He first delivers a brief message regarding his people – a promise
- but then his word turns to a threat on “all the nations”
• specifically those that have ransacked Judah and Jerusalem
• these two parts of the message are connected:
◦ God, helping his people, entails harming their enemies
- do we need to be upset, that to restore his people and their nation, the Lord attacked their enemies?
◦ if there is another way to break the power of oppressors, to rescue and liberate the oppressed - the world hasn’t found it
◦ the agents causing the trouble must be neutralized
• what is revealed in the following verses is a vision of Israel’s destiny
◦ in part one, God clears the way for it
◦ in part two, the people prepare themselves for God

For me, it is second only to John’s introduction of Jesus
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. . . . And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth” (Jn. 1:1 and 14)
- what makes this prophecy given to Joel extraordinary,
• is this experience of the Spirit that is promised was definitely exclusive
◦ this is clear from a passage I have frequently quoted
◦ when Moses complained his assignment was too much for him, God told him,
“Gather for me seventy men of the elders of Israel . . . and bring them into the tent of meeting, and let them take their stand there. And I will come down and talk with you there. And I will take some of the Spirit that is on you and put it on them . . . . ¶ Then the LORD came down in the cloud . . . and took some of the Spirit that was on him and put it on the seventy elders. And as soon as the Spirit rested on them, they prophesied. But they did not continue doing it” (Nu. 11:17 and 25)

It is a typically “country” tear jerker
If I had only known
It was the last walk in the rain
I’d keep you out for hours in the storm
I would hold your hand
Like a life line to my heart
Underneath the thunder we’d be warm
If I had only known
It was our last walk in the rain
If I had only known
I’d never hear your voice again
I’d memorize each thing you ever said . . . etcetera
– it hits a nerve, because we’ve all felt the regret it expresses
• things would be different not; would have been avoided; or would have turned out better
◦ if only we had known
– that’s the reason, for the second time, Joel says, “Blast the ram’s horn in Zion”
• the first time, in verse 1, it was to sound the alarm regarding the approaching invasion
◦ this time it is a call to action
• a terrible disaster is approaching Jerusalem,
◦ but something can be done – the city can be saved

It’s so loud and annoying, there’s no way you can ignore it
- this is the sort of attention-getter Joel calls for in verse 1
“Blow the ram’s horn in Zion,
 sound the alarm on my holy mountain”
• sentinels were posted on Jerusalem’s walls,
◦ and Joel tells them to sound the shofar and alert the people
◦ because a massive, hostile army was approaching the holy city
• after what we read last week, the danger Joel announces seems a little strange
◦ we expect him to warn of the “locust plague,” but instead he warns of , “the day of the LORD”
- now because of what we’ve been told in past decades, this needs a bit of explaining

Many of us remember the very moment when we first heart of it
- for several hours we could hardly breathe
• we watched endless reruns of two airliners, smashing into the iconic “Twin Towers” in New York City
◦ we didn’t want to see it, but we couldn’t look away
◦ we could not avoid the reality of it
• and each time we looked, we felt helpless, outrage, and extreme sadness
- every disaster of that magnitude, wounds a country’s soul
• we don’t just walk away and return to our usual routine
◦ it creates a fog of confusion that we feel we must sort out
◦ it stirs up insecurities that leave us groping for answers
• for sometime after, we remain alert, sensitive, aware
◦ for awhile, we’re ready to listen; we’re paying attention and eager to learn

This is the right time for us to approach the prophecies of Joel

Israel was experiencing a catastrophic trauma
- it was not localized, but spread across the entire nation
• at times in this first chapter, Joel sounds like a newscaster;
◦ reporting the wide range of destruction
◦ the food source of the entire country was running out
• Joel, however, was not merely delivering a report;
◦ he was delivering “The word of the LORD”

Last year I felt it was important that I read Adam Smith’s The Wealth of Nations
– Smith is sometimes referred to as the Father of Capitalism
• he explored the principles of economics that caused some systems of flourish and others to flounder
– one concern was the ways that governments interfered with industries and commerce
• but something disturbed me as I read through his detailed research and conclusions
◦ Smith took for granted that there would always be a huge mass of poor people
◦ he saw this as the general pattern of civilizations from ancient history
• there were always masters and slaves, emperors and subjects, kings and paupers

Here are a few quotes I pulled from his work:
Smith, “All for ourselves and nothing for others, seems, in every age of the world, to have been the vile maxim of the masters of mankind. . . . As soon, therefore, as they could find a method of consuming the whole value of their rents for themselves, they had no disposition to share then with any other persons.”
– “For one very rich man there must be at least five hundred poor, and the affluence of the few [assumes] the indigence of the many.”
– When the economy of a nation is static rather than increasing, wages for the workers are barely enough to raise a family or even continue the “race of laborers.” “. . . there is no order that suffers so cruelly from [a nation’s economic decline as the poor].” However, the voices of the poor were rarely heard, except in when there were public demonstrations.

“Children have I reared and brought up,
but they have rebelled against me . . . .
Ah, sinful nation,
a people laden with iniquity,
offspring of evil doers,
children who deal corruptly!
They have forsaken the LORD,
they have despised the Holy One of Israel,
they are utterly estranged” (Isa. 1:2-4)

Then in chapter 6, Isaiah tells the story of his call from God to be a prophet
- at first, he continues in the same stream as the opening
• but a little further on, he is given messages of hope
◦ God always provides a way back
◦ his radiant love always breaks through the dark clouds
• by chapter 30, his promises to Israel are fantastic
“For a people shall dwell in Zion, in Jerusalem; you shall weep no more. He will surely be gracious to you at the sound of your cry. As soon as he hears it, he answers you. And though the Lord give you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, yet your Teacher will not hide himself anymore, but your eyes shall see your Teacher. And your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, ‘This is the way, walk in it,’ when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left.”
- God promises his people he will always be speaking to them
• they will always hear him nearby, and he will guide them
• as long as they were willing to listen to him, and accept his direction,
◦ he was willing to constantly communicate with them

This psalm does not track a central theme

What I mean, is that we cannot say, “This is a psalm of praise,”
- or “Psalm of confession,” or “thanksgiving psalm,” or “supplication psalm”
• this doesn’t mean the structure of the poem is random,
◦ only that it doesn’t tell a story or develop a specific point
• nevertheless, there is a pattern to the psalm,
◦ but we don’t find it arranged in an obvious pattern
- the first Hebrew letter in the first word of the first verse is alef
(like 'A' is the first letter of our alphabet)
• the first letter in the first word of the second verse is bet
(like 'B' is the second letter of our alphabet)
◦ alef and bet are the first two letters in the Hebrew alphabet
◦ that’s what the poet used for the outline of the entire psalm
• it’s like the nursery rhyme, “A is for apple; B is for ball . . . .”
◦ except that two letters from the Hebrew alphabet are missing

There are several psalms that use this acrostic device
- Psalm 119 is the most radical example, supplying eight verses (each beginning with the same letter) for every letter of the Hebrew alphabet

Now, today, using this spectacular episode of Isaiah’s life is neither practical nor fair
– he was chosen by God to be a prophet,
• and the prophet’s calling is in most instances very dramatic
◦ e.g., Moses and the mysterious flames; Ezekiel’s fantastic vision, impossible to imagine
• so if there’s a legitimate reason for us to consider Isaiah’s experience,
◦ it’s because in his vision he saw and heard God speak to him
◦ that is what defines the prophet
– even if we never have a dramatic or spectacular encounter like Isaiah,
• we can draw lessons from what he describes, because we want to hear God’s voice
◦ and Isaiah’s experience may help us navigate our own less dramatic experiences
• let’s see what we can find in this story that will be useful to us

For some reason, that I don’t remember,
- I got the idea that it was really important for him to tell his life’s story
• there were already a lot of fictional stories regarding his life,
◦ and how he came to be the founder of a new church movement
• I suppose, that as his son, it was important to me,
◦ that people learned how God worked in his life to make him the man he was
- however, I knew that though dad was a gifted storyteller,
• he was not a writer, and would never find the time to produce an autobiography
◦ so I volunteered to be his ghost-writer, and he agreed
• I’m telling you this, because there’s something in his book I’m going to read

First, why do I refer to the story as “archetypal”?
– archetypes have to do with basic themes planted in the human mind
• familiar themes are revealed in the heroes, heroines, and villains of fables, myths, and fairytales
◦ these characters represent specific qualities that define human persons and their behavior
◦ including: virtuous, courageous, clever, creative, wise or foolish, industrious or lazy
• the plot of the stories, and the actors differ from culture to culture,
◦ but the qualities are universal, so we recognize when they’re pointed out to us
– in this story of Eli and Samuel, the archetypal theme is similar to the “the sorcerer’s apprentice”
• it doesn’t follow specific rules, because Eli was a priest and not a prophet
◦ but he was familiar with prophecy and could give Samuel basic instructions
• so first, after a delayed response, Eli discerns what is happening to Samuel
◦ he is able to explain to the boy that God is calling to him
◦ and, then he instructs him how to respond to receive God’s message

We were required to practice every day for at least an hour
- the only drawback–I chose to read books that didn’t interest me, so I wouldn't get distracted by their content
• but going fast, I got nothing at all from them – I wasn’t reading, but just looking at words
- later on I was exposed to a method of slow-reading
• the purpose: to get as much as possible from what I read
◦ this applied specifically to reading the Scriptures
◦ the benefit is hearing God speak to me clearly and directly
• and that is what I want to teach you this morning

There’s not another letter in the New Testament exactly like it
- a small bit of 2 Peter incorporates some of the same lines
• but the overall structure and content of Jude are unusual,
◦ and his quotations from two non-biblical books is unique
• but coming to the end, he closes with a familiar prayer
◦ it’s not his exact words that are familiar, but how the words are arranged
◦ Jude signs off with a “doxology”
- the Greek word doxa, is frequently translated “glory”
• and this word usually appears in doxologies, making it easy to identify them
• a doxology is a prayer or song in praise of God
◦ in many churches doxologies are read, recited, or sung every week

It has to do with Artificial Intelligence and I added it to my “weird news” file
Darin White, “Four in ten Gen-Z and millennial adults say spiritual advice from AI is just as trustworthy as advice from a pastor. One-third of teenagers have talked to an AI companion rather than a human being about serious, personal issues. Thirty-nine percent of Gen Z would skip or delay a doctor’s visit if AI told them their symptoms were low risk . . . . And 26 percent of Gen Z adults have engaged in some form of romantic or companion relationship with an AI chat bot.”
- this is either scary or silly, but there is another development that is more serious for us
White, "[In] April, a tech company . . . launched an AI-generated avatar of Jesus that people can talk to, pray with, and seek spiritual counsel from for $1.99 per minute. The avatar was trained on the King James Bible . . . .”
- one of the concerns I have about this, is AI is not bullet-proof
• I’ve been reading Adam Smith’s The Wealth of Nations
◦ in chapter 5, he quotes an author without naming him, but claims he was,
Adam Smith, “by far the most illustrious philosopher and historian of the present age”
◦ I assumed he was referring to David Hume, because he was a friend that Smith admired
• when I looked it up, an AI engine immediately popped up and curtly (I felt) reported,
"no philosopher is quoted in book 5 of The Wealth of Nations
◦ dissatisfied, I searched for the actual quote, and that was in Hume’s writings
◦ feeling vindicated, I corrected the snobbish AI bot

The number looked familiar, so I answered – “Hello”
- a man’s voice asked, “Is this Charles?”
• at that point it was obvious he didn’t know me
• so I said, “Maybe”
- there are too many scams running in our world for me to take chances
• if you respond to a text or call, a fake offer, a warning,
◦ or a simple “click” and next thing you discover is that your bank account is emptied,
◦ or your credit card is hacked, or your identity is stolen
• I appreciate the warnings I receive regarding the con artist who are constantly fishing for personal information

That is how we are to read Jude's letter

What he wrote was a “fraud alert” – as he has said,
“For certain people have crept in unnoticed”

But it’s not about psychology – it has the unlikely title, Falling Into the Face of God
– it’s an autobiography of sorts
• Bill felt called by God’s Spirit to go to the Judean desert
• and , to spend forty days there like Jesus, only without fasting
– on day 17, he was meditating on Jesus’ temptation in the wilderness
• then his thoughts went to Jesus and disciples in Philippi, and the moment when he called Peter “Satan”
William J. Elliot, “Why did Jesus do that? Especially since Peter was just trying to be helpful? It was because Peter was opposing Jesus’ deeper sense of destiny and Jesus’ deeper sense of God’s will. Satan comes from the Hebrew word for ‘opposer’ or ‘adversary.’ And that’s the point: we each have friends, and even parts of ourselves, that are often opposed to our deeper truth and connection with God. Even though they are trying to be helpful, they are still adversaries. So how do we find the skill and the courage to rebuff those well-meaning adversaries—especially when they love us and have often loved us in the past.”

There are others that I had to hear several times to appreciate
- but the ones that I've loved at first sight had two qualities:
• the sound of music (instruments and vocals) and the lyrics
◦ psychologists refer to this response to music as “emotional resonance”
◦ the sound waves and meaning of the music find a string that vibrates deep in the soul
• for me, one of the songs that instantly moved me was Van Morrison’s 
When will I ever learn to live in God?

“When will I ever learn to live in God?
 When will I ever learn?
He gives me everything I need and more
 When will I ever learn?”

“I’m going for a walk, do you want to go with me?”
- he has never said, “Sure, Grandpa, let’s go” – never
• and I know why – he’s convinced it won’t be fun
◦ he’d have to get unnecessary exercise, and
◦ it’d be difficult to stay on trail with eyes glued to his cell phone
• this morning I’m inviting you to take a walk with me–
◦ through the book of Jude – it’s a short walk,
◦ and much of it is unpleasant, or confusing, or dark
- what I don’t want to do is make this a Bible study
• my tendency is to be drawn to technicalities
◦ that’s a problem with this letter that was written in haste,
◦ so there are several tough technical issues – also,
• a lot of its information is crunched together in a short space,
◦ entire stories abbreviated in three or four words
◦ and there are even references to stories we’ve never seen in the Scriptures

When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Feed my lambs.” He said to him a second time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Tend my sheep.” He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, “Do you love me?” and he said to him, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep” John 21:15–17

◦ Peter’s calling was to devote himself to the care of Jesus’ sheep
• these are not Peter’s sheep – Jesus refers to them as, “my sheep”
◦ the Lord did not tell Peter to use the sheep to make a fortune for himself
◦ in fact, from now on, his life wasn’t his own, and it would not be easy or what he would choose for himself
“Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were young, you used to dress yourself ad walk wherever you wanted, but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will dress you and carry you where you do not want to go. . . .” “Follow me.” (v. 19)
- giving Peter this responsibility, Jesus answers his own prayer in Matthew:

Aside from whatever ways I’m supposed to help others,
- my own life in God has been driven by one passion
• that is, to experience everything Jesus promised his disciples
• my primary rationale is to take Jesus at his word
◦ to be more specific:
- what is on the table for me is not that I work miracles
• at least, not extraordinary miracles, I’m okay with ordinary miracles
◦ like bringing a smile to a baby’s face
• I know I’m not called to “signs and wonders”
◦ what I’ve longed for is personal, and has been my longing from childhood

In the scripture I read, Jesus is telling his disciples goodbye

I’ve been doing this for years–making meals for my grandchildren:
- one breakfast for Calum (and afternoon snacks), one lunch for Adrianna, and three dinners
• I’m still taking two of them to and from school
• in the lull, while they’re at school, I’ve been taking walks around the undeveloped land near their neighborhood
◦ it’s been a good time to practice focusing my awareness on the presence of God's Spirit
◦ maybe three months ago, I began sharing moments of my walk on Facebook
- from the very first book of the Bible, walking is used as metaphor
• it usually refers to the way we live out our days with God in closeness to him
• however, in this Easter story, these two disciples (whom otherwise we do not know),
◦ find themselves actually walking with Jesus for real!
◦ what Jesus shares with them turns their lives around, literally
“And they rose that same hour and returned to Jerusalem” (v. 33)

I take that to mean they were not locals, but most likely from the Galilee region where they had followed Jesus' ministry
- being visitors to Jerusalem, they “camped” on the mountains around the city
• and especially the Mount of Olives,
◦ staying in tents, a lean-to, or sleeping under the open sky
- a rumor shuttled through the crowd – Jesus was near
Jesus spent the previous night in Bethany,
• a small village on the backside of the Mt. of Olives
◦ there had already been speculation, whether he’d show up
◦ many people had been looking for him in and around the temple
• a murmur of voices floated down the slopes of the Mount of Olives
◦ breathless anticipation hung in the air
- someone, not yet clued-in, felt it and asked, “What’s going on?”
she was told the rumor, “We think Jesus is here!”
“Where?”
“We don’t know yet, but he’s close”
- then there was some commotion at the crown of the mountain
• a man threw his cloak on the worn path, perhaps hoping Jesus would step on it when he arrived
• that triggered a wave of people carpeting the road
◦ some throwing down their cloaks or a palm branch
◦ others cut more branches and preparing to wave them like banners

We all do the internal calculus:
• Can I be friends with someone who voted differently?
• Can I worship with people who read scripture differently?
• Can I belong here with my doubts, questions, and messy parts?
• Can I still call myself a Christian if I don’t fit the mold?

“For freedom Christ has set us free. Stand firm, therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of
slavery” Galatians 5:1
“For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything; the only thing
that counts is faith working through love.” Galatians 5:6
“For you were called to freedom, brothers and sisters… through love become enslaved to one
another. For the whole law is summed up in a single commandment: You shall love your neighbor
as yourself.” Galatians 5:13-14

The best way to understand it, is found in a line repeated in Judges
“In those days there was no king in Israel” (Jdg. 18:1 and 19:1)
- and again at the very end of Judges, with an added explanation
“In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes” (Jdg. 21:25)
- I have a friend who wrote a book on the Kingdom of God
• and though I enjoyed reading it and trust him as a serious student of the Bible,
◦ I disagree with his take on this verse
◦ he suggests that everyone doing what was right in their own eyes was a good thing
Steve Gregg, suggests that “. . . liberty of personal conscience prevailed, rather than dominated by a human (and therefore corrupt) earthly ruler.”
• but that this isn’t what that line means is proven elsewhere
◦ in Moses’ instructions to Israel when they would enter the land, he says,
“You shall not do according to all that we are doing here today, everyone doing whatever is right in his own eyes . . . .” (Deut. 12:8-9)
◦ really, all you have to do is read the last three chapters of Judges to see the confusion and tragedy that resulted from everyone doing what they considered the right thing

What are we doing here, for heaven’s sake?
- answers are scattered through the New Testament,
• and it's the focus of Paul’s entire first letter to Timothy
• he intended to go over this in person
◦ but here he provides only a summary statement

Paul explains how we “ought to behave”

“Ought” is not one of my favorite words
- Christian preachers, youth leaders, and Sunday School teachers have used it to control and manipulate adults and children
• so let’s try to get to the heart of Paul’s concern
• Francis Schaeffer, wrote an excellent essay entitled, “The Mark of the Christian”
◦ for centuries Christians displayed their faith with different symbols
◦ “uniforms,” cross necklaces, and annoying bumper stickers

At least not as deeply or fully as he intended
- not “as deeply,” because we tend to stay on the surface
• we read the words and verses without penetrating their depth
• we grab at interpretations that make immediate sense
◦ and we settle for simplistic "commentary" explanations
- I don’t think Jesus taught in riddles – sometimes, perhaps
• he did not teach in a secret code that required deciphering
• but it's possible that his intent was that the meaning of his message would be revealed to us
◦ and only then will we be able to live it in truth and deed

Let’s remember the passion running through the entire book
- it isn’t what we’re likely to feel when reading the bare words
• what it sounds like, is the ranting of an enraged deity
◦ but that is not the correct tone of voice
• if God were like one of the pagan deities of mid mid-east or Greece,
◦ he wouldn’t bother to rage at his rebellious people,
◦ he would just annihilate them
- this prophetic book, in fact, is the message of a wounded lover
• a husband who’s been disrespected, betrayed, and discarded
◦ yet for all that, he continues to try to reason with his wife
◦ he is not ready to give up, and he will not let Israel go
• so, we are not hearing the voice of anger, but of heartbreak

Intro: I’m not trying to avoid jumping into Hosea

However, I want to enter Hosea's by way of Matthew's gospel
“When [Jesus] saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd” (Mt. 9:36-37)
- this is a simple observation, the Lord saw something, and it made an impression on him

The prophet who had to experience in his own life, with his wife, what God had experienced with Israel
– a people who were unfaithful to him, not only by adultery,
• but prostituting themselves with other gods
• you may have guessed that I’m not comfortable with Hosea
◦ I’d rather be with Jesus in the New Testament, loving and rescuing sinners
◦ instead, Hosea delivers a barrage of condemnations
– Israel had a long history of turning their backs on Yahweh
• and he repeatedly called them to return to him
◦ when they didn’t return , he withdrew from them
◦ and there were consequences–enemy invasion and crop failure
• this time, they were reaching a point of no return
◦ I think it’s okay to say God was desperate to stop them, to reach them and motivate them to return
◦ so he used strong language and threats of calamity

Still, it was only a few years ago that two words snagged me
- here in this passage, Paul refers to the Hebrew Scriptures as “the sacred writings”
• I had always believed this regarding the Bible, but never in those precise words
• the effect they had was to motivate me to meditate on them
◦ eventually, I spent nine weeks sharing with you what I learned
- I’ve decided to tell you what these have done worked in my life since then
• what I hope, is to inspire your reading of the sacred writings
◦ and enhance your experience with God’s word in the new year

I’ve never heard anyone argue whether that theme is appropriate
- the words of the previous themes–hope, peace, and joy–are all found in the biblical text
• but love doesn’t appear in the details of the Christmas story
◦ it feels right that love should be another theme, but is it right?
• does love add a sentimental tone that wasn’t there?
◦ our culture is certainly attached to an “ideal” Christmas
◦ a “Hallmark special” with smooth edges and a soft glow
- the initial reaction to the early announcements of Christ’s birth,
• given to Zechariah, Mary, Joseph, shepherds, generated confusion and fear
◦ but love isn’t right there on the surface of the page
• love only comes in after much theological reflection
◦ the gospels tell the story, theology identifies its meaning--which is:
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him” (Jn. 3:167-17)

Intro: So here we are again, with the angels and the shepherds

I chose to read only these three verses, because the story is so well known
- but when we circle back to it every year at this time,
• we run the risk of treating it as if it only exists for this season
◦ like the tree, and the lights, and the nativity scene with its little figures
◦ the heavenly choir shows up every year for their Christmas cantata
• they announce the arrival of Jesus, and with him, joy and peace
◦ the theme for the third Sunday of Advent is joy
- who am I to talk about returning to this theme only one day a year?
• how often do my Sunday morning talks return to joy?
◦ we weren’t hearing much joy in Hosea!
• if anyone needs to be reminded of joy all year round, I’m that guy

For my own sake, I decided to explore JOY

The more I read them, the more I get from them,
- and the deeper I go, the richer my experience
• however, the journey is not always pleasant, and
◦ some parts of the Bible are not as easy to digest as others
◦ Hosea is not one of my favorite books
• still, there are verses in it that are among my favorites
◦ other than those few, working my way through Hosea,
is like crawling through a long, dark tunnel
◦ but the Bible doesn’t have to please me; I only need to let it speak to me
- in chapter 4, Hosea continues to hammer theme of spiritual adultery
• it’s like he can’t let go of it–perhaps God won’t allow him to let it go
◦ or maybe his own painful experience haunts him
• so far, it’s been the central metaphor of his prophecies
◦ he will move on to other more pleasant analogies, but not yet

In making a point, one of them quoted a famous evangelist,
“People change–but not that much”
- okay–so I reacted immediately, but kept my mouth shut
• this same person stood in front of large crowds,
◦ promising them that Jesus would transform their lives
◦ that in Christ, they would become a new creation
• that is the essence of the evangelical message
◦ it’s what we’ve been singing for the past 250 years
“I once was lost, but now I’m found; was blind but now I see”
◦ could we regard the scope of these changes "not that much"?
- what good is my Christian faith if it it isn't thorough? If it doesn’t make me a better person?

The book of Hosea is a love story – but not like a romance novel
- it was never meant to entertain
• God’s message came to Israel in a graphic illustration,
◦ played out in the life of his prophet
• first, God told Hosea to marry a prostitute
◦ the point was to give Israel a living re-enactment of
◦ their history with God – deserting him for another god or other gods
- Hosea and his wife had three children who were placed onto the stage with their parents
• each of their names revealed an aspect of the unfolding crisis
◦ Jezreel – a place where God would render a verdict, to bring closure
◦ Lo-Ruhamah – No Mercy – God would leave them to their fate
◦ Lo-Ami – Not Mine – God rejected them from being his people
• so up till now, the unfolding drama has been harsh

First, I’m reading from Robert Alter’s translation of the Old Testament
– so obviously that is different from other standard translations
• but another reason is that Alter worked from the Hebrew Bible,
◦ and in that version, chapter 1 has only nine verses
◦ in our English Bibles there are eleven verses in chapter 1
• so those two verses missing in chapter 1 are the beginning of chapter 2 in the Hebrew Bible
(If you didn’t get all that, just trust me; the texts are basically the same)
– reading through this chapter can be confusing
• that’s because in the first part God condemns his unfaithful wife
• but without warning, in the second part he is romancing her again

A trusted friend suggested we venture through the minor prophets
- “minor” because they are relatively short compared to Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel
• I hesitated for awhile, then procrastinated, finally hoping to dodge The Dozen prophets at the end of the Hebrew Scriptures
• even though the longest of them is only fourteen chapters and shortest is only one chapter,
◦ they still require as much study and preparation as the major prophets
◦ so it’s basically been a matter of laziness
- however, we have reached a point in our nation’s history,
• in which we need to hear the voice of these prophets
• and Hosea in particular

And suddenly the handwriting was different
– instead of the well-formed characters of a professional scribe,
• the printed letters were large and scribbled
◦ this shift was certain to grab their attention
◦ like changing the “font” of a sentence in a document to all upper case or bold print
• but why did Paul insist on writing this last bit with his “own hand”?
◦ perhaps this is how he usually signed off (as many commentaries point out)
“I, Paul, write this greeting with my own hand. This is the sign of genuineness in every letter of mine; it is the way I write” (2 Thes. 3:17)
◦ or, he wanted to ensure that they took notice, and that is why he drew attention to it

Although she is genuinely compassionate, she had a favorite line: “Get over yourself”
- I think that held her together through a hard and complicated season of her life
• she said it to herself, to he friends, to people who called the church office for help,
◦ and more than once she said it to me–her boss
• but she never said it when I didn’t need to hear it
◦ Paul’s next lesson in this letter to the Galatians is, “Get over yourself”
- the chapter break here is unfortunate
• his contrast between the works of flesh and fruit of Spirit ended at chapter 5, verse 25
◦ verse 26 fits perfectly with where chapter 6
◦ now he begins to stress the importance of caring for each other
• “conceit” interferes with that personal care
◦ rather than assisting each other, conceit provokes others
◦ rather than respecting others, conceit envies others
“Get over yourself so you can be here for those who need you”

So it is not surprising that near the end, he would present an the ultimate challenge of the Christian life
- in verse 16 Paul begins last segment of his central message
• what follows in chapter 6 is his concluding remarks and directions
- what we have in verses 16-25 is this chunk of scripture that tracks one theme
• Paul makes this clear by marking where it begins and ends
•it begins in verse 16, “walk by the Spirit,” and in ends in verse 25, “live by the Spirit”
◦ in scripture, framing a passage this way is common, and is referred to as an envelope structure or closing circle
◦ anyway, the literary structure reveals the heart of the passage–it’s one key point

One of the more popular versions, and easiest to understand
– Eugene Peterson did not set out to write a new translation
• beginning in early 1980’s the U.S. economy went into a slump and mortgage interest rates were rapidly climbing
◦ people in his church were feeling the pinch, and reacting in the same way as people in town
Peterson, “Paranoia infected the small talk I would overhear on street corners and in barbershops. To my dismay, all of this seeped into my congregation without encountering any resistance.”
• to turn them from worldly concerns and find freedom in Jesus, he chose to immerse them in Galatians

At some point, you will find yourself struggling to understand it
– even if you’ve been a believer for a long time and read it before (or read a kiddie version)
• a passage will confuse you, trouble, or just seem wrong
◦ I’m fortunate to have many helpful resources
• however, when even those study aids leave me with questions
◦ then I resort to creative thought experiments; for instance, I ask, “what if”
◦ what if this were meant to frustrate? or be a puzzle? or experienced rather than studied?
– there have been occasions when these “off trail” ventures,
• have led me to surprising and edifying insights

You know how sometimes, as a parent,
- when you're very worried about your child–maybe they did not arrive home on time
• when they finally show up, your worry turns to anger
◦ if ever our lectures were rougher than they needed to be,
◦ it was because we had agonized over their safety
• I think that's a little piece of what is happening here
◦ Paul has called the Galatians "foolish" and asked "Who has bewitched you?"
◦ that is because they had him worried about the stability of their faith
- it is often the people who are most concerned with pleasing God,
• that are misled by false preachers and teachers
◦ they desire so much to be absolutely right with God that they fall victim to someone who seems knowledgeable
• anyway, Paul' agitation rises to the surface in these short, clipped statements that barely say enough
- here in verse 15, he presents Abraham as an example of being true to a promise

To our ears, his language--"foolish" and "Who has bewitched you?" sounds offensive
- later on he will say, if they’ve truly taken this wrong path,
“You are severed from Christ . . . you have fallen away from grace” (Gal. 5:4)
• he doesn’t mince words, because he’s terrified for their sake
◦ he wants to make the strongest possible impression on them
• and this is just the beginning
- we’re going to spend some time in verse 1
• first, because the truth in it is so rich and enlightening
• second, because here Paul constructs a foundation for everything else

He completed it with a story about his run-in with Peter
- when Peter first came to the Gentile church in Antioch,
• he allowed the wall between Jews and Gentiles to collapse
◦ but when rigid and dogmatic believers arrived from Judea,
◦ he broke away from close contact with Gentile believers
• how sad, when a person withdraws from generous gestures,
◦ ones that represents acceptance and camaraderie,
◦ and make the break for fear of being attacked by narrow-minded zealots
- somewhere along the way, Paul left off telling his story
• it was a backdrop for the point he wanted to make;
• namely, Jesus--and not the law--works God’s righteousness into believers

Now, at the end of his autobiography he mentions Peter (Cephas)
– this is the only record of them ever having a personal encounter
• as Paul approaches the primary purpose of his letter
• he uses this story to illustrate his central point
– the leaders of the Church in Jerusalem recognized
the difference between his ministry and Peter’s
“they saw that I had been entrusted with the gospel to the uncircumcised, just as Peter had been entrusted to the circumcised” (v. 7)
• he used those “circumcision” terms to distinguish between Gentiles and Jews, because he wanted to make a point
• they all belonged to Jesus, but Jewish believers had an obligation that did not apply to Gentiles
◦ circumcision is shorthand for all the laws of Moses

Right away we learned that he was not pleased with these Christians
- he accused them of deserting Jesus for “another gospel”
• but he hasn’t defined that other gospel specifically
• that's what he does in the next section of the letter that we will cover today
- beginning in verse 11, Paul writes a brief autobiography
• he does this because his personal history tells a story
• as we make our way through this passage I’m going to include details supplied by the Book of Acts
◦ that will give us a fuller perspective of the problem in the region of Galatia

First, there’s something different about the way it begins
- in Paul's usual typical greetings he identifies himself, his title, and whoever else is with him
• then, he greets and blesses his readers with, “grace and peace”
• but in this letter, before he mentions his companions, he takes a detour
◦ he turns this simple greeting into a strong assertion
- humans had nothing to do with Paul becoming an apostle
it was “not from man nor through man”
- this cuts to the heart of what Paul wants to say in this letter
• he’ll spend most of the first two chapters with autobiography
◦ how he was inspired and the revelations that came to him
• but that is because Paul is very upset, as will become obvious
◦ if you’ve ever been “lectured” by a parent, a police officer, or a teacher,
◦ you will recognize how Paul is dealing with the Galatians

Next week we’ll settle into something more consistent,
- and I’ve chosen to hike through Paul’s letter to the Galatians
• but not today–
• my talk this morning will be another random meditation
- what I will say about this letter,
• Paul was not at all pleased with the churches in the region of Galatia
◦ he had introduced them to a life in God through Jesus
◦ but others had followed Paul with a “distorted gospel”
• so the Christian faith was represented by two different forms
◦ the distorted version emphasized a deadly legalism
◦ Paul’s version was a new life in the Spirit of God
“Let me ask you only this: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law or by hearing with faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?” (Gal. 3:2-3)
- I believe this letter identifies a problem that’s prevalent today

Since then, I have not felt a strong direction toward bringing another series
- Nancy Lopez, whom I love and trust,
• suggested that we go through the Minor Prophets
◦ I’m still mulling that over
• meanwhile, I’ve been sharing on Sundays my own random musing from the past week
- today I’ve chosen an odd place to drop into the Scriptures
• and it will require some explaining,
• but I promise, the point I want to make is important

For example: “The word of the LORD that came to Hosea, the son of Beeri” or “The word of the LORD that came to Joel, the son of Pethuel”
- Luke is obviously forging a link between John and previous prophets
• Jesus will soon say, John was a prophet “and more than a prophet” (v. 26)
◦ John also appears as an eccentric character
• we usually focus on John’s wardrobe and diet
◦ but his message was edgy too – “fire and brimstone”
“He said to the crowds . . . ‘You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? . . . . His winnowing fork is in his hand, to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.’ So with many other exhortations he preached the good news to the people.” (Lk. 3:17-18)

 It’s not one of my favorites, but this time something happened
- it was like I saw a glint of light sparkle from one of the verses
• so I started digging at it
◦ I took my investigation as far as I could,
◦ but when that wasn’t enough, I consulted a biblical scholar
• in a few minutes I’ll share with you what I discovered,
- but first, we’ll take a brief look at this passage 

Have you ever wished you could hear the tone of his voice?
- for instance, I imagine a note of disappointment or sadness when says,
“Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip?”
• Philip was one of the first disciples to follow Jesus
◦ so he’s traveled with him as long or longer than the others
◦ if anyone should know Jesus, it’s Philip
• Jesus has completed his work, and his time with his disciples is winding down
◦ now, near the end, Philip doesn’t know Jesus as well as the Lord desired
- bear with me as I read through statements Jesus made re: himself
“I am the bread of life” (Jn. 6:35)
“I am the light of the world” (Jn. 8:12)
“You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world” (Jn. 8:23)
“I am the good shepherd” (Jn. 10:11)
“I am the Son of God” (Jn. 10:36)
“I am the resurrection and the life” (Jn. 11:25)
“You call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am” (Jn. 13:13)
In an ultimate statement regarding his person, “Truly . . . before Abraham was, I am” (Jn. 8:58)
And in this same conversation: “I am the way, and the truth, and the life”
In a few minutes Jesus will say, “I am the true vine” (Jn. 15:1)
• the cumulative effect of these self-revealing statements,
◦ should have convinced Philip he’s seen the Father in Jesus
• one insight we can draw from this conversation:
◦ Jesus wants to be known by his followers,
◦ and in knowing him, he wants us to know God, his Father

Paul’s letter to the Romans is the heart of the Christian faith
- but what they see as the central message isn’t my favorite part
• chapter 8 and this chapter speak directly to our need
• that is, our connection to God and life in the Spirit
◦ then chapter 14, where we learn what living our faith looks like in practice
- a natural division occurred in churches of the Roman Empire
• the split occurred along both ethnic and cultural lines
◦ they consisted of both Jewish and Gentile members
◦ Paul was clear re: his ministry, to Jews first and also to Gentiles
• in some churches, this became a problem – Galatians
◦ there is a hint of that same tension here (and in Colossians)
◦ only it has a slightly different look – based on practice

Whether one psalm speaks to me and another one doesn’t,
- depends a lot on my mood at the time I read them
• the Psalms are moody, and some of them match my mood perfectly
• whenever a psalm speaks to me, it’s effect is palpable
◦ it not only gives me something to think about,
◦ but also stirs up significant feelings
- the Psalms speak to our frustrations, conflicts, and heartaches
• there are psalms that encourage and console
• others give us wise counsel and guidance
• more than once, a psalm has met me in my grief
• many psalms are reminders that God is with us

Matthew says, he “went away” and “withdrew”
- he needed space where he was free from the desperate crowds
• care givers have to be careful to care for themselves
• otherwise burn out can take out a care giver
◦ during this brief respite, Jesus and disciples were off the clock
- last thing they wanted was to hear the cry of a Gentile woman
• Jesus buries his face in a newspaper or checks his cell phone
◦ seeing that he ignores her, she begins pestering his disciples
◦ and it worked – in frustration they went to Jesus
“Send her away, for she is crying out after us”
• they broke but not because they were more merciful than Jesus
Helmut Thielicke, “They can’t take the woman’s misery. The woman clearly feels that too, otherwise she would have turned to the weary and therefore more helpful disciples. She realizes, however, that they are not merciful in yielding to her cry for help. They just have weak nerves.”
◦ so far, she has been rejected and not helped

Acronyms are abbreviations for phrases, titles, or names, using only the first letters of each word
- for instance, USA, BTW, or RFK
• acronyms look strange, initially
◦ a popular political insult is RINO: Republican In Name Only
• this came to mind when reading a quote by Justin Martyr
◦ a first century philosopher who became a Christian
- he quoted the part of Jesus’ Sermon we've been going over (Mt. 7:21-27)
Justin Martyr, “. . . let those who are not found living as He taught, be understood to be no Christians, even though they profess with the lip the precepts of Christ; for not those who make profession, but those who do the works, shall be saved . . . . And as to those who are not living pursuant to these His teachings . . . are. . . “Christians only in name”
• Jesus continues with his theme from last week
"Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven"
◦ and now he concludes the Sermon with a parable

I think we must admit, there have been surprises along the way
- but it has been a journey of wonder, skirting the edges of the kingdom of God
• at the same time, the Lord has exposed us, to truth that is deep and difficult
• so, what does Jesus want to say to us this morning?
- though he’s never one to sugarcoat the hard things, Jesus is being rather blunt, don’t you think?
• maybe what we hear is a tone of voice that offends
◦ we ask, Where is God’s compassion and mercy?
• if Jesus must deliver this truth, couldn’t he at least be polite?
◦ but is there a polite way to shout, “The building’s on fire”? or "Run for your lives"?
◦ when Jesus is direct and rough, even then he loves us

There are three issues that need to be addressed
First:
- belonging to a church family can sometimes be devastating
• I’ve met people whose first real family was their church
◦ it became their lifeline, until one day it fractured
◦ an angry and hostile faction split the church
• those on sidelines were so disillusioned, and so hurt,
◦ they never ventured into another church
◦ their church became their second destructive and dysfunctional family
- a similar sadness occurs when we discover a particular religious leader’s true colors,
• when the mask comes off and the real person is exposed
◦ maybe they were with us during a difficult time,
◦ maybe they quoted scripture and prayed with us
but now we see them for what they are

INTRO: I know this is Palm Sunday and I read the wrong story

However, this is like an introduction to this big occasion, because 

  Jesus came to stay in the home of his friends the day before his grand entrance

   - by the time he reached Bethany, his ministry was winding down

    ~ when we read to the end of this chapter, 

         We come to the end of Jesus’ service to the crowds (in John’s Gospel)

    ~ they will hear nothing more from him, personally

  - in fact, this important detail of limited opportunity is highlighted in this chapter

I wonder how long Mary had been wanting to bless Jesus in this way

  - she not have been sure she’d ever have the opportunity

    ~ but here he was, right there in her home

         if she chickened out now, would she have a second chance?

    ~ turns out, she wouldn’t! it was now or never

  - later on, Jesus will talk about missed opportunities — vv. 35-36 & 46

So I’m going to try to make this as clear as possible
- we need to consider the larger context that surrounds and informs verses 12-14
• not only the context of this chapter, but in Jesus’ entire Sermon
- the first big idea is this:
• the key to interpreting these verses is love
• it may not look like it at first, so we jump to other verses to shed light on these
◦ but those similarities turn out to be coincidence and not real connections
◦ if we stay with the themes of the Sermon, we will see how these verses fit 

Three times in Matthew we find the phrase, “the Law and the Prophets”
- two of those times occur here in the Sermon
• in one other place he says “the Prophets and the Law” -- reversing the order
◦ there Jesus is referring to John the Baptist’s ministry, and he said,
"For all the Prophets and the Law prophesied until John" (Mt. 11:13)

Intro: Before we explore what God has for us in these verses,

We need to address a misconception about what Jesus is promising
- reading these verses closely, something piqued my curiosity
• in verse 7 Jesus encourages us to ask, seek, and knock
• then verse 8 is a virtual repetition of verse 7, only it’s more like a guarantee
◦ is is as though Jesus is saying, “Do this! You’ll see that it works”
- then–as if that were not enough–Jesus adds an illustration
• we'll come to that in a moment, but the point is we can count on God’s favorable response
• why does Jesus make this effort to convince us to go to the Father to ask, seek, and knock?

Intro: Until recently, whenever I came to this chapter I felt lost

I was able to follow the continuity of Jesus’ Sermon this far,
- but I was not able to see how chapter 7 fit with what came before it
• I assumed that our Lord chose to add these random lessons as an afterthought
◦ but I made a mistake, and that was thinking I had come to a new chapter
◦ and the new chapter appeared different from the previous chapters
• but the truth is that the chapter breaks in the Bible are artificial
◦ they weren’t inserted in the Scriptures until 16th century
◦ this created the illusion of one thought ending and a new thought beginning
- the thread of the Sermon’s central themes continue through chapter 7 to the end
• previously, Jesus had been teaching his disciples with their spiritual development in view:
◦ this included:
The revelation of a true righteousness
Offering service to God without seeking recognition from others
How to eliminate anxiety by seeking first the kingdom of God

The problem is that they misread the Sermon
- they think Jesus demands a perfection that is beyond us
• what actually happens in the Sermon is that it empowers us
◦ we learn the way of sincerity, integrity, and mercy
• whatever else it might mean to be Christian,
◦ above all, it means to be a “good person”
◦ loving, caring, helping, serving
- I feel that what we go over today can’t be “just another talk”
• we need to know how to get Jesus’ teaching into our hearts, and minds, and our everyday lives
• this verse, that I skimmed over last week,
◦ teaches us where we need to go from here

In scripture, the heart can have several meanings
- here, it isn’t the physical organ that pumps blood through our bodies
• nor is it exclusively the seat of our feelings or emotions
• here the heart is the central hub of our entire inner life
◦ our perspectives, perceptions, and assumptions
◦ our thoughts, feelings, and emotions
◦ our needs, desires, and drives
◦ our motives, intentions, and habits
◦ our actions and reactions, beliefs, and commitments
- the heart stands for your complete interior “person”
• what Jesus wants is for our hearts to belong to God
◦ and that’s where we left off
◦ his last point is that we cannot serve both a heavenly Father and a materialistic god

But I’m going to begin by reading a of couple verses from Psalm 139
- this is one of the very popular Psalms
• its beautiful and haunting poetry are easy for us to follow
◦ and at the same time, carries us from heights of the heavens
◦ and depths of the ocean, to the abyss of our own souls
• it begins:
“ O LORD, you have searched me and known me!”
◦ but then it ends:
“Search me, O God, and know my heart!
 Try me and know my thoughts!
And see if there be any grievous way in me,
 and lead me in the way everlasting!” (Ps. 139:1 and 23-24)
- although David begins confessing God has searched him and known him,
• he ends the poem with a request that God will search him
◦ I think that’s because he realizes God knows his heart,
◦ and he does not know it as well as God
• the truth is, we can fool our own hearts about how righteous we are

He is a man of God and a visionary, and for awhile we worked together
- he is also someone I love and respect
• during our long, rambling conversation, Harry said something that woke me up
• he said, “I’ve been finding beauty lately–everywhere”
- it seems I need to be awakened to beauty
• friends do this for me – though they don’t always know it
◦ maybe, I’ve been trudging through too much muck, concerned with
◦ the condition of our nation and disappointed with obnoxious Christians
• but since our meeting on Tuesday, I’ve been seeing more beauty

I’ll tell you why we begin with beauty today

Because Jesus has been warning us away from behavior
- we could describe as “ugly religion,”
• and it has been spreading through our culture in recent years
◦ it’s always been here: people who enjoy heated arguments
◦ who assume it’s their job to pronounce judgments,
◦ who will always act like they’re more righteous than others
• it’s possible you’ve seen your share of ugly religion

Recited every day and prayed in almost every language,
- it contains the essence of what everyone needs to say to God and ask of him
• and yet, when Jesus taught this prayer to his disciples,
◦ it was in a side comment he felt needed to be included
• up to this point, Jesus theme beginning in verse 1 was, "Don’t advertise your spiritual devotion and service to God"
◦ he follows this statement with three examples: charity, prayer, and fasting
• there are four parts to each example:
First, “Don’t be like the hypocrites, to be seen by others”
Second, “The hypocrites are rewarded when others notice them”
Third, “Serve God in secret, keep it between you and the Father”
Fourth, “Your reward will come from the Father”
◦ this was how he began this second example, "Don't pray like the hypocrites"
◦ but then the Lord swerved onto a side-track
Don’t pray like the Gentiles
• and he was still off-topic when he taught them the "Lord's Prayer" (AKA: the “Our Father”)
◦ the impression I get reading this is that Jesus felt this point required elaboration
◦ in a sermon that defines our spiritual life, prayer is key!

I don’t think you need me to teach you anything about prayer
- one year in Russia, an orphan tried to teach me the alphabet
• but she gave up on me – there was just one letter, I could not pronounce well enough to please her
◦ I couldn’t even hear the sound she was making when she said the letter
• prayer isn’t like that– prayer is the native language of every child of our heavenly Father
◦ we may feel we're not doing it right,
◦ but God hears what we feel and need even if we can’t put those things into words
- there’s no Christian life or experience without prayer
• if you want lessons on prayer, read the Psalms
◦ there you’ll find every prayer imaginable, and nothing is out of bounds
• otherwise, there is also Paul's explanation of how God’s Spirit helps us and prays within us
◦ and in those instances, words are optional

But not until Jesus takes us all the way to end of the trail we’re on
- we've been following a theme that began with Jesus saying,
Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. . . . For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven (Mt. 5:17-20)
• we’ve seen the heart of the Law and Prophets is relational
• Jesus will confirm this later on in Matthew's gospel when he is tested by a lawyer
“Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets" (Mt. 22:35-40)
◦ notice he makes reference to "the Law and the Prophets" again,
and he says that love for God and others is the summation of those Scriptures

It happened, late one afternoon, when David arose from his couch and was walking on the roof of the king’s house, that he saw from the roof a woman bathing; and the woman was very beautiful. And David sent and inquired about the woman. And one said, “Is this not Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?” So David sent messengers and took her, and she came to him, and he lay with her. (2 Sam. 11:2-4)

Well, let's figure out where we are in Jesus' Sermon
- we’ve been through the Beatitudes
• we've made the transition from Jesus’ closing remarks to his declaration that he had not come
"to abolish the Law or the Prophets," 
• but to empower them so they do in our lives what they’re meant to do; 
◦ and that is to turn human hearts toward God

Verses 17-20 are the heart of the Sermon (perhaps the heart of the entire Bible)
- these verses hold the key to interpreting the rest of Sermon
• unfortunately, many Christians read this passage, but don’t understand it
- speculations have resulted in some big errors:
• one, is that Jesus and St. Paul were not on the same page
◦ i.e., Jesus taught we’re made righteous by the Law
◦ Paul insisted we’re righteous by faith, and not works of the Law
• another error: the Sermon was meant for a Jewish audience not for Christian disciples
◦ because of this kind of misreading and faulty interpretation, it’s really important that we get this right

We would celebrate Christmas with big productions. One year, when the stage was crowded with props and children, the music still ringing in our ears, I went to the microphone with my Bible in hand. As I began to speak, a girl six or seven years old, who had been sitting on a step right in front of me, stood up. She turned around, and with hands on her hips looked up at me and said, “Boring!”

- Christmas is a challenge – we run through the same story every year
• but here's a twist:
◦ we’ve heard (plenty of times ) that Jesus is God’s Christmas gift to world
◦ but coming to Christmas through the Sermon, we hear something new
• Jesus announces that he is not God’s only Christmas gift
◦ we are also God’s gift to the world–we’re not the big one;
◦ we're more like stocking stuffers – but still, we’re salt and light

Jesus envisions a grim future for us – and if so,
- we’re expected not only to survive it, but to rejoice and be glad
• John Chapman was the Abbot of a monastery in Britain
• he was also a spiritual director to others, especially through letter writing
◦ one man who wrote to him, wanted his insight as to
◦ how he could extricate himself from a painful situation
Chapman, “I cannot possibly show you a way out . . . . [what you have is] the simple experience that suffering is really suffering and that the chief feeling it causes is rebellion against it, and even against Providence for allowing it. ¶ It is all a nasty medicine, but works wonders.”
- we agree it’s a nasty medicine, but doubt it works wonders
• we’re more of the opinion expressed by Helmut Thielicke,
Thielicke, “What a ghastly prospect! It makes one ask in all seriousness how Jesus could ever have gained disciples with an appeal like that.”
• so I think what we need to do first, is back away from these verses
◦ and get an aerial view of the entire Sermon

Incarnation literally means “embodied in flesh…or taking on flesh”
The union of the Divine Nature with human nature…as the Son of God assumed our
flesh, body and soul.

He is teaching a course on “Christian Spirituality”
- we are now five weeks into his introduction: The Beatitudes
• prior to teaching this course, Jesus had been announcing, "the kingdom of heaven is at hand"
◦ the course he teaches is meant to prepare us for that kingdom
◦ the Beatitudes reveal characteristics of the abundant life--the truly "good life"
• Jesus is not giving us a new list of rules
◦ he isn’t telling us what we should be doing, but describing what his followers are becoming
• all through this course, Jesus is working from the inside-out
◦ this is obvious in the next Beatitude we’re going to probe

“Blessed are the pure in heart”

The spiritual wisdom of Jesus rivals every other enlightened text
- even gurus, like Gandhi, who rejected Christianity have admired the Sermon
• reading the words of Jesus, and trying to explain them to you,
◦ leaves me feeling inadequate and foolish
◦ like a four-year old who is told, “Explain quantum physics
- what I know about these two Beatitudes, I learned on the job,
• not from other Bible teachers or commentaries,
◦ but in my own ministry of applying the words of God to the lived experience of people on this journey
• what we’ll go over today may be challenging, but it will be practical and liveable,
◦ and what I believe Jesus wants us to learn

He begins with the Beatitudes – not to be confused with "benedictions"
- they are more like a series of riddles
• he describes conditions in which people are already blessed
◦ already acceptable to God and discovering the abundant life
◦ but what he says sounds like the opposite of abundant life
• we would never tell a friend who is grieving, “You’re so blessed”
◦ and even in Jesus’ time and culture meekness was a deficit
- for this reason, we must pat attention to both lines of each Beatitude
• the first line is an incomplete picture
◦ something else comes after the situation Jesus identifies
◦ his “Blessed are” lines are explained in the “for they shall be” lines
• Jesus surprises us in order to enlighten us
◦ he reveals the contrast between worldly values and heavenly
◦ I admit, the most difficult place to practice the Beatitudes is in real life

The caption said, “Free AI Sermon Generator”
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- I realized, from now on my life could be easy; for example,
• last week I mentioned my frustration with “kingdom” (bringing to mind the idea of a nation with borders)

This week we’re going to look at Matthew’s introduction
- but first, I have a question – and it’s for me as much as anyone:

Are we ready for this?

- the Lord has made many changes in our exterior lives,
• but the big challenge of the Sermon is what it does on the interior
◦ we’ve cleaned up our speech; what about our thoughts?
◦ we've given up bad habits; what about desires and resentments?
• I rationalize my inner life:
“My thoughts don't hurt anyone” and “I’ve a right to my private thoughts”
◦ the Sermon tells me, “Not any more”

“Your next series of talks should be about The Sermon On the Mount”
- that title has a pleasant ring to it, doesn’t it?
• isn’t that where Jesus talks about birds and lilies? Love your enemies? Do not judge?
• it’s like a friend has invited us on an outing:
“Hey, go with us to the park for a picnic. We’re going to sing our favorite worship choruses, then share our favorite Bible verses.”
- but the reality is, the Sermon isn’t butterflies and rainbows
• it doesn’t read like a collection of Hallmark greeting cards
• it contains the most intense demands in all of scripture
◦ some Christians have given up on it

Elijah would have been a fun person to know– if you like surprises. For instance, this final episode begins with a surprise. It seems we were supposed to already know he was going to be swept up to heaven by a whirlwind. He certainly knew that his work was done and something significant was about to happen, but it’s not likely he was aware he would take a ride unlike any other in the entire history of humankind. As we walk the last leg of his journey with him, it’s as if he already has one foot out the door.

It’s short – just six verses. But though it’s so short it’s incredibly deep.
It’s simple – easy to understand.  The Lord, the shepherd is God.  I am the sheep. I get it!
And there is something uniquely encouraging, comforting, and empowering about this Psalm.

So, this morning, I’d like to give you Psalm 23 as a “fixed focal point” for your faith – through all the different seasons and experiences of your life.

There are times when the scoundrels are at their worst, the champions must be all the more outstanding. This is exactly what we find at the beginning of our story. If Ahab was the most wicked king in Israel’s history, Elijah will prove to be Israel’s most illustrious prophet.

My fourteen-year-old granddaughter, Adrianna, volunteered to help out
- on Friday, a friend sent me a video that she filmed the day before
• when I watched it, there was Adrianna on a stage in front of a crowd of kids
• she had a Bible in her hand, and from it she read a couple verses from the Psalms
◦ then she gave a brief talk, encouraging everyone to trust God’s love and faithfulness
- Adrianna was superb – as if she were a professional and had done this for years
• I was very impressed

To me, it feels like waking up from a dream
- just before I woke up yesterday morning, I was enjoying a pleasant dream
• I heard someone call me, and I was immediately awake
◦ the house was completely silent
◦ I then realized it was my dad’s voice in the dream that called my name
• for me, this chapter unfolds in the same sort of fuzzy way
- four times, the voice of Jesus breaks into the flow of the chapter
• however, it does not feel like an interruption
• perhaps we could imagine the chapter flows like a documentary
◦ John is narrating, then the camera shifts and Jesus delivers a live quote

We are reminded that this entire book is a mystical vision and uses the strange language of images and symbols
- however, we could be tempted to read last two chapters differently,
• as if John were describing events in a literal future
• but when, once again, he says “I saw,” we know this is the same as the rest of the book
- so we turn our imaginations toward what he saw;
• namely, something that had been predicted in prophecy of Isaiah
For behold, I create new heavens
 and a new earth,
the former things shall not be remembered
 or come to mind (Isa. 65:17)
◦ "heavens and earth" refer to all of creation

He did not expect anyone to come to him afterward and say,
- “Lord, I’d like to visit that family. Where do where they live?”
• it was just a story – a made-up story meant to make a point
• if all the crowd heard was a heart-warming story, they missed the point
- here in Revelation 19, John describes a vision – Satan is imprisoned
• then, after 1,000 years he is unleashed on world again
◦ if that were meant to be taken literally, it makes no sense to me
• of course, John wasn’t worried about it making sense to me
◦ he knew that behind the vision there was a bigger truth

It is complex, and it is put together well
- the chapter divides into two parts:
• in the first half, heaven reverberates with praise
• in the second half, Jesus leads heaven’s army in a final battle

In The City of God he traces two cities through world history
Augustine, “Accordingly, two cities have been formed by two loves: the earthly [city] by the love of self, even to the contempt of God; the heavenly [city] by the love of God, even to the contempt of self. The former, in a word, glories in itself, the latter in the Lord.”
- John, the visionary, identifies the heavenly city as Jerusalem and the earthly city Babylon
• Babylon is featured in chapters 17 and 18, then in chapters 21-22 we visit the new Jerusalem
- Growing up, I was taught that in these chapters of Revelation, Babylon was the Roman Catholic Church
• this was reinforced in commentaries and books I read later on
◦ but one morning, reading these chapters, I said to myself, |
“This is not the Roman Catholic Church! If anything, it’s the USA.”
• now I realize that the city revealed exercises a worldwide and inescapable influence

Is like trying to practice dream interpretation 
- how do I make sense out of all these foreign signs and symbols?
- of course, the bigger question is: what is God’s Spirit trying to communicate to us?

What stays the same: the dragon (Satan) is still here
- at least at the start – and he’s continuing his fight against God
What changes: the dragon, after being defeated three times in the previous chapter
- now scores a significant victory
- also, prior to this, his battle has been in the religion arena
• he tried to sabotage the life and ministry of Jesus
• but now he changes the battlefield and his strategy

In answered with a weary, “Yes”
She said, “Oh.” then added, “You’ll probably be in Revelation till the end of the world”

One of the challenges of this mystical book is distraction
- the shifting scenes, outrageous creatures, and sudden surprises pull my thoughts in different directions
• if I blink, my mind turns a corner and I’m on the wrong street
- John has left us with more than a book of visions
• Revelation is a rich resource for our spiritual journey
◦ it helps us to identify who we are in Jesus,
◦ to discover where we are, and where we go from here
• but to understand it, we need to read in two dimensions
◦ events going on in heaven are revealed in symbols
◦ these run parallel to events taking place on heart
What unfolds on earth, mirrors what is going on in heaven

Not only the middle of the book, but its central message
- I’m going to take you backstage and show you my work room
• the Bible is many books and among them, different writing styles
◦ there are books of history (written more or less like storytelling), poetry, legal codes, prophetic writings, wise sayings, and letters
◦ each literary style has its own form, rules, and devices, and that style determines how it is to be read and interpreted
• for instance, poetry, wherever it appears in the Hebrew Scriptures, uses lots of parallelism
◦ one line is followed by another (or more than one other) line that mimic or react to it
◦ sometimes the second line repeats the first line backwards, or uses different words to say the same thing, or intensifies the message of the first line, and so on 

We tend to watch each scene unfold from a safe distance
- I don’t think it was meant to read this way,
• we’re supposed to feel a threatening closeness
• we’re drawn into the dream – it’s our collective nightmare
- John was certainly more than a spectator
• characters approach him, converse with, and engage him
◦ in this chapter he’ll be told to take and eat what he has been shown
• we do not merely read the Revelation, we encounter it
◦ we go on an adventure through this fantastical other-world

First from a book of fairytales, then from a Bible storybook
- we would pray, say goodnight, and turn off the lights
• we were careful about the last thing that entered their minds before bed
• I doubt we can prevent our kids from having nightmares
◦ but we can do things to help them sleep well
◦ and we can comfort them after a nightmare
- I certainly would have never read from Revelation the last thing before bed!
• this makes me wonder why God gives us this nightmare stuff
• anyway, we know that God can make good use of anything

They knew what spices and ointments to bring,
- and knew what they were doing – they had done this before
• what they did not know, was that overnight their world had changed
• so what they found at the tomb was not what they expected
- I love the lines:
Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen
• they had come to the wrong place, looking for wrong thing
◦ they came to a cemetery looking for a dead body
◦ but Jesus wasn’t there – and he wasn’t a corpse
• they were wrong that morning – but not they were not the only ones who were wrong
◦ the apostles were wrong to not believe them
◦ the two on the road to Emmaus were wrong when they said, "We had hoped" – using the past tense
(Jesus still was "the one to redeem Israel"; v. 21)
◦ the disciples were wrong when Jesus appeared to them and they mistook him for a ghost
But they were startled and frightened and thought they saw a spirit (Lk. 24:37)

I don’t mean, how did it get put on the Church calendar,
- but why do we celebrate it?
• Palm Sunday is not like Christmas, Good Friday, or Easter
◦ these were the major events in Jesus’ life and ministry
• but Palm Sunday is not noteworthy in the same way
◦ in fact, if you’ll excuse the expression, it sort of fizzled out
◦ by the end of the week, Jesus had been crucified
- I’ll share with you why I celebrate Palm Sunday
• because this was only time that Jesus permitted public recognition
◦ until now, he told his disciples to keep his identity a secret
• but on this day he allows people to celebrate who he is
◦ he wants this moment in the spotlight – he planned it
◦ it’s because Jesus wanted to be recognized that I remind myself to see and worship him for who he is

We enter a mystical world of symbols without a map or compass
- as I understand it, the Revelation is meant to open our eyes to a reality beyond our knowing or experiencing
• there is no way for us to go straight into it with our rational minds
- I’ll share something with you that helps me understand this
• consider a person blinded by cataracts since birth
◦ when, as an adult, the cataracts are removed, they do not immediately see clearly
◦ the world appears to them as a confusion of shapes and colors
◦ they cannot recognize or understand anything they see unless they also touch an object or hear a familiar voice

The action that began prior to this chapter involved a magic scroll secured with seven seals
- six of those seals have been opened (chapter 6)
• but now in chapter 7, there’s no mention of the seventh seal
• instead, we have come to an interlude before returning to the seventh seal
- this will happen again (after six trumpets sound, then there's a delay before the seventh)
• while I’m at it, “After this” is not chronological
◦ it does not refer to the next thing that happened as in a sequence, but the next thing John saw
• he’s not marking days on calendar, he’s "changing channels"
◦ John says, “Let’s see what’s happening over here”
- then he takes us two places:
• in verses 1-8 we see what is happening on the earth 
• in verses 9-17 we see what is happening in heaven

One novel he wrote as if it were the journal of a young man traumatized as a child
- his character had lived on a military base that came under a nuclear threat, and everyone was rushed into a shelter
• this had left a lasting and foreboding impression on him
• an entire chapter consists of brief scenarios he imagined of his life interrupted by an atomic explosion
◦ he gives graphic and creative expression to the experience of a flash like lightning, except for it being everywhere, and powerful blast, and the world dissolving into dust
◦ his journal entries in that chapter begin with lines, like:
“I was by the fridge in the kitchen when it happened”
“I was having my hair done when it happened”
“I was at the mall when it happened”
- the feeling he evokes in his powerful images probably has the effect on us as John's vision in chapter 6 had on its first readers

Her oldest daughter, came to me and said, “I dreamed you last night”
- she had told my daughter, “I dreamed grandpa”
• Jennifer asked her, “Which grandpa?” she said, “The bald one.”
• fortunately I have another dream story
- in 1992, my life had been shattered by divorce
• that summer a nine year old boy in the church sent me a letter
◦ he had colored a picture that looked like a church, with clouds in the sky
◦ a from one giant cloud a text bubble emerged with the message, "Hi Chuck"
◦ a little stick figure on the ground was saying, "Hi God!"
• with the picture I also received the following letter:

At least two of our favorite quotations are found here
- what’s the theme of these chapters? Answer: “Church Repairs”
• in chapter 1 Jesus appears in a form not found in the Gospels
• in his right hand he held seven stars–which represented the angels of the seven churches
◦ in scripture, the hand represents power, control, and ownership
- so in these two chapters, Jesus acts as General Contractor has the seven churches in his hand
• he will tell each church what repairs need to be made

If you notice, reading the letters we are still on earth
- we aren’t taken to heaven until chapter 4
• but these letters build a stage on which the drama is played out
• this is a threshold we must cross to get to the heart of Revelation
- it begins with a self-examination – that's the prerequisite for going forward

It is much different from Paul’s carefully structured teaching
- with his separation of the new self from the old self
• and his contrast of having the mind of the Spirit versus the mind of the “flesh”
• Revelation reaches into our inner lives through symbols and bizarre events

Therefore, I feel comforted when reading the first few words of verse 4
- they have a familiar ring–like finding a street you know when you’re lost
• we recognize this same type of greeting from many of Paul’s letters
i.e., “Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus . . . . To the saints who are in Ephesus . . . . Grace to you and peace from God our Father” (Ep. 1:1-2)
• but already we see a difference: this introductory letter was written to seven churches!
◦ and then John takes a sharper turn, not identifying God specifically,
◦ but according to a timeless attribute – who is and who was and who is to come
- then it gets even weirder – John adds another source of grace and peace
“and from the seven spirits who are before his throne”
• this has caused a lot of discussion among commentators
◦ many of whom opt for the sevenfold Spirit of God
• I’m going to suggest something else

I admit, it is the most confusing and frustrating book in the Bible
- it’s not an easy read – some images are very strange
• they seem fairytale or mythical, except but even weirder 
◦ for instance, we find, not just a beast with ten horns,
◦ but it has seven heads (?) and ten crowns on its horns
• there’s not another book in Bible exactly like this
- but it is also one of the most fascinating books in the Bible
• Revelation can work in us in ways like no other book
• if it disturbs us, it also calms us; if it frightens also reassures; if it is structured, it is also free;
and if its meaning is hidden, its overall effect is Revelation

It turns everything we think we know about Jesus on its head
- it involves a foreigner in a different region of the map
• the setting for the life of Jesus is mostly in Israel
◦ he passes through Samaria, and briefly sets foot in Gadara
◦ but in this story he goes north – the one and only time
• it is most likely that Jesus wanted to get away from the crowds
◦ to be someplace where he and his crew could rest
He “went away from there and withdrew”
In Mark's telling of this story, we read, “And he entered a house and did not want anyone to know” (7:24)
◦ the last think Jesus needed during this break was one of the locals coming to him with a consuming need
- And behold – ta da! – the "behold" indicates a shift in the point of view

They illuminate a line from the prayer Jesus taught us
- you know it and you’ve prayed it–maybe many times
• it is one-third of a petition
“hallowed [revered] be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven” (Mt. 6:9-10)
• it is that last line I hear in these two stories
◦ one teaches us what happens when we resist God’s will and the other when we surrender to his will
- I don’t expect you to remember the names of the characters, so I’ll give their brief biographies
• the three key figures are Jeremiah the prophet and the two kings Jehoiachin and Zedekiah

There are two stories we will consider that I’ve always enjoyed
- one reason they appeal to me is because they’re interesting
• another reason is that they are meaningful
• although the main character in each story is connected to Jeremiah,
◦ they have nothing else in common
- both stories have two parts, found in two different places
• so we will begin with the first part of each story, and then move to the second part
• I hope you enjoy them as much as I do,
◦ and that we get something worthwhile from them

Israel had been driven from the land of Judah for seventy years
- on returning to their homeland, one of their priorities was to rebuild the temple,
• but there was a lot of work to be done, few workers, and limited resources
◦ they also had to construct homes for themselves
• after awhile, a few setbacks, and discouragement,
◦ they began to slack off and, instead, they were making improvements to their own homes
◦ the danger of not having the temple was the possibility of losing the nation’s spiritual center
- two times in both chapters of Haggai, God challenged them to “consider”

Simeon, a righteous and devout man, was led by God’s Spirit into temple
- there he encountered Mary and Joseph and their baby
• taking Jesus into his arms, he prophesied over him
- then the elderly widow, Anna–who was herself a prophet,
• she also encountered the holy family in the temple
And coming up at that very hour she began to give thanks to God and to speak of [Jesus] to all who were waiting for the redemption of Israel (Lk. 2:38)

Luke 2:8-19, King James Version
This is how I first heard the Christmas story.
King James original from Linus van Pelt (from the Peanuts comic strip).
I can’t say it makes me sad.
It was a fine way to be introduced to Christmas.

Later, when I was 11 or 12, I found our family Bible, my grandmother’s Bible and read it for myself. King James again. I loved this story but I didn’t much understand it yet. That was still a few years away. Then I found myself, my life in this story.

I want to go through it today and point to some of the parts that still hold my attention, my affection. Things that continue to make this story so compelling to me.

For instance, no sooner do the birth announcements arrive than the babies are born
- first John and then Jesus
• in Luke chapter 2 Jesus is born, and by end of the chapter he’s already twelve years old
◦ though the magi are often pictured alongside the shepherds at the stable,
◦ when they actually arrived in Bethlehem, Jesus was already two years old
• through all the personal and political movement going on during this time,
◦ a variety of human emotions surface
- shame was a factor and fear was frequently present or assuaged
• more than once, someone was troubled, and Herod was furious
◦ but there is also joy and rejoicing, and people are blessed
• but in all these alternating feelings and emotions, there is no mention of LOVE!
- the main characters in the story are husbands and wives, facing challenges together
• they were two couples, blessed with miraculous pregnancies and births
• and still, there is no mention of LOVE

Do you remember when it took forever for Christmas to get here?
- now it’s like, “Is it that time again already?”
• I used to be amused by people who left Christmas lights up all year
• now I get it – they’re not lazy, they’re just old
- we’re about to complete another lap around the sun
• we pull out the old boxes, look at our bank statement to see what we can afford, and I take us back to the familiar story
◦ of angels and shepherds, mother and child, magic and miracles

This week I began reading through Luke’s Gospel again

It is a short piece of autobiography,
a personal episode in the life of the prophet
Background
King Zedekiah was the end of the line for the kings of Israel and Judah
And he was in the last full year of his reign
Jerusalem, the capital city of Judah, was under siege
the army of Babylon was at their gates
Meanwhile, Jeremiah was behind bars "in the court of the guard that was in the palace of the king"
King Zedekiah placed him there after interrogating him
“Why do you prophesy our defeat? Why did you say I would be handed over to the King of Babylon?"

Until now, his message was a reminder to Israel of all their failures
- they had turned from their God and were rushing downhill
• so Jeremiah delivered a message of condemnation, rejection, of doom and gloom
• but now a light breaks through the dark passages
◦ there is hope for Israel after all
- but if God made it possible for his people to return,
• could they maintain a relationship with him this time?
◦ their history had indicated otherwise
◦ was it enough for God to say, "Come home. I forgive you?"
• something had to happen that would change his people
◦ something radically new in the history of Israel

We cannot say God was silent –he did not sit back and watch passively, 
- as his people destroyed their religion, their nation and themselves
 • Jeremiah says God rose early to send all his prophets (Jer. 25:4)
 ◦ in the Old Testament, to rise early signifies eagerness, a compelling energy
 • God eagerly sent his word to his people
 ◦ they would have heard him if there were equally eager to listen
- but we also notice, God had a funny way of speaking at times
 • for instance, the chapter I read begins with two baskets of figs
 ◦ we can’t help but wonder, Where is God going with this?
 • this is not unusual, but how God spoke frequently to his prophets
 ◦ he begins by showing the prophet a vision, then asks "What do you see?"
 ◦ the message was in the object or scene, which God used for its symbolic value

The messages God had for his people required illustration
- there’s an interesting angle to using pottery to reveal a truth
• archaeologists depend on clay pots for vital information regarding ancient cultures
◦ even broken pieces of clay vessels have stories to tell
• excavations dig up more clay artifacts than any other object
◦ clay doesn’t decay over time and can withstand water and heat
- clay fragments provide the most reliable way to date a site
• the clay composition, shape, and exterior decoration,
◦ tell us about the people who made them, and whether they were used for:
◦ cooking, holding oil or water, if they were lamps, or for storage of other things
• of course, God had another story to tell through clay

He said, “I don’t think I can justify bringing a child into this world”
- that was something I was still looking forward to enjoying,
• getting married and some day having children
◦ I knew about war and poverty and race riots and assassinations and environmental pollution
• but my outlook was not so bleak as to rule out children
- what God is describing in this passage is just that bleak!
• there was no future for the people of Judah
◦ if they had children now, it would be only for them to die
• God was watching out for Jeremiah,
◦ but he was using Jeremiah’s situation as an illustration

Israel was the community of God’s people living in a world of impurities
– some impurities resulted from contact with natural sources (not sinful)
• others resulted from violations of God’s religious and social laws
• these impurities affected the entire community, even God’s sanctuary and its furnishings
– every year, atonement was made for the people and the sacred tent
• Kippur, is usually translated as “atonement” and means “cover”
◦ the lid of the Ark of the Covenant is called a covering (same word)
• on Yom Kippur the priests purified God’s dwelling and his people by covering their sins
◦ the people and sanctuary were covered for the past year

If we take an aerial view and rise high enough,
– we’ll discover in Jeremiah themes and sayings from Deuteronomy
• both use the metaphors of a circumcised heart and an iron furnace
• both lay great emphasis on God’s covenant with Israel
The LORD our God made a covenant with us in Horeb. Not with our fathers did the LORD make this covenant, but with us, who are all of us here alive today (Deut. 5:2-3)
◦ it turns out, Deuteronomy is laid out in a covenant format

Through Jeremiah, God confronted his people for their many betrayals
- one of their worst failures was their attachment to other gods
• but regardless of their many sins, there was one most important thing;
◦ namely, that they would know God
• unfortunately, they did not know their God
◦ and as we saw in the verses above, they refused to know him
- so God re-introduces himself to them
• for me, this passage is one of the major highlights in Jeremiah
◦ so we’re going to spend some time with it

Finally I felt something extraordinary in Israel--like an energy vibrating up through the soil
- that was on the path, before we had even reached the site
• one strong appeal that Shiloh that appealed to me was that there was nothing there but bare hillsides
• but for that same reason, Shiloh was a message of doom for Jerusalem
- I knew about Shiloh from this passage in Jeremiah–it had always intrigued me
• so I looked closer at scripture and found that when Israel entered the land,
Then the whole congregation of the people of Israel assembled at Shiloh and set up the tent of meeting there (Jos. 18:1)

So that was our typical family vacation
- one year, when all the campers were assembled in the chapel,
• Dad began, “There was a murder in the forest last night
◦ he paused to let that sink in
• then holding up a carving knife, he said, “This was the weapon”
◦ and “Here is the victim” – and he showed us a twig from an apple tree
- he explained that once he cut the twig from the tree,
• separated from its supply of sap, it was as good as dead
• he then explained why it was so important for us campers,
◦ to abide in Jesus all year long – not just at summer camp
◦ that was quite the attention getter

If you look at the text, God’s speech is arranged in a poetic format
- Hebrew poems do not look or sound like English poems
• Hebrew poetry has a different structure and rules
◦ in chapter 1, Jeremiah had expressed his thoughts in prose (the ordinary written form of essays, etc.)
◦ but God’s messages were laid out in poems
(God's speech is always in greater than the words he uses)
• poetry gives language greater force
◦ it’s primary objective is to communicate experience (rather than bare information)
- this chapter begins with God grieving a failed relationship
• there is more than a hint of emotion here: “I remember”
◦ it’s as if God is brooding over a cherished memory
◦ back when he rescued Israel from Egypt, he was their hero
• Yahweh remembers her youthful devotion and “bridal love”
◦ they followed him into the desert with reckless abandon
◦ they lived in the aura of his holiness
he took care of her – protected and provided for her

They pose a problem for us, because they’re common words,
- and we assume we know what they mean
• that is why we get confused when we come to them
◦ for instance: "name," "fear" ("Am I supposed to be afraid of God?"), "holy," and "sons of"
• biblical Hebrew has a small vocabulary
◦ so it has to expand the meaning of various words
◦ that enabled biblical writers to describe spiritual values and experience
- I thought a series of talks on those words might be helpful
• a short dictionary of words that confuse or upset us

If you read it several times, those clever lines stick in your mind
- for instance, here is one that comes to mind regarding this last week:
Iron sharpens iron,
 so a person sharpens the face of a friend (Pr. 27:17)
• you might remember, last year, Guy Gray spoke here
◦ we met up again this past week -- Gut has been my friend for fifty years
◦ I was fortunate to meet him in the early years of my ministry
• he guided me to a path of greater insight and understanding
◦ his has been a lasting influence all these many years
- I think God has placed people in my life strategically
• men and women who have opened my eyes and prepared me for what was next
• however, when it comes down to what I do for you,
◦ the most important, overriding service that I provide you,
◦ that has come to me directly from Jesus Christ, through the Scriptures

A psychologist lectured on Compassion Fatigue Syndrome
- it is a common condition among healthcare professionals
• their encounters with the suffering of others takes a toll
◦ if they are not treated yet continue to work, they can become numb
◦ they stop feeling empathy for their patients’ pain and grief
• the speaker provided the audience with a list of symptoms
◦ Barb said as she was going down the list checking boxes, she was thinking, 
“Yes, that’s Chuck. Yep, that too.”

We’ll start with that question: “What are you doing here?”
- isn’t one reason that your here is because you came to hear what I have to say?
• Okay, I feel uncomfortable when I think that or say that
◦ not only because it’s like I have to give an oral report every week
(and feel like I'll be graded on it),
◦ but because I can’t take myself that seriously
• I’m a mediocre guy who makes more mistakes than gets things right
- However, I do take God seriously and the work he’s given me
• and I take you very seriously – so I don’t want to waste your time
• but I’m like a court jester; the silliness of what I do and who I am, causes others to think

Elijah was one of the most gifted prophets in scripture
- in fact, he became the representative of all the prophets,
• right up to and including John the Baptist, who came
in the spirit and power of Elijah (Lk. 1:17)
• Elijah will teach us a lesson on hearing the voice of God

And to the enigma at the end of the book
- that’s because the story ends at Mark 16, verse 8
• you say, “Chuck! My Bible still has more verses”
◦ “Yes, I know, but read the fine print”
• the most ancient manuscripts that we have in our possession end at verse 8
◦ scholars tell us the quality of the Greek writing changes at verse 9
◦ the evidence supports the abrupt ending
- this has become a fascination for me – so, it has been a frequent meditation

I’m going to jump right into my meditations on this chapter
My meditation: “I want Mark to use his remarkable storytelling skills to enhance the details of what is depicted here. I want him to enable us to visualize it and hear every sound. It would benefit us to begin to fathom what Jesus suffered and to feel the utter hopelessness of the cross. I feel it’s important to sit in dark shadow of his abandonment, aloneness, sorrow, and death. But here, when I think the action should slow down and perhaps zoom in on still frames, Mark hurries us along at his usual fast clip, using "and . . . and . . . and . . ." to keep the action moving quickly.
But Mark has his own agenda and his own purpose. He carries us from one critical point to another, rising and falling like peaks of a wave. That is how he presents the story and that is how we must receive it, noticing when he wants to emphasize a specific sentence.”

The one clear accusation brought against him at his trial was,
“We heard him say, ‘I will destroy this temple that is made with hands, and in three days I will build another, not made with hands’” (Mk. 14:58).
- but they weren’t certain what that even meant
Yet even about this their testimony did not agree (Mk. 14:59)
• I tend to think, if something was sacred, it is sacred forever
◦ if God visited a place, the ground would always be holy
• that’s kind of the idea people have about going to Israel
◦ “I want to walk where Jesus walked”
◦ as if I’ll experience something unique or supernatural
- when Solomon built the first temple, a phenomenon occurred

The religious establishment has taken notice of Jesus
– in this chapter, the conflict leads to a public showdown
• this began at end of chapter 11 with priests, scribes, and elders
By what authority are you doing these thing or who gave you this authority to do them? (Mk. 11:28)
◦ so the ‘And’ at beginning of chapter 12 is a continuation of that encounter
◦ the ‘them’ in verse 1 refers to the priests, scribes, and elders
• the answer to their question is hidden in Jesus’ parable

But first, he gives instructions to two disciples regarding the colt he was going to ride
- imagine this: the disciples go find the colt and begin untying it,
• wouldn’t the bystanders assume they were stealing it
◦ so Jesus instructed them to say,

Nicodemus was correct -- Jesus is a teacher
- Mark tells us teaching people Jesus' “custom” – his usual response when people showed up
• that is what we witness as we watch Jesus move through this chapter
• Jesus never ran out of things to say
◦ and every word he spoke was enlightenment
- one of his teaching techniques was that he allowed people to ask questions
• and when they did, he typically answered their questions with a question

We can dive into it head-first or we can enter with our heart
– of course it’s important to think about what we’re reading
• but it’s also important to feel what we read
◦ to be responsive to the content of the text and how it affects us
• I study Scriptures with my head and meditate with my heart
– my meditations are mostly private
• they consist of what God speaks to me regarding my own issues
◦ so why am I sharing my meditations in Mark’s gospel with you?
• because even though Jesus walked the earth long ago,
◦ it’s possible to know and love him today
◦ how? By immersing ourselves in his story

In chapter 8 Mark pulls everything together 
- Jesus Christ appeared in the world on a mission
• he came to introduce people to the kingdom of God
• but making them aware of God’s presence and kingdom proved to be extremely difficult
◦ it is not easy for us to awaken to God’s Spirit
- this chapter reveals the tension our worldly mind and spiritual mind more clearly than any other
• I tried to describe this tension a few years ago in one of my meditations:
“A theme that Mark has emphasized, is that the human mind is geared to physical reality. As a result, our 

One of them was incredibly creative
- he could hardly complete a project, because he was constantly distracted by new idea
• sometimes I would call him when feeling depressed
• his creativity was so inspiring, it changed my outlook
- he agreed to fill-in for me as a guest speaker
• it took him awhile to come up with a title for his talk, but eventually emailed it to me:
“Don’t Be the Kind of Christian There Are Already Too Many Of”
• Jesus gave talks on that same topic
◦ he said that regarding charity, prayer, or fasting, you must not be like the hypocrites (Mt. 6:5)
and in chapter 23, he tells his disciples,
The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat [to teach], so do and observe whatever they tell you, but not the works they do. For the preach, but do not practice (Mt. 23:2-3)
◦ he follows that statement with a long list of the wrong things they did

I decided that I would talk about that line today
- the women came early in the morning,
• and they found the tomb, but they did not find Jesus
• however, two men met them, dressed in dazzling apparel
◦ I don’t know about their "apparel," but that sounds like "Project Runway" to me
◦ the only other time Luke uses the word for dazzling, it’s translated “lightning”
(later they’re referred to as “angels”--vv. 22-23)
they said to them, “Why do you seek the living among the dead?”
- that’s the line: “Why do you seek the living among the dead?”
• it’s a good one, isn’t it? The kind that preachers love
• can we think about this line for awhile?

When spending the night with cousins or friends,
- we would sit in the dark and tell ghost stories
• it surprised me to find one of the spookiest of ghost stories in Mark's gospel
◦ and this one is true – it really happened
◦ Mark turns flashlight into his face and tells "The Legend of Legion"
• “It all began on the other side of the sea”
◦ this is like saying, “the other side of the tracks” -- it was a bad neighborhood
◦ it was Gentile territory – and anything awful could happen there
- in fact there was a wild man there, tormented by demons, and who lived in the graveyard
• he lacerated his body with stones and was heard howling night and day
◦ he was like an animal, but too strong to capture and cage
for he had often been bound with shackles and chains, but he wrenched the chains apart, and he broke the shackles in pieces. No one had the strength to subdue him (v. 4)
◦ doesn’t Mark begin this story well?

Sometimes in the early morning, other times in the afternoon, and some evenings as well
- so once, when reading this chapter, I put myself there
• Jesus could be seen walking those shores frequently
◦ that’s what he was doing when he called his first disciples (Mk. 1:16-20)
• in the previous chapter, people found him there
◦ so many, in fact that the press of the crowd threatened to crush him (Mk. 3:8-9)
◦ what he did then, he did again this time
◦ he climbed into a boat, pushed off from shore, and taught them from there
- I imagined serene surface of the lake, heard ripples running on shore,
• and noticed that the gentle rocking of the boat was mesmerizing
◦ it is easy to sit and listen to his voice coming across the water
• he tells his simple stories and my mind watches them unfold ,
◦ filling in details with color and texture

There’s a pattern that many sermons and Christian books follow
– the preacher or author begin with a problem:
• what Christians or churches are doing wrong – or not doing
• then in the sermon or book they set out to solve the problem
◦ for instance, what we’re supposed to do and how to do it right
– every week people hear their preacher begin by pointing out their shortcomings
• not praying enough, giving enough, their faith isn’t strong enough, etc.
• people go to church or read books, because they hunger for God
◦ they are burdened, worn out, anxious about their family and future,
◦ some are unemployed, or perhaps a single mom, a lonely senior, a confused teen
• and in the first minutes of listening or reading, they get beaten down
– the way of Jesus is not to condemn people or place heavy yoke on them
• but he welcomes, clothes, feeds, heals, reassures, and loves them

We live in an anxious age. I think I begin most of my talks with this observation. But we need to remind ourselves that today has its own flavor. That today isn’t just like yesterday. We haven’t been here before.

We continue to observe a decline in civility, of decency. We continue to observe increasing aggression in words, in deeds. On the road, at the market, between friends and acquaintances. Our culture, our society is changing and it is creating pressure on people and groups. Some are leaning into the changes asking for more while others are pushing back disheartened or dislocated by the come differences. 

Everyone goes through stuff – and we just have to ride it out
- I feel like the poet who in Psalm 13 asks God,
How long, O LORD, Will you forget me forever?
How long will you hide your face from me?
How long must I take counsel in my soul
 and have sorrow in my heart all the day? (Ps. 13:1-2)

He was impressed by three qualities that they demonstrated:
your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ (1 Thes. 1:3)
- faith, love, and hope – essential building blocks of a Christian life
So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love (1 Cor. 13:13)
• Paul may have looked for evidence of these traits in the churches he visited
• do they walk by faith, hang onto hope, and do everything in love?
- "Hope" is the Advent theme for this Sunday

Luke provides lessons Jesus taught on prayer that are not not found in the other gospels
– he has also reported times Jesus prayed than no one else recorded
• so it has taken us a long time to get this far
• Luke is a rich source information and it is helpful to learn what he has to tell us
– the prayers we’ll look at today are pretty basic
• there’s no new form of prayer and nothing exotic
• nevertheless, the situation of each prayer is exceptional
◦ and some of the material is extraordinary

There is no good reason to feel nervous about praying
– we’re children coming to a good, loving Father to ask for bread
• in fact, Jesus taught us to use prayer to rid ourselves of anxiety
◦ we can ease into prayer and find rest in God’s presence
• you will pray right, if your heart is right
– so we pray with confidence, but we also know that prayer can malfunction
• that’s what we’ll learn from Jesus in our two passages from Luke’s Gospel

The place of prayer can be spoiled
And he entered the temple and began to drive out those who sold, saying to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be a house of prayer,’ but you have made it a den of robbers” Luke 19:45-46

Remember who is telling the story – he is not a stranger
– we know this person – this storyteller
• we met him when as children we were dragged to church
◦ or when a friend first introduced us
◦ or when we picked up the Bible and read one of the Gospels
• we know Jesus, we trust him with our lives, and we love him
– it’s good for us to occasionally clear our calendar,
• perhaps go on retreat or find our own place of quiet solitude
◦ and there, renew the intimacy of our relationship with Jesus
• God sent Jesus into our world to reveal himself through him
◦ in Jesus we have discovered the depth of God’s love for us
◦ I will always want to know Jesus better than I do now

This man was a few years older than I, and a deep thinker
- he had an unusual perspective on things that I found interesting
• what he said was that the way I talked about Jesus had bugged him
• he had a very manly, tough and unflinching image of Jesus
◦ but I emphasized his tenderness, kindness, and compassion
◦ he equated those qualities with weakness and vulnerability, not masculinity
- what happened for him is, he began to see Jesus in a new light
• he discovered the "beauty" of the person of Jesus
◦ a word he would not have used to describe him previously
• as a result of this change, he felt closer to the Lord and a deeper love for him

He wasn’t looking for an answer – he was making a point
- when we went through the previous parable, we learned,
• when Jesus began a question with, "Who among you?"
◦ the answer is already known and always negative
◦ “None of us would act this way” or “No one would do such a thing”
- Jesus poses this question in a story-like setting
• there’s a father and there’s his son
◦ Jesus invites his listeners into this story world
• in fact, he tells them to identify with one character: the father
◦ as soon as he tells the story, his question answers itself

He is about to illustrate a condition of prayer with another parable
- but between the two parables, he does something unusual
• Jesus tells them how to respond to these parables
And I tell you could be translated So I tell you or Likewise, I tell you
◦ Jesus connects the statement in verses 9-10 to the parable that came before
• most of the time, he lets the parables speak for themselves
◦ he would teased their minds with a mystery and then send them home
◦ in this instance, however, he solves the riddle for them
- there are two lessons to learn from this passage (vv. 5-13); one is about God (his reliable goodness)
• the other lesson is about doing things with prayer
• there are ways we can use prayer to move closer to God

A message that has been forming the behind curtain is brought onto the stage
– alongside the story, Jesus has taken time apart to pray
• the difference here, is that Luke uses the disciples to make this point explicit
Lord, teach us to pray

We are following Jesus through Luke’s gospel learning prayer,
- by listening to Jesus and by watching him
• I sometimes forget the absolute necessity of prayer
◦ when that happens, I treat prayer like it’s optional
• many people think prayer is asking God for things,
◦ and if they don’t get what they want,
◦ they decide it doesn’t make any difference if they pray
- that’s like a married couple who consider communication to be unimportant
• prayer is the hub of our relationship with God
◦ it’s what holds it together – how we stay connected
• prayer is the breath of our spirit – without it, the spirit dies