Psalm 19:7-11
There are times when a passage of Scripture is so well known to us, that in reading it we may lose sight of the context or the passage that follows. The opening praise of Psalm 19 is so catching it is easy to miss the lines that follow. It is gloriously true that all of creation sings the wonder and praise of its Creator. It is no less true that the law of the Lord is itself glorious.
This passage looks at the law of God the way we may rotate a crystal under a light. With each turn we see a new facet, a new color emerges. David rotates the law of God under a light and with each turn of phrase we learn something new and beautiful about the ways and precepts of our God.
The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul.
There is nothing lacking in the law of the Lord. If we are searching for wisdom, meaning and truth, there is nowhere else to go. And since each human has an insatiable longing for God, it is only He who can quench that thirst.
The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple.
All God says is completely trustworthy. When we trust in the ways and wisdom of men, the wise become foolish. When the simple trust in the absolutely sure and steadfast word of God, they become wise.
The precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart.
We look for joy in all the wrong places. We return again and again to the empty and leaking wells of this world, when obedience to God’s precepts provides true joy.
The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening our eyes.
They are pure the way light is radiant. We cannot see in the dark – there is no light for our eyes to use. But when the light shines, our eyes work the way they were created to work and we see. The commands of our Lord shine on our lives, and in obedience we see.
The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever.
Our reverence can be measured by the thing we revere. To be in awe of empires and political schemes is to have a small and unrequited awe. But the fear of the Lord is fear rightfully and eternally placed. He is greater than and will outlast every human endeavor. Thus, the fear of the Lord is right and eternal.
The rules of the Lord are true, and righteous altogether.
My rules are not true. Your rules are not true. Neither are ours righteous for they are by necessity stained with our sin and short-sightedness. The rules of the Lord are not easy and comfortable to follow, but they are true and wholly right. His rules do not always fit well with what I want to do with myself, but they are my only source of true, righteous and moral guidance.
These laws and ways are to be desired more than any other thing.
Showing posts with label Glory. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Glory. Show all posts
Monday, February 28, 2011
Monday, May 10, 2010
Knowing God
John 7:1-18
Jesus is a controversial figure. Divisive, even. And I speak of the Jesus of Scripture, of course. The “nice guy” Jesus of our culture is not only uncontroversial, he isn’t even interesting. He wants everyone to get alone, he is OK with other gods, and he loves you just the way you are. But when we come into contact with the Jesus of Scripture he immediately divides the room. And such is the case with the story of John 7. Jesus reenters Jerusalem for another feast of the Jews and even before the people know he is there, they are divided about who he is.
If we put ourselves in the places of the people in Jerusalem trying to figure out who Jesus is, we are presented with a real problem. There are those who say he is a great teacher, those who claim he is a rotten teacher. There are those who go so far as to say he is the Messiah, and those who want to kill him for blasphemy. One way or another, Jesus was not – and is not – a boring figure.
So how are we to decide who Jesus is? Are there better or worse ways to understand who he is? If we put it another way, if our spiritual formation depends on getting Jesus right, how do we get him right? In the course of the conversations in chapter 7, Jesus gives us at least two answers to this question. The first is all about our desires.
“If anyone’s will is to do God’s will, he will know whether the teaching is from God or whether I am speaking on my own authority.” (vs. 17)
If our wills are pointed in the right direction, Jesus promises us that we will come to a deeper and more accurate understanding of God and a more intimate relationship with him. If we can understand our will as something guided by our most powerful desires, if our desires are healthy our relationship with God will become healthier. And we have already seen this truth in action in John’s Gospel. In chapter 5, the Jewish leaders cared more for their Sabbath laws than the healing of a life-long paralytic, so they not only missed Jesus, they decided to kill him. The first story of John 7 involves Jesus’ brothers as mockers and tempters. As such, they completely missed who Jesus truly was. In contrast, after hearing a very difficult conversation about what it would mean to follow Jesus, Peter proclaimed that there was nowhere else for them to go. He would follow Jesus no matter what followed. That decision didn’t make Peter’s life perfect, but it did mean he found Jesus.
The second way is through our glory.
“The one who speaks on his own authority seeks his own glory; but the one who seeks the glory of him who sent him is true, and in him there is no falsehood.” (vs. 18)
As our example, the Son of God, the second member of the Trinity, God in flesh, lived for the glory of God and it resulted in the truth of God here on earth. I, a simple and broken human being, am tempted on a regular basis to replace God’s glory with my own. Through my daily life of taking care of people, tasks, and self I become habitually caught up in me and my life. But we learn through Christ that glory is a glimpse into who does and does not see God.
If Christ’s life on earth was lived to the glory of God and he is known because of it, how much more will I see, experience, and reveal that life if I live for the glory of God.
Jesus is a controversial figure. Divisive, even. And I speak of the Jesus of Scripture, of course. The “nice guy” Jesus of our culture is not only uncontroversial, he isn’t even interesting. He wants everyone to get alone, he is OK with other gods, and he loves you just the way you are. But when we come into contact with the Jesus of Scripture he immediately divides the room. And such is the case with the story of John 7. Jesus reenters Jerusalem for another feast of the Jews and even before the people know he is there, they are divided about who he is.
If we put ourselves in the places of the people in Jerusalem trying to figure out who Jesus is, we are presented with a real problem. There are those who say he is a great teacher, those who claim he is a rotten teacher. There are those who go so far as to say he is the Messiah, and those who want to kill him for blasphemy. One way or another, Jesus was not – and is not – a boring figure.
So how are we to decide who Jesus is? Are there better or worse ways to understand who he is? If we put it another way, if our spiritual formation depends on getting Jesus right, how do we get him right? In the course of the conversations in chapter 7, Jesus gives us at least two answers to this question. The first is all about our desires.
“If anyone’s will is to do God’s will, he will know whether the teaching is from God or whether I am speaking on my own authority.” (vs. 17)
If our wills are pointed in the right direction, Jesus promises us that we will come to a deeper and more accurate understanding of God and a more intimate relationship with him. If we can understand our will as something guided by our most powerful desires, if our desires are healthy our relationship with God will become healthier. And we have already seen this truth in action in John’s Gospel. In chapter 5, the Jewish leaders cared more for their Sabbath laws than the healing of a life-long paralytic, so they not only missed Jesus, they decided to kill him. The first story of John 7 involves Jesus’ brothers as mockers and tempters. As such, they completely missed who Jesus truly was. In contrast, after hearing a very difficult conversation about what it would mean to follow Jesus, Peter proclaimed that there was nowhere else for them to go. He would follow Jesus no matter what followed. That decision didn’t make Peter’s life perfect, but it did mean he found Jesus.
The second way is through our glory.
“The one who speaks on his own authority seeks his own glory; but the one who seeks the glory of him who sent him is true, and in him there is no falsehood.” (vs. 18)
As our example, the Son of God, the second member of the Trinity, God in flesh, lived for the glory of God and it resulted in the truth of God here on earth. I, a simple and broken human being, am tempted on a regular basis to replace God’s glory with my own. Through my daily life of taking care of people, tasks, and self I become habitually caught up in me and my life. But we learn through Christ that glory is a glimpse into who does and does not see God.
If Christ’s life on earth was lived to the glory of God and he is known because of it, how much more will I see, experience, and reveal that life if I live for the glory of God.
Monday, January 4, 2010
Why Does God Care?
John 2:1-12
Have you ever wondered what God cares about? What is it that catches his attention? What in this universe moves God? After all, he is the Creator, the Author of all time and history, and he knows the position of every atom and molecule in the universe. He sees the beginning from the end and all of human history is simply a glance for God. There are a lot of grand and magnificent things for God to take care of and large sweeps in human affairs for God to pay attention to. Have you ever wondered if God really does take notice – and care – about the microscopic scope of your life?
Jesus’ first miracle in John’s Gospel is a telling glimpse into these questions. And not only does it begin to tell us what kinds of things God cares about, but more importantly, it shows us why he cares about them.
Jesus, his disciples and his mother are invited to a wedding in Cana in Galilee. They travel a few miles from the tiny and humble hamlet of Nazareth to the tiny and humble town of Cana. Like the small villages around it, Cana is obscure, simple, and even poor. From the very start there are very few people here to even behold the glory that is the miracle Jesus is about to perform. Then, when the wine runs out, Jesus and his mother have a conversation about what needs to happen. Though he gently rebuffs her for placing expectation upon him, Mary responds with the right kind of surrender and faith by telling the servants to do whatever Jesus tells them to do.
Then, in this small town at an anonymous wedding celebration, Jesus is left alone with a couple of servants and a handful of young disciples. And it is there, in the back hallway of the house that Jesus performs the first of his miracles.
Though Jesus is teaching his disciples something deep and meaningful about him and his mission on earth, there is no getting around the simple fact that there is also a wedding that needs saving. Jesus saves the groom and his family embarrassment and even shame by quietly turning 180 gallons of water into wine.
I struggle from time to time over the care and attention of God. Of all the things and people in this universe, can it really be true that God not only sees me (is simply aware of my presence the way I am aware of harmless spiders in my basement) but that he cares (more deeply than I care for my own family)? Then I read a passage like this one and am reassured that God reaches even into the simple and humble recesses of life and is ready to perform the miraculous. Not even a sparrow falls to the ground apart from my Father’s attention, and in his eyes, I am worth more that many sparrows.
But John also tells us why Jesus works wonders in the humble estate of my life. After a miracle performed in an out of the way town among only a handful of unimportant people, John says, “This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested his glory. And his disciples believed in him.”
Why is Christ at work in even my life? Every ounce of his activity in my life is designed to reveal the divine splendor and the eternal power and might of my God. He does not work in and through me so that the world might see me – it is so the world around me may see the glory of my Savior and that they might place their trust and confidence in him.
Every moment of my life is pregnant with the glory of God.
Have you ever wondered what God cares about? What is it that catches his attention? What in this universe moves God? After all, he is the Creator, the Author of all time and history, and he knows the position of every atom and molecule in the universe. He sees the beginning from the end and all of human history is simply a glance for God. There are a lot of grand and magnificent things for God to take care of and large sweeps in human affairs for God to pay attention to. Have you ever wondered if God really does take notice – and care – about the microscopic scope of your life?
Jesus’ first miracle in John’s Gospel is a telling glimpse into these questions. And not only does it begin to tell us what kinds of things God cares about, but more importantly, it shows us why he cares about them.
Jesus, his disciples and his mother are invited to a wedding in Cana in Galilee. They travel a few miles from the tiny and humble hamlet of Nazareth to the tiny and humble town of Cana. Like the small villages around it, Cana is obscure, simple, and even poor. From the very start there are very few people here to even behold the glory that is the miracle Jesus is about to perform. Then, when the wine runs out, Jesus and his mother have a conversation about what needs to happen. Though he gently rebuffs her for placing expectation upon him, Mary responds with the right kind of surrender and faith by telling the servants to do whatever Jesus tells them to do.
Then, in this small town at an anonymous wedding celebration, Jesus is left alone with a couple of servants and a handful of young disciples. And it is there, in the back hallway of the house that Jesus performs the first of his miracles.
Though Jesus is teaching his disciples something deep and meaningful about him and his mission on earth, there is no getting around the simple fact that there is also a wedding that needs saving. Jesus saves the groom and his family embarrassment and even shame by quietly turning 180 gallons of water into wine.
I struggle from time to time over the care and attention of God. Of all the things and people in this universe, can it really be true that God not only sees me (is simply aware of my presence the way I am aware of harmless spiders in my basement) but that he cares (more deeply than I care for my own family)? Then I read a passage like this one and am reassured that God reaches even into the simple and humble recesses of life and is ready to perform the miraculous. Not even a sparrow falls to the ground apart from my Father’s attention, and in his eyes, I am worth more that many sparrows.
But John also tells us why Jesus works wonders in the humble estate of my life. After a miracle performed in an out of the way town among only a handful of unimportant people, John says, “This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested his glory. And his disciples believed in him.”
Why is Christ at work in even my life? Every ounce of his activity in my life is designed to reveal the divine splendor and the eternal power and might of my God. He does not work in and through me so that the world might see me – it is so the world around me may see the glory of my Savior and that they might place their trust and confidence in him.
Every moment of my life is pregnant with the glory of God.
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
The Birth of Jesus Christ
Luke 2:1-21
God’s extravagance and humility are shocking. The King of Kings, the Son of God and Son of Man incarnate, the Savior of all humanity, was born into human flesh in an anonymous stable in a small town to the fanfare of the smell of sheep and donkeys. The most important birth in human history happened when and where almost no one was watching.
Joseph and Mary were at home in Nazareth during the final weeks of the pregnancy until the decree came from Rome that sent them on the sixty mile trek to Bethlehem where they were too late to find good lodging. They went from a warm four walls with family to a room intended for animals. And as Luke tells the story, it is almost as if the birth simply comes:
“And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. And she gave birth to her first born son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.” (vs. 6-7)
Everything about the birth of Jesus Christ leads us to the emptying, or the humility, of God. Paul tells us that Jesus, though God, did not count equality with God something to hold on to, but he willingly emptied himself and took the form of a slave (Philippians 2:5-7). The author of Hebrews tells us that because God’s children all share in corruptible flesh, the Son of God took on that same flesh to destroy the one who frightens us with death, the devil (Hebrews 2:14-15).
The birth of Jesus Christ happens in a way completely disconnected from and completely unmoved by the whims and trappings of human power. We seek our stability and power in what the kingdoms of this world tell us is power, but Jesus shows us a better, a deeper and more stable way. Though the most powerful man on the planet, the emperor of Rome, sent Joseph and Mary packing, God had – and still has – his way.
But the extravagance of God? On a nearby hillside there were a handful of common, ordinary laborers doing their job in the middle of the night. And it is to these shepherds that God decides to give maybe the clearest and certainly the most magnificent revelation of the significance of that night. While they watched their flocks by night, an angel materialized and lit up the hillside.
“And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them.” (vs. 9)
It didn’t end there. After another minute or two, God sends an entire choir of the heavenly host to sing the glories of God and the reasons for the birth of their Messiah. Now that is the right way to announce the birth of a King!
But who was the audience? Bethlehem is just a couple of miles from Jerusalem. If God simply moved the angelic choir over a couple of hills, all the population of Jerusalem would have heard the news. Instead, God opens the sky and pours forth his extravagant glory upon a handful of simple shepherds.
We might be tempted to think that was a waste of angelic effort. God didn’t think so. God spoke and the shepherds responded by going to see Joseph, Mary and the baby, and by telling everyone the saw about the glory of God. God didn’t need kings and princes – He needed willing and humble shepherds. There is no effort wasted declaring the glories of our God.
God’s extravagance and humility are shocking. The King of Kings, the Son of God and Son of Man incarnate, the Savior of all humanity, was born into human flesh in an anonymous stable in a small town to the fanfare of the smell of sheep and donkeys. The most important birth in human history happened when and where almost no one was watching.
Joseph and Mary were at home in Nazareth during the final weeks of the pregnancy until the decree came from Rome that sent them on the sixty mile trek to Bethlehem where they were too late to find good lodging. They went from a warm four walls with family to a room intended for animals. And as Luke tells the story, it is almost as if the birth simply comes:
“And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. And she gave birth to her first born son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.” (vs. 6-7)
Everything about the birth of Jesus Christ leads us to the emptying, or the humility, of God. Paul tells us that Jesus, though God, did not count equality with God something to hold on to, but he willingly emptied himself and took the form of a slave (Philippians 2:5-7). The author of Hebrews tells us that because God’s children all share in corruptible flesh, the Son of God took on that same flesh to destroy the one who frightens us with death, the devil (Hebrews 2:14-15).
The birth of Jesus Christ happens in a way completely disconnected from and completely unmoved by the whims and trappings of human power. We seek our stability and power in what the kingdoms of this world tell us is power, but Jesus shows us a better, a deeper and more stable way. Though the most powerful man on the planet, the emperor of Rome, sent Joseph and Mary packing, God had – and still has – his way.
But the extravagance of God? On a nearby hillside there were a handful of common, ordinary laborers doing their job in the middle of the night. And it is to these shepherds that God decides to give maybe the clearest and certainly the most magnificent revelation of the significance of that night. While they watched their flocks by night, an angel materialized and lit up the hillside.
“And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them.” (vs. 9)
It didn’t end there. After another minute or two, God sends an entire choir of the heavenly host to sing the glories of God and the reasons for the birth of their Messiah. Now that is the right way to announce the birth of a King!
But who was the audience? Bethlehem is just a couple of miles from Jerusalem. If God simply moved the angelic choir over a couple of hills, all the population of Jerusalem would have heard the news. Instead, God opens the sky and pours forth his extravagant glory upon a handful of simple shepherds.
We might be tempted to think that was a waste of angelic effort. God didn’t think so. God spoke and the shepherds responded by going to see Joseph, Mary and the baby, and by telling everyone the saw about the glory of God. God didn’t need kings and princes – He needed willing and humble shepherds. There is no effort wasted declaring the glories of our God.
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Worship and the Glory of God
Malachi 1:1-5
One of the pitfalls of daily life as a follower of Jesus Christ is that we can grow cold to the wonders of God, half-hearted in our devotion to Him, and begin living life at arm’s length from the presence of our Creator and Savior. Malachi writes his book to a nation of nominal and lukewarm worshipers. Other prophets write to an Israel or Judah who are worshiping foreign gods and even sacrificing their children on the idols of pagan deities. Clearly there is something to be corrected there. But Malachi’s audience spends their time in the pews, singing the songs of worship, bringing their sacrifices, and repeating all the right words in service. But the words of Christ are true of them, “This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me” (Matt 15:8).
Into a culture where Temple worship is being reinstated, but the hearts of the people are still very far from God, Malachi writes to correct and provoke. Written in a series of conversations, Malachi is a tremendous insight into what God finds important about worship, how his people were blowing it, and what can be done to set it right. And from the very beginning, God puts our focus in the right place.
“I have loved you.” (vs. 2)
What Malachi actually says is more like, “I have loved you in the past, I continue to love you, and I will always love you.” God’s everlasting and faithful love is the very starting point in our understanding of what it means to engage in worship that is acceptable to God. In fact, God’s love for his people is the very cornerstone of his covenant with them. When Jeremiah speaks of the same reality he says, “I have loved you with an everlasting love, therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you” (Jer. 31:3). Notice who does all the work that makes this unconditional love of the Father possible – the Father!
God is his own reason for, his own grounding for, and his own source of power for his love for you. Only then can it be true that his love is everlasting, and that it continues in faithfulness through the years. If God’s love for you were based on you and your faithfulness, how long would that last?
But we don’t always feel loved, just as Malachi’s people respond with, “How have you loved us?” (vs. 2) God’s people were ripped out of their land a generation ago, made to serve as slaves in an evil empire, and now have the backbreaking responsibility of rebuilding their city, Temple, and culture. They don’t feel loved by God. We all feel this way at some point in our lives, and sometimes we express it in our frustration and even desperation. Here, God answers.
The conversation about Jacob and Esau is about God’s love for his people – it is about God establishing a unique relationship with those who belong to him, and that he will forever honor that covenant and love. God’s answer to the question, how has he loved us? I made your relationship with me possible, and I will honor it no matter what you do.
As a result of this life-giving reality dawning on us (“your own eyes shall see this”), we respond in worship of God’s glory. “Great is the Lord beyond the borders of Israel!” (vs. 5) In his righteousness and holiness, God punishes evil – Great is the Lord! In his grace and forgiveness, God creates relationship – Great is the Lord!
God-honoring and life-transforming worship begins with the recognition of the glory of God, and here we see his glory as a result of his love toward us. He loves even us – those who are not perfect, those who rebel against him, and those who in this life will never love him with a perfect and steadfast love. But to us God says, “I have loved you!”
One of the pitfalls of daily life as a follower of Jesus Christ is that we can grow cold to the wonders of God, half-hearted in our devotion to Him, and begin living life at arm’s length from the presence of our Creator and Savior. Malachi writes his book to a nation of nominal and lukewarm worshipers. Other prophets write to an Israel or Judah who are worshiping foreign gods and even sacrificing their children on the idols of pagan deities. Clearly there is something to be corrected there. But Malachi’s audience spends their time in the pews, singing the songs of worship, bringing their sacrifices, and repeating all the right words in service. But the words of Christ are true of them, “This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me” (Matt 15:8).
Into a culture where Temple worship is being reinstated, but the hearts of the people are still very far from God, Malachi writes to correct and provoke. Written in a series of conversations, Malachi is a tremendous insight into what God finds important about worship, how his people were blowing it, and what can be done to set it right. And from the very beginning, God puts our focus in the right place.
“I have loved you.” (vs. 2)
What Malachi actually says is more like, “I have loved you in the past, I continue to love you, and I will always love you.” God’s everlasting and faithful love is the very starting point in our understanding of what it means to engage in worship that is acceptable to God. In fact, God’s love for his people is the very cornerstone of his covenant with them. When Jeremiah speaks of the same reality he says, “I have loved you with an everlasting love, therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you” (Jer. 31:3). Notice who does all the work that makes this unconditional love of the Father possible – the Father!
God is his own reason for, his own grounding for, and his own source of power for his love for you. Only then can it be true that his love is everlasting, and that it continues in faithfulness through the years. If God’s love for you were based on you and your faithfulness, how long would that last?
But we don’t always feel loved, just as Malachi’s people respond with, “How have you loved us?” (vs. 2) God’s people were ripped out of their land a generation ago, made to serve as slaves in an evil empire, and now have the backbreaking responsibility of rebuilding their city, Temple, and culture. They don’t feel loved by God. We all feel this way at some point in our lives, and sometimes we express it in our frustration and even desperation. Here, God answers.
The conversation about Jacob and Esau is about God’s love for his people – it is about God establishing a unique relationship with those who belong to him, and that he will forever honor that covenant and love. God’s answer to the question, how has he loved us? I made your relationship with me possible, and I will honor it no matter what you do.
As a result of this life-giving reality dawning on us (“your own eyes shall see this”), we respond in worship of God’s glory. “Great is the Lord beyond the borders of Israel!” (vs. 5) In his righteousness and holiness, God punishes evil – Great is the Lord! In his grace and forgiveness, God creates relationship – Great is the Lord!
God-honoring and life-transforming worship begins with the recognition of the glory of God, and here we see his glory as a result of his love toward us. He loves even us – those who are not perfect, those who rebel against him, and those who in this life will never love him with a perfect and steadfast love. But to us God says, “I have loved you!”
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