the great return

Bruegel, "Procession to Calvary"

Jeremiah 23:1-6
For Sunday, Nov. 25, 2007 (Reign of Christ Sunday)

This passage begins with a play on the Hebrew word PAQAD which can mean either "to care for" or "to chastise", with a summary meaning of visit. The Lord says essentially, "Because you have not PAQAD'd my people I am going to PAQAD you." Unfortunately for the shepherds, this is not the kind of visit from the Lord that is going to go well.

Jeremiah goes on to say that a Righteous Shepherd will come to take the place of the unrighteous ones, and that the people of Israel will be regathered from all the countries of the world to which they have been banished. One way to interpret this is that Jeremiah is talking about a regathering of the Jewish people to the current nation of Israel during a 1,000 year reign of Christ on this earth before the new heaven and new earth are created. Another interpretation takes this to mean not only the Jewish people, but the whole people of God, and understands that while the Israel being referred to is a real Israel, it is the Israel of the new heaven and new earth.

One reason to prefer the latter interpretation is this: once Jesus has come, why would God have only the Jews living near him? This just doesn't make sense given the overall flow of Scripture, which moves outward from the Jews as a starting point to encompass every people on earth.

Some criticize this line of interpretation as "replacement theology". They say, "You are replacing what are meant to be literal references with spiritual ones." Ah, but here's the rub: I'm not replacing literal references with merely spiritual ones. The new Israel is going to be a very real and literal place. It's just not the one on which Jerusalem sits currently.

A great book related to all of this is Michael Witmer's _Heaven is a Place on Earth_. He argues that heaven is not going to be an ethereal place in the clouds but an actual place here on a re-created earth. This kind of thinking brings together the physical and spiritual in a way that transforms everything about how one approaches life.

We are already being ruled by a Righteous Shepherd today even though we are not yet experiencing the full benefit of his rule. This is great reason to rejoice and to hope in whatever today might bring.

the god who hears

Isaiah 65:17-25
For November 18, 2007 (Proper 28)

The broken world in which we live is going to be replaced.

In this world I find myself holding in my hands a stillborn infant that I'm supposed to bless for his parents. I find myself grieving a Dad who died too young and too early. I find myself working hard and not always being rewarded for it.

Yet a better world is already making its appearance. It is one in which babies thrive, in which patriarchs live long and well, and in which work is a sheer joy.

Christianity is neither irrelevant nor a drudgery. It is rather a symphony coming to glorious resolution after a long and arduous journey.

Don’t get caught up in the circumstances of the moment. They are going to change for the better. God hears you. “Before they call I will answer; while they are yet speaking I will hear” (v. 24).

attitude reboot

Cezanne, "The Bay from La'Estaque"

Haggai 1:15b - 2:9
For Sunday, November 11, 2007 (Proper 27)

The messages we allow through to our souls affect us. This is why I find I need to be more and more discriminating about the television that my family and I watch. What message is this show sending to me and to us? Is it helpful? Boy... that will make you pick up a book.

The message that Israel was sending itself at the time of Haggai was, "It's over." Yes, they said, we can try to rebuild the temple, but it will never be what it was under Solomon. This same attitude can come to hold sway in both churches and individuals. "Yes, we can still do some things, but basically, it's over."

Not so, says Haggai. Your best days are ahead of you. Why? God says:
1) because "I am with you"
2) because I keep my commitments (covenants)
3) because my Spirit remains among you
4) because once more, like I shook the earth at Mount Sinai, I'm going to do it again

There are actually more reasons here but I'll constrain myself to these four. The fourth point is near and dear to my heart, because this is the one verse of the book of Haggai quoted in the New Testament, in one of my favorite books, the Book of Hebrews. The theme of that book is that we as the people of God are receiving an unshakeable kingdom. Everything but that kingdom will be shaken, but what we already have can never be taken away.

So what? Here's the so what, says Haggai: be strong, and work. What does it mean to be strong? To know, as one friend put it recently, that "God has your back." What does it mean ' to work'? It means to fulfill the mandates of your calling. Not sure what that calling is? Sit down with the Lord for 15 minutes, and then do what he tells you. Do that for a week, and you'll have a much better idea of what the mandates of your calling actually are.

Feeling discouraged? Out of focus? Overwhelmed? Time for an attitude reboot. Let's be strong and then in the grace and peace of Christ, let's get busy.