Psalm 98
2 Thessalonians 3:6-13
Luke 21:5-19
Announcement! I'm trying a slightly new format: each subsection will have just one bullet point. Hopefully this will make your reading more streamlined!
First Lesson: Malachi 4:1-2a
Challenges:
- When I hear proclamations such as this one ("the day is coming...all the arrogant and evildoers will be stubble...") I have two quick reactions: 1) Well, hasn't happened yet! 2) Uhhh, just HOW much do I need to revere God's name to avoid this stubble-situation? There are times when I revere God's name, there are times when I do evil and there are even times when I'm arrogant...it's true. Of course, looking at that passage as if I need a good "faith average" (like having a good "batting average") misses the point. There's that whole saint-and-sinner thing. Of course, it is easy to feel either very smug ('Hey, I'm one of the good guys') or worried ('Do I love God enough, yikes!') when reading this.
Opportunities:
- This passage provides some excellent imagery: it seems that the day of the Lord will hit both the arrogant/evildoers and the righteous. For the former it will not be pleasant, for the later it will be wonderful. How often is news good for some and bad for others? How often is a situation a benefit for some, but hard for others? As Rob Bell has said about heaven: heaven will be awful if you are a racist. Perhaps the bad will need to be burned off of us, and while not pleasant, this burning will be liberating.
The Good News:
- Any honest person will have to admit that things aren't as good as they COULD be. There is wrong-doing, corruption, oppression and artifical turf on baseball fields. The good news is that God is at work and things will not always be this way. In the meantime, we live by faith.
Psalm: Psalm 98
Challenges:
- So, I feel like I ALWAYS include the challenge of "hey, this victory hasn't been fully realized yet, and I don't always see it," anytime a psalm or lesson talks about the victory of the Lord, so I'm not going to say it now...nope won't say it at all.
Opportunities:
- There are times when a lament is appropriate, but there are also times when it is fully appropriate to pump your fist in the air, crow outloud with praises to God for what the Almighty has done in your life or in the world. When times like this come (and they will), it can be a great thing to have words on your heart and tongue ready to be said. "O Sing to the LORD a new song, for he has done marvelous things. His right hand and his holy arm have gotten him the victory!" are those kind of words. Also, with all of the talk of waters, hills and creation singing and shouting with joy, I'm reminded of C.S. Lewis's Chronicles of Narnia where forests and rivers interact with Aslan the Lion. Not read Narnia? Drop everything and do it...do it now!
The Good News:
- There is a great sense of "togetherness" in this psalm: creation is united in its love and praise of the Lord. We get to be part of that "togetherness," which banishes loneliness and hopelessness.
Second Lesson: 2 Thessalonians 3:6-13
Challenges:
- Like I said with the 'challenge' in the psalm section, I'll say here: it seems I always mention the same sort of 'challenge' when a biblical writer warns us against a certain type of person. In this case, we're talking about 'idle' believers and the challenge always seems to be: it's too easy for me to see potential candidates for this description and they happen to be whoever I seem to disagree with or not like. So, like I said with the psalm, I'm not going to mention this challenge at all, not once...
Opportunities:
- Okay, this will probably be an unpopular statement, but sometimes you just need to say, 'Get to work,' and not "Let's talk about your feelings and why you don't want to do what we are asking..." I need to be told to 'get to work' sometimes (maybe more than sometimes) and that exhortation can been useful and helpful. Just because God loves us unconditionally doesn't mean that God wants us to be lazy or 'busybodies.' God won't stop loving busybodies or lazy people (and thank God for that!), but Jesus didn't die on the cross so that we could go on a permanent vacation: he has called us to something greater, fuller and more rewarding (a lazy person like myself needs to remember this).
The Good News:
- I do not have enough space and time to fully describe how much I enjoy lounging around: it's one of my favorite things. But there are plenty of times when my inactivity can make me rather depressed or "blue." I can feel listless and purposeless. This message from 2 Thessalonians helps me to be free from the lock that inactivity (perhaps even 'sloth') has on me, so that I can be energized and invigorated by an active life in Christ.
Gospel: Luke 21:5-19
Challenges:
- Verse 19 says, "By your endurance you will gain your souls..." If this is the case I feel like that guy from the movie Jaws who says, "We're going to need a bigger boat." Also, does what Jesus says here sound like the medical warnings that appear on just about every medication commercial: 'Try fill in medication name here it will improve your health...maybe cause nausea, bloating, heart-attack or flu-like symptoms..." Well, maybe it's not the same thing as what Jesus is saying here, but people might hear it that way...
Opportunities
- There's a song by the band Radical Face that talks about a friendship from the past that is no longer there and the chorus says again and again, "Everything goes away...everything goes away." It's catchy song (called "Always Gold") and I've found myself humming or singing it under my breath again and again. And lately, I've heard news or stories from friends that makes me sing that line "everything goes away" over and over again: a beloved friend or congregtation member dies, a precious heirloom is lost, someone's health fails, a fire destroys a building, a friendship ends, CHANGE happens. Everything goes away...even the Temple...everything goes away...except the love of God found in Jesus Christ.
The Good News:
- I think the tail end of my "opportunity" section has already mentioned the Good News. In a transitory world, where the only constant is change and all of the things that we love eventually go away or are taken away from us, we can hold our heads up with resolution and even joy because of God and what God has done through Jesus Christ. Instead of attempting to hold onto everything we have with white-knuckles, we can give to those around us, we can be free from fear, we can breathe deep and hold our heads up high.
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