God Got Involved.
Good Morning Friends,
Yesterday at prayer and Bible study we were discussing the things God knows- Everything. The opening was around all the trivia that would win you a free beer at happy hour. The scripture used in the Quentin Tarantino’s Academy Award-winning screenplay Pulp Fiction was brought up as such a trivia question that God would know. The answer is that Samuel L. Jackson in his character of Jules the preacher, paraphrases Ezekiel 25:17 as justification for his hit man lifestyle.
But there is more to this movie than trivia. There is this one scene near the end of the movie, when Jules played by Jackson and Vincent – played by John Travolta – the two hit men at the center of movie- argue over how to explain what happened when a drug dealer unloaded his handgun at them at close range but missed them entirely? Vincent believes it’s a freak occurrence. Jules considers it a miracle. In response to Vincent’s assertion that what happened didn’t qualify as physically “impossible,” Jules says, “You’re judging this the wrong way. It’s not about what. It could be God stopped the bullets, he changed Coke into Pepsi, he found my…car keys. You don’t judge like this based on merit. Whether or not what we experienced was an according-to-Hoyle miracle is insignificant. What is significant is that I felt God’s touch. God Got Involved.
Scripture: I will execute great vengeance on them (the Philistines) with wrathful punishments. Then they shall know that I am the Lord, when I lay my vengeance on them.
Ezekiel 25:17 (NRSV)
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us,
Hebrews 12:1(NIV)
So if you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth, 3for you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4When Christ who is your life is revealed, then you also will be revealed with him in glory. 5Put to death, therefore, whatever in you is earthly: fornication, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed (which is idolatry). 6On account of these the wrath of God is coming on those who are disobedient. 7These are the ways you also once followed, when you were living that life. 8But now you must get rid of all such things—anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive language from your mouth. 9Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have stripped off the old self with its practices 10and have clothed yourselves with the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge according to the image of its creator. 11In that renewal there is no longer Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave and free; but Christ is all and in all!
Colossians 3:1-11 (NRSV)
Such is the confidence that we have through Christ toward God. Not that we are competent of ourselves to claim anything as coming from us; our competence is from God, who has made us competent to be ministers of a new covenant, not of letter but of spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.
2 Corinthians 3:4-6 (NRSV)
Message: One of the greatest witness to the Christian faith is that God got involved in the country of Israel and that they are still here when the Philistines, their enemies, are left in the dust of history. Friends, this is not pulp fiction but historic fact. Now some of the world has been tricked into thinking today’s Palestinians are descendants of the Philistines. Well, this is not true. To insult the Jews after the Roman army destroyed the city of Jerusalem; they changed the name to Palestine. The Philistines as described in scripture ceased to be a people. Still the people who inhabit this place, like the people of Israel, have had more than their fair share of assaults. Here is the point… what we believe in regards to how we see God working in history…including our history… determines in large part how we behave. This choice and dynamic is depicted in the movie Pulp Fiction. Vincent wants science to count as evidence, what can be trusted, what we believe as real. Vincent wants “reality” to be discerned by reason, by a verifiable expertise. Jules, however, makes room for faith, the ability to perceive God at work in, though, and around the various activities and components of our daily, physical life. And based on his assessment, Jules decides to give up the life of a hit man and look elsewhere for what God has in store for him. Jules’ defense of his decision is intriguing. As unlikely as it may first appear, Jules articulates a vision of faith not far from that offered by Paul….a great cloud of witnesses in all the bullets that missed them. For Jules it was the experience of a palpable faith that prompts a new life in Christ. It reminds us, as we touched on yesterday, that a covenant that is letter in nature kills because it makes external demands without giving the inward power for obedience, while a covenant that is Spirit in character gives life.
Pray we move beyond head knowledge and let Christ reach our hearts. Pray we have a vision of faith that changes our behavior for the better. Pray we look up, we look out, we look in, and we look around for Christ. Pray we break free from the past. Pray we have confidence in Christ. Pray we become new creatures in Christ. Pray we choose God. Pray it is time for our swords to be turned into plowshares.
Daily Devotionals 