Reflexion Connexion

Welcome and Prayer: Jim Calhoun

Come Lord, join us here today
In a world of sadness and strife
It is sometimes hard to imagine
A universe of peace and goodwill

Caught up in our fears and struggles
We fight to get what’s coming to us
but you came to break that way of living
So today we ask for peace
In our own hearts
So we might bring peace to others
No longer rehearsing our resentments
No longer nourishing bitterness and fears
But being peace
And bringing peace
And living peace
Becoming peacemakers
With our kindness
And gentleness
And patience
And sacrifice
As needed
When needed
Because of you
And the peace
The wholeness
The shalom
You have brought to us.
Amen

Morning Talk: Esther Dewitt

The Liturgical Calendar
The Liturgical Calendar is a sequence of seasons, that organizes the year around the life of Jesus.
Liturgical seasons Invite us to take our place in the great drama of the Gospel
To take the time to experience God’s love and redemption through Spiritual rhythms and traditions
shared across generations and cultures and faith communities.
Practicing the liturgical calendar allows a lot of room for variety of expression,
and differences between church traditions,
but its beauty is to help Christians of diverse backgrounds participate–collectively and individually
in observances, prayers and Scriptures that focus on the life and message of Jesus Christ.
Advent is the first of the seasons; it is the beginning of Church Calendar year.
It’s interesting to me that the beginning of the liturgical year comes as the end of our calendar year,
and that its traditions and vibe are so different than the Western New Year.
The beginning of January looks forward and is filled with resolutions, plans, goals and energy.
It’s new exercise routines and new diets, at least for a few weeks.
It screams – Don’t look back, yesterday is done, stay future focused for success.

Advent is different

It isn’t linear in time.
Advent looks back in wonder, looks forward in anticipation
and opens us up to experience Christ in our present moment.
Advent means the arrival, or the coming. Advent is sort of the prelude to the ministry of Jesus.
It’s a bridge, a liminal in-between space. It prepares us for the coming of Christ.
As Tish Harrison Warren describes it “Advent collapses time. The past, the present and future join together in a single season of waiting for Immanuel, God With Us.”
Advent invites us beyond our time-bound experience and into the fuller history of the people of God.
In Advent we join the story with the Ancient Jews as they wait and long for the Messiah prophesied.
We reflect not only on the incarnation, on His birth,
but on how Jesus continues to work in the world today, and we look forward to His return.
As the early church crafted the season of Advent, knowing that Christmas has its own season – coming quickly – Advents sets the birth of Jesus into a historical and prophetic context.
Throughout the four weeks of the season, not just on the four Sundays,
believers are invited to reflect on the story–from the prophesies of the Messiah to John the Baptist
announcing the start of the public ministry of Jesus.

Today begins the second week of Advent
The theme of the second week is Peace.
It doesn’t leave the theme of the first week Hope behind; it builds on it.
Some of you have a lot more experience and history with liturgical practice.
For some of us they are new or foreign.
This Sunday I would like to incorporate a few of the traditions.
Many faith communities incorporate a collective prayer–called a Collect–to gather the intentions of the community into a single prayer.
I’ve chosen one from the Contemporary Collects.
Please join me in this reading Collect out loud together.

Second Sunday of Advent
Merciful God, who sent your messengers the prophets to
preach repentance and prepare the way for our salvation:
Give us grace to heed their warnings and forsake our sins,
that we may greet with joy the coming of Jesus Christ our
Redeemer; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy
Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen

The practice of Advent doesn’t fit very well with my own church cultural training and experiences.
My biblical upbringing was verse-by-verse and chapter by chapter. Advent jumps back and forth.
Forgive me if it feels a little disjointed to you as well – but it has a purpose.
It sets the stage – paints a backdrop for reflecting on the life of Jesus.
Advent denies us permission to be New Testament only Christians as it draws us into a larger context.

The first reading of the second week of Advent is one of the great Messianic prophies of Scripture, from Isaiah 11 verses 1-10
1 A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse;
from his roots a Branch will bear fruit.
2 The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him—
the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding,
the Spirit of counsel and of might,
the Spirit of the knowledge and fear of the Lord—
3 and he will delight in the fear of the Lord.
He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes,
or decide by what he hears with his ears;
4 but with righteousness he will judge the needy,
with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth.
He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth;
with the breath of his lips he will slay the wicked.
5 Righteousness will be his belt
and faithfulness the sash around his waist.
6 The wolf will live with the lamb,
the leopard will lie down with the goat,
the calf and the lion and the yearling[a] together;
and a little child will lead them.
7 The cow will feed with the bear,
their young will lie down together,
and the lion will eat straw like the ox.
8 The infant will play near the cobra’s den,
and the young child will put its hand into the viper’s nest.
9 They will neither harm nor destroy
on all my holy mountain,
for the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the Lord
as the waters cover the sea.
10 In that day the Root of Jesse will stand as a banner for the peoples; the nations will rally to him, and his resting place will be glorious.

This prophecy is beautiful, poetic, and bewildering.
It’s a prophesy, not just of the first coming of Christ, but of the second coming of Christ as well.
It’s bewildering to me now, probably more than any other time in my walk with the Lord.
It paints a picture of a peace we don’t yet see or experience.
Where justice is practiced, the needy and poor cared for.
It promises a future we have very little context for at our current point in time.
The liturgical seasons are relatively New to me – my Christian upbringing is a combination of what Sara Bessey calls a “Happy Clappy” Evangelical practice with a fundamentalist legalistic approach to the Christian life.
From my family of origin, my church culture and my Baptist college I was formed to place a heavy emphasis on theology and doctrine, and on correct interpretations and practices.
Understanding, interpretation, getting things right has always been very important to me.
I’m a product of the information age, the digital age.
I generally don’t know what to do with things I can’t wrap my head around.
One of the great gifts that the practice of Advent offers is the space to reflect, to wonder, to be confused, and not have that shake us.
I need that space as I prepare myself to enter into the Christmas season.
In Luke 2 :4-14 We read an account of the birth of Jesus
4 So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. 5 He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. 6 While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, 7 and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.
8 And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. 9 An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10 But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. 11 Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. 12 This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”
13 Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,
14 “Glory to God in the highest heaven,
and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”

As I mentioned before: The theme of the second week of Advent is Peace.
Historians place the time of the birth of Jesus as during the time of Pax Romana. The Peace of Rome.
But it surely didn’t feel like peace for everyone.
Joseph and Mary have to travel to Bethlehem to register for taxes.
Herod is a murderous leader looking to kill anyone who threatens his power.
The religious leaders have added so many rules and regulations to the lives of the people of God that they are burdened.
There are poor and marginalized people whose suffering is acknowledged in the pages of the Gospel.

It’s not the peace we expect

When the Angels are declaring Peace on Earth, we can find ourselves wondering with the shepherds, and all who heard the story “What peace”? What does that mean. What does “Peace on Earth to those Whom God is Pleased” mean?
Isaiah refers to the coming Messiah as the Prince of Peace. The arrival of Jesus is the arrival of Peace. Through Jesus we can be reconciled to God, and at peace with Him.
And Jesus calls us to be Peacemakers, here on earth, in our time and our communities, through our acts of love and forgiveness, justice and mercy, we can be a part of Peace on Earth.
But it can be confusing.
Conflict in the world still exists.
Conflict between Believers exists.
Right now, it feels, based on my own work and experience, that conflict is thriving.
About twenty years ago I was the host of a Christian radio show. I loved the job for a lot of reasons, but one was that I got to do some really fun interviews.
Personally, I was in a lot of turmoil towards the end of that season and did not know I was approaching the end of it.
I was really struggling – beginning what now is often called “deconstruction.”
The certainty and structure that I had always taken for granted and had been very comfortable with, was crumbling.
One of the last few interviews I recorded was with Chuck.
In that interview he said two things that have stuck with me through the years, and which have been touchstones that I come back to over and over again in the last two decades.
He said, “God is not limited by our interpretation of Scripture.”
It was profound for me at the time, and it is still profound to me.
It is profound as I contemplate the birth of Jesus, and the prophesies from Isaiah 11.
The parents of John the Baptist, Zechariah, Elizabeth, and Joseph and Mary would have been very familiar with these prophesies, and they must have been confused by their own experiences.
From the Scriptures it is clear that Mary often did not know how to process what she was hearing and experiencing.
They are honest that she wondered, pondered, marveled, was troubled, and treasured what she saw and heard.
The Message Bible phrases it that Mary held these things dearly and deeply within herself.
I can identify with Mary in Luke 1, when she is troubled and wonders at the words of Gabriel when she hears she will be the mother of the fulfillment of the prophecy.
I can identify with Mary when in Luke 2, she ponders the experience and words of the shepherds.
I can identify with her and Joseph when they marvel at the blessing and prophecy spoken by Simeon over the new baby they were presenting to the Lord.
And again, I can identify with her, twelve years later, when she treasures Jesus’ undoubtedly confusing words in her heart.

Many of the Ancient Rabbi’s interpreted the prophecies to be promising a very different kind of Messiah than Jesus.
For around four centuries they had come up with interpretations.
But that did not place a limitation on God, and the way He intended to fulfill His promises.
God is also not limited by my understanding of the Scriptures or what He is doing.
While I do think there is a lot of value in gaining understanding, in what 2 Tim. 2:15 calls “rightly dividing the Word of Truth,” I need the humility to know that I will not get it all correct.
I want the humility to wonder, to ponder, to marvel, to sometimes be troubled and sometimes be amazed; and to form the habit of holding the things of God dearly and deeply within myself, even when there are things I don’t get – even when circumstances around me don’t make sense.
Advent takes the time and makes the space to sit with the paradoxes of our faith.
As Kathleen Norris expresses the “Advent Season breaks into our lives with images of light and dark, first and last things, watchfulness and longing, origin and destiny.”

I started the calendar year 2025 troubled

It felt like a heavy season.
For the most part, in general, me and mine were doing okay – all things considered.
But a lot of people were struggling.
People we know, and people we don’t know were going through difficult times, and from what we could see on the horizon, the storm was growing.
I personally don’t usually have a Bible verse of the year.
(That feels like a confession.)
It has not been my normal experience that God would give me a verse or word for the year as a theme.
I know lots of people who do, but It’s just not been my own experience.
But last January I found myself crying out to the Lord, asking what I can I do in the middle of all that is going on.
At different times in my life, I have found myself in positions where I felt like my work, my ministry, could make a difference, on at least a moderate scale, that gave me a sense of purpose when the world seemed chaotic.
This year, I didn’t have that.
I found myself in the book of Micah, the picture it paints is not good.
Everything is a mess; politically and culturally it’s bad.
The leaders and the prophets have completely lost the plot.
It’s bad.
And then, tucked in chapter 6, verse 8, the people are reminded that God has already told them what He wants them to do.

“He has shown you – O People- what is good,
and what the Lord requires of you.
To Act Justly, and to love Mercy,
and walk humbly with your God.

It became my guiding verse for the year.
As I have been confronted by a very challenging year, on a lot of fronts, when I am trying to figure out how to walk forward, what to do – I am reminded
“He has shown you – O People- what is good,
and what the Lord requires of you.
To Act Justly, and to love Mercy,
and walk humbly with your God.
It’s a verse I’ve marinated in. I even made a playlist of different versions of this verse in songs.
I needed it.
Our world is messed up – and the world we step into in Advent, the part of the story where we begin the liturgical year, just prior to the birth of a Savior, that world is messed up.
The world being messed up is one of the through-lines of the story.
It’s why we need a Messiah, a Savior.

As we reflect on what the world was like at the birth of Jesus and in the years leading up to the start of His ministry we don’t see a world that feels like it is at peace as far as the people of God are concerned.
King Herod is a dangerous and violent leader.
Pontious Pilate is the governor of Judea.
History records that as a ruler he provoked and persecuted his subjects, especially the Jews and Samaritans.
John the Baptist spends his ministry time calling people away from their sins.
It wasn’t an easy time to be alive, or to follow to God.
But in this part of the story, the prelude to the ministry of Jesus, we see some examples of people who are not swallowed by the chaos and messiness around them, who choose to live as God has shown them.
In Luke 1:5 -7 when we meet John the Baptist’s parents, Zachariah and Elizabeth we are told they live together honorably before God.
The International Children’s Bible translation says “Zechariah and Elizabeth truly did what God said was good.”
what is good
In Matthew 1:19, when we first meet Joseph, we are told he is a just man, and a man of mercy.
do justly, love mercy
Our introduction to Mary in Luke chapter 1 gives us the picture of a young woman willing to do what God asks her.
walk humbly with your God
We see glimpses of faithfulness in a culture where that isn’t easy.
We see a desire, by at least some, that matches ours, to live well.
In Luke 3, as John the Baptist preaches, calling people to reject hypocrisy, and to produce good fruit in their lives, people ask the same question, I often find myself asking:
Then what should we do?
His answer:
Share with those in need,
Be honest,
Don’t take advantage of people
This feels to me like a paraphrase, an echo of Micah 6:8 – act justly, show mercy, and walk humbly with your God.
In these stories we see examples of people aligning themselves with God’s story, and we see some practical ways that we can do that.

This is a part of the gift of the season of Advent

We aren’t asked to fit the story of Jesus in to our lives, we are invited to fit our lives into His story.
We can acknowledge that the world we live in is troubled and that hope and peace can be difficult to experience.
We don’t have to manufacture peace on earth, we look for the ways it has come through Jesus, we look forward to the ways He will bring peace when He returns and we can look for ways we can be a part of His work now.
So back in the radio interview I did with Chuck, twenty years ago, the second thing he said was “I want my life and legacy and ministry to be marked by Mercy, that is the impact I want to have on people’s lives.”
It struck me because there wasn’t a lot of talk about being merciful, engaging in acts of mercy in the church community I was a part of.
We talked a lot about God’s Grace, and we talked about God’s Mercy on us, but very rarely was there an emphasis on being known for mercy.
Mercy is showing kindness and compassion to others.
It’s extending forgiveness when we aren’t obligated to.
It requires a heart of generosity towards others.
Showing mercy in our personal lives is a way we walk out our faith, we follow through on what God has told us to do, it’s a way that we participate in God’s work here on earth.
Advent doesn’t require us to be Scrooges, or anti- Western Christmas tradition.
We can still enjoy our Christmas cookies, Christmas music and decorations without being in conflict with Advent.
There is room for celebrations with family and friends, even as there is room for contemplation.
Through it all, there is the opportunity to participate, to as much as in our power, bring peace and mercy to those around us.
I appreciate that Advent teaches us to look back, lean forward, and to be present but does not require us to have it all figured out.
There is mystery, and wonder.
In Advent we are starting the year organizing our life around Jesus.
Advent invites into a story we know, to look at it from different angles and different perspectives.
It begins the liturgical year preparing us for Christmas, Epiphany, lent, Easter, and Pentecost.

I’d like to end this morning with an Advent Prayer by Henri Nouwen
Would you join me in reading it out loud together?
Lord Jesus,
Master of both the light and the darkness,
send your Holy Spirit upon our preparation for Christmas.

We who have so much to do
seek quiet spaces to hear your voice each day.

We who are anxious over many things
look forward to your coming among us.
We who are blessed in so many ways long for
the complete joy of your Kingdom.

We whose hearts are heavy
seek the joy of your presence.

We are your people,
walking in darkness yet seeking the light.

To you we say
“Come, Lord Jesus.”
Amen.

This morning, I would like to leave you with a blessing from the book of Numbers:
(6:24-26)
May the Lord bless you and keep you.
May the Lord’s face radiate with joy because of you.
May He be gracious to you,
Show you His favor, and give you His Peace
In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit
Amen

Welcome and Prayer: Jim Calhoun

Come, Lord, join us here today
For those who are weary we ask for hope
For those disappointed we ask for hope
For those discouraged, beaten down, struggling, and drowning we ask for hope
For those who are afraid
For those who worry
For those who cry out we ask for hope
For the broken hearted and the tenderhearted
For our grieving family
For our aching ones who feel alone
For our sick
For our dying
For our whole community
Pain and sorrows unspoken
We ask for hope

We ask to be reassured of your care
Of your knowledge
Of your gentleness
Of your consideration
Of your touch
We ask that you meet us
In your good, great love
That your coming not be in vain
That our yearning for your return not be folly
And that our trust in you
Emmanuel
God with us
That our trust in you will be satisfied
And our hope fulfilled
And our hearts made whole
Amen

Morning Talk: chuck smith, jr.

Psalms 42

Intro: Thanksgiving is now behind us, so we have a green light

We can, legitimately, start preparing for Christmas
– pull out boxes of ornaments, wreaths, and other decorations
• this is the time when we think our smart neighbors,
◦ were the ones who left their lights up all year
• getting ready can be a meaningful time of fond memories;
◦ so long as we’re not competing for the “Griswold Trophy”
– as Christians, we have a long history of preparing for Christmas
• in fact, 4th century believers took Christmas very seriously
◦ they observed it with six weeks of fasting and prayer
◦ Christmas day was a time for new believers to be baptized
• it was about two hundred years later that Christmas turned to celebration
◦ the four weeks leading up to Christmas became Advent, which incorporates two events:
1. rejoicing in the long-awaited arrival of Jesus our Messiah born in Bethlehem
2. seriously preparing ourselves for his return
◦ Christmas marks the “in between” time; when we meet Jesus in the here and now

Today is the first Sunday of Advent – and the theme is HOPE

There are many beautiful and inspiring verses regarding hope in the Scriptures
– but my favorite is found here
• I cannot be sure that you will enjoy this psalm as much as I
◦ when a person has lived with depression as long as I have,
◦ you naturally connect with confessions of despair
• then, when you find what helped someone else,
◦ it becomes a promise of hope for yourself
◦ at the very least, you cheer for them and their successful escape from darkness
– the poet apparently found that he could best express his experience with liquid metaphors
• he begins panting for God as a deer pants for flowing streams
• staying with that theme, his soul is thirsty
• until now, his salty tears have been all he consumed day and night
• what he does in his poetic prayer is he pours out his soul
• the poet seems to have an ambivalent relation to water in verse 7
◦ the waterfall’s depths calls to his soul’s depth
◦ but near the ocean, its breakers and waves roll over him
– water was both a necessity to life and a danger if one did not know how to navigate the ocean

As we listen to the psalm, notice if it speaks to you and if so, how
As a deer pants for flowing streams,
    so pants my soul for you, O God.
² My soul thirsts for God,
    for the living God.
When shall I come and appear before God?^[b]
3 My tears have been my food
    day and night,
while they say to me all the day long,
    “Where is your God?”
⁴ These things I remember,
    as I pour out my soul:
how I would go with the throng
    and lead them in procession to the house of God
with glad shouts and songs of praise,
    a multitude keeping festival.

⁵ Why are you cast down, O my soul,
    and why are you in turmoil within me?
Hope in God; for I shall again praise him,
    my salvation ⁶and my God.

My soul is cast down within me;
    therefore I remember you
from the land of Jordan and of Hermon,
    from Mount Mizar.
⁷ Deep calls to deep
    at the roar of your waterfalls;
all your breakers and your waves
    have gone over me.
⁸ By day the Lord commands his steadfast love,
    and at night his song is with me,
    a prayer to the God of my life.
⁹ I say to God, my rock:
    “Why have you forgotten me?
Why do I go mourning
    because of the oppression of the enemy?”
¹⁰ As with a deadly wound in my bones,
    my adversaries taunt me,
while they say to me all the day long,
    “Where is your God?”

¹¹ Why are you cast down, O my soul,
    and why are you in turmoil within me?
Hope in God; for I shall again praise him,
    my salvation and my God. (ESV)

The major concern of the poet, in his words, is “my soul”
– he begins and ends with the condition of his soul
• the soul is our inner self – the person you perceive yourself to be
◦ our entire mental or psychological self
it is all your needs and wants
all your dreams and disappointments
all your joys and sorrows
◦ sometimes our souls rejoice, sometimes they grieve
often times our souls thirst and other times they’re cast down
• the soul can become agitated, anxious, and upset
◦ and when it does, the psalmists may talk to their soul
◦ for instance:
“Return to your rest, O my soul;
for the LORD has dealt bountifully with you” (Psa. 116:7)
– our poet has questions
• his first question is “When shall I come and appear before God”
◦ he feels distant from God – cut off,
◦ and that has intensified his desire, his thirst for God
• meanwhile, his enemies pour salt on his wounds,
◦ asking the very question he is asking, “Where is your God?”

When we become severely grieved or disturbed over a situation,
– specific memories tend to surface and haunt us
• for the poet, he remembers a time of festive joy
• he recalls past pleasures approaching the temple,
◦ with a joyful crowd, he sang praise to God on their way to the temple
– in his current state, to think of those things, only reminds him of how empty he feels
• and how far he is from everything good and important and matters most to him

The poet’s next question, he asks of himself,
“Why are you cast down, O my soul,
and why are you in turmoil within me?”
– he asks himself (his soul, that is) but gets no answer
• perhaps he doesn’t know why his inner self is cast down
• perhaps the problem is too obscure, or the pain is too deep,
or his soul is too confused or too stunned to answer
– what typically happens in a depressed state,
• is that the soul raises bothersome questions
◦ and rather than find answers, the questions just echo in endlessly in the mind
◦ but one feels that the question must be asked, or the worrisome thought must be repeated
• if you ask a depressed person why they’re in such despair and sadness
◦ nine out of ten times, they don’t know

Even if the poet cannot find an answer to his question,
– he eventually realizes what he must do: “Hope in God”
• this rushes into his soul as if the clouds suddenly parted, and the sun’s bright light reveals a clear path
• the poet’s soul has been dis-located – literally!
◦ it has been located in some place distant from God
◦ but now he can see the way back to where he wants to be
he can see himself again among the crowd of worshipers
he pictures himself praising God for rescuing him

This, then, is today’s Advent theme: “Hope in God”

Advent is an adventure
– a journey we make from a place of turmoil to rest
• a return home from a place of danger to our place of safety
• a journey from heartbreaking chaos to hope
– the first Christmas began as an adventure
• at least that’s how Matthew and Luke tell the story
• both of them describe scenes of conflict or tension
◦ then our heroes face strange surprises and difficult challenges
◦ for awhile, we’re held in suspense, but then comes a resolution to the turmoil,
and for a time, the stories settle down to a manageable pace

Hope is the adventure of a lifetime

I’m going to quote a verse that doesn’t fit the context of this psalm
– but it makes such a good point, I can’t resist including it
• it’s in the Book of Ezra (who is the main character)
◦ at this point near the end of his story, he is practically hysterical in his overreaction to a problem
He says, “As soon as I heard this, I tore my garment and my cloak and pulled hair from my head and beard and sat appalled.”
And a short while later we find him “weeping and casting himself down before the house of God” drawing the attention of a large crowd (Ezra 9:3 and 10:1)
• then one of the more level-headed leaders came to him
“We have broken faith with our God and have married foreign women from the peoples of the land, but even now there is hope for Israel in spite of this” (Ezra 10:2)
– that’s it! That’s the line!
“We screwed up! We made a mess of everything. Our circumstances could not be any worse, but even now there is hope in spite of this”

Conclusion: Advent hope is not a “natural” hope

It does not appear as a result of a change in seasons,
or political adjustments,
or new cures for mental or physical illnesses
Advent hope comes from the outside
outside the system,
outside the science lab,
outside the march of human progress
Advent hope is not an old hope,
taken from a warehouse, warmed up, and repackaged for the current century
Our hope is brand-spanking new, “born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord”
Advent hope is not wishful thinking
it doesn’t require us to create a world of fiction – a fairy land or sci-fi planet
Does it seem lately that the days are too short and dark? That maybe tomorrow the sun won’t rise?
Hope in God;
for we shall again praise him,
our rescuing presence and our God

“We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain, where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf” (Heb. 6:19-20)

Podcast

Welcome and Prayer: Jim Calhoun

Come, Lord, join us here today.
Grant us peace in all things
Knowing you are with us
Helping us through
Teaching us
Correcting us as we need it
Comforting us
Giving us strength
Refocusing our attention back to you
Back to our neighbors
In love
With hearts full of gratitude
Making all things new
Making us whole
Together
Moment by moment
In all things
Amen

Morning Talk: chuck smith, jr.

Intro: I think you most likely know that I love the Scriptures

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

The message begins with an announcement
Hear the word of the LORD, O Israelites
for the LORD has a brief
against the dwellers of the land.
For there is no truth and there is no trust
and there is no knowledge of the LORD in the land.
Falsely swear and murder
and steal and commit adultery.
They burst bonds — and blood spills upon blood.
Therefore the land does languish,
and all those dwelling within it are bleak.
With the beasts of the field and the fowl of the heavens
and with the fish of the sea, too — they shall perish Hosea 4:1-3

“The LORD has a brief” – this is a “legal brief” or “indictment”
– remember in chapter 2 Israel was summoned to appear in court?
• God picks up that theme again, and now it’s directed to “the dwellers of the land”

The “land” was God’s gift to Israel, which he promised to bless with bountiful harvests and pastures for their herds and flocks. But now he has a judgment to pronounce against “the dwellers of the land,” because “there is no knowledge of the LORD in the land, and therefore “the land does languish.” So right off, what the people have put at risk is the very land that their nation rests upon and defines the boundary of their lives and to a degree their identity.

• here are the charges God levels against his people:
First, there was no truth or trust or knowledge of Yahweh
– the Hebrew words for “truth” and “trust” are a famous word-pair in Hebrew Scriptures:
emeth and chesed
• the King James Version usually translates them “truth” and “mercy”
◦ but both of them are rich in multiple meanings
emeth: trustworthy, faithful
chesed: loving-kindness, loyalty, an undeserved benevolence
• Israel lacked the necessary honesty and empathy that makes a society run well and pleasing to God
– “knowledge…” – not being informed about God was just part of problem
• knowing the person of God, in a way they could walk with him daily was the more serious problem
Second, what was common in their society included:
– falsely swearing – that is, lying under oath, which would include daily business as well as the courtroom
(no one could be trusted)
– murder, theft, and adultery – sounds like we’re revisiting “ten commandments”
– burst (or break) bonds – would include contracts or agreements
• there was an absence of moral restraint and integrity
Then, blood spills upon blood – this could have multiple meanings
– the statistics of Latin American governments killing their own people are staggering
◦ such mass spilling of blood has been world-wide from ancient civilizations
◦ there was no place for that in the social structure of God’s nation
• blood also played an important role in worship
◦ to them, blood contained a life-force that was sacred
◦ that is why it could be used in worship
▫ if handled carefully and properly, it could atone for sin
▫ however, if mishandled or misused, it could become bad juju
(for instance, an unresolved murder could affect the health of “the land”) “You shall not pollute the land in which you live, for blood pollutes the land, and no atonement can be made for the land that is shed in it, except by the blood of the one who shed it. You shall not defile the land in which you live, in the midst of which I dwell . . . .” (Nu. 35:33-34)
• the significance of this indictment regarding the spilling of blood comes in verse 3
◦ the entire landscape and topography of what was supposed to be “milk and honey” was wasting away
• the dire consequence of sin does not require an act of God
◦ human sin–especially greed–has ecological consequences:
◦ pollution, deforestation, and extinction

Who is to blame for this messed up society?
But let no man inveigh
and let no man rebuke
when your people inveighs against priest.
And you stumbled by day,
and the prophet, too, stumbled by night,
and I will destroy your people.
My people is destroyed without knowledge,
for you — you rejected knowledge,
and I rejected you from being priest to Me.
And you forgot your God’s teaching —
I will forget your sons on My part.
As they increased, they offended against Me,
I will exchange their honor for disgrace.
My people’s offense offerings they eat,
and they long for its crimes Hosea 4:4-8

God answers the question above in a round-about way
– he begins by saying, “Do not inveigh [sharply criticize] priest”
• that is not because the priests were innocent–they were not!
◦ but they weren’t the only guilty party
• if the priest stumbled by day, the prophet stumbled by night
◦ so there was twenty-four hour, around the clock failure
– God holds Israel’s spiritual leaders responsible for the Israel’s bleak condition

We’ve seen already that a true knowledge of God had vanished
– now we learn that was the fault of the priests and prophets
• from the start, the Levitical priests were to be teachers
“They shall teach Jacob your rules
and Israel your law . . .” (Deut. 33:10)
• it was bad news when a prophet told King Asa,
“For a long time Israel was without the true God, and without a teaching priest and without law . . . .” (2 Chron. 15:3)
– the priests were to teach the law and the prophets filled-in the gaps when the people needed a word from God in the here and now
• both priest and prophet were to inform Israel regarding God’s will
• both were responsible to give direction and correction to kings as well as subjects
Robert Alter, “Both have betrayed their calling of providing moral instruction to the people.”

How did the spiritual leaders get so turned-around?
– one of the reasons was personal gain
• the last two lines are sort of this section are cryptic, but expose a motive
• whenever a sacrifice was made for a specific sin,
◦ the priest was given a portion of the meat for his food
(meat was not part of an everyday diet for most people)
◦ the more people sinned, the more meat the priest received
So, because
“My people’s offense offerings they eat,
they long for its crimes”
– more “crimes” (sins) meant more sacrifices and more meat for the priest

God could not let this confused and sinful state continue
And it shall be, people and priest alike,
I will make a reckoning with them for their ways,
and for their acts I will pay them back.
And they shall eat yet not be sated,
play the whore yet not burst bonds.
For they have forsaken the LORD
to keep on whoring and drinking
and new wine that takes away the mind.
My people asks oracles of a tree,
and his rod tells him what to do.
For a spirit of whoring made them stray,
and they played the whore against their God.
On the mountains they sacrificed,
on the hills they offered incense,
beneath the oak and the poplar,
and the teribinth of goodly shade.
Therefore their daughters go whoring,
and their daughters-in-law are adulterous.
I will make no reckoning with your daughters for whoring
and with your daughters-in-law who are adulterous.
For they themselves go off with the whores
and with the cult-harlots they sacrifice,
and a people undiscerning comes to grief Hosea 4:9-14

God was going to take action, make a reckoning, hold them responsible
– everyone will be included in this, “people and priest alike”
• I find it interesting that he takes this approach
◦ he will prevent them from experiencing any pleasure or satisfaction from their sinful pursuits
• Israel’s excess of pagan festivity and wine “takes away the mind”
◦ the Hebrew, word translated mind is lev – is the “heart,” but with broad range of application
◦ it includes perception, awareness, appetite, drives, and desires
▫ so here it can mean, “whoring and drinking dulls the senses”
– I’m reminded of the Rolling Stones’ song in the 1960’s “Satisfaction”
• they sang of the failed promises of advertisers and society at large
• but I also think of drug addiction and alcoholism
◦ after all the pleasure is exhausted, all that’s left is the need for another “fix”
◦ there is no more pleasure, no satiation, no satisfaction

I imagine hearing a tone of frustration in God’s voice,
“My people asks oracles of a tree”
– this is an insulting way of referring to sacred wooden objects,
• for making idols or using in divination
• this is the next strong charge against them
– specifically, God mentions daughters who have gone whoring
• this could mean these young women were engaged in idolatry
◦ but it could also have a stronger and more explicit meaning
◦ that they actually became cultic prostitutes in Canaanite fertility rituals
• at any rate, God would not have a specific reckoning for them over that
◦ the reason being: their fathers and brothers were consorting with cultic prostitutes themselves
– again, they are faced with the consequence of sin
“a people undiscerning comes to grief”
• sin blurs the lines between right and wrong, healthy and sick, sane and crazy
• losing clarity, we make bad decisions that end in regret and grief

The southern kingdom of Judah receives warning
If you go whoring, Israel,
let Judah not be held guilty
And do not come to Gilgal
nor go up to Beth-Aven,
and do not swear, “As the LORD lives.”
For like a wayward cow
Israel was wayward.
Now shall the LORD herd him
like a sheep in an open field?
Ephraim is stuck fast to idols,
Let him be!
When their swilling is over,
they go on to the whore.
They love the disgrace of their defenders.
The wind bundles them in its wings,
and their altars are shamed Hosea 4:15-19

When the northern tribes of Israel broke away from Judah,
– there first king, Jeroboam, invented a cult to prevent his subjects from seeking God in his temple in Jerusalem
• he designated two sacred sites for worship
• one was in “Gilgal” to the far north and the other was “Bethel” in the south
◦ Beth-el means “house of God”
◦ only Hosea calls it “Beth-Aven” “house of wickedness”
Henry McKeating, referred to this as “a nasty nickname for Bethel”
• Ephraim was one of Israel’s key cities, and Hosea uses it in place of “Israel”
“Ephraim is stuck to idols,
Let him be!” (or, “Keep your distance”)
– in the end, the northern tribes would be bundled in the wind and carried away
(like the wicked who are “like chaff that the wind drives away” (Ps. 1:4)

Conclusion: When I began developing today’s talk, I asked myself,

“How can I turn this into a Happy Thanksgiving talk?”
Obviously, I’ve given up on that

So, instead, here’s where I’ll leave us today
If we put ourselves in the place of Judah,
can we pay attention to the warning; take it seriously?
There are many spiritual leaders today misleading people
A few of them seem to assume that if they can draw a crowd,
they’re reproducing the Jesus Movement
It isn’t the same
Back then, the crowds were drawn to Jesus
It grieves me that there are pastors who identify with Christian Nationalism;
someday they’re going to have to make a choice which one it will be
It seems that even some of the Calvary Chapel pastors have lost their way
I get it, when the pastor is young, a third or fourth generation Calvary Chapel pastor,
who was not even alive when the Jesus Movement occurred
But I don’t understand how someone who sat under my dad’s ministry
could drift so far away from the path he walked back in the day
If the sort of person who attended Dad’s church in the late 60’s or early 70’s
walked into some of the Calvary Chapels today,
they would receive a very cold reception, rather than open arms;
they would run into a barrier rather than a bridge
Many professing Christians today make a lot of noise regarding what they are against,
many are misguided,
and many have been walked into the wrong “ism”
Don’t be one of them

Podcast

Welcome and Prayer: Jim Calhoun

Come, Lord, join us here today

Help us be the thing
Help us be the real deal
Yours, help us to be yours,
Known as yours as
The lover of neighbors
The vulnerable
The weak
The needy
The unwanted

And known as yours as
The patient
The kind
The gentle
The compassionate

Help us be in alignment
Our words matching our actions
Our bank accounts matching our intentions
Our reputations matching our hearts

Help us overcome the fears that
Pull us down
That inhibit our faith
That crush our good will

Envelope us in your great goodness
Surrounding us in your care and affection
Looking to you
Being with you
Abiding with you
Our one
Our hope
Our life
Amen

Morning Talk: chuck smith, jr.

And the LORD said to me, “Again, go love a woman beloved by a companion yet an adulteress, like the love of God for the Israelites when they turn to other gods.” And I loved a lusting woman Hosea 3:1

Intro: Years ago, I was engaged in a conversation with two friends

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?
Peter Drucker one said, “The bottom line of a business is a dollar. The bottom line of a non-profit organization is a changed life”
• changed lives is what justifies the church’s existence
• if lives aren’t being changed in our churches, we have no grounds to exist

In this brief chapter, Hosea returns to his personal story; which was broken off at chapter 2
– the prophecy includes his story because it to a bigger story
• how God’s love for Israel would transform the life of a nation and its people

The next movement of Hosea’s story begins with a bizarre twist

God gets the action action moving in this phase of the story with the command, “Go”
– this is a typical way for prophets to receive instructions (for instance, Isa. 6:9; Jer. 2:2; etc.)
• an interval of time has passed since the first chapter
◦ we’re not given any information about how this new situation came about
◦ we only learn Hosea’s wife deserted him for someone else
• it’s one thing to marry someone who was sexually loose in the past
◦ it’s another thing if they relapse and leave you for their previous life of promiscuity
– the way the first sentence is constructed, turns on the word “again”
• “again” could be used in one of two ways:
◦ either “again” God is speaking to Hosea,
◦ or else God is telling Hosea to go and love his wife “again” as he had before she left him
• previously she was a prostitute before they married, now she has become an “adulteress”

I’m going off-road for a moment, hoping we can feel significant empathy for Hosea
because a new layer of suffering has been poured over Hosea; namely, betrayal
– Martin Buber was an influential philosopher and theologian in the 20th century
• when he examined this part of Hosea’s story, he asked, “is it possible to [command] love?”
• he qualifies the question, saying he doesn’t mean a general love like God commands in the law
◦ for example, “you shall love [the stranger] as yourself” (Lev. 19:33-34)
Buber, “but that a particular person should be bound to love another particular person in utter concreteness, is there such a thing as this?”
Buber’s conclusion is that this “word can only be spoken to one who already loves. He loves, he still loves the faithless one, he cannot suppress this love, but he does not want it, for he feels himself degraded by it. . . . Into this state of soul, God’s word descends, ‘Continue loving, [you are] allowed to love her, [you] must love her; even so do I love Israel.’”
– this may be projecting onto Hosea something that wasn’t there
• but this is similar to what God expresses towards Israel
• so what Hosea must deal with now is “like the love of God for the Israelites when they turn to other gods”

Hosea briefly tells how he brought his wife back home
And I hired her for myself with fifteen weights of silver and a homer of barley and a letekh of barley. And I said to her, “Many days you shall dwell with me. You shall not play the whore and you shall be no man’s, and I, too, shall not come to bed with you” Hosea 3:2-3

What amazes me about this entire story is its lack of pertinent details
– it seems that God’s concern in the text is to rush to the point
• after this chapter, Hosea’s personal life fades into the background of his prophecies
◦ but the fact of ceaseless love, betrayal, and reconciliation continues
◦ anyway, his wife’s relapse was so severe that she had become another man’s property
• in the version I’m reading, Hosea says, “I hired her”
◦ the Hebrew translated “hired” can refer to a purchase or the process of buying
◦ to me this sounds like “I haggled over the price for her”
(and it only cost him fifteen silver shekels and a wagon load of barley)
– once Hosea had his wife home again, he placed conditions on their reconciliation
• first, he established an unspecified block of time–“many days”–perhaps as a trial period
◦ I’m sure there were many things they had to work through
• second, she could not relapse again
◦ that is, return to prostitution or be with any other man
• third, neither was Hosea going to have sex with her during this time
◦ the goal was to work on reconciliation and readjustments

The live illustration now shifts to its application
For many days shall the Israelites dwell without king and without commander and without sacrifice and without sacred pillar and without ephod and without teraphim Hosea 3:4

The sentence begins with the word “For”
Hans Wolff, “In this verse ‘for’ introduces the interpretation of the symbolic action [in Hosea’s circumstances] for Israel . . . .”
– the repetition of the words “many days” makes an immediate connection between Hosea’s story and God’s story
• Hosea’s wife would no longer live in a distorted reality
◦ a world in which she substituted sex for love
• Israel would no longer live in their distorted reality;
◦ a world in which their king and his officials operated corruptly
◦ the rulers had permitted the introduction of other gods
▫ at times they even promoted pagan gods along with idolatry
– another loss for Israel during these many days would be religious
• there would be no sacrificial worship – which they could not do without the temple
◦ also rather than objects and places of their former pagan devotions, there would be empty spaces
• former methods of divination were also banned
◦ the ephod had been a legitimate means of consulting God
◦ the teraphim were superstitious fetishes–“household gods”
Hans Wolff, “Thus Israel will first lose its political existence, in which she believed herself capable of securing her life independent of God. Further, the offering of sacrifices becomes impossible.”

The plan was that the trial period would eventually end
Afterward, the Israelites shall turn back and seek the LORD their God and David their king, and they shall revere the LORD and His bounty Hosea 3:5

At that point, God would have what he wanted
– his people, on their own, would return and “seek the LORD”
• one of my favorite biblical words is “seek”
“And you shall look for Me and find Me when you seek Me with all your heart” (Jer. 29:13)
• I have made a short list of biblical words and phrases that relate to contemplative prayer
◦ “wait” (on the Lord), “here I am,” “watch,” “be still,” and “seek”
– at that same time, their nation and its government would be restored
• but with an important qualification: “David their king”
◦ not only a descendant of David, but one who ruled in justice and righteousness
• the most prominent characteristic of their restoration:
◦ they would know and feel and express reverence; for God, and also for his goodness
▫ something they would never again take for granted

Conclusion: As I get ready to close my Bible and try to live it,

Here is what will matter most to me:

That God comes after me, and never gives up
As long as we’re alive, we have hope
I trust it’s okay to say that sometimes God can be annoying
But I love him for that – I thank him
God is where I want to be

That people change, and God makes it a total transformation!
In Jesus, we cross a threshold,
From death into life
From the old person, to the new creation
From the false self, to our true self
Baptism is the threshold, the liminal space in which we celebrate our new life
“Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in the newness of life” (Ro. 6:3-4)

That I surrender to God’s relentless love
Sometimes this means forcing myself to trust him enough to rest in him
Instead of being anxious about my circumstances – my world
I close the door of my mind to all distressing thoughts
And allow myself to be sustained in nothing other than his love

Join me in these endeavors–and have a wonderful week!

Podcast

Welcome and Prayer: Jim Calhoun

Come Lord, join us here today
Be with us
Among us
Close and known
Immanuel
Calling to us
Helping us along
Bringing us near
Restoring us
Making us new
Ready to love
And serve
With joy and expectation

And join us here today Lord
One people
One family
One body
Close and known
Serving each other
Restoring each other
Learning together
Growing together
Building up
Sharpening
Softening
With gentleness
And kindness
And patience
With joy and expectation
Amen

Today’s Talk: chuck smith, jr.

Therefore, I am about to beguile her
and will lead her to the wilderness
and speak to her very heart.
And I will give her from there her vineyards
and the Valley of Achor an opening to hope,
and she shall sing out there as in the days of her youth,
as on the day she came up from the land of Egypt Hosea 2:16-17 (Robert Alter translation)

Intro: Since it has been a couple of weeks, let me remind you . . .

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

We cannot allow ourselves to lose the “big idea” of Hosea’s prophetic story
– God’s message is intense–and urgent– and must be heard
• what is revealed in Hosea is God’s Crazy love
◦ although he says he will stop loving his people, stop caring for them,
◦ his love won’t let him dump them and walk away
• though God’s complaint against them is brutal and ongoing,
◦ though his threats are severe and painful to read,
◦ God’s chief aim is to repair the rupture in their relationship
– it is important for us that we own the storyline
• we are God’s people – we are the subjects of his intense love
◦ the truth is revealed through Hosea for us to learn it and experience it
• the first half of the chapter was brutal
◦ God rejects Israel from being his wife because she cheated on him
◦ abandoning her, their land would come to ruin

Now, the prophecy makes a sudden and unexplained turn (vv. 16-24, Hebrew Bible)

God reveals his strategy to win Israel back to himself
– first he would beguile her – sometimes translated allure, entice, even seduce
• but the context suggests “woo” – God would romance Israel
◦ “lead her into the wilderness” – that’s where it all started
Henry McKeating, “God and Israel spent their honeymoon in the wilderness. It is there that God will take her back and make a new beginning.”
Compare this to God’s reminiscence in Jeremiah’s prophecy
“I recalled for you the kindness of your youth,
your bridal love,
your coming after Me in the wilderness,
into an unsown land” (Jer. 2:2)
◦ there, God says, he would “speak to her very heart”
• Alter has translated this statement literally
(some versions paraphrase the Hebrew as tenderly, comforting, soothing)
◦ this is an idiom in the Hebrew language that is found many time in Old Testament
◦ in this passage, speak to her very heart captures the idea of courtship
– once God wins their love again in the wilderness,
• he will give them gifts – two, in particular:
◦ “vineyards” – which makes sense as evidence of their restoration
◦ and “the Valley of Achor and opening to hope”
▫ this makes less sense – that’s because this valley has a history
• Israel’s first battle in the promised land was against Jericho was a total victory
◦ but there was a glitch; one soldier, Achan, disobeyed a direct order from God
▫ his disobedience sabotaged Israel’s next battle and they suffered a disastrous defeat
◦ Achan had to be exposed, confronted, and suffer fate of enemy
▫ the Hebrew name Achan means “to trouble”
Joshua confronted Achan, asking him, “Why did you bring trouble on us? The LORD brings trouble on you today. . . . Therefore, to this day the name of that place is called the Valley of Achor” (Jos. 7:26)
▫ Achor is related to the name Achan, therefore that place was “the Valley of Trouble”
– you can see why this is odd, that the Valley of Trouble would become “an opening to hope”
• but this is how the story finds its way to a solution
◦ it is in Israel’s trouble that they wake up and return to God
◦ hope lies on the other side of the door in the Valley of Trouble
• instead of their hardship being the end,
◦ it would lead Israel to a new beginning with God
◦ a renewed romance, renewed covenant, and renewed commitment
“and she shall sing out there as in the days of her youth . . .”; i.e., in her prime
– finally, they will demonstrate the response God wants to see
– when we go to the Psalms, we find Israel had a song for everything
• the Hebrew word translated “sing out” has another meaning: to respond or answer
• we will come to that alternative translation in a few verses
◦ in this and the following verse we see a combined effort
◦ God says, “I will” which is followed by, “she shall”

At this point, the poem picks up momentum
And it shall be, on that day, said the LORD,
she shall call Me “my husband”
And no longer call Me “my Baal.”
And I will take away the names of the Baalim from your mouth,
and they shall no more be recalled by their name Hosea 2:18-19

Three times in the next six verses we find the words, “on that day”
– on that day that Israel returns, God becomes very busy taking care of his wife
• I think we can all appreciate what we see happening here
◦ we feel like we’ve waited so long to see God answer our prayers and take action,
◦ but when he moves, he makes a lot of changes all at once
– the first thing God does is restore his exclusive role with Israel
• Ba-al had the general meaning of lord, master, and husband
◦ but it was also the name of the primary God of the Canaanites
• it’s possible Israel sometimes referred to God as Baal Yahweh
◦ God was going to remove that word from their vocabulary
◦ he was going to leave no memory of their former lover

God’s covenant with his people must be renewed and reaffirmed
And I will seal a pact with them on that day,
with the beasts of the field and with the fowl of the heavens
and with the creeping things of the earth.
And bow and sword and battle
will I break from the earth,
and I will make them like down secure Hosea 2:20

“And I will seal a pact with them” is usually translated, “make a covenant”
– this is something that both Jeremiah and Ezekiel emphasized
• Israel broke their covenant with God, so now it must be restored
• the covenant is what binds them together
– God’s part as described here is first of all protection
• part of this promise picks up some of the very words from God’s covenant with Noah
“Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him, ‘Behold, I establish my covenant with you and your offspring after you, and with every living creature that is with you, the birds, the livestock, and every beast of the earth with you . . . .” (Gen. 9:8-10)
• the promise also includes protection from their enemies’ armies

These verses come as close to vows as anything we find in the Scriptures
And I will betroth you to Me forever,
I will betroth you to me in right and in justice
and in kindness and in mercy.
And I will betroth you in faithfulness,
and you shall know that I am the LORD Hosea 2:21-22

Three times the Lord says, “I will betroth you to Me”
– “betroth” meant to become engaged with a determined commitment to marriage
Robert Alter, “The triple repetition of ‘I will betroth you’ sounds very much like a performative speech-act, God pronouncing the wedding vows.”
– these are the shared commitments of God and his people:
• first, the relationship is forever
• second, it is sealed in right and justice
◦ righteousness is personal – doing what’s right given the nature of one’s relationship to another specific person
◦ justice communal – to practice and maintain fairness in the social realm
• third, it is sealed in kindness and in mercy – (Heb. chesed and racham)
◦ there is a suggestion of strong passion in both of these words
• fourth, it is sealed in faithfulness

“And you shall know that I am the LORD”
– to “know” is a frequent theme in Hosea
• it isn’t merely memorizing information
• here it is a personal and experiential knowledge of Yahweh

God describes a goodness granted to Israel that advances by degrees to an ultimate blessing
And it shall be on that day,
I will answer, said the LORD,
I will answer for the heavens,
and they shall answer for the earth.
And the earth shall answer for the new grain
and for the wine and for the oil,
and they shall answer for Jezreel.
And I will sow her for Me in the land
and show mercy to Lo-Ruhamah,
and I will say to Lo-Ami, “Your are My people,”
and he shall say, “You are my God” Hosea 2:23-24

“I will answer” – this is the word that I told you also means “to sing”
– the poem moves through the following stages:
• God responds to the heavens that depend on him for rain clouds
• the clouds respond to the earth that needs to be watered
• grain, wine, and oil depend on the moist soil in order to grow
• Jezreel now stands for the culmination of God’s work
– finally, the restoration of all that Israel had walked away from
• this is the heartbeat of the covenant:
God says, “You are My people”
Israel responds, “You are my God”

Conclusion: Whatever devotion we have toward God,

What ever praise we give him, or love we have for him, it is always a response
“We love because he first loved us” (1 Jn. 4:19)
But where I want to leave you today is at the opening to hope in the Valley of Trouble
The help is there, so for our part, we have to walk through the open door

In 2003, after reading this chapter, I wrote the following in my collection of meditations:
“Despair can come to us through loss, ongoing hardship, chronic pain, clinical depression, a series of bad choices, and so on. God cares enough to provide a door of hope–light in our darkness, joy in our sorrow, a glimmer of faith in our unbelief.
‘And she shall sing there.’ Amazing how hope creates a song!”
There is always a door of hope.”

Podcast

Intro: If what I read doesn’t match your Bible, there are two reasons

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

As I begin reading in chapter 2, be prepared to be surprised
And the number of the Israelites shall be like the sand of the sea that cannot be measured and cannot be counted, and it shall happen, instead of its being said of them, “You Are Not My People,” it shall be said of them, “Children of the Living God.” And the people of Judah and the people of Israel shall gather together and set over them a single chief, and they shall go up from the lands, for great is the day of Jezreel.
Say to you brothers, “My People,”
and to your sisters, “She is Shown Mercy.” Hosea 2:1-3

Okay, you probably weren’t surprised after all
– but we’re two weeks away from when we last read in Hosea
• there we heard God’s initial message to his prophet
◦ the odd command to Hosea and the birth and naming of his children
◦ two of them were given unhappy names: No Mercy and Not Mine
• Israel broke their covenant with God, so he was done with them
“I’m not going to show you mercy and you are no longer My people”
◦ that’s why we’re surprised at this sudden shift, because here they are shown mercy and are his people again
◦ God is letting his people have a “do over” “instead of it being said to them . . . .”
– this is the first bit of encouragement we find in Hosea
• a secret is leaked–an intention moving behind the dark parts of his prophecies
• for all of Israel’s failure, God doesn’t want to lose his people

If the first words regarding the “number of the Israelites” sound familiar, it’s because we’ve heard them before
– long ago, when God swore a covenant with Abraham (Gen. 22:17)
“like the sand of the sea that cannot be measured . . .”
• this was the picture God planted in his mind
◦ and though Abraham did not live to see its fulfillment,
◦ God had his eyes on his people through all the future ages
• eventually, the hundreds of thousands of Abraham’s children split into two nations:
◦ ten tribes of Israel lived in the north, while Judah dominated the south
◦ toward the end of Hosea’s life, the ten tribes of Israel had all but disappeared
– God, however, had not forgotten his promise to Abraham
• nor had he given up hope for their covenant relationship
◦ so here, God retrieves the extravagant word picture of sand on shore
• because he does not–he cannot–let go of his people
◦ I hear a meaning in the gospels of something Jesus did not intend, but fits here as an analogy:
“Gather up the fragments that remain, that nothing be lost” (Jn. 9:12)
◦ I don’t think he wanted to lose even one person who had been in the crowd he fed
“The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise . . . but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance” (2 Pet. 3:9)

“great is the day of Jezreel” repeats the name of Hosea’s first son (Hosea 1:4)
– the name was chosen to signal a crisis – Israel’s punishment
• but now it seems God’s purpose was not Israel’s destruction,
◦ but a purification leading so their restoration
• this is the new announcement:
“Say to your brothers, ‘My People,’
and to your sisters, “She Is Shown Mercy’”
– the prophecies of Hosea move like a teeter-totter
• one minute God prepares to punish Israel,
• but the next minute he pours out his mercy and forgives them
◦ later he will ask,
“How can I give you over, Ephraim,
surrender you Israel?
How can I make you like [the cities destroyed with Sodom and Gomorrah]?
My heart churns within me
My compassion altogether stirred (Hos. 11:8)

Israel is summoned to appear in court
Bring a case against your mother, bring a case,
for she is not my wife,
and I am not her husband Hosea 2:4

It’s her children’s sad task to serve her the divorce papers
– we enter an imagined courtroom and Israel is told dress properly
• not with appearance and accessories of a prostitute
Let her take off her whoring from her face
and her adultery from between her breasts,
lest I strip her naked
and set her out as the day she was born.
And I will turn her into a desert
and make her like a parched land
and let her die of thirst Hosea 2:5
◦ “from her face” – thick, black eyeliner (kohl) and deep red lipstick
◦ “adultery from between her breasts”
Robert Alter, this would be a “sachet of fragrance” hung around her neck (Song. 1:13)
• if she enters the courtroom with that attire, she’ll be stripped bare
– from God’s perspective, idolatry is adultery
• the most radical and focused example in the prophets is recorded in Ezekiel 16
“As to your birth, on the day of your birth, your navel cord was not cut nor were you washed smooth in water nor were you rubbed with salt nor were you swaddled. No eye had pity on you to show mercy on you ” (Eze. 16:4)
• in v. 5, Hosea makes a quick jump to a different metaphor
Alter, “As often happens in biblical poetry, the prophet switches from one set of images–Israel as a promiscuous female body–to another–the barren desert as a representation of national ruin.”

And to her children I will show no mercy,
for they are the children of whoring.
For their mother played the whore,
she who conceived them acted shamefully Hosea 2:6

We’re probably not meant to take “her children” literally
– this would be the fruit of her affairs with idols and pagan gods
• this is the evidence that is stacked against her

If we next imagine the judge asking, “How do you plead?”
– she answers, “Let me go after my lovers”
For she said, “Let me go
after my lovers
who give me my bread and water,
my wool and my flax,
my oil and my unguents.” Hosea 2:7

• Israel was giving pagan gods credit for their provisions
◦ staring with basic needs, progressing to non-essentials
◦ first food, next fabric to clothe them, then luxury items
• this was an extreme insult to the Lord their God

God’s first response is to stop her in her tracks
Therefore I am about to hedge in your way with thorns
and raise a wall for her,
and she shall not find her paths.
And she shall run after her lovers
and shall not catch them,
and she shall seek them and not find them.
And she shall say, “Let me
go back to my first husband,
for it was then better for me than now.”
And she did not know
that it was I who gave her the new grain and the wine and the oil,
and silver I showered upon her
and gold that they fashioned for Baal.
Therefore I will turn her back and take away
My new grain in its time
and my wine in its season
and reclaim my wool and My flax
that would cover her nakedness Hosea 2:8-10

Her instant reaction is desperation–she runs “after her lovers”
– but it’s wasted effort
• we know the secret why she could not find them: they don’t exist
◦ that’s why she runs into a wall or gets lost in a desert
• what God hopes, is that his people will come to their senses
“Let me
go back to my first husband,
for it was better for me than now”
– through the entire period of Israel’s wandering from God,
• there has been one central defect, “she did not know” !
◦ the word know (or knowledge, Hebrew yada) occurs multiple times in Hosea, all the way to the last verse
◦ it is central themes in this book of prophecies, and in chapter 4 we read:
“My people is destroyed without knowledge,
for you—you rejected knowledge” (Hosea 4:6)
• Israel forgot that all their blessings came from the Lord
◦ but she had abused his gifts and, instead, dedicated them to the Canaanite god Baal
◦ again, this is a complaint skillfully expressed in Ezekiel
“And you took from your garments and made yourself tapestried high places and played the whore on them. Such things should never be. And you took your splendid ornaments, from My gold and from My silver that I gave to you, and you made for yourself male images and played the whore with them . . . .” (Eze. 16:15-18)

At this point in the trial God pronounces sentence on Israel
And now, I will lay bare her shame
before the eyes of her lovers,
and no man shall saver her.
And I will put an end to her rejoicing,
to her festivals, her new moons and her sabbaths
and all her appointed times.
And I will wither her vines and her fig trees
of which she said, “They are a whore’s pay for me
that my lovers gave to me.”
And I will turn them into scrubland,
and the beasts of the field shall devour them.
And I will make a reckoning against her for the days of the Baalim
to whom she burned incense,
and she put on her nose right and her jewelry
and went after her lovers,
but Me she for got, said the LORD Hosea 2:11-15

This is what her punishment would be:
First, her guilt would be publicly exposed to the world (cf. Eze. 16:35-37)
Second, no one would come to her rescue (no one could)
Third, every joy and cause for celebration would be taken from her
Fourth, her agriculture would be ruined
– the shrubs their fields produced would be food for wild beasts

If we remember that this drama was played out in Hosea’s life,
– we might have an idea of the wrenching sadness he felt
• betrayal strikes hard and leaves deep wounds
◦ Shakespeare captured the deep pain of betrayal in three words
◦ as Caesar was being assassinated, he noticed his friend among the conspirators and said,
et tu, Brute – “And you, Brutus? Then fall Caesar.”
• we know we can ignore and reject God,
◦ but it doesn’t occur to us that we might cause him sadness
◦ we see it, however, in Jesus
“And when [Jesus] drew near and saw the city, he wept over it, saying, ‘Would that you, even you, had known on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes” (Lk. 19:41-42)
• here are the sad last words of our text for this morning: “but Me she forgot, said the LORD”

Conclusion: One morning twelve years ago, my meditation was on this line: “And she did not know”

I wrote:
“It is what we don’t know that ruins us
We do not know:
• how far the effects of one kind deed we skipped would have traveled
• the wound we inflicted by one mean word or rude expression or gesture
• that the person who was in our way carries an intolerable burden
• that Jesus was expecting us to return to him to give thanks after an answered prayer
• the greatness of God’s love for us or the immense depth of his grace and mercy
• how much more God will give us when we joyfully share what we have

That morning, I also reminded myself about the parable of the talents;
that the boss gave ten to one servant, five to another, and two to another
My thought was, God does not give only assets, he makes investments
and we do not know when he will come to collect

Podcast

Welcome and Prayer: Jim Calhoun

Come Lord, join us here today
We are such frail creatures
Full of anxiety
Full of fear
And often full of hate

And we organize our lives
around this fear and hate
We codify it
Institutionalize it
Teach it in our families
And in our schools
And in our churches

That this person
should be feared or hated
Or that one
And how we
should be
Regarded carefully
Honored
Treated well
Better than others
As is our due

And though this satisfies
the hunger of our fears and hate
It keeps us tied up
Locked up
And stuck
within sight
of the kingdom of heaven
But still outside

Break through to us
Break us down if you must
So we may fully enter
Your kingdom
Your presence
And fully partake
Of your love
As it casts out all fears
And makes us able
To love our neighbors
All of them
Just as you have loved us

And help us help others
Especially our neighbors
who already claim your name
Love this way
Putting aside every hinderance that
Leads to bigotry
And oppression
And prejudice
And disregard
And cruelty
So with you
And in your way
We can be
The kingdom of heaven
At hand
Amen

Morning Talk: chuck smith, jr.

See with what large letters I am writing to you with my own hand Galatians 6:11

Intro: The Galatians were coming to the end of Paul’s letter,

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
– here at the end, Paul returns to what had been his hot topic–and I think I understand why
• it is frustrating to manage a crisis from a distance
◦ had he been with them, their feedback would been immediate
◦ he would know whether they understood him and agreed or disagreed
• separated by many miles and months of waiting for a response by mail,
◦ he could not be sure they were convinced
◦ so he hammers at his point one last time

Paul looks at the same issue, but from a different angle
 It is those who want to make a good showing in the flesh who would force you to be circumcised, and only in order that they may not be persecuted for the cross of Christ. For even those who are circumcised do not themselves keep the law, but they desire to have you circumcised that they may boast in your flesh Galatians 6:12-13

His previous concern has been with what the legalist party was demanding
– and this is something we need to understand
• they weren’t preaching Christian conversion, but cultural conversion
◦ this has been goal of many Evangelicals and missionaries

Question: How do we know when a person is a true Christian?
Answer: When they look and think and talk like us
For those of us who remember the Smothers Brothers, one of their famous parodies went like this:
As I walked out in the streets of Laredo,
as I walked out in Laredo one day,
I spied a young cowboy, all dressed in white linen,
dressed in white linen as cold as the clay.
I see by your outfit that you are a cowboy.
I see by your outfit you are a cowboy, too.
We see by our outfits that we are both cowboys;
if you get an outfit you can be a cowboy, too!

◦ this is the simplistic message of some evangelists, “Want to be a Christian? Get the outfit.”
• Paul has covered that, but what he is telling them now is new
– he is exposing the motives of these interlopers, and he lists three:

First, they were concerned with their image
– The New Living Translation, they “want to look good to others”
• there was a group of rigid Pharisees they wanted to please
◦ this was the popular movement back home in Jerusalem
• talking Gentile Christians into circumcision and law-keeping would enhance their status with other religious bigots
Second, they wanted to avoid being persecuted for the cross of Christ
– when Paul refers to “the cross,” it is shorthand for his central message
• it’s the entire story of Jesus, which Paul also refers to as “the gospel”
◦ it features the death and resurrection of Jesus
“For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. . . . For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Gentiles, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God” (1 Cor. 1:18 and 22-24)
• Paul was brutally persecuted for taking this message to Gentiles
◦ he could have compromised his message to avoid persecution
◦ but then he could no longer say that we are “saved by grace”
Third, converting Gentiles to Judaism would give the interlopers bragging rights
– Paul makes this point in an odd, but graphic way
• in effect, these people could win popularity points when they could control what Gentiles did with their bodies
• this is a basic requirement of bad religion
◦ and it is a recognizable characteristic of every cult

In listing these motives, Paul exposed another problem
“they do not themselves keep the law”
– it’s hard to think of anything that does worse damage to religion than hypocrisy
• but people who pretend they can achieve perfect holiness cannot help but fail
◦ and their failure can destroy others who looked up to them and trusted them

So where did Paul stand in comparison?
But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. For neither circumcision counts for anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation. And as for all who walk by this rule, peace and mercy be upon them, and upon the Israel of God Galatians 6:14-16

Paul uses the word “boast” a lot (twenty-two times in 2 Corinthians)
– the same word can also mean something like, “look for glory”
• in high school baseball, we called players who stepped in front of other players to catch an outfield fly ball “glory hounds”
– but though bragging was frowned upon in Paul’s day, boasting was considered a legitimate behavior
• the social structure in Mediterranean world has been labeled honor/shame cultures
◦ it was okay to boast to enhance your social standing

Paul, however surrendered all his boasting rights
– he considered himself fortunate to be God’s slave
• his Lord was everything and he was nothing
• so though the bigots boasted in their achievements,
◦ Paul refused to boast in himself
– I feel it necessary to point out that we find Paul doing some hefty boasting in 2 Corinthians
• the Corinthians were greatly influenced by boasting of spiritual leaders
◦ so to win the Corinthians’ attention, Paul was compelled to boast
• however, he was embarrassed in doing this, and more than once apologizes for it
◦ in fact, he stated openly how he felt about it:
“‘Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.’ For it is not the one who commends himself who is approved, but the one whom the Lord commends”
“let no one think me foolish. But even if you do, accept me as a fool, so that I too may boast a little.”
“I have been a fool! You forced me to it, for I ought to have been commended by you.” (2 Cor. 10:17-18; 11:16; 12:11)

In chapter 2, we’ve already seen how the cross affected Paul’s life
“I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me” (Gal. 2:20)
– this is the life to which Jesus called his disciples
“If anyone would come after me, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me” (Mt. 16:24)
• to this day, Bible scholars are still working out a coherent theology of the cross
• at any rate, somehow the cross becomes an experience we share with Jesus
◦ it is death to an old life of addiction to sin
◦ it is resurrection to a life of new possibilities
– we’ll leave it there for now

So what is Paul’s last word on circumcision?
– “For neither circumcision counts for anything, nor uncircumcision” – a huge relief!
• there are many trivial issues in which religious people can get tangled up or be driven crazy
• in 1 Corinthians, Paul addressed eating food offered to idols
◦ for some, it was an issue with great importance, but Paul wrote,
“Food will not commend us to God. We are no worse off if we do not eat, and no better off if we do” (1 Cor. 8:8)
– like circumcision, the issue is irrelevant to the life of faith in Jesus
• what is relevant, is that in Christ we are something new–a new creation (cf. 2 Cor. 5:17)
After these concluding thoughts, Paul pronounces a benediction for a specific community
– namely, “all who walk by this rule”; that is to say, who live by this principle
• “peace and mercy”
– the “Israel of God” is the new people of God, brought together in Jesus Christ

Paul’s parting words
From now on let no one cause me trouble, for I bear on my body the marks of Jesus.
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, brothers. Amen Galatians 6:17-18

This past week the President of the United States and the United States Secretary of War addressed a gathering of career military soldiers, including Generals and other high ranking officers
– without commenting on it, Paul’s demand seems to be an appropriate response of the audience to the speakers that day
• Paul’s message is essentially, “Back off! I’ve earned my stripes”
• when he came to Galatia, he wore the marks of physical abuse on his body
– in verse 18, Paul comes full circle, closing the letter the way he began–with “grace”

Conclusion: If you’ve ever gone in the Ocean at Salt Creek beach,

You may have experienced the strong riptide there
If you try to fight it, all you will gain is exhaustion — resistance will only wear you out

Some of us have felt a similar exhaustion trying to deal with the division in our nation
(However, sociopaths never get tired of irritating and angering others, arguing, and name-calling)
Reading in Revelation yesterday, I came to Jesus’ letter to the church in Ephesus,
“I know your works, your toil and your patient endurance, and how you cannot bear with those who are evil, but have tested those who call themselves apostles and are not, and found them to be false” (Re. 2:2)
Jesus knew their resistance to the false apostles had taken a toll on them
He also knew that resisting the strong current of deception had carried them away from their “first love”
It is possible that in resisting what we perceive as gross error and deadly trends,
our first love for the Lord and others has been threatened or lost
(and in all honesty, at times we have lost it)
But then, if lose our first love, what have we been fighting for?
We need to find our way back to the center,
where rational and meaningful spiritual conversations can take place
We need to find our way back to the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ
We need to let the Spirit of God help us recover our first love
We need to receive the benediction of God’s peace and mercy and grace

Podcast

Welcome and Prayer: Jim Calhoun

Come Lord, Join us this morning
Our lives are fragile
And our need for you is great

Life can change in a minute
Our security stripped
Our work arounds crumbled
Our lives at risk
Our true situation made plain

Sometimes our need for you
Fosters resistance
Fosters pride
And we step out on our own
Still, eventually,
The course of life
brings us back
to the lived reality
Of every human:
We are dependent
Creatures in this world
In need

If we are in resistance
Call us gently to you
With your great good love
Assure us of your care
And strength
And your desire to make us whole
As we navigate
And negotiate
Our lives

We thank you Lord
for meeting us in our need
As well as in our resistance
Each day
Each moment
Amen

Morning Talk: chuck smith, jr.

Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.
Brothers and sisters, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted. Galatians 5:26-6:2

Intro: Years ago, and in another life, I had a feisty personal assistant

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”

Paul sets off in this direction with an unexpected example

He begins by addressing a negative problem and how to deal with it
(compare this with places where his instruction to believers is encouraging and positive)
“Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, to build [them] up” (Rom. 15:2)
“Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing” (1 Thes. 5:11)
– here he jumps right into helping someone who has taken a fall
• I suppose this happens frequently enough that everyone in the spiritual community must prepare for it
◦ in fact, that’s what this entire letter has been until now,
◦ Paul leading the Galatians back to Jesus and the true gospel
• the way Paul sees the Christian family is that everyone is affected by one person’s slip-up
◦ the goal in this instance is restoration (the same Greek word is used for mending nets, Mt. 4:21)
– his specific advice is excellent
• first, identify the agents who need to be deployed to help this person
“you who are spiritual”
◦ no doubt, these people display the “fruit of the Spirit” he had just gone over
• next, they’re to approach this person “in a spirit of gentleness”
◦ in my experience, this is a rarity
◦ often people who assume this role show no hint of “gentle,”
but go in a spirit that is judgmental, or self-righteous, or aggressive
• third, those who go must be watchful of their own issues
◦ of course, we all have our own temptations
◦ but may Paul means they may be tempted to be too harsh with the person who slipped

This is just one example of how we help others with their burdens
– there are also financial burdens, health burdens, grief burdens, mental burdens, and so on
• the nature of our burdens shift as we age
◦ and so does the kind of help we’re able to give
• when we were young, we did a lot of physical labor
◦ now we may be more with providing money, or meals, or emotional support, or spiritual counsel

I’m not sure, but here’s what I think Paul had in mind
For if anyone thinks he is something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself. But let each one test his own work, and then his reason to boast will be in himself alone and not in his neighbor. For each will have to bear his own load Galatians 6:3-5

Some people are unwilling to do anything for anyone else
– Paul says they think they are something “special”
• like they’re above helping someone carry a heavy object
◦ “Why should I help them when I have my own burdens?”
• perhaps Paul means, if you’re not helping, then you’re not something, you’re nothing
Dad used to say, “If you’re not good for something, you’re good for nothing”
– you can see that God swings back to conceit, which is where he started into these things
• when people think they’re something when they’re not, Paul says they are lying to themselves
• and the only ones deceived are themselves
◦ everyone else sees the truth of what they are

Paul issues a challenge to his readers
– “test” often refers to a method used to check the strength, quality, or purity of a metal, a jewel, a blood sample, etcetera
• so the challenge is to examine your own work
◦ its value, effect, quality, and quantity
• then, if you prove to be talented, gifted, brilliant, or generous
◦ you will have earned your bragging rights
◦ also, you won’t be comparing yourself to anyone else
– again, I am guessing that Paul is saying,
• we each have to deal with our own issues, carry our own load
◦ but that doesn’t mean we’re exempt from helping others
◦ here is how the these verses appear in the Message Bible:
“Make a careful exploration of who you are and the work you have been given, and then sink yourself into that. Don’t be impressed with yourself. Don’t compare yourself with others. Each of you must take responsibility for doing the creative best you can with your own life”

We’re all responsible for what grows in our spiritual garden|
Let the one who is taught the word share all good things with the one who teaches. Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life
Galatians 6:6-8

Again, deception is an issue – Greek word for deceived here means “led astray”
– I find it significant, when the disciples asked Jesus,
“what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?”
• in his first words of warning he used this word:
“See that no one leads you astray” (Mt. 24:3-4)
• it’s as if there will be so many wrong ideas and wrong teaching
◦ that we will hardly be able to trust anyone
“And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray” (Mt. 24:11)
– Paul gives one of the clearest explanations of a spiritual principle in the entire Bible
• it is so simple, anyone can understand it
◦ what plants do we want to grow in our garden? what sort of life do we want to live?
◦ well, what thoughts are on our mind much of the time?
what desires do we hold in our hearts?
what feelings do we hang on to? (resentment? regret? impatience?)
what habits do we want to form?
(constant worry or constant prayer? getting along with our neighbors or fighting everyone?)
• think about it – this has to with everything!
– Paul has brought us back to the opposition of the flesh and the Spirit
• the contrary dynamics of works versus fruit

Years ago, a television commercial ran for a glue that formed a super powerful bond. Two pickup trucks were lined back to back and chained to each other, with glue holding the chains together. Then both truck revved their engines, trying to pull away from each other, but the glued chains held them in place. Now as I think about, it seems there was more than met the eye. But being a kid, I was more interested in how I could get one truck to defeat the other truck and drag it away. The simplest solution I could think of, was don’t put gasoline in one of the trucks, and the other would win with no problem. That’s like the advice I hear Paul giving the Galatians.

If you don’t want to grow weeds in your life’s garden, stop planting them
– this analogy makes understanding the solution very simple
• but that may give us the impression that it’s easy–it’s not!
• like any garden, it takes effort, diligence, and self-discipline

Paul delivers his application to our real-life situation
And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith Galatians 6:9-10

Does it ever break your heart,
– that with all the good many wonderful Christians are doing in the world, there is still so much suffering?
• so much deadly poverty?
• so much violence and warfare?
• so many unmet needs?
• and just so much apparent insanity?
– Paul tells us specifically what we should be planting
• and not get weary of it, even if we’re working under a hot sun and our backs ache
• “doing good”–it confounds me that some Christians reject this word
◦ they assume if you’re not preaching at people, handing out tracts, converting them,
◦ but “only” feeding them, providing clean water, clothing them, and giving them soup without a sermon,
that your work is worthless
◦ that keeping people alive physically is not Christian, if at the same time we’re not saving their souls

Contemplative spirituality is learning to always be aware of God in the moment
– we are living in the moment but not for the moment – we always lean toward the future
• and so, “in due season we will reap”
“For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven” (Ecc. 3:1)
• I was a silly child the first time I tried planting a peach seed
◦ I figured there would be no need to wait for my parents to go to the store if I could just go and pull a peach off of my own tree
◦ so I planted my seed and watered it every day for a week
◦ then I dug it up to see if it was growing roots, but it looked just the same
◦ so I kept watering it and kept digging it up every couple of days
◦ finally I gave up and threw it over the fence into the neighbor’s yard
• Paul assures us there will be a harvest, a reward, even if we have to wait for it

“So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone”
– I promise you, if we look, we will find an “opportunity” every day to do good for someone

Conclusion: Maybe this next week I can be a little bit better person than last week

And when I get to the end of this week,
maybe the following week I can be a little better than that

Paul has shown us a sample of what “doing good” looks like
He’s also shown us the things that tend to gets in the way
Yesterday, reading in 1 John, it struck me that we have a way to see who is a real deal Christian
and who is not
And it’s so simple!
“By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother or sister”
And this is his commandment, that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ AND love one another, just as he commanded us (1 Jn. 3:10 & 23)
Political affiliation does not determine who is a Christian,
nor does it set limits on who we love, whether Republican or Democrat,
or even whether Capitalist or Socialist!
The question is,
Are we showing love to our human siblings?
It’s as simple as that