Oy

Just a comment thread I find interesting to follow. Abortion vs. capital punishment, anyone?

Pentecost 6

Today's readings: Psalm 85, Amos 7:7-15, Ephesians 1:3-14, and Mark 6:14-29 (sermon text).

John the Baptist lost his head to slake a woman's grudge. Thank God that this gruesome story isn't sugarcoated; God takes evil head-on, and here's a good example. The Bible is about Jesus Christ coming to us in our sinfulness, then forgiving our sins. Have a look.

Even Herod had heard of Jesus' name and wondered about the rumors. The earlier miracles had served to draw attention to His purpose; later they would diminish. Beginning at verse 16 is the connection: Jesus' fame made Herod think that John was resurrected. Verse 17 delves into the history of the incident; but first, let's deal with Herod. This man was one of the four sons of Herod the Great; he received Galilee as his jurisdiction. Then John came along, criticizing the wrongful marriage of Herodias (Philip's divorcee) and Herod. This caused a grudge. Oddly, Herod was protecting John - never converted, but liked to listen.

Next came the banquet. Intoxicated, Herod was recklessly generous. Herodias' daughter, faithful to her mother to a fault, returned to demand the Baptist's head. Now suddenly sobered, Herod fearfully complied, placating the mother by getting the law of God out of the way. There's a lesson to us in our culture: DO NOT compromise God's Word, putting your self-trust ahead of God-trust. In the end, our earthly bodies are just bones. The one thing needful is Christ. We need nothing else; He must increase as we must decrease.

Trust in God alone, not in your stuff. After all, He's indestructible.

VBS is this coming week, with a special visitor. Please pray for the kids.

Pentecost 5

Today's readings were Ezekiel 2:1-5, Psalm 33, 2 Corinthians 12:1-10 (sermon text), and Mark 6:1-13.

The Bible contains many stories of deliverance - Lazarus and Bartimaeus, to name only two. But our lives seem often to be deliverance-free. Paul, in the text, had a thorny situation like this - Christ did not grant his prayer's request. Let's look deeper - no shortcuts here! - to see how today's lesson applies to our lives. To do this, study the entire context.

2 Corinthians 12 (chapter context): the end of Paul's fourth (two were lost) letter to the Corinthian church. Book context: false preachers, looking for personal gain, were preaching that Christianity necessarily leads to monetary and worldly success. Paul rebutted this notion with the exact opposite, that his (Christ's) message is true. To cap it off, he boasted in his sufferings, his weakness. This segues into his thorn account.

The thorn was given him because he had seen infinitely wondrous things in visions. But what did he boast in? His thorn! A humble preacher of the Cross is weak to keep him, as with Paul, reliant on God's grace. Keep in mind that God is not the author of evil. Does He stop all evil and disease, then? No. It's a fallen world, which He allows to run its course.

Three times Paul pleaded for a miracle. His motives (unlike most of ours) are good - surely the thorn's removal would improve his proclamation of the Gospel! But Christ chose that Paul would remain weak in the body in order to point continually to Jesus Christ and His cross. Therefore he takes the lesson to heart: "For when I am weak, then I am strong." So God answers prayer in many ways, but very often calls for us just to rely on Him. Deliverance may be long in coming or even absent, but through all suffering we are to praise and trust in God as your God.

Soli Deo gloria. Amen.

Pentecost 4

Today's readings were Lamentations 3:22-33; Psalm 30; 2 Corinthians 8:1-9, 13-15; and Mark 5:21-42 (sermon text).

We are here in church today because of Christ and His gifts, because He is our only hope. Two examples are in the Gospel reading. Jairus's daughter was raised; the woman (the story within the story) was healed of a twelve-year disease. But the miracles' purpose was not to draw ooh's and aah's. It was rather about Christ bringing God's kingdom.

First, the woman. For twelve years she had been bleeding abnormally, using her savings to no avail. But now she had faith that a touch of Jesus' robe would heal her. It did! So Jesus wanted to draw attention to her faith: "Daughter, your faith has made you well." The woman was given her life and wholeness back! She was "treated and released." Now the main story resumes.

Second, the daughter. Her father, a Sanhedrin, was a synagogue ruler. But she had died. The messengers didn't want to bother Jesus, but He wanted to be bothered. He is bothered by death, so He went and raised the daughter. The selected disciples witnessed the neighborhood keening and mourning. This crowd didn't understand that Christ could indeed heal the "sleeping" (those who die in Him).

In this instance, Christ is interested in keeping the "Messianic secret" - all miracles needed to be tied to His main purpose: to bring His own into heaven with Him, where there exists no pain, no hurt, ho disasters, no sickness, no death. We'll live forever, by faith, with the King of Kings.

Amen.

On multiculturalism

Not only does this editorial today explain succinctly what multiculturalism is, it also says what needs to be said, something the WSJ does often but not always. In the context of a movie review (The Stoning of Soraya M.), Andrew Klavan deals what should be an effective blow to the support of multiculturalism.

A resource it made me remember is Understanding the Times by David Noebel. Have your children read it before college. Read it yourself! This is, by the way, a good culture to emulate.