Judgement, then No More Denial

Ezekiel 38:18-23

This is what will happen in that day: When Gog attacks the land of Israel, my hot anger will be aroused, declares the Sovereign Lord. In my zeal and fiery wrath I declare that at that time there shall be a great earthquake in the land of Israel. The fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, the beasts of the field, every creature that moves along the ground, and all the people on the face of the earth will tremble at my presence. The mountains will be overturned, the cliffs will crumble and every wall will fall to the ground. I will summon a sword against Gog on all my mountains, declares the Sovereign Lord. Every man’s sword will be against his brother. I will execute judgment on him with plague and bloodshed; I will pour down torrents of rain, hailstones and burning sulfur on him and on his troops and on the many nations with him. And so I will show my greatness and my holiness, and I will make myself known in the sight of many nations. Then they will know that I am the Lord.’

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Red rain
Ohhhh
Putting the pressure on much harder now
To return again and again
Just let the red rain splash you
Let the rain fall on your skin
I come to you defenses down
With the trust of a child

Red rain is coming down
Red rain
Red rain is pouring down
Pouring down all over me

And I can't watch any more
No more denial
It's so hard to lay down in all of this

"Red Rain" written and recorded by Peter Gabriel from "So"

What in the world has Israel done? They have done something so bad that Magog of Gog has been dragged from his pit by the Lord by hooks in his mouth to lead a great and dreadful army against the nations of Israel. Does Israel have any idea what's coming? Let's face it, if they thought something bad was coming down the pike they had no idea this was coming.

Israel has returned again and again to the Lord. Read the books of Judges and Kings sometime. Good judge or king rules. Everybody's happy. The nation sins. Bad judge or king takes over. Everybody's unhappy. Israel repents. Good judge or king rules. Wash, rinse, repeat. They come with defenses down with the trust of a child and the red rain keeps coming down.

Sometimes, judgement keeps coming down.

And sometimes...

No more denial. When we repent we come to know what we have received, the grace and peace of our Lord Jesus Christ, is real. When we can't watch any more, when we can't deny the devastation that is wrought upon our world, we must turn from it. That is when we are ready. To feel the truth that God's grace has been present all along. The red rain continues to fall, it is hard to lay down in all of this, but it is so much better when we do.

The chaos that overwhelms our lives is the judgement which rains down on us. Is that judgement of God or does it just seem that way? Either way, it rains down. Then in the words of Ezekiel, "Every man’s sword will be against his brother. I will execute judgment on him with plague and bloodshed; I will pour down torrents of rain, hailstones and burning sulfur on him and on his troops and on the many nations with him. And so I will show my greatness and my holiness, and I will make myself known in the sight of many nations. Then they will know that I am the Lord."

In the words of Peter Gabriel, "No more denial."

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.

Who Do You Say That I Am?

Matthew 16:15

He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”

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I know there's a place you walked
Where love falls from the trees
My heart is like a broken cup
I only feel right on my knees
I spit out like a sewer hole
Yet still receive your kiss
How can I measure up to anyone now
After such a love as this

"Who Are You" by The Who from "Who Are You" (1978)

This may be the first question we ask. As the doctor takes us from the safe and warm place we call home and our mothers call their womb, before language the first question we ask is "Who are you?"

This question repeats itself as we become more aware of the people we see on this earth. We will ask it of parents, siblings, family, classmates, friends, and lovers, "Who are you?"

Even as we begin to wonder about our very existence and start asking questions about life and our place in it, we look to the mirror and ask one more time, "Who are you?"

This may well also be the first question we ask of God. "Who are you?"

There was quite a buzz about Jesus at this point of Matthew's gospel. The 5,000 had just been fed with five loaves and 4,000 more with seven loaves. So as Jesus entered Caesarea Philippi he asked his disciples, "Who do people say that the Son of Man is?"

They started giving Jesus the answers to his question, like any good student will respond to the Rabbi. John the Baptist, Elijah, Jeremiah, one of the prophets; answers abounded. Sure they were all wrong, but the breadth of their answers showed how wildly the crowd was buzzing.

Jesus then turned the question on them. "But who do you say that I am?" Simon Peter, the first guy to boldly go where angels feared to tread, responded saying, "You are the Messiah, the Christ, the Son of the living God."

I was once asked if the cup was half-empty or half-full. I said the cup is broken. I said it out of rage, knowing the cost of sin. Sung by The Who, this answer makes a different sound.

My heart is like a broken cup
I only feel right on my knees

Life is broken, but we are reminded of where we can go when there is no where else to go. We are reminded of the grace of being invited to take our broken cups to the throne of God's glory.

I spit out like a sewer hole
Yet still receive your kiss
How can I measure up to anyone now
After such a love as this

In no uncertain terms, our sin-soaked lives are a place where it would seem God wouldn't want to come. Humanity has taken creation, the garden, and turned it into a sewer hole. And still, we receive the kiss of God's grace--not the Judas kiss we more likely deserve.

It's true, if we could only come before God when we are clean enough, we would never ever dare approach. But God doesn't love us despite who we are, God loves us because of who we are, even when who we are is a a mess. We can't measure up to this love, but that doesn't stop God from inviting us. That didn't stop God from sending the Son to invite us. That didn't stop the Holy Spirit from coming and dwelling within us even today.

Such grace, such peace, such love, it makes me ask "Who are you?" And it makes me as glad there is an eternity to lovingly discern the answer.

The Weight and The Burden

Matthew 11:28-30

“Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

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I pulled into Nazareth, I was feelin' about half past dead;
I just need some place where I can lay my head.
"Hey, mister, can you tell me where a man might find a bed?"
He just grinned and shook my hand, and "No!", was all he said.

Take a load off Fanny, take a load for free;
Take a load off Fanny, and you put the load right on me.

"The Weight" written by Robbie Robertson and performed by The Band with Mavis Staples and the Staples Singers from "The Last Waltz"

Just to get this out of the way, this song wasn't written as a biblical allegory. It was written about a guy pulling into Nazareth, Pennsylvania. Each verse has the singer encountering people from town. It's as easy as that.

Then again, if you can't draw a parallel to the birth narrative of Jesus you aren't trying very hard. While this devotional takes the easy biblical reference, it's the rest of the song, the encounters with other townsfolk, that makes it interesting.

Through the rest of the song, after the Inn Keeper the singer meets Carmen and the Devil, Miss Moses and Luke and Anna Lee, Chester and Jack the Dog. It's just a slice of life in Bethlehem. Maybe it does seem a little more like scripture every moment through the day.

The Gospels are filled with random people whose lives intersect Jesus and his disciples. Sometimes the fellow travelers are annoyed, but Jesus is always gracious. He runs into people carrying the weight of the world on their shoulders everyday, and everyday Jesus makes the way lighter.

In Christ there is rest for the burdened, weary soul. Jesus never promised a Club Med for the soul. We aren't promised everyday will be a picnic, what we are promised is that Jesus is there and his way is better than anyway we can discern on our own.

By the grace and peace of our Lord Jesus Christ, we are saved. Our loads add nothing to the journey and more often than not they detract from the path. It's up to us to pull off the road, and while we're walking the streets of Nazareth, be sure to say hello to Jesus and take his load. Gentle and humble are better than busy and laden any day of the week.

Seeking and Being Sought

Psalm 37:7

Be still before the LORD, and wait patiently for him;
do not fret over those who prosper in their way,
over those who carry out evil devices.

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I have spoke with the tongue of angels
I have held the hand of a devil
It was warm in the night
I was cold as a stone

But I still haven't found what I'm looking for

"I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" by U2

Wanting in and of itself isn't a bad thing. It's how advancements are made. Necessity is the mother of invention. If you're happy with everything then there's nothing else you want. But this life is not all that there is, and as people of Christ we want more. Of course as creatures infected with sin, there's more stuff we want that's not good for us than what is good for us.

The evil in our society always seem to have more and better stuff. But we are still called not to fret over their success. So that leaves the rest of us wanting and wondering. We seek the better things yet we strive to live a better life than a robber-baron. We might shake hands with the devil, but we are also called to tell him that we don't want any. The tongues of the angels are more of what we are to seek, these keep us warm at night. U2 has this part right.

U2 also has this part right which comes from the end of the song:

I believe in the Kingdom Come
Then all the colors will bleed into one
Bleed into one
But yes I'm still running

We know what we believe in. We know the source of our salvation. We know salvation comes by grace through faith. But still we run. What do we run from? More U2 shows us:

You broke the bonds
And you loosed the chains
Carried the cross
Of my shame
Oh my shame
You know I believe it

But I still haven't found what I'm looking for

Our only answer is to be still and know that as we are seeking what we are looking for, God seeks us at the same time. God seeks us from the cross cast in our sin and shame that breaks our bonds and looses our chains. So we do need to seek, we need to seek the face of God. The Good News is that God seeks us too.

St. Patrick and the Songs of Zion

Happy St. Patrick's Day


Psalm 137:3

For there our captors
asked us for songs,
and our tormentors asked for mirth, saying,
“Sing us one of the songs of Zion!”

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It's been so lonely without U here
like a bird without a song
Nothing can stop these lonely tears from falling
Tell me baby where did I go wrong

"Nothing Compares 2 U" by Prince covered by Sinead O'Connor

Patrick, the Patron Saint of Ireland. The man who rid the island of snakes. The man who brought Christianity to the Emerald Isle. Here is something you may not have known about him. He was brought to Ireland as a slave when he was young. He was kept as a slave to an Irish nobleman for several years.

Here's where the story goes sideways. Patrick escaped the nobleman and Ireland. When he escaped he became a Christian. He became so consumed by the Good News of Jesus Christ, the Good News of forgiveness that he went to Ireland to spread the Good News.

He was well received by everyone... well almost everyone. His former master was so ashamed he set his castle aflame and committed suicide in the fire rather than face Patrick and the grace of Jesus Christ. Truly, this man went from keeping slaves to becoming the slave.

Patrick never knew the "songs of Zion" when he was a captive, but when he did, and when he found his mission, he went to his captors and shared his mirth with his tormentors, a far cry from the psalmist.

The Isle was a bird without a song. Patrick provided the song. Tears fell when it was time to mourn, but in the joy of the Good News of Jesus Christ there was joy.

This is the lesson of St. Patrick's Day, a song of Zion, a song of joy, a song of forgiveness. Lonely tears may fall, people will ask where things went wrong, but in forgiveness there is new life. In forgiveness there is new life in Christ.

Scourged

John 19:1-3 (NRSV)

Then Pilate took Jesus and had him flogged. And the soldiers wove a crown of thorns and put it on his head, and they dressed him in a purple robe. They kept coming up to him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” and striking him on the face.

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Sometimes I feel
Sometimes I feel ... like I've been tied to the whippin’ post
Tied to the whippin’ post
Tied to the whippin' post
Good Lord I feel like I'm dyin'

"Whippin' Post," written by Greg Allman, recorded by The Allman Brothers Band on their self-titled debut album.

Some days, many days, it's impossible to make sense of current events. Maybe it's because compared to even fifty years ago there are so many more current events with so much more coverage of each of them.

Recently there have been shootings, war and talk of war, terror and those who bring terror from the ends of the world to your town. Drug problem? I'm not advocating drug use, but accounting for prescription drug use and abuse who says there isn't a drug problem. The election cycle? You'd think the world has gone off its rails. The world is gone fully mad.

In the ancient world, it was the time of the Passover, Rome was in charge, the religious leaders were in fear for their status in the temple and synagogues, and politicians were doing what politicians do. Everyone was trying to corner their little part of the power market, and here comes the one who is power.

Then comes the Lord, He who is, He who is the I AM. He was abused for no other reason than being who he was and being himself in the world. Mocked, scorned, ridiculed. Our Lord was scourged, flogged, and whipped. In the end, all I can say is that when I have been run down, lied to, feeling like a fool, I worship a God who has been on the whippin' post too.

Still, even after being tied to the whipping post our Lord stayed by our side, even when humanity did not stand by his. He was generous, even when he was mocked. He turned even when beaten. He was King of the Jews even when he was mocked being called the King of the Jews.

If there is one thing we must say about Jesus, even as we say life is difficult and life is uncertain, it is that he has been there too. Jesus experienced these very same things. He was wrongly accused and then tried and hung up to dry. He was left to rot in the noonday sun on a garbage heap. He has seen our troubles. He still offers his grace. We know our troubles, but have we accepted his grace?

Ashes to Ashes

Ash Wednesday


Genesis 3:19
Remember that you are dust and to dust you will return.

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Ashes to ashes, funk to funky

"Ashes to Ashes" by David Bowie from "Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps)" (1980)

Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent, the season of introspection, reflection, and repentence. Who says the season doesn't need better Public Relations?

Of course, we're more familiar with Ash Wednesday's naughty cousin, Mardi Gras. Given the choice between reveling like tomorrow won't come and wearing ashes hearing someone in a black robe say, "From dust you came and to dust you will return," who wouldn't take beer and beads any day of the week?

Of course, there's more to the choices than that, which is why I've been the guy in the black robe holding the ashes.

"From dust" is the curse laid upon humanity after the fall, after the first (the original) sin. Upon eating of the tree Adam and Eve learned of death, and they learned what it would mean to them, they would return from whence they came. When the only rule you had to follow was "Don't eat that," it's a mighty fall from grace to death.

Ashes to ashes, funk to funky.

Still, there is more to Lent than just ashes and fasting. Today, many of us will be reminded of this curse, this curse Jesus accepted as his own, the truth that the body will be put to the ground. We do this with the mark of the ash. Jesus did this by the agony of the cross. But in this agony there is mercy and there is grace.

A few years ago, when imposing the ashes, I was encouraged to say "You are a child of God. From ashes you came and to ashes you will return." This first sentence is the addition. It should be understood of course, and it should be repeated as often as possible. It's easy to remember pain and suffering. It's easy to remember work. It's easy even to remember the glory of what comes after the end. But without the joy of what comes with life in God in Christ, we are truly lost. And we are all children of God, that must never be forgotten.

As Adam and Eve were God's children we are God's children. As they were disciplined for disobeying we too are disciplined for disobeying, but the joy of life in God; that is something they could not forget and something we must always remember.

By the mercy of God, let us be marked as his. Marked by the ash, and by his blood. Marked that in life and in death we belong to God.

Saved by Grace

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Ephesians 2:8-10

For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God--not the result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are what he has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life.

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If I should fall from grace with God
Where no doctor can relieve me
If I'm buried 'neath the sod
But the angels won't receive me

Let me go, boys
Let me go, boys
Let me go down in the mud
Where the rivers all run dry

"If I Should Fall From Grace with God" written by Shane MacGowan, recorded by The Pogues on the album of the same name

The fear of all God fearing people, falling from God's grace. It's the ever present worry that we won't be able to live up to God's standard. When we we fear that, we fear we will lose salvation. We fear we will be buried 'neath the sod but the angels won't receive us.

Fear not! The cry of all scripture from God to the people, fear not! God love us, God loves us. God is so rich in mercy that while we were still living a life ripe with trespasses, life filled with sin, God is so rich in mercy that we were made alive through Christ, saved by grace through faith.

The wonderful thing about grace is that we cannot earn it by our works. Grace is a gift freely given. If we had to work for it then it would no longer be grace, it would no longer be a gift. It was given before we even had the opportunity to try to earn it. Let me say again, the free gift of God's good grace was offered before we had the opportunity to try to earn it.

Our good works aren't like "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory." If we open enough chocolate we won't find the Wonka Golden Ticket to get us beyond the factory gates. This is salvation by works, we are saved by grace through faith.

Yet we were created to do good works. God has made us in Christ Jesus for good works to become our way of life. So if our good works aren't for our salvation what's the use? Our good works reflect the light of Christ in the world. Our good works show God's light in the world.Our good works aren't for our glory, but project God's love onto a needy world.

Saved by grace through faith shows God's merciful kindness to creation. Merciful kindness, in the words of a famous theologian, God loves us not despite who we are, but because of who we are. Live into God's grace not because it will get us anything, but because we are thankful for everything.

Salvation and the Preacher Man

Ephesians 2:4-7

But God, who is rich in mercy, out of the great love with which he loved us even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ--by grace you have been saved--and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.

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Can't no preacher man save my soul

"Barton Hollow" by The Civil Wars from the album "Barton Hollow" written Joy Williams and John Paul White

Here's a fact for people who don't understand Christianity and preachers who are too full of themselves: Can't no preacher man save any soul. I mean any soul. That's all there is to it, it's as easy as that.

The preacher man does no saving. Jesus is the source of salvation. It is by God's grace alone, shown on the cross, that we are saved. Salvation means nothing without faith. Without faith, salvation still means everything to God, but nothing to those without faith.

People expect some sort of magic or some such nonsense, preacher man gonna save (or try) to save a soul. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Sometimes it's the preacher man who thinks something the preacher does is gonna save (or try) to save a soul. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Foolishness or ignorance or arrogance are the only things that give this lyric any sort of traction. There is nothing, nothing, that can separate us from God. But that's not because of our doing, it's because God won't allow it.

So go ahead, enjoy the old expression "God doesn't want me and the devil's scared of me" but know that's a lie and the only person who is fooled by it is the person who says it. No preacher man can talk you into your own salvation, but that's fine. God is still there and God with Christ raises us up and seats us in the heavenly realm, the eternal home of the Triune God. This is God's immeasurable loving kindness, it has nothing to do with us.

The Hold of the Law

Galatians 3:23-26

Now before faith came, we were imprisoned and guarded under the law until faith would be revealed. Therefore the law was our disciplinarian until Christ came, so that we might be justified by faith. But now that faith has come, we are no longer subject to a disciplinarian, for in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith.

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Just hold on loosely
But don't let go
If you cling to tightly
You're gonna lose control

"Hold On Loosely" by .38 Special

For those of you who believe this story sexist, you're probably right, but the point is important.

There is an old story about a girl of dating age and her mother walking along a beach. The girl asked her mother "how can I keep the love of a man?" Her mother picked up two handfuls of sand. One she clenched in her fist. When she did the sand came out of the sides of her hand and between her fingers until her hand was nearly empty. The other hand she held loosely and most of the sand stayed.

Hold on loosely, but don't let go. If you cling too tightly, you're gonna lose control.

This is one of the ways laws work. When the law tries to hold too tightly onto control, what the law seeks to contain, control will invariably fall from the iron hand. We've seen it too many times. The best example is prohibition of alcohol. Prohibition was the law that set organized crime into motion in America. Since then, the hope to control alcohol, drugs, gambling, pornography, the sex trade, abortion and any number of other activities have only grown when made illegal.

In short, the law doesn't work when it comes to sin. It points out what the sin is, and from time to time can specify punishment, but in and of itself it can't end sin. The Law defines sin, but it can't end it.

This is my opinion, and it's bound to be long-term objective, but I believe it to be better to live so that we have no need for alcohol, drugs, gambling, pornography, the sex trade, abortion and whatnot than it is to try to control it.

Literally, in my opinion, it is better and ultimately more effective to work to end the need for abortion than it is to try to control abortion access by making it illegal. The need for abortion is bad, only by ending the need will we ever end abortion.

I'm not talking about solving the old issues, I'm talking about reframing the issues as the first step toward living the way God wants us to live.

Paul writes, "Now before faith came, we were imprisoned and guarded under the law until faith would be revealed." Aren't issues like alcohol, drugs, gambling and so on examples of how we are imprisoned and guarded under the law? We know it is illegal because the law says so. So the law was our disciplinarian until Christ came.

Paul continues, "But now that faith has come, we are no longer subject to a disciplinarian, for in Christ Jesus we are all children of God through faith." We are saved by grace through faith. It is through God's good grace that we are saved, not by the law.

Yes, the 613 mitzvah, the 613 commandments of the Old Testament are important. They show us how to live, but they will not save us. They cannot save us. This is why we need Jesus, the Living Torah, the Law Incarnate. The law educates, but it is a guidepost, not a fence post. To God alone can we hitch our lives and beings.

Future, Love, Paradise

Start the video at 2:25 because for some reason it restarts from there. Thanks.

Matthew 5:3-12 (NRSV)

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
“Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
“Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
“Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy.
“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.
“Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

“Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

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But if only you could see them
You would know from their faces
There were kings and queens
Followed by princes and princesses
There were future power people
Throwin love to the loveless
Shining a light 'cause they wanted it seen

Well, there were cries of why
Followed by cries of why not
Can I reach out for you
if that feels good to me?

And the riders will not stop us
'Cause the only love they'll find is paradise
No, the riders will not stop us
'Cause the only love they'll find is paradise (paradise, yeah)

Future, Love, Paradise, by Seal, from Seal (1991)

The image of the grand procession is one of the greatest glory in the Kingdom of Heaven. Imagine the Kings and Queens followed by Princes and Princesses, who (and this is so wonderful) shine the light because they wanted it seen.

These good Kings and Queens don't shine the light for their own glory, they shine the light for the benefit of their subjects. They shined the light to throw love to the loveless. What a wonderfully glorious image-love to the loveless. This is what the Lord wants us to do with the light given in Jesus Christ-to share it with others, others in need. God wants us to share love with the loveless.

This call is given for one simple reason, those who face adversity receive blessings in accord with what they faced. The poor in spirit will receive the kingdom. The mourners comforted. The meek will inherit the earth. Those starved for righteousness will be fed--and filled. The merciful will receive mercy. The pure will see God. The peacemakers will be God's children. Those persecuted for righteousness’ sake will receive the kingdom of heaven.

The light shines--because the Lord wants it seen. And when the light is seen, those who have held it in the name of God's righteousness will bask in the glow of God for all to see. They will bask not so that those who oppress and abuse others may be condemned by it, but so that they too may see it, and know to follow.

This is how God's grace spreads throughout creation, one light at a time being shared with someone who needs to see the light.

Death, Law, and Grace

1Corinthians 1:54-57

When this perishable body puts on imperishability, and this mortal body puts on immortality, then the saying that is written will be fulfilled:

“Death has been swallowed up in victory.”
“Where, O death, is your victory?
Where, O death, is your sting?”

The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

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So where to now St. Peter
If it's true I'm in your hands
I may not be a Christian
But I've done all one man can
I understand I'm on the road
Where all that was is gone
So where to now St. Peter
Show me which road I'm on
Which road I'm on

"Where to Now, St. Peter" by Elton John

Elton John's music often flows between beautiful, haunting melodies and lyrics that betray those lilting sounds. Here's an example. The glorious sounds of the piano melody and the story of a soldier dying on a foreign battle field mix like oil and vinegar. Like oil and vinegar, when they mix they make something more than when they stand alone.

The problem with the lyric, from a Christian point of view, is that this soldier has done all one man can. It's a problem because there is nothing we can do to earn a way into heaven. When we try to justify ourselves through the law, we cannot. When we stand before God, or as the popular image, St. Peter, and we seek to justify our lives, according to the law all we would hear is "Really, that's all you got?" The power of sin and death is in the law, so when we try to justify our selves and our lives through the law we lose.

But thanks be to God, who gives us victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. When we lie on our respective battlefields, when our perishable bodies put on imperishability, and our mortal bodies put on immortality, then what is written is fulfilled, death is no longer death. Death has been swallowed up in victory.

Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting? Death is no longer an issue because it has been beaten. So where to now St. Peter? If we try to justify ourselves by the law we live in death. When we rely on the grace of our Lord, when we accept the gift of new life purchased with his death and redeemed with his resurrection then we live.

That leaves one more question, what road are we on?

Distance and Closeness

Jonah 3:3-5 (NRSV)

So Jonah set out and went to Nineveh, according to the word of the LORD. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly large city, a three days’ walk across. Jonah began to go into the city, going a day’s walk. And he cried out, “Forty days more, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!” And the people of Nineveh believed God; they proclaimed a fast, and everyone, great and small, put on sackcloth.

Hey everybody, don't you feel that there's something
But you know in a moment it is gone

"It's a Long Way There" from the first album by The Little River Band

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Jonah's mission was to tell the people of Nineveh that they were about to be overthrown, destroyed. That's it. That's what he spent three days and three nights in the belly of the large fish trying to avoid. With reason, it wasn't a great task.

Imagine telling a large city of people their way of life, their city, their lives were about to come to an end. Forty days more and that's all. Nineveh was so large that it took three days to walk across. It was so large that after the first day's walk, when he made the proclamation, he caused a stir that followed him the rest of the way across the city. It was a long way across the city, but for the Ninevites it was a longer way to God. They had forty days, then after that it would all be gone.

You see, Jonah's message, the one he received from the Lord promised nothing for the Ninevites but destruction. There was no message of peace or mercy. Still, the people of Nineveh believed God; proclaimed a fast, and everyone, put on sackcloth.

When Jonah finished his journey he built a booth and waited to watch the destruction from the front row. But it did not happen. He was in the desert waiting, but thankfully a vine grew to protect him. Then it died.

Jonah was ticked, after all, when a prophecy goes unfilfilled, the prophet looks like a loon. But Jonah was reassured him that as much as the Lord cared for the vine that grew over his shelter, so much more did he care the the city of Nineveh and all it's inhabitants.

It was a long way across Nineveh, and it must have seemed like a much longer leap of faith in the Lord to save a people who were promised no salvation at all. But such is a leap of faith. Faith that the Lord saves, not because they believed in God, but because God believed in them.