Showing posts with label new thing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label new thing. Show all posts
Saturday, April 23, 2016
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.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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.
Tuesday, March 22, 2016
The Biggest Renegade of Them All
Tuesday of Holy Week
Matthew 26:20-23
When it was evening, he took his place with the twelve; and while they were eating, he said, “Truly I tell you, one of you will betray me.” And they became greatly distressed and began to say to him one after another, “Surely not I, Lord?” He answered, “The one who has dipped his hand into the bowl with me will betray me.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The jig is up the news is out they've finally found me
The renegade who had it made retrieved for a bounty
"Renegade" by Styx
The Son of God and the Son of Man as the Renegade, it makes a lot more sense than you might think. The subject of the faith, the holiest of the holy, he stayed with tax collectors. He let a woman (that's bad enough) of ill repute (even worse) tend to his feet at dinner. He called as disciples the impetuous, the short tempered, the "Sons of Thunder," a Roman collaborator, and a Zealot. He would even call the one who would betray him. For one who is so holy you'd think he would spend his time in the with a better class of people.
Au contraire...
Jesus had his harshest words for those who were supposed to be taking care of the God's temple and doing God's work. He was gentle with those who were suffering. He stood with and for those on the fringes.
He was a renegade, his teaching, his work, and his faith were a challenge to the leaders, both the temple and civil leaders. Something had to be done, and it was done. The renegade who had it made retrieved for a bounty.
The Good News is that nothing could contain the Christ. Not the expectations of the people, the betrayal of his disciple, the conspiracies of the leaders, or even Pilate washing his hands.
What's better is that if God can defeat this, what can't we do through him? God is doing a new thing in our lives and in all life. This weekend, we may think the jig is up, but by Easter, the old jig is going to be shattered.
Matthew 26:20-23
When it was evening, he took his place with the twelve; and while they were eating, he said, “Truly I tell you, one of you will betray me.” And they became greatly distressed and began to say to him one after another, “Surely not I, Lord?” He answered, “The one who has dipped his hand into the bowl with me will betray me.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The jig is up the news is out they've finally found me
The renegade who had it made retrieved for a bounty
"Renegade" by Styx
The Son of God and the Son of Man as the Renegade, it makes a lot more sense than you might think. The subject of the faith, the holiest of the holy, he stayed with tax collectors. He let a woman (that's bad enough) of ill repute (even worse) tend to his feet at dinner. He called as disciples the impetuous, the short tempered, the "Sons of Thunder," a Roman collaborator, and a Zealot. He would even call the one who would betray him. For one who is so holy you'd think he would spend his time in the with a better class of people.
Au contraire...
Jesus had his harshest words for those who were supposed to be taking care of the God's temple and doing God's work. He was gentle with those who were suffering. He stood with and for those on the fringes.
He was a renegade, his teaching, his work, and his faith were a challenge to the leaders, both the temple and civil leaders. Something had to be done, and it was done. The renegade who had it made retrieved for a bounty.
The Good News is that nothing could contain the Christ. Not the expectations of the people, the betrayal of his disciple, the conspiracies of the leaders, or even Pilate washing his hands.
What's better is that if God can defeat this, what can't we do through him? God is doing a new thing in our lives and in all life. This weekend, we may think the jig is up, but by Easter, the old jig is going to be shattered.
Wednesday, February 24, 2016
Are You Going to Eat That?
Suggested by Marie, actually it was more of a dare...
Acts 10:9-16
About noon the next day, as they were on their journey and approaching the city, Peter went up on the roof to pray. He became hungry and wanted something to eat; and while it was being prepared, he fell into a trance. He saw the heaven opened and something like a large sheet coming down, being lowered to the ground by its four corners. In it were all kinds of four-footed creatures and reptiles and birds of the air. Then he heard a voice saying, “Get up, Peter; kill and eat.” But Peter said, “By no means, Lord; for I have never eaten anything that is profane or unclean.” The voice said to him again, a second time, “What God has made clean, you must not call profane.” This happened three times, and the thing was suddenly taken up to heaven.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I wish I was in Tijuana
Eating barbecued iguana
"Mexican Radio" Written by Charles T. Gray, Marc Moreland, Oliver Joe Nanini, and Standard Ridgway Funsten, recorded by Wall of Voodoo on "Call of the West"
Have you ever been offered something to eat that you just look at and want to say, "er...No thank you, I just ate!" If you say no, here's a word for you, tripe. If that didn't work, how about escargot? It just takes one word, or maybe two, to make you think again.
Some animals and parts of animals have such a weird reputation that the TV show "Top Chef" once did a street vendor challenge using entrails. People were making meals of pig ears, cow brains, and yes, tripe. The judges said the tastes were good, though some much better than others. Still, the "tripe fajita" will never catch on at Taco Bell.
Let's not even discuss what happens when foodie Andrew Zimmerman shows up with take-out.
The Jewish dietary restrictions were many. In the day though, one of the reasons for the restrictions was food safety. Undercooked pork and poultry still cause disease today. Storage of raw foods was another matter. What other animals ate was another restriction that could make someone sick if consumed. Bottom feeders beware, it may not be safe to eat.
Peter almost brags to God that he has never eaten anything that is unclean. But God tells Peter to kill and eat. Yeah, some of this stuff isn't in the same time zone as kosher, but you can eat it now. Peter then almost boasts to God that he's never done that! Unclean food has never passed his lips. So God tells him that “What God has made clean, you must not call profane.”
In Peter's time, it was very obvious that God is doing something new. Some of the old restrictions were being changed, and that was all in the plan. Yes, now we can have bacon wrapped lobster tails stuffed with shrimp... and God love us for it. Crawdads, the mudbug is now on the menu so get ready to suck the heads. Catfish, it may not have scales but it is very tasty. At one time you could get Rocky Mountain Oysters at Coors Field in Denver, strangely, it tasted like shrimp. At least it does to me.
We can even go to Tijuana for barbecued iguana if we wanted, and it's all good.
God is doing something new. This was obvious to Peter and it should still be obvious today. God continues to do something new. We are called to be a part of that work, and if we can do it with a hot dog that'll be fine too. It doesn't have to be Hebrew National.
Acts 10:9-16
About noon the next day, as they were on their journey and approaching the city, Peter went up on the roof to pray. He became hungry and wanted something to eat; and while it was being prepared, he fell into a trance. He saw the heaven opened and something like a large sheet coming down, being lowered to the ground by its four corners. In it were all kinds of four-footed creatures and reptiles and birds of the air. Then he heard a voice saying, “Get up, Peter; kill and eat.” But Peter said, “By no means, Lord; for I have never eaten anything that is profane or unclean.” The voice said to him again, a second time, “What God has made clean, you must not call profane.” This happened three times, and the thing was suddenly taken up to heaven.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I wish I was in Tijuana
Eating barbecued iguana
"Mexican Radio" Written by Charles T. Gray, Marc Moreland, Oliver Joe Nanini, and Standard Ridgway Funsten, recorded by Wall of Voodoo on "Call of the West"
Have you ever been offered something to eat that you just look at and want to say, "er...No thank you, I just ate!" If you say no, here's a word for you, tripe. If that didn't work, how about escargot? It just takes one word, or maybe two, to make you think again.
Some animals and parts of animals have such a weird reputation that the TV show "Top Chef" once did a street vendor challenge using entrails. People were making meals of pig ears, cow brains, and yes, tripe. The judges said the tastes were good, though some much better than others. Still, the "tripe fajita" will never catch on at Taco Bell.
Let's not even discuss what happens when foodie Andrew Zimmerman shows up with take-out.
The Jewish dietary restrictions were many. In the day though, one of the reasons for the restrictions was food safety. Undercooked pork and poultry still cause disease today. Storage of raw foods was another matter. What other animals ate was another restriction that could make someone sick if consumed. Bottom feeders beware, it may not be safe to eat.
Peter almost brags to God that he has never eaten anything that is unclean. But God tells Peter to kill and eat. Yeah, some of this stuff isn't in the same time zone as kosher, but you can eat it now. Peter then almost boasts to God that he's never done that! Unclean food has never passed his lips. So God tells him that “What God has made clean, you must not call profane.”
In Peter's time, it was very obvious that God is doing something new. Some of the old restrictions were being changed, and that was all in the plan. Yes, now we can have bacon wrapped lobster tails stuffed with shrimp... and God love us for it. Crawdads, the mudbug is now on the menu so get ready to suck the heads. Catfish, it may not have scales but it is very tasty. At one time you could get Rocky Mountain Oysters at Coors Field in Denver, strangely, it tasted like shrimp. At least it does to me.
We can even go to Tijuana for barbecued iguana if we wanted, and it's all good.
God is doing something new. This was obvious to Peter and it should still be obvious today. God continues to do something new. We are called to be a part of that work, and if we can do it with a hot dog that'll be fine too. It doesn't have to be Hebrew National.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
