A local group of young church musicians formed a band, calling themselves Modern Day Jeremiah.
Which raises the question how anyone could regard these hoary prophets of ancient Israel speaking to us in a modern voice. Wasn't their job over long ago? And in our fast paced, hard wired, soft-wared, world what could they possibly have to say of any relevance? Even their metaphors are out of date, as in this morning's reading in Jeremiah, Chapter 18, verse 1:
"The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord:
'Arise, go down to the potter's house,
and there you will hear my word.'"
Jeremiah's obedience led him to do as instructed, and there he watched a potter working on a revolving wheel, shaping and re-making the lump of clay in his hands. We read, "And the word of the Lord came to me:
'O house of Israel, can I not do with you as the potter has done ?"
Like the Master Potter, God asks rhetorically, am I not able to reshape a nation that has not conformed to the pattern I have intended for it? Jeremiah applies the lesson to Israel:
"Behold, like clay in the potter's hand, so are you in my hands, O house of Israel." vs. 6.
If you are unfit and unconforming, intended for destruction, but turn from your evil ways, God says through the prophet, "I will repent of the evil I intended to do." And if you are well built and well planted, then do evil in My sight and disregard My voice, God says "then I will repent of the good I intended to do."
In conveying these words, Jeremiah had a difficult job to do in a difficult time. Was his message only for ancient Israel? Or do his words speak to our own time and our hearts also?
Can there be a modern day Jeremiah?
Thursday, July 31, 2014
Wednesday, July 23, 2014
God's Umpire
One of the joys of summertime is baseball. Happy memories of sandlot games, or watching the big league players, belong to this time of year, and are certainly a part of my life.
Saint Paul was also attracted to games and athletic competitions, judging from the sports metaphors that run through his letters. As he wrote to his young protégé, "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith," and referring to the ultimate in victory trophies, a crown of laurel leaves, he continued: "henceforth is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that Day." Second Epistle to Timothy Ch. 4, vs. 7, 8.
Another sporting allusion comes in his letter to the Colossians, which we have encountered in our Great She Bible readings recently:
"Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which you were called in one body." Ch. 3, vs. 15.
Games and contests often require judges or umpires to apply the rules, balance competing claims, and keep the ball moving. In this passage, the word means literally, "Be umpire"--as in Let the peace of Christ be umpire in your hearts--Let this be the guiding determination in all your actions.
How do you determine what is the best application of God's word to your life and circumstances? Often there are competing claims to our attention, that appear equally compelling. What keeps us moving ahead as life swirls around us?
Paul says here that the peace of Christ--the peace that passes understanding--is our God given guide and umpire to the right course of action. Finding the peace of Christ in each day's activities is the will of God for you, and his body, the Church. Let the peace of Christ rule in our hearts.
Saint Paul was also attracted to games and athletic competitions, judging from the sports metaphors that run through his letters. As he wrote to his young protégé, "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith," and referring to the ultimate in victory trophies, a crown of laurel leaves, he continued: "henceforth is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that Day." Second Epistle to Timothy Ch. 4, vs. 7, 8.
Another sporting allusion comes in his letter to the Colossians, which we have encountered in our Great She Bible readings recently:
"Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which you were called in one body." Ch. 3, vs. 15.
Games and contests often require judges or umpires to apply the rules, balance competing claims, and keep the ball moving. In this passage, the word means literally, "Be umpire"--as in Let the peace of Christ be umpire in your hearts--Let this be the guiding determination in all your actions.
How do you determine what is the best application of God's word to your life and circumstances? Often there are competing claims to our attention, that appear equally compelling. What keeps us moving ahead as life swirls around us?
Paul says here that the peace of Christ--the peace that passes understanding--is our God given guide and umpire to the right course of action. Finding the peace of Christ in each day's activities is the will of God for you, and his body, the Church. Let the peace of Christ rule in our hearts.
Friday, July 11, 2014
What Do You See?
We have recently celebrated a great national holiday, with parades, fireworks, and in Eastport, the arrival of a big Navy ship, the USS Anzio, named after one of the great amphibious landings of World War II. These events down east were capped by a summer hurricane that crushed cars, smashed into people's houses, and did untold property damage.
A similarly unusual confluence of events was described by the prophet Amos, whose book we having been reading this week. No professional forecaster, he insisted "I am a herdsmen, and a dresser of sycamore trees., and the Lord took me from following the flock, and said to me: Go, prophesy to my people Israel." Amos Ch. 7, vs. 14-15. Amos was called by God to speak difficult words in a smooth season. In a time of national prosperity, he denounced the nation for its reliance on military might, for grave injustice in social dealings, abhorrent immorality, and its shallow, meaningless piety.
"And the Lord said to me:
Amos, what do you see?
And I said,
A plumb line . . . "
In a vision, Amos saw the Lord standing beside a wall with a plumb line in his hand. Like a hopelessly crooked wall, the nation had become irreparable, and the Lord said : " I will never again pass by them." Ch. 7, vs. 8. Israel would be made desolate, a wasteland dismembered by the sword.
Again, He said:
"Amos, what do you see?
And I said,
A basket of summer fruit."
Like fresh garden produce, that quickly spoils and becomes rotten, the nation's blooms were about to be swept away:
"The end has come upon my people Israel,
I will never again pass by them."
What could be more desolating than to be overlooked by the hand of God? And yet, even in the midst of such distress, there is hope:
" For lo, I will command,
and shake the house of Israel
among all the nations
as one shakes a sieve."
As our trees and gardens were shaken and washed away by last Saturday's storm, God will restore his planting:
" 'For I will replant them upon the land,
and they shall never again be plucked up
out of the land which I have given them,'
says the Lord your God." Ch. 9, vs. 15.
On this Independence Day holiday, what did you see?
A similarly unusual confluence of events was described by the prophet Amos, whose book we having been reading this week. No professional forecaster, he insisted "I am a herdsmen, and a dresser of sycamore trees., and the Lord took me from following the flock, and said to me: Go, prophesy to my people Israel." Amos Ch. 7, vs. 14-15. Amos was called by God to speak difficult words in a smooth season. In a time of national prosperity, he denounced the nation for its reliance on military might, for grave injustice in social dealings, abhorrent immorality, and its shallow, meaningless piety.
"And the Lord said to me:
Amos, what do you see?
And I said,
A plumb line . . . "
In a vision, Amos saw the Lord standing beside a wall with a plumb line in his hand. Like a hopelessly crooked wall, the nation had become irreparable, and the Lord said : " I will never again pass by them." Ch. 7, vs. 8. Israel would be made desolate, a wasteland dismembered by the sword.
Again, He said:
"Amos, what do you see?
And I said,
A basket of summer fruit."
Like fresh garden produce, that quickly spoils and becomes rotten, the nation's blooms were about to be swept away:
"The end has come upon my people Israel,
I will never again pass by them."
What could be more desolating than to be overlooked by the hand of God? And yet, even in the midst of such distress, there is hope:
" For lo, I will command,
and shake the house of Israel
among all the nations
as one shakes a sieve."
As our trees and gardens were shaken and washed away by last Saturday's storm, God will restore his planting:
" 'For I will replant them upon the land,
and they shall never again be plucked up
out of the land which I have given them,'
says the Lord your God." Ch. 9, vs. 15.
On this Independence Day holiday, what did you see?
Friday, July 4, 2014
Pet Heaven?
We lost our dog this past week, a beagle, who had shared our lives for the last eighteen years. He is much missed. And this raises a question that is often asked: Will our pets be in Heaven?
It is a natural enough question, given the reciprocated love that can exist between an animal and ourselves. As one French writer put it, "Who knows, when I am playing with my cat, if my cat is not really playing with me?"
The Book of Jonah sheds some light on God's relationship with the animal creation. First, Jonah tells us:
"God appointed a great fish to swallow up Jonah. " Ch.1, vs. 17.
Having what we might justly call an insiders view of the situation, Jonah had three days to consider the meaning of this unforgettable event. Apart from the question of historical verisimilitude--and there are several stories from the Nantucket whalers of sailors being recovered after being accidently swallowed by these gigantic mammals--this great fish was clearly in the right place at the right time, and properly equipped to scoop up the reluctant prophet, and take him in the direction he needed to go.
Secondly, we are told:
"God appointed a worm . . . " Ch. 4, vs. 7.
Having fulfilled his mission, announcing the impending doom of the great Assyrian city, Jonah waited to see the results. As the sun rose, so did his temper, convinced that God would spare the city and spoil the purpose of his trip. Until, that is, He caused a large plant, (the Hebrew word suggests a castor oil plant,) to spring up overnight and over shade him, helping him keep cool. Then God appointed a worm to consume the root of the plant, which withered as fast as it grew, and prepared to teach the angry prophet a lesson.
Thirdly, by way of instruction to this overheated Hebrew, God asked him:
"Do you do well to be angry?" You feel sorry for the plant, which you did nothing to cause to grow in the first place. . . "Should I not pity that great city Nineveh, with more than one hundred and twenty thousand people who do not know their right hand from their left, and also much cattle?"
Does not God have compassion on all creatures, great and small--fish, worms, cattle, humanity?
Is there heaven for pets?
What do you think?
It is a natural enough question, given the reciprocated love that can exist between an animal and ourselves. As one French writer put it, "Who knows, when I am playing with my cat, if my cat is not really playing with me?"
The Book of Jonah sheds some light on God's relationship with the animal creation. First, Jonah tells us:
"God appointed a great fish to swallow up Jonah. " Ch.1, vs. 17.
Having what we might justly call an insiders view of the situation, Jonah had three days to consider the meaning of this unforgettable event. Apart from the question of historical verisimilitude--and there are several stories from the Nantucket whalers of sailors being recovered after being accidently swallowed by these gigantic mammals--this great fish was clearly in the right place at the right time, and properly equipped to scoop up the reluctant prophet, and take him in the direction he needed to go.
Secondly, we are told:
"God appointed a worm . . . " Ch. 4, vs. 7.
Having fulfilled his mission, announcing the impending doom of the great Assyrian city, Jonah waited to see the results. As the sun rose, so did his temper, convinced that God would spare the city and spoil the purpose of his trip. Until, that is, He caused a large plant, (the Hebrew word suggests a castor oil plant,) to spring up overnight and over shade him, helping him keep cool. Then God appointed a worm to consume the root of the plant, which withered as fast as it grew, and prepared to teach the angry prophet a lesson.
Thirdly, by way of instruction to this overheated Hebrew, God asked him:
"Do you do well to be angry?" You feel sorry for the plant, which you did nothing to cause to grow in the first place. . . "Should I not pity that great city Nineveh, with more than one hundred and twenty thousand people who do not know their right hand from their left, and also much cattle?"
Does not God have compassion on all creatures, great and small--fish, worms, cattle, humanity?
Is there heaven for pets?
What do you think?
Wednesday, July 2, 2014
In Prison
" . . . so it has become evident to the whole palace guard, and to all the rest, that my chains are in Christ." Philippians Ch.1, vs. 13
Have you ever known anyone who is in prison?
How about arrested? At a public supper here in Dennysville recently, in honor of a retiring deputy sheriff, the Master of Ceremonies asked those whom he had ever arrested to stand up, and good portion of the room did so.
Paul also knew what it was like to be arrested, and imprisoned--and not just once! He wrote his famous Epistle to the Philippians from prison in Rome. Unlike his first house arrest, when he was able to live in a rented house for two years, as Luke tells us, and "welcome all those who came to him," (Acts Ch. 28, vs. 30,) this time he was locked up, under constant surveillance, and wearing chains.
What is it like to be in prison? It's not called doing time for nothing. If we, as Christians, are to remember those in prison "as though in prison with them," (Hebrews Ch. 13, vs. 3,) we need to have some idea of what it is like. We are all hemmed in by circumstances beyond our control, whether there are bars and walls or not. Mark Twain has one of his characters declare:
"I wish I wasn't cramped and kept down and fettered with poverty. . . . Oh, it is a fearful thing to be poor."
What is it that imprison you and me, and what can we do about it? Are we really as helpless as we feel?
In his letter to the Philippians, Paul lets us into the mind of a prisoner, giving us a glimpse of his own mind. Despite the reality of chains and guards, God was still at work:
"But I want you to know, brethren, that the things which happened to me have actually turned out for the furtherance of the gospel, so that it has become evident to the whole palace guard, and to all the rest, that my chains are in Christ . . ."
Then there was the trickle down effect:
"and most of the brethren in the Lord having become confident by my chains, are much more bold to speak the word without fear." Philippian Ch. 1., vs. 12, 13, 14.
Who wants to go to prison? How do we respond to the limitations and restrictions that the changes and chances of this fleeting world cast upon us?
What lessons, if any, does Paul have to teach us about being "in prison"?
Have you ever known anyone who is in prison?
How about arrested? At a public supper here in Dennysville recently, in honor of a retiring deputy sheriff, the Master of Ceremonies asked those whom he had ever arrested to stand up, and good portion of the room did so.
Paul also knew what it was like to be arrested, and imprisoned--and not just once! He wrote his famous Epistle to the Philippians from prison in Rome. Unlike his first house arrest, when he was able to live in a rented house for two years, as Luke tells us, and "welcome all those who came to him," (Acts Ch. 28, vs. 30,) this time he was locked up, under constant surveillance, and wearing chains.
What is it like to be in prison? It's not called doing time for nothing. If we, as Christians, are to remember those in prison "as though in prison with them," (Hebrews Ch. 13, vs. 3,) we need to have some idea of what it is like. We are all hemmed in by circumstances beyond our control, whether there are bars and walls or not. Mark Twain has one of his characters declare:
"I wish I wasn't cramped and kept down and fettered with poverty. . . . Oh, it is a fearful thing to be poor."
What is it that imprison you and me, and what can we do about it? Are we really as helpless as we feel?
In his letter to the Philippians, Paul lets us into the mind of a prisoner, giving us a glimpse of his own mind. Despite the reality of chains and guards, God was still at work:
"But I want you to know, brethren, that the things which happened to me have actually turned out for the furtherance of the gospel, so that it has become evident to the whole palace guard, and to all the rest, that my chains are in Christ . . ."
Then there was the trickle down effect:
"and most of the brethren in the Lord having become confident by my chains, are much more bold to speak the word without fear." Philippian Ch. 1., vs. 12, 13, 14.
Who wants to go to prison? How do we respond to the limitations and restrictions that the changes and chances of this fleeting world cast upon us?
What lessons, if any, does Paul have to teach us about being "in prison"?
Tuesday, July 1, 2014
Snakes
"They will take up snakes, and if they drink anything deadly, it will not hurt them." Mark Ch. 16, vs. 18.
Do you like snakes?
To call someone a snake is to imply he is deceptive, slippery, and liable to strike without warning.
Perhaps we have the serpent in the Garden of Eden to thank for that. Would Eve have responded so receptively to Satan's suggestion--'Go ahead, take a bite, it won't hurt you'-- if she what she saw was so repulsive?
The consequences for that first disobedience fell not only on Adam and Eve, but on the serpent, also, suggesting a kind of metamorphosis:
"Upon your belly you shall go,
and dust you shall eat all the days of your life." Genesis Ch. 3, vs. 14
However beguiling the original form of the serpent, it became something detestable:
"God said to the serpent, 'Because you have done this,
cursed are you above all cattle, and all wild animals.'
How can anyone snuggle up to a snake, except, perhaps, with extreme caution.?
Yet here, in Mark's Gospel, we find even this old Enemy is no longer a deadly threat to those who have place their trust in Jesus. Mark quotes Him in chapter 16, verses 17 and 18, saying:
" In my Name they will cast out demons,
they will speak in new tongues,
they will pick up serpents,
and if they drink any deadly thing, it will not hurt them;
they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover"
Remarkable! So remarkable, in fact, that some scholars have considered them improbable, and concluded the Gospel after verse 8, before the account of the Resurrection.
Or is Mark telling us, in his breathless, straightforward style, that, as believers, we need not worry, for sin has been crushed at its fountainhead by Jesus Himself, on the Cross? As God said to the serpent in the Garden of Eden:
"He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel."
We can safely leave the handling of serpents to snake charmers, and other who feel called to do so.
But rest assured, the Ancient Serpent has been dealt with, Death has lost its sting, and there is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
Tread carefully, but do not fear. Snakes will not hurt you.
Do you like snakes?
To call someone a snake is to imply he is deceptive, slippery, and liable to strike without warning.
Perhaps we have the serpent in the Garden of Eden to thank for that. Would Eve have responded so receptively to Satan's suggestion--'Go ahead, take a bite, it won't hurt you'-- if she what she saw was so repulsive?
The consequences for that first disobedience fell not only on Adam and Eve, but on the serpent, also, suggesting a kind of metamorphosis:
"Upon your belly you shall go,
and dust you shall eat all the days of your life." Genesis Ch. 3, vs. 14
However beguiling the original form of the serpent, it became something detestable:
"God said to the serpent, 'Because you have done this,
cursed are you above all cattle, and all wild animals.'
How can anyone snuggle up to a snake, except, perhaps, with extreme caution.?
Yet here, in Mark's Gospel, we find even this old Enemy is no longer a deadly threat to those who have place their trust in Jesus. Mark quotes Him in chapter 16, verses 17 and 18, saying:
" In my Name they will cast out demons,
they will speak in new tongues,
they will pick up serpents,
and if they drink any deadly thing, it will not hurt them;
they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover"
Remarkable! So remarkable, in fact, that some scholars have considered them improbable, and concluded the Gospel after verse 8, before the account of the Resurrection.
Or is Mark telling us, in his breathless, straightforward style, that, as believers, we need not worry, for sin has been crushed at its fountainhead by Jesus Himself, on the Cross? As God said to the serpent in the Garden of Eden:
"He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel."
We can safely leave the handling of serpents to snake charmers, and other who feel called to do so.
But rest assured, the Ancient Serpent has been dealt with, Death has lost its sting, and there is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
Tread carefully, but do not fear. Snakes will not hurt you.
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