David Bahn – Reflections – Page 78 – Light from the Word and through the lens

Who Someone Is Really Matters (Re-Post)

September 11, 2023

I had a glitch with this post so I’m reposting it. Nothing new here, just a repost of today’s blog.

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Acts 7:1, 30-43

And the high priest said, “Are these things so?” ²And Stephen said:

“Now when forty years had passed, an angel appeared to him in the wilderness of Mount Sinai, in a flame of fire in a bush. ³¹When Moses saw it, he was amazed at the sight, and as he drew near to look, there came the voice of the Lord: ³²‘I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham and of Isaac and of Jacob.’ And Moses trembled and did not dare to look. ³³Then the Lord said to him, ‘Take off the sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy ground. ³⁴I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt, and have heard their groaning, and I have come down to deliver them. And now come, I will send you to Egypt.’

³⁵“This Moses, whom they rejected, saying, ‘Who made you a ruler and a judge?’—this man God sent as both ruler and redeemer by the hand of the angel who appeared to him in the bush. ³⁶This man led them out, performing wonders and signs in Egypt and at the Red Sea and in the wilderness for forty years. ³⁷This is the Moses who said to the Israelites, ‘God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brothers.’ ³⁸This is the one who was in the congregation in the wilderness with the angel who spoke to him at Mount Sinai, and with our fathers. He received living oracles to give to us. ³⁹Our fathers refused to obey him, but thrust him aside, and in their hearts they turned to Egypt, ⁴⁰saying to Aaron, ‘Make for us gods who will go before us. As for this Moses who led us out from the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.’ ⁴¹And they made a calf in those days, and offered a sacrifice to the idol and were rejoicing in the works of their hands. ⁴²But God turned away and gave them over to worship the host of heaven, as it is written in the book of the prophets:

“‘Did you bring to me slain beasts and sacrifices,
    during the forty years in the wilderness, O house of Israel?
⁴³You took up the tent of Moloch
    and the star of your god Rephan,
    the images that you made to worship;
and I will send you into exile beyond Babylon.’

Walkers Along the Trail with Lens Flare | Big Bend National Park | May 2023

I love caller ID. When I get a phone call from “Unknown,” I gladly let it go to voicemail. If they need to talk with me, they can leave a message. Most often times they don’t. There are, however, some times I’ll answer because I’m expecting a call from someone and that someone might be Richard Richardson or whatever name shows up on the caller ID. It’s just helpful to know who’s calling.

Not too long ago I was having a conversation with a member of a congregation I was serving at the time. There came a theological issue to which I truly needed to speak. The gentleman was claiming that an idea or practice he believed in was the only way properly to be true to our identity. Theologically he was mistaken. I confronted him, “You don’t really believe that.”

“Yes I do,” he replied.

“You don’t mean that. That’s just not true to our theology,” In insisted.

I later learned that his son was a pastor and he was espousing the ideas his son was claiming to be true. Or at least that was this man’s understanding of it. It’s helpful to realize that even though I’m talking (in person or on the phone) with someone I think I know, I may not really know who that person really is.

And who someone really is matters.

Moses needed to know who was talking with him in the wilderness of Mount Sinai, in the burning bush. It was vital because he was to have a major assignment: leading God’s people out of slavery in Egypt. God made it clear. The Lord said, “I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham and of Isaac and of Jacob.” Gulp. And Moses [understandably] trembled and did not dare to look.

Humans may have good ideas. I may need to speak with someone. I may need even to contradict what they are saying. But if it’s God, I’d better be doing more listening than speaking. And as I listen, I must listen with fear and trembling, faith and love, humility and trust. For God may have an assignment for me. In fact he does. His assignment for all of us is to love him first and most, and to love our neighbor as ourselves. As his children, we are also sent – not to Egypt, but wherever we go – with the message of his grace and truth in Jesus. Let’s listen well, fear, love, and trust him, and obey when he calls.

PS: I’m writing this at Camp Lone Star just outside of LaGrange, Texas. Twenty-two years ago I was here for this same conference when I saw the jets fly into the twin towers of the World Trade Center. It’s a solemn memory that is vivid yet today. Lord have mercy and heal our world from this evil.
Today’s Psalms for September 10, 2023

September 10, 2023

Please pray these psalms with me on this Lord’s Day

Psalm 10:16-18

The Lord is king forever and ever;
    the nations perish from his land.
¹⁷O Lord, you hear the desire of the afflicted;
    you will strengthen their heart; you will incline your ear
¹⁸to do justice to the fatherless and the oppressed,
    so that man who is of the earth may strike terror no more.

[Note: This entire psalm puts into context the profound expression of faith that comes at the end. It’s worth the read if you want to appreciate the importance of these truths.]

Psalm 40:4-5

Blessed is the man who makes
    the Lord his trust,
who does not turn to the proud,
    to those who go astray after a lie!
⁵You have multiplied, O Lord my God,
    your wondrous deeds and your thoughts toward us;
    none can compare with you!
I will proclaim and tell of them,
    yet they are more than can be told.

Psalm 70:1-4

Make haste, O God, to deliver me!
    O Lord, make haste to help me!
²Let them be put to shame and confusion
    who seek my life!
Let them be turned back and brought to dishonor
    who delight in my hurt!
³Let them turn back because of their shame
    who say, “Aha, Aha!”

⁴May all who seek you
    rejoice and be glad in you!
May those who love your salvation
    say evermore, “God is great!”

Psalm 100

Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth!
²    Serve the Lord with gladness!
    Come into his presence with singing!

³Know that the Lord, he is God!
    It is he who made us, and we are his;
    we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.

⁴Enter his gates with thanksgiving,
    and his courts with praise!
    Give thanks to him; bless his name!

⁵For the Lord is good;
    his steadfast love endures forever,
    and his faithfulness to all generations.

Psalm 130

Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord!
²    O Lord, hear my voice!
Let your ears be attentive
    to the voice of my pleas for mercy!

³If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities,
    O Lord, who could stand?
⁴But with you there is forgiveness,
    that you may be feared.

⁵I wait for the Lord, my soul waits,
    and in his word I hope;
⁶my soul waits for the Lord
    more than watchmen for the morning,
    more than watchmen for the morning.

⁷O Israel, hope in the Lord!
    For with the Lord there is steadfast love,
    and with him is plentiful redemption.
⁸And he will redeem Israel
    from all his iniquities.

English Standard Version (ESV)
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016.
Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
Same Old Same Old…

September 8, 2023

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Acts 7:1, 17-29

And the high priest said, “Are these things so?” ²And Stephen said:

¹⁷“But as the time of the promise drew near, which God had granted to Abraham, the people increased and multiplied in Egypt ¹⁸until there arose over Egypt another king who did not know Joseph. ¹⁹He dealt shrewdly with our race and forced our fathers to expose their infants, so that they would not be kept alive. ²⁰At this time Moses was born; and he was beautiful in God’s sight. And he was brought up for three months in his father’s house, ²¹and when he was exposed, Pharaoh’s daughter adopted him and brought him up as her own son. ²²And Moses was instructed in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and he was mighty in his words and deeds.

²³“When he was forty years old, it came into his heart to visit his brothers, the children of Israel. ²⁴And seeing one of them being wronged, he defended the oppressed man and avenged him by striking down the Egyptian. ²⁵He supposed that his brothers would understand that God was giving them salvation by his hand, but they did not understand. ²⁶And on the following day he appeared to them as they were quarreling and tried to reconcile them, saying, ‘Men, you are brothers. Why do you wrong each other?’ ²⁷But the man who was wronging his neighbor thrust him aside, saying, ‘Who made you a ruler and a judge over us? ²⁸Do you want to kill me as you killed the Egyptian yesterday?’ ²⁹At this retort Moses fled and became an exile in the land of Midian, where he became the father of two sons.

Devil’s Walking Stick-II | BIg Bend National Park | May 2023

“Tell me a story about the olden days,” we would ask our grandmother. She would regale us with tales of a late-night encounter when a car turned into her country house’s long driveway. She took her shotgun, went out on her second-story porch and shot into the air. The car quickly left. She told that story many times, and other ones as well. We loved to listen to her stories.

There was an entertainment factor in our enjoyment. We were miles from town when we visited there, and no cable TV back then beckoned for our attention. But there were also morals we learned. There are bad people in the world. You need to defend yourself without hurting others if possible. These and other lessons were embedded into our hearts as we grew up – even though she never really said, “The moral of that story is…”

As Stephen recounts the story of Joseph and Moses, and the Hebrews in Egypt there was also an entertainment factor. Not mind-numbing distraction, but engagement in the hearer’s hearts and minds. There were also morals to these sagas. God was at work in Joseph, Moses, and even Pharaoh. They were living their lives as best they could. But they likely had little knowledge of the far-reaching impact of their actions. Surely they didn’t think that Stephen or anyone else would be reciting these accounts centuries later.

But here he is. And the stories he is recounting are of eternal consequence. They are part of the grand sweep of the story of God’s redemption. That grand story is rooted in real people, over real time, facing real challenges, and serving to advance a narrative that would climax in the birth, life, teaching, suffering, death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth. Stephen will get to that soon.

This story is all one long woven tapestry stretching from the first moment of creation when God said, “Let there be light,” to the final day when Jesus returns and restores all broken, lost, and fallen things to their full beauty and glory. This story is not only true, or even most certainly true, it is eternally true and of the most profound significance of any story ever told.

Let’s lean in and listen well!
Adoption

September 7, 2023

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Acts 7:1, 17-29

And the high priest said, “Are these things so?” ²And Stephen said:

¹⁷“But as the time of the promise drew near, which God had granted to Abraham, the people increased and multiplied in Egypt ¹⁸until there arose over Egypt another king who did not know Joseph. ¹⁹He dealt shrewdly with our race and forced our fathers to expose their infants, so that they would not be kept alive. ²⁰At this time Moses was born; and he was beautiful in God’s sight. And he was brought up for three months in his father’s house, ²¹and when he was exposed, Pharaoh’s daughter adopted him and brought him up as her own son. ²²And Moses was instructed in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and he was mighty in his words and deeds.

²³“When he was forty years old, it came into his heart to visit his brothers, the children of Israel. ²⁴And seeing one of them being wronged, he defended the oppressed man and avenged him by striking down the Egyptian. ²⁵He supposed that his brothers would understand that God was giving them salvation by his hand, but they did not understand. ²⁶And on the following day he appeared to them as they were quarreling and tried to reconcile them, saying, ‘Men, you are brothers. Why do you wrong each other?’ ²⁷But the man who was wronging his neighbor thrust him aside, saying, ‘Who made you a ruler and a judge over us? ²⁸Do you want to kill me as you killed the Egyptian yesterday?’ ²⁹At this retort Moses fled and became an exile in the land of Midian, where he became the father of two sons.

Devil’s Walking Stick-II | BIg Bend National Park | May 2023

One of our grandsons is adopted. It’s a wonderful story in so many ways. He is a delightful child who is full of life and offers challenges to his parents much like his father and uncles did in their younger years. Andrew, however, may have taken some boyish stunts a bit further. He once rode his bike into a parked car because he was riding with his eyes closed! We love Andrew! We don’t really think of him as anything less than 100% part of our family.

Certain controversies surround adoptions these days. Foreign adoptions are not easily accomplished. Concerns about loss of cultural identity, or challenges of governmental regulations clog the process. Some children are left with rescue groups in places when they cannot afford even to feed their children. Adoption seems so loving yet tragic in those cases.

When Moses was adopted it was literally a matter of life or death. Pharaoh had decreed that all the Hebrew boys be left to die upon birth. After he was born his mother cared for him for three months, but could conceal him no longer. She left him in a reed basket in the Nile River. Found by Pharaoh’s daughter, Moses was adopted and raised in her home. This would set the stage for Moses’ education and major impact in the story of God’s redemption of his people in Egypt.

Two things come to mind for me out of this. One, we are all adopted into God’s family unless we are of Jewish ancestry. What a privilege we have along with all the true children of Abraham. It’s an adoption by the grace of God which we enjoy by faith. We enjoy fully the privileges of family membership.

Second, God uses whatever circumstance we find ourselves in to shape us for his purposes. Whether we have a large part to play in the story of God, or only a supposed extra in the drama, we’re all adopted into God’s family and have a place in the family business.
When Bad Things Happen

September 6, 2023

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Acts 7:1, 17-29

And the high priest said, “Are these things so?” ²And Stephen said:

¹⁷“But as the time of the promise drew near, which God had granted to Abraham, the people increased and multiplied in Egypt ¹⁸until there arose over Egypt another king who did not know Joseph. ¹⁹He dealt shrewdly with our race and forced our fathers to expose their infants, so that they would not be kept alive. ²⁰At this time Moses was born; and he was beautiful in God’s sight. And he was brought up for three months in his father’s house, ²¹and when he was exposed, Pharaoh’s daughter adopted him and brought him up as her own son. ²²And Moses was instructed in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and he was mighty in his words and deeds.

²³“When he was forty years old, it came into his heart to visit his brothers, the children of Israel. ²⁴And seeing one of them being wronged, he defended the oppressed man and avenged him by striking down the Egyptian. ²⁵He supposed that his brothers would understand that God was giving them salvation by his hand, but they did not understand. ²⁶And on the following day he appeared to them as they were quarreling and tried to reconcile them, saying, ‘Men, you are brothers. Why do you wrong each other?’ ²⁷But the man who was wronging his neighbor thrust him aside, saying, ‘Who made you a ruler and a judge over us? ²⁸Do you want to kill me as you killed the Egyptian yesterday?’ ²⁹At this retort Moses fled and became an exile in the land of Midian, where he became the father of two sons.

Devil’s Walking Stick | BIg Bend National Park | May 2023

A Jewish rabbi by the name of Harold Kushner wrote a book in 1981 titled, When Bad Things Happen to Good People. It became a #1 national best seller. Here’s a summary I found of the book:

Rabbi Kushner’s main idea is that God cannot, or will not, intervene to protect people from tragedies, nor will He punish or reward them for their actions, preferring that humans use their free will without interference. Thus, bad things can happen to good people by accident or from malicious people, and in remedy God offers only His support and love. People must find meaning and purpose from their own strength and resolve in overcoming adversity.

That paints a picture of God that is more deistic than the picture we see in the grand sweep of history. Deism teaches that God created all that exists but then sits back, having wound the clock and letting it run without interference. Here, a Pharaoh comes to power who did not know of Joseph. Bad things are about to happen to the Jewish people. But this is only part of the story. God is at work, not aloof, and actually does intervene in the affairs of man.

The greatest intervention – to which Stephen will point, and which we hold dear – is in sending his Son into the world to seek and save the lost. Jesus is the great intervener, the disrupter of all of history, the evidence that God is not aloof, disconnected, watching the world wind down.

For the Jews of Stephen’s day, the great intervention was through Moses, the Exodus from Egypt and entry into the Promised Land. Moses was their hero. He was, in their estimation, the ultimate authority. He proscribed their religious practice. He laid out the requirements of the laws of sacrifices, rituals, and justice. To think of anyone supplanting him was unthinkable.

But Moses has been supplanted. Jesus is the ultimate expression of God’s redemption and salvation. Not Moses. Not even Abraham. Stephen is laying this out for the people. Part of Moses’ story includes the hardships of the Hebrew people, Moses’ travails, and even the moments of terror at the Red Sea prior to their dry-land crossing.

Maybe there are some bad things happening in your life now. Difficulties will challenge us to carry on day to day. Not all things that happen are good. But God is at work through all of these things. And the bad things are not the end of the story. They are the opportunities for God to intervene and show his power and glory. They may still be bad. But God is good and at work for his glory and our good.
All Truth is God’s Truth

September 5, 2023

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Acts 7:1, 17-29

And the high priest said, “Are these things so?” ²And Stephen said:

¹⁷“But as the time of the promise drew near, which God had granted to Abraham, the people increased and multiplied in Egypt ¹⁸until there arose over Egypt another king who did not know Joseph.¹⁹He dealt shrewdly with our race and forced our fathers to expose their infants, so that they would not be kept alive. ²⁰At this time Moses was born; and he was beautiful in God’s sight. And he was brought up for three months in his father’s house,²¹and when he was exposed, Pharaoh’s daughter adopted him and brought him up as her own son. ²²And Moses was instructed in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and he was mighty in his words and deeds.

²³“When he was forty years old, it came into his heart to visit his brothers, the children of Israel.²⁴And seeing one of them being wronged, he defended the oppressed man and avenged him by striking down the Egyptian.²⁵He supposed that his brothers would understand that God was giving them salvation by his hand, but they did not understand.²⁶And on the following day he appeared to them as they were quarreling and tried to reconcile them, saying, ‘Men, you are brothers. Why do you wrong each other?’ ²⁷But the man who was wronging his neighbor thrust him aside, saying, ‘Who made you a ruler and a judge over us? ²⁸Do you want to kill me as you killed the Egyptian yesterday?’ ²⁹At this retort Moses fled and became an exile in the land of Midian, where he became the father of two sons.

Big Bend Panorama | Big Bend National Park | May 2023

I had never thought of it, but it was and is true. All truth is God’s truth, he said. So whether it is spoken by a friend or an enemy, if it’s true, it’s true. Whether I learned it at a state university, or in my post-graduate work at Concordia Theological Seminary, if it’s true, it’s true. If I discover some new insight about our planet through a telescope, or am reminded of God’s creative majesty through the book of Job, if it’s true, it’s true.

Moses learned the wisdom of the Egyptians while growing up in the household of Pharaoh’s daughter. He became wise and powerful. When he spoke, wisdom poured forth. When he acted, he got the job done. All this will stand him in good stead when he leads his people out of Egypt. But for now, we learn that he is gaining skills, knowledge and wisdom in his Egyptian home.

God shapes us for significant impact in a variety of ways. Your spiritual gifting, heart for a certain people, abilities, personality, and experiences work together and allow you to serve the cause of God’s kingdom. We don’t get these from studying the Bible. We gain them by life and personal introspection.

Sometimes God uses experiences foreign to the church and faith to shape and prepare us for the great work he has in store for us to do. Many times we don’t even realize how we are being shaped. We may even wonder why we’re learning or experiencing the things we do. (Think junior high boys having to learn algebra or English.) But God uses all truth, learnings, experiences, and even our unique personalities for his purposes.

We cannot know the ultimate truth about our eternal salvation through faith in Jesus Christ, however, apart from God’s special revelation. That comes to us through Scripture – either through reading the Bible, biblical writings, witnesses of the gospel, biblical preaching and teaching. All truth is God’s truth. But the greatest and truest truth of all is revealed by God in Jesus’ life, death, burial, and resurrection. That truth is exclusive to God and precious to those who believe in Jesus by the power of the Holy Spirit.
But…Until…When

September 4, 2023

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Acts 7:1, 17-29

And the high priest said, “Are these things so?” ²And Stephen said:

¹⁷“But as the time of the promise drew near, which God had granted to Abraham, the people increased and multiplied in Egypt ¹⁸until there arose over Egypt another king who did not know Joseph.¹⁹He dealt shrewdly with our race and forced our fathers to expose their infants, so that they would not be kept alive. ²⁰At this time Moses was born; and he was beautiful in God’s sight. And he was brought up for three months in his father’s house,²¹and when he was exposed, Pharaoh’s daughter adopted him and brought him up as her own son. ²²And Moses was instructed in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and he was mighty in his words and deeds.

²³“When he was forty years old, it came into his heart to visit his brothers, the children of Israel.²⁴And seeing one of them being wronged, he defended the oppressed man and avenged him by striking down the Egyptian.²⁵He supposed that his brothers would understand that God was giving them salvation by his hand, but they did not understand.²⁶And on the following day he appeared to them as they were quarreling and tried to reconcile them, saying, ‘Men, you are brothers. Why do you wrong each other?’ ²⁷But the man who was wronging his neighbor thrust him aside, saying, ‘Who made you a ruler and a judge over us? ²⁸Do you want to kill me as you killed the Egyptian yesterday?’ ²⁹At this retort Moses fled and became an exile in the land of Midian, where he became the father of two sons.

Walkers on a Big Bend Trail | Big Bend National Park | May 2023

Once upon a time… What happens when you hear those words. Sweet memories of childhood bedtime stories? A sigh because someone is going to bore you to death with a fairy tale or fable? A perked-up ear and a keener interest in what character you are about to meet and the story to be told? Everyone loves a story. Well most people do at least. Give me a story over a list of facts any day. Or at least put the facts into the context of some story, some drama to be played out.

Stephen is giving answer to the high priest in the form of a story. It is interesting to me that he is allowed to tell his story. We are an impatient lot. We don’t often want to hear the story. We just want to get to the facts of the case so we can draw our own conclusions. Don’t tell me about your best cow Bessie. Tell me if you said you were OK at the time of the accident! [Recall this joke/post].

It seems that everyone is willing to listen to Stephen’s full story, a recounting of the saga of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and the 12 sons of Israel. And Stephen is telling it. The story of God is not a single chapter. It’s not a simple, Once upon a time…and they lived happily ever after. It is a complex drama with many plot-twists, reversals, challenges, starts and stops.

That becomes clear in this second chunk of Stephen’s testimony: But as the time approached…until there arose…when he was exposed. All this is about Moses. Joseph is forgotten. The Israelites are growing in numbers and deemed to be a threat to the Egyptians. Time to clip their wings. Time to keep them from becoming too powerful. Put the Hebrew boys to death at their birth. Except Moses. He is beautiful in the eyes of God and will be protected from this genocide.

Moses will be threatened to be exposed for his vigilante action in defense of a fellow Hebrew, when he visited his fellow sons of Israel in Egypt. Word had gotten out about his actions and he had to flee to Midian. There he will become a father to two sons.

There is more to this story and as Stephen is telling it, the people must have wondered, What’s the guy getting at? Where is all this going? Is he just stalling for time? No. No. He is getting at how God works and how people can totally miss and reject God’s actions in favor of their own sense of the way things ought to be.

The final arbiter of what will be, and what ought to be, is not the sensibility of man, but the purposes of God. God’s purposes reach far beyond the momentary comfort or sensible actions of convenience we devise. Stephen’s defense will challenge them to the point of irate judgment and vigilante action of their own. They will stone Stephen. What will we do when God disturbs our sensibilities and twists the plot of our lives?

Better we be open to God’s ways and interruptions, and refuse to jump to conclusions about whether a moment in time is good or bad. The larger story of God’s ways ends in a grand celebration of his grace, goodness, justice, and love. These things we do not always see in the middle of the story. But until then, we can wait until the story comes to complete fulfillment.
Today’s Psalms for September 3, 2023

September 3, 2023

Please pray these psalms with me on this Lord’s Day

Psalm 3

O Lord, how many are my foes!
    Many are rising against me;
²many are saying of my soul,
    “There is no salvation for him in God.” Selah

³But you, O Lord, are a shield about me,
    my glory, and the lifter of my head.
⁴I cried aloud to the Lord,
    and he answered me from his holy hill. Selah

⁵I lay down and slept;
    I woke again, for the Lord sustained me.
⁶I will not be afraid of many thousands of people
    who have set themselves against me all around.

⁷Arise, O Lord!
    Save me, O my God!
For you strike all my enemies on the cheek;
    you break the teeth of the wicked.

⁸Salvation belongs to the Lord;
    your blessing be on your people! Selah

Psalm 33:1-5, 20-22

Shout for joy in the Lord, O you righteous!
    Praise befits the upright.
²Give thanks to the Lord with the lyre;
    make melody to him with the harp of ten strings!
³Sing to him a new song;
    play skillfully on the strings, with loud shouts.

⁴For the word of the Lord is upright,
    and all his work is done in faithfulness.
⁵He loves righteousness and justice;
    the earth is full of the steadfast love of the Lord.²⁰Our soul waits for the Lord;
    he is our help and our shield.
²¹For our heart is glad in him,
    because we trust in his holy name.
²²Let your steadfast love, O Lord, be upon us,
    even as we hope in you.

Psalm 63:1-4

O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you;
    my soul thirsts for you;
my flesh faints for you,
    as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.
²So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary,
    beholding your power and glory.
³Because your steadfast love is better than life,
    my lips will praise you.
⁴So I will bless you as long as I live;
    in your name I will lift up my hands.

Psalm 93

The Lord reigns; he is robed in majesty;
    the Lord is robed; he has put on strength as his belt.
Yes, the world is established; it shall never be moved.
²Your throne is established from of old;
    you are from everlasting.

³The floods have lifted up, O Lord,
    the floods have lifted up their voice;
    the floods lift up their roaring.
⁴Mightier than the thunders of many waters,
    mightier than the waves of the sea,
    the Lord on high is mighty!

⁵Your decrees are very trustworthy;
    holiness befits your house,
    O Lord, forevermore.

Psalm 123

To you I lift up my eyes,
    O you who are enthroned in the heavens!
²Behold, as the eyes of servants
    look to the hand of their master,
as the eyes of a maidservant
    to the hand of her mistress,
so our eyes look to the Lord our God,
    till he has mercy upon us.

³Have mercy upon us, O Lord, have mercy upon us,
    for we have had more than enough of contempt.
⁴Our soul has had more than enough
    of the scorn of those who are at ease,
    of the contempt of the proud.

English Standard Version (ESV)
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016.
Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
“…and they will worship me,” said God.

September 1, 2023

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Acts 7:1-16

And the high priest said, “Are these things so?” ²And Stephen said:

“Brothers and fathers, hear me. The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Haran, ³and said to him, ‘Go out from your land and from your kindred and go into the land that I will show you.’ ⁴Then he went out from the land of the Chaldeans and lived in Haran. And after his father died, God removed him from there into this land in which you are now living. ⁵Yet he gave him no inheritance in it, not even a foot’s length, but promised to give it to him as a possession and to his offspring after him, though he had no child. ⁶And God spoke to this effect—that his offspring would be sojourners in a land belonging to others, who would enslave them and afflict them four hundred years. ⁷‘But I will judge the nation that they serve,’ said God, ‘and after that they shall come out and worship me in this place.’ ⁸And he gave him the covenant of circumcision. And so Abraham became the father of Isaac, and circumcised him on the eighth day, and Isaac became the father of Jacob, and Jacob of the twelve patriarchs.

⁹“And the patriarchs, jealous of Joseph, sold him into Egypt; but God was with him ¹⁰and rescued him out of all his afflictions and gave him favor and wisdom before Pharaoh, king of Egypt, who made him ruler over Egypt and over all his household. ¹¹Now there came a famine throughout all Egypt and Canaan, and great affliction, and our fathers could find no food. ¹²But when Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent out our fathers on their first visit. ¹³And on the second visit Joseph made himself known to his brothers, and Joseph’s family became known to Pharaoh. ¹⁴And Joseph sent and summoned Jacob his father and all his kindred, seventy-five persons in all. ¹⁵And Jacob went down into Egypt, and he died, he and our fathers, ¹⁶and they were carried back to Shechem and laid in the tomb that Abraham had bought for a sum of silver from the sons of Hamor in Shechem.

View Toward Mexico-II | Big Bend National Park | May 2023

I love Martin Luther’s Small Catechism. It’s a gem of simple, succinct, and Jesus-centered truth. I had not grown up in the Lutheran church, so I never had to memorize it-or I should say, “got to memorize it.” When I was on vicarage, I was assigned to teach 7th grade confirmation. That meant I was teaching the Small Catechism. And I made a deal with the students: Whatever I make you memorize, I will memorize too. It was one of the greatest deals I’ve ever made. I still recall 90% of it today.

One part I have down cold is Luther’s explanation to the Second Article of the Apostle’s Creed:

I believe that Jesus Christ, true God, begotten of the Father from eternity, and also true man, born of the Virgin Mary, is my Lord,

who has redeemed me, a lost and condemned person, purchased and won me from all sins, from death, and from the power of the devil; not with gold or silver, but with His holy, precious blood and with His innocent suffering and death,

that I may be His own and live under Him in His kingdom and serve Him in everlasting righteousness, innocence, and blessedness,

just as He is risen from the dead, lives and reigns to all eternity. This is most certainly true.

[Full disclosure, I copied and pasted this from the catechism so that I would get the correct punctuation and avoid the necessity of correcting my typos as I typed from memory. Honest!]

I really appreciate Luther’s “so that…” in this explanation. Jesus is true God and true man. He did shed his blood to redeem me. I’ve been purchased and won. All this so that I would belong to him and live under King Jesus, serving him in eternal blessed joy.

I’m reminded of this when I read this account of Stephen’s defence. God would redeem his people, rescuing them from slavery in Egypt. And his people did worship him in the desert. It was a remarkable moment of exuberant praise.

“I will sing to the Lord, for he has triumphed gloriously;
the horse and his rider he has thrown into the sea.
²The Lord is my strength and my song,
and he has become my salvation;
this is my God, and I will praise him,
my father’s God, and I will exalt him. – Exodus 15:1-2

Worship is an essential way in which we respond to God’s goodness and grace. Because he has redeemed us, and we are his, we honor him by gathering with others and singing his praises. By this we also encourage one another, and build up the body of Christ. Worship the first response to God’s blessings. Praise comes spontaneously when we receive great gifts. We don’t have to think about standing and cheering when our team wins or our child gets an award. We just stand up and cheer, give our neighbor a high five, whistle and clap our hands.

God has brought us all out of slavery through Jesus’ death on the cross. That reality is sealed by Jesus’ resurrection. Our faith holds this dear. We live and move and have our being in him. His Holy Spirit comforts us and gives us courage along life’s way. God’s pours out his goodness on us each day. Jesus gives us abundant, eternal life, and it begins now.

But the best is yet to come, and all of eternity will lie before us in the life of the world to come. We will be caught up in wonder, love and praise. For we will see more fully the breadth of God’s grace and his praise will ring on our lips forever and ever. Worship – true worship – is not a forced compliance. It is the unstoppable expression of glory, honor, praise, and adoration from the redeemed of God to the God of our salvation. Let the praises ring!
Here comes that dreamer!

August 31, 2023

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Acts 7:1-16

And the high priest said, “Are these things so?” ²And Stephen said:

“Brothers and fathers, hear me. The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Haran, ³and said to him, ‘Go out from your land and from your kindred and go into the land that I will show you.’ ⁴Then he went out from the land of the Chaldeans and lived in Haran. And after his father died, God removed him from there into this land in which you are now living. ⁵Yet he gave him no inheritance in it, not even a foot’s length, but promised to give it to him as a possession and to his offspring after him, though he had no child. ⁶And God spoke to this effect—that his offspring would be sojourners in a land belonging to others, who would enslave them and afflict them four hundred years. ⁷‘But I will judge the nation that they serve,’ said God, ‘and after that they shall come out and worship me in this place.’ ⁸And he gave him the covenant of circumcision. And so Abraham became the father of Isaac, and circumcised him on the eighth day, and Isaac became the father of Jacob, and Jacob of the twelve patriarchs.

⁹“And the patriarchs, jealous of Joseph, sold him into Egypt; but God was with him ¹⁰and rescued him out of all his afflictions and gave him favor and wisdom before Pharaoh, king of Egypt, who made him ruler over Egypt and over all his household. ¹¹Now there came a famine throughout all Egypt and Canaan, and great affliction, and our fathers could find no food. ¹²But when Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent out our fathers on their first visit. ¹³And on the second visit Joseph made himself known to his brothers, and Joseph’s family became known to Pharaoh. ¹⁴And Joseph sent and summoned Jacob his father and all his kindred, seventy-five persons in all. ¹⁵And Jacob went down into Egypt, and he died, he and our fathers, ¹⁶and they were carried back to Shechem and laid in the tomb that Abraham had bought for a sum of silver from the sons of Hamor in Shechem.

A View Toward Mexico | Big Bend National Park | May 2023

My father died at the age of 64. Once a successful businessman. Man of integrity. Too young. Cancer. Cigarette smoker. Such a loss. Couldn’t kick the habit. At his funeral, the pastor of his church called my dad a dreamer. He used the reference in Genesis 37:19 when Joseph’s brothers saw him coming to bring food and to check up on them for their father, “Here comes that dreamer.” The whole chapter is worth reading.

My dad had one dream after another. In some ways he was ahead of his time. He came up advertising ideas, innovations in marketing, and built a motel from 5 rooms to 42 rooms over the course of 30 years. He would also share ideas with me about making the church I was serving grow. He was constantly dreaming up new things to do. He and my mom came up with a child’s seat belt that would allow the child to be restrained even if standing up in the car’s bench seat(!).

Joseph was quite a different kind of dreamer. He dreamed about haystacks (symbolizing his brothers and father) all bowing down to his haystack. He dreamed that the sun, moon, and stars also bowed down to him. Add that to the favoritism his father showed toward him and you have the makings of resentment, scheming, and dreams turned to nightmares.

But God was in the dreams of Joseph. And as the country song says, “it’s hard to be humble when you’re perfect in every way.” Joseph’s brothers and father would one day bow down to him. So would the rest of the world when he had become THE one in charge of all the grain in Egypt during the famine that struck the whole land. Joseph also interpreted the dreams of two prison mates and Pharaoh himself.

There are other examples of dreams and dreamers in the Bible. Daniel interpreted Nebuchadnezzar’s dream (Daniel 2) when none of the king’s regular astrologers and seers could. God directed Joseph to take Mary as his wife, and to take Mary and Jesus into Egypt by means of dreams.

Sometimes God puts dreams into our hearts in the manner of Nehemiah (Nehemiah 2:12). It might be of a better financial future. It could be the mending of a broken relationship. It may be of a dream vacation or dream home. But sometimes we dream of things not of God. Those dreams turn to nightmares if we follow them. May God help us to know the difference, and to follow his dreams rather than our schemes!