Then the LORD said to Jacob, “Go back to the land of your fathers and to your relatives, and I will be with you.” – Genesis 31:3

Today’s Scripture Reading (April 30, 2012): Genesis 31

Sometimes we live as if God will never ask us to do something hard. It is one of the things that I have noticed inside the church. If things get tough, we begin to think that God can’t be in it. And sometimes we are right, but only sometimes. Sometimes, God chooses the hard path for us – not because we have done anything wrong, but because he is God and he needs us there.

Jacob is learning. Earlier in the story it was all about him, but now he is starting to recognize, not only the presence of others, but about the presence of God. But things are getting tough in the land of Laban. And to complicate the situation, Jacob has seemed to run out of options. He had made a practice of burning the bridges behind him. The easiest path for Jacob would have been to have taken his family and his wealth and to blaze a new trail. He could have gone where he was unknown, but that wasn’t the plan that God had for him. God was asking him to go home, back to the land of his fathers, and to his relatives – and there was really only one relative that Jacob was thinking about, his brother Esau who had committed himself to the idea of killing him.

God’s path was a hard one. And Jacob knew that it would be a dangerous one. But he would be willing, as long as God was with him. Maybe one of the hardest things to realize is that God wants to be present in and to restore our relationships. Sometimes that just isn’t possible (it didn’t seem to be with Laban and his family), but when it is, God will take us in that direction. With Jacob and Esau, the restoration needed to begin and would begin with the help of God.

With us, often restoration is impossible. But when God enters the situation, and if both parties will let him, then the impossible becomes very possible. And if the relationships can be fixed, we need to be a willing party in the process. 

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Genesis 32

When Rachel saw that she was not bearing Jacob any children, she became jealous of her sister. So she said to Jacob, “Give me children, or I’ll die!” – Genesis 30:1

Today’s Scripture Reading (April 29, 2012): Genesis 30

When bad things happen, sometimes the last person we want around us is someone who seems to be having an easy time of it. What we want is someone that is going through the struggle. The cultural phrase that we use is that “misery loves company.” Unhappy people just seem to like to be around other unhappy people. It really doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. Logic says that two unhappy should drive each other into even deeper depression, but it doesn’t seem to work that way. Maybe partially it is because we adjust our own idea of what normal is. And when we are with someone who is unhappy, the emotional distance is simply less than it is with someone that is enjoying the time of their lives.

But there is a second stage. While “misery loves company” is weird but maybe understandable, it is a short step from there to envying those that seem to be having an easier time of it. Envy is grieving at the blessings of someone else, and there is maybe no sin that is more injurious to ourselves, others and to God. Envy destroys everything and almost makes blessing impossible to happen in our lives. And envy is our complaint to God about the way that he is handling his creation.

Rachel had found her way into envy. And now she was in trouble. Her complaint is not that she wanted a child, she wanted children. She had to out rank the sister who was the object of her envy. And if she couldn`t, well, then life just wouldn`t be worth living.

The unfortunate part of Rachel story is that this comment is actually a bit of foreshadowing for her life. She would have children. Their names would be Joseph and Benjamin, but she would die giving birth to Benjamin.

Whether or not we actually die, emotionally envy kills us. And it makes it hard to recover from the bad times of life. And the reality of Rachel`s life – and of ours – is that she had focused on one area in her life where she was not blessed. But in other areas she was – even to the point of being the soul mate and best friend of her husband. But she couldn’t see it. Envy blinds us to the good in our life. And if we can`t see that then maybe life might as well be over. Because we won`t see the good even when it comes along.

   

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Genesis 31

When morning came, there was Leah! So Jacob said to Laban, “What is this you have done to me? I served you for Rachel, didn’t I? Why have you deceived me?” – Genesis 29:25

Today’s Scripture Reading (April 28, 2012): Genesis 29

Maybe one of the universal hopes of a parent is that our grandkids will give our children all of the struggles that we experienced with them. There might not be any greater reward than having a headstrong grandchild to give our headstrong children a taste of their own medicine. (and for those who know my grandchild – yeah, so far she is not fulfilling any of this.) We are not trying to mean, we just want the moment when we can sit down with our children and say “now you know how we felt.” And maybe recognize that as parents we still don’t have the answers.

I don’t think that Isaac knew what he was doing when he sent Jacob to find a wife among the relatives of Rebekah. But what Jacob found when he arrived at his ancestral home was someone as experienced in the art of deception as Jacob was. Finally the man named “deceiver” had met the one that could deceive even him. Laban and Jacob seemed to be made for each other.

It is actually something that I have noticed in life. Mirror images of people seldom get along – we just seem to bring out the worst in each other. And it is not that there are no redeeming features in the person (although that is often what I hear people say when confronted with their evil twin) - it is just that we seem to be unable to see the good.

Maybe Jacob’s arrival at the home of Laban was more than just payback or karma. Maybe it was the opportunity of a lifetime – a chance to really see the way they looked to other people. And it was a chance to make some real changes. We will never know what Laban did with the opportunity, but for Jacob it was a humbling experience that set up the rest of his life.

And, if we are lucky, we have the same opportunity to examine our own lives in the lives of those around us – especially in those that we may not like. The next time you are confronted with the annoying traits of friend, tread carefully. You might be seeing what you look like to others.

  

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Genesis 30

So Isaac called for Jacob and blessed him and commanded him: “Do not marry a Canaanite woman. – Genesis 28:1

Today’s Scripture Reading (April 27, 2012): Genesis 28

As parents, we know that we are not supposed to have favorites. Each child is born different, but that difference doesn’t make one better than the other. I love my kids, even though they are very different from each other. It is that uniqueness that makes them so valuable. And I really hope that they realize that – and know the incredible strengths that they each possess.

One of the features of the story of Isaac, Rebekah and their sons is that in a lot of ways a story of what we would call a dysfunctional family. It is the story of a family that just doesn’t work – at least not the way that we think it should. Both of the parents had a son that was their favorite – and apparently they didn’t even try to pretend that that wasn’t the case. On the surface, it would be easy to imagine the argument that could have resulted from the story of the stolen blessing that Esau experienced at the hands of Jacob. We know that Esau felt betrayed by Jacob and possibly even by his mother who was the brains behind the scheme to steal the blessing away from him. But sometime we forget the incredible sense of betrayal that Isaac must have also felt from the actions of his son and his wife.

Yet, it is not betrayal that we read as the story continues. The next words are not words of anger by Isaac, but of an incredible sense of forgiveness. In spite of what Jacob had done, Isaac gives him a second blessing. And in spite of the actions that Rebekah had undertaken to trick her husband, his concern is so great for her that he gives Jacob a final request - one that will honor his mother.

Sometimes it is so easy to withhold blessing and forgiveness to the ones that are closest to us. But even in the midst of dysfunction, Isaac shows us the forgiveness that every family needs to share.

   

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Genesis 29

So he went to him and kissed him. When Isaac caught the smell of his clothes, he blessed him and said, “Ah, the smell of my son is like the smell of a field that the LORD has blessed.” – Genesis 27:27

Today’s Scripture Reading (April 26, 2012): Genesis 27

“Sticks and stones my break my bones, but names will never hurt me.” It is the children’s phrase spoken by hurting children all over the English speaking nations. And it is a lie. And not only is it an untruth, but it is one that parents have taught their children to repeat. As parents, we want the words to be true. But as children, we wonder why, if what our parents tell us is true, do the words hurt so much?

And while, even as parents we want the words to be true, we know that they aren’t – because we feel the pain of words. We know what it is to hurt from the effect of words, and we feel the very pain that we try to tell our kids isn’t really there. We cry and weep with their pain in response to words that aren’t supposed to have any substance.

The truth is that sticks and stone may bruise me, they may even break my bones, but those wounds will heal. On the other hand, the wounds produced by words are often wounds that hamper us for life. And sometimes the words that have been spoken over us echo through our lives so that we can hear absolutely no other words. We are left with only the hurt.

So our pledge is often that we will endeavor not to hurt anyone with our words. My prayer is that God will help me not to say words that will cause harm. I wish I was more successful than I am – because sometimes hurtful words are still spoken.

But to avoid the speaking of harmful words isn’t enough. We are to be the encouragers of the earth, both the world at large and of the people that we come into contact with on a daily basis. It isn’t enough to not do harm when there is the possibility that we might be do great good with our words. It was the secret that the ancient world knew. Isaac’s intention was to speak blessing over Esau - because words are not intangible things, but carry a weight and a mass that is greater than any stick or stone we can imagine. And if words can harm us, if we can be so hurt by what is said that the echo of words can bounce around us throughout the rest of our lives, then it is the responsibility of the encouragers of the world to let the positive words ring out and echo throughout the lives around us.

And my prayer is that we will speak so many words of blessing that there will not be any room in our world for the negatives to be spoken. And that the nature of the echo will change forever

.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Genesis 28

Isaac reopened the wells that had been dug in the time of his father Abraham, which the Philistines had stopped up after Abraham died, and he gave them the same names his father had given them. – Genesis 26:8

Today’s Scripture Reading (April 25, 2012): Genesis 26

Last weekend I re-watched one of Steven Anderson’s YouTube videos. Let me say that I strongly suspect that Anderson says some of the things he does so that he can gain some kind of notoriety through Social media. And, unfortunately, it has worked. This pastor of a small Arizona church has reached an audience far beyond what most of us will ever reach. However, his strategy has also cost him. There are very few of the people that watch his messages that will actually consider what it is that he says. He has become part of the lunatic fringe of Christianity. But there are probably a few - and that is the scary part.

Anderson preaches a gospel of hate – and he seems to hate everybody. (And if he ever read this blog, I would probably join those that he believes God needs to wipe from the face of the earth.) The video that a friend of mine reminded me of was one where Anderson graphically described his hate for President Obama. He even wishes for the Presidents death and explains the scriptural reason for the hate. I really wish that the Andersons of this life stood alone. But I know that they don’t. Every race and creed has their version – and they don’t seem to be going away.

As a Christian, what I believe that my faith group so easily forgets is that we are, from the very beginning, not a people that hate, but a people that restores. It started with God’s words that the Abraham and his descendants would be the way that God would choose to bless the nations. Far from being a story of hate, it is the followers of God that are charged with the task of the restoration of, and in, the world.

And that restoration even carries into the ecological issues of the world. We are to be the recyclers. Isaac moves back into the area that his father had resided in. And those that had followed dad had filled in the wells that dad had dug. But Isaac just accepts the situation – and unstops the well. It is a simple act of restoration.

We need to embrace our role in an increasingly diverse culture as peace makers and as restorers of what is broken. The gospel of hate that continues to be preached by some is not a productive gospel in our culture – and it is not God`s gospel. In every act – both large and small – we need to fulfill the task that God has called us to – we need to be the restorers of the nations, and of the world.

      

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Genesis 27

His descendants settled in the area from Havilah to Shur, near the border of Egypt, as you go toward Asshur. And they lived in hostility toward all their brothers. – Genesis 25:18

Today’s Scripture Reading (April 24, 2012): Genesis 25

If the Arab nations are truly the descendants of Ishmael (and they believe that they are – and history would seem to agree), then this simple verse hidden in the middle of the book of Genesis tells the story of the Arab nations. Until the seventh century, the Arab tribes were nomadic and continually at war with each other. They would stay in conflict with their brothers from the time of Abraham until the coming of Muhammad.

Muhammad was intrigued with the Biblical writings and especially with the story of Isaac and Ishmael. And as he read about Ishmael being the father of all those who dwelt in the dessert, he made the connection between the son of Abraham and his own people. He saw in the Arab nations the children of Abraham, and Abraham had been concerned about them and had prayed for them. And the bible says that God’s blessing was on both of the sons of Abraham, even if it was Isaac that was the child of promise.

One of the great accomplishments of Muhammad, and one that we need to remember him for, is that he united the feuding Arab people groups for the first time in their history. It was a significant accomplishment. So it is little wonder that the Islamic people hold him to be a great disciple of God. Even if he just accomplished the unification of the Arab nations, it was something that no one else had been able to do.

In our political environment, it is sometimes too easy to overlook the spiritual identity of the nations that we consider to be our enemies. But we need to recognize in them the spiritual potential and blessing that God has placed in them – as well as in us. And we strive to praise the God who created both of us.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Genesis 26

I want you to swear by the LORD, the God of heaven and the God of earth, that you will not get a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I am living … Genesis 24:3

Today’s Scripture Reading (April 23, 2012): Genesis 24

One of the perennial questions that we struggle with deals with question of who influences who. I think we all want to be people of influence. It seems to be a trait that is buried deep in our core. When we speak, we hope that people will listen to our words and consider what it is that we have to say. But, we also know that the reverse is often true. Sometimes we are the ones who are influenced. And sometimes that is because we want to be influenced. It is the reason why we ask questions – we want a deeper understanding of something. And the invitation is for those that have either knowledge or an opinion to weigh in on the discussion. The opinion is important enough for us to ask the question, so we are waiting and open to the influence of others who are willing to make the argument. But, sometimes, influence is not wanted, but the words wash over us violently anyways and change us in the process. But maybe the most dangerous kind of influence is the influence that we don’t even realize is happening. And slowly our opinions begin to change as we bend to the wind of opinion.

One of the factors of influence is simply the deepness of relationship. The deeper the relationship and the more we are attracted by the character of the person, the more likely we are to be influenced. And that influence can slowly carry us away even from our core values.

There is an old Mexican saying “la casa no se reclina sobre la tierra, sino sobre una mujer” – “The house does not rest upon the ground, but upon a woman.” It seemed that, maybe, Abraham had heard a similar saying . As he watched the Canaanite lifestyle deteriorate into evil, he knew that he needed to find a wife for Isaac from among another culture. After all, the house of Isaac would rest on her and, while he would influence her, she would also influence him. And the last thing he wanted for his son was that his life would decline into evil in the same way as his neighbours lives had.

And it is one of the reasons why we still want our children to seriously consider the character of the people that they draw into their inner circle of friends. It isn’t that we want to limit their influence, but we recognize that they are vulnerable to be influenced by the people that they respect. Or maybe, it is because we recognize with Abraham that Jason Gideon (character on the Criminal Minds – TV Show) was right – “In my experience, evil is not a cultural phenomenon; it is a human one.” And if influenced negatively, evil is something of which we are all vulnerable.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Genesis 25

Then Abraham rose and bowed down before the people of the land, the Hittites. – Genesis 23:7

Today’s Scripture Reading (April 22, 2012): Genesis 23

Sometimes we are just rude. I think I see it more in the middle of political campaigns, but I think it may just be more noticeable at those times. Actually, a lot of what I find rude in the current campaigns are things that were actually written long before the campaign began. We are unwilling to accept people that believe differently from the way we believe. And we don’t just reject their beliefs, we reject them. Maybe the height of the rudeness is when we make graphic predictions of the way that others will live, or of the judgment that awaits them if they continue to live the way that they do. Oh, we believe that we have right on our side, but often we do more damage than good.

Part of the problem is that we have forgotten who it is that we are supposed to judge. Our lives are supposed to be lived in attitude of love, but if there is a need to judge someone - we only judge those inside the church (1 Corinthians 5.) Unfortunately, we tend toward the reverse. We judge the way people live who have never made any kind of commitment to Jesus Christ – and that is wrong.

When Sarah dies, Abraham is in the land of the Hittites. The Hittites and Abraham had different belief systems. And maybe one of the most challenging beliefs that Abraham had was that one day the land of the Hittites would be the land of Abraham. And he believed and served the God that had made that promise to him. The Hittites on the other hand believed in a pantheon of gods dominated by what are called the Storm gods. And chief among the Storm gods was the god Tarhunt – the god of the sky and often depicted as carrying a lightning bolt in his hand. The religious differences were huge, and yet Abraham still was able to politely bow to the kindness of the Hittite elders.

We may differ in belief systems with those around us, but there are never any excuses for us to react rudely to the opinions of those around us, no matter what it is that they believe. Being polite to those that differ from us is part of reacting to the world in love. And the only ones that should be held to the standards of Christ are those of us that claim to follow him. 

    

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Genesis 24

After Job had prayed for his friends, the LORD made him prosperous again and gave him twice as much as he had before. – Job 42:10

Today’s Scripture Reading (April 21, 2012): Job 42

Maybe one of the harder verses of the Bible is John 20:23. In this verse Jesus seems to say that the possibility of forgiveness for our race lays at our feet. If we forgive, then it seems that God will forgive, but when we refuse to forgive, those that stand in need of forgiveness remain unforgiven. And that seems to be a lot to lay at our feet – after all, forgiveness is hard.

But on the other hand, if we don’t forgive the people around us, then how will they know that they have been forgiven. The old phrase is that I need to be Jesus with skin on. And as part of the physical body of Christ I need to show the forgiveness of God off to the world. And it is what God requires of me. I need to love and I need to forgive – no matter how difficult that task might be.

So maybe it shouldn’t be surprising that the first task Job is given as his ordeal is ending is that of praying for his friends. He requested mercy for friends, and in the process he received mercy for himself. And maybe that is one of the hardest things that we need to learn.

There is a line in a song that rings true from an unlikely source. Billy Joel wrote it in “Only the Good Die Young.” Talking about Virginia’s mother the line goes Ah! She never cared for me. But did she ever say a prayer for me? Forgiveness and prayer for the world around us, even the parts of the world that we don’t agree with, are still what is required of us. And as Christians, that is what our rhetoric should reflect.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Genesis 23

His breath sets coals ablaze, and flames dart from his mouth. – Job 41:21

Today’s Scripture Reading (April 20, 2012): Job 41

One of the little rituals that my wife and I have is that every Saturday Night we sit down and eat our supper and watch the BBC series – “Merlin.” Merlin is a show of fantasy. The opening voiceover every week reminds the watcher that what they are about to watch is nothing but someone’s imagination. We can argue about whether there is any truth to be found in the Arthurian legend – we can try to draw historical parallels between Camelot and real empires that existed during the first Millennium of the Common Era – but “Merlin” doesn’t embrace any of that. It doesn’t matter that the Castle and armor of the knights are from a later period. Merlin tells a tale of the imagination. This is what the dragon reminds the watcher of every week as he opens the show. “In a land of myth, and a time of magic, the destiny of a great kingdom rests on the shoulders of a young boy. His name... Merlin.”

The character of Merlin belongs to a time when the unknowns of life dominated the human consciousness. Some things just couldn’t be explained. And our response to the unexplainable was to invent things that we thought explained what it was that we couldn’t explain. Magic and spells (and the ever present evil eye) were part of our response. And we also created creatures born out of our imaginations – they became the creatures of magic and sorcery. And one of these creatures was the dragon (and the modern day equivalent of the dragon is the UFO – or maybe President Obama.) But dragons only live in our imaginations.

A dragon is often perceived as a flying reptile like creature of great strength and often an animal that breathed fire. And the dream was that one day we would find the dragon master that could tame the dragon, and then everything would be okay. Merlin was a dragon master; he was a man that had great magical power but more importantly he had the power to tame the dragon. And when you can tame a dragon, nothing else is really needed.

God starts off talking to Job about a creature that resembles a crocodile, but by the end of God’s description the creature has morphed into a dragon. And our push back is that dragon’s don’t exist (so how can I trust the Bible.) But I am pretty sure that God realized which animals he had really created. But we can’t miss what God’s message is. Job, you can’t control any of this, but I can. I am in charge of both the things that you see and the things that you imagine.

We still give too much license to the dragons in our lives. We go running from them, even though they are products of our own imaginations. But God is still in control. Our personal dragons may not go running from us, but they will from him.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Job 42


Note: The VantagePoint Sermon "The Price of Following - The Image of Christ" is now available on the VantagePoint Website. You can find it here - http://www.vantagepointcc.org/The_Price_of_Following___The_Image_of_Christ.htm

“Look at the behemoth, which I made along with you and which feeds on grass like an ox. – Job 40:15

Today’s Scripture Reading (April 19, 2012): Job 40

Are elephants really afraid of mice? It is a theory that has been propagated by cartoons, and even examined by the MythBusters (who, by the way, concluded that the idea that an elephant is scared of a mouse plausible.) No one really knows where the myth came from. Maybe it is just an extension of our own phobia in regard to the little creatures. After all, if elephants are afraid of mice, maybe it is normal for us to jump onto chairs whenever the diminutive animals appear.

The truth is that the idea of elephants being afraid of mice is probably unfounded (the evidence from the MythBusters notwithstanding). But the suggestion is still an attractive one. We seem to have an idea that size equals power and violence. It is stressed in every movie I watch. It is the big guy that is going to get violent; he is the one that is chosen to be the body guard. He is the power behind the scene. The elephant and the mouse myth is the counterpoint. Inside this story the elephant, one of the strongest animals we can imagine, becomes the gentle giant that suffers from the same phobias that we do.

The behemoth that God mentions is another gentle giant. Some think that it might be the elephant, but it is more likely to be the river horse – or hippopotamus - a gentle giant of an animal that chews on grasses rather than on other animals. It is the picture of the humility of God. He is the one that created the river horse, a beast that seems to be so indestructible, and yet one that seems to revere all of life.

Job thinks he knows the answers. He believes that somehow all of the good he has done and all of the wisdom and knowledge that he possesses makes a difference. But God points at the river horse and tells Job to consider the humility of the great beast – and the humility and power of the God that created both Job and the behemoth.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Readings: Job 41

I gave him the wasteland as his home, the salt flats as his habitat. – Job 39:6

Today’s Scripture Reading (April 18, 2012): Job 39

April is the cruelest month, breeding

Lilacs out of the dead land, mixing

Memory and desire, stirring

Dull roots with spring rain.

It is with these words that T. S. Eliot starts off his poem “The Waste Land.” The poem, known for its obscure nature, was written during a tough time in Eliot’s life. He had been diagnosed with a nervous disorder which had prompted him to request a two month leave from his employment at a bank. And with the opening lines of the poem, the author seems to be struggling with the idea of a return to life – April’s cruelty lies in its promise to return what has been dormant for a time to a productive life. For Eliot, the return is not a good thing – the promise of possible life seems to scare him.

I am convinced that there is a purpose behind all of creation. (Okay, I struggle with the mosquito, but I am sure I can figure it out if I try hard enough.) But it isn’t that all of creation exists with the same purpose. Every part of creation has its purpose, but it is a different purpose. Every creature has a habitat that it finds functional and productive.

For instance, take the wild donkey. Unlike the domesticated donkey, the wild ass (and biologists are not even sure if the two similar looking animals are related) excels in the desert where everything else seems to die. The wild ass finds the promise of life where every other animal only seems to find death.

God’s message is that we not only need to understand the seasons of our lives; that is, that we need to understand that we will have times that are more productive than other times, and at the same time that we can’t be afraid of April and the promise of life. But we also need to understand that purpose and life is found in every season of our life. Job had gone through a very purposeful and productive time in his life, but while his circumstances had changes, the existence of a purpose hadn’t changed. Even though Job found himself in a wasteland, he could still find a purpose - even there. After all, the wild ass thrives in such an environment.

We can wish that the dark times had never arrived on our doorstep. But in choosing that path, we will also miss all of the opportunity that God has for us in the middle of our “Waste Land.”

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Job 40

“Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation? Tell me, if you understand. – Job 38:4

Today’s Scripture Reading (April 17, 2012): Job 38

I have been interested in Lagrange Points for a while. A Lagrange Point (there are five of them) are the points in a three body system where the gravitational pull is equal on another body in orbit. So, for the Earth, moon and sun, the Lagrange point would be the place where the gravitational pull from the orbital bodies is equal. In theory, it is the place where an orbiting satellite would be held in position by the gravities of the Earth, moon and sun without expending any other energy.

The problem is that the points are not necessarily there. So space missions to the Lagrange points tend to orbit the points. Rather than being the spot where no energy is required to hold a body in orbit, it becomes a place where minimal energy is required to hold a body in positional orbit. It is just a little more complicated than the math would indicate. And there are more than just three bodies at work. All of the planets exert some kind of force on us.

God finally begins to speak. And his question is this - do you have all of the answers? And even now with all of our knowledge of scientific knowledge, the best we can come up with is that we know some things. And even the things that we think we know, we may discover tomorrow that we really don’t understand. Our response to God is really the same as Job and his friends. We were not there when the foundations of the world were laid. We know more, and we are learning more. But we just don’t have all of the answers.

Part of being happy as we live life is just in the understanding that we don’t know. And while I think that we should endeavor to know more about the world around us – we don’t have to know all of the answers. All that is required of us is that we acknowledge the one who does.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Job 39

Now no one can look at the sun, bright as it is in the skies after the wind has swept them clean. – Job 37:21

Today’s Scripture Reading (April 16, 2012): Job 37

I have a bad habit of forgetting my sun glasses when I am in the car. Luckily, I also have a solution. I have started to keep my sun glasses in my Mustang. When the sun shines, my glasses aren’t far away. But there is a second problem. I only drive my Mustang in the summer. During the winter, the Mustang is benched. But the sun isn’t. And with a liberal covering of snow on the ground, the reflected power of the sun off the snow can be worse than the light coming from the sun itself.

Elihu matches the brightness of the sun with the glory of God. His argument is that we need to consider the sun. Even when the clouds cover the sun, we know it is there. We can search the skies and not even catch a glimpse of it, and yet the light that emanates from it is plainly visible. The sun can be hidden, but not the effects of the sun. We can even see the sun after it has set as we watch the moon. But when the wind clears the clouds away, the one thing we can’t do is look directly into the sun. And because of that, for a long period of our history the sun was a hard object to study.

Elihu questions how much we can really know of God. Like the sun, we can’t look straight into his presence – his glory shines too brightly. But that doesn’t mean that we can’t see what he does. And that we can’t infer what God is like through the effect that he has on the world around us, just like we know about the sun even when we can’t see it. But the difference is that we can see the sun sometimes, even if we can’t stare at it.

The reader of the story of Job needs to be continually reminded that they know more than the characters in the story. They know the conversation between God and Satan that starts the story off. But the Christian also has two revelations of God that the characters of the story just didn’t have; the Law of Moses and the Ministry and Presence of Jesus Christ. These two revelations are our glimpses of the sun. They tell us who God is and give us a starting point from which we can interpret his actions.

There is a danger in interpreting the character of God strictly by his actions just as there is a danger in interpreting our character by our actions. What is missing is the glimpse of who we are, we need the starting point. And for God, revelation tells us that the starting point is love.

  

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Job 38

“He is wooing you from the jaws of distress to a spacious place free from restriction, to the comfort of your table laden with choice food. – Job 36:16

Today’s Scripture Reading (April 15, 2012): Job 36

Sometimes we struggle with the idea that God desires us. I think most people are more expectant of lightning bolts than they are of the love of God. It is maybe the most common response that I get from people outside of the church. They are afraid that God will “get them.” And their fear is due to a change in the way we see God that probably happened about 300 years into church history. It was at about that time that the church finally received the power that they had lacked up until that time. Without a source of power, their way of showing Christ to the world was to love the world. But after they received the power, then they were able to bluster and threaten – and the “God will get you” response was born.

But there is a difference between being desired by God and being spoiled by God. The Bible is clear, God disciplines those he loves. Elihu would have us believe something different. For Elihu, God’s love for us results in an easy life. His argument continues that which has already been argued by Job’s other friends. God’s love would prohibit the action that God was taking against Job, unless Job had done something really wrong.

The best lies always have a measure of truth to them. Elihu is right, God does desire you. But he is wrong in thinking that just because Job was going through a tough time that God had stopped loving and desiring him. Sometimes things just happen. And sometimes God allows things into our lives because he knows we need the experience. The trouble that Job was going trough was shaping him. The truth is that going forward Job would be less prideful and more willing to support others that had to go through similar experiences. He was in the process of becoming a wounded healer. And that was exactly what God needed him to be.

If things are tough in your life – it might be that God is shaping you because he needs you to be able to understand suffering, and to be willing to comfort others that are going through tough times. I am convinced that we are all, in some way, wounded healers. All of the hurt in your life really does have a purpose. And there is someone around you that needs your understanding – because the hurt has arrived on their doorstep. And they need to know that God still loves – and desires – them.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Job 37


Note: The VantaagePoint Community Church sermon - "The Price of Following - The Body of Christ" is now available on the VantagePoint Website. You can find it here - http://www.vantagepointcc.org/The_Price_of_Following___The_Body_of_Christ.htm

If you sin, how does that affect him? If your sins are many, what does that do to him? – Job 35:6

Today’s Scripture Reading (April 14, 2012): Job 35

I am wondering if we need to re-evaluate our own concept of morality. At the very least, we need to come to a better understanding of it. Too often, our idea of morality is often just a list of rules. This is what we do; this rules our behavior. And depending on where it is that you live, the answer to the moral questions will be different. In some areas, a person who commits suicide by blowing himself up in a public space where those that are considered to be the enemy gather is considered a moral act. In most other places of the world it is an immoral act. In some parts of our world, morality is covering a woman totally from head to foot. But in other areas of the world it is more likely to be seen as a choice, and a choice that is not based on some idea of right and wrong. And as long as morality remains as a list of do’s and don’ts that we really do not have any understanding of, then what is moral will remain somewhat arbitrary.

I think there has to be two questions that need to be dealt with in regard to our view of morality. The first (at least the first that I am going to mention) is what effect does the action have on creation? If we can accept that God is the creator and that he has expended effort in the forming of his creation, then part of morality has to deal with the effect an action has on creation. That means that the ecological questions that we battle with in our society are really moral questions because they deal with the effect of man on creation. And if human-kind is the pinnacle of God’s creation (and I know ecologists that would question that idea), then anything done for or against human-kind would be the height of morality.

But there is a second question, and maybe a more important one. It is the question that Elihu is asking of Job and his friends. Elihu’s question is this - how does your action impact God? And Elihu believes that sin (or immoral action) must have an effect on God. And I think he is right. In fact, sins effect on God was the reason for the third commandment that God would later give to Moses – “you shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God” - or maybe more commonly “Don’t take the Lord’s name in vain.” We have mistakenly thought that this commandment has something to do with swearing. But the literal meaning of the verse is that we will not do anything that will cause dirt to stain the name of God. To do that would be immoral.

There are a lot of things that we don’t think are serious that cause dirt to fall on the name of God. Every time we gossip, or talk badly about the church; every time we don’t trust God for something, or when we refuse to see the good in another person, then we go against the morality of God. And Elihu was like a lot of us. While he asked a good question, I am not sure he was able to really think about the answer – or apply the answer to his life.

     

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Job 36 

So listen to me, you men of understanding. Far be it from God to do evil, from the Almighty to do wrong. – Job 34:10

Today’s Scripture Reading (April 13, 2012): Job 34

I don’t have to know everything. It is not a cop out, I just don’t. I have a doctor that I see periodically. I don’t have to know all the medical stuff, I trust that he knows enough to at least to be aware of the right questions that need to be asked, and maybe the right specialists that I may need to see. I don’t have a lawyer (I need one less often), but if I make a major purchase or need to update a will, I know that I can find one. I don’t have to understand the ins and outs of the law; I can find a lawyer that specializes in the knowledge of which I have need. There are so many things that I just don’t need to know. Just because I take my car to a mechanic doesn’t mean that somehow I am somehow giving up. I just do not need to know.

So why is it that I feel that every time I don’t understand God, either God has to be wrong or my opponents think that God must not exist? Why are those the only options I am allowed? I want another option.

Elihu brings the conversation to a point. It seems that what Job is arguing is that he is righteous – he has done nothing wrong. Because Job and his friends can’t understand what is happening, in their minds somebody has to be in the wrong. If Job argues that it is not him, then by process of elimination it must be God. For those gathering around Job it is the only possible outcome. We might add a second, if these things are happening then God must not exist and everything that happens is really just a random occurrence.

But in the story of Job, God adds a third possibility. Sometimes things happen for a reason that only God knows and only God understands. And I am okay with that.

There are a lot of questions that I can’t answer. How is God going to judge the world? I really don’t know. How is God going to draw all people to himself, how is he going to reach those caught in sin and hurting beyond our understanding? I don’t know? How will the end come? These are just some of the things that I don’t need to understand. God knows and he understands. And what he has instructed me to do is love. And so, I am content to do just that.  

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Job 35

I am just like you before God; I too have been taken from clay. – Job 33:6

Today’s Scripture Reading (April 12, 2012): Job 33

We work hard to set ourselves apart in at least some areas of lives. There is something that we want to be known for. It starts early in life, and as far as I can tell seems to continue until our dying day. And our ego seems to rest on that something. It is one of the reason why working adults often take an ego hit when they lose their jobs – the thing that made them stand out is all in a sudden missing in their lives. It is also the reason why health often seems to decline when unemployment occurs – and it doesn’t matter whether the loss of employment was our idea or someone else’s, the pain is just as real.

But the reality is that no matter how hard we try, we aren’t really all that different. We are maybe put together a little differently, each of us has different strengths and weaknesses, but before God, there is absolutely no difference. Our origins, no matter how hard we work at being different, are all the same. If I was ground down to the essential elements that make up my body, I would be worth about the same as you are (a few measly dollars.) And to steal a line from Star Trek, we are all really just “bags of mostly water.” (The Star Trek quote is “ugly bags of mostly water, but I won’t go there.)

Before God, we stand in an equality that is hard for even our most radical minds to imagine. But in the hands of God all of that changes. We are clay, a mixture of inexpensive chemicals. But our worth doesn’t come from our composition, but rather from what we are willing to let God do with that composition.

Elihu got it right. We are all equal in the eyes of God, but the immense value that we possess is unleashed when we allow God to use us – then we become more than the sum of our parts. Job’s value was not found in his wisdom or even in his faith. It was found in a willingness to simply be the instrument of God on the earth.

       

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Job 34

For I am full of words, and the spirit within me compels me – Job 32:18

Today’s Scripture Reading (April 11, 2012): Job 32

I sometimes struggle with the difference between wants and needs – and my struggle travels in both directions. It maybe shouldn’t be surprising that sometimes my wants seem more like needs, but often I have noticed that my needs are downgraded to wants, or maybe even below that. So I guess it shouldn’t be a surprise when a drug addict passes up on necessary food to go after the drug. But sometimes the difference between a need and a want is hard to figure out for someone even on the outside of addiction.

And if it is hard to figure out what my needs and wants are in my physical life, it is really hard in my words. Both categories still exist. There are the things that I really need to say, and there things that I only want to say. But with my words, the things that I want to say are often the easier words to get through my lips.

What I want to say often lifts me up. What I want to say reveals my intelligence and puts me in a good light. Every day I hear people tell me about the great job that they have, or about their latest purchase, or how much education they have. People tell me how much they know about a subject or maybe the latest piece of gossip that they picked up from their coffee group. But all of these are really just things that they want to share. 

The problem with what I need to say is that they often mean more to someone else than they do to me. They are words of encouragement and love – and words of apology. And often they are words that are just simply hard to speak.

Elihu says that there are words that he needs to speak. But that isn’t really the truth. The truth is that they are merely words that he wants to speak. Elihu is tired of the pleadings of innocence from Job and the inaction of his friends. It is now time that he put all of them in their place. But the words that will proceed from his mouth just reflects what he wants the group to know.

I know it is an old saying, but it is one that we need to be reminded of. The world doesn’t need to know how much we know. That is only what we want the world to know. What every single person that we meet today needs to hear spoken from our lips is just how much we care.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Job 33

P.S. A big happy birthday to my little sister, Cheri. I love you – and miss you when we are not together.

… let God weigh me in honest scales and he will know that I am blameless— Job 31:6

Today’s Scripture Reading (April 10, 2012): Job 31

I have seen a number of battles inside the church. Part of the problem with a lot of church warfare is that there really isn’t someone at fault. I know that that isn’t the way that we come across, and in the heat of the moment we do throw enough blame around, but most of the combatants are really just trying to do what is right. And that is why the battles can be so fierce, and often so negative. These are the fights that we feel we have to win – and both sides feel that they are on the side of what is right and good.

As elections approach on both sides the United States – Canada border, I hear the same refrain. Both sides feel that they are in the right and that to go the way that the opposition seems to want to go is just so wrong. The fates of the nations hang in the balance of the decisions made on the political battle fields today.

And so it is often very easy to characterize the ones that we see leading the opposition charge as evil. They are the ones that are working against the purposes of God, or at least against the forces of good. And we want people to see that. A friend of mine remarked the other night about the lack of political signage on people’s lawns in his neighborhood. His exact words were “Wake up people!” Why don’t you recognize what is important?

I actually think that the problem might be something different. I know that we hear the rhetoric, but sometimes I wonder if we know what to believe. It isn’t that those who sit on the sidelines in any of these fights don’t understand what is at stake. It is that sometimes we don’t know where it is that truth resides.

As the conversation continues between Job and his friends, Job just wishes that there was a way to unveil the truth. If only God could weigh the words on scales that have not been tampered with and leave only what is true. (Actually, this is an interesting piece of foreshadowing because that is exactly what God is about to do.) But Job is sure that if God would only weigh his words and his actions, he would come out blameless.

It is still the difficult task of all who follow Christ to work at finding the truth. We are not to just to accept what it is that our culture wants us to believe, but rather, to be the revealers of all that is really true. And that task is not easy, but it is what our culture needs.

  

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Job 32

In his great power God becomes like clothing to me; he binds me like the neck of my garment. – Job 30:18

Today’s Scripture Reading (April 9, 2012): Job 30

I suffer from severe asthma and allergies. I really try not to let it slow me down. I love to be involved in sports – even though admittedly I am not very good. When I was younger it was football that I really liked to play. I love hockey, but I couldn’t skate as well as I would have liked. And tackling was frowned on in basketball. So I played football.

But even though I tried to not let the illness get the better of me, there were times when that was exactly what it did. There were times when I thought it just might win. And I would have to dig a little deeper – or try a little harder. My illness had become like a piece of my clothing that I just couldn’t take off – and often I was really tired of wearing it.

There are times when illness just seems to grab hold of you. It is no wonder that we personify it. It becomes like a character, playing a major part in our story; sometimes it becomes our friend, but more often it plays the part of our enemy. And that is exactly where Job finds himself. A better translation of this verse might be “The power of the disease covers me; it binds me at the neck the collar of my clothes.” It is as if I am wrestling with someone and they have me by the neck. It is like I am fighting God and I am about to go down for the count. There is nothing more that I can do. I am finished. In reality, it is just the illness that has him. But it feels more like the very hands of God that are laying heavy on him.

The unfortunate truth of this life is that there is always illness and pain. And as much as we may want to ignore it, that won’t make it go away. But as much as God may allow the illness into our lives (after all, it was God that allowed the illness into Job’s life,) he will also never leave us. If our illness fits us like a garment, we can trust that God’s fits us even closer.

And in the middle of our pain that is a good thing for us to lean on.

    

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Job 31

My glory will not fade; the bow will be ever new in my hand. – Job 29:20

Today’s Scripture Reading (April 8, 2012): Job 29

He is risen! I have to admit that I normally am not enthused with the ancient sayings of the church. The Orthodox Churches has different sayings for various times of the year said in a greeting - response set up. My problem isn’t the sayings themselves, which are often good reminders of the elements of the faith, but rather with the expected response. It is my opinion, and I stress just my opinion, that inside the walls of the church they can often become barriers to those who are new to the faith. It can often be a way of identifying the ones that are recent converts or seeker of the faith. And it has a way of making them feel a little more uncomfortable in a place (church) that can be overwhelming enough when you are new.

But the one exception to the rule would by today. Today we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus from the grave. So today we greet each other with the words “He is Risen” and the expected reply is “He is Risen indeed.” Or “Indeed, He is Risen.” Today we celebrate a once in history event, the day that someone returned from the dead. At the time that it happened it was unexpected. No one thought that the cross wasn’t the end of the Jesus story. On the cross they thought that they were watching the glory of God fade into oblivion. But they were wrong.

Job looks back at his life. He had expectations. He had ways that he thought that his life would turn out. And one of the things that he believed was that the honor that he had piled up during the events of his life would last through to the end of time. It was a bit of a surprise to him that it didn’t. His glory faded and his bow became brittle in his hand. And he never thought that it would be that way.

We all live through those moments. As we grow older, the things that we thought we would always be able to do start to become harder. Our glory fades, and sometimes it seems to fade when we need it the most. But God’s doesn’t. There is a reason why we are to place our trust in the glory of God – because it is only his glory that doesn’t fade over time; it is only his bow that remains supple and ready for use. It is only him, who died and rose again that deserves that kind of honor.

So on this day, let me be among the throng to greet you with the ancient words of the church. He is risen. And his glory continues to shine and shine – and shine.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Job 30

Mortals put an end to the darkness; they search out the farthest recesses for ore in the blackest darkness. – Job 28:3

Today’s Scripture Reading (April 7, 2012): Job 28

I am a bit of a science fiction fan. I love to watch/read fiction about adventures searching out the vast unknown. Some people question the things that I read; after all it just isn’t real. But somehow our species is born with an incredible curiosity. We want to know. We want to search as far we can to try and find the answers. I am probably one of the few people that sees value in NASA and its space missions. In fact, I think that we are not that far away from needing to have an economical way to get into space in order to begin to mine the things that we need, but are running out of on earth. Space is the next place that we have to conquer.

- D

A few months ago I had a great conversation with a friend over the practicality of having a permanent manned colony on Mars. And again, as we struggle with the overpopulation of the earth we need to find some alternatives. It is quite possible that all of this is just a science fiction fantasy that can never become a reality. But then again, maybe in the not too distant future we can make it all work.

As a race, we have had a history of doing what we thought, not too far into the past, was impossible. We struggle to know what we don’t know. We search for what we find to be valuable. And yet we often don’t seem to put the same kind of effort into the search for the things of God.

The interlude in Job struggles with the thought that we will fight to find the temporal things of life, and yet we seem to not care about finding God’s mercy and God’s grace. We search for the temporary while leaving the eternal things of God on the shelf.

I am deeply curious. It is not wrong to want to find the things that this life has to offer. We are designed to want to grab hold of whatever we can that exists on the earth and under the earth and even in the space that surrounds the earth. But we can’t stop there. We also need to put the same effort into finding wisdom – especially the wisdom that comes from God. Because there is nothing more valuable than the things that God wants to share with us.  

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Job 29


Note: The VantagePoint Community Church message "The Price of Following - Discipleship and the Cross" is now available on the VantagePoint website. You can find it here http://www.vantagepointcc.org/The_Price_of_Following___Discipleship_and_the_Cross.htm 

I will teach you about the power of God; the ways of the Almighty I will not conceal. – Job 27:11

Today’s Scripture Reading (April 6, 2012): Job 27

Do you know where you were on May 2, 2011? I have to admit that, other than that I have someone in my life I care about that celebrates a birthday every year on May 2, it is not a day that sticks in my memory. But what happened on that day, I remember. If you give me the event, then I remember the day. On May 2, 2011, a Special Forces military unit stormed a compound in Abottabad, Pakistan. It was on that day that that military unit stepped into history as they took down Osama Bin Laden.

Yesterday (in a post on Job 25:6) I said that I believed in the value of every person. And, invariably the push back is to point at someone who has done extraordinary evil. For those of us who dwell in the Western World, evil is found in somebody like Bin Laden. And the question that we ask is “how can there be value in him?” But there is. I still believe that there is value in all of us. The question is not if there is value, but rather, do we make the most of the value that God has placed inside of us. What I remember most about May 2, 2011 is that on that day I mourned the waste of a life that was very valuable to God.

I have often wondered why we call today Good Friday. There just seems to be so little that is good about the day. But it is what it is. It is on this day that we celebrate the death of Jesus Christ. I struggle with the word celebrate because it almost makes it sound like the emotions crowd that gathers around a jail house as a convicted criminal is about to be executed – or being part of the news that slowly leaked out about the events that happened on May 2, 2011.

But the events of Good Friday did not involve a wasted life. On Good Friday, God’s purpose was accomplished. And that is part of the mystery.  It was mystery that Job seemed to understand. Even in the worst circumstances, God somehow completes what he intends to do. And in Job’s final speech, he admits that even though his life isn’t going the way that he expected it to, God’s power still can’t be hidden.

And he’s right. Sometimes I wish I could see all of the events in this world the way that he sees it. But today I recognize his purpose,so even on this Friday, I can still call it Good.

   

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Job 28

… how much less a mortal, who is but a maggot — a human being, who is only a worm!”– Job 25:6

Today’s Scripture Reading (April 5, 2012): Job 25 & 26

I believe in the value of the person. It is part of my core value structure that clearly tells me that you are incredibly important. It doesn’t matter what you believe, or say – the fact that you are living on the earth is enough to indicate your value. It may be the only thing that we share, but it is enough. I may not like the things that you do, especially if you violate my core value that everyone is important, but there is nothing that you can say or do that will make me believe that you aren’t important.

On the other side of the equation I believe that God is huge. He is so far above everything that we can conceive of that we are insignificant in comparison to him. And some of my friends often wonder if maybe these two beliefs are in conflict with each other. In other words, the only way that I can believe in the worth of man is if I can disregard the existence of God. As long as God exists, humans are insignificant – at least in comparison.

And this was the core of Bildad’s theology. As long as God existed, humans were insignificant beings. We just don’t measure up. So the idea that Job thought that he meant something to God just could not have any connection to reality. Job, in the presence of God, was no more than something wriggling on the ground. And intellectually, Bildad made sense. But again, we know the beginning of the story. As different as God was from Job, God still had an interest in Job’s life. It didn’t make sense, but it was the truth.

Today is Maundy Thursday. It is on this evening Jesus would have shared his last supper with his disciples. And after supper he would move to the Garden of Gethsemane where he would be arrested, and then beaten and finally crucified. But as the disciples gathered together, they expected none of these events. It didn’t make sense that God would die, and that through his death, we would win. It didn’t make sense, but it was the truth.

Job’s life had attracted the attention God, even if Bildad couldn’t understand that. Job’s truth is that God values you enough to bother to create you. He loved enough to send his son to die on a cross for you. And none of that the Bildads of this world will ever understand, but that doesn’t stop it from being the truth.

    

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Job 27