Didn’t He Do Well! (Did He?)

•October 23, 2013 • 2 Comments

How well do we think we have lived?  Do we think we have done well?  Do we think we have made a huge mess of things?  Do we think we have plodded along ok, muddling through as best we could?  Are we confident or worried?

How do we think we will be greeted by God when our time comes to meet him face to face?

2 Timothy 4:6-8, 16-18 (CEV)

6 Now the time has come for me to die. My life is like a drink offering being poured out on the altar. 7 I have fought well. I have finished the race, and I have been faithful. 8 So a crown will be given to me for pleasing the Lord. He judges fairly, and on the day of judgment he will give a crown to me and to everyone else who wants him to appear with power.

16 When I was first put on trial, no one helped me. In fact, everyone deserted me. I hope it won’t be held against them. 17 But the Lord stood beside me. He gave me the strength to tell his full message, so that all Gentiles would hear it. And I was kept safe from hungry lions. 18 The Lord will always keep me from being harmed by evil, and he will bring me safely into his heavenly kingdom. Praise him forever and ever! Amen.

And here is the answer to Jeremiah’s cry that only God can help.  Now we have the other side of judgement – God standing beside his people.  We stand with his strength, not our own.  We work in his power alone.  Whatever we have done, whatever we deserve, God welcomes us to him.  Even Paul, with all he had done in work for God, all he had suffered, all the lives he had reached – he is fully aware that it is God, and he alone, who will bring Paul into his Kingdom.  It is God who has kept him thus far, and God who will keep him for eternity.

That is the hope on which we rely.  Not the hope of all the good things we have done, our amazing ministry, our faithfulness, our lives lived pleasing to God – because by those criteria all of us will have failed.  If we trust in ourselves we will be sadly disappointed.  If we trust in God, he will never disappoint us.  But God does not fail, so it is fortunate for us, that it is on him that we rely.

Yes, we need to do our bit – but that is never what will save us.  Alone it is not enough – but God is.  The loving, forgiving, merciful God waits to welcome us – each one of us – you and me.

Thank you Lord
that you are my hope,
my truly saving grace.
Whatever I think I have done
is not enough
– but you are.
However badly I think I have done,
you still welcome me.
You alone are my Saviour
and my hope.
I stand in your strength
not mine.
And I praise and worship you

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Posted in bible, forgiveness, God, Lectionary, Religion, theology
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The Joy of Worship – Psalm 84

•October 22, 2013 • Leave a Comment

Psalm 84:1-7  (CEV)

(For the music leader.A psalm for the people of Korah.)

The Joy of Worship

84 Lord God All-Powerful,
    your temple is so lovely!
2 Deep in my heart I long
    for your temple,
    and with all that I am
    I sing joyful songs to you.

3 Lord God All-Powerful,
    my King and my God,
sparrows find a home
    near your altars;
    swallows build nests there
    to raise their young.

4 You bless everyone
who lives in your house,
    and they sing your praises.
5 You bless all who depend
    on you for their strength
    and all who deeply desire
    to visit your temple.

Robert Bone [CC-BY-SA-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)%5D, via Wikimedia Commons

6 When they reach Dry Valley,
    springs start flowing,
    and the autumn rain fills it
    with pools of water.
7 Your people grow stronger,
    and you, the God of gods,
    will be seen in Zion.

How lovely to live with God – to be in his presence, to be where he is.  When nowhere else seems safe – we are secure in his presence.

In that place we grow stronger, as we rely on God, and delight in worshipping him

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Posted in bible, faith, God, Lectionary, Religion, Thanksgiving
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God’s Rescue

•October 21, 2013 • 1 Comment

It’s Strictly Come Dancing time of the year again.  A delightful way to pass a Saturday evening, in my opinion.  Yet, however entertaining the dances, at the end of the night, it is actually a competition and scores are given.  There is a standard against which points are awarded – or deducted.

This week, we again get a bonus reading.  There is a choice of either a reading from the Apocrypha:

Sirach/Ecclesiasticus 35:12-17 (NRSVA)

12 Give to the Most High as he has given to you,
    and as generously as you can afford.
13 For the Lord is the one who repays,
    and he will repay you sevenfold.

Divine Justice

14 Do not offer him a bribe, for he will not accept it;
15     and do not rely on a dishonest sacrifice;
for the Lord is the judge,
    and with him there is no partiality.
16 He will not show partiality to the poor;
    but he will listen to the prayer of one who is wronged.
17 He will not ignore the supplication of the orphan,
    or the widow when she pours out her complaint.

or this one from the standard Old Testament:

Jeremiah 14:7-10, 19-22 (CEV)

The Lord’s People Pray

7 Our terrible sins may demand
    that we be punished.
But if you rescue us, Lord,
everyone will see
    how great you are.
8 You’re our only hope;
    you alone can save us now.
You help us one day,
    but you’re gone the next.
9 Did this disaster
    take you by surprise?
Are you a warrior
    with your hands tied?
You have chosen us,
and your temple is here.
    Don’t abandon us!

The Lord’s Answer

10 My people,
    you love to wander away;
you don’t even try
    to stay close to me.
So now I will reject you
and punish you for your sins.
    I, the Lord, have spoken.

Jeremiah Prays to the Lord

19 Have you rejected Judah, Lord?
    Do you hate Jerusalem?
Why did you strike down Judah
    with a fatal wound?
We had hoped for peace
and a time of healing,
    but all we got was terror.
20 We and our ancestors are guilty
    of rebelling against you.
21 If you save us, it will show
    how great you are.
Don’t let our enemies
disgrace your temple,
    your beautiful throne.
Don’t forget that you promised
    to rescue us.
22 Idols can’t send rain,
and showers don’t fall
    by themselves.
Only you control the rain,
so we put our trust in you,
    the Lord our God.

Both of which bring us to the same place – God’s judgement of us.

We don’t like to think of judgement.   We like to think everything will be ok in the end, it won’t be as bad as we think it might be – and after all we’ve done no worse than anyone else.

Yet we will all be judged.  Judged by God against his standard.  Sirach reminds us that we can’t bribe God.  Our life is what it is.  Each one of us will have to answer for what we have done, and will be responsible.  The measure is given in verses 12 and 13.  Have we given as generously as we could?  Of our time?  Our love?  Our welcome?  Our skills?  As well as our wealth?

God has given everything we have to us.  That is the standard.

Judged against that, we all fall short.

Yet Jeremiah realises that God is also the only one who can save us.  He is our only hope.  The only one in whom we can put our trust.

Returning to Strictly, the judges don’t just give marks, but also (usually) helpful comments, pointers on how to improve, or to make the mark.  God has shown us the perfect way to live, but we continue to fail.  But we can stand with Jeremiah and say,

You’re our only hope;
    you alone can save us now. (v 8)

…and that is where Jesus comes in – God’s rescue plan to save us from ourselves.

So, yes we should consider our lives, be aware of what we have got wrong; but knowing there is nothing we can do about it, we turn and put our hope in God – the only one who can save us.

Lord,
I am very aware
of what I have got wrong,
when I have wandered away,
rejected you
and your ways.

I come before you know
in acknowledgement
and confession.

Lord,
only in you do I have any hope.
Save me,
restore me,
may I heed your ways

Posted in bible, faith, God, hope, Lectionary, Religion, theology
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