A New Thing

Isaiah 43:18-19

Do not remember the former things,
or consider the things of old.
I am about to do a new thing;
now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?
I will make a way in the wilderness
and rivers in the desert.

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Once I used to join in
every boy and girl was my friend.
Now there's revolution, but they don't know
what they're fighting.
Let us close out eyes;
outside their lives go on much faster.
Oh, we won't give in,
we'll keep living in the past.

"Living in the Past" by Jethro Tull

God says "I am about to do a new thing." Tull says "I don't care, I'm not falling for it." Guess which has more staying power? Even if Jethro Tull can last forever, God has eternity as a head start.

God never changes. This is true. What is also true is that God has never stopped creating. We talk about a love of "the good old days," a time when things were simpler. This could be true, it could be just as true that "the good old days" were just the days that we were unaware of all of the changes happening in our lives. Ignorance is bliss.

Tull says that there's revolution, but we don''t know what we're fighting. That's true as far as it goes. God says not to be beholden to nostalgia, don't remember the former things or consider the things of old. There's comfort in "the good old days" though. Remembering what we learned on our parent's knees, but these words are only as useful as they are to perceive the new thing God does.

God says "I am about to do a new thing" and we need to look with an eye to what is happening. Yet Tull has one thing right, God builds on the foundation laid over eternity. So there is value to what God has done in the past, because that is where the future takes its root.

But beware, if we choose to live in the foundation we will never see the Son.

Man Up

John 9:18-21

The Jews did not believe that he had been blind and had received his sight until they called the parents of the man who had received his sight and asked them, “Is this your son, who you say was born blind? How then does he now see?” His parents answered, “We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind; but we do not know how it is that now he sees, nor do we know who opened his eyes. Ask him; he is of age. He will speak for himself.”

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I'm a man
Yes I am
And I can't help
but love you so

"I'm a Man" by Steve Winwood and Jimmy Miller recorded by The Spencer Davis Group

There are times in this life when you got to stand up for what's right. There's all sorts of ways to say it. Living the the West was the first time I ever heard the phrase "Cowboy Up." It's just the more rustic version of the old "Man Up." Well, for the man who was born blind, who would have thought that it was after he received his sight that he would have to man up.

The man in John 9 was born blind. He had to learn to live his life as an outsider. His opportunities were limited, but he had become a Son of the Law, he had his Bar Mitzvah. In the eyes of the temple and in the eyes of the community he was a man, he was responsible for his words, his actions, and his life. As a blind man in a world that honored the unblemished, he had to man up every day to live and make a living. But then he received his sight, and all bets were off.

The Pharisees examined him, men he only knew from their voices if at all. He told them what happened, about how Jesus, a man he has never seen, opened his eyes with dirt, spittle and a washing. The Pharisees would have none of this though, they called his parents to see if he had really been born blind.

His parents didn't want any part of this. If they defended their son, it would be like defending Jesus. This could get them kicked out of the temple which was the center of spiritual and civic life. If they sent their son to the wolves, they would be heartless. They split the baby in half.

Who opened his eyes? “Ask him; he is of age. He will speak for himself.” I don't want to sound too hard on the parents, but still, they passed the buck. Ask him, he's a son of the law, he's responsible for himself, ask him.

The man's response was innocent enough, he just told them what happened again and asked the wrong question, “Why do you ask me this stuff? Do you want to be his disciples too?” Well, that ended the party.

Because he manned up, he was rejected by the temple elite. But because he manned up, he finally saw Jesus, and when he did, he saw more than just a man-he saw the man who is God. He saw the man who healed him. He saw the man who didn't abandon him when the temple leadership did.

The formerly blind man says to the Lord and to the world, I'm a man, and I can't help but love the Lord. It's a good place to start for everyone who has been healed of blindness to begin. I can't help but love you so.

Rocked on the Water

Jonah 1:4-6

But the LORD hurled a great wind upon the sea, and such a mighty storm came upon the sea that the ship threatened to break up. Then the mariners were afraid, and each cried to his god. They threw the cargo that was in the ship into the sea, to lighten it for them. Jonah, meanwhile, had gone down into the hold of the ship and had lain down, and was fast asleep. The captain came and said to him, “What are you doing sound asleep? Get up, call on your god! Perhaps the god will spare us a thought so that we do not perish.”

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The road is filled with homeless souls
Every woman, child and man
Who have no idea where they will go
But they'll help you if they can
Now everyone must have some thought
That's going to pull them through somehow
Well the fires are raging hotter and hotter
But the sisters of the sun are going to rock me on the water now

"Rock Me on the Water" by Jackson Brown from his self titled first album commonly known as "Saturate Before Using"

Jonah got rocked on the water for one simple reason, The Lord told him "go and warn the city of Nineveh that it wasn't going to end well... soon" and Jonah said, "Er, no." Instead of heading off into the desert he headed off to the sea.

Everybody on that ship was heading off on their way. They had no idea who their fellow passenger was, nor did they have any idea where this trip would take them. They didn't know that they had signed onto a vessel that was doomed because of one man's disobedience. So the Lord brought up a great storm on the sea. They were tossed like they were no more than a cork. The seamen prayed to their own Gods to still the sea and their Gods were worthless. Jonah on the other hand knew what was happening and he took a nap.

How's that for confidence in the Lord. Jonah knew he was being disobedient to the Lord. He knew this danger was the consequence of his disobedience. He was so confident in the Lord and that the coming of the Lord's judgment would come that he could sleep in the midst of pending doom.

Everyone on the boat knew they were going down. They even dumped their cargo so that they wouldn't be swamped by the roaring sea. These harmless souls prayed to their ineffective Gods that they would pull them through this somehow. The captain, knowing Jonah followed a different God, told him to pray to his God for salvation.

Well, Jonah knew what was happening left the boat which saved the crew. Then he was rocked again on the water. Jonah was rocked and God was there. The Lord was present and the Lord provided. It didn't go like Jonah wanted or desired, but the Lord provided. Maybe Jonah is the ultimate example that we don't have to like what God's doing, and that's fine with God. But it is better to go with the tide than to get rocked.

Divine Love

John 3:16

For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.

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I need love, love's divine
Please forgive me now
I see that I've been blind
Give me love, love is what I need
To help me know my name

"Love's Divine" by Seal

Most of the time, this devotional uses the New Revised Standard Version of the Holy Bible as the scripture source against the song lyrics. I generally prefer its translations, it's my preference. Author's choice.

Nearly every translation renders John 3:16 this way. There is a little deviation, but not much. The New Living Translation does something a little different that is worth sharing.

The NLT begins John 3:16 saying, "For God loved the world so much..." That "so much" means the world to me. For those of us who are sophisticated in the use of the English language and reading of Holy Writ, we know that when most translations say "so loved" they mean "loved so much." But some times, it's worth putting in the extra word.

When you look at your spouse or your child, you will say "I love you so much." It's a way of saying "I love you beyond words" and "I love you more than I ever thought I could love."

The love of God is steadfast. It is the love that was given to humanity before we could appreciate it. In truth, we still can't appreciate the depth and breadth of God's love. We just can't. It's partially because of who we are, but more than that it's because of who God is. That's how much God loves us. God loves us so much that he sent his one and only Son, so that every one who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.

This is the divine love of God. Seal's chorus now seems like a prayer, "Please forgive me now I see that I've been blind. Give me love, love is what I need to help me know my name." God loves us so much that in God's divine love, our name is now "Children of Christ."

The Great Escape

Acts 24:27

After two years had passed, Felix was succeeded by Porcius Festus; and since he wanted to grant the Jews a favor, Felix left Paul in prison.

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And the County Judge who held a grudge
will search forevermore
for the band on the run.
Band on the run

"Band on the Run" by Paul McCartney

Paul was imprisoned for raising a ruckus with the leaders of the temple. Acts 23 puts it this way, "Brothers, I am a Pharisee, a son of Pharisees. I am on trial concerning the hope of the resurrection of the dead." Paul was imprisoned because he was preaching the resurrection in the temple and as it was some years earlier, the Pharisees were having nothing to do with it.

The Pharisees conspired to have Paul killed. Nothing as elaborate as the scam that killed Jesus, the time for subtlety was done. They wanted this quick and simple. But with Paul, again a man smarter than the run of the mill Pharisee, he made use of everything at his command. This time he made use of his Roman Citizenship. He demanded to be tried by Rome instead of by the locals. If the temple leadership had been connected to any Roman Citizen's death, there would be Rome to pay.

So Felix, the local leader kept Paul in jail, but that's not the only reason why. Felix's wife was Jewish, so if Paul was killed under his care Felix would have an angry wife. Felix also enjoyed speaking with Paul, even though Paul frightened him; not unlike the case of John the Baptist. Also, Felix was hoping for some bribe money.

So this county judge held a grudge, and held Paul in prison.

Still, all this time, Paul's faith was not shaken. This is because Jesus was not shaken. We are tossed and turned by the strong and the powerful, but when we remain with the one who is stronger and more powerful, we will be tossed, but we will not be forsaken.

The other Paul was on the run for other reasons.

The Walls of Jericho

Joshua 6:2-5

The LORD said to Joshua, “See, I have handed Jericho over to you, along with its king and soldiers. You shall march around the city, all the warriors circling the city once. Thus you shall do for six days, with seven priests bearing seven trumpets of rams’ horns before the ark. On the seventh day you shall march around the city seven times, the priests blowing the trumpets. When they make a long blast with the ram’s horn, as soon as you hear the sound of the trumpet, then all the people shall shout with a great shout; and the wall of the city will fall down flat, and all the people shall charge straight ahead.”

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Joshua fit de battle of Jericho
He tell the boys with the horns get down and blow
They rear back aim they bells at the stars
And said beat me big daddy eight to the bar

"Let My People Go-Go" by The Rainmakers, lyrics by Bob Walkenhorst, from their self titled first album.

The key to the first two sentences in our reading is the multiple verb tenses. "The Lord said" is in the past tense. The Lord did say.

"I have handed," this one is a present perfect construction. This is kind of complicated, but it's something that has happened in the present with future implications. The Lord has handed Jericho over now, and in the future.

Finally we have "You shall march," a future verb. This will be done, you will do this.

Three verb tenses in two biblical verses. Who would have thought one of the most complicated aspects of understanding scripture is verb tense?

The Lord, in God's own time, has accomplished much through us. Even when we have not done what we are supposed to do, to the Lord it's as good as done. They haven't marched around the city yet, but the victory is already won. The victory is already won.

So it's time to tell the boys, or be one of the boys for that matter, and let the horns blow. Aim the bells at the stars, do it Dizzy Gillespie style if that'll do it for you, and hit it! Eighth notes all the way around big daddy, let the horns blow.

This is when the walls fall, when we are confident not in what we do, but in what the Lord has already done. This is why we answer the call of the Lord. Not out of an obligation, we don't answer the call because God can't work without us. Oh, no. We respond to the Lord out of thanks for what is already done by the Lord and will be done through us. This was Joshua's hope, this is our hope too.

Rock Salt

Genesis 19:17 and 24-26

When they had brought them outside, the angels said, “Flee for your life; do not look back or stop anywhere in the Plain; flee to the hills, or else you will be consumed.”

Then the LORD rained on Sodom and Gomorrah sulfur and fire from the LORD out of heaven; and he overthrew those cities, and all the Plain, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and what grew on the ground. But Lot’s wife, behind him, looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.

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The city streets are empty now
(The lights don't shine no more)
And so the songs are way down low

A sound that flows into my mind
(The echoes of the daylight)
Of everything that is alive
(In my blue world)

I turn to stone when you are gone
I turn to stone

"Turn to Stone" written by Jeff Lynne, recorded by The Electric Light Orchestra on "Out of the Blue"

So much has been written about this passage, the turning of Lot's wife to stone, rock salt to be specific. It frequently wraps abound disobedience, she was smited because she did not do as the angels commanded. It's a pretty good lesson, but what if there is more? What if this is a lesson about how grief consumes us?

The family of Lot went from extended generations and dozens of cousins to exactly four in a flash. They had heard the threat prophesied against the city, a very nasty city. As they left town, the Lord rained sulfur and fire out of heaven onto Sodom and Gomorrah. It consumed everything, the cities and the inhabitants, and all the flora and fauna. Everything was gone. Lot's family didn't have a rear view mirror, but I can imagine they would have been able to see the brewing storm as sulfur and fire flew out of the skies like meteorites.

Majestic? Sure. Terrifying? Better be. Putrid? The sulfur smell, you bet. Everything Lot's wife knew, except for her husband and daughters, everything was gone, long gone. Grief and sorrow would be obvious responses. Jeff Lynne sang it well, "The city streets are empty now. (The lights don't shine no more)"

The proper amount of grief is a healthy part of life. Excessive grief is unhealthy. Excessive grief can cause us to stop in our tracks and stop time from moving at all. It can turn us to stone. In a funk of desperation, depression, and sadness; all you can see is "The echoes of the daylight, of everything that is alive in my blue world." And in Lot's wife's blue world, there was little left alive. She was turned to rock salt.

I offer no cheery pep-talk here. I offer that the people of scripture shared the same experiences we do everyday. There is joy, we like to focus on that. There is sorrow and pain and misery. We don't like that so much. Yet in all circumstances, the Lord is with us. In all times of our life, God walks alongside us. Even when we are so consumed with pain, grief, and sorrow it turns us to stone, Emmanuel, God is with us.