Mark 9:2-9

“Six days later, Jesus took with him Peter and James and John, and led them up a high mountain apart, by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and his clothes became dazzling white, such as no one on earth could bleach them. And there appeared to them Elijah with Moses, who were talking with Jesus. Then Peter said to Jesus, “Rabbi, it is good for us to be here; let us make three dwellings, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” He did not know what to say, for they were terrified. Then a cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud there came a voice, “This is my Son, the Beloved; listen to him!” Suddenly when they looked around, they saw no one with them any more, but only Jesus. As they were coming down the mountain, he ordered them to tell no one about what they had seen, until after the son of Man had risen from the dead.”

“Why the Transfiguration?”

Today’s message is less a ‘sermon’ than a lesson. Not a sermon because I make no exhortation for change. I offer this as a study to gain a, perhaps new, understand of the scripture. And I’ll leave ‘change’ up to you.

Okay, here is the question that comes to my mind when I read this story of the transfiguration, “What is the purpose of the transfiguration?”

You see, I believe that everything in this book is there for a reason. This is not just a book a dry facts it is a book of living truths. So, let’s see what truths we can find hear and how do they become ‘living’ in us.

It is a very short section of scripture and pretty straight forward.

1. Jesus and three disciples go up the hill.

2. Jesus is changed to a ‘glorified state’ and visits with Moses and Elijah.

3. Disciples are confused and afraid and want to build shelters for them.

4. God, the Father, exalts Jesus as His beloved Son

5. Jesus tells the disciples to tell no one.

There are so many ‘whys’ here.

1. Why take some disciples but not all?

2. Why go up on a mountain?

3. Why was Jesus appearance changed?

4. Why were Moses and Elijah there?

5. Why were the disciples able to recognize them?

6. Why were the disciples afraid?

7. Why did the disciples want to build shelters?

8. Why did God speak to the disciples rather than Jesus?

9. Why were they commanded to tell no one?

10. What does this mean to me and to you?

When I run into so many questions, I try to see how the scripture fits into the narrative before and after the event. Interestingly, the seventeenth chapter begins with the words, “Six days later …” Six days after what? I’ll get to that in a minute. However, I want to go back further in the scriptures than the happenings of that last week.

Mark records in his gospel a great number of healings and those were not supernatural events for Jesus, that they were indeed natural for him. These events were not called miracles in the gospels. These events were called signs because they pointed the way to the Lordship and the divinity of Christ.

This signs were often attacked by the Scribes, Sadducees and Pharisees. These religious leaders saw the signs and dismissed them as blasphemous and works of the devil.

For His part, Jesus has systematically demonstrated that the Pharisees had been teaching tradition as if it were God’s law. The Scribes ignored the teachings of the prophets. The Sadducees did not believe in the afterlife.

In every confrontation with those religious scholars of the day, Jesus repeatedly claimed his divine authority to seek the lost and forgive the sinner. But his message was not getting through to very many of them. Here are a couple of examples: Mark 2:3-10 “Some men came, bringing to him a paralyzed man, carried by four of them. Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus by digging through it and then lowered the mat the man was lying on. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralyzed man, “Son, your sins are forgiven.” Now some teachers of the law were sitting there, thinking to themselves, “Why does this fellow talk like that? He’s blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?” Immediately Jesus knew in his spirit that this was what they were thinking in their hearts, and he said to them, “Why are you thinking these things? Which is easier: to say to this paralyzed man, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up, take your mat and walk’? But I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” So he said to the man,11 “I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home.”

And later, after Jesus had called Levi to become a disciple, Mark 2:15-17 records: “While Jesus was having dinner at Levi’s house, many tax collectors and sinners were eating with him and his disciples, for there were many who followed him. When the teachers of the law who were Pharisees saw him eating with the sinners and tax collectors, they asked his disciples: “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?” On hearing this, Jesus said to them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

Mark 2:23-28 tells us, “One Sabbath Jesus was going through the grain fields, and as his disciples walked along, they began to pick some heads of grain. The Pharisees said to him, “Look, why are they doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath?” Jesus reminds them of stories of David and of priests who have broken the Sabbath and “Then he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.”

The other scene that Mark presents over and over is the inability of the disciples to fully understand what Jesus was teaching them about himself and the Kingdom of God.

The examples that I just gave you were said in the presence of His disciples and yet even they keep missing the point that Jesus has come to save and forgive sin. “Oh you of little faith…” wasn’t directed at His detractors but at His own followers. I can almost hear the exasperation in His voice here, in Mark 4:35-41. “That day when evening came, he said to his disciples, “Let us go over to the other side.” Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat. There were also other boats with him. A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?”

He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!” Then the wind died down and it was completely calm. He said to his disciples, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?” They were terrified and asked each other, “Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!”

I have wondered why he didn’t just calm their fears instead of calming the wind and the sea. … Maybe because that was the easier thing to do. The natural forces of wind and sea were obedient without questioning … unlike the disciples.

Later, in Mark 8:27-33, when He asks His followers, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?” The disciples say, “John the Baptist, Elijah, Jeremiah or one of the other prophets.” Now here comes the famous question, when Jesus asks, “But who do you say that I am?” We know that Peter answers, “You are the Messiah.”

Here it appears that Jesus is finally seeing that they are beginning to understand. So once again He tells them that He is bound for Jerusalem where he must die.

Peter, because he can not accept that Jesus will be taken away by death, argues with him to which Jesus replies, “Get behind me, Satan!” he said. “You do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.”

Read your Bible and you will see that, though he taught the crowds in parables, Jesus spoke openly and plainly about his need to give up his life for the salvation of all. Here, Jesus, seeing that the disciples were still not ready to accept this truth about His mission, tells them to tell no one that He is the messiah. I believe it is because His own disciples still don’t grasp the nature of Jesus as messiah. He does not want them to spread the wrong story.

And now, six days later, He takes his strongest inner circle of disciples and leads them to a dramatic experience, the transfiguration.

And who does he choose for this experience? He chooses Peter, James and John; the three most outspoken of the disciples. All three were known to confront Jesus with statements and questions.

These three disciples were ‘blurters’. You know the type; the ones whose thoughts come out of there mouths before they ever reach their brains. As leaders amongst the disciples, these were the ones who NEEDED the experience of the transformation the most.

And look what happened … Jesus was changed, his face shone like the sun and his clothes were transformed to an unearthly brightness … a whiteness no bleach could cause. This was a preview of Christ the King in His heavenly glory. This was the Messiah that was promised … not the Messiah that was expected. Not a military leader and a man of war. This was the divine Son of God, Beloved of the Father. Not a mere messenger but He was the MESSAGE. The Word of God incarnate.

And there, on that mountain top, with His disciples as witnesses, appeared Moses and Elijah. I use the term witnesses in the legal sense here. Remember that by Jewish law an event was judged true or false by the witness of two or more. The testimony of one disciple could have been disregarded. However, the word of three witnesses had to be accepted as true. Now here were Moses, giver of the Law, the very personification of the Law and Elijah, the prophet of prophets who had ridden to heaven in a fiery chariot, standing there with Jesus.

Do you see the see the symbolism here? The Law and the Prophets, the cornerstone of all Jewish beliefs, are standing there with Christ and talking with Him.

Peter got it. For him everything was complete right there … and there he wanted to stay. Let’s build houses and stay right here. Okay, maybe Peter still didn’t get it. Because then God, the Father, in the form of a glowing cloud sets them straight, “This is my Son, the Beloved; listen to him!”

“Listen to him! Draw a big red circle around His words and highlight it in yellow. Underscore His words multiple times. Listen to him! Pay attention. This is not Moses giving you a law and this is not Elijah prophesying, this is MY SON! His time with you is about over, so listen up!” Okay, I have expanded what was actually recorded but that is the feeling of power and importance that I get from that simple line, “This is my Son, the Beloved; listen to him!”

Okay, we started this session with a lot of questions. Let’s revisit them and see what understand we have gained.

• Why take some disciples but not all?

I believe that it was because Jesus realized that these three needed it the most. They were the natural leaders in the group of disciples. If the three of them could truly understand the importance of this event, they would convince the rest.

• Why go up on a mountain?

To get away from the crowds and to be by themselves. This was a ‘by invitation only’ event.

• Why was Jesus appearance changed?

It was a revelation of the heavenly Christ, the divine beloved Son of God. This is Christ as He was and as He will be.

• Why were Moses and Elijah there?

They were recognizable symbols of the Jewish Law and Prophets and two of the most respected historical figures to the disciples. Remember what I said about the testimony of two or more? Here we have Moses, Elijah and God the Father all testifying about Jesus.

• Why were the disciples able to recognize them?

I still don’t know. This goes on my list of things to ask when I get to heaven … if they are still important.

• Why were the disciples afraid?

They were sinful men suddenly in the presence of the Almighty God. And their realization of their sin stood out in fierce contrast to His holiness. Ask yourself what your reaction would be.

• Why did the disciples want to build shelters?

It may have been a sign of honor or it was a desire to extend the experience. Remember what Jesus said to Peter earlier? “You do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.” He clearly is still thinking about human concerns and not God’s concerns.

• Why did God speak to the disciples rather than Jesus?

It was necessary for the disciples to be deep-down convinced that Jesus was the beloved Son of God and that the words that Jesus spoke were the words of the Father. These men were going to be tested soon and their faith had to be rock solid all the way to their cores.

• Why were they commanded to tell no one?

It was not yet time for them to share their testimony with the world. And people have to come to their own understand of Jesus as God’s Son.

• What does this mean to me?

Well, it means that those ‘red words’ in my Bible, the words spoken by Jesus, carry far more weight than words spoken by anyone else in the Bible …. Or anywhere else. He was not an earthly ruler who gave us laws to follow. He was not some philosopher spouting words of wisdom. He was not a prophet giving mysterious and cloudy predictions of the future. He was and is the Son, the Beloved, of the Heavenly Father. And the words He speaks are not to be ignored.

• What does this mean to you?

Well, that one you’ll have to answer for yourself.

Here ends the lesson.

Originally posted Friday, February 3, 2012

Quoted from the New Revised Standard Version of the Holy Bible

Luke 14:1, 7-14

“On a day of worship Jesus went to eat at the home of a prominent Pharisee. The guests were watching Jesus very closely.

Then Jesus noticed how the guests always chose the places of honor. So he used this illustration when he spoke to them: “When someone invites you to a wedding, don’t take the place of honor. Maybe someone more important than you was invited. Then your host would say to you, ‘Give this person your place.’ Embarrassed, you would have to take the place of least honor. So when you’re invited, take the place of least honor. Then, when your host comes, he will tell you, ‘Friend, move to a more honorable place.’ Then all the other guests will see how you are honored. Those who honor themselves will be humbled, but people who humble themselves will be honored.”

Then he told the man who had invited him, “When you invite people for lunch or dinner, don’t invite only your friends, family, other relatives, or rich neighbors. Otherwise, they will return the favor. Instead, when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the handicapped, the lame, and the blind. Then you will be blessed because they don’t have any way to pay you back. You will be paid back when those who have God’s approval come back to life.”

Jesus went to eat

What an amazing social calendar our Lord had while on Earth. We often find him dining with unlikely company. With the tax collector Levi and his friends, with Mary and Martha two single sisters, and we have several examples of him dining with Pharisees, who often bore him ill-will. And that is the case today.

Allow me to set the scene a little bit. First off it is the Sabbath so we know it’s not going to be a large Feast with many delicacies, most likely it will be bread, cold meats and some fruit. The tables will be arranged in a U shape with the host at the far left and his most honored guest at the far right. The guests were placed in order according to seniority, or according to the rank they held. The host and guests were seated on the outside of the U. Servants would serve from the inside. This being the Sabbath, there add wui tut yaa would have been no servants.

In ancient Israel they used to sit on mats at a low table cross-legged, much like the Chinese, Japanese, and other Asian countries. But in the hundred years or so of the Roman occupation they have tended to adopt the Roman style of eating which is sitting at a low table, but reclining on cushions. They would recline to the left and feed themselves with their right hand. No eating utensils, just hands. Each set of two people would dip from the same bowl of food.

Often the host would provide water or oil to refresh the face and hair. It was common to clean your hands before eating. This was accomplished without washcloths but with slices of course bread. They would rub their hands upon the bread and let the crumbs fall to the floor for the dogs.

Once all the guests had arrived, the host would close the door and the meal would begin.

I found the following Commentary by Emerson B. Powery (Ph.D., Duke University) is a Professor of Biblical Studies at Messiah College and I’m using it with only minor editing.

Jesus loved the gatherings around meals; at least, that’s what we are led to believe in the Gospel of Luke. This was one of the primary distinctions between him and his ascetic mentor John the Baptist. He doesn’t even deny the charge that he enjoyed more than his share of wine at many meals (Luke 7:33-34

John the Baptizer has come neither eating bread nor drinking wine, and you say, ‘There’s a demon in him!’ The Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Look at him! He’s a glutton and a drunk, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’). In our story, Jesus is at a banquet and tells a “parable” about the meal setting, which is followed up by another story about another banquet. He can’t get enough of what happens at meals.

On another note, it should not be surprising that Jesus shares a meal with some of the Pharisees. Once we remove the negative impressions we have of this formidable group and recognize their influence on many people during the first century, we should not be surprised by this encounter. Just a few verses earlier some Pharisees actually assisted Jesus by informing him of Herod’s plans to locate Jesus (cf. 13:31). This suggests a more neutral relationship between “the Pharisees” and Jesus in Luke’s Gospel.

By chapter 14, Luke has established a pattern of Jesus’ freer activity on the Sabbath. These Pharisees, not surprisingly, are “watching him closely” (14:1); perhaps it is due to what they have heard about Jesus’ Sabbath practices earlier. Whenever this verb is used — “watching” — the religious leaders do not do this simply out of curiosity.

They are trying to trap Jesus, either in some activity like healing on the Sabbath or something inappropriate he might say. But, here, after Jesus heals someone on the Sabbath, there is no little to no reaction to Jesus’ activity. Luke wishes to draw our attention elsewhere in this short story. He would like us to think about “meals” in first century life.

In the Gospel of Luke, meals, in particular, provide central settings for Jesus’ mission. And, the language of food, in general, serves as a basis for Jesus’ teaching. (cf. Luke 11:5-6

Jesus said to his disciples, “Suppose one of you has a friend. Suppose you go to him at midnight and say, ‘Friend, let me borrow three loaves of bread. A friend of mine on a trip has dropped in on me, and I don’t have anything to serve him.’

Eating is a sign of life (Luke 8:52-55

Everyone was crying and showing how sad they were. Jesus said, “Don’t cry! She’s not dead. She’s just sleeping.” They laughed at him because they knew she was dead. But Jesus took her hand and called out, “Child, get up!” She came back to life and got up at once. He ordered her parents to give her something to eat.) 17:27-28; 24:43) and celebration (Luke 15:23

Bring the fattened calf, kill it, and let’s celebrate with a feast.). But it also symbolizes the harsh realities for the enslaved (Luke 17:7-9

“Suppose someone has a servant who is plowing fields or watching sheep. Does he tell his servant when he comes from the field, ‘Have something to eat’? No. Instead, he tells his servant, ‘Get dinner ready for me! After you serve me my dinner, you can eat yours.’ He doesn’t thank the servant for following orders.). Food has religious connotations as well (cf. 6:1-4; 7:33; 14:15; 22:14-20); Jesus “blessed” it (Luke 9:16

Then he took the five loaves and the two fish, looked up to heaven, and blessed the food. He broke the loaves apart and kept giving them to the disciples to give to the crowd.30) and prayed for it daily (Luke 11:3

Give us our bread day by day.)

Even though Jesus shared several meals with Pharisees (cf. 7:36), they often complained about his choice of (other) table-fellowship companions (sinners) and about how his associates secured food on the Sabbath (picking grain as they walked through a field) Unlike his possible mentor (John the Baptist), Jesus loved food and his disciples followed suit. Just as he expects to care for the physical needs of others, he expects that others will provide for his disciples when they minister among them.

Indeed, he assumes that friends will share it, which is a natural outgrowth of first-century Jewish culture. Theologically, he believes that God will provide for the basics of life, so he teaches and acts accordingly.

In Luke 14, Jesus is less interested in the actual food than in the composition of the banquet. So, he tells a story about meals and honor. It’s an unusual “parable” in light of its clear references. His story emphasizes two components of the banquet setting: (1) the selection of “seats” (honor?); and, (2) the invitation list. In an honor and shame culture, avoiding shame is of the utmost importance. This is not simply embarrassment. Public shame may have tangible implications for the shamed. A family’s bartering practices or marriage proposals can be negatively affected by a public shaming, if the shame is significant enough.

On the opposite end, public honor — determined, in this story, by the host — may come to those who express public humility. Jesus expresses expectations for hosts. His words are a challenge to the honor system embedded in first-century culture. To secure one’s place in this system, it was appropriate to invite friends, family, and rich neighbors. Reciprocal requests would ensue, as the public acknowledgement of an honorable person may bring its own rewards.

But Jesus calls into question this type of caste system, imagining instead hosts who choose to associate with people who are “poor, crippled, lame, and blind” as their new network. The problem for hosts, however, as Jesus explicitly recognizes, is that no honor is forthcoming in return. Rather, it’s an investment in the future.

So what?

“One does not live by bread alone,” as Jesus argues in the temptation scene when he was tempted by the devil for 40 days. During those days Jesus ate nothing, so when they were over, he was hungry. The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become a loaf of bread.” Jesus answered him, “Scripture says, ‘A person cannot live on bread alone.‘”

Nor is Jesus only concerned about what happens at meals. His teaching is about the way we treat others, especially those among us who unable to “pay us back.” In a modern democratic society in which public political rhetoric emphasizes that all are (created) equal, it is easy to miss the emphasis of Jesus’ teaching in his own status-oriented, honor-shame and hierarchical space.

Yet, we have our ways of distinguishing one from another, in order to structure our contemporary world. Oftentimes, these distinctions among us hinder us from true fellowship with one another. Jesus’ story is a reminder to us about the company we keep.

As Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. understood, “Our goal is to create a beloved community and this will require a qualitative change in our souls as well as a quantitative change in our lives.”

Originally preached September 01, 2019

Isaiah 61:1-4, 8-11

The spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, because the LORD has anointed me; he has sent me to bring good news to the oppressed, to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and release to the prisoners; to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn; to provide for those who mourn in Zion– to give them a garland instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the mantle of praise instead of a faint spirit. They will be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, to display his glory. They shall build up the ancient ruins, they shall raise up the former devastations; they shall repair the ruined cities, the devastations of many generations.

For I the LORD love justice, I hate robbery and wrongdoing; I will faithfully give them their recompense, and I will make an everlasting covenant with them. Their descendants shall be known among the nations, and their offspring among the peoples; all who see them shall acknowledge that they are a people whom the LORD has blessed. I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, my whole being shall exult in my God; for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation, he has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself with a garland, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels. For as the earth brings forth its shoots, and as a garden causes what is sown in it to spring up, so the Lord GOD will cause righteousness and praise to spring up before all the nations.

Luke 1:46b-55

“My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant. Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed; for the Mighty One has done great things for me, and holy is his name. His mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation. He has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts. He has brought down the powerful from their thrones, and lifted up the lowly; he has filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away empty. He has helped his servant Israel in remembrance of his mercy, according to the promise he made to our ancestors, to Abraham and to his descendants forever.”

“How Blest Are We?”

“Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed,” Mary sings in a psalm in today’s scripture reading. But when we look at the facts of Mary’s life, we see troubles and pain and turmoil. She is pregnant out of wedlock, which is punishable by being stoned to death.

The Roman’s who have conquered and are occupying the Jewish nation require a census for taxation purposes. This forces Joseph and Mary to travel toBethlehem while she is about due to deliver a baby.

Then she gets to Bethlehem and finds they must spend the night in a stable. And in a stable she gives birth.

So far this doesn’t seem to fit our modern concept of be blessed, does it?

And it gets worse. When the king hears of the baby’s birth he sends soldiers to find and kill all the children in the area. She has to uproot her family and go with Joseph and Jesus to a country that certainly is not a “friend to Jews”, Egypt.

Take your choice of people in the old or new testaments and you’ll find that everyone that was blessed was beset with troubles.

Abraham was blessed and the blessing required him to leave his home and security and go to an unknown land. And if we look closely at that blessing we see that it is THROUGH him that all the world is to be blessed.

Kind David, after he is anointed as Israel’s true king by the prophet Samuel, has to run and hide because Saul wants to kill him.

Moses, it is said, was a prophet like no other because he talked face to face with God. However, there is not much in his life that could match up with our concept of being blessed. He escaped being killed at birth only by being set adrift in the Nile (think about Nilecrocodiles which still on occasion actively hunt people). As a young man, he has to flee to the desert. Then God blesses him and sends him back to Egypt to have a showdown with one of the most powerful and ruthless men in the world. Even when he has won that battle, he has to lead a bunch of surly, cantankerous, whiners to a Promised Land that they refused to enter. And then has to put up with them for another forty years. And in the end, he doesn’t even get to enter the Promised Land himself.

John the Baptist was blessed of God and lived in the wilderness eating locust and honey before he became a homeless, traveling preacher. And for his faithfulness, he was beheaded by Herod as a present for his daughter.

Jesus, the very Son of God, did not live a life of ease and free of troubles. You may have realized when we read the Bible passage from Isaiah that this is the passage that Jesus read in the synagogue and then told the crowd that He was the person that Isaiah was prophesying about. As a result those good, religious people took him out of the synagogue to a high hill and tried to throw him off of the cliff. That is the way His ministry started. And we know, that in the end, they did succeed in killing Him.

All of this tells us that our concept of blessings is way to narrow. When we think of blessings, we think of things like our health, our family, our jobs, our friends, our homes, or our wealth. Amen?

Now listen, I’m not saying that those things that I’ve listed aren’t blessings. What I’m saying is that those blessings are given to us so that we can BE a blessing.

If God has opened the windows of heaven and poured out for us an overflowing blessing, you can be assured that it wasn’t given to us to hoard. We know that, right?

We remember, “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal. ”

Count your blessings. Count them one by one. Count your many blessings, see what God has done.

I may never sing that song with the same innocence that I’ve sung it in the past. Amen?

About a dozen years ago a new understanding of blessings came to me when I was reading and thinking about Romans 8:28 “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God to them who are the called according to his purpose.”

I had always loved this verse because it gave me comfort that God was on my side. Anybody else love that verse and claim it as your own?

However, one day I saw it with new eyes. I saw that it said “all things work for the good”. It didn’t say that all things were going to be good. It wasn’t a promise of “A cloud of pink ice cream where every star is a candy bar and the moon is a marshmallow dream.”

It said that God would take everything and everyone that I encountered in life and make it good for me. Good for me. You know, like this medicine is good for me. The foul smelling, nasty tasting medicine that makes me want to vomit, is good for me. You know what I’m talking about here. Amen?

I came to understand that I don’t have to like it, for it to be good for me. We don’t have to like it for it to be good for us. We don’t have to like it for it to be a blessing for us.

What we have to do is turn it over to God and he will make it good “for” us. Do you see?

Now we have lived long enough that we can look back on our life and see many things that came into our life that were far from pleasant. And yet because of that unpleasant experience, our life was ‘shifted’ onto a better path. We have been blessed.

And like all those who came before us, we are to BE blessings.

We are to bring good news to the oppressed, to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and release to the prisoners; to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor,

bring good news to the oppressed, to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and release to the prisoners; to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor,

to comfort all who mourn, to provide for those who mourn, to build up the ancient ruins, to raise up the former devastations, to repair the ruined cities, and the devastations of many generations.

And we do that by taking whatever comes into our life and turning it over to God. We need to give it as an offering of our will to Him. And He in turn gives us a peace that the world will never know and can not take away.

I have a joy, joy, joy, joy down it my heart. Down in my heart to stay. Amen.

Amen.

©2011 Thomas E Williams

Originally published Friday, December 9, 2011

Joshua 3:7-17
Then the LORD said to Joshua, “Today I will begin to honor you in front of all the people of Israel. I will do this to let them know that I am with you just as I was with Moses. Order the priests who carry the ark of the promise, ‘When you step into the water of the Jordan River, stand there.'” So Joshua said to the people of Israel, “Come here, and listen to the words of the LORD your God.” Joshua continued, “This is how you will know that the living God is among you and that he will certainly force the Canaanites, Hittites, Hivites, Perizzites, Girgashites, Amorites, and Jebusites out of your way. Watch the ark of the promise of the Lord of the whole earth as it goes ahead of you into the Jordan River. Choose one man from each of the 12 tribes of Israel. The priests who carry the ark of the LORD, the Lord of the whole earth, will stand in the water of the Jordan. Then the water flowing from upstream will stop and stand up like a dam.” So they broke camp to cross the Jordan River. The priests who carried the ark of the promise went ahead of the people. (The Jordan overflows all its banks during the harvest season.) When the priests who were carrying the ark came to the edge of the Jordan River and set foot in the water, the water stopped flowing from upstream. The water rose up like a dam as far away as the city of Adam near Zarethan. The water flowing down toward the Sea of the Plains (the Dead Sea) was completely cut off. Then the people crossed from the east side of the Jordan River directly opposite Jericho. The priests who carried the ark of the LORD’s promise stood firmly on dry ground in the middle of the Jordan until the whole nation of Israel had crossed the Jordan River on dry ground.

1 Thessalonians 2:9-13
You remember, brothers and sisters, our work and what we did to earn a living. We worked night and day so that we could bring you the Good News of God without being a burden to any of you. You and God are witnesses of how pure, honest, and blameless we were in our dealings with you believers. You know very well that we treated each of you the way a father treats his children. We comforted you and encouraged you. Yet, we insisted that you should live in a way that proves you belong to the God who calls you into his kingdom and glory. Here is another reason why we never stop thanking God: When you received God’s word from us, you realized it wasn’t the word of humans. Instead, you accepted it for what it really is–the word of God. This word is at work in you believers.

Matthew 23:1-12
Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples, “The scribes and the Pharisees teach with Moses’ authority. So be careful to do everything they tell you. But don’t follow their example, because they don’t practice what they preach. They make loads that are hard to carry and lay them on the shoulders of the people. However, they are not willing to lift a finger to move them. “They do everything to attract people’s attention. They make their headbands large and the tassels on their shawls long. They love the place of honor at dinners and the front seats in synagogues. They love to be greeted in the marketplaces and to have people call them Rabbi. But don’t make others call you Rabbi, because you have only one teacher, and you are all followers. And don’t call anyone on earth your father, because you have only one Father, and he is in heaven. Don’t make others call you a leader, because you have only one leader, the Messiah. The person who is greatest among you will be your servant. Whoever honors himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be honored.

Hebrews 12:18-29 You have not come to something that you can feel, to a blazing fire, to darkness, to gloom, to a storm, to a trumpet’s blast, and to a voice. When your ancestors heard that voice, they begged not to hear it say another word. They couldn’t obey the command that was given, “If even an animal touches the mountain, it must be stoned to death.” The sight was so terrifying that even Moses said he was trembling and afraid.

Instead, you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, to the heavenly Jerusalem. You have come to tens of thousands of angels joyfully gathered together and to the assembly of God’s firstborn children (whose names are written in heaven). You have come to a judge (the God of all people) and to the spirits of people who have God’s approval and have gained eternal life. You have come to Jesus, who brings the new promise from God, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better message than Abel’s. Be careful that you do not refuse to listen when God speaks. Your ancestors didn’t escape when they refused to listen to God, who warned them on earth. We certainly won’t escape if we turn away from God, who warns us from heaven. When God spoke to your ancestors, his voice shook the earth. But now he has promised, “Once more I will shake not only the earth but also the sky.” The words once more show clearly that God will change what he has made. These are the things that can be shaken. Then only the things that cannot be shaken will remain. Therefore, we must be thankful that we have a kingdom that cannot be shaken. Because we are thankful, we must serve God with fear and awe in a way that pleases him. After all, our God is a destructive fire.

Message: Tale of Two Mountains

Subtitled: the New Promise from God

The author of the “Letter to the Hebrews”(probably Paul the Hebrew of Hebrews as he said in Philippians 3:5) encourages the Jewish Christians to … keep on keeping on … in their Christian path even through tough times. Because rough times will come. He could well have quoted what Jesus said in Matthew 6:34

“So don’t ever worry about tomorrow. After all, tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

Paul encouraged them not to turn back to Judaism, to the old familiar path.

Come on, you all know how hard it is to break a habit. And once the habit is broken, how difficult it can be to not slide back into it. When push comes to shove we tend to fall back into those old patterns.

Remember that the first Christians were Jews and at the beginning was considered to be another Jewish sect just as the Sadducees and Pharisees. However, in the thirty-plus years since Jesus’s death, things have changed. The new Christians were no longer allowed to worship in the synagogues. And what Jesus had predicted in Luke 12:51-53 Came to pass as he said, “Do you think I came to bring peace to earth? No! I can guarantee that I came to bring nothing but division. From now on a family of five will be divided. Three will be divided against two and two against three. A father will be against his son and a son against his father. A mother will be against her daughter and a daughter against her mother. A mother-in-law will be against her daughter-in-law and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.” These are some of the things that were tempting these Christians to return to Judaism to the old familiar ways.

The author showed them how much the Christ centered church differs from that of the Jewish congregation. He uses the imagery of two mountains, Mount Sinai and Mount Zion.

He said something along the lines of, “Y’all remember what happened to yer kinfolk at Sinai?” (What? You didn’t know Paul/Saul of Tarsus was from – southern – Turkey?) Okay, so he continued, “They’d been on the run since escapin’ from Egypt. Anyways, they got to this here big ol’ rocky hill called Sinai, didja know that means hatred? Right off that don’t sound at all friendly.

So, here they were comin’ up to this mountain an’ this James Earl Jones voice boomed out, “Keep your hands off my mountain!”

No, seriously, God said if’n they touch it they’d die.

If’n their animals touch it they’d die.

Let me make myself clear y’all. You know that scene in the Wizard of Oz with the booming voice and smoke and fire? That is just a cheap knock off.

‘Cause God showed ’em smoke an’ fire like you ain’t never seen.

That whole mountain was ablaze and full of gloom and dark with a hurricane force wind. It was one scary ol’ place.

They hear’d an ol’ horn blow and they heard God speak. His voice scared the stuffin’ right outta them. They pleaded for him not to speak to them like that again.

No wonder they were terrified! Even Moses was terrified after seeing what happened on the mountain, he said, “I’m shakin’ like a leaf because I am scared to death!”

Remember, this is the God of their salvation from slavery in Egypt.

And yet they stood at the base of that mountain with pee-down-your-leg fear of the awesome display and sounds of God’s manifestations at Sinai.

Now the Apostle emphasizes the contrast between Sinai and Mount Zion and demonstrates how much Zion resembles the state of Christ’s church in heaven.

Using an expanded version of

Hebrews 12:22-23, listen to what the points that the author had to make about Zion.

1. “It is as though they had come to the presence of God in heaven.

2. That it is like what their ancestors did when they came to worship God on Zion Hill, in Jerusalem, in the city of the all-powerful God.

3. They are coming to where there are countless angels, together, who are rejoicing as they have gathered together.

4. They have joined all the believers who have privileges like firstborn sons, whose names God has written down in heaven.

5. They have come to God, who will judge everyone.

6. They have come to where the spirits of God’s people are, people who lived righteously before they died, and who now have been made perfect in heaven.”

The epistle author built the image of this new congregation as being the spiritual Mount Zion on which will rest the New heavenly Jerusalem.

Okay time for a little history and geography lesson. Zion, in the Old Testament was the easternmost of the two hills of ancient Jerusalem. … It appears to be a pre-Israelite Canaanite name of the hill upon which Jerusalem was built; the name “mountain of Zion” is common. In biblical usage, however, “Mount Zion” often means the city rather than the hill itself. Thank you, britannica.com

This was the hill on which God set his king the Messiah. Listen to the words of the prophet Zechariah (9:9-11)

“Rejoice with all your heart, people of Zion! Shout in triumph, people of Jerusalem! Look! Your King is coming to you: He is righteous and victorious. He is humble and rides on a donkey, on a colt, a young pack animal. He will make sure there are no chariots in Ephraim or war horses in Jerusalem. There will be no battle bows. He will announce peace to the nations. He will rule from sea to sea and from the Euphrates River to the ends of the earth. I will set your captives free from the waterless pit because of the blood that sealed my promise to you.”

Does that disruption fit anyone you know of? About 500 years before Jesus was born, Zechariah reported God’s words to his people so that they would recognize him when he came in three flesh.

Now, in coming to the new mount Zion, Christianity, believers come into heavenly places, and into a heavenly society.

These two mountains show the contrast between the old covenant and the new covenants. The old is solid, unyeilding, and with all of the “Thou shalt nots!” More than a little scary. The new is loving, full of light, life, and grace. In the old testament the Temple was where people came to God. In the new testament, Christ comes where two or three are gathered in his name. In the old, people were told what NOT to do. Don’t murder, cheat, or steal et cetra. In the new, we are told WHAT to do. Serve each other, love each other, and forgive each other.

Now, I’ll admit that I’m a little like these early Jewish Christians who wanted to continue living by the law of Moses. I like rules. I like to know where the boundaries are.

But, though God issued laws with which to train his children, those laws were never designed to earn salvation. For example, God said to Moses, “I will be kind to anyone I want to. I will be merciful to anyone I want to.” Therefore, God’s choice does not depend on a person’s desire or effort, but on God’s mercy. (Romans 9:15-16)
Though I am glad God is a God of Justice I’m extremely thankful that he is God of mercy and grace because of the blood of Jesus that sealed God’s promise to us. Just as the prophet Zechariah said.

During Holy Communion, we come to Jesus to partake of his blood of the new covenant between God and man. As we accept what Jesus accomplished when his blood which flowed when he died on the cross. His doing that made it possible for God to forgive us. It was his doing not ours.

Paul warned the Jewish Christians and I now tell you to beware that you do not refuse to listen to God who is speaking to you. The Israelite people did not escape God punishing them when they refused to listen as Moses warned them here on earth. So neither will we escape God punishing us, if we reject him when he warns us from heaven.

Paul reminds his listeners that the Earth shook when God spoke to the people at Mount Sinai. And that God has promised that He will shake the Earth again one more time and he will shake the sky also.

Paul records, “The words once more show clearly that God will change what he has made. These are the things that can be shaken. Then only the things that cannot be shaken will remain.

Understand that everything that is physical will be shaken. Only the spiritual realm of heaven will remain unshaken.

In the Revelation of John 21:10-11, he wrote, “He carried me by his power away to a large, high mountain. He showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven.” This is the new Jerusalem for the new mount Zion.

I’m reminded of the words of this hymn.

Come, Thou Fount of every blessing,

Tune my heart to sing Thy grace;

Streams of mercy, never ceasing,

Call for songs of loudest praise.

Teach me some melodious sonnet,

Sung by flaming tongues above.

Praise the mount, I’m fixed upon it,

Mount of Thy redeeming love.

Thank the Lord for His streams of mercy. May we all be fixed on Zion, the Mount of His redeeming love. Amen.

©2019 Thomas E Williams

Originally published August 25, 2019