Devotion.al

Tag: redemption

  • Help Me Understand

    Help Me Understand

    Psalm 102:12–28; Job 6:1–13; Mark 3:7–12

    The recent Super Bowl reminded me of the first Super Bowl victory of the Seattle Seahawks. Having grown up in the San Francisco Bay Area and experiencing the 49ers and the Raiders, a Super Bowl championship was exciting, but not region-stopping. Super Bowl XLVIII was a disappointment in gameplay, but the Puget Sound and much of the Pacific Northwest was ecstatic with the Seahawks victory.

    The reason to bring this up isn’t the victory itself, but the aftermath. For those of you who aren’t familiar with the area, the areas outside of Seattle proper like to avoid Seattle proper. Yet, people took vacation days and pulled their children from school to go to the Seahawk victory parade. This was a seriously happy occasion.

    That’s kind of the image that we have here in Mark. People from the surrounding area came to the area to find . Can you imagine the ruckus that went with that? All those people! Imagine a small town that suddenly had a huge influx of people from everywhere else (Sturgis is another example of that).

    Amidst all that chaos, all that overwhelming number of people. God moved. People were healed. The wasn’t just near…it was at hand!

    Then Mark just seems to toss in a quick mention about the evil spirits. Yep, nothing to see here. Just along.

    Yet, there is something strange here.

    1. These evil spirits, if they were really in control, would they have gotten anywhere near the of God?
    2. Were the evil spirits drawn to the , even as we are, despite their nature?
    3. Did, perhaps, they seek even when told to be silent?

    The Scriptures don’t say why. That really isn’t the point of the Scriptures. It’s in the of the whys, though, that we exist.
    We shouldn’t avoid the whys. The whys are where most people live. We should be present with in the whys so that they know they are not alone.

    ※Prayer※

    Lord, we always have more . us in our questions, and help us to meet others in theirs. Amen.

  • Wall Fall

    Wall Fall

    Jeremiah 19:1–15; Revelation 18:11–20

    Whether big or small, the demise of a city is no small thing. It could be because of failing to God, or if it’s because of mismanagement, or if it’s because of something out of the city’s control.

    A city is a home to many people, and its demise should never be glossed over. Often, especially in the Scriptures, the fall of the city is the larger picture of the fall of humanity.

    Imagine Jeremiah prophesying the demise of Jerusalem, a city he if for no other reason it was the place God put God’s . There is a reason why Jeremiah is often called the weeping prophet. He mourned the of Jerusalem.

    The heartbreaking part is that the loss and fall of Jerusalem meant that God was taking God’s name and away. While Jeremiah foretold hope, it wouldn’t be for a long time. It is also quite possible that Jeremiah wondered if Israel would really return.

    The fall of Jerusalem was because of the unfaithfulness of the people. That unfaithfulness was in the Promised Land and in the City of God! It is quite possible that he was afraid that they would fall so far when they were in exile, that they would defy God again.

    Babylon could be considered symbolic of that exact scenario. The time for possible redemption had long since passed. Babylon had knowingly and willingly gone against God. It became a place of abandonment. Even those allied to it, and who benefitted from it stayed away as it fell.

    Those around Jerusalem would celebrate its fall as they looked to benefiting from its demise. On the other hand, Babylon was mourned as it fell, not because of the people, the depravity, or the lack of God, but because people would no longer benefit (especially make money) from it.

    The “” of both cities was something mourned by God. God wants to seek redemption and reconciliation. Eventually, Jerusalem (or those who descended from it) did. Babylon is in the last throes of the of times. There is no turnaround for it.

    While time flows, there is always time for redemption and reconciliation. However, at some point, time will end, and redemption and reconciliation are no more.

    ※Reflection※

    • Just as people’s ability to reconcile to God has an end, so does our time on earth (death). Is there some reconciliation and redemption that you need to seek or grant?
    • With the painful throes of politics, economies, lives, and viruses, have perceived the end of time, yet? If so, what has changed in how you approach regarding the Gospel? If not, why do you think you haven’t been impacted?

    ※Prayer※

    Lord, may we see the end of things as imminent, no matter how far away they are. Help to feel the urgency and importance of sharing the Gospel. Help us to partner with you to reconcile and redeem the world. Amen.

  • Power Granted

    Power Granted

    Isaiah 41:14–20; John 1:29–34

    ♫ Nobody likes me; everybody hates; just because I eat wo-oorms ♫

    I don’t know if you remember that song from your childhood. I recall it as some weird camp song. Really, who would eat worms?

    At the same time, I did learn that other cultures ate maggots, caterpillars, and even worms. They would fry them up or even eat them raw.

    Still, though, as being raised in the US, we’re not really into worms as part of our diet. One of our biggest things about worms is, “the early bird gets the worm,” and the first robins of spring eating worms.

    With that in mind, let’s be happy we’re worms!

    Isaiah’s words are odd to us. Which is understandable. Why would someone want to be a worm? I remember kids saying they’d like to be an eagle, or a horse, or a wolf. I don’t recall someone saying they wanted to be a worm.

    For us, it is strange to be called a worm or an insect. Yet, in comparison to the Glory and of God…we are. That is point of Isaiah’s words. Today we might say something like, “we know everything is crazy. We know the world is not making any sense right now. We know that you are hurting or have been hurting. We want you to know that God is bigger than all of that.”

    Worms and insects may not be attractive to you. However, it sums up a far larger number of words. All of it to say, God’s got this.

    That was God’s message to Israel. God is their hope. God is their . If they are looking elsewhere…failure!

    The language God uses is fascinating. The Israelites would flatten and mountains! For us that is solved by explosives and earth movers. In fact, it’s not all that impressive to us. To the Israelites, this was a huge indicator of power! God wouldn’t just redeem them (though that was good), God would them the power to shape the world!T

    he wasn’t just redemption. This is key, especially as we look at Jesus’ coming, along with the story of Jesus’ . Being baptised into the death and resurrection of Jesus is not only about redemption. That’s still great! That’s just not all.

    In fact, one of the greatest of the modern church is redemption and forgiveness has been the evangelistic focus. The power was kind of missed. Some of the charismatic churches displayed “power” through being “slain in the spirit” or “speaking in tongues”.

    It might sound dismissive, but…that’s it?

    In Isaiah, God ties redemption to power, and not just any power, the power to change the world. Of course, just because one has the power, doesn’t mean you should use indiscriminately. We are called to first, and the power should be motivated by the sacrificial love for .

    ※Reflection※

    • What’s your power? (Note that the question wasn’t, do you have power?)
    • Why do you think the church (as a whole) surrendered the power, and was satisfied only with redemption?
    • Why is it so important to know, believe, and act with the understanding that redemption is only the beginning?

    ※Prayer※

    God, you gave us the power to physical mountains, emotional mountains, and spiritual mountains. Help us remember that you also gave us the responsibility to use it wisely and with love, and leave it withering away. Amen.

  • Prepare to Prepare

    Prepare to Prepare

    Psalm 80; Zechariah 13:1–9; Revelation 14:6–13

    If you’ve ever watched a professional chef (besides the competition ones), they will often have pre-cut and -measured ingredients so that when a customer orders a dish, most of the time-consuming work is completed. If you’ve ever ordered a sandwich at Subway, the meat and cheese are already pre-portioned. Ingredients have been prepared to better prepare your meal when you want it.

    Today is Thanksgiving (in the US, at least). A holiday that is culturally identified as involving overeating and family gatherings. COVID has changed that. Many, if not most, families will not be having extended family gatherings.

    Thanksgiving has also been the “gateway” to the Christmas season. It used to be that mere hours after people recovered from overeating, all the malls would turn everything over, and the Christmas (shopping) season would begin.

    Not every Thanksgiving, but this Thanksgiving is the beginning of the Advent season. In the year, one prepares for the Sunday to come. As this Sunday is the First Sunday of Advent, so it is time to prepare for Advent.

    What is Advent? We often shortcut it to mean the days before Christmas. This is certainly true. It is also incomplete. For the ancient church, Advent wasn’t just about the birth of ; it was about the return of Christ. Depending on the era, there would even be an emphasis on the Return rather than the birth.

    There hasn’t been a year like 2020 in decades. This might be the time to look at Advent as something far more than Christmas.

    Asaph (the Psalmist) wants God to come back (not that God really left). Asaph is looking for a restoration of the relationship between the people and God. Asaph recognizes that it really is that the people turned their backs on God, and yet he has faith in the God. As Asaph was part of David’s retinue, we can imagine what must have still been going on around David, as David chose to follow God, and not the unknown gods.

    Zechariah’s words are strong, too. In them we see that the place of prophets and seers is nothing when it does not honor God. In fact, the implication being that the prophets and seers might even be “” idols, rather than faithful followers of and speakers for God.

    Zechariah’s and Asaph’s words still in God and expect God’s restoration of the people.

    While the Asaph’s and Zechariah’s words are full of trust in God, neither avoid a harsh reality. The people need redemption. They needed to be the people of God again. In Zechariah’s time, the was being rebuilt. However, the people whose ancestors had lost their way (with God) were just as lost and needed something greater.

    Regardless of your perspective of who the Beast is, the in Revelation is that the people of God, the church, will go through trying times. The implication is of pain, being outcast, and even . All because they believe in Jesus.

    Whether you believe that Jesus is coming back tomorrow, or you are just waiting for 2020 to , expectation is part of that. Advent is the anticipation of something new, whether it is the birth of a child or the return of the King.

    ※Reflection※

    How do you prepare your and heart for Advent? If you knew Jesus would come back on Christmas Day, what would you do?

    ※Prayer※

    Jesus, as we prepare our hearts for this Advent season, may we look to the innocence of a baby and to the righteousness of the King. Amen.

  • A Promise

    A Promise

    Isaiah 44:21–28; Ezekiel 34:25–31; Mark 14:22–26

    . We are called on to remember things every day. Some have become so ingrained (putting undergarments, I ) that we don’t actually remember them; we just do them.

    Like many things that are ingrained, relationships aren’t. We might take them for granted, but that doesn’t make them ingrained.

    Isaiah’s to the descendants of Jacob was REMEMBER! Remember God, who formed them, called them and redeemed them. They needed to be reminded…again.

    This time, they are called to celebrate. Celebrate freedom. Celebrate redemption. Celebrate a relationship with God.

    The unfolding of their redemption, eventually, results in a new covenant of . This new covenant was to change the very face of the Promised Land.

    The of this covenant was delivered while talking about their return from captivity and exile. This makes the promise sure, as they were indeed delivered. So, where was the fulfillment of this new covenant?

    We Christians say that of course, it is Jesus. Jesus’ life and death personified the concepts of relationship and redemption. The Resurrection is the exclamation point of the promise in Ezekiel.

    In the of God, the lion and the lamb lie down together.

    ※Reflection※

    For you, what is the most important fact about God’s promises? Why?

    ※Prayer※

    God, you have been faithful to us, even when we wander. We you , , and thanks for your grace-filled . Amen.

  • Moving Stone

    Moving Stone

    Mark 16:1-7; Ephesians 2:11–22

    The was an event. Obviously. Yet, in many respects, we miss the extending of the Resurrection. Yes, the Resurrection shows that there is something after. It also shows us that there is something more.

    The event itself begins with what cannot be done alone. The stone being rolled away. This is not a one-, two-, or even three-person job. The stone that would go in front were HEAVY.

    The first “witness” to the Resurrection event was actually the stone being moved. An obstacle beyond a single ‘s ability to bear was removed. Perhaps it is a stretch. Yet, the biggest obstacle for the Marys and Salome to be faithful was removed by God.

    This truly might be reading too much into it. At the risk of that, though, think of Paul’s words to the Ephesians, “For he is our , who made both groups one and tore down the dividing wall of hostility” (Ephesians 2:14).

    The dividing wall is not a small obstacle between two very different people groups who view the other as scum or dirty. The , , , and of the Gospel are able to not just remove what separates them; it is able to join them together.

    The significance is that while their obedience and work is part of the process, it is who has done the greater work. The primary effort is not that of humanity; it is of God.

    When we are divided by seemingly impossible walls, we either try to stay on “our side”, try to scale the wall, or even try to destroy the wall. We often do this in our own power.

    The secular world continues to try to do this by attempting to “adjust” thinking through programs, training, and peer pressure. However, this too is only a work of humanity. It is, as the secular world continues to learn and forget, doomed to fail.

    For those of us who claim Jesus as our Lord and Savior, however, we are called to something greater. Regardless of your political leaning, the is to be an example of how to love. Currently, one of the biggest barriers in the US is political.

    ※Reflection※

    What is one specific thing YOU can do to help heal the divide? Why is it critical to know that the Gospel is the way to remove the divide? How does secular society try to emulate the Gospel?

    ※Prayer※

    Jesus, thank you for removing the wall that separates us from you, and us from each other. Help us to remember the grace, mercy, and love you have shown us, as we engage the world. Amen.

  • Are You There Yet?

    Are You There Yet?

    Romans 7:15-20; Philippians 3:12–21; 1 John 1:6–2:6

    If you’ve ever been on a long trip, whether as a parent or a child, “Are we there yet,” is a common question. So common that some people can time when the next time the question will be asked. The “are we there yet” question is an event- and time-based question with an answer.

    “Are we there yet,” when asked as a spiritual question is something completely different. In a performance-based culture, such as ours, there are often attempts to assess and evaluation the successfulness of our holiness.

    If we are not careful, this can become overwhelming, and even deadly to our spiritual growth. If we are so concerned about how we are evaluated and what the measure is, we are often tempted to meet the “requirement” of without the heart- that we seek.

    When we perform “holiness” through tasks and checkboxes we become as overburdened as the Jews had been for so long with their Law. Thus our “holiness” becomes an act of will. So, when we are tired, discouraged, down, or something else, our holiness house of cards comes tumbling down.

    Paul wasn’t there yet. In Romans, he expresses his /frustration/reality that he keeps missing the mark of things. He recognizes a conflict between our human nature bent towards its own gratification, and our God-nature desiring to be in God’s grace, mercy, and .

    He also writes to the Philippians much the same way. He knows he is “there” yet. That doesn’t stop him from reaching toward the “goal” with all his might. In many respects, Paul’s “forgetting” is key to moving . We are all inclined to our failures (especially when they are painful). It is especially important to have someone to confess to and be held accountable by. Oddly, that seems to help us move on.

    Then there is the “confession” that has been used for generations in some traditions regarding confession and redemption. The sin is an issue. The unconfessed, unrepented, and unreconciled (can be read as unforgiven, but not entirely accurate) sin is the bigger issue. When John talks about not being in fellowship, it is the unconfessed, unrepented, and unreconciled sin that “shows” we are walking in .

    Paul and John (and others) know full well that we have an advocate who is looking to judge us but to forgive us.

    ※Prayer of Confession from the Book of Common Prayer (2019)※

    Almighty and most merciful Father,
         we have erred and strayed from your ways like lost .
    We have followed too much the devices and desires of our own hearts.
    We have offended against your holy laws
    We have left undone those things which we ought to have done,
         and we have done those things which we ought not to have done;
    and apart from your grace, there is no health in us.

    O Lord, have mercy upon us.
    Spare all those who confess their faults.
    Restore all those who are penitent,
         according to your promises declared to all people in Christ Jesus our Lord.
    And grant, O most merciful Father, for his sake,
         that we may now live a godly, righteous, and sober ,
         to the of your holy Name. Amen.

  • Graveside Dancing

    Graveside Dancing

    Psalm 30; Hosea 13:4–14

    Yesterday was the birthday of my stepfather. He passed away years ago. For whatever reason, this year his birthday hit me kind of hard. He and I had our good moments. We had our bad moments. Just like any parent-child relationship. I was his only child.

    At his burial, the priest spoke about his sealing him to Christ. This was spoken pastorally to people grieving. However, scripturally it has some weaknesses. His life, and to my knowledge, and beliefs were not of Jesus Christ.

    On his bed, my wife shared the Good News of Jesus Christ. He was in a “non-responsive” state. Yet, she felt a physical response to the invitation to accept Jesus Christ as his Savior. Only in Heaven will I learn if the baptism was “sealing” as the priest said, or whether the physical response truly was an acceptance of Jesus. I can only hope and in God.

    Why share the angst? “I cried to you for help, and you healed me.” In our pain and sorrow, God is there to “turn [our] lament in dancing”. Joy in Christ in the midst of the pains of life is the life we are called to.

    In lament and pain, it is easy for our faith in God to be shaken, while at the same time relying more firmly on God will help us through the pain.

    There are many kinds of loss. The verses of Hosea summarize loss. The people lost (walked away from) God. They had experienced , then they lost it. The vision of loss sounds brutal. Think of it though from God’s anguished heart.

    “…like a bear robbed of her cubs.” Have you seen a momma bear (or many mothers) separated from their children, with the feeling that the kids are threatened? I’ve seen a recorded version of one and lived the other. Don’t be the one that separates momma from the cubs. Just don’t.

    THAT’S GOD! Something is between momma (God) and the cubs (the children of God)! That is just not going to go well! It could be a kingdom that has the Israel or Judah attached to it.

    THAT is the concept of ransom and redemption. Death and Sheol are not going to be forgiven for taking away the Children of God. The exact mechanism (despite a whole lot of theologians arguing over it for centuries) is unknown. All we know is that heart of God wants to turn our lament into dancing and our sorrow into joy.

    ※Questions※

    1) What’s do you think about dancing at the death of death?

    2) As Christians, why does death still frighten us? If we truly believe that a fellow is in Heaven, why do we grieve?

    3) “Deathbed Conversions” will continue to decrease, as too many don’t know the basics of Jesus. How will you turn regular conversations into God conversations?

    ※Prayer※

    Father, thank you for redeeming us from death through the death and resurrection of your . May the guide our hearts to speak the words of Christ to the world. Amen.