Maundy Thursday Hymn

This Isaac Watts hymn, Alas! and Did My Savior Bleed, was the first one sung at our Maundy Thursday service last week.  Written in 1707, it has a time-honored, deep understanding of the good news for believers.  The writer knew his own sin, understood the pain and grief Jesus experienced on the cross, and marveled at the depth of love and grace that made his redemption possible.  His thankfulness led to the last line, “Lord, I give myself away, ‘tis all that I can do.”  His response to his Savior was to make Him his Lord.

 Alas! And did my Savior bleed, and did my Sovereign die! Would he devote that sacred head for such a worm as I!

Was it for crime that I had done he groaned upon the tree! Amazing pity! Grace unknown! And love beyond degree!

Well might the sun in darkness hide, and shut his glories in, when Christ the mighty Maker, died for man the creature’s sin.

Thus might I hide my blushing face while his dear cross appears; dissolve my heart in thankfulness and melt mine eyes in tears.

But drops of grief can ne’er repay the debt of love I owe; here, Lord, I give myself away, tis all that I can do.

Providential Non-Move

God has some interesting ways of telling you when to move and when to stay.  A year after Diane and I were married, we tried to leave Spartan Village, Michigan State University, family and friends to pursue teaching careers in Illinois. We had both  completed Bachelor’s degrees and were looking at next steps.  I had been accepted into a Masters Degree program at the University of Illinois; the goal was preparation for teaching math at the community college level.  Diane had applied for high school teaching jobs all over the Champaign-Urbana area.

In the early summer of 1973 we made a trip past Chicago and down highway 57 to finalize living and school arrangements.  First we checked out University housing, found it to be acceptable, and said we would be back to leave a deposit after we checked in with the Math Department.  There, we were stunned by a secretary who told us they had no job for me – the funding for the community college training had been terminated by President Nixon, so they were closing up the program.   

That was just weird.  First of all, the whole site had that slightly unreal feel of a familiar setting where you had never been before. Second, it didn’t seem right that the Department waited for us to get there to tell us we had no job and would be paying out-of-state tuition for courses that were no longer part of a degree plan.  And third, the whole disappointing turn of events was the fault of the President of the United States! What did Mr. Nixon have against me? I think I even voted for him.

We were certainly happy we had not left a deposit with the housing office.  And we were very glad we had not had any moving sales or unloaded prized crates and homemade furniture. 

Upon returning to East Lansing, my advisor in the Math Department said they would be glad to offer me a teaching assistantship to fund a Master’s Degree, but I would be on my own to take education courses.  We settled back into Spartan Village for two more years.  Diane landed a teaching aide job the first year and then a full time position in Laingsburg starting that second year. And we stayed.

It is also interesting that daughter Linnea now works at University of Illinois – Chicago, and our niece Katie works for U of I – Champaign.  They are both MSU grads and I don’t think Illini blood is seeping in yet.

Cool Number Dates – 4/20/14-4/26/14

Easter Sunday is cooler than any cool number day.

Even so, Today, Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday all have even digits – divisible by 2.  The numbers in the dates all include 4 for the month and 14 for the year.  The days are 20, 22, 24, and 26.

And the half-back day for the month is Thursday, 4/24/14.  Go up 20 from 4 to 24.  Then come half way back (10) from 24 to 14.

Delivery Issue

Two men, one from Hungary, and one from Czechoslovakia, were staying in a small village.  One day they went for a walk but did not return by nightfall.  The villagers were worried and sent out a search committee.  They found two fat bears in the woods and shot them both.  When they opened the female, they found the Hungarian.  They shook their heads and one said, “I bet the Czech’s in the male.”

Predicted Betrayal

Psalm 41 is a lament, raising up to God the distress the psalmist is going through.  His enemies hope he dies (verse 5); his visitors “utter empty words” (vs 6); he has haters who gossip about his grieving (vs 7-8).

But verse 9 is the most crushing: “Even my close friend in whom I trusted, who ate my bread, has lifted his heal against me.” Such betrayal is an awful event.  Still, the writer can say at the end, “Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, from everlasting to everlasting.”

The psalmist was recording more than he knew. Just after washing the disciples’ feet in John 13, Jesus quotes from Psalm 41:  “But the scripture will be fulfilled, ‘he who ate my bread has lifted his heel against me.’”  Jesus then handed bread to Judas Iscariot, who left the meal to do his betraying work.

The suffering psalmist wrote it and Jesus quoted it more than 500 years later.  Jesus adds to the list of scriptures he is fulfilling as the Messiah, the chosen one of God.  The betrayal by Judas was just one of many ignominies Jesus suffered through.  And like the psalmist, he looks past his pain to glorify the LORD, the one true God of Israel.

The Gospel Is Wise

The poem in Job 28 starts with a description of the great effort men expend to find precious metals and gems in the earth; gold and diamonds are well hidden.  Then a powerful question is posed in verse 12: “But where shall wisdom be found?  And where is the place of understanding?”  Wisdom’s value exceeds that of gold, silver, onyx, and sapphires, crystal, pearls or topaz (verses 15-19).

Verse 23 points to the answer: “God understands the way to it, and he knows its place.” This is as it should be, because wisdom was present when God created the universe (Proverbs 8.22-31).  In the last verse of Job 28, God tells man, “Behold, the fear of the LORD, that is wisdom, and to turn away from evil is understanding.”

This coupling of fear of the LORD with turning from evil is repeated in many places in scripture (see Proverbs 3.7, 14.16, 16.6 and Ecclesiastes 12.13).   Turning from evil sounds like “repent” – more than being sorry or remorseful, but vowing and striving to stay away from sin.  And fear of the LORD sounds a lot like “believe” in Him.

So we can say that Jesus’ call to “repent and believe” (Mark 1.15) is laced with godly wisdom.  The gospel of Jesus Christ, the offer of salvation through the cross and resurrection,  is not only good news, but it is wise.

Palindrome Week!

Today is tax day, but more importantly, my friend Greg pointed out that EVERY day this week is a palindrome, a number (or word) that is the same frontwards and backwards:

41314, 41414, 41514, 41614, 41714, 41814, 41914

I have two conclusions out of this finding.  First, I am regularly amazed at how blind I am to things right in front of me.

And second, there will be a nice palindrome week for at least the next five years:  May 2015; June 2016; July 2017; August 2018; September 2019. 

Enjoy the week!