Changes Changing

Malachi 3:6-7

For I the LORD do not change; therefore you, O children of Jacob, have not perished. Ever since the days of your ancestors you have turned aside from my statutes and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you, says the LORD of hosts. But you say, “How shall we return?”

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Just gonna have to be a different man
Time may change me
But I can't trace time

"Changes" by David Bowie

Here's the problem we face as individuals and as the church. We're changing all the time. God never changes. Sometimes we improve and sometimes we don't. God never changes. What makes it difficult is when we change in directions that move toward God and away from society. That's very difficult. What's even worse is the thought that hundreds of years of conventional wisdom rooted in scripture can suddenly be wrong.

The church has dealt with this in the past. In fact, about every 500 years the church faces this in earnest. In the fifth century it came with the writing of the Nicene Creed. One stupid little Latin word, filioque (it means "from the Son"), caused a stink that broke the church into two parts, the Church of Rome (we call it Roman Catholic today) and the Orthodox Church. Half of the church says the Holy Spirit comes from the father, the other half says the Holy Spirit comes from the Father and from the Son. Splittsville!

Five hundred years later it was something else. Five hundred years after that it was a little thing we call the Reformation.

God never changes, we change. It has actually happened since the beginning. Acts 15 describes The Jerusalem Council where Peter wanted the gentiles to be more Jewish and Paul said in Christ we are all Jewish enough. God never changes. We change.

It's happening again all over the world. In the last 100 years, churches with their European roots have begun ordaining the children of African slaves, women, divorced people, and the latest hot button, homosexuals. Each of these changes have caused cracks in the face of the church-some smaller some larger. On both sides of the splits, people say that they are right and the opposition is wrong. In the worst of these, some call themselves faithful and the others unfaithful. Some Godly and the others ungodly.

God never changes and this is the only reason we don't perish.

God says we all have turned from the faith. God says we have turned from the faith since the beginning, so nothing is new under the sun. We have turned from the statutes of God since the first statute, "Don't eat that!" Our salvation is that when we change and when we don't, God doesn't change better than us.

We need to return. We need to return to the Word and we need to return to the Lord. But this is where we must beware, because as we turn we must decide whether we are turning toward or away from God. Regardless of the choice, someone will say the choice is good where others will say it is bad. No sweat, the Lord will judge.

Wanting and Being Wanted

2 Peter 1:3-11 (NRSV)

His divine power has given us everything needed for life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Thus he has given us, through these things, his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may escape from the corruption that is in the world because of lust, and may become participants of the divine nature. For this very reason, you must make every effort to support your faith with goodness, and goodness with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with endurance, and endurance with godliness, and godliness with mutual affection, and mutual affection with love. For if these things are yours and are increasing among you, they keep you from being ineffective and unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For anyone who lacks these things is nearsighted and blind, and is forgetful of the cleansing of past sins. Therefore, brothers and sisters, be all the more eager to confirm your call and election, for if you do this, you will never stumble. For in this way, entry into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be richly provided for you.

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I want you to want me
I need you to need me
I'd love you to love me
I'm begging you to beg me

"I Want You to Want Me" by Rick Nielsen from "In Color" by Cheap Trick

There is a praise song called "People Need the Lord," and it is true enough, but imagine this, the Lord needs people too. It is important to understand that if the Lord did not desire a relationship with people then people would not have been created. The Lord is a loving God who created humanity because of a want to share grace with the creation. Humanity did not have to be created, God wanted to create humanity.

Yes, it is our call, our vocation to sing to the Lord, "I want you to want me," but before we could ever do this, it was the Lord who sang us into existence singing those same words to us. The Lord wants us to want God.

We are called to pray without ceasing because God wants us to need something greater than ourselves and our own devices. God wants us to seek-beg if you will-because in seeking we reach for things that are greater than ourselves.

God loves us in grace and peace. God loves us and creates us by a love as abundant as an overflowing stream. God's love is without end and it is in this love that humanity was created. Yes, God wants us to love in return--and love not just the Lord but all that the Lord created.

Creation screams I want you to want me, not I want you to use me. In this way, the words of Peter's letter are affirmed. As we respond to the call, the vocation, the election of the Lord our God we will not stumble, we will not fall. "For in this way, entry into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be richly provided for you."

This kingdom not only waits for us on the other side of this life, but by responding to God's call to love in this life, the kingdom of God can be made known and shown in our lives too.

The Blessed Call

Romans 8:15b-16
When we cry, “Abba! Father!” it is that very Spirit bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God.

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If life gets hard to understand
And your whole life is way out of hand
Come to Poppa
Come see your poppa

"Come to Poppa" by Earl Randle and Willie Mitchell recorded by Bob Seger and the Silver Bullit Band on "Night Moves"

The days are tough, they're absolutely crazy, and they have been since the first cavemen wondered if they would get enough game to last the winter. The only difference between then and now is that we don't have to hunt and everything's a lot faster. But here's the promise, no matter how tough things are, God is there. We are used to the phrasing of "God the Father," but there's a difference between that and "Abba," a wonderful difference.

"Abba" is the ancient Aramaic equivalent of the American English word "Daddy." In Ireland they would say "Da." "Poppa" is another way this could be said. The difference is an innocent lack of formality. It's a word that is not formal, it's not "father" it's "daddy."

When we cry out "Abba" we put ourselves before the Lord like children, dependent for all things. Yet we aren't coming as beggars, we come as sons and daughters. We come not out of honor or because the father is the patriarch. We come to "Daddy" out of love and joy.

We jump into the outstretched arms of the Lord.

Abba is our blessed call to God. This is how we come to the Lord when life gets way out of hand, coming with love and joy and confidence. Thankfully, that's just how God wants us to come.

A Teacher with a Lesson

Titus 2:7-8

Show yourself in all respects a model of good works, and in your teaching show integrity, gravity, and sound speech that cannot be censured; then any opponent will be put to shame, having nothing evil to say of us.

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Well the dawn was coming,
heard him ringing on my bell.
He said, ``My name's the teacher,
that is what I call myself.
And I have a lesson
that I must impart to you.
It's an old expression
but I must insist it's true.

Jump up, look around,
find yourself some fun,
no sense in sitting there hating everyone.
No man's an island and his castle isn't home,
the nest is full of nothing when the bird has flown.

"Teacher" by Jethro Tull

Teachers, Paul was the most influential voice of the early Christian church. His teachings flow to us today though the many epistles which remain in the New Testament. Some of his teachings are popular, some-particularly some of his teachings about the role of women-are not so popular. Above all, he teaches that our actions will reflect our words. Others will judge our walk with Christ by our acts of peace, grace, and mercy. Jethro Tull teaches some very interesting concepts in the song "Teacher."

"Jump up, look around" begins by saying we must be active, we must be participants in the community. We can't be good Christians living like hermits. We must participate in the community. Yes, there is a time to go off to a quiet place. There is a time for reflection and rest, but that time can't last forever. The three persons of God live in community and we are called to live by that example.

"Find yourself some fun, no sense in sitting there hating everyone" is a call to enjoy the community. The life of occasional sorrow is inevitable. God comforts those who mourn, but we cannot stay like that forever. Bitterness is often a way of life for people, and it's a horrible way of life. God does not hate, not even God's enemies. Jesus prayed for his enemies, there was no bitterness. Life, even the life of Christ, was too short for that.

"No man's an island and his castle isn't home." Our home is not here. Our home is not what we can buy with the money we earn. Our ultimate home is a gift of God's grace. What we have here is temporary. What we have here is ultimately folly. The song also reminds us "the nest is full of nothing when the bird has flown." What is here today is gone tomorrow.

Instead of the bitter solitary life of someone holed up with their earthly wealth and sorrow, we are called to present ourselves to the world as models of good works. We are to present the teaching of the faith in integrity, gravity, and sound speech. By these things there will be nothing that can be said against us. Our walk with the Lord will not be impeached on earth or in heaven.

Heights of Beauty

Psalm 48:1-2

Great is the LORD and greatly to be praised
in the city of our God.
His holy mountain, beautiful in elevation,
is the joy of all the earth,
Mount Zion, in the far north,
the city of the great King.

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What will we do there? - We'll get high
What will we touch there? - We'll touch the sky
But why the tears there? I'll tell you why
It's all too beautiful, It's all too beautiful
It's all too beautiful, It's all too beautiful

"Itchycoo Park" by The Small Faces

God bless the '60's, the decade gave us a definition of "high" that had nothing to do with physical elevation. This is just a part of what the Small Faces give us. While the drug reference is without equivocation, looking at it from a slightly different place will help out this devotion.

Instead of considering this from the end of a bong, imagine it instead from any state of altered consciousness. When we get there it will be so wonderful and so glorious that it will be impossible to stand. We won't be able to handle all of the beauty and joy at once. There will be too much glory to be able to tolerate. It's all too beautiful, our only choice will be to cry for joy in the vision of the high and mighty.

Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised in the city of God. Beautiful in elevation is the joy of all the earth. It's so wonderful that our only real expression of joy is to cry. The heights of God's beauty are beyond all we can ever hope or imagine.

In the presence of God, our place in creation will be different. We will be on the holy mountain of God in the joy of all the earth. We will be in the presence of God Almighty. The only true emotional response will be tears of joy.

What's even more glorious will be the one who will dry our tears.

The Way Home

2Corinthians 5:6-10

So we are always confident; even though we know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord--for we walk by faith, not by sight. Yes, we do have confidence, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord. So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him. For all of us must appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each may receive recompense for what has been done in the body, whether good or evil.

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All the places I've been and things I've seen
A million stories that made up a million shattered dreams
The faces of people I'll never see again
And I can't seem to find my way home

"Far From Home" by Five Finger Death Punch

The nation has been in foreign wars for over ten years now. It's way too easy to talk about the divisive politics attached to these wars, but one thing must be done. We must honor and respect the men and women who voluntarily put their lives on the line.

If people of this country learned one lesson from Vietnam it's that veterans were treated poorly upon their return and this must never happen again. Never should a returning soldier be treated shamefully by the people they have chosen to defend. Never.

The soldier sees the million shattered dreams and faces of people dead and injured. This not only shatters the dreams of the dead but of all those surviving. This makes the path home a difficult one for so many.

But we can be confident that in the grand scheme we walk not by the ways of the world. Our bodies are the temporary vessels that carry us here and now. We work to please God because we will be judged by God. God will judge us by how we treat those who defend us.

There are some who can't find their way home. It is up to us to shine the light of God so that the way be made clear. We don't shine it, but we reflect it. That is our vocation.

Thank You

Genesis 3:22-24 (NIV)

And the LORD God said, “The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever.” So the LORD God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken. After he drove the man out, he placed on the east side of the Garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life.

1Corinthians 15:45-47 (NIV)

So it is written: “The first man Adam became a living being”; the last Adam, a life-giving spirit. The spiritual did not come first, but the natural, and after that the spiritual. The first man was of the dust of the earth; the second man is of heaven.

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Stiff all in the collar
Fluffy in the face
Chit chat chatter tryin'
Stuffy in the place
Thank you for the party
But I could never stay
Many thangs is on my mind
Words in the way

I want to thank you
falettinme
Be mice elf
agin

Thank you
falettinme
Be mice elf
agin

Dance to the music
All nite long
Everyday people
Sing a simple song
Mama's so happy
Mama start to cry
Papa still singin'
You can make it if you try

Sly & the Family Stone: "Thank You (Fallenttinme Be Mice Elf Agin)"

Ah, the fall. The moment after Adam and Eve were deceived into sharing the fruit of the vine and falling from grace. The horror and the pity, I like what George Burns said in the 1980's movie "Oh, God." Adam and Eve were just teenagers, they didn't have the savvy to take on the serpent. Oh well.

Then again, God knew all along that something would happen to gum up the works with creation. If it wasn't one thing it would be another and this is it, the biggy, eating the fruit of the tree of Good and Evil so they would know as much as God. Whoops, that does qualify as the biggy.

But since God knew all along that something would happen, something would have to change, he sent his Son. He sent his Son as the second Adam, the Divine Reset Switch so that all creation would be reconciled to the Creator.

In the beginning we were all living in accord with the Lord, but that changed. In Christ, it changes back. In this we are to say one thing, thank you.

Lord our God, Thank You Fallenttinme Be Mice Elf Agin.