2 Sauls

Do you ever watch Iron Chef on TV? It is a cooking show that features 2 expert chefs trying to best the other using an ingredient revealed at the beginning of the show.  Food is judged on taste, presentation and use of the secret ingredient.  Last week the chefs were locked in culinary combat in Battle Liver.  As I watched, I thought ... "There is no way they could cook liver that I would like it or even taste it."  I turned it to another channel when one of the chefs cooked a dessert made with liver ... that's just wrong!

I reflected on the unpleasantness of liver and wondered if we treat Bible passages like I treat liver?  I watched a video last week that asked if we had "domesticated" Scripture so that it fit with our worldview, our likes/dislikes and our sensitive palate.  Yet Scripture faithfully serves up literary dishes that are both beautiful/tasty and ugly/unpalatable.  Yet Paul writes, "All of God's word is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, reproof, correction and instruction in righteousness."  I believe this is true, even for those "liver" passages.  So, here goes for 2 passages that relate to persons named Saul.

There is the Old Testament Saul, who was King from 1021-1000BC (according to 1 Samuel).  Saul loved his power and became jealous and paranoid about keeping in power.  Saul also was terrified of his enemies, the Philistines, and decided he would trust in cunning, wits and the spirit realm to defeat his enemies.  So Saul, in disguise, visits the witch of Endor and has her contact the deceased Samuel for advice.  Samuel's words for Saul are these ... "The Lord will hand you over to the Philistines.  Tomorrow, both you and your sons will be with me.  And Israel will lose the battle (1 Samuel 28:19)."  So much for this being a good idea.  God has boundaries we are not permitted to cross without God's permission.  Saul paid the price for his disobedience ... his life and the lives of his sons.

Then, there is the New Testament Saul.  Saul raged against "The people of the Way (the first name for the Church)."  In Acts 9 Saul is traveling to Damascus to arrest the "followers of the Way."  Saul is knocked from his horse, a bright light flashes, and he hears a voice ... "Saul, Saul!  Why are you persecuting me?"  "Who are you lord," Saul asks?  The voice replied, "I am Jesus, the one you are persecuting!  Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what to do (Acts 9:4-7)."  Saul obeyed, he is called/ordained to preach the Gospel, his name is changed to Paul, and he becomes an Apostle, a great church planter, a missionary and a martyr for his Lord, Jesus.

Both Saul's encounter the unseen realm of God.  Neither experience can be explained by science or logic, yet both encounters are following the plans God has to redeem His people and eventually bring them to Himself.  One story ends in disobedience and death, the other in restoration, new life, new purpose and a new name.

God has boundaries ... follow them.  God has authority over the heaven's and the earth, and over the seen and unseen realms ... be in awe.  God's word reminds us our worldly vision doesn't allow us to see God's activity until we receive God's "eyes" and God's blessing.  And these stories remind us that we can either follow our own path to destruction or God's path to life.  Michel Card writes that this new revelation is ... "Hope for the hopeless and sight for the blind!"  That is my prayer for you and me!  Randy

Revealed

Do you believe Jesus IS revelation?  And why would God do this?  Good questions!

One of my professors in college told the class ... "My task is not to impress you with what I know.  My task is to impart to you as much of my knowledge as possible."  I liked that professor.  He made the subject matter human, understandable and applicable.  I still use things I learned from him.  Ironically, his name was Dr. Lord.

Revelation 1:1-2 says, "A Revelation of Jesus, the Messiah, to make plain to His servants what is about to happen.  He published and delivered it by angel to His servant, John.  And John told everything he saw: God's Word, the witness of Jesus Christ." We can learn some good things from this little passage.

I hear lots of people who say they have difficulty understanding God's Word, especially The Revelation.  There is a clue in this verse, but it is a convicting clue.  It is the word, servant.  The book is written ... well conveyed ... by John as John heard it from the angel and as God intended for us to see it.  But it is sent to God's servants.  Those who are into serving God.  Those to whom Jesus is Lord.  Those who are submissive to God in their willingness to open their hearts, minds and lives so that God can speak to them.

Here are 3 questions about God's revealed word:

1. Whom do you serve?  With your time?  With your creativity?  With your energy?  With your resources?  If you want to know about God's revelation, you need to be willing to serve Jesus.  Being in the posture of servanthood places you in the position of hearing, seeing and learning God's word.

2. Are you servant-minded enough to work through the Bible's context to know what it actually says?  Jesus tells stories that were meaningful to 1st Century Jews.  Jesus is revealed through the journey of a Hebrew nation through the world in which they lived.  Do you read God's word in the world view of 2023 America, or do you understand that we are contextually removed from the world John writes about?  If you do, you are missing much in translation.  Bible Study is both work and openness to God.

3. Remember that John is presented here as a servant.  John is confounded by things that he sees and reports.  But he reports them anyway.  He tells 7 churches where they stand with the true and living God.  As any prophet, that truth is stark to John and (I am sure) to the churches who receive truth from a God who loves them but wants them to thrive, not fail.  John, the servant, bears the weighty words and faithfully speaks truth to his world.

If you want to receive revelation, serve .. submit ... open yourself.  Jesus came, not to impress you with what He knows (because all things were made through Him).  He came to impart His word into His servants, so that they could do what John did ... tell all we know from God and witness to God's Word, revealed in Jesus Christ!

Do You Believe in God?

"Do you believe in God?" This is the very first statement/question in the Global Methodist Catechism.  Most of you will, probably as a reaction ingrained in your being from an early age, say, "Of course I believe in God!  What a silly and simplistic question!"  I agree the question is simple ... I would take exception to the simplistic nature of the question.

Last week we conversed about salvation, and about the only source of our salvation, Jesus Christ.  But if you answered the above question, "Of course," tell me a little about the God in whom you believe.  Does your God have the power and grace to forgive your sins, or are you living inside your guilt?  Has your God sent your sins "as far as the east is from the west" or has God left you to be weighed down by your past?  Has your God overcome the world, or does the world direct and modify your definition of God?  Is your God the "truth, the way and the life" or is your god part of the truth, one of many ways and just a little part of your life?  Does your God define, direct, modify, grow, inform, inspire and empower your life, or does your life define, direct, modify, grow, inform, inspire and empower your god?

Now ... do you believe in God?  It is a good question, isn't it?

The Very First Place To Start

Julie Andrews, in The Sound of Music, sang ... "You start at the very beginning, it's the very first place to start ... when you count you start with 1,2,3 ... when you sing you begin with, do, re, mi."  The movie was great, and the little song taught children how to sing notes.  We are traveling on a journey of faith, and we have lots to learn.  So we start at the very beginning, the very first place to start.  I could choose many great places to start, but I will begin with why Jesus came into the world ... to save it, in particular, people from all nations, tribes and tongues.

I will be preaching from the Catechesis of the Global Methodist Church, as it references Scripture.  Scripture is and will be the foundation laid by God's authoritative word and lived by our Savior, Jesus Christ. Here is what the Catechesis says, ... "Salvation is more than the promise of eternal life.  It is a present deliverance from sin. a restoration of the soul to its original purity, a recovery of the divine nature, in righteousness, in true holiness, in justice, in mercy and in truth."  Paul wrote it like this, "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.  The old has passed away; behold, the new has come (2 Corinthians 5:17)."

This is a lot of information, but let me focus on a few points here.  First, salvation is God's action and God's plan for us as people.  God wants you, me, everyone to be saved ... restored ... brought to our fullest potential by His definition.  God knows what this plan is, and God needs you and me to let our will go so God's will can happen.  Seeking our plan, our purpose, our stuff is a diversion.  Jesus said, "Seek ye first, the kingdom of God, and His righteousness (Matthew 6:33)."  This is for you but is about God and God's plan!

Second, I love the part of this statement that relates to the restoration of our soul and the recovery of the divine nature.  We were all made in the image of God (Genesis 1) and part of that image is a reflection of the divine.  Christians carry and represent (or re-present) Christ to the world.  Again, this calling and task is all about what God is doing.  I meet people every day that resist this action of God.  They say, "It's just how I am." They excuse repeated behavior by saying "It is all because of my environment or my upbringing."  It is as if they are saying to God, "If only you had prevented those things, then I would be different!"  I wonder if God replies, "Do you think I created everything ex nihilo (from nothing)?"  "Do you believe that 'new creation' thing?"  "Do you think I can do what I said I can do?"

Finally, salvation is an ongoing and active work of God's power and grace.  God doesn't just provide temporary rescue.  God wants to take you to a better place.  God desires for His good work and power to actually bring you into a new place, apart from the powers that are holding you down.  This is important to all of us who desire real change, real transformation and real healing.

The real question is ... what and who do you believe?  If you believe God's word, you will allow God to act in you ... you will allow God's power to restore and grow you ... you will grasp and undertake the journey of salvation that Wesley called sanctification.  And, you will leave behind the excuses that block God's action in your life.  Remember John 11?  Martha runs out to Jesus and says, "If only you had been here my brother would not have died!"  Later in the story, before Jesus raises Lazarus from the dead, Jesus tells Martha ... "if you believe, you will see the glory of God."  "If only" is about the powerlessness of Jesus ... "If you believe" relies on the power of God that brings us into His glory.  Which is your position of faith?  God wants to restore you and recover the divine nature He has placed in you.  He wants to save you!  "Praise to the Lord, the Almighty, the King of Creation ... O my soul praise Him for He is your health and salvation!"  AMEN!

Travel With Wisdom

Psalms, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs, Job and Proverbs are in a subset of the Bible called Wisdom Literature.  They are God's wisdom, sometimes learned through the experiences of people, that is passed on to God's faithful.  They include direct statements of wisdom, wisdom argued through dialogue and wisdom that sets a standard for us as we live life.  These books are worth reading and re-reading.

The beginning of Proverbs states their purpose ... "Their purpose is to teach people wisdom and discipline, to help them understand the insights of the wise.  Their purpose is to teach people to live disciplined and successful lives, to help them to do what is right, just and fair (Proverbs 1:2-3)."  In a world where every person seems to want to state their own version of wisdom, right, justice and fairness, Proverbs calls us to the discipline of God's leading.

I have been watching what is happening in our world regarding these ideas that seem to pop up in daily life.  Every person seems to have an idea of these terms ... wisdom, right, fairness, justice.  And societally, we have somehow gotten into the mode that we, as nice/good people, must love others by affirming each person's idea of rightness, wisdom, justice and fairness.  That has become a way we are expected to "love" all people.  But you may have missed a word that was repeated in those 2nd two verses of Proverbs ... discipline.  Proverbs, and all of Scripture, isn't built on the foundation of our personal definitions of the virtues of wisdom, fairness, justice and rightness.  It is built on God's definition of these things.  So when we think we are affirming others by agreeing with their humanistic views of Godly virtues, we fall short and we mislead.  We fall away as a society.  And, we find ourselves wandering in the darkness of human wisdom.

So, God calls us back.  He sent Wisdom Literature in Scripture.  He sent prophets.  And, He sent Jesus.  And, if you read the Gospel, the Prophetic writings and the Wisdom Literature, it will fly in the face of your wisdom and my wisdom.  God says that we don't produce successful lives from affirming bad behavior and calling that affirmation "love."  God says, like Jesus said to the woman caught in adultery, "Go and sin no more."  Paul writes, "Everything is permissible, but not everything is profitable (1 Corinthians 10:23)."  When we accept the rule and discipline of God's Word, and we lead our fellow brothers and sisters to that discipline, we are correcting them in love.  When we fail here, another Proverb applies ... "Faithful are the wounds of a friend, but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful (Proverbs 27:6)."  Love your friends through the lens of God's truth, God's ways and God's discipline.  Travel with wisdom!  Randy