Gospel Heritage

In psalm 67.1-3 it is clear that the psalmist knew the special place of Israel as a light and messenger to the nations.  “May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face to shine upon us, that your way  may be known on earth, your saving power among all nations.  Let the peoples praise you, O God; let all the peoples praise you!”

Two of the promises to Abraham in Genesis 12 were that he would become a great nation, and all the “families” of the earth would be blessed through him. The Israelites knew they were the fulfillment of the first promise, and they expected that God’s face shining on them would be one means of making the second part so – others would see God’s saving power and desire Him.

But it was easy for some to rely on heritage rather than faith. It was easy to shift from thankfulness to complacency; some expected that God would always bless them just because of their ancestor. They needed to remember the reason Abraham was blessed was because of his trust in the One True God of the universe.  His true descendants are not based on progeny but on belief.

So it must have been a surprise when Babylon attacked, razed the city and took the survivors away as captives.  They did not remember that God keeps ALL his promises, including the basic message of Deuteronomy 28:  Obey and be blessed; disobey and be cursed.  The prophets warned of their disobedience; they did not have the faith to believe them or God.

John 3:18 re-emphasizes this point.  After the gloriously familiar “For God so loved the world” of verse 16, the next verses note that the saving criterion is belief in Jesus Christ. “Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.”

The pattern is clear.  Abraham believed and was blessed.  Many Israelites did not believe the warnings of scripture and were punished.  Jesus offers a choice:  Believe and have eternal life OR don’t believe and miss out!

ScrapIron

ScrapIron

 

 

A line from the long ago Redd Fox show caught my fancy.  The main character was talking about naming a child and lamented, “All the good names are taken, like Scrapiron and Skillet.”

I suggested those names for our kids, but they were shut down (along with Christopher and Katherine – Kit Knapp and Kat Knapp). Ever since, I have offered them to pregnant couples, just to expand their options.  Sadly, no takers. The closest thing is a rock group called Skillet.

A couple of weeks ago Diane and I were at the Prairie Arts Festival in Schaumburg, Illinois with daughter Linnea.  Lots of fancy jewelry, paintings and woodcarvings, plus one guy who took old garden tools, springs, and sparkly things and made them into art.  The springs make necks, and the creations bob their heads gracefully.  I bought one because I knew everyone who saw it would be impressed. 

“What are you going to name it,” Linnea asks.  “I don’t know…  but not Fred.”  “How about ScrapIron?”

“YES!”

So, now Scrapiron is calmly hiding in the back yard.  Come visit him when you have a chance.

To Talk or Not to Talk

A man bought a very expensive parrot.  He spoke to it nicely, hoping the bird would start to talk.  Every morning he would pass the cage and cheerfully call out, “Good morning. How are you?”

The bird did not respond at all.  Sometimes it would even look away when it saw the man coming.

After several weeks, the man was discouraged.  One day he walked by the cage without saying anything. The bird looked at him and said, “Well, what’s wrong with you this morning?”

 

Unequally Yoked

“Don’t marry an unbeliever” is standard wise counseling for young Christians.  Second Corinthians 6.14 – “Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers” – is the common biblical reference used.  Verses 14-16 give a list of examples of unequal yokes:

  • Righteousness and lawlessness
  • Light and darkness
  • Christ and Belial (devil)
  • Believer and unbeliever
  • Temple of God and idols

Verses 16-18 cite Leviticus and Isaiah to make the case for being set apart:

  • I will be their God and they shall be my people
  • Go out from their (unbelievers’) midst and be separate from them
  • Touch no unclean thing and I will welcome you
  • I will be a father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to me.

God is a jealous God and wants his people devoted to Him and His ways; history tells us that unbelievers will drag believers away from Him.

Look Closely

Amateur Proorfreader

 

What I if told you, you read the first phrase wrong?

 

People hate when sentences don’t end the way they banana.

 

The defendant was accused of putting dynamite into a steer.  Abominable!

A Town Called Nain

Jesus raised a widow’s son from the dead in Luke 7.11-17.  It is not as well-known as the raising of Lazarus, but the episode is filled with the glory of God. 

The funeral procession was headed to the gravesite just as Jesus arrived.   This is another case of Jesus’ perfect not-coincidental timing.  He had compassion on the woman, a widow who had lost her only son; the circumstances of her life would be very difficult.

Jesus touched the funeral bier, unafraid of the “uncleanness” attached to such an action.  He had already dealt with lepers and in the next chapter heals a demoniac and a bleeding woman.  His actions pointed out the relative importance of the law compared to himself; he came not to abolish the law but to fulfill it.

This event early in his ministry helped people understand that something very out of the ordinary was happening.  “Fear seized them all.”  And, appropriately, “they glorified God,” calling Jesus a great prophet and thanking God for visiting them.  The news of this miracle traveled fast, partly because he had brought a large crowd along; they were all witnesses.

Luke the writer helps later generations of Jews to understand the significance of Jesus as prophet.  The phrase “Jesus gave him to his mother” in verse 14 is exactly the wording of 1 Kings 17.23, when Elijah raised a different widow’s son.

Providential Punt

Have you ever been at a prayer meeting when the leader doesn’t show?  It is good to have something in your back pocket, a list of ideas, a set of implements in your tool box that you can pull out at such a time.  Know the times – Jump in quickly to prevent people leaving or dissolving into discussion, but be ready to relinquish control if the leader is tardy rather than absent.

Here’s a couple of simple direction that serve several purposes:  They get people talking, they start with the scriptures, they provide lots of material for prayer, and they can be communicated in less than a minute..

Depending on the size of your prayer service, you may need to break into smaller groups, but for 6-10, this works well.  Ask everyone to tell what they have been reading in the Bible recently and what they have been learning.  Then say that the group will be using all these verses to guide us in our prayers.

One morning recently we heard quick synopses of verses from Deuteronomy, Kings, Jeremiah, Nehemiah, Hebrews and the Beatitudes.  The prayer time covered, among other things, Christ –centered, Hebrews-driven praise and worship; confession of sin based on the wickedness of the Kings; beatific peace and comfort for suffering congregational members; and support and Nehemiah-like wisdom for church leaders.