They ate and drank with great joy in the presence of the LORD that day. Then they acknowledged Solomon son of David as king a second time, anointing him before the LORD to be ruler and Zadok to be priest. – 1 Chronicles 29:22

Today’s Scripture Reading (September 30, 2013): 1 Chronicles 29

Heritage means something to us. We are proud to be descended from someone important and feel somehow ashamed to find those in our family tree that did not measure up. It is not that their successes or failures are in any way ours, but we almost automatically draw ourselves closer to our good ancestors and distance ourselves from the bad. We even go as far as to try to draw character similarities between us and people that we may be related to but we have never met.

The passage of hereditary titles down a family line assumes something very similar. We expect there to be a transference of character throughout the family line. It is the idea behind the phrase that “the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.” It is also the reason for the snobbish attitude of established families with “old money.” It is not really the age of the money that is at issue; what is important is the established character behind that money.

Solomon had already proved himself to be of a similar character to David. It was the reason why he was being confirmed for the second time as king (the first time was around the time of the conspiracy by Solomon’s older half-brother – Adonijah – against their father, David.) But Solomon was not the only person being confirmed in this verse. In Jewish thought, the King was only half of the power structure of the nation, and the one standing on the other side of that power structure was the High Priest.

As the reign of David drew to a close, the position of High Priest was shared between two men – Abiathar and Zadok. But Abiathar chose to support Adonijah in his rebellion. It was only Zadok that had the character to stick with David even during the tough moments of the King’s reign. And David had the character to stick with Zadok. As Solomon is confirmed as king, Zadok is confirmed as the High Priest. And for the next few hundred years, the house of David and the House of Zadok would walk hand in hand in the job of leading the nation.

But by the time of Jesus, both houses had disappeared from the power structure of the nation. Between the beginning of the reign of Herod and his family as Kings of Israel (Herod was not a descendant of David – or even a member of any of the tribes of Israel) and the destruction of temple, 28 different High Priests served in the temple in Jerusalem, and all but two were from four power hungry non-Zadokite families. The result was a nation that had long ago left the ideals that had been raised up by David and Zadok.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: 2 Chronicles 1

David also said to Solomon his son, “Be strong and courageous, and do the work. Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the LORD God, my God, is with you. He will not fail you or forsake you until all the work for the service of the temple of the LORD is finished. – 1 Chronicles 28:20

Today’s Scripture Reading (September 29, 2013): 1 Chronicles 28

I would think that one of the most frustrating things about being a politician is knowing that you are only in office for a short period of time. You might have a long term vision for the nation, but you know that if the vision cannot be fully realized in the time that you have in your political position, there is no guarantee that your vision will ever become a reality. A few years ago I was with an organization and we went through a painstaking eight month vision discerning process. We invited all of the shareholders to take part in the process and about 25% of them took us up on the invitation. When we got to the end of the vision discernment journey, we arrived at a new, concise vision statement that summed up all of the concerns and conversations that we had had. It covered such basic issues such as how the organization would relate to the outside world and what kind of cultural lenses we were willing to put on as we looked at that world. It was a grand, long-term plan. But soon the naysayers started to make their presence known. Some of the shareholders confessed that they had stayed out of the process for the express purpose of tearing the resulting document down when it was all over. It was not long after that that I left the organization; and it was not long after I left that the organization discarded all of our work. Vision tends to be temporary – and it leaks badly.

No matter how we interpret the circumstances surrounding the building of Solomon’s Temple, one thing is extremely clear – David had a clear vision of the temple that needed to be built. It was something that he had thought long and hard about. David’s vision of the temple was so clear that he could describe it in painstaking detail. But God had also clearly said no to David’s building of the temple. So all that David could do was dream – and instill the vision that was inside of his mind in the imagination of his son, the one that would be king after David was gone.

David’s instruction to Solomon was that God would see him through the building of the temple. Solomon would need to be strong and he would need to be courageous, because there would be opposition and there would be material shortages – those things are just the realities of any building project. But in the end, God would take care of everything that would go wrong and a temple would stand on Temple Mount in Jerusalem.

But by the time these words were written, the temple that had once stood proudly on Temple Mount had been totally destroyed. The hope of the author of these words was probably that someone else would take up the task and rebuild the temple. That a new vision would be placed in the heart and mind of a contemporary leader, and that Jerusalem would once again become the heart of the worship of the God of Israel. Vision, if it is to survive, always has to be taken up by the ones who follow us; and they will modify it in their way (the second temple was not the same as the first), but if they can catch the vision they will make it a reality.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: 1 Chronicles 29

David did not take the number of the men twenty years old or less, because the LORD had promised to make Israel as numerous as the stars in the sky. – 1 Chronicles 27:23

Today’s Scripture Reading (September 28, 2013): 1 Chronicles 27

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has declared that his country is not a threat to the world. This assertion comes while Iran continues to make progress with its atomic energy program. But Iran assertion is that it has as much of a right to the pursuit of peaceful atomic energy as the United States does. And there lies the problem. For the developing world, it appears that the economic powers have in their possession the goose that laid the golden egg – they have access to atomic power and those trying to develop that power are sure that once they also possess it, that the life and prosperity of their nations will be changed forever.

Reality tells a much different story. From the perspective of the west, atomic energy can be used for good and for bad. But beyond even that, the potential for things to go wrong has to be considered. And the less a nation is prepared for that potential, the more dangerous the program itself becomes. But there is another problem hiding in the background. Whether or not Atomic Energy is used for the good of a nation, or for evil and destructive purposes depends on the integrity of the nation and leaders themselves. Again, from the perspective of the west, the integrity of the Middle Eastern countries is lacking. What is really being said is that we do not trust the character of the leadership of Iran to be able to do what is right with their energy program. Rouhani is making a justification, but he is skirting around the most important facts. Specifically, the West is asserting that we do not trust Iran to honor the boundaries of the nations closest to her – and specifically that means Israel. But that knife cuts both ways. We are also justifying our own ability to do the same thing. The problem with Iran failing the integrity test, is that the nations that make up the West could not pass the same test. Politically and nationally it would seem that we all have an integrity problem.

The author of Chronicles recognizes that God had given to Israel a great asset. It was found in the people – a people that God said would become so vast that they could not be numbered. And the prophets and priests that ministered before God strongly believed that this also meant that they should not be numbered. The problem was that in the numbering of the nation, the king was assessing the military strength of the nation. People can be used for good and for bad. But ultimately, the military fortunes of the nation have never been dependant on the number of soldiers the nation could muster. God has always jealously guarded that area as his own.

But David decides to count. Chronicles says that he only counted those over the age of twenty, and most likely this is the justification for his action – he was not counting the entire nation, just a subset of it. But David’s actions really just a simple integrity problem – and he failed the test. God was not amused and Israel would bear the price for the mistake of the king. And this is also part of our reality. Rouhani complains that the sanctions against Iran are a violence against the people, but the people have always paid the price for the lack of integrity of a leader. Eventually David would plead with God that the penalty should be borne by him and not by Israel. But as leaders we need to understand that when we act without integrity it is those who follow us that pay the price. It was true for Israel in the days of David, and it continues to be true for the nations and leaders of the 21^st century.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: 1 Chronicles 28

The divisions of the gatekeepers: From the Korahites: Meshelemiah son of Kore, one of the sons of Asaph. – 1 Chronicles 26:1

Today’s Scripture Reading (September 27, 2013): 1 Chronicles 26

In 1883, Emma Lazarus wrote a sonnet she called “The New Colossus.” Most of us would recognize a part of the sonnet, although we might never recognize Emma’s name or the name of the poem, for it is here that we find the words –

                        Give me your tired, your poor,

Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free

                        The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.

                        Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me

                        I lift my lamp beside the golden door!

The message of the sonnet is a simple one. It says come, everyone is welcome and there is no one here that wants to keep you out – come, the door is always unlocked and we are waiting for you. The poem is famous because in 1903 it was engraved on a bronze plaque and placed on the lowest level of the Statue of Liberty. The message was clear – come to us, you will find no gatekeepers here – they path is straight and the way is open.

If I am honest, I am not sure that I like gatekeepers. The job of a gatekeeper is to control access to something. And we have a lot of them. Most professions, including mine, have gatekeepers. These are the ones that control access to credentials or institutions. In my profession, the gatekeeper gets to decide what education and what experience is necessary in order to attain the high and lofty office of ordination. Being ordained just indicates that a person has been set apart and is considered qualified to be able to perform the various rituals and liturgies of the church. The gatekeepers get to say yes or no to people that want to enter into that kind of relationship with people and with the church. And sometimes, that process can be very frustrating.

But part of the big problem with gatekeepers is that they tend to be slaves to the status quo. Part of the job of a gatekeeper is to slow the advent of change – to control the flow of ideas and make sure that nothing gets in that goes against what is deemed to be acceptable. But this also limits the potential solutions to a problem because, whether we want to admit it or not, often the solution that we need comes from a place that we would have never considered under normal circumstances.

In the Hebrew Bible, the gatekeeper had the responsibility to make sure that only the people that were qualified to enter into the temple actually got in. A few years ago I was friends with a woman who basically was the gatekeeper for the Temple of the Church of Jesus Christ and the Latter Day Saints. For her, it was the greatest honor of her life. And her job, as she described it, was to sit at a desk and check the credentials of every person that entered into the temple. If you had the right credentials, she would allow you to enter, but if you did not, then she was responsible for making sure that you did not enter into the temple. Now, the reality was that because she sat at the desk, there were a lot of people without credentials that did not even bother to come in through the doors. The gatekeeper’s presence kept the unwanted or uninvited away from temple gates.   

The United States has found it hard to live up to the invitation of Emma Lazarus that is placed at the foot of her most famous monument. But the call remains. We sometimes have forgotten, but the Christian Church has always been built on the same invitation. Jesus words were simple – “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28.) The message is clear. There is no one who will be turned away – and the only gatekeepers you will ever find are the ones who want nothing more than to help you find your way in – and not the ones who want to keep you out. Come to me, because we recognize that we are much stronger in the midst of diversity. Come, and he will give you rest.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: 1 Chronicles 27

Along with their relatives—all of them trained and skilled in music for the LORD—they numbered 288. – 1 Chronicles 25:7

Today’s Scripture Reading (September 26, 2013): 1 Chronicles 25

“All good is hard. All evil is easy. Dying, losing, cheating and mediocrity is easy. Stay away from easy.” The quote is from author Scott Alexander, and I am convinced that he is right. There has been no human endeavor worth achieving that has not been the result of some hard work. There have been some accidents, but even the accidental discoveries of our culture have been the result of some hard work in an area. The results may not have been what the researcher was looking for, but they had been working hard in a specific area, and without that work the “accident” would have never occurred. Nothing that is good comes without hard work. If it is easy, it is evil. Stay away from easy.

So my question is this – why does the church often seem to want to take the path that is easy? I mean, we even have a verse – a verse that happens to come from the very mouth of Jesus. He said “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it” (Matthew 7:13.) We apply this verse to our theology, but we miss it in almost all of the other things that we do. It is as if our theology stands alone and does not affect how we live our lives and how we conduct the business of the church.

Maybe one example of this is in our music. I grew up in a church that had a thing called “Special Music.” And I am not trying to be mean, but often there was very little that was special about the music in the church. The people who failed at karaoke often seemed to be the ones that came to the church to sing the special music. The rule for the church was participation. Anyone who wanted to participate – could, not matter what their skill level.

That is not what this verse says. This verse says that those that led worship were “trained and skilled.” Let me translate that – they worked hard at their art and they had an innate ability to play music. Not everyone could apply. It had been hard, but they were ready reap the results. I know the pushback. Not every church has trained musicians, I get that. But the problem is that we have developed culture where we believe that the church is the place where those who cannot sing come with no preparation and they play and sing for us. Our mantra is that it is good enough for the church. But the reality is that it isn’t. What is really is is easy. And easy is evil.

We can’t all have the top musicians in our churches, I get that. But I think we need to raise the bar in regard to our expectations. At the very least, we need to have people that are desiring to work at developing that musical talent that is inside of them. The first time I led worship a pastor simply handed me a list of songs and told me that I was going to be the worship leader. I was pretty sure he was wrong, but he was insistent. And so the only thing I could do was work hard to try and figure this music thing out. It was not easy. But anything worth doing seldom is. Stay away from easy.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: 1 Chronicles 26

But Nadab and Abihu died before their father did, and they had no sons; so Eleazar and Ithamar served as the priests. – 1 Chronicles 24:2

Today’s Scripture Reading (September 25, 2012): 1 Chronicles 24

I am amused by Conspiracy Theories. I am not naïve enough to think that we know everything, but some of the theories seem so farfetched. The other day I was listening to a radio phone-in show that was devoted to various conspiracy theories. And part of the amusing part of the show was that the host was not a believer, and you could feel her getting more and more exasperated as the show progressed. One caller wanted to talk about the wars that the United States had entered. His theory was that the government was the cause of all of the conflicts that the country had been involve in. And his example was the attack on Pearl Harbor. And of course he knew the established facts of the attack. For him, the facts were that the Japanese government took out an advertisement in the New York Times advertising their plan to attack the U.S. naval base in Hawaii. My first reaction was how stupid do we think that the Japanese are? I mean, spend money on an advertisement so that the U.S. knows about the surprise attack, how does that make any sense? And, of course the answer is that it does not make any sense. But, for the conspiracy theorist, the reality that he needed to press was that the fault for the December attack on Pearl Harbor really lay with the United States government and not with the Japanese – and the reason for the attack on Pearl Harbor was that the U.S needed an excuse to get them into the Second World War – and, therefore, they purposely ignored all of the information pertaining to the Japanese planned attack on Hawaii. And of course, for the conspiracy theorist, that means that this has been the pattern for every war that the United States has fought.

Now, I may not buy the Japanese advertisement theory, but that does not mean that the U.S. did not know of the attack. It has been argued that the U.S. had intercepted radio communications and had broken the code and that they knew the Japanese were coming. But the reality was that they made a mistake; if they knew Japanese were coming, they had decided that it was not a credible threat. They believed that the Japanese did not have the ability to carry through with the attack.

Most of the sin that we commit is not because we did not know, it is because at some point we figured out that there was no credible threat. Nadab and Abihu offered an unauthorized sacrifice to God. They knew that it was wrong, but they decided that there was not a credible threat so they did it anyway. And the result was that Nadab and Abihu died without children – they were effectively erased from the history of the nation.

The author of Chronicles wanted his readers to understand that their predicament – their exile in Babylon – was not because of their ignorance, but rather because they did not consider the dictates of God a credible threat. And as they returned home, they had to change their behavior. If God said it, chances are that he meant it. And his hope was that the readers would come to the conclusion that they should act according to that belief.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: 1 Chronicles 25

When David was old and full of years, he made his son Solomon king over Israel – 1 Chronicles 23:1

Today’s Scripture Reading (September 24, 2012): 1 Chronicles 23

In a royal system where ascension to the throne is a result of family ancestry and birth order, the reality is that most monarchs have known for their entire lives that one day they will become king. It is definitely true for the men that are likely to be the next three kings of England. Prince Charles was four when his mother became queen. But even before his fourth birthday it had already become clear that his mother (Elizabeth II) would reign and that meant that, as her eldest male child, he too would have his time on the throne. There is no doubt that Prince William has been groomed to assume the crown of England from his birth – including his mother’s insistence when he was a baby that William will never be called “King Billy.” And now we have George, only a few months old but already it is recognized that one day he will, in all likelihood, become George VII – King of the United Kingdom. It is a position that each of these three men will spend a lifetime preparing for. And in all likelihood, none of them will assume the throne at a young age. None of them will have a chance to match the longevity of being the supreme monarch that Elizabeth II has enjoyed. It is simply the reality that often follows a long lived monarch – it always has.

David ascended the throne when he was about 30 years of age. And he reigned for 40 years. He had many sons, and he had sons that had thought that, one day, they too would assume the throne of Israel. But one by one, his sons seemed to disqualify themselves from the position. Finally the decision was made that it would not be the oldest son that would receive the mantle of leadership from Dad, but rather a younger son – the son of Bathsheba, Solomon. The news sent shockwaves through the family dynamics, and especially through those who believed that they should be the next king. By the time that David was ready to die, two of his older sons had already preceded him in death – Amnon (the oldest) and Absalom (third oldest.) Dating this event is a little problematic, but is likely that this action took place around the time of the rebellion of Adonijah (David’s fourth oldest son.) Either this action was the precipitating event that caused Adonijah to rebel and crown himself king, or David crowned Solomon as king in response to the rebellion. The real mystery is what was Chileab (the second oldest and heir apparent) doing through all of this. We know very little about David second son.

But the reality is that David went outside of the birth order to crown Solomon king. And it was not the first time in the biblical narrative that this happened. God seems to have a way of ignoring what we think is important and moving in a totally different direction. God has a more intimate understanding of the way we have been created and things that we need to accomplish in life.

The challenge, for us, is in trusting God when events do not go our way. We sometimes simply struggle with really saying to God – Have Thine own way.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: 1 Chronicles 24

David said, “My son Solomon is young and inexperienced, and the house to be built for the LORD should be of great magnificence and fame and splendor in the sight of all the nations. Therefore I will make preparations for it.” So David made extensive preparations before his death. – 1 Chronicles 22:5

Today’s Scripture Reading (September 23, 2013): 1 Chronicles 22

Pope Francis has recently set out the course that he apparently intends to follow in his years as the head of the Roman Catholic Church. To say that his comments have surprised observers would seem to be an understatement. Francis seems intent on changing the course of Catholic Christianity (and because we do not live in a vacuum, his course will have an effect on all Christianity) in a significant way. Not only did Francis speak of ending the controversy over issues of contraception, but he also made salvos into the areas of homosexuality and abortion, indicating that the church had become too obsessed in these areas of human life. The surprise is largely due to the fact that Francis’ vision contrasts so sharply with many of the priorities of his immediate predecessors John Paul II and Benedict XVI. They were both intellectuals for whom doctrine was the overriding consideration, an orientation that guided the selection of generations of bishops and cardinals around the world. But at first glance, Francis seems to be more concerned with issues of how the Catholic Church is seen by those outside of the church than doctrinal issues. And he is willing to make some changes in the way that the papacy has operated in order to move into a different vision of the future.

As David’s reign was ending, it seemed that he had held the same concerns regarding the things that his young son would do when he finally rose to the throne of Israel. And so David began to educate the young King. This education specifically concerned the Temple that Solomon would eventually build. David had always wanted to be the builder of the Temple – a home for God - but God had denied the action specifically because of the blood that was on David’s hands. But Solomon would be a different king, a wise king of peace - the type of king that, at least in David’s mind, was the kind of king that would be able to build the Temple that David had longed to build.

But that also produces a second problem. Was the temple a dream of David’s, or was it a dream of God’s. And throughout history scholars have seemed to divide on that issue. For some, it was God that placed the dream of a temple in the heart of David, and then subsequently in the heart of his son, Solomon. But others recognize that the temple could have existed only in the mind of the David. That David, after he was forbidden to build the temple, was the one that drove the vision forward into the reign of his son – he prepared for a vision of a temple that was his and only his. And for this group of people, part of the reason for questioning of whether or not God dreamed of a temple was the enormous cost of the temple itself in almost every area of life and the role that the Temple played during the time of Jesus. In many ways, the temple stood in contrast to everything that Jesus taught.

It is hard to know how we should prepare the generation that follows us to replace us in leadership. We often want to make them see this world exactly as we see it, but in doing that we may blind them to the reality that God wishes to place inside of them. The questions that surround the building of Solomon’s Temple can probably never be answered. But when it comes to the things that Pope Francis seems willing to build, the prayer of the Christian community should be that whatever is built is built on the vision that God has placed on Francis heart – and that he is willing to carry us into a version of the future that is uniquely God’s. Francis, the church that you lead is praying for you.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: 1 Chronicles 23

But King David replied to Araunah, “No, I insist on paying the full price. I will not take for the LORD what is yours, or sacrifice a burnt offering that costs me nothing.” – 1 Chronicles 21:24

Today’s Scripture Reading (September 22, 2013): 1 Chronicles 21

At the beginning of the summer I read an article from MSN Money on the worst charities. Worst Charities by definition are the ones with the least money going to fulfill the aims of the charity. For the top ten charities listed, nine gave less than 10% of the money raised to fulfill the stated goals of the charity. For some, reports like this one are enough to stop the giving. And yet I am also convinced that that is not the way that we are designed to live. We are designed to share what we have worked hard to obtain. It is simply part of the human condition.

I love to watch parents as they come into the church and give offering to their kids so that they can learn to give.  We did the same with our kids.  The desire is to teach our children the blessing of giving.  There is a feeling that just can’t be duplicated that is found in giving what is yours to a good cause or to help someone outside of yourself. The feeling can be addictive – and we want to get our kids addicted to the idea of giving as early as we can.

But I know sometimes we fail. Sometimes we just get them addicted to giving away what costs them nothing.  I have to admit, that is the question that is on my mind when I see a celebrity supporting a charity. Sometime I wish I could talk with them – I know that you want me to support this charity, but is it getting more from you than just your words.  I am not asking if you can carry the charity – but are you giving to the charity what has cost you – or is it just your words and image that you are giving away?

I think David was addicted.  And when a sacrifice was needed – he was unwilling to go back to his childhood and sacrifice what was not his.  If it was his sacrifice – it had to me more than just words or actions – it had to cost him something.

Are you sacrificing what has cost you – or are you just going through the motions, sacrificing what has cost you nothing?  As a pastor, I believe that I have to lead in the area of giving.  But so do you.  Can I encourage you to get addicted to giving today?

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: 1 Chronicles 22

David took the crown from the head of their king—its weight was found to be a talent of gold, and it was set with precious stones—and it was placed on David’s head. He took a great quantity of plunder from the city. – 1 Chronicles 20:2

Today’s Scripture Reading (September 21, 2013): 1 Chronicles 20

One of the themes of literature is about man’s attempt to replace the gods. It is the real sin behind the story of the Tower of Babel. The human inhabitants of the city wanted to build a tower to reach the heavens and begin the process of replacing the gods. Now, we know that there was actually no danger of our early ancestors succeeding in reaching heaven. It is impossible to build a tower that can do that. But the problem was that the inhabitants in and around the area of Babel desired to reach the heavens and replace the gods – because they believed that they were so much smarter than the gods were.

And we see this theme through a number of the epic stories of ancient history. The stories are variations on the same theme. A man is born and he is special. In some stories he is a half-god, usually created because of a male god’s attraction to a beautiful human maiden, and the result of their love is this son. So the man grows up, and the gods are stupid, they just do not understand what it is like to live as a man. But this man understands. And he goes out and does the task, completes the deed, defeats the dragon that the gods could not defeat, and as a result the man earns a seat on the pantheon of the gods. He is made into a lower god himself – all because he understands what it is like to live on this earth as a human.

David wins a war and he takes the crown of the king. We are told that the crown contained a talent of gold. The talent was an ancient form of weight, and the reality is that the value of a talent varied from culture to culture. In Greece, the Attic talent weighted 26 kilograms (or 57 pounds.) The Roman Talent was a little larger – it was 32.3 kilograms (or 71 pounds.) Israel early on adopted the Babylonian talent which was 30.3 kilograms or 67 lbs. So this crown that David had taken from this king that he had defeated weighed at least 67 lbs. But it might have weighed even more. Again, Chronicles is written late in the era of the Hebrew Bible and at some point Israel changed from the Babylonian talent to the heavy common talent. And the heavy common talent weighed about 130 lbs. This was the crown that David had placed on his head.

Now, in ancient times the crown was not actually worn by the king, but it is suspended over his head on chains – because no king could wear a crown that weighed 130 lbs. But the weight of this crown has caused some experts to question whether we have really understood the purpose of this crown. They wonder if it is possible that the crown did not belong to the king, but rather to the gods that the king served. They ask whether it is possible that somewhere in the city was a stone statue of a god that had been served by this group of people, and on that statue sat this 130 lb. crown made of pure gold. But as the nation fell, so did this god. And the crown was removed from the god and placed on the head of David – David had essentially taken the place of the gods. And David could do that because he knew that the God that he served was the only real god – and all of the stone statues of this world would someday fall down before the God of Israel. David was able to replace the false god because he was in relationship with the real God.

For the Christian, we also known this incredible truth. God is not ignorant of what it is like to live on this planet as a human. God sent his son to us, not to live in a palace, but to live in every way as we live – facing the same problems and temptations that we face. We serve a god who has walked with us, and still holds the key to the situations that we face every day. 

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: 1 Chronicles 21

Be strong, and let us fight bravely for our people and the cities of our God. The LORD will do what is good in his sight.” – 1 Chronicles 19:13

Today’s Scripture Reading (September 20, 2013): 1 Chronicles 19

It is the high point of the movie.  The Empire is coming and the Rebellion is in trouble. Luke Skywalker, who a short time ago was simply the son of a farmer on a peaceful planet far away from the conflict, has thrown himself into the cause of the Rebellion. But the cause would seem to be a lost one. Hans Solo, the major male character in the story, is preparing to make an exit – after all, he recognizes that the future is uncertain, and the last thing that he wants to be a part of is a lost cause. The general calls a meeting of all the pilots and basically agrees that the Rebellion is in trouble. They have a chance, but it is not much of one. If they can get to the Death Star, and get through the defenses, and if they can hit a small target – all before the Death Star is in range to fire on the base of the Rebellion – then they can win. But at best the plan is a long shot.

Of course, in the heat of the battle and in that moment when the Rebels begin to realize that all is lost, Hans Solo returns to help Luke get to that vulnerable part of the Death Star. There is just something about lost causes that keeps him coming back – maybe, it is just that he recognizes that lost cause that he carries deep inside himself on a daily basis. But in the end, all that the Rebels can do against the might of the Empire is to fight bravely for the people – and hope that the Lord (or in Star Wars terminology – the Force) is with them.

The armies of David are preparing for battle.  The task is a simple one, at least from a strategy point of view. David may have united the people, but as long as enemies bordering the nation have the ability conduct raids into the territory, the unification will be short lived. Eventually the people will leave the national interests to pursue their own peace and security. So the enemies that surrounded the nation needed to be subdued and defeated; they needed to be brought under the influence and control of Israel. And for a nation that was relatively young on the international stage (Saul and David were the first kings of Israel, and really the first people to try to unify the nation under one political and military system) it was a huge task. So Joab gives the speech. It is one that is found throughout both our histories and our fiction. The cause might be lost, but we will fight bravely. And our only hope is that God is with us.

The one axiom that we sometimes forget is that “God won’t put you to it if he can’t get you through it.” If the battle is really God’s, then he has the means to pull us through – even though we might not be able to see it at the time. What is required from us is to really seek God’s will (not ours, and I admit this takes a bit of work, because sometimes it is hard to tell the difference), and when we are sure that it is God’ interest we are following, then we need to trust.

After all, Israel did win the wars that they were entering –and England survived the Battle of London – and D-Day was a success - and in the Star Wars Universe the Death Star was destroyed. They were all longshots – except that the battle still belongs to the Lord.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: 1 Chronicles 20

He put garrisons in Edom, and all the Edomites became subject to David. The LORD gave David victory wherever he went. – 1 Chronicles 18:13

Today’s Scripture Reading (September 19, 2013): 1 Chronicles 18

Russell Wilson and the Seattle Seahawks won their football game on Sunday Night. The game was a little bit of a surprise. For one, the margin of victory was higher than anyone expected it to be. The Seahawks were playing against the San Francisco 49ers, and to be honest it is really a coin flip on which of these teams are currently favored to win the NFC and represent that conference in the Super Bowl (right now the team favored to be their opponent in February is the Denver Broncos – an old rival of the Seahawks from their AFC days.) But one game does not a season make, and there is a lot of football left to be played so it is still very much of an open question as to which of the teams are going to be still standing in February when all of the rest of the league is done.

But the second reason why the result from the Sunday Night Football game (I’ve been waiting all week for Sunday Night) is a surprise is that Russell Wilson (the Seattle quarterback) had what was probably his worst (or at least one of his worst) football games of his young NFL career. There have been games when Wilson has stood on his head and has completed plays for the Seahawks almost seeming to win the game by himself, but this was not one of those games. For the Seahawks to win, a lot of other things had to go right for the team.

David is recognized as the premiere king of Israel. He established the borders of the nation and secured those borders in a way that had never been done before. The neighboring nations were subdued and ended up providing a buffer zone between Israel and her enemies. It was the height of Israel as a kingdom and the time that Israel would nostalgically remember through the centuries that would follow. But the author of Chronicles wants to stress that it was not just that David was an incredible leader. All of the success that David enjoyed was because of the team that was gathered around him, and because God allowed it.

We have mentioned that Chronicles was most likely written as Israel was getting ready to return home after their exile in Babylon. The book was written as a word of encouragement to a nation that thought that their time on the world stage was over – that all of their best days were now behind them. And the writer wants to remind the returning exiles that all that David had done was because of God. David had some good days, but he also had a lot of bad days. But David’s reality was that even on the bad days, God saw him through.

Bad days are a normal part of life. But the secret of surviving the bad days is being a part of a team or a community (in Christian circles we recognize this as the role of the church) and, like David, depending on God’s blessing for the victory. Those are the elements that are needed for true success – no matter what the problems are that you might be facing today.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: 1 Chronicles 19

You made your people Israel your very own forever, and you, LORD, have become their God. – 1 Chronicles 17:22

Today’s Scripture Reading (September 18, 2013): 1 Chronicles 17

We are a little schizophrenic with our sports teams. For the last forty years I have been a fan of the Detroit Lions and the Seattle Seahawks in the NFL. They are my teams. When I first started cheering for the teams they actually played in different conferences so my dream was that someday Detroit would meet Seattle in the Superbowl and I would just sit and scream out my support for my teams. But a few year ago the Seahawks moved from the American Conference to the National Conference, destroying a decades long rivalry with the Denver Broncos (I am not bitter), and now both of my teams play in the same conference. And for years I have felt alone. Especially with the struggles of the Detroit Lions, there just have not been many fans of these teams. They were bums, they were that team. When fans spoke of them, it was Detroit or Seattle lost again – the word lacked identification - they lost.

This year things have changed. Both of the teams are playing better football. Seattle is predicted to possibly be able to fight their way through to win the National Conference and represent that conference in the Super Bowl. And expectations are high in Detroit as well (although my Superbowl dream is impossible – maybe it can come through in the Conference Championship game.) And the language of the fans has changed. It is no longer about them – it is about us. We are going to win this weekend. Or we got ripped off by that call at the end of the game and the win slipped away and became a loss. But every victory and every painful setback is no longer happening to them – it is happening to us. We laugh and we cry because we are the ones that identify with what is happening on the field.

One of the most unbelievable truths is that God is a fan of us. He is cheering us on. And sometimes we take that unbelievable commitment of God and we change it. We somehow come to believe that God Is our fan and identifies with us only when we are doing well, but not so much when we are blowing it – because that is exactly the behavior that is natural for us when we are cheering on our favorite teams. But that is not God. God says, I have chosen you – forever. In the opening lines of the Bible God calls the whole world his. At the tower of Babel, God started to follow the nation of Israel and he called them his. But the entire Bible tells a story that can only come to a close with the day of the Messiah, the day when God gets to call the entire world his once again.

That day has come, and once again the entire world is his. And this creative God is cheering us on – through both the good times and the bad. We are his forever.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: 1 Chronicles 18

“I will record Rahab and Babylon among those who acknowledge me—Philistia too, and Tyre, along with Cush—and will say, ‘This one was born in Zion.’” – Psalm 87:4

Today’s Scripture Reading (September 17, 2013): Psalm 87 & 88

I watched a little of “The X-Factor” last week (and by little I mean very little.) My television has this thing where it seems to like to be on for a couple of minutes before it wants to change channels, so that means that you need to be careful of which channel you are watching when you are turning the T.V. off because you are going to be doomed to watch that channel when you turn the T.V. back on. So apparently I, or someone in the house, had been watching Fox Television when the T.V. was turned off, so when I turned the T.V. back on I was greeted by Simon Cowell (otherwise known as Mr. Nasty) and the gang on “The X-Factor,” and was doomed to watch a couple of minutes of the reality show. I happened to turn on the T.V. at the point where a fifteen year old girl was about to sing. And … she forgot the words. Now, that seems to be the unforgivable sin in most of these reality talent shows. But having said that, these are the moments that most of us tune in to reality shows to witness. We want to watch the crash and burn.

So she forgot the words. But she finally remembered them. And she began to sing. And she sang well (to be honest, I found her a little pitchy in places, but overall it was a good performance.) By this time my T.V. was working, but I stayed on Fox at least long enough to hear Simon speak. And these were his words were, “So, you forgot the words.” It was the expected response. You committed the unforgivable sin. But then he followed up with these words – “But when you can sing like that, who cares.” And the crowd erupted. Because we may tune in for the crash and burn, but we also tune in for the unexpected turn - the goose that we find out is in reality a swan.

That is exactly what this Psalm is describing. This is all about the girl who forgot the words, and it is about the goose that turns out to be a swan. The Psalmist begins by mentioning the countries that had been a thorn in the side of Israel throughout their existence. These were the nations that shared a border with Israel, or were at least were close enough to want to exercise power over them. Rahab is another name for the Egyptians living to the south. Babylon, Philistia and Tyre were all nations that for the most part, the people of Israel would prefer that God would simply destroy. But the Psalmist says that instead of destruction, God will call them people of Zion or of Jerusalem – they will be his. Even Cush, another name for the black skinned inhabitants of Ethiopia and those living in the great desert of Africa, those that live literally on the edge of the known world at the time, even there God will come and he will call them his children.

It is yet another example of the great reversal. In many ways this Psalm is a Pentecost Psalm. The story of Pentecost is found in Acts 2, and the story is really about God reuniting the people of the world into one. What had happened at the Tower of Babel, where the people began to speak different languages and were divided, has finally been overcome. We, all of us according to the Psalmist, will be reunited. With the coming of the Messiah, all of our divisions will disappear. And we shall all be called the children of Zion.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: 1 Chronicles 17

Restore us again, God our Savior, and put away your displeasure toward us. – Psalm 85:4

Today’s Scripture Reading (September 16, 2013): Psalm 85

I have a friend that is going through some very serious health problems. The word “Cancer” has been tossed around by those trying to diagnose the problem. And as “Cancer” usually does, the possible diagnosis has thrown the friends and family into turmoil. We know more about the disease than we did even a decade ago, but the disease still has the ability to cause a panic. Even for the Christian, a “Cancer” diagnosis is enough to disrupt not just our physical lives, but more importantly, it is enough to disrupt our spiritual lives. And we begin to ask the big “why me” question.

When the unexpected negative event happens in our lives, often our reaction is that God must be displeased with us. And if he is displeased, then it must be because of something that we have done - something that we need to make atonement for. But deep down we also ask another question - if that is not true, then maybe there is something wrong with God – maybe he does not care enough to interfere with our lives.

The Psalms assume the first response. Bad things happen because we have sinned against God and we need to make amends with him. And sometimes, that is the truth. But we know even from the Bible stories that we read that that is not the end of the story. Sometimes bad things just happen. Ultimately, our spiritual health depends on our ability to work through those dark times of our lives.

There is a great quote from the Fantasy television show “The Almighty Johnsons” – Nothing that gods do turns out well for the people around them. On a very real level we can understand that comment. Sometimes it seems that life would be so much simpler away from a faith. But we also know that that there have been dark times in our lives that we have only survived because of our faith. As with so much of our lives, from our experience this God thing is a bit of a mixed bag.

I would like to suggest that while we understand the comment from “The Almighty Johnsons,” the reason why we understand the comment is that we simply see things from a different perspective than God. Because of our finiteness, we have a shorter time frame in which to judge what is good and what is bad. I have mentioned elsewhere that Jeremiah 29:11 might be one  the most misunderstood passages in the Bible - For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” There is very little doubt that what Judah was suffering through as Jeremiah spoke these words was because of their misbehaviour and sin. But even in the midst of their disobedience, God was taking the long road. From the point of view of God, he was already at work prospering the nation that called him God. But from the point of view of Judah, it would be the next generation that would experience promised blessing.

The moral of the story would seem to be that God is willing to move in our lives – even when he is displeased with us. And sometimes, in faith we need to understand that God is on the move even in the dark times when we do not feel his love.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Psalm 87 & 88

Better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere; I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of the wicked. – Psalm 84:10

Today’s Scripture Reading (September 15, 2013): Psalm 84

I watched the Season Finale of “Who Do You Think You Are?” last week. The program featured the “Big Bang Theory’s” Jim Parsons examining his family tree. Parsons made a couple of discoveries during the filming of the show. He said that he always thought that he was of French heritage, but was not sure if he would be able to trace his heritage all the way back to France. So the show followed his process of finding his heritage. But it did not take long for Parsons to find the French Connection. Although Parsons himself is from Texas, and all of the relatives that he is aware of live in Texas, he quickly found out that his French relatives were from Louisiana.

But he continued the process and finally arrived at evidence that he did indeed have ancestors that lived in France. In fact, he found a connection between his ancestors and the court of King Louis XV. Just before the French Revolution, his ancestor was an Architect of reigning French King. But in its typical fashion the show, just before the last commercial break, dropped the news that many of the people who had found their way into King Louis court were executed along with the King and Queen during the years of the Revolution. Unfortunately, that is always the danger when we are connected with power. Power has never been a constant thing. It tends to rise and fall. And when power is on the rise, there is no better place to be. But when power is in decline, there is no more dangerous place to be.

The Psalmist says that he would rather be a doorkeeper in the House of the God than dwell in the homes of the wicked. And in this he speaks to one of the greatest temptations that we face. It always seems that it is the wicked who prosper. So the temptation is to leave the things of God and just follow the path of wicked and hopefully find ourselves in a place of temporary prosperity. It is a temptation that the Psalmists were well aware of – in fact, it is a situation that is the feature of the opening lines of Aspah’s Psalm 73. But here, while the Psalmist recognizes the temptation, he decides to choose something different. Because he realizes that the truth is that the prosperity of the wicked may rise and fall, but with God, that power is forever.

For Parsons, the good news for his ancestor was that, while he was part of the court of King Louis, he was not closely associated enough with the king to share his fate. He actually seemed closer associated with some of the foreign radicals of the day – including Benjamin Franklin and John Adams. But the result was that Parsons ancestor would die peaceably after the Revolution. For the Psalmist, it was spiritually a result that would only be guaranteed in the house of God.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Psalm 85

With one mind they plot together; they form an alliance against you— Psalm 83:5

Today’s Scripture Reading (September 14, 2013): Psalm 83

In the early 90’s, during the First Gulf War, the United States placed Israel in a bit of a precarious position. The message that the United States wanted the world to receive was that this was their war. During the days of the war, Israel received the outburst from Iraq. The truth was that Israel was the enemy close enough to feel Iraq’s displeasure. But there was also a very real argument to be made that Israel was not really involved in the conflict – this was a conflict between the U.S. and Iraq. During those dark days it appeared to those of us looking on that the U.S. was having daily conversations with Israel, begging them not to respond, because if they did respond then an all-out war (and World War III) in the Middle East seemed to be almost a certainty– a situation the U.S. passionately wanted to avoid.

During those days I had a good friend who was very pro-Israel. And his language was often very uncomfortably descriptive. In his eyes, Israel was a “dog on an American leash” – a dog that the American President was actively trying to reign in. But the dog needed to be released. Israel needed to be allowed to take the war to Iraq, the country that was attacking them. From his perspective, his country Israel was ready and willing to take on everyone who wanted a piece of them and the world would be so much better off if the powers that be would just back of and let Israel into the fight. But the problem was that, while there was admittedly a lot of tension in the Middle East, this conflict did not involve Israel.

Psalm 83 is thought of as a war psalm. Scholars have worked hard to tie this Psalm in with some of the battles of David or any of the other kings, but the problem is that there does not seem to be a conflict that fits the one being described here – there is not a war in Israel’s history involving the kingdoms that are named here. Every attempt to identify this psalm with an actual battle has to be made to fit, and some details of the Psalm have to be adjusted or overlooked.

But there is another problem with considering Psalm 83 as a war psalm - war is not actually mentioned in the Psalm. The closest we really get is the idea that these nations were plotting and conspiring; they were planning for war, but we do not know that the war ever happened. According to the Psalmist, the war was not being planned against Israel – it was against God. And the Psalmist cry is for God to rise up against the nations that were plotting against them. It is not that God will arm and assist Israel to fight in the war that is to come, but rather that God himself will enter into the battle - that God will fight the approaching war.

This has always been the strength of Israel. Their strength has always been found in their belief in their God and not in the strength of their arms. Even in modern times, the existence of the nation of Israel is a miracle all by itself. God has done something and therefore the nation has found its reality. And I believe that the Christian Church stands in the same spot. We exist for one reason only – God has allowed us to exist. And our power is still found in the God that we follow – the God that we believe in.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Psalm 84

But you would be fed with the finest of wheat; with honey from the rock I would satisfy you.” – Psalm 81:16

Today’s Scripture Reading (September 13, 2013): Psalm 81 & 82

President Enrique Pena Nieto proposed sweeping changes to Mexico's social programs earlier this week. While the proposed changed have a lot to do with tax reform for the nation, Nieto stresses that tax reform results in social reform. And when we hear the idea of social reform, what we often think of is a process that deals with making life more livable for those that are ‘the least’ among us – or at least for those close to the bottom of our social ladder. But the basic problem is that these are precisely the people that lack political power. They have nothing to give that our political system craves. So often this kind of reform is hard, because those with political power really don’t want to pay for it.

Minimum wage law is one example of this kind of struggle. The idea of the minimum wage is to ensure that those at the lower end of the pay scale have at least a livable wage. But the reality is that while all developed countries have some sort of version of this law, none of them actually produce what could be called a living wage. The tug of war that exists within our political structure is between those that will have to pay the wage and those that will receive it. And in every case, the ones with the real political power are the ones that in the end will have to pay the wage. For Mexico, according to the Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development in 2011, that struggle left the nation at the lowest end of the Minimum Wage Scale with a minimum wage of $0.55/hour. The result is that people who have to live at that end of the spectrum work hard at trying to escape Mexico and find something better.

At the beginning of Israel’s journey through the desert, the people complained because they had no water. Their question was “is God with us?” They had seen the waters of the Red Sea part, but that wasn’t enough. What they needed was water now. And so Moses stood on a rock and with the instruction and power of God struck the rock and water burst forth. It was an unusual thing to see in the desert. So the people had Manna to eat and water from the rock to drink. And they had a guarantee that God would give the minimum the people would need. Manna and water would sustain life, but they would not much more.

But the Psalmist seeks to remind his readers that God does not just want to sustain life. He wants so much more for us. The promise that he made with Israel was that if you follow me into the future, I will give you more than just Manna, I will feed you with the finest of the wheat – or literally ‘the fat of the wheat’ – and it won’t be just water that will gush out of the rock – it will be honey. Some people have worked hard at explaining that in Canaan bees build their hives amidst the rocks and sometimes the honey drips out of the hive and onto the rocks making Canaan a land that flows with honey, but the process really misses the point. The Psalmist wants his readers to understand that God desires to give to his people more than just the minimum to survive – we wants to replace the water of the rock with the sweetest of honey.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Psalm 83

You transplanted a vine from Egypt; you drove out the nations and planted it. Psalm 80:8

Today’s Scripture Reading (September 12, 2013): Psalm 80

One of the things I liked to do when I was younger was to go out and find wild berries. Back then it seemed that they were everywhere – there were places where berries just grew wild. Today, at least where I live, I have not seen many of those good wild berry picking areas. But it was during this time that I was the closest I would ever be to a hunter/gatherer. For most of us today, all of our hunting and gathering happens in the grocery store. But that is not the same thing. When I go to the grocery store and I want some raspberries, I can just pick up a basket off of the shelf. But that is not the experience in the wild. In the wild, first I have to find the raspberry bushes, and then I have find the berries among the branches, but I also have to find them amidst the various grasses and weeds that are growing all around the bush. It is a bit of a process.

At some point, someone got the great idea of taking the raspberry bushes and placing them together in a garden. The garden provided two things. First, you finally knew where the raspberries were going to be, you didn’t have to go out searching for them. But more than that, in a garden you can also pull up the weeds and grasses so that there is nothing to compete with the berries that you want. In a garden we get to go out and collect the raspberries and the only branches that we have to compete with are raspberry branches.

It is this process that the Psalmist describes for Israel. He reminds his readers that there was a time when they were a vine in a foreign land. They grew up among the weeds and the grasses in Egypt. But God saw them and loved them, and God decided in the fullness of time to take the vine and plant it in a garden. There they were intended to flourish. God set out to remove the weeds and the grasses in this garden; taking away anything that would be in competition with the vine of God. And they did flourish. They grew strong, strong enough that they began to think that planting themselves in the garden was actually their idea. They forgot that there was a gardener - the one who had placed them there.

But the story did not end there - it was never intended to. Israel had originally been planted in order to bring beauty to the world – to change the world. In some ways, Israel had always been intended to be a raspberry plant, because a raspberry plant spread and sprouts where ever it can. And if you are not careful, a raspberry plant will take over a garden – and that was the exact purpose God had for Israel. And so the time came when Israel was taken out of the garden and planted in other gardens, so that those gardens would not be without the influence of the people of God.

And history has shown that God’s plan has worked perfectly. Because the people of God have been removed from their individual gardens and placed in other gardens and their presence has spread and they have been an influence. And whether you are a Jew or a Christian, we need to realize that the spreading of that influence is the highest purpose that God has place inside of us. We are to go and make a difference – making this world a better place to live.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Psalm 81 & 82

O God, the nations have invaded your inheritance; they have defiled your holy temple, they have reduced Jerusalem to rubble. – Psalm 79:1

Today’s Scripture Reading (September 11, 2013): Psalm 79

It is hard to believe that it has been twelve years. It seems like just yesterday that we watched in horror as the peace of a September day was crushed by hijacked planes crashing into symbolic and beloved land marks. At the time I was living thousands of miles away – closer to the west coast of the continent than the east where the horror was, and yet even there the crashes changed things. One of the things that I remember was the eerie emptiness of the skies as governments tried furiously to figure out what was happening. All of my life I had watched the sky, infatuated with the flying machines that inhabited the spaces over my head – but on that day and a few days after, the flying machines were no longer there. On that day, everything changed – and maybe for the first time in generations, North Americans understood a feeling that up until that day only our friends in Europe and Asia truly understood – we understood what it felt like to be vulnerable. On that day we lost something that might have been more valuable than the Twin Towers or the possible loss of the Pentagon or even the White House.  We lost our innocence. And that was something that just could not be rebuilt.

This Psalm is attributed to Asaph, but it is another of the Asaph Psalms that was probably written by a descendant of the revered Levite. The context of the Psalm would definitely appear to be following the destruction of the Jerusalem in 587 B.C.E. But it was not just the city walls that were breached that day – this was the day that temple was lost as well. Just like the significant losses that Americans suffered on 9/11, the temple was something that the people thought they would never lose.

But the ultimate truth that Israel would need to learn is that God loved them in spite of their losses. We seem to want to connect our losses and our hurts as evidence that God has turned his back on us, but that is not the truth. The reality that we need to understand is that God’s presence during the good times is a good thing, but God’s presence when planes are crashing around us and the enemy is destroying everything that is dear to us, is essential.

Today is a day of mourning. It could be argued that, at least in North American, 9/11 is the saddest day on modern calendar. For our Jewish friends, they have another sad day. It is called Tisha B’Av, or the ninth Av. And while on 9/11 we remember the attack on our economic (the Twin Towers), our military (the Pentagon) and our political (The White House) identities, on Tisha B’Av Jews remember attacks that occurred on that day across centuries – including the destruction of Solomon’s Temple (587 B.C.E.), the destruction of Zerubabbel’s Temple (70 C.E.) and the Roman Massacre of 100,000 Jews at Betar (132 C.E.) All of these events, and others, occurred on the ninth of Av. But while Tisha B’Av and 9/11 are days of great sadness, they should also be a celebration of the God who sticks with us, even in the worst moments of our lives.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Psalm 80

They would not be like their ancestors—a stubborn and rebellious generation, whose hearts were not loyal to God, whose spirits were not faithful to him. – Psalm 78:8

Today’s Scripture Reading (September 10, 2013): Psalm 78

I am convinced that we know nothing about money. And the reason we know nothing is because we have never been taught. It is maybe the missing course that everyone should be required to take in High School. Because we have never heard the lesson, we are ripe for the lies of the corporate world. The only thing we have been taught about money has been taught to us by people that want us to give them whatever money we might have – and that probably does not make them the most objective of teachers.

A number of years ago we became concerned, as a nation, with our growing debt. At the time I remember politicians campaigning on a balanced budget amendment (no, it is not a new idea – it is actually a very old one.) The idea was well accepted until people began to realize the cuts that would result from a balanced budget. And then the message of the people began to change. I remember having a conversation with one gentlemen who was convinced that a balanced budget would only be stealing money from the pockets of the people – after all, the money the country owed had been borrowed from us in the form of the bonds that we had purchased. I am not sure if the message that the gentlemen gave me was ever true, but it really isn’t now. The only ones profiting by our debt would seem to be the country of China. But we still do not know any better, because no one has taught us. We spend more than we make and allow others to become rich on our own debt. And there has to be a better way.

The Psalmist is about to tell the tales of God actions on behalf of Israel. But before he begins to tell the story, he gives his audience the reason why – he wants to teach them so that they will not make the same mistakes that their ancestors made. The idea is that through knowledge, our natural stubbornness and rebelliousness might be tamed. And the Psalmist is probably right – as long as we take the lessons seriously.

The act of learning actually depends on two processes. First, we must be taught. Someone who knows must take the time to share with us the lesson we need to learn. There is a belief out there that everything in life must be lived by experience, but if that is true then we are doomed. We cannot experience all of the lessons of life and live at the same. We have to be able to learn from the experiences of others. But after we have learned the lesson, we have to be willing to live out those lessons. Lessons not lived are wasted. (I took a Greek/Hebrew course a few months ago and I am dismayed how much of what I learned I have lost already because I just don’t live out my Greek and Hebrew lessons in my life.) We have to live what we have learned.

For Israel, that meant understanding the purpose that God had for the nation – a purpose that went back to the beginning of the story – and living out those lessons by trusting God. For our finances, it means learning the hard truth about our money and being willing to live within our means. Living out life’s lessons are never easy, but it is required for a successful life.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Psalm 79

Your path led through the sea, your way through the mighty waters, though your footprints were not seen. – Psalm 77:19

Today’s Scripture Reading (September 9, 2013): Psalm 77

Over the past few weeks there has been a considerable amount of concern over the actions of Syria. The problem that has been posed to us is that the Syrian military is thought to have used chemical weapons against their own people. In a world where the mere mention of chemical weapons condemns a vast number of people to nights plagued by nightmares, this is a problem. But there is also a problem with the accusation. No one really saw the event. Apparently Canada has chosen to accept the United States’ assessment of the situation. But on the other hand, Russia and Britain are not so easily convinced of this uncomfortable indictment. The reasons are complex, but they all seem to boil down to two things; they are not sure that Syria’s use of chemical weapons has any impact on them and they did not see the incident happen with their own eyes.

The Psalmist goes back to the beginning of the nation, to that wonderful horrible night that Israel left their lives as slaves in Egypt and made a run for the desert. On that night they had freedom in front of them and the Egyptian army behind them. It was a night that was full of potential and possible disaster. And as the nation stood on the banks of the Red Sea (or the Sea of Reeds), it seemed like it was disaster that was winning. But on that night the Sea parted. Now, no one saw the reason why the sea parted. It was not like God’s hand suddenly became visible as the water parted. And it was not God that stood in the midst of the water with his arm stretched out holding back the water. The only one to be actually seen was Moses. But that did not change the fact that it was God who did it, even though all that could be seen was the result.

The Psalmist wanted his readers to make the double connection. What had happened on that night was connected to them, and it was important to them. Without the events of that dark night, the Israel that they knew would never have come into existence. And even though he was not seen, it was God who moved on that night, and it was this same unseen God that had moved throughout the length of the nation’s history. In both the external history of the nation, and inside the conscience of the person; God would seems to work secretly. And that left Israel with a question that they would need to wrestle with. How should all of that effect the way that they lived their lives?

As for Syria, my suspicion is that the United States is correct and chemical weapons were used on Syrians by their own government. And in the global village, we can no longer afford to believe that anything that has been done somewhere else has no effect on us. But by concentrating on those two conditions, we are avoiding the hard question – what should be our moral response to the situation? And that, in all circumstances like this, is something that each of us have to wrestle with in order to find an answer.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Psalm 78