After several parables about how the Kingdom of God grows, Jesus returns to doing miracles. This time He demonstrates that He is God by rebuking the wind and commanding the sea to be still.
And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm.
Who can this be, that even the wind and the sea obey Him!”
The only possible answer is God Almighty. While there have been known cases of false healers throughout history (perhaps with the aid of demons), only God is known to be able to cause the wind and the sea to obey Him.
And Jesus, causing the wind and sea to obey Him, is God Almighty.
Faithful Christians have no problem accepting that once upon a time Jesus Christ really did perform the miracle of calming the wind and waves. But, as I’m sure we all understand, God is not ever required to do miracles. Just because He is capable of them and performed many as recorded in the Gospels doesn’t mean He is required to routinely perform them in our lives. Acknowledging this much also doesn’t mean that somehow we lack faith by not believing in miracles enough.
But our problem is with the smaller and less life-threatening storms we all experience, for which no miracle is forthcoming. How do we respond to these?
The same way the disciples responded to a much graver danger. We might forget that the storms that arose, for example, on the Sea of Galilee could arise suddenly and were capable of capsizing a boat the size the disciples were in. These were no mere landlubbers but included several lifelong fisherman. And they were afraid. The boat was already being swamped with water, and there was real danger and threat to life.
But Jesus seemed to be asleep at the wheel, so to speak. The disciples woke Jesus questioned whether or not He really cared for them. And He responded by rebuking the winds and the sea.
But immediately after He had rebuked the wind and waves, He rebukes the disciples. “Why are you so fearful? How is it that you have no faith?” Their response is an interesting one. If I were one of them, I’d probably have felt tremendously sheepish about my lack of faith. Except that I’d be too afraid of the man who was God and could calm the wind and waves.
Though our emergencies and crises are rarely as serious as what the disciples felt, we often respond in the same way. We temporarily doubt that God will come to our aid. When He does not fully rescue us from our difficulties the way He did the disciples in Mark 4, then we wonder if He really cares as much as we thought He did. We throw little temper tantrums because we did not get our way and because life’s difficulties have not been completely removed. Or we become discouraged and less motivated to turn towards God.
I am tremendously sheepish about own lack of faith sometimes. In the Greek in Matthew’s version, it’s possible to think of Jesus as calling the disciples “little-faiths.” Not just that they have little faith but that they are Little Faiths. I know I am sometimes. A few years ago, as I was racing to try and put up my church's long overdue website, I began testing what I had worked on for two months, learning how to do it all from scratch. The time came for me to test the site I had put together and which looked fine on my own computer. But when I tested it on my wife’s older computer, my little-faith world crumbled for the rest of the evening. I couldn’t understand how something I had worked so hard and long on, for a good cause, could be taken away from me.
What a pitiful thing to lose heart over, compared to what the disciples faced. I find many such times when my faith falters. Some are larger, and some are smaller, but there are storms just about every day of our lives.
How do you respond to them? Do you become discouraged? Do you wonder where God is, even when you haven’t bothered to ask Him for help? Do you cry out to Him and because He doesn’t appear to be answering you lose your patience with Him? We have almost as many ways of being faithless as there are human personalities.
But remember, in all of the storms that arise in life that the same Lord who calmed the wind and waves is capable of calming yours. He may not choose to do so immediately, and He may not even choose to take the difficulty away. But He has promised to draw near to you if you draw near to Him. Whether your storm is related to a job, finances, children, relationships, loved ones who are self-destructing, physical pain or sickness, heartbreak, loss, disappointments, broken dreams, apparently wasted labor, lack of progress, or any other source, remember: the Lord of the wind and the waves is your Lord.
He hasn’t promised you a miracle today, and He hasn’t even promised to take away every source of pain (even He didn’t receive that promise from the Father, did He?) But He has promised to be with His people whenever they cry out to Him with faith.
And that’s enough for me. Having that promise, I’ll trust in the One who not only has the power to command the wind and waves but also the knowledge and love to have created them and me in the first place.
Prayer: Lord, I cry out to You in faith because I feel as if I am perishing today. You know the difficulties I have in my life and how they threaten to make me sink. I cry out to You this moment in faith, trusting that You will be with me today in all Your love and providence. O, Lord, I want to believe and have faith: help me in my unbelief. Amen.
Point for Meditation:
1. What storms have you been experiencing lately? Meditate on some of these, making sure not to leave the presence of the Lord until you have entrusted these storms to His loving care.
2. Practice remembering times in the past when the Lord delivered you out of difficulty when you cried out to Him. It would be useful to write these down and maybe even begin to keep a list of such deliverances.
Resolution: I resolve to turn to God in faith today in the middle of whatever storms I am facing today.
© 2008 Fr. Charles Erlandson
Friday, December 12, 2008
Thursday, December 11, 2008
Friday Advent 2 - Mark 4:21-29
Today, Jesus continues His teaching on how the Kingdom grows, which is to say the process of discipleship. The secret to the Kingdom of God and its mysterious and wonderful growth is the growth of the Church, which is to say the growth of Christians, which is to say discipleship:
“The Kingdom of Heaven = the Church = the people of God = disciples of Jesus Christ”
I think that sometimes we misunderstand Jesus’ words: “With the same measure you use, it will be measured to you.” Often we take this to mean that if you judge other people, you will be judged by God. But in this passage the meaning is related to the parable of the sower and the seed and Jesus’ teaching on our response to God’s Word and the fruits of how well we do this. He prefaces this teaching with “Take heed what you hear.”
Spiritually speaking, in the Kingdom of Heaven, the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. This is why Jesus says, “For whoever has, to him more will be given; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him.” Jesus is teaching us a spiritual truth about how well we receive Him and His Word. Those who respond in faith when they hear the Word of God – those who believe and obey – will be rewarded with greater grace and faith in their lives. Those who have heard the Word of God and either do not believe or do not obey will begin to grow farther away from God.
Jesus teaches this in many different forms. “Draw near to me, and I will draw near to me.” The corollary, of course, is “Run far away from me, and I will be far away from you.” If you have proven faithful with a few small things you will be entrusted with more (this is also the meaning of the parable of the talents.
As a preacher, I have seen this spiritual truth in action many times. After I have preached a strong sermon on the cost of discipleship and what God is really calling us to, the responses of people afterwards are very revealing. Many times, those who I know have already put the words I preached into effect and are truly saints before God and men come up to me after the service. They come with a look of great intensity, as if they have just met with God and are trembling before His holy presence. And they tell me, “That sermon really convicted me. God really spoke to my heart. It’s just what I needed to hear.” After the same sermon, as some pass by who I know really needed to hear the sermon, they pass by with a casual greeting or perhaps exit the other way. There is no recognition that God has just spoken to them.
It was the same sermon, the same Word of God, and yet people responded very differently.
What if this same pattern were repeated Sunday after Sunday, day after day, and year after year? You would find that at the end of life those who were rich in faith became fabulously rich by the end of their lives. But those who were poor in faith died paupers in the faith.
“If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.”
Jesus repeats this again from verse 9 because the Word of God is worth listening to – because God is worth listening to.
Remember: how you treat the Word of God is how you are treating God Himself.
For this reason, those who worship God in Spirit and in Truth by hearing and obeying His Word will be blessed by Him. In other words, those who seek God Himself will be blessed by receiving more of God.
But those who do not hear and do not obey God will not receive the blessing of God. That is, those who do not seek God will not find Him and will not receive more of Him.
“Take heed what you hear.” When the Word of God comes to you, do you hear it as the Word of God, or do you hear “Blah, blah, blah . . .”? “For whoever has, to him more will be given, but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him.”
I am always amazed at what young people are capable of doing when they pursue one thing for many years with great passion and perseverance. It is embarrassing to try to sit down and play computer games with most young people. Through hours and hours of practice, and year after year of pursuing the goal of excellence at playing computer games, some young people are so adept that they seem like wizards. They are so fast and intuitive that they seem like a stealth fighter in combat with a Sopwith Camel.
When the same young people pursue knowledge, the results are even more spectacular. My son Calvin’s fascination at age 2 with tying together anything within reach with strings or laces or rubber bands became in time a curiosity about cause and effect and tying together the most unusual things in this universe. Given time, such a mind may grow and be transformed into a love of science that results in an advanced degree and discoveries that astound us all and make the world a more glorious place. In others, such a passionate and persistent curiosity has led to Ph.Ds and Nobel Prizes and cures for diseases and technologies that turn Star Trek into reality.
But what if a man, woman, or child pursued God relentlessly? What if every day of his life, Calvin learned to love God and His Word and devoted Himself to following God, forsaking everything else, and obeying all that the Lord commanded? I can’t predict the exact outcome, but I do know that in God’s Kingdom, he would be incredibly rich because God’s blessing would rest upon him.
Einstein reputedly said that the most powerful force in the universe was compound interest. This is especially true in the Kingdom of God, which is like a seed that the sower planted and grows and grows until it produces 100-fold, if the soil is good.
Take heed what you hear: for how well you hear is a measure of how faithful you are and how much God will bless you and the people around you.
Prayer: Father, I ask that today You would give me the grace to seek after You with all my heart. Help me to take heed to what I hear, and bless me with Your presence. Give me such a hunger for You that, being filled by You, I would desire You more each day. Amen.
Points for Meditation:
1. Compared to other pursuits in your life, how passionately and persistently have you pursued God?
2. Meditate on the growth of God’s grace in the life of someone you know, who through passion and persistence pursued God all the days of his or her life.
Resolution: I resolve today to more passionately and persistently devote myself to hearing and obeying the Lord.
© 2008 Fr. Charles Erlandson
“The Kingdom of Heaven = the Church = the people of God = disciples of Jesus Christ”
I think that sometimes we misunderstand Jesus’ words: “With the same measure you use, it will be measured to you.” Often we take this to mean that if you judge other people, you will be judged by God. But in this passage the meaning is related to the parable of the sower and the seed and Jesus’ teaching on our response to God’s Word and the fruits of how well we do this. He prefaces this teaching with “Take heed what you hear.”
Spiritually speaking, in the Kingdom of Heaven, the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. This is why Jesus says, “For whoever has, to him more will be given; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him.” Jesus is teaching us a spiritual truth about how well we receive Him and His Word. Those who respond in faith when they hear the Word of God – those who believe and obey – will be rewarded with greater grace and faith in their lives. Those who have heard the Word of God and either do not believe or do not obey will begin to grow farther away from God.
Jesus teaches this in many different forms. “Draw near to me, and I will draw near to me.” The corollary, of course, is “Run far away from me, and I will be far away from you.” If you have proven faithful with a few small things you will be entrusted with more (this is also the meaning of the parable of the talents.
As a preacher, I have seen this spiritual truth in action many times. After I have preached a strong sermon on the cost of discipleship and what God is really calling us to, the responses of people afterwards are very revealing. Many times, those who I know have already put the words I preached into effect and are truly saints before God and men come up to me after the service. They come with a look of great intensity, as if they have just met with God and are trembling before His holy presence. And they tell me, “That sermon really convicted me. God really spoke to my heart. It’s just what I needed to hear.” After the same sermon, as some pass by who I know really needed to hear the sermon, they pass by with a casual greeting or perhaps exit the other way. There is no recognition that God has just spoken to them.
It was the same sermon, the same Word of God, and yet people responded very differently.
What if this same pattern were repeated Sunday after Sunday, day after day, and year after year? You would find that at the end of life those who were rich in faith became fabulously rich by the end of their lives. But those who were poor in faith died paupers in the faith.
“If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.”
Jesus repeats this again from verse 9 because the Word of God is worth listening to – because God is worth listening to.
Remember: how you treat the Word of God is how you are treating God Himself.
For this reason, those who worship God in Spirit and in Truth by hearing and obeying His Word will be blessed by Him. In other words, those who seek God Himself will be blessed by receiving more of God.
But those who do not hear and do not obey God will not receive the blessing of God. That is, those who do not seek God will not find Him and will not receive more of Him.
“Take heed what you hear.” When the Word of God comes to you, do you hear it as the Word of God, or do you hear “Blah, blah, blah . . .”? “For whoever has, to him more will be given, but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him.”
I am always amazed at what young people are capable of doing when they pursue one thing for many years with great passion and perseverance. It is embarrassing to try to sit down and play computer games with most young people. Through hours and hours of practice, and year after year of pursuing the goal of excellence at playing computer games, some young people are so adept that they seem like wizards. They are so fast and intuitive that they seem like a stealth fighter in combat with a Sopwith Camel.
When the same young people pursue knowledge, the results are even more spectacular. My son Calvin’s fascination at age 2 with tying together anything within reach with strings or laces or rubber bands became in time a curiosity about cause and effect and tying together the most unusual things in this universe. Given time, such a mind may grow and be transformed into a love of science that results in an advanced degree and discoveries that astound us all and make the world a more glorious place. In others, such a passionate and persistent curiosity has led to Ph.Ds and Nobel Prizes and cures for diseases and technologies that turn Star Trek into reality.
But what if a man, woman, or child pursued God relentlessly? What if every day of his life, Calvin learned to love God and His Word and devoted Himself to following God, forsaking everything else, and obeying all that the Lord commanded? I can’t predict the exact outcome, but I do know that in God’s Kingdom, he would be incredibly rich because God’s blessing would rest upon him.
Einstein reputedly said that the most powerful force in the universe was compound interest. This is especially true in the Kingdom of God, which is like a seed that the sower planted and grows and grows until it produces 100-fold, if the soil is good.
Take heed what you hear: for how well you hear is a measure of how faithful you are and how much God will bless you and the people around you.
Prayer: Father, I ask that today You would give me the grace to seek after You with all my heart. Help me to take heed to what I hear, and bless me with Your presence. Give me such a hunger for You that, being filled by You, I would desire You more each day. Amen.
Points for Meditation:
1. Compared to other pursuits in your life, how passionately and persistently have you pursued God?
2. Meditate on the growth of God’s grace in the life of someone you know, who through passion and persistence pursued God all the days of his or her life.
Resolution: I resolve today to more passionately and persistently devote myself to hearing and obeying the Lord.
© 2008 Fr. Charles Erlandson
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Thursday Advent 2 - Mark 4:1-20
How appropriate that the parable of the sower and the seed occurs in the week of the Second Sunday of Advent. The Book of Common Prayer collect (prayer for the week) is: “Blessed Lord, who hast caused all holy Scriptures to be written for our learning; Grant that we may in such wise hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them, that by patience and comfort of thy holy Word, we may embrace, and ever hold fast, the blessed hope of everlasting life, which thou hast given us in our Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.”
This is a parable about the Word of God in our lives, and the Second Sunday in Advent is a week in which we prepare for the coming of the Lord in Christmas by opening our ears to His Word again. It is plain enough in the parable (especially because Jesus gives us a cheat sheet!) that the seed is the Word of God and that we are the soil. The focus of the parable, then, is on our reception of the Word of God.
This is a parable that has a general meaning for humans, both those who ultimately accept the Word in some manner and those who do not. But it also has a more specific meaning for those of us who already claim to be Christians. The point is still the same: how have you been treating the Word of God?
Let’s get one thing straight: how you treat the Bible is how you are treating God. The Bible is not just any book that is made of paper and ink: it is the Word of God, a living and active thing in which the ink is its blood and the paper its flesh. It is animated by the new wine of the Holy Spirit being poured into the new wineskin of God’s people. If you sever the Word of God from God and from His people, then you really are left with just another book, and one of which there are plenty.
Do you believe that the Bible is the Word of God? Do I really believe that? If I do, then it will have radical implications for how I treat it. If I believe that God has chosen to speak to me through this book called The Book and which is found in every nook and cranny of my house, then I should treat it as such.
If God were to make it clear to me (perhaps through the voice of Charlton Heston or something like that) that I was supposed to show up at a particular time and place where He would speak to me, you can bet I’d be sure to be there. I’d come with my laptop to write it all down (actually, I’d have to go out and buy one – but I’d do it); I’d bring a tape recorder – no, actually I’d bring several of them, taking no chances. I would get plenty of sleep the day before, have a double dose of coffee (grandes), and get there an hour early just in case He was on daylight savings time.
Yet God’s Word pervades the universe so that it is always present. By coming to me in His Word (as in prayer), God is always accessible to me. I think God’s Word is part of a spiritual electromagnetic spectrum that composes the spiritual cosmos. Do you know that there are TV and radio waves bouncing around your walls and beaming into your car or office all the time? Duck - here comes one now! Though it’s possible to be out of range sometimes, in most places you can turn on the radio or TV and receive these waves any time you want. In fact, we choose to access these waves all the time.
But what of God’s spiritual electromagnetic waves? He calls to you throughout the day, only we don’t have our spiritual radio on – or it’s tuned to another station. It electrifies me to think that I could open any portion of the Word of God, and the voice of God comes streaming out of this book I hold in my hands. This morning I turned to Mark 4, but what if I turned to Genesis 1 and heard God tell me about Himself as creator, or to any other passage of the Scriptures?
So God is always speaking to us, and the Word of God is how He does it. Therefore, I say that how we are treating the Word of God is how we are treating Him.
What kind of soil are you? How well have you been hearing and listening, which I believe are like faith in that they require obeying?
This is football season. Have you ever had the experience, when talking to someone watching football, in which you were saying something important but the other person only pretended to hear? This is how we listen to God. It’s not just about football but also about any TV show or movie or any thing of this world that so enraptures us that we can’t hear God and His Word in our lives.
It reminds me of two Far Side comic strips. One is titled “What Dogs Hear.” The owner is speaking earnestly to the dog, and all the dog hears is “Blah, blah, blah, Ginger, blah, blah, blah, Ginger. . . .” It could be worse: you could be a cat. What cats hear: “Blah, blah, blah, blah; blah, blah, blah, blah . . . .”
Are you a dog, a cat, or a man or woman of God?
You have many opportunities every day and week to hear the Word of God and to respond with faith. How many of these are you accessing? You should be reading the Word of God daily, meditating over it, and praying over it. You should at times study it and learn it. Your church probably has an adult Sunday school class, and you should probably go. Where did we ever get the idea that Sunday school and the Bible was good for children on Sunday mornings, but not for adults?
How well do you listen to your pastor’s preaching? Assuming He is a godly man who loves and preaches the Word of God, his words are as the Word of God to you. This being Thursday, do you even remember what God said to you last Sunday? If not, then you may need to examine what kind of soil you are. It amazes me how much time and effort pastors put into sermons that are treated as completely disposable. I think the average half-life of a sermon is the time from which the sermon ends to the time the service ends.
Instead, we should be discussing the sermon at the fellowship hour, if you have one. We should be trading insights and the convictions of the Holy Spirit on our way home from church. We should be seeking to apply what we have heard for the next 7 days.
The fact is that the Church of God is built on the Word of God. A man, a family, and a church are only as strong spiritually as is the relationship they have to God through His Word. We are supposed to be so fed by the daily bread of God’s Word that in time we produce fruit 30, 60, or 100 times as great as ourselves. This is another way of saying that disciples are to make disciples. It is by the faithful hearing and doing of God’s Word that God’s Kingdom grows and spreads.
“He who has ears to hear, let him hear!”
Prayer: “Blessed Lord, who hast caused all holy Scriptures to be written for our learning; Grant that we may in such wise hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them, that by patience and comfort of thy holy Word, we may embrace, and ever hold fast, the blessed hope of everlasting life, which thou hast given us in our Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.”
Resolution and Point for Meditation:
I resolve to find one practical way in which I can be better soil for the Word of God. It may be in my daily Bible meditations, in the way I hear the sermon, in the way I teach my children, or any means by which I can hear and obey God’s Word more faithfully.
© 2008 Fr. Charles Erlandson
This is a parable about the Word of God in our lives, and the Second Sunday in Advent is a week in which we prepare for the coming of the Lord in Christmas by opening our ears to His Word again. It is plain enough in the parable (especially because Jesus gives us a cheat sheet!) that the seed is the Word of God and that we are the soil. The focus of the parable, then, is on our reception of the Word of God.
This is a parable that has a general meaning for humans, both those who ultimately accept the Word in some manner and those who do not. But it also has a more specific meaning for those of us who already claim to be Christians. The point is still the same: how have you been treating the Word of God?
Let’s get one thing straight: how you treat the Bible is how you are treating God. The Bible is not just any book that is made of paper and ink: it is the Word of God, a living and active thing in which the ink is its blood and the paper its flesh. It is animated by the new wine of the Holy Spirit being poured into the new wineskin of God’s people. If you sever the Word of God from God and from His people, then you really are left with just another book, and one of which there are plenty.
Do you believe that the Bible is the Word of God? Do I really believe that? If I do, then it will have radical implications for how I treat it. If I believe that God has chosen to speak to me through this book called The Book and which is found in every nook and cranny of my house, then I should treat it as such.
If God were to make it clear to me (perhaps through the voice of Charlton Heston or something like that) that I was supposed to show up at a particular time and place where He would speak to me, you can bet I’d be sure to be there. I’d come with my laptop to write it all down (actually, I’d have to go out and buy one – but I’d do it); I’d bring a tape recorder – no, actually I’d bring several of them, taking no chances. I would get plenty of sleep the day before, have a double dose of coffee (grandes), and get there an hour early just in case He was on daylight savings time.
Yet God’s Word pervades the universe so that it is always present. By coming to me in His Word (as in prayer), God is always accessible to me. I think God’s Word is part of a spiritual electromagnetic spectrum that composes the spiritual cosmos. Do you know that there are TV and radio waves bouncing around your walls and beaming into your car or office all the time? Duck - here comes one now! Though it’s possible to be out of range sometimes, in most places you can turn on the radio or TV and receive these waves any time you want. In fact, we choose to access these waves all the time.
But what of God’s spiritual electromagnetic waves? He calls to you throughout the day, only we don’t have our spiritual radio on – or it’s tuned to another station. It electrifies me to think that I could open any portion of the Word of God, and the voice of God comes streaming out of this book I hold in my hands. This morning I turned to Mark 4, but what if I turned to Genesis 1 and heard God tell me about Himself as creator, or to any other passage of the Scriptures?
So God is always speaking to us, and the Word of God is how He does it. Therefore, I say that how we are treating the Word of God is how we are treating Him.
What kind of soil are you? How well have you been hearing and listening, which I believe are like faith in that they require obeying?
This is football season. Have you ever had the experience, when talking to someone watching football, in which you were saying something important but the other person only pretended to hear? This is how we listen to God. It’s not just about football but also about any TV show or movie or any thing of this world that so enraptures us that we can’t hear God and His Word in our lives.
It reminds me of two Far Side comic strips. One is titled “What Dogs Hear.” The owner is speaking earnestly to the dog, and all the dog hears is “Blah, blah, blah, Ginger, blah, blah, blah, Ginger. . . .” It could be worse: you could be a cat. What cats hear: “Blah, blah, blah, blah; blah, blah, blah, blah . . . .”
Are you a dog, a cat, or a man or woman of God?
You have many opportunities every day and week to hear the Word of God and to respond with faith. How many of these are you accessing? You should be reading the Word of God daily, meditating over it, and praying over it. You should at times study it and learn it. Your church probably has an adult Sunday school class, and you should probably go. Where did we ever get the idea that Sunday school and the Bible was good for children on Sunday mornings, but not for adults?
How well do you listen to your pastor’s preaching? Assuming He is a godly man who loves and preaches the Word of God, his words are as the Word of God to you. This being Thursday, do you even remember what God said to you last Sunday? If not, then you may need to examine what kind of soil you are. It amazes me how much time and effort pastors put into sermons that are treated as completely disposable. I think the average half-life of a sermon is the time from which the sermon ends to the time the service ends.
Instead, we should be discussing the sermon at the fellowship hour, if you have one. We should be trading insights and the convictions of the Holy Spirit on our way home from church. We should be seeking to apply what we have heard for the next 7 days.
The fact is that the Church of God is built on the Word of God. A man, a family, and a church are only as strong spiritually as is the relationship they have to God through His Word. We are supposed to be so fed by the daily bread of God’s Word that in time we produce fruit 30, 60, or 100 times as great as ourselves. This is another way of saying that disciples are to make disciples. It is by the faithful hearing and doing of God’s Word that God’s Kingdom grows and spreads.
“He who has ears to hear, let him hear!”
Prayer: “Blessed Lord, who hast caused all holy Scriptures to be written for our learning; Grant that we may in such wise hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them, that by patience and comfort of thy holy Word, we may embrace, and ever hold fast, the blessed hope of everlasting life, which thou hast given us in our Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.”
Resolution and Point for Meditation:
I resolve to find one practical way in which I can be better soil for the Word of God. It may be in my daily Bible meditations, in the way I hear the sermon, in the way I teach my children, or any means by which I can hear and obey God’s Word more faithfully.
© 2008 Fr. Charles Erlandson
Tuesday, December 09, 2008
Wednesday Advent 2 - Mark 3:20-34
Today’s lesson is a lesson about family.
What is a family? We all know the answer to this question, but at its heart a family is a group of people who are related to one another. The most immediate kind of family is, of course, the biological families we live in. But the notion of family is larger than what we often think it is. For example, my brother and his wife have adopted two bi-racial children. Are these precious children part of their family – and mine? Of course! In ancient times, family was more than just the nuclear family but included a complex extended family of grandparents, aunts and uncles, servants, and others.
Since the idea of family is all about people who are related, we should all be keenly interested in learning about the family of Jesus. We learn a few things about Joseph, Mary, and Jesus’ brothers throughout the Gospels (and some things about James in Acts and James), and each fact we have about them is to be treasured.
But as important as Joseph and Mary are in the Nativity narratives of Matthew and Luke, Mark doesn’t tell us about this. The first thing we hear about Jesus’ family in Mark’s Gospel is that “His own people” (verse 21) think He’s out of His mind. We’re not sure exactly who “His own people” were, but it’s likely to have included his unbelieving brothers (at that time) and possibly people from the region around Nazareth. We know from verse 31 that his mother and brothers came and sent to Jesus, calling for Him.
And then something surprising happens. When Jesus is told that his mother and brothers are waiting outside for Him, He doesn’t run to greet them or immediately and enthusiastically send for them, and He doesn’t say, “Behold the Queen of Heaven!” Instead, He amazes us (as He always does) by asking, “Who is My mother, or My brother?” Looking around in a circle at those who sat about Him, He said, “Here are My mother and My brother! For whoever does the will of God is My brother and My sister and mother.”
This is the meaning of family, in the divine sense. Regardless of how many human families, clans, tribes, or nations we may count, there are really only two human families. There are only two basic relationships to God: disciples who believe and obey, and those who reject God and disobey.
Jesus’ teaching about blasphemy against the Holy Spirit makes more sense when placed next to His teaching about His family. Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is the one unforgivable sin because it is a willful rejection of the ministry of the Holy Spirit who testifies about the Son and the Father.
While Satan’s kingdom may indeed be divided, the Kingdom of Heaven, the family of God which is the Church, is united. In spite of our family differences and separations, we are one, holy family, united in Jesus Christ. The reason Jesus can look around at His disciples and say that they are His brothers and sisters and mother is because He is saying that they are now His family. At this point, Jesus had more in common with some of these anonymous disciples than He did with James, Joses, Simon, and Judas (see Matthew 13:55), who apparently did not yet believe (John 7:5.)
Just as blasphemy against the Holy Spirit leaves one outside of God’s family, a faithful response to the Holy Spirit makes one a member of God’s family. Through the Holy Spirit, all who are true disciples are of the Body and Blood of Christ. Genetically, my flesh and blood is related to Jesus only in that we both proceeded from Noah. But spiritually, I am His kinsman, and I partake of His Body and Blood. He dwells in me, and I in Him (there’s that perichoresis again!)
How blessed to be put in the same category as Mary herself, who first received Jesus into her heart and then was made a member of His family. She was called “highly favored one” and “blessed,” and now so are all who have faith in Him, for we are part of His family, partakers of His Body and Blood.
I am thrice blessed: my family growing up was a loving one and one who were disciples of Jesus Christ; my own family now are disciples of Jesus Christ and are learning to live in love; and I am also part of God’s own family. How blessed someone like me is when my biological family is also my theological family – to have parents, siblings, a spouse, and children who all share the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ!
How blessed as well to think that all of you who are reading this are my brothers and sisters because through Jesus Christ God is the Father of us all and we have been adopted into His heavenly family!
Christ in us, the fact that we are the brothers and sisters of Jesus Christ, is an inexhaustible mystery. As His disciples, keep gathering around in a circle around Him to listen as He speaks. Like Mary, treasure these things up in your heart and receive them with wonder, awe, and everlasting thanksgiving.
Prayer: My soul magnifies You, Lord, and my spirit rejoices in You as my Savior. For you have regarded my low estate and have called me blessed through my relationship with Your Son. Holy is Your name. Praise be to You forever and ever. Amen.
Resolution and Point for Meditation:
I resolve to take some time today to ponder the mystery of Christ in me and of my being a member of the family of God through Christ.
© 2008 Fr. Charles Erlandson
What is a family? We all know the answer to this question, but at its heart a family is a group of people who are related to one another. The most immediate kind of family is, of course, the biological families we live in. But the notion of family is larger than what we often think it is. For example, my brother and his wife have adopted two bi-racial children. Are these precious children part of their family – and mine? Of course! In ancient times, family was more than just the nuclear family but included a complex extended family of grandparents, aunts and uncles, servants, and others.
Since the idea of family is all about people who are related, we should all be keenly interested in learning about the family of Jesus. We learn a few things about Joseph, Mary, and Jesus’ brothers throughout the Gospels (and some things about James in Acts and James), and each fact we have about them is to be treasured.
But as important as Joseph and Mary are in the Nativity narratives of Matthew and Luke, Mark doesn’t tell us about this. The first thing we hear about Jesus’ family in Mark’s Gospel is that “His own people” (verse 21) think He’s out of His mind. We’re not sure exactly who “His own people” were, but it’s likely to have included his unbelieving brothers (at that time) and possibly people from the region around Nazareth. We know from verse 31 that his mother and brothers came and sent to Jesus, calling for Him.
And then something surprising happens. When Jesus is told that his mother and brothers are waiting outside for Him, He doesn’t run to greet them or immediately and enthusiastically send for them, and He doesn’t say, “Behold the Queen of Heaven!” Instead, He amazes us (as He always does) by asking, “Who is My mother, or My brother?” Looking around in a circle at those who sat about Him, He said, “Here are My mother and My brother! For whoever does the will of God is My brother and My sister and mother.”
This is the meaning of family, in the divine sense. Regardless of how many human families, clans, tribes, or nations we may count, there are really only two human families. There are only two basic relationships to God: disciples who believe and obey, and those who reject God and disobey.
Jesus’ teaching about blasphemy against the Holy Spirit makes more sense when placed next to His teaching about His family. Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is the one unforgivable sin because it is a willful rejection of the ministry of the Holy Spirit who testifies about the Son and the Father.
While Satan’s kingdom may indeed be divided, the Kingdom of Heaven, the family of God which is the Church, is united. In spite of our family differences and separations, we are one, holy family, united in Jesus Christ. The reason Jesus can look around at His disciples and say that they are His brothers and sisters and mother is because He is saying that they are now His family. At this point, Jesus had more in common with some of these anonymous disciples than He did with James, Joses, Simon, and Judas (see Matthew 13:55), who apparently did not yet believe (John 7:5.)
Just as blasphemy against the Holy Spirit leaves one outside of God’s family, a faithful response to the Holy Spirit makes one a member of God’s family. Through the Holy Spirit, all who are true disciples are of the Body and Blood of Christ. Genetically, my flesh and blood is related to Jesus only in that we both proceeded from Noah. But spiritually, I am His kinsman, and I partake of His Body and Blood. He dwells in me, and I in Him (there’s that perichoresis again!)
How blessed to be put in the same category as Mary herself, who first received Jesus into her heart and then was made a member of His family. She was called “highly favored one” and “blessed,” and now so are all who have faith in Him, for we are part of His family, partakers of His Body and Blood.
I am thrice blessed: my family growing up was a loving one and one who were disciples of Jesus Christ; my own family now are disciples of Jesus Christ and are learning to live in love; and I am also part of God’s own family. How blessed someone like me is when my biological family is also my theological family – to have parents, siblings, a spouse, and children who all share the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ!
How blessed as well to think that all of you who are reading this are my brothers and sisters because through Jesus Christ God is the Father of us all and we have been adopted into His heavenly family!
Christ in us, the fact that we are the brothers and sisters of Jesus Christ, is an inexhaustible mystery. As His disciples, keep gathering around in a circle around Him to listen as He speaks. Like Mary, treasure these things up in your heart and receive them with wonder, awe, and everlasting thanksgiving.
Prayer: My soul magnifies You, Lord, and my spirit rejoices in You as my Savior. For you have regarded my low estate and have called me blessed through my relationship with Your Son. Holy is Your name. Praise be to You forever and ever. Amen.
Resolution and Point for Meditation:
I resolve to take some time today to ponder the mystery of Christ in me and of my being a member of the family of God through Christ.
© 2008 Fr. Charles Erlandson
Monday, December 08, 2008
Tuesday Advent 2 - Mark 3:7-19
“And He went up on the mountain and called to Him those He Himself wanted. And they came to Him. Then He appointed twelve, that they might be with Him and that He might send them out to preach, and to have power to heal sicknesses and to cast out demons.”
In verses 14-16 of Mark 3, we have a picture of God’s work in our lives. Never forget that it is the work of the Lord. It begins with Him; it ends with Him; and is by and for Him. In the beginning, the Kingdom was limited to the person of Jesus Himself. This means that the manifestation of the Kingdom was also limited, since Jesus, in His divine humanity, could only be in one place at a time, dealing with a limited number of people.
But now God’s firstborn produces fruit that produces seeds that are scattered and propagate the Kingdom. Here (and in 1:16-20 and 2:13-17), Jesus miraculously multiplies the heavenly bread with which He has come to feed the world by raising up disciples who will, as in the feeding of the 5000, feed the world with the Bread of Heaven.
We find Jesus calling “to Him those He Himself wanted.” The call of God is at His pleasure, and it is His holy will that initiates the work in His Kingdom. He calls whom He will, for that is the divine prerogative. But we know that the call of God is mysterious – not only that it comes to us in a variety of ways and at times when we least expect it – but also because the whole means by which we hear it and receive it is beyond the reach of telescope or microscope.
In this case, Jesus calls, and they came to Him. Mark doesn’t specify how many come and how many didn’t. But the essential truth of God’s work in the world is this: God calls, and man responds. This is the divine antiphony, the true celestial music of the spheres, and it is proclaimed throughout all of God’s creation.
The sun calls with his glorious, life-giving rays, and the moon responds by mirroring that glory, and the earth responds by joyfully receiving that energy and transforming it into life. One bird sings, and another one answers. Day turns into night, and night returns the favor by turning into day. A lover looks at the beloved, and the beloved looks back. We inhale the grace of God, and we are to breathe it back out again into the world as a blessing. We eat the kindly fruits of the earth, transforming the earth into our bodies, and are to return that life and energy back into the care of the earth and its inhabitants.
Jesus calls to Him those He Himself wants, and some of us come to Him in response.
Jesus calls many, and some come. Out of those who come, He appoints 12 in particular to be with Him day by day and to receive special authority to do the things He began to do: to teach, preach, heal sicknesses, and cast out demons. This, too, is part of the pattern of the ministry of the Lord: that according to His pleasure He appoints some to special offices and special ministries.
This is entirely by the grace and will of God Himself. But the twelve likely became The Twelve because of how they responded to God’s call in their lives. In Mark 1:18, Simon and Andrew immediately left their fishing nets and followed Jesus. In 1:20, James and John left their father and their nets and followed Jesus. In 2:14, Jesus said simply to Matthew, “Follow me,” and Matthew arose, left his lucrative tax booth, and followed Jesus. Does anybody else notice a pattern here?
Those who respond to God’s call will hear a further call, and those who have proven faithful with small things will be entrusted with more. It never ceases to amaze me how in God’s Kingdom the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. The way we approach God in His Word is a perfect example. Those who crave God’s Word will get more of it, and those who ignore God’s Word will get less of it. I have seen so many times that those who have faithfully sought God in His Word, day by day, year by year, continue to grow in grace and wisdom. But some who have equal access to the Word of God and the grace of God ignore or spurn it, and they yield little if any fruit.
There are their Bibles sitting on their shelves, unread. Meanwhile, the most
meaningless e-mail forwards get devoured religiously, almost as if they were the Word of God. No e-mail goes unread, for fear that something wonderful will be missed. Yet there lie the Old and New Testament lessons for the day, with untold treasures and infallible nutrition, unread and unconsumed. In the Kingdom of Heaven, the hungry are fed and satisfied, but the sated slowly starve to death.
The difference between those who are blessed by God and those who are not is in their response, for these are the terms of His holy covenant. When God calls, some respond, and some don’t. Some hear His call from the mountain of God and come closer, some are so faithful that they are raised up as mighty leaders, and some walk away, thinking to themselves, like some spiritual traffic cop, “Move along, now, there’s nothing here to see.”
Every day, all throughout the day, God stands on His holy mountain, calling men to Himself, calling you.
Today, you are Philip and Andrew with their nets and Matthew at his tax booth. Today, God is calling you.
How will you respond?
Prayer: Almighty God, whose heavens declare Your glory and whose firmament shows Your handiwork, and whose voice has gone out through all the heavens and earth, open my ears today that I might hear Your voice again. Open my heart that I may receive You again. Give strength to my body and mind that I might respond with joyful immediacy to Your call on my life, and give me a voracious appetite for Your presence in my life, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Points for Meditation:
1. Imagine yourself in the situation of the disciples Jesus called: one of the fishermen or Matthew. Imagine the call of Jesus on your life and how you responded, including what you gave up to follow the Lord.
2. Find a quiet place and time, and listen to what the Lord has been telling you. To what has He been calling you? How well have you been listening and obeying?
3. Spend some extra time asking God to fill you with a hunger for Him.
4. Consider the ways in which you experience call and response in nature. Imagine that each of these is a picture of God calling to you and waiting for you to respond.
Resolution: I resolve today to listen for, hear, and respond to the call of God in my life. I further resolve to respond in one practical way today.
© 2008 Fr. Charles Erlandson
In verses 14-16 of Mark 3, we have a picture of God’s work in our lives. Never forget that it is the work of the Lord. It begins with Him; it ends with Him; and is by and for Him. In the beginning, the Kingdom was limited to the person of Jesus Himself. This means that the manifestation of the Kingdom was also limited, since Jesus, in His divine humanity, could only be in one place at a time, dealing with a limited number of people.
But now God’s firstborn produces fruit that produces seeds that are scattered and propagate the Kingdom. Here (and in 1:16-20 and 2:13-17), Jesus miraculously multiplies the heavenly bread with which He has come to feed the world by raising up disciples who will, as in the feeding of the 5000, feed the world with the Bread of Heaven.
We find Jesus calling “to Him those He Himself wanted.” The call of God is at His pleasure, and it is His holy will that initiates the work in His Kingdom. He calls whom He will, for that is the divine prerogative. But we know that the call of God is mysterious – not only that it comes to us in a variety of ways and at times when we least expect it – but also because the whole means by which we hear it and receive it is beyond the reach of telescope or microscope.
In this case, Jesus calls, and they came to Him. Mark doesn’t specify how many come and how many didn’t. But the essential truth of God’s work in the world is this: God calls, and man responds. This is the divine antiphony, the true celestial music of the spheres, and it is proclaimed throughout all of God’s creation.
The sun calls with his glorious, life-giving rays, and the moon responds by mirroring that glory, and the earth responds by joyfully receiving that energy and transforming it into life. One bird sings, and another one answers. Day turns into night, and night returns the favor by turning into day. A lover looks at the beloved, and the beloved looks back. We inhale the grace of God, and we are to breathe it back out again into the world as a blessing. We eat the kindly fruits of the earth, transforming the earth into our bodies, and are to return that life and energy back into the care of the earth and its inhabitants.
Jesus calls to Him those He Himself wants, and some of us come to Him in response.
Jesus calls many, and some come. Out of those who come, He appoints 12 in particular to be with Him day by day and to receive special authority to do the things He began to do: to teach, preach, heal sicknesses, and cast out demons. This, too, is part of the pattern of the ministry of the Lord: that according to His pleasure He appoints some to special offices and special ministries.
This is entirely by the grace and will of God Himself. But the twelve likely became The Twelve because of how they responded to God’s call in their lives. In Mark 1:18, Simon and Andrew immediately left their fishing nets and followed Jesus. In 1:20, James and John left their father and their nets and followed Jesus. In 2:14, Jesus said simply to Matthew, “Follow me,” and Matthew arose, left his lucrative tax booth, and followed Jesus. Does anybody else notice a pattern here?
Those who respond to God’s call will hear a further call, and those who have proven faithful with small things will be entrusted with more. It never ceases to amaze me how in God’s Kingdom the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. The way we approach God in His Word is a perfect example. Those who crave God’s Word will get more of it, and those who ignore God’s Word will get less of it. I have seen so many times that those who have faithfully sought God in His Word, day by day, year by year, continue to grow in grace and wisdom. But some who have equal access to the Word of God and the grace of God ignore or spurn it, and they yield little if any fruit.
There are their Bibles sitting on their shelves, unread. Meanwhile, the most
meaningless e-mail forwards get devoured religiously, almost as if they were the Word of God. No e-mail goes unread, for fear that something wonderful will be missed. Yet there lie the Old and New Testament lessons for the day, with untold treasures and infallible nutrition, unread and unconsumed. In the Kingdom of Heaven, the hungry are fed and satisfied, but the sated slowly starve to death.
The difference between those who are blessed by God and those who are not is in their response, for these are the terms of His holy covenant. When God calls, some respond, and some don’t. Some hear His call from the mountain of God and come closer, some are so faithful that they are raised up as mighty leaders, and some walk away, thinking to themselves, like some spiritual traffic cop, “Move along, now, there’s nothing here to see.”
Every day, all throughout the day, God stands on His holy mountain, calling men to Himself, calling you.
Today, you are Philip and Andrew with their nets and Matthew at his tax booth. Today, God is calling you.
How will you respond?
Prayer: Almighty God, whose heavens declare Your glory and whose firmament shows Your handiwork, and whose voice has gone out through all the heavens and earth, open my ears today that I might hear Your voice again. Open my heart that I may receive You again. Give strength to my body and mind that I might respond with joyful immediacy to Your call on my life, and give me a voracious appetite for Your presence in my life, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Points for Meditation:
1. Imagine yourself in the situation of the disciples Jesus called: one of the fishermen or Matthew. Imagine the call of Jesus on your life and how you responded, including what you gave up to follow the Lord.
2. Find a quiet place and time, and listen to what the Lord has been telling you. To what has He been calling you? How well have you been listening and obeying?
3. Spend some extra time asking God to fill you with a hunger for Him.
4. Consider the ways in which you experience call and response in nature. Imagine that each of these is a picture of God calling to you and waiting for you to respond.
Resolution: I resolve today to listen for, hear, and respond to the call of God in my life. I further resolve to respond in one practical way today.
© 2008 Fr. Charles Erlandson
Sunday, December 07, 2008
Monday of Advent 2 - Mark 2:23-3:6
Jesus Christ is the Wisdom of God incarnated. Though we already know this, it’s good to have an illustration of it from the life and words of Jesus Himself. And that is exactly what Jesus gives us today – a teaching on the meaning of wisdom.
Biblically speaking, wisdom is knowing God and doing His will. But there is a secondary kind of wisdom that Jesus deals with here (the two are related) – the human wisdom (though made possible by the grace of God) that knows how to apply God’s Word in a given situation.
What should we do when it appears that two of God’s commandments are in conflict and we can’t obey them both? We could try to reconcile them, and sometimes this is possible. We could try to compromise, but then we might not be faithful to either. We could choose one over the other and feel guilty about not obeying the other one.
I believe that God never puts us in a situation where it becomes necessary to sin. If the reality is that we truly can’t obey two conflicting commandments, then I think one of them is becomes subordinated to the other. In choosing the greater and subordinating the lesser, there can be no sin.
The famous example of this is the importance of Christians speaking the truth and the commandment to protect life. What if Pharaoh tyrannically commands you to kill the Israelite boys? What if the Canaanites ask you if you’ve seen two Israelite spies and you know that if you tell them the Israelites will be killed? And what if the Nazis come to your door and ask if you’re hiding any Jews? In all of these cases, godly women lied and did not tell the truth. But they did so to protect the image of God in man. We have no obligation to tell the truth to those who seek to murder God’s children, at the time they seek to murder.
This requires a kind of wisdom, the kind of wisdom that Jesus always manifested.
God clearly said that in the Sabbath God’s people were not to work. But He also said that we are to love our neighbors as ourselves. What if these two commandments are in conflict? Jesus’ answer is that it is always lawful to do good. (Of course, healing on the Sabbath had never been formally defined as work and it’s likely that the Pharisees were upholding only their own law and not God’s – but the point still stands.)
At stake is not only the wisdom we are required to have but also our view of God and His commandments. Sometimes we fall into the trap of believing that God’s commandments are arbitrary, that is, that they are right simply because God has declared them to be so, regardless of any intrinsic goodness to them. But God’s goodness and His power are more holistically related than this. God’s commandments are right, good, and good for us. How can they be anything else, since they are reflections of His loving, good, and holy character?
The point is that the Sabbath principle was not commanded by God just to create one more hurdle for His children to jump over but because it is a reflection of God and His goodness. The Sabbath is good for us, and even God took a Sabbath rest. The point of the Sabbath is to trust in God. For this reason, no manna fell on the Sabbath, and the people were required to trust in God without the manna and by preparing the previous day, remembering both His commandment to not gather on the Sabbath and His promise to give His daily bread to His people.
The point of the Sabbath is to trust in God and to learn to do His will and not ours. The Sabbath was made for man, that He might learn to trust in God, worship Him, and find his rest in Him. Man was not made for the Sabbath. It’s not as if there is a missing verse from Genesis 1 (it’s Genesis 1:23 ½ , if you want to look it up) which reads, “And on the fifth and a half day, God created a set of abstract principles by which He would make man live. And He established a logical system of commandments so that man might unthinkingly follow them. And He saw that they were good, though inscrutable.”
God made man in His image, not His commandments. It’s for us, and not for abstract principles, that He sent His only Son to die for the sins of the world. For this reason, we are to obey God’s commandments, not with a slavish unthinking attitude but with a heart of love. Every single commandment has love as its purpose and fulfillment. When we consider God’s commandments, always think of them in terms of how they help you love God and neighbor.
It is a living, loving God that you serve by obeying His commandments, and it is those made in the image of God that you also serve by keeping His commandments.
Obeying God, then, is a very personal decision for each of us, and we must engage God’s commandments with our whole being, including our minds. And this requires wisdom, for which we must always remember to ask God.
Prayer: Father, thank You for sending Your Wisdom down from heaven in the person of Your Son, Jesus Christ. Enlighten my heart and mind today that I may know Your good and loving will and have Your grace to obey. Amen.
Resolution and Point for Meditation: I resolve to consider my attitude towards God’s commandments. Have I been trying to obey them out of mere duty, or have I been seeking God and His love through them?
© 2008 Fr. Charles Erlandson
Biblically speaking, wisdom is knowing God and doing His will. But there is a secondary kind of wisdom that Jesus deals with here (the two are related) – the human wisdom (though made possible by the grace of God) that knows how to apply God’s Word in a given situation.
What should we do when it appears that two of God’s commandments are in conflict and we can’t obey them both? We could try to reconcile them, and sometimes this is possible. We could try to compromise, but then we might not be faithful to either. We could choose one over the other and feel guilty about not obeying the other one.
I believe that God never puts us in a situation where it becomes necessary to sin. If the reality is that we truly can’t obey two conflicting commandments, then I think one of them is becomes subordinated to the other. In choosing the greater and subordinating the lesser, there can be no sin.
The famous example of this is the importance of Christians speaking the truth and the commandment to protect life. What if Pharaoh tyrannically commands you to kill the Israelite boys? What if the Canaanites ask you if you’ve seen two Israelite spies and you know that if you tell them the Israelites will be killed? And what if the Nazis come to your door and ask if you’re hiding any Jews? In all of these cases, godly women lied and did not tell the truth. But they did so to protect the image of God in man. We have no obligation to tell the truth to those who seek to murder God’s children, at the time they seek to murder.
This requires a kind of wisdom, the kind of wisdom that Jesus always manifested.
God clearly said that in the Sabbath God’s people were not to work. But He also said that we are to love our neighbors as ourselves. What if these two commandments are in conflict? Jesus’ answer is that it is always lawful to do good. (Of course, healing on the Sabbath had never been formally defined as work and it’s likely that the Pharisees were upholding only their own law and not God’s – but the point still stands.)
At stake is not only the wisdom we are required to have but also our view of God and His commandments. Sometimes we fall into the trap of believing that God’s commandments are arbitrary, that is, that they are right simply because God has declared them to be so, regardless of any intrinsic goodness to them. But God’s goodness and His power are more holistically related than this. God’s commandments are right, good, and good for us. How can they be anything else, since they are reflections of His loving, good, and holy character?
The point is that the Sabbath principle was not commanded by God just to create one more hurdle for His children to jump over but because it is a reflection of God and His goodness. The Sabbath is good for us, and even God took a Sabbath rest. The point of the Sabbath is to trust in God. For this reason, no manna fell on the Sabbath, and the people were required to trust in God without the manna and by preparing the previous day, remembering both His commandment to not gather on the Sabbath and His promise to give His daily bread to His people.
The point of the Sabbath is to trust in God and to learn to do His will and not ours. The Sabbath was made for man, that He might learn to trust in God, worship Him, and find his rest in Him. Man was not made for the Sabbath. It’s not as if there is a missing verse from Genesis 1 (it’s Genesis 1:23 ½ , if you want to look it up) which reads, “And on the fifth and a half day, God created a set of abstract principles by which He would make man live. And He established a logical system of commandments so that man might unthinkingly follow them. And He saw that they were good, though inscrutable.”
God made man in His image, not His commandments. It’s for us, and not for abstract principles, that He sent His only Son to die for the sins of the world. For this reason, we are to obey God’s commandments, not with a slavish unthinking attitude but with a heart of love. Every single commandment has love as its purpose and fulfillment. When we consider God’s commandments, always think of them in terms of how they help you love God and neighbor.
It is a living, loving God that you serve by obeying His commandments, and it is those made in the image of God that you also serve by keeping His commandments.
Obeying God, then, is a very personal decision for each of us, and we must engage God’s commandments with our whole being, including our minds. And this requires wisdom, for which we must always remember to ask God.
Prayer: Father, thank You for sending Your Wisdom down from heaven in the person of Your Son, Jesus Christ. Enlighten my heart and mind today that I may know Your good and loving will and have Your grace to obey. Amen.
Resolution and Point for Meditation: I resolve to consider my attitude towards God’s commandments. Have I been trying to obey them out of mere duty, or have I been seeking God and His love through them?
© 2008 Fr. Charles Erlandson
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