pastorjohnb

Thoughts and musings on faith and our mighty God!

Tag Archives: grace


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Hope, Yes, Even Then

Ezekiel 20:33 – “As surely as I live, with a strong hand, an outstretched arm, and with wrath poured out, I will be your king!”

Good and evil 1

We begin today with a riddle. The great eagle is Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon. He planted Zedekiah, but he rebelled, trying to form an alliance with Egypt. But Pharaoh wouldn’t help. Zedekiah went into exile. In chapter 18 God clarifies the consequences of their sin. Contrary to popular understanding, sins and their consequences are not carried on through the generations. Through a three generation example, God reveals that the righteous will live. The sinful will die. God states in verse 30, “I will judge each of you according to your ways.” The chapter concludes with a plea from God: choose life.

Chapters 19 and 20 lament Israel’s leaders and history, respectively. In chapter 19 poor leadership has resulted in Israel and Judah being planted in the desert – in exile – in a “parched and thirsty land.” God then reviews Israel’s long, long, long history of disobedience. Again and again and again God is ready to “pour out my wrath” on Israel and again and again and again we read that “for my name’s sake” God gives Israel another chance. Whether literally or figuratively it was again and again, “one more lap around the desert” as God tried and tried to bring Israel into a lasting covenant relationship. Finally, in 20:33 we read, “As surely as I live, with a strong hand, an outstretched arm, and with wrath poured out, I will be your king!” There will not be another lap, another “again.” Yet even as disaster looms, God speaks hope. After the doom, God will regather the small remnant. God will “bring you into the covenant bond.”

Chapter 21 describes the disaster soon to come. The guard will strike all – left and right, twice and three times. Reminded of their guilt, they will be laid low. “A ruin, ruin, ruin, I’ll make it!” declares the Lord.

Prayer: Lord God, these words of death and loss and devastation and disobedience can be hard to read. They are hard to wrap our heads around. Yet we also must acknowledge that just as you laid out the way to live, the people chose to walk the other way. We too face the same choice: life or death. Guide us to choose life, to choose to walk in your ways of love and grace, of justice and righteousness. Amen.


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Love and Compassion… Forever

Reading: Jeremiah 30-33

Jeremiah 31:33b – “I will put my Instructions within them and engrave them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.”

Today we read chapters 30-33, known as “The Book of Comfort.” This “scroll” offers words of hope and restoration. It opens with a declaration that the time is coming when God will bring back the captives. This section has the “what you’re about to go through will be really, really hard, but…” feel to it. There will be “screams of panic and terror… a time of unspeakable pain,” but God will deliver them; God will break the yoke on their necks. God will restore and rebuild. There will be laughter and joy. The Davidic line and the Levitical priesthood will both be reestablished. “You will be my people, and I will be your God.”

The defeat and time in exile will be part of the process. This refining and reshaping process will lead to a new covenant. God declares, “I will put my Instructions within them and engrave them on their hearts.” The sin that has been deeply engraved on their hearts will be written over. God states, “They will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest.”

Chapter 32 shares with us a critical moment for Jeremiah, offering him some tangible proof for these promises of God. Jeremiah is in confinement for prophesying the downfall of Jerusalem… He receives word that a cousin is coming to sell him some land. It all happens as God said it would. Jeremiah buys the land. In a practical sense this makes no sense. Judah is about to be conquered. Jerusalem and its temple will be destroyed. Most will die or go into exile. But this is an act of trust and faith. Jeremiah buys the land. God then declares that houses, fields, and vineyards will one day be bought and sold again in this land. Jeremiah responds with a beautiful prayer that recounts God’s power and might, that recalls the sins of Israel and Judah, and that reviews God’s promises of restoration and covenant renewal. Yes, hard times are ahead. Really hard times. But God is faithful. God’s love and compassion endure forever. Thanks be to God.

Prayer: Lord God, we are reminded once again today of our frailty and failures, set against the hope and promise of your enduring and unending love and grace. What a sharp contrast. How different we are from you in so many ways. And yet, yet you hold on, yet you love us anyway. So great is your love for us, O God. Strengthen and encourage us today to be your people. Today. Amen.


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Hope Even Then

Readings: Jeremiah 21-24

Jeremiah 23:3 – “I myself will gather the few remaining sheep from all the countries where I have driven them. I will bring them back.”

Today’s words from Jeremiah and God are mostly addressed to the kings and priests – the leaders. Zedekiah asks Jeremiah to go to God on their behalf because Nebuchadnezzar is besieging the city. God’s response is that God will join in the fight against Zedekiah and Jerusalem. God will send a plague, destroying them from within the city. They are told that surrender is the only way to live. Almost all will die instead.

Jeremiah elevates the correct behavior of kings. Administer justice and righteousness. Rescue the oppressed. Don’t mistreat the refugee, immigrant, orphan, or widow. Don’t spill innocent blood. Defend the rights of the poor and needy. Care well for the flock. Be fresh, good figs. Instead, the leaders chose to be evil, selfish, greedy, willful. God’s efforts will join theirs in scattering the flock.

Jeremiah also addresses the priests or “prophets.” They are telling lies and selling false security. They commit adultery with idols and teach in the name of Baal. God declares them no better than Sodom – a city completely destroyed by God because of their sin. The prophets have “destroyed the very word of God.” They too will join the kings and other leaders in exile, becoming objects of disgrace and shame.

We also find hope within these oracles and judgments. God still longs for the people to know and to love God. God’s love for them remains strong and steadfast. In 23:3 we read, “I myself will gather the few remaining sheep from all the countries where I have driven them. I will bring them back.” Thanks be to God for unfailing mercy and unending grace.

Prayer: Lord God, I am grateful for your standards and expectations. You call us to justice and righteousness, to mercy and compassion. You call us to love all people. You ask us to be who you are. It is good. Amen.


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“All is well…”

Reading: Jeremiah 5:1-8:16

Jeremiah 6:19 – “I’m bringing disaster upon my people, the fruit of their own devices, because they have ignored my words… rejected my teaching.”

Chapter 5 begins with a search for one just person. None can be found. Judah has forsaken God, they are “utterly faithless.” Incorrectly they think God won’t really punish their sins. But God proclaims that a distant army is coming. They will devour everything. Because God’s people have abandoned God, they will soon “serve strangers in a land not your own.” Exile is coming.

In chapter 6 God notes that all are eager for profits and notes that the prophets and priests “trade in dishonesty.” They tell themselves “All is well” but nothing is well. God invites them to turn to the ancient paths as they stand at this crossroads, to choose to walk “the good way.” Judah rejects the invitation. Therefore God says, “I’m bringing disaster upon my people, the fruit of their own devices, because they have ignored my words… rejected my teaching.” Judah is invited to put on funeral clothes, to wail and weep. Disaster is coming.

The scene shifts to the temple for chapter 7. Judah falsely believes that the temple will stand forever – it is God’s house. God longs to dwell with the people in the temple. But to be present with them, they need to radically change their ways. Only then will God dwell with them in the temple. A warning is given: don’t change your ways and God will make the temple like the tabernacle at Shiloh. It was totally destroyed by Israel’s enemy. This leads God to a lament. God recalls bringing the people out of Egypt, leading them in the wilderness, teaching them God’s ways, hoping for obedience. They too were stubborn and hard-hearted.

In chapter 8 God wonders why the people “persistently turn away.” God laments that “everyone turns to their own course.” This selfish, stubborn, rebellious, hard-hearted people are drawing closer to disaster. And they continue to tell themselves, “All is well.”

Lord God, just as you lament Judah’s ongoing patterns of selfishness, greed, lust, dishonesty, and oppression, so too do you lament these things in our day. We have changed very little. Yet a small remnant remains. Strengthen and encourage us, guide us to faithfully walk in your ancient ways. Empower us to be speakers of truth and to be bearers of love and hope, of grace and mercy. Amen.


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I’m here… Send me.

Reading: Isaiah 5-7

‭Isaiah 6:8 – “’Whom should I send, and who will go for us?’”… “‘I’m here; send me.'”

Isaiah 5 begins with God’s lament over Israel and Judah. They were planted as a vineyard in a land flowing with milk and honey. God cleared the nations before them, built a kingdom, ordered their living. But they turned rotten, choosing idols and other evils over God. So God removed the hedge of protection and allowed the vineyard to be trampled. God expected justice and righteousness but got bloodshed and distress.

Blame and judgment are given to the greedy, to the gluttons, to the cheaters, to the prideful, and to the oppressors. God extended a hand against them, a warning sign, but their evil persisted. So God called a nation from far away – “hurrying, swiftly they come!” Arrows sharpened, swords drawn, roaring like a lion, darkness comes.

Chapter 6 shifts everything as Isaiah finds himself in heaven. God is high and exalted. Winged creatures sing of God’s glory and holiness. Isaiah suddenly realizes that he is a sinner in God’s presence. A winged creature touches his unclean lips with a coal from the altar, purifying him. God asks aloud, “Whom should I send, and who will go for us?” Isaiah responds, “I’m here; send me.” But God says to him, they won’t hear, they won’t see. Isaiah asks, “How long?” Sadly, until all lies in ruin and the people are in exile in a foreign land.

We find the beginning of this story in chapter 7. Aram and Israel unite against the approaching Assyrians. Judah refuses to join them, so they attack Jerusalem. This fails. God tells King Ahaz not to fear. They’re just “smoking torches” who will soon fall – before son born “Immanuel” learns to tell good from evil. Israel will fall and Judah will have a scary and powerful new neighbor.

Prayer: Lord God, how easily we see ourselves in these chapters. You have good plans for us and you make a way but we often fall off the path. We choose evil over good. We fall into sin yet you call us again and again to step into your grace, to be restored and made new again. You invite us into mission and service. Sometimes we do go willingly but often times we are fearful or selfish. You promise to be with us and to go with us. Help us to more regularly declare, “I’m here; send me.” Amen.


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A Holy Covenant

Reading: Song of Songs 1-4

‭Song of Songs 4:12 – “An enclosed garden is my sister, my bride; an enclosed pool, a sealed spring.”

Today and tomorrow we read Song of Songs. On one level it is a song that celebrates the love of two people. On another level, it is an expression of the ideal love between God and humanity/Israel/the church – depending on your time reference. As we are in the Christian world, we will focus on the relationship between God (the man) and the church (the woman), both corporate and individual.

Chapter 1 expresses longing. The woman longs for the man’s kisses. The man brings her in and wants to exult and rejoice over her. God longs for our love. God longs to exult and rejoice over our faithfulness. The woman longs to be with him. He says to “follow the tracks of the herds.” We long for community and relationship with God. God says to follow the instructions, read my Word. They rejoice in one another’s beauty. We were created in the image of God. This is at the core of all of our relationships.

In chapter 2 the woman sees her live as an apple tree among the wild trees. We are invited to live holy lives, to be set apart from the world. She needs sustaining, weary from expressing her love. We too need God in many ways. God provides for us in numerous ways. He draws near and looks in on his love. He waits. God too longs to see us, to fear our voice. She declares that they belong to one another. Ideally we say this to God. God says, “I am the Lord your God… You are mine.”

Chapter 3 is a searching and a finding, a process that we repeat often with God. Once there, we find it beautiful too. Chapter 4 celebrates the beauty of the woman. The church is beautiful too when love and grace flow down and out into the world, reflecting God’s love and grace given to us. The man calls his love an “enclosed garden.” This implies a closed relationship, a holy covenant love. May it be so for you and for me in our relationship with God.

Prayer: Lord God, how lovely and beautiful you are! You are steadfast and true, coming to us again and again with a love that never fails, with a grace that never runs out. Lead and guide us to love you and one another in these same ways. Amen.


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Wait for the Lord…

Readings: Psalms 128-130

‭Psalm 130:6 – “My whole being waits for my Lord — more than the night watch waits for morning; yes, more than the night watch waits for morning!”

Today’s three Psalms form the rest of the “Songs of Ascent.” Now, that’s not to say that Psalm 17 or Psalm 136 couldn’t be sung on one’s way up to Jerusalem. This is so because just like yesterday’s Psalms 120-127 and just like almost any “set” of Psalms, within these three we find cries to God, oppression by the wicked, trust in God to act, and praises for God’s blessings and presence.

Psalm 128 equated being faithful and working hard to having a truly happy life. It offers blessings for a fruitful wife who produces many children, who are like “freshly planted olive trees.” It closes with a hope to “see your grandchildren” – to experience long life, another sign of God’s blessing.

The psalmist cries out for relief in Psalm 129. The enemy has “plowed my back like farmers.” This implies being scourged. Yet God rescued the writer. He or she prays the enemy would be like “grass on the roof” – that they’d experience a very short life because they are evil.

Today’s reading closes with Psalm 130. It is part cry for help, part recognition of God’s great mercy, part encouragement to “wait for the Lord!” The psalmist is in need of forgiveness. They cry out for mercy. They are grateful that “forgiveness is in you” and they acknowledge that without God’s mercy, no one would make it. So they wait eagerly, “More than the night watch waits for morning!” The repetition emphasizes their desperation. The Psalm closes by encouraging Israel to also wait for the Lord. May we do so as well.

Prayer: Lord God, you are so good to us. Your mercy never ends, your grace abounds, your love never fails. You are our guide and our strength, our shield and our defender, our gracious redeemer and our sure hope. Thank you, O Lord our God! Amen.


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God’s Power Alone

Readings: Psalms 42-45

‭Psalm 44:25-26 – “Look: we’re going down to the dust… Stand up! Help us! Save us for the sake of your faithful love.”

Psalm 42 expresses a longing for God’s presence. This longing is something we’ve all felt. We all have dry seasons when our “whole being craves you, God.” Our tears too have been our food. In those moments it is important to remember God’s faithful love in the past. It is important even then to lift a song of praise to God. As the refrain says, “Hope in God! Because I will again give him thanks, my saving presence and my God.” God is unchanging. This truth will ever be true. God is our hope.

Psalm 43 is a continuation of Psalm 42. It closes with the exact same refrain. The writer calls for God’s light and truth. These will guide the psalmist; they will guide you and me. They lead to God, “my joy and my delight.”

Lament returns in full force in Psalm 44. It is a communal lament. The psalmist begins by remembering God’s guidance and provision in the past. This recalls Joshua’s conquest of the Promised Land, when God went before Israel. There is a recognition that it was God’s power alone that brought victory. It is the very thought that they count on now that they’ve been “rejected and humiliated.” When we struggle we too can draw upon God’s power, upon our memories of when God made a way. Remembering is a form of praying our faith forward. A desperate plea closes Psalm 44: “Look: we’re going down to the dust… Stand up! Help us! Save us for the sake of your faithful love.” Oh how we’ve prayed these words in our own translation. And may we pray them again and again.

As I began reading Psalm 45 at first I thought: “What?! A love song?!” Why, yes, a love song of God to God’s people. An invitation to celebrate, to be, to live out grace and beauty, truth and righteousness, humility and justice. From one generation to the next may our whole being embody, reveal, and bring praise to God forever and ever.

Prayer: Lord God, a song echoes in my mind: “Oh no, you never let go. In every high and every low, Lord, you never let go of me.” In seasons of disconnection, in times of suffering, in the valleys and on the mountaintops, may we declare your glory with our lives. May we trust daily in the only one who saves, in you, our God and King, our Lord and Savior. Amen.


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Difficult but Necessary

Readings: Ezra 7, Ezra 8, Ezra 9, Ezra 10

Ezra 10:4 – “Get up, for it is your duty to deal with this matter; we will support you. Be strong and act.”

Ezra the priest and scribe enters the story. The opening verses serve as a sneak preview or overview. King Artaxerxes supports Ezra’s trip with a letter that recognizes the purpose of the trip and provides the needed financial resources. Ezra’s main goal is to teach the Torah to the Israelites, forming them once again into the people of God. Ezra then gathers and organizes those ready to return. There are 12 lay families and 2 priestly families present. But he finds that there are no Levites present. They are needed for the daily operations of the temple. Ezra rounds up some Levites. He then calls for fasting and prayer – to submit to God and to seek safe travels.

Upon a safe arrival and a few days rest, the gold and other items are transferred to the temple. Offerings are given and then the king’s letter is given to the local Persian authorities. Ezra then learns of the peoples’ latest sin. Upon hearing of their marriages to non-Israelites he tears his clothing, pulls out hairs, and sits in shock. This will be a serious roadblock to reestablishing the people of God. In the charge, Canaanites, Moabites, Ammonites… are named. There is much negative symbolism and actual negative experiences attached to these names. As Ezra sits in shock, others gather around him, joining his weeping. Ezra prays to God, acknowledging past sins and this sin. He leans into God’s grace and mercy.

Shecaniah steps forward from the crowd. He too acknowledges their sin. And he speaks of hope. He suggests a covenant to send away these foreign wives and their children. He turns to Ezra and says, “Get up, for it is your duty to deal with this matter; we will support you. Be strong and act.” Emboldened by these words, Ezra gathers all Israel. They make a solemn pledge in accordance with Shecaniah’s words. A plan is made to deal with this sin. They hold one another accountable. The matter is resolved.

This was a difficult but necessary step at this time. It was necessary to establish a singular ethnic and cultural identity for Israel. Through the teaching of the Torah, the people understood this was a necessary step that had to be taken to become the people of God, holy and set apart.

Prayer: Lord God, help us to see the necessary but hard steps that we need to take at times to be wholly yours. Send a voice to encourage us, to speak truth and love and hope and grace to empower our steps. And, as Ezra did, lead us to trust that your love and grace will lead the way. Amen.


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God’s Faithfulness

Readings: 2nd Chronicles 10, 2nd Chronicles 11, 2nd Chronicles 12, 2nd Chronicles 13

2nd Chronicles 12:12 – “Total destruction was avoided. There were, after all, some good things still in Judah.”

Leaving behind the ideal kings David and Solomon – at least according to the chronicler – we turn today to the reigns of Rehoboam and Abijah. Jeroboam of Israel is also a minor part of the story. Rehoboam’s reign begins poorly. He allows the pride of youth to lead him to a bad decision and God’s people are split into two nations. Jeroboam rules over ten tribes in the northern kingdom. Rehoboam rules over two in the southern kingdom of Judah. In comparison, Rehoboam is a good king. Through Shemaiah the prophet, war is avoided. Rehoboam strengthens his defenses. The Levites flee the idolatry of the northern kingdom and support Rehoboam.

But Rehoboam was not faithful to God. So God sends Egypt to bring divine punishment. But God sends Shemaiah and Rehoboam and Israel’s elders submit to God. God relents – somewhat. Egypt attacks and is victorious, hauling away the treasures of the temple and the palace. We find a silver lining in verse 12:12 – “Total destruction was avoided. There were, after all, some good things still in Judah.” Warfare with Jeroboam marks the rest of Rehoboam’s monarchy.

Abijah becomes the next king of Judah. Jeroboam and 800,000 soldiers march out against Abijah and 400,000 soldiers. Abijah first calls out Israel’s unfaithfulness and reminds them of Judah’s faithfulness. He claims that God is on Judah’s side. This proves to be true as Judah wins a stunning victory, killing 500,000 soldiers from Israel. This blow weakens Jeroboam, who soon dies, struck down by the Lord.

In today’s readings we see a truth that flows throughout the scriptures: God is merciful to those who are faithful or who turn back to God with changed hearts. When we falter or doubt or sin – which we will more surely do – may we remember God’s faithfulness, turning once again to the one who is always merciful and loving.

Prayer: Lord God, thank you for the reminder of your great love and mercy. Draw us back to you again and again when we turn from you over and over. God, you are so good and so faithful. Thank you. Amen.