Good Morning Friends,
There is a danger in misreading scripture out of context and a danger in thinking the inspired words do not have a message for us today. There are many ways to read scripture and if one is not working with God in the understanding of the message, the Devil is sure to use it to divide us from the right response. So, this morning we are contemplating the message the writers probably had in mind for the time in which it was written and looking out for the meaning that is for our time. And that prompts today’s question. Are We Really Seeking The Kingdom Of God To Reform Us And Transform Us Though Worship?
Scripture: But this command I gave them, “Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and you shall be my people; and walk only in the way that I command you, so that it may be well with you.” Yet they did not obey or incline their ear, but, in the stubbornness of their evil will, they walked in their own counsels, and looked backward rather than forward. From the day that your ancestors came out of the land of Egypt until this day, I have persistently sent all my servants the prophets to them, day after day; yet they did not listen to me, or pay attention, but they stiffened their necks. They did worse than their ancestors did. So you shall speak all these words to them, but they will not listen to you. You shall call to them, but they will not answer you. You shall say to them: This is the nation that did not obey the voice of the Lord their God, and did not accept discipline; truth has perished; it is cut off from their lips.
Jeremiah 7:23-28 (NRSV)
Now he was casting out a demon that was mute; when the demon had gone out, the one who had been mute spoke, and the crowds were amazed. But some of them said, “He casts out demons by Beelzebul, the ruler of the demons.” Others, to test him, kept demanding from him a sign from heaven. But he knew what they were thinking and said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself becomes a desert, and house falls on house. If Satan also is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand? —for you say that I cast out the demons by Beelzebul. Now if I cast out the demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your exorcists cast them out? Therefore they will be your judges. But if it is by the finger of God that I cast out the demons, then the kingdom of God has come to you. When a strong man, fully armed, guards his castle, his property is safe. But when one stronger than he attacks him and overpowers him, he takes away his armor in which he trusted and divides his plunder. Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.
Luke 11:14-23 (NRSV)
O come, let us sing to the Lord; let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation! Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving; let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise! For the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods. In his hand are the depths of the earth; the heights of the mountains are his also. The sea is his, for he made it, and the dry land, which his hands have formed. O come, let us worship and bow down, let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker! For he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand. O that today you would listen to his voice! Do not harden your hearts, as at Meribah, as on the day at Massah in the wilderness, when your ancestors tested me, and put me to the proof, though they had seen my work.
Psalm 95: 1-9 (NRSV)
Message: Sometimes I like change and sometimes I absolutely hate it even if it ends up being good for me in the end. The religious crowds in Israel during the time of Christ sometimes got the idea of positive change right but often saw signs of the Kingdom and rejected them. The Beelzebub controversy is one example. The crowds witness the healing, but they did not all know that they were witnessing the Kingdom of God. Some just misinterpreted the sign. They see what is good as evil and what is evil as good. And what is instructive for our time is that we have those same types of people that challenge the faith today in how we worship and live. But we need to be careful here because to recognize evil we must consider ourselves good. And we need to be ready to see evil in ourselves and goodness in others. The challenge may be that when in failing to see the goodness in others we deny the opportunity to see the goodness of Jesus manifested at all. Typically, we see the finger of God and not yet the Kingdom. We like the crowd want a more formidable sign. But friends, let us not deny the Kingdom that is here now as well as the Kingdom to come. That is why it is good to worship God in both word and deed as a means of working though the change God desires for us.
And So, as we move deep into the central time of Lent, let us take some time every day to ask what God wants in the way of personal reformation. Let us stop thinking of ways for other people to improve their behavior and ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to us what defect of character or performance we need to focus on. It may hurt a bit, but God will reveal to us what He wants us to do, who He wants us to become, to better be an image of Jesus Christ. Friends, there are lots of reasons that people stop developing as Christians and none of them are good. Here as our psalm points out, worship with praise is related to the work of being obedient to the Spirit. And that is both a gift and a sign of what God desires for us in seeking the Kingdom to transform us.
Pray we are not prejudiced or cynical, insensitive, or blind. Pray we live deeply and sensitively in the presence of Christ. Pray we are grateful for the past and confident in the future. Pray we experience the Spirit of God as a token of the coming Age. Pray we experience a bit of heaven with other of faith. Pray we experience the love of community and know that only in Christ is the victory won. Pray we believe that in Christ the power of the Devil has been broken. Pray we experience the Kingdom of God with joy of this moment. Pray we are on Christ’s side and be a builder of mutuality, unity, and peace that gathers not scatters…that creates human good to God’s glory. Pray we trust enough and believe enough to keep reforming in a way that transforms.
Blessings,
John Lawson
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