Lent - Pt 32

So Moses continued to speak these words to all Israel. And he said to them, “I am 120 years old today. I am no longer able to go out and come in. The Lord has said to me, ‘You shall not go over this Jordan.’ The Lord your God himself will go over before you. He will destroy these nations before you, so that you shall dispossess them, and Joshua will go over at your head, as the Lord has spoken. And the Lord will do to them as he did to Sihon and Og, the kings of the Amorites, and to their land, when he destroyed them. And the Lord will give them over to you, and you shall do to them according to the whole commandment that I have commanded you. Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the Lord your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you.” (Deuteronomy 31:1-6 ESV).

We are continuing our trek through Lent today with a bit of a different turn. It is also David’s 40th birthday! I looked for pictures when he was a newborn, though they didn’t quite convey the message I wanted to communicate. Our reading today is one of my favorites, for many reasons. The last verse is most important: Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the Lord your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you (v. 6). The picture for today was taken in 1980. From left to right there is Kyle (my oldest), Rosa Emmitte (my Mom), and David. Aaron, the youngest had not yet been born. This picture was made soon after we had moved to Mt. Pleasant, Texas to be the pastor of First Baptist Church. I was young, with a young family and worlds to conquer; my thoughts were centered on the job ahead. There were many challenges and the verse in our reading was a mainstay through all of them. Little did I know, however, that the greatest responsibility would not be this large, prestigious church; here I learned the bigger lesson. Family is the greatest privilege and carries the greatest responsibility in life. On many occasions that lesson would be put into practice. Never did I resent or regret the incredible gift God had given to us in any of my sons. Nor do I now regret it. I cherish the time past and the time yet to come. There was nothing to fear then; and, there is nothing to fear now or in the future. That truth is made possible in the unfailing promise of God proven in His work of grace through His Son, Jesus. I cannot fathom facing the day without knowing that God strengthens me for every task yet to come. That is the lesson I learned; and, that is the lesson I have sought to pass on to my children and grandchildren. I am convinced that whatever enemy might seek to keep us from our “Promised Land,” they will not stand in our way. I am grateful to celebrate this day. Happy Birthday, Dave! You have made life a great joy for me!

Lent - Pt 31

And a leper came to him, imploring him, and kneeling said to him, “If you will, you can make me clean.” Moved with pity, he stretched out his hand and touched him and said to him, “I will; be clean.” And immediately the leprosy left him, and he was made clean. And Jesus sternly charged him and sent him away at once, and said to him, “See that you say nothing to anyone, but go, show yourself to the priest and offer for your cleansing what Moses commanded, for a proof to them.” But he went out and began to talk freely about it, and to spread the news, so that Jesus could no longer openly enter a town, but was out in desolate places, and people were coming to him from every quarter. (Mark 1:40-45 ESV).

The ubiquitous Armadillo has become an unofficial mascot of the Lone Star State. As Texans, for no apparent reason, we have adopted this armor-plated critter as our symbol. Affection for the near-sighted rooter has reached the faddish level as decals, games, puzzles, candles, stuffed toys, figurines, jewelry, T-shirts, and other items are decorated with or shaped to resemble armadillos. A less likely mammal could hardly be found. It isn't even cuddly. Some observers, who have not fallen under the armadillo's spell, have been so unkind as to call it ugly. Further, they are the only other animals besides humans to host the leprosy bacillus. In 2011, the New England Journal of Medicine published an article formally linking the creature to human leprosy cases. People and armadillos tested in the study both shared the same exact strain of the disease. Our reading today tells of Jesus’ encounter with a man who had contracted this disease. Contracting leprosy was one of the most tragic things that could have happened to an individual in the ancient world. Whenever a leper was around other people, he was required to shout “unclean, unclean,” so passersby would know to keep their distance. A leper was required to live “alone, outside the camp,” so as to reduce the risk of transmitting his disease to others (cf. Leviticus 13:45-46). To be a leper was to be isolated and humiliated perpetually. And then Jesus came and changed everything. One of the great beauties of the Gospels is how frequently they record Jesus’ interactions with lepers. He approached them and was approached by them. He treated them with respect and kindness. He even did the unthinkable: he touched them, and his touch made them clean. Jesus healed the lepers. Many biblical scholars have pointed out that there is an analogy between the physical condition of leprosy and the spiritual condition of sin. Sin in our hearts isolates us, both from God and from other people. Try as we might to hide it or remove it, the stain of sin remains present. We are unclean, and we know it. The good news of the gospel is that Jesus Christ is the contagiously clean man. When he touched a leper, Jesus did not contract leprosy. Rather, the leper became clean. Those trying in vain to remove their sin must allow themselves to be touched by the contagiously clean man. And, like the leper in the story, may we who have experienced that touch possess an uncontainable gratitude, talking freely about our encounter with the contagiously clean man!

Lent - Pt 30

Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. And the tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” But he answered, “It is written, “‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” Then the devil took him to the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written, “‘He will command his angels concerning you,’ and “‘On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.’” Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’” Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written, “‘You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.’” Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and were ministering to him. (Matthew 4:1-11 ESV).

Our reading shows us three specific ways that Satan sought to tempt Jesus, each one more significant, by challenging his desire for food, urging him to display power sensationally, and encouraging him to use political power to establish God’s kingdom. In this third instance, he was tempting Jesus to bypass the cross. The devil was more than willing to give us all back to Jesus, if only Jesus would worship him instead of God. Skip the suffering, save the people, deny God, do it the easy way. For each response, Jesus relied on Scripture to resist. Jesus was sure of two very important things at this point: His identity and His mission. Even if turning stone to bread is not necessarily an evil thing to do, it may well be something that would make Jesus fall short of his target, which, in this context, is a sin. Susanna Wesley describes sin in a most brilliant way to her son John Wesley. She says: “Son, whatever weakens your reasoning, impairs the tenderness of your conscience, obscures your sense of God, or takes away your relish for spiritual things; in short, if anything increases the authority and power of the flesh over the Spirit, then that to you becomes sin, however good it is in itself.” Sin can come in as ever so subtle in our lives especially in these busy, busy days. Jesus’ time in the desert reminds us of Moses fasting for the same period on Mount Sinai (Exodus 34:28). After Moses’ 40 days and nights, God gave him the Ten Commandments for the Israelites. Thus, here we see that Jesus is the new Moses come to fulfill the law that Moses was given. These truths help us in our own temptations. You can withstand every one of them because of Jesus!

Lent - Pt 29

The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! This is he of whom I said, ‘After me comes a man who ranks before me, because he was before me.’ I myself did not know him, but for this purpose I came baptizing with water, that he might be revealed to Israel.” And John bore witness: “I saw the Spirit descend from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him. I myself did not know him, but he who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ And I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son of God.” (John 1:29-34 ESV).

In order to fully understand the significance of our reading today we ought to revisit the story when Abraham took his only son Isaac to Moriah because God had commanded him to offer him as a burnt offering (cf. Genesis 22). Isaac questioned his father, “Where is the lamb for a burnt offering?” Abraham responded to his child that “God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering.” As Abraham was about to sacrifice his own son on the altar, God stopped him and provided a ram to take the place of Isaac. This is one of the first references to the Messiah being a “lamb of God” provided by God. The names of God tell us important information about who God is. So do the names of Jesus, and we hear about Jesus being the Lamb of God a lot, especially at Easter. To connect the dots I want to turn our attention deeply into the history of the concept of the lamb for the burnt offering found in the context of the Old Testament. Animal sacrifices are found all throughout books in the Old Testament. These blood offerings acted as a temporary covering for sin (cf. Leviticus 4:35). So the purpose of animal sacrifice and offerings was sanctification, righteousness (or right standing with God), and forgiveness. Blood offering was always important. The writer of Hebrews helps with that concept, saying, “For without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness” (Hebrews 9:22). Lambs were almost exclusively used since they were known for their white coats, and white was a symbol of purity and cleanliness. Jesus is the Lamb that God provided to take away all sins. Abraham did not have to sacrifice his only son, because God chose to sacrifice his son to atone for our sins. We no longer have to live in anxiety laboring to justify our existence. Our justification is in Christ, the perfect, spotless Lamb of God who took away our sins and the sins of the world. That is the heart of our Gospel!

Lent - Pt 28

And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and pleas for mercy, so that, when they look on me, on him whom they have pierced, they shall mourn for him, as one mourns for an only child, and weep bitterly over him, as one weeps over a firstborn. On that day the mourning in Jerusalem will be as great as the mourning for Hadad-rimmon in the plain of Megiddo. The land shall mourn, each family by itself. (Zechariah 12:10-12 ESV).

Perhaps the most viewed and reposted picture from the memorial services in honor of Former US President George H. W. Bush was his assistance dog, Sully, laying in front of the late leader's flag-draped coffin. Bush's spokesman Jim McGrath posted a picture of the yellow Labrador retriever with the caption "Mission complete. #Remembering41". It is altogether appropriate that now Sully will continue his life of service by assisting wounded service members. These men and women who had given so much for their country would now have one more to serve and honor them in their time of need. There is something of that idea in our reading today. The prophet calls his readers to “mourn.” Don’t forget that while Zechariah spoke these words, they were the words of the Lord. It becomes an incredible declaration of the “death of God.” As incredible as that sounds we must understand the truth of the crucifixion of Jesus. This is the “piercing” Zechariah is speaking of in our reading. And, Jesus Christ fulfilled this prophecy. Not only was he fully God, he was also fully man. Moreover, as the prophecy predicted, Jesus was the “only child” and “firstborn” Son of the Father (cf. John 3:16). He died and, on the cross, he was pierced: “One of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once there came out blood and water” (cf. John 19:34). The prophecy, however, said more. It said that those who pierced him would mourn because God would pour out on them “a spirit of grace and pleas for mercy.” In other words, the Spirit would open their eyes to see what they had done and how grievous their sin had been. This mourning would be widespread yet intimate – “the land shall mourn, each family by itself.” In part, this prophecy was fulfilled at Pentecost. Peter said to his listeners, “You crucified and killed [Jesus] by the hands of lawless men” (Acts 2:23). Then, upon hearing the gospel, they were “cut to the heart” and 3,000 were saved that day (Acts 2:37-41). Today, this prophecy is still being fulfilled. As the Spirit fills us with grace, we mourn over Christ’s death because we know that “he was wounded for our transgressions” (Isaiah 53:5). In our sorrow, however, we also rejoice because his death “brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed” (Isaiah 53:5).

Lent - Pt 27

Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim and the war horse from Jerusalem; and the battle bow shall be cut off, and he shall speak peace to the nations; his rule shall be from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth. As for you also, because of the blood of my covenant with you, I will set your prisoners free from the waterless pit. Return to your stronghold, O prisoners of hope; today I declare that I will restore to you double. (Zechariah 9:9-12 ESV).

Zechariah is another of those prophets who were a part of the time when Israel returns from captivity to rebuild their cities. In this portion of his writing we see the prophecy of the returning King riding on a donkey. It is an odd image until we understand the custom of that culture. In the Ancient Near East, a king entered cities riding on a warhorse in order to convey his military power, particularly when he was entering into newly conquered cities where his rule may have been regarded as illegitimate or met with suspicion or outright rejection. The exception to this custom was when a beloved king entered his own capital city. There he would ride in on a donkey. Here he is seen as the benevolent king. The prophet Zechariah speaks of a day when Jerusalem would see her king return. He would conquer the enemy once and for all, secure a lasting salvation and establish a new reign of peace for all. This hope of the true king, riding on a donkey, led the crowd to shout: “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” when they saw Jesus riding into Jerusalem, yes, on a donkey. This became our custom as Christians in the celebration of Palm Sunday. We must remember, however, that this same crowd soon became the angry mob that cried for Jesus’ blood. With shouts of “Crucify Him!” Jesus, who was once welcomed as the returning king, would be met with the violent rejection of a hostile people. The true king returned to his capital city to find that it had betrayed him. Yet still, he mounted a donkey, not a warhorse, and entered in peace. And he won the ultimate victory for his treacherous people by submitting himself to their violence, confirming our guilt and achieving our forgiveness in one decisive victory. The enemy this king would conquer turned out to be us, and the cost of the victory we longed for was the death of our beloved king. And he did it, proving his complete victory in the resurrection. Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion. Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem!

Lent - Pt 26

Yet now be strong, O Zerubbabel, declares the Lord. Be strong, O Joshua, son of Jehozadak, the high priest. Be strong, all you people of the land, declares the Lord. Work, for I am with you, declares the Lord of hosts, according to the covenant that I made with you when you came out of Egypt. My Spirit remains in your midst. Fear not. For thus says the Lord of hosts: Yet once more, in a little while, I will shake the heavens and the earth and the sea and the dry land. And I will shake all nations, so that the treasures of all nations shall come in, and I will fill this house with glory, says the Lord of hosts. The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, declares the Lord of hosts. The latter glory of this house shall be greater than the former, says the Lord of hosts. And in this place I will give peace, declares the Lord of hosts.’” (Haggai 2:4-9 ESV).

Haggai was one of the prophets who lived and worked during the time when the people carried into slavery were being set free to return to their native land in Israel. They would return to the destruction left in the wake of the invading armies of Assyria and Babylon. Our reading today is taken from the book of Haggai, which was written to these people who had returned from Babylonian to rebuild the destroyed temple. It was an encouragement and a call to rebuild amidst rubble, hope despite desolation, and believe even during times of hardship and disappointment. I am reminded that we may be living in such a time. Our cities may not be in rubble; however, our culture teeters on the brink of collapse in many ways. The reading I’ve selected for our Lenten devotional today speaks of a time to come much like that which we are living in. It is described as a time when the world would be shaken up as it had never been shaken before. Ironically, this was intended to be a comfort for people who were standing in rubble! While this may seem difficult to understand at first glance, the writer of Hebrews took comfort in the shaking of this world, as it “indicates the removal of things that are shaken … in order that the things that cannot be shaken may remain … a kingdom” (Hebrews 12:26-28). At the heart of Haggai’s declaration that all of creation (v. 6) and all nations (v. 7) would be shaken, there is the promise that “the treasures of all nations shall come in.” “Treasures” is a Hebrew word that can function as a singular or plural noun. In other words, not only will the treasures of the nations be brought to the house of God in tribute, but there will also be One, the true treasure, who fills the house and is to be prized above all the wealth of the world. When our world shakes, we must be shaken with it. When the treasures of your heart disappoint you, our hearts should fail. It is then that we may take hold of the “treasure of all nations” and be encouraged! Here we are given peace.