pastorjohnb

Thoughts and musings on faith and our mighty God!

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Praise the Lord!

Reading: Psalm 149

Psalm 149:6 – “Let the high praises of God be in their mouths and a double-edged sword in their hands.”

Photo credit: Fuu J

Psalm 149 begins with words and images of praising God. Sing a new song! Celebrate with drum and lyre! Dance! Sing praises because “God is pleased with his people.” And then, in verse 6, the Psalm takes what feels like a hard right: “Let the high praises of God be in their mouths and a double-edged sword in their hands.” At first reading, one wonders what happened. Calls for revenge, punishment, binding chains, and justice follow. These actions will be an “honor” for God’s people? And then the Psalm ends with, “Praise the Lord!”

Well then. Verses 1-5 are great. But what are we to do with verses 6-9? A little context will help. Overall, the Psalm is about praising God for the deliverance and rescue that God has brought – past, present, and future. Scholars believe that the Psalm was written after the exiles returned from Babylon. They were rebuilding Jerusalem, the wall, and the temple. God has delivered them from exile. The images of battles won and enemies defeated is an extension of the rebuilding. The land is filled with pagans that also must be dealt with. Some of these nations helped with the destruction and death primarily brought on by Babylon. To rebuild and reclaim the land would not be possible without God’s power and presence. The psalmist is counting on God’s help.

How does our reading change, though, if we read verses 6-9 from a figurative viewpoint? We can be defeated and/or held captive by many things that can only be redeemed through God’s power and presence. We can find ourselves in need of a rebuilding that only God can accomplish. And by “we,” I mean all of us. So in a fight against injustice or oppression, maybe our words are like a sword that cuts through evil. Maybe our actions lead to justice and a binding up of unjust systems. Maybe we are shackled by anger or fear or addiction or… Maybe we need God to break these chains and to set us free. When we’ve experienced or are a part of God’s deliverance for others, we too shout out, “Praise the Lord!”

Prayer: Lord God, there are many things to praise you for and there are many ways to offer our praise. Thank you for the times that you have rescued and delivered us. Praise be to God! From a place of faith and wholeness, use us to help free others from all that binds so that they too can praise you. Amen.


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Questionable

Reading: 1st Corinthians 1: 18-25

Verse 23: “We preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to the Jews and foolishness to the Gentiles”.

Photo credit: Taylor Smith

Paul is writing in today’s passage to a church that needs some words of wisdom concerning the idea of a crucified Messiah. These last two words just don’t make sense, they just do not fit together in many people’s minds. For Paul this is the overall message of the cross: Jesus died for you and for me. To those who believe that Jesus loved us enough to die for us, the cross offers the power of salvation and of eternal life. But if you cannot wrap your head around that gift and what it means and gives to the believer, then placing one’s trust and life in Jesus’ hands makes no sense.

In verse 23 Paul writes, “We preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to the Jews and foolishness to the Gentiles”. The Jews, for the most part, saw Jesus as a good teacher, as one that inspired many people to a better life, as one who even did some amazing things (miracles). But Jesus was not the Messiah that they envisioned. A real Messiah would never allow himself to be crucified. A real king would not eat with sinners, heal on the Sabbath, regularly engage the outcasts and unclean… All of these things were stumbling blocks to most of the Jews. The Gentiles (read ‘Romans’ or ‘pagans’ here) worshiped many gods and saw the cross as the place of punishment for the worst criminals. To cast one’s life in with the lot of a mere human, one that died with such shame and so powerless – foolishness!

As Christians living in today’s world, sometimes we should be stumbling blocks to some, foolishness to others. For our Lenten series this year, we are calling this “living highly questionable lives”. Last week I read a story about a high school basketball player. During a game he noticed that a player on the other team was wearing shoes that were not suitable for basketball. After the game he took off his shoes and have them to this other player. To some this appeared as foolish. To others it may have been a stumbling block. But to those also touched by Jesus Christ that night, it was the love of God being lived out in a real way.

As we encounter those who see our faith as foolish or as a stumbling block to their preferred way of life, may the Spirit give us the words or actions that preaches the cross in a way that reveals the courage and strength of our faith in the Messiah.

Prayer: Loving God, use me today to reveal my faith in ways that draw others into conversation. Let me love so completely that the other is willing to look past what at first seems foolish or to step over what may initially feel like a stumbling block. May the power of the cross draw them in. May it be so. Amen.