importance of the eyewitness character of his testimony. We were there. We saw the transfiguration of Jesus. We heard the voice of the Father (Matthew 17:5). And so that's the basis on which we told you about Jesus: we declared to you what we knew to be true, rather than any fable or fairy tale that someone made up. This tells us two important things. First, the words we read in the gospels come with this conviction that it is important to pay attention to eyewitness testimony. We may well recognize that eyewitnesses do sometimes see things a little differently, from their particular vantage point (this is probably the explanation for the minor differences in how the gospels tell the stories they hold in common). Yet even so, the message comes with this deliberate insistence: this is eyewitness testimony. We were there. This is what we saw. Second, some of the most effective testimony we can offer will speak of how we, too, have seen the power of Jesus manifested. We want to speak out with the words of scripture; but we also want to share the reality that we’ve seen the truth of the gospel established in contemporary human experience. We’ve been there when Jesus calmed the storm individuals were experiencing. We’ve watched as broken hearts were healed by the power of his love. We’ve seen Jesus transform people’s lives. And we can tell the truth about these things. * * * * * You are the beloved Son, full of the Father’s glory: we were not there to see your transfiguration on the mountain, but we have read the testimony of those who did see, and have come to believe the word they have given. And we have indeed seen your power to transfigure the hearts of your disciples, including ourselves. We offer you all our worship, blessed Savior!

12/2 You Are Witnesses of These Things (Luke 23-24). Luke’s resurrection story starts out closely parallel to Mark and Matthew, with the women going to the grave to anoint the body of Jesus on Sunday morning and finding the tomb empty and hearing the angelic announcement of the resurrection (Luke 24:1-12). Luke then includes quite a bit of material that the other gospels lack. The most obvious example is the famous walk to Emmaus passage (24:13-35). Most of us are fairl...y familiar with the at the tomb and walk to Emmause texts. What we might not know quite so well is the conversation that Luke reports between Jesus and his disciples after this. He started by chiding them for their fears and doubts, and encouraged them that it was really him by showing them his feet and hands, and eating a piece of broiled fish (24:36-43). Then he reiterated the importance of knowing the testimony of the law and the prophets about him, and opened their minds to understand the scriptures (24:44-45). Here is the summary of the gospel: Thus it is written that the Messiah is to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem (24:46-47). And then comes our commissioning in just a few words: You are witnesses of these things (24:48) and it’s even shorter in Luke’s original Greek, only three words, . You are witnesses of these things. A witness is someone who has seen something, and tells about it. It was the original apostles who would be the witnesses at that moment, but we are the ones who are the witnesses in the present moment. We have seen the power of forgiveness. We have seen the proclamation of Jesus making a difference in people’s lives. We have seen Jesus touching people’s hearts. We have seen that. And we can say so. * * * * * Help us, Lord, to recognize even in the midst of our own fears and doubts that we have indeed seen you in action. We are witnesses of your resurrection power: for we have seen, and we can speak. Grant us the boldness to bear glad witness, as your gospel reaches to all the world.

11/4 On This Basis (Romans 12-13). Apart from the mercy of God, we would all be trapped in the prison of our own stubbornness forever: indeed, Paul can write that God has imprisoned all in disobedience (Romans 11:32) but he immediately follows that with this response: so that he may be merciful to all. This is because, as we saw yesterday, God has gifted us and called us irrevocably (11:29). It is on this basis, then, that Paul would urge us to respond to God's gr...ace. I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters when we see the word 'therefore' we should ask what it's there for: in this case, it is there to declare that chapter 11 is the basis for the appeal that Paul is about to make here in chapter 12 I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship (12:1). The by the mercies of God points us back toward what God has done in saving us. That's the basis, right there. And on that basis, the present your bodies as a living sacrifice points us forward to dedication, service, and worship. We should see then that it cannot be the case that our faithfulness, our discipleship, our Christian life, could ever be the cause of God's mercy. Paul scoffed at the very idea: Who has given a gift to him, to receive a gift in return? (11:35). Instead, God's mercy comes first: it is the cause, and our response is the effect. God has given this astonishing grace, irrevocably: because of this, we set our hearts in steadfast faithfulness. It's not automatic, of course. It will always be the case that the world around us will try to get us to follow the social norms, the prevailing culture, of any given day. But do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God what is good and acceptable and perfect (12:2). We will discern the will of God, and our worship will be holy and spiritual, as we live in deliberate response to our Lord's gracious mercy. * * * * * Oh, the depth of your riches and wisdom and knowledge, O God! How unsearchable are your judgments: how inscrutable your ways! All things come from you; all things are realized through you; and all things belong to you. May you receive the glory, in this world and in our lives, forever.

The Lord’s Supper (Luke 21-22). Jesus told his disciples that he had yearned to share Passover with them before he suffered (Luke 22:15), and then instituted what we now call the Lord's Supper. But Luke reports that Jesus did it differently from how we do it: first cup, then bread, and then cup again (22:17-20). Wait, what? The manuscript record is actually quite confusing right here. There are a number of early manuscripts do not include the second mention of the cup,... thereby giving us the sequence first cup, then bread. Apparently some of the copyists were uncertain about the text they were copying, and tried to fix what they thought must be a previous scribe's copying mistake. Scholarly opinion differs as to whether the fix was to add in or subtract out the second mention of the cup. Moreover, the Words of Institution are different in the other synoptic gospels (Matthew 26:26-28; Mark 14:22-24), and different again in Paul (I Corinthians 11:23-26), and John has a last supper without any Words of Institution at all (John 13:1-17), and he puts his theology of the Sacrament not at the last supper but after the feeding of the multitude (John 6:52-58). The variety of ways the New Testament writers report all this makes it useless to claim that we must do the Lord’s Supper the way Jesus did it. It's very clear in all the witnesses that a significant theology and practice of the Lord's Supper was present from the beginning of the Christian church, and the content of the sacrament is the same in all the texts. But clearly the early church was not concerned to make sure the words or the actions were exactly the same every time, as if there were some magic formula which must be repeated perfectly in order for the thing to work. Instead, we come to the Table and share in the bread and cup, not because we know we've got it right (while those others have it wrong), but because we trust in Jesus, who gave us this sacramental reality: This is my body given for you (Luke 22:19). * * * * * Just as we cannot live without food and drink, so we cannot live without you, O Lord. Sustain us with your broken body, with your blood poured out: for without you we will surely die.

11/3 God’s Irrevocable Choice (Romans 9-11). There's an old tale about a Presbyterian ministerial candidate being examined on the floor of the presbytery: for more than an hour one minister after another stood up to do some probing of the thoroughness and the acceptability of the candidate's theology. Then one old codger asked the daunting question, Would you be willing to be damned to hell, for the greater glory of God? This was a question commonly asked to give the c...andidate the opportunity of expressing reverence before the inscrutable will of the sovereign Lord. But on this occasion, perhaps because he was feeling a bit weary of the process, the candidate responded, Sir, I would be willing for this whole presbytery to be damned to hell, for the greater glory of God. The theology behind that question comes from Paul's confession in today's reading: I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my own people, my kindred according to the flesh (Romans 9:3). Again in the next chapter: my dearest wish and my prayer to God is for them, that they may be saved (10:1). And it seems to be very much in question whether this desire of his will be fulfilled. We recall that there is no one who is righteous, not even one (3:10). And Israel, who did strive for the righteousness that is based on the law, did not succeed in fulfilling that law (9:31). Israel failed to obtain what it was seeking (11:7). That sounds pretty definitive. But this is not the last word. Paul asks, Have they stumbled so as to fall? and answers firmly: By no means! (11:11). He offers this decisive declaration: all Israel will be saved (11:26). But given what he said earlier, how is this possible? It is because the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable (11:29). Thus the bottom line seems to be this: if it is up to us to generate righteousness and deserve our way to salvation, Jews and Gentiles are alike in our failures; but if God is the one who has chosen to save us, giving us grace and calling us to salvation, then this gift and calling cannot be annulled. The reality of salvation is what God has made it to be. From him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory forever (11:36). * * * * * With all our hearts we give you thanks, O Lord: for we have fallen short with distressing regularity, yet you refuse to give up on us. You have established your covenant and there is no changing your mind about this, even though we are constantly failing to live up to it. Our strength is not enough: but we trust in you, Lord, and in your steadfast redemption.

11/2 What God Has Established (Romans 6-8). Now you might think the most important thing you need to know is that because of Adam's sin, we have all become sinners (Romans 5:12). Paul does indeed say that about Adam, but it is clear that in his theology that's not the most important thing. The most important thing is that the action of Jesus is bigger and stronger and better than the action of Adam: Paul insisted that the grace of God and the free gift have much more su...rely abounded (5:15). Indeed, just as one man's trespass led to condemnation for all, so one man's act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all (5:18). Wait, what? All? All humanity? A lot of people don't like that idea; they want the grace of God to be more restrictive. But I'm not making this up: it's the text of the Bible that asserts that the action of Jesus brings justification and life to all. And because it says that, There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus (8:1). And yet, doesn't it seem like we need some condemnation? I mean, if God isn't going to punish us for our sins, won't people take advantage of that and continue to sin, knowing that God's grace will abound (6:1)? Why bother to be good, if God is going to forgive us regardless? We all know people who take advantage of God's grace, don't we including ourselves!Yet you'd better be good, or God will send you to hell is bad theology, and as our own lives demonstrate, it also turns out to be not too effective as a motivation. If we are going to learn to live a markedly Christian life, we'll need to find another motivation. Perhaps that motivation could be that we recognize that we have been baptized into the death of Christ; we are united with him in his death, and scripture promises that we shall likewise be united with him in his resurrection (6:5). Or perhaps we will recognize that because we are in the Spirit, with the Spirit of God dwelling within us (8:9), we can now live as the the children of God (8:16-17). In other words, it will be our delight and confidence in God's grace that draws us along, rather than our fear of punishment. * * * * * We are your children, Heavenly Father, because you have chosen us and adopted us: not because we earned it (like Adam we have earned condemnation) but because in your mercy, Lord Jesus, that's how you established it; and because when you come to dwell in our hearts, Spirit of Holiness, you empower us to live that way. What you have done, O God, is the most real thing there ever was. Teach us, we pray, to choose our deeds in accordance with this reality.

Here is the order of worship for today's communion service. All are welcome to participate. It is available here: https://vimeo.com/channels/1616110

11/1 Jesus is the Reconciliation (Romans 3-5). Just in case you were in any doubt: everyone is under the power of sin (Romans 3:9). That's part of the reason why you have no excuse, whoever you are, when you judge others (2:1). There is no one who is righteous, Paul insists; all have turned aside, we use our tongues to deceive, our mouths are full of cursing and bitterness, and there is no fear of God in our eyes (3:10-18). People commonly sum this up by quoting all ha...ve sinned and fall short of the glory of God (3:23). But the sentence is actually longer than that; it runs like this: there is no distinction, since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God; they are now justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus (3:23-24). The point is not that all have sinned; the point is that there is no distinction between one sinner and another, because we all need the redemption that God has provided in Jesus. And even that isn't the end of the sentence! It goes on to say that God put Jesus forward as ('hilasterion;' 3:25). That's the Greek word for the mercy seat, the covering of the ark of the covenant (Exodus 25:17). In the Old Testament this is the place where God meets with us (Exodus 25:22), and the place where atonement is made (Leviticus 16:11-14). The NRSV translates the word as 'sacrifice of atonement,' and offers an alternative in the footnote of 'place of atonement.' The NASB offers the single word 'propitiation,' and the CEB gives a longer phrase, 'the place of sacrifice where mercy is found.' If you check other translations you'll see that they all come up with different ways of trying to express the meaning of this term. You can't really find fault with their efforts; translating a word from one language to another is what a translation is supposed to do. Yet 'hilasterion' isn't just a word: it's part of a complex narrative embedded deeply in the heritage of Israel. The hilasterion is the lid over the Ten Commandments in the Ark of the Covenant; it is the place where forgiveness of sins is established; it is the place where God meets with us. When Paul wrote that God has now set Jesus before us as the 'hilasterion,' he indicated that Jesus is at the very center of the narrative of God's covenant with us already 14 centuries deep at the time Paul wrote, and now 20 centuries deeper. Paul meant for us to understand that the reconciliation between us sinners and God has been completely fulfilled in Jesus, and that Jesus has also now become the place where God meets with us. * * * * * Ah Lord Jesus! You are the atonement for all our sins, setting us right with the Father; and you are the place where we come into the very presence of the Almighty: and this is true for us, and for all the world. We give you thanks, and we praise your name forever and ever.

10/31 Aiming to Evangelize in Rome (Romans 1-2). [Robinson gives a date of 'early 57' for Romans.] Paul wrote to the church in Rome that he was eager to come evangelize them (Romans 1:15). The specific intention behind his desire is somewhat obscured in most translations, which say something like he was eager to proclaim the gospel: that could sound like he had in mind what we might think of as ordinary preaching. Yet the Greek is quite clear: , to evangeliz...e. This is especially interesting given that Paul recognized that these believers in Rome were genuinely people of faith. They were the beloved of God (1:7); indeed, he noted that their faith was proclaimed all over the world (1:8). He looked forward to a ministry among them where we may be mutually encouraged by each other's faith, both yours and mine (1:12) he expected that his ministry would provide encouragement and motivation for them, and he likewise expected that their ministry would provide encouragement and motivation for him. So we need to pause for a moment and wonder what it meant, when Paul wrote to these committed Christians, saying he was eager to evangelize you (1:15). We generally think of evangelism as the task of the saved who speak to the lost, to encourage them to get saved. Many of us have experienced a personal hesitation from this: thinking of evangelism that way sets ourselves up with a sense of awkwardness about acting like we are better than others. We know that we're not better than others: but we fear that we will look like we think we are. That fear often motivates us to steer clear of evangelism. But Paul's sense of the word evangelize included the opportunity to share with you some spiritual gift to strengthen you (1:11) just as much as it included the opportunity to reap some harvest (1:13) among them. That's an important combination. It means he didn't have to suppose he was somehow more acceptable to God than they were. There is great freedom in that: we can simply be glad to talk to anyone about Jesus and the difference he makes, eager to evangelize them by sharing a spiritual gift to strengthen them. * * * * * We pray that you would give us eagerness to evangelize, O Lord: a spiritual longing to proclaim the gospel everywhere. Speak your word through us, to impart gifts and to establish people in the faith: give us the courage and perseverance we need, to be your messengers in this needy world.

10/30 The Ending isn’t the End (Mark 15-16). Because Mark's gospel breaks off in very unexpected fashion (Mark 16:8), a couple of people in the second century wrote and tacked on different endings: one is called 'the longer ending' (16:9-20) and the other is called 'the shorter ending' (no verse numbers, but it's probably in a footnote in your Bible). Neither of these endings is part of the original text of Mark; the earliest manuscripts available do not include them. Th...Continue reading

10/29 Those Who Endure to the End (Mark 13-14). As the disciples admired the temple buildings with their large stones (Mark 13:2), Jesus warned that very troubled days were coming. The temple would be desecrated with a desolating sacrilege and people would need to flee to the mountains (13:14). There would be many who would try to lead people astray (13:5-6), and the temple itself would lie in ruins: not one stone will be left here upon another (13:2). That's how... it happened, just a few decades later, within the lifetime of many who heard Jesus' words. The people of Israel rebelled against Roman rule, and the Romans did not take it well. They marched their army into Jerusalem in 70 AD and wrecked the city. They destroyed the temple. A lot of people died, and the rest ran for their lives. But though the suffering and persecution they experienced was far more severe than the challenges we sometimes face, there is an application for us: people in your own family will betray you (13:12), you will be beaten and put on trial (13:9), and you will be hated by all because of my name (13:13). Faithfulness will call for perseverance in the midst of trial: the one who endures to the end will be saved (13:13). I've never been enthusiastic about suffering and persecution, even though the little I have faced has been quite mild. In many nations of the world people currently experience very severe persecution, with beatings, loss of property, enslavements, and killings. It is hard to picture ourselves doing well if we had to face such suffering. Courage is hard. Endurance is hard. But if we are only faithful when it is very easy, does that even really count as endurance? * * * * * Will we be steadfast in our loyalty to you, Jesus, when it is awkward and uncomfortable to proclaim our allegiance? Will we remain faithful, in the midst of suffering? Help us, Lord, to endure to the end, trusting that we will find our salvation in you.

10/28 The Scriptures and the Power of God (Mark 11-12). Some of the Sadducees decided to have fun with the country preacher from up in Galilee. They concocted a story (Mark 12:18-23) about a man who had married a woman and then died childless; in accordance with levirate marriage, his brother had then married the woman, but he too had died childless; as there were seven brothers in this family, this pattern repeated through the remaining five brothers, before the woman her...self died. When they had finished the story, the Sadducees posed this question to Jesus: since she’s been married to all seven of them, whose wife will she be in heaven? The plan was that whatever Jesus answered, they would argue that his answer was arbitrary, and he'd be baffled and humiliated. How would Jesus respond to these people who intended to make fun of him? He asked, Isn’t this the reason you get it wrong: because you don’t know the scriptures, and you don’t know the power of God? (12:24). Wait, what do you suppose Jesus sounded like, when he asked that question? Maybe he spat out these words with anger in his voice, as a harsh rebuke; or his words might have carried a tone of sadness, as a lament; or his voice might have expressed compassion, as a warm invitation, to give the Sadducees the opportunity to realize that their hearts really did want to know the scriptures and the power of God. We learn part of the answer to that question by speaking the words out loud. That’s because it’s harder to hear the voice tones when we read the words silently. You could try that out, just by saying verse 24 out loud a few times: first with anger in your voice, then with sadness, then with invitation. (Seriously. Out loud.) After you’ve done that, you could ask, In which of those three readings did I sense Jesus speaking to me? And how will you answer Jesus’ question? Is it the case for you, too, that the reason you get things wrong is that you don't know the scriptures, and you don't know the power of God? What might you do, to gain a better knowledge of them? What’s the next step you should take, to do that? * * * * * Help us, Jesus, to hear your voice: not just to read the words written on the page, but to hear you addressing us, within our own souls. And grant us the grace to know the scriptures, and the power of God, as we follow you in all we do.

10/27 Not to Be Served But to Serve (Mark 9-10). So James and John, perceiving that the kingdom of Jesus was going to be something pretty great, wanted to make sure they got good seats. But they also foresaw that it might be awkward to ask for that and get turned down. So they asked Jesus to do for us whatever we ask of you (Mark 10:35). It kind of reminds me of how I sometimes pray: please just agree in advance to give me what I'm about to ask for, Jesus, no question...s asked. I'm not sure why we would believe that it would be easy to manipulate Jesus that way. When Jesus and I are conversing, one of us is the Lord of the universe and one is not, and I'm supposed to be able to tell which one is which. With James and John, Jesus declines to sign a blank check for them; instead, he asks them what they have in mind: What is it that you want me to do for you? So they came out with it: Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory (10:37). Jesus explained that they did not know what they were asking for, and wondered if they were prepared to undergo the baptism the suffering that he was about to experience (10:38). James and John demonstrated that they really did not grasp what this meant, by assuring Jesus that they could handle whatever that baptism might be (10:39). And then the other ten disciples expressed their indignation (10:41) do you suppose the ten were angry at the presumption of James and John, or angry that they themselves hadn't thought to ask for that privilege first? So Jesus had to explain it to all twelve of them. Although the rest of the world is all about gaining a position where you can lord it over others, in his kingdom it would be different: they would need to live in service to one another (10:42-44). He himself had come not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many (10:45). It's a hard lesson for us to get. It would be easier to pretend that lesson wasn't there. But instead of ignoring it, we have to learn to put it into practice. * * * * * We are still so eager for those exalted places, Lord. It is by your sacrifice that the world finds salvation, as you give your life to ransom the lost: then you call us to compassionate service to one another. Teach us, O Lord, to exult not in position, but in the opportunity to care for those in need.

10/26 Take Up Your Cross (Mark 7-8). Jesus had asked the disciples what the crowds said about him, and Peter had given his own testimony You are the Messiah! (Mark 8:29). Then Peter had objected to the notion that Jesus must suffer and die, and been rebuked for that (8:31-33). At this point, Jesus offered this stern lesson to the gathered crowd along with his disciples: If you want to become my followers, you must deny yourself and take up your cross and follow me ...(8:34). It expresses a very high expectation: to follow Jesus is a commitment that anticipates that it will cost us our lives. This contrasts quite strongly with the easy-going style of discipleship most of us settle for. We are used to thinking that Jesus will always be glad to forgive everyone despite any number of shortcomings. Often our attitude seems to be that we're doing him a favor by listening to him from time to time. Yet we will better understand our relative positions by remembering Dietrich Bonhoeffer's famous saying, When Jesus Christ calls you, he bids you 'Come and die.' This is a commitment on a completely different scale from deciding to add a little religion to my life, in the same way that I might decide to add a couple hours of brisk walking to my weekly routine, or to add more leafy vegetables to my diet, while keeping the rest of my life the same. If you want to become my followers, you will have to reorient everything your own desires, including your desire to stay alive to following Jesus This is hard for us to get, even on the intellectual level: and it's even harder on the personal level. We've all got our own agendas, things we want to do, a personal bucket list of accomplishments we want to get done in our lives. Jesus specifically addressed this attitude: What will it profit you to gain the whole world and forfeit your life? (8:36). And it's easy enough to respond that we all want to be loyal to Jesus, in some low-key way: we just don't want to be so embarrassingly fanatical about it. Jesus had a comment regarding this as well: If you are ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will also be ashamed of you (8:38). Oh dear ... * * * * * When will we learn, Jesus, that you are the Lord, and we are not? When will we respond in full allegiance, of heart and life? Teach us to live in accordance with your high expectations: to seek you, and follow you, in unashamed discipleship within our daily lives, even in the face of death.

Here is the order of worship for today's online service. Please join us on our Vimeo channel: https://vimeo.com/channels/1616110

10/25 Amazing Grace? No: Amazing Unbelief (Mark 5-6). As Jesus and his disciples moved from town to town, they came to Nazareth, where Jesus had grown up (Mark 6:1). As he began to teach in the synagogue, the people of the village expressed strong emotion: What is this wisdom that has been given to him? they asked (6:2). We need to read their words out loud to hear the meaning. That's because it's the tone of voice that indicates the attitude behind their words. ...Suppose they were quite thoughtful, deeply pondering the wisdom of Jesus? You'd be able to hear that in their voice tones. Or were they joyfully exulting in the wisdom he had spoken, glad of the difference it would make in their lives? You would hear that in the sound of the words. Or were they sarcastic, indicating by the scoffing in their voices that even though they said the word 'wisdom,' they didn't think there was any wisdom there at all? What does it sound like? is a key aspect of Bible reading. Nearly all of the Bible was spoken before it was written: that tells us that quite a bit of the meaning was carried in body language and voice tones, which didn't get written down. Here we only find out for sure that it was sarcasm, instead of thoughtfulness or faith, because of what the text says next: they took offense at him (6:3), with an attitude of unbelief (6:6). Jesus recognized that when you are far from home, they can honor you as a prophet; but when you're with the people you grew up with, they might well remember you as an awkward teenager and want to keep you from being uppity. They do their best to remind you to keep your humble place (6:4). The downside of that attitude is this: people can so severely miss the visitation of the divine in a way that their lack of faith will amaze even Jesus (6:6). * * * * * We are so much like the people of Nazareth, Lord Jesus: cavalier and glib as we assume we can judge the adequacy of your wisdom and your deeds. We have had so much more opportunity to see your grace in action: does that make our unbelief even more astonishing than theirs?

10/24 The Unforgivable Sin (Mark 3-4). The crowds were saying that Jesus had gone out of his mind (Mark 3:21), and his mother and his brothers came looking for him (3:31) in order to restrain him (3:21) the word (krateo) here means they were planning to seize him by force and take him home, as you might do with a crazy relative: the first-century equivalent of arresting someone to take him to the psychiatric hospital. The Scribes' diagnosis went further and de...Continue reading