Good Morning Friends,
The letter to the Hebrews reads a lot like a sermon series. And, in chapter 12, we see a message on the Old Testament narrative where Moses came down the mountain with the Ten Commandments. The early Hebrew tribes were so frightened by the events that they asked Moses to pray that God would not speak directly to them. They asked that God communicate with Moses as an intermediary. And such is the beginning of the role of prophecy that was eventually reconciled in Christ in a new covenant. So, when we worship and witness today, we are not to come to a Mount Sinai in our minds separated from God but to assemble at a mountain top celebration to spread the Gospel of repentance and healing to others. Science has its place and so too our spiritual development in this regard, but we need to understand they answer different questions that may not be completely mutually exclusive especially when it comes to resilience. And that brings us to a very practical question for the Saints during the pandemic for we must be prepared with more than just personal protective equipment. So, Are We Climbing The Right Mountain With The Right Gear?
Scripture: You have not come to something that can be touched, a blazing fire, and darkness, and gloom, and a tempest, and the sound of a trumpet, and a voice whose words made the hearers beg that not another word be spoken to them. (For they could not endure the order that was given, “If even an animal touches the mountain, it shall be stoned to death.” Indeed, so terrifying was the sight that Moses said, “I tremble with fear.”) But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.
Hebrews 12:18-24 (NRSV)
He called the twelve and began to send them out two by two, and gave them authority over the unclean spirits. He ordered them to take nothing for their journey except a staff; no bread, no bag, no money in their belts; but to wear sandals and not to put on two tunics. He said to them, “Wherever you enter a house, stay there until you leave the place. If any place will not welcome you and they refuse to hear you, as you leave, shake off the dust that is on your feet as a testimony against them.” So they went out and proclaimed that all should repent. They cast out many demons, and anointed with oil many who were sick and cured them.
Mark 6:7-13 (NRSV)
Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised in the city of our God. His holy mountain, beautiful in elevation, is the joy of all the earth, Mount Zion, in the far north, the city of the great King. Within its citadels God has shown himself a sure defense. Then the kings assembled, they came on together. As soon as they saw it, they were astounded; they were in panic, they took to flight; trembling took hold of them there, pains as of a woman in labor, as when an east wind shatters the ships of Tarshish. As we have heard, so have we seen in the city of the Lord of hosts, in the city of our God, which God establishes forever. Selah We ponder your steadfast love, O God, in the midst of your temple. Your name, O God, like your praise, reaches to the ends of the earth. Your right hand is filled with victory. Let Mount Zion be glad, let the towns of Judah rejoice because of your judgments.
Psalm 48:1-11 (NRSV)
Message: As we study the Bible it becomes clear that even for those literates in Greek and Hebrew, which I am not, the translation from one language to another of the Bible is not so simple. The Hebrew language has relatively few words and with so few words, many Hebrew words have multiple meanings. It is difficult to think Hebrew for those living today. Word for word translations have limitations. Thought for thought translations do not always agree on the meaning of a particular word much less the whole passage. Greek verb tenses and other grammatical structures present some issues for translating into a language like English, which lacks many grammatical features of Biblical Greek. Clarity is needed if we are to follow the right meaning and be able in grasp it with some assurance of it being the Word of God. But is difficult to see clearly and as a whole the challenge before us whether it is in choosing a translation to read or in considering the best path to choose for dealing with the pandemic. We all have choices that may have unintended consequences. That 81,000 people last year died of opioid drug overdoses in the United States (the greatest number ever) may be related to the reality that the strain on people’s mental health may have farther reaching consequences in terms of our corporate survival than even the direct effects of the pandemic itself. Some countries have tried to develop herd immunity without a vaccine and are now back pedaling. We seek a better way and all to often rely on our own strength. Today’s scripture gives us some insight into the thinking but as to the wisdom of its application to the pandemic only time will tell. The thing is that God’s ways are not the ways of the world. Let me give you an example. If a far-seeing leader in the Middle East back in the centuries before Christ had wanted to establish a city or territory for his people, he would have chosen a place with natural defenses and Jerusalem would have been the last place he would have chosen. No human ruler would have chosen the land called Palestine for his people. It is like a superhighway between Asia and Africa, threatened by Egyptian powers in the south, Arabians from the desert east, and a succession of kingdoms from the north and northeast. It is practically indefensible in human terms and was conquered many times from all directions. It is the wrong mountain to make a home in human terms. God, however, has ways beyond human plans. His people, formed from the family of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, were planted in that place we call the Holy Land with an intention far beyond human politics. They were supposed to be defended by the power of God, and they were supposed to turn away from human alliances and rely only on the God of Israel. In the times of the post-Davidic kings, however, they paid only lip service to God’s law and God’s protection and were overrun time and time again by their neighbors. Knowing this history Jesus instructs his disciples in today’s Gospel reading Top of FormBottom of FormJesus tells them and us that we must use our own desires for ourselves as our rule of life for the way we treat others. In fact, that is the fulfillment of the Mosaic law. But it is not easy; it is a narrow path that leads to eternal safety and joy even in a pandemic. For hundreds of years, God’s chosen people chose the broad path. It led ultimately to God turning their lives and land over to destruction and exile. We must not forget as Israel did that our mission is to call all people to true worship and the following of the law of love. Paying lip service to God’s law and protection is not enough. The broad way of what we think is a solution always includes unintended consequences. Time will tell the story if what we think in human terms is the best solution to the pandemic. As disciples of Jesus Christ, we all will have our hardships. But we are privileged in so many ways. We know a God who has control of time and exists in dimension we cannot grasp. Interestingly, Jerusalem is a place on a mountain where time and dimension converge, and it gives us a taste of how God works in the world. It is not strength but in weakness that God rules our lives.
And So, I do not know if the world is following the right path in dealing with the pandemic. So much of success is in being counterintuitive. What we think is good is often the makings of our own disaster. We all have mountains that we face in our lives. Some mountains are small and take very little effort to overcome, but then life throws us those mountains that we cannot even see the top of them let alone conquer them. We cannot do it alone. For some of us effective witnessing can be such a mountain. And part of the problem might just be that we are climbing the wrong mountain. The book of Hebrews gives us some profound images of mountains echoed from the Book of Exodus and the image of a shining City on a hill as a place of perfect worship in the heavenly Jerusalem. Interestingly, today’s Gospel selection points us in the direction of a mission of evangelism with Jesus and that is a mountain we cannot go around. Here we must stop playing at being the church and get serious about our assignments. The choice… it is either the blood of Abel, which demands vengeance, or the blood of Christ, which provides forgiveness. The rule of God’s grace and judgment cannot be deterred. The power and promises of the Word of God is assured, for we have been promised that the children of God shall dwell in eternal inheritance in that city atop mount Zion whose architect and builder is God. We are not alone in this search. Many seek this place so holy that it multiplies God’s glory in a brand-new dimension of love. Perhaps you have experienced this kind of worship. Perhaps you are ready to go to the mountain where the saints and angels gather. Perhaps you want to witness to Jesus on the throne. But are we approaching God boldly? Maybe the bold step God is leading us is to accept Christ. Maybe the step is submitting to God’s will. Maybe it is sharing our faith. Friends, there are some mountains God can guide us around but then there are some mountains we cannot ignore. To be resilient we might well need to learn to think in new ways for when our time comes it will be much like how Jesus described the journey of the disciples to share the good news of the Gospel but with no bread, no bag, no money and limited clothing. God will equip us in ways we have yet to understand fully.
Pray we set an example of climbing the right mountains. Pray we discern the mountains to walk around and there embrace God’s plan of deliverance. Pray we turn our mountains over to God. Pray we realize that God has already conquered the mountains we will be called to climb. Pray we do not let the mountains of life separate us from God. Pray we realize that God is with us to guide us. Pray we take bold steps of sharing God the Gospel. Pray we have character, perspective, courage, and God’s favor. Pray we realize that though the Gospel is a gift it is also a priceless one. Pray for a City on a hill where redemption rules. Pray we are called out for purpose. Pray for a solution that is a living vibrant relationship with God…an outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Pray for God to destroy the bondage and replace it with a purpose whose architect is God. Pray we get out of our sins and messes and replace them with a vision and purpose worthy of God. Pray we are shaken into real worship in the Spirit of heaven…a place the devil is not allowed to go. Pray we get wrapped up, tangled up in the persistent presence of the Glory of God. Pray we live in the city of the living God where the saints pray with us.
Blessings,
John Lawson
Daily Devotionals 