David Bahn – Reflections

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Acts 13:26-41

“Brothers, sons of the family of Abraham, and those among you who fear God, to us has been sent the message of this salvation. ²⁷ For those who live in Jerusalem and their rulers, because they did not recognize him nor understand the utterances of the prophets, which are read every Sabbath, fulfilled them by condemning him. ²⁸ And though they found in him no guilt worthy of death, they asked Pilate to have him executed. ²⁹ And when they had carried out all that was written of him, they took him down from the tree and laid him in a tomb. ³⁰ But God raised him from the dead, ³¹ and for many days  he appeared to those who had come up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are now his witnesses to the people. ³² And we bring you the good news that what God promised to the fathers, ³³ this he has fulfilled to us their children by raising Jesus, as also it is written in the second Psalm,

“‘You are my Son,
    today I have begotten you.’

³⁴ And as for the fact that he raised him from the dead, no more to return to corruption, he has spoken in this way,

“‘I will give you the holy and sure blessings of David.’

³⁵ Therefore he says also in another psalm,

“‘You will not let your Holy One see corruption.’

³⁶ For David, after he had served the purpose of God in his own generation, fell asleep and was laid with his fathers and saw corruption, ³⁷ but he whom God raised up did not see corruption. ³⁸ Let it be known to you therefore, brothers, that through this man forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you, ³⁹ and by him everyone who believes is freed from everything from which you could not be freed by the law of Moses. ⁴⁰ Beware, therefore, lest what is said in the Prophets should come about:

⁴¹ “‘Look, you scoffers,
    be astounded and perish;
for I am doing a work in your days,
    a work that you will not believe, even if one tells it to you.’”

I’m almost at the “As I’ve always said” stage regarding the statement, “Time in erodes awareness of.” It goes like this, “As Martin Luther said, ‘You can’t keep the birds from flying over your head, but you don’t have to let them make a nest in your hair.’” That’s the first time you quote Luther. The second time you say, “As I’ve said before, ‘You can’t keep…’” The third time you use the quote you say, “As I’v always said, “You can’t keep…” And while I’ve used the birds making a nest in your hair many times, I respect Luther enough to give him the credit.

In the case of “Time in erodes awareness of,” I’m ready to make that my own – though I must admit that I borrowed it from someone. The idea is that the longer you are in a particular situation – your home, your church, your car, your job – you grow less and less aware of the peculiarities of that situation. The scratch on the door. The funny noise of the brake pedal. The slightly torn window shade. The peculiar smell of the breakroom at work. You grow used to these things. They go unnoticed.

That’s the danger of being a lifelong Christian. You might overlook something that is really more important than you think because you’ve heard it so often. It’s like saying the Creed or the Lord’s Prayer. It can be pretty easy to slip into autopilot as we speak words of profound spiritual depth and value.

Of course there is also an attendant danger of a once-and-done amazement at these words. The immediate thrill of the discovery – if not grounded by further consideration – can go as quickly as last year’s Super Bowl win. And with far-greater consequences than a forgotten sports championship.

Paul is making an important point on both sides of this coin. He says that “those who live in Jerusalem and their rulers…did not recognize [Jesus] nor understand the utterances of the prophets, which are read every Sabbath.” They heard the stories, prophecies, truths, promises, and warnings of the Old Testament but never really understood how they were pointing to and fulfilled by Jesus. 

And they made the most grave mistake: they killed the Son of God. There are dire consequences of ignoring the truths of God’s word. When we build a world that relies on our favorite proof texts to sustain it, we are in that same grave danger. We can miss God’s true purposes, designs, and promises and lose the rich treasures of his grace and salvation.

Time in erodes awareness of: true. But time in – if we bolster ourselves against such erosion – can also deepen our faith and enrich our joy. And there is one simple way to bolster ourselves against that erosion: look for Jesus. It is simple but not easy. For we can so easily get distracted by more fanciful spiritual insights and ideas. But it is something we can do.

Look for Jesus in the Gospels

Look for Jesus in the Psalms

Look for Jesus in the Prophets

Look for Jesus in the Epistles

Look for Jesus in the Law of Moses

He truly is all over the place and we must not let our awareness of his essential place in our faith be eroded. So whether this is all new to you, or it’s old hat, finding Jesus and holding to his truth and grace will keep you from becoming jaded to his gifts.