Good Morning Friends,
Indecision is a problem for Israel during the time of Elijah. People are having a hard time deciding whose side to be on. We face similar problems in our world today that challenges us to face up to today’s question. And it involves us to think through our attitudes about laws we have in our own society too, knowing the politicians do not always agree. And the thing is that scholars do not agree either on Jesus’ attitude toward the written and oral traditions of law. So, the issue is not new. But interestingly these Bible scholars do agree Jesus was taking on the religious and political leaders of the day, and that Jesus was never safe and predictable in what he would do. So, friends, on the one hand Jesus accepted the Old Testament laws as a permanently binding revelation of God, but at other times made rituals subordinate to moral laws and relaxed the Sabbath laws to meet human needs. He was not so concerned about the purity laws as the purity process. His focus was more on the spirit of the law. And now since we live in the age of the church and a time of grace before judgement, I imagine some might be confused a little on the subject. So, Are We Following Laws To Conform Or Be Transformed?
Scripture: So Ahab sent to all the Israelites, and assembled the prophets at Mount Carmel. Elijah then came near to all the people, and said, “How long will you go limping with two different opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him; but if Baal, then follow him.” The people did not answer him a word. Then Elijah said to the people, “I, even I only, am left a prophet of the Lord; but Baal’s prophets number four hundred fifty. Let two bulls be given to us; let them choose one bull for themselves, cut it in pieces, and lay it on the wood, but put no fire to it; I will prepare the other bull and lay it on the wood, but put no fire to it. Then you call on the name of your god and I will call on the name of the Lord; the god who answers by fire is indeed God.” All the people answered, “Well spoken!” Then Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, “Choose for yourselves one bull and prepare it first, for you are many; then call on the name of your god, but put no fire to it.” So they took the bull that was given them, prepared it, and called on the name of Baal from morning until noon, crying, “O Baal, answer us!” But there was no voice, and no answer. They limped about the altar that they had made. At noon Elijah mocked them, saying, “Cry aloud! Surely he is a god; either he is meditating, or he has wandered away, or he is on a journey, or perhaps he is asleep and must be awakened.” Then they cried aloud and, as was their custom, they cut themselves with swords and lances until the blood gushed out over them. As midday passed, they raved on until the time of the offering of the oblation, but there was no voice, no answer, and no response. Then Elijah said to all the people, “Come closer to me”; and all the people came closer to him. First he repaired the altar of the Lord that had been thrown down; Elijah took twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, to whom the word of the Lord came, saying, “Israel shall be your name”; with the stones he built an altar in the name of the Lord. Then he made a trench around the altar, large enough to contain two measures of seed. Next he put the wood in order, cut the bull in pieces, and laid it on the wood. He said, “Fill four jars with water and pour it on the burnt offering and on the wood.” Then he said, “Do it a second time”; and they did it a second time. Again he said, “Do it a third time”; and they did it a third time, so that the water ran all around the altar, and filled the trench also with water. At the time of the offering of the oblation, the prophet Elijah came near and said, “O Lord, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that you are God in Israel, that I am your servant, and that I have done all these things at your bidding. Answer me, O Lord, answer me, so that this people may know that you, O Lord, are God, and that you have turned their hearts back.” Then the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt offering, the wood, the stones, and the dust, and even licked up the water that was in the trench. When all the people saw it, they fell on their faces and said, “The Lord indeed is God; the Lord indeed is God.”
1 Kings 18:20-39 (NRSV)
“Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets; I have come not to abolish but to fulfill. For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away, not one letter, not one stroke of a letter, will pass from the law until all is accomplished. Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, will be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
Matthew 5:17-19 (NRSV)
“No one can serve two masters; for a slave will either hate the one and love the other, or be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.”
Matthew 6:24 (NRSV)
Message: When it comes to the practice of our faith, I know of no other subject that has caused more confusion in religious circles than the failure to understand the difference between the age of Law and the age of Grace and the age of the Church. And this is so in part because its full understanding requires careful interpretations of the mystery parables and the context in which they were given, and I cannot address them all today, but will tell you that they are often best viewed as being in the face of the religious establishments of that day and perhaps our own. So back to the topic of the day and my take on it. In this meditation it is best for us to view the new law Jesus offers as the completion of the old law and not its destruction. There is a maturing of the human mind as demonstrated in the Matthew text. And so, as we study the Bible, we see that the whole law goes far beyond the Ten Commandments and is expanded to 630 items that in all history only Jesus fulfilled and that today no one is capable of fulfilling. The total Law consists of a moral, civil, dietary, and ceremonial law, that governed the conduct of the nation of Israel. The law was given by God, to Moses, to be delivered to one people, the nation of Israel as instructions necessary to protect and preserve a nation to bring us our Savior Jesus. So, Jesus fulfilled the law and, on the cross, put an end to the Laws’ purpose and substituted something new that is for the whole world to write on their hearts. Gentiles were typically not under the old Law however we all have a purpose in this. What we are to show in our lives is a law written on our hearts, to which our own conscience also bears witness and Jesus Christ, will ultimately judge. So, the Law still has status in the Christian life, and there are thousands upon thousands of laws in our nation, but none of these laws are a means of salvation, save for the law of love in the new covenant. The difference for us is that we have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit and thereby the capacity when we mature to express a more moral approach to the way we live. Know that there was an abundant measure of grace under the law of Moses that can instruct us in avoiding a cheap grace that disavows obedience to God’s will. Sin still exists even though it is defeated. For now, we have both wheat and tares in our world, and we must exist together for a time before Jesus returns. So, for some the Old Testament laws may be relevant in bringing momentary grace into the lives of believers as they mature into a more complete Christian faith.
And So, when Jesus said, “No one can serve two masters,” he was talking about being doubleminded and the very nature of love and hate in relationship to God’s laws. And that is where our culture exists today. Our society beckons for our attention and worship of unholy masters. It is the way of death. Our culture trains us to serve multiple leaders…to go to church as a respectable Christian and then also serve the gods of culture and economics. Elijah speaks to this very same issue as Christ, sharing a strong message that we are not to conform. We are to be transformed. Friends, here we learn that Christian morality is more than keeping a set of rules and regulations. The Christian character is shaped by our relationship with Jesus who embodied both the law and the prophets and shares with us a way to righteousness. Only when we are empowered by the righteousness of Christ can we show forth His virtue in ours. We are to give ourselves to God, renew our mind and let God shape our thinking, attitudes and values. Then and only then can we test and prove God’s good and perfect will for our lives. We inherently know that rules do not make people good. We see it with our children, and we see it in our own lives. Laws may show us what right living looks like but not always. When we look at God’s law of love, we see that we have broken it though acts of omission, commission and the disposition. No amount of good deeds can change the fact that we are lawbreakers. We cannot earn God’s favor by trying to be good enough. The good news is that Jesus has made it possible for us to be forgiven and have our sins paid for. Jesus tells us that we are saved by faith. Still the hope is that we will be doers and not just hearers of the Word.
Pray we like Elijah not compromise our faith. Pray we not offer senseless sacrifices to the gods of our culture. Pray we give ourselves to God as a living sacrifice. Pray we not imitate society’s bondage but be transformed by the strong instruction of Jesus that mere outward conformity will never suffice. Pray we are in a continual relationship with Jesus in the word and sacrament, and devotions we offer. Pray we realize that the law is fulfilled in Jesus. Pray our mind is renewed and the law be written on our hearts. Pray we are obedient not as a means of salvation but as an expression of our love and service in the miracle of Christ.
Blessings,
John Lawson
Daily Devotionals 