Christmas Day: For Us.

 For unto us a child is born…

   The Prince of Peace. (Isaiah 9:6)

The baby we celebrate on Christmas day, is like every child, but different. This is the One “conceived by the Holy Spirit, and born of the Virgin Mary” (Apostles’ Creed). It’s all God’s doing. Man in his usual roll must step aside and the woman alone comes forward saying, “Let it be with me according to your word" (Lk 1:38). This is the Child “born for us and for our salvation” (Chalcedonian Creed). As the Apostle puts it: “If God is for us, who is against us? He who did not withhold his own Son, but gave him up for us” (Ro 8:31-32). On Christmas Day we celebrate the humble arrival of our “for us” Savior.

This Christmas, like most, takes place in the midst of our contentious world—lots of political, social, and religious fussing. The Baby was born to set us free for something different: “Peace on earth and goodwill towards all” (Lk 2:14). That’s why the prophet prophecies that the child would become the Prince of Peace. As Jesus would teach us from the mountain; “Blessed are those who make peace!”

When Jesus departs this troubled world he leaves behind his peace: “My peace I give, not like the world. Do not let your hearts be troubled …so that you may have my peace” (Jn 14:27 & 16:33).

That’s how the Apostles’ begin their letters to us: “Grace and Peace from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ.” We can’t get to peace without grace. So, today especially, let us be gracious towards one another and towards all people. Remember, our Savior, is the Prince of Peace.

 

 

First Week of Advent: Critical Studies

 Luke is with me.

   Get Mark and bring him with you…

   also, bring my books. (2 Timothy 4:11-13)

 

Dear Priscilla,

So you learned all about “Q”—something you never learned in Sunday school. It was a delight to discuss it face-to-face with you during our family beach house Thanksgiving Week. You return from your first stint at college discussing the “Synoptic Problem.”

That’s what happens when you study the Bible critically. Critical studies are good. It’s to the church’s credit that it has raised more critical questions concerning its sacred text than the world has ever raised concerning its claims. Why do Matthew, Mark, and Luke tell a similar story (synoptic)? Yet, not altogether similar? Matthew and Luke follow Mark, but then go their own way as in their genealogies of Jesus, for example. Or, sometimes Matthew and Luke stick together but leave Mark behind as in the story about the foxes; or, Jesus’ lament over Jerusalem (word for word, Mt 23:3-39 & Lk 13:34-35). How come? Could it be Matthew and Luke made use of a common source—something like “Q” perhaps? It is hypothetical, but a Computer Science major like yourself would find such musing interesting—like piecing together a program that works.

The Apostle Paul’s last recorded words concern a literary project that required his books along with the presence of Mark and Luke—a collaboration. Luke lets us know from the beginning that he makes use of such sources:

Since many have undertaken to

            -write down an orderly account

of the events that have been fulfilled among us,

just as they were

            -handed on to us by those who from the beginning

were eyewitnesses

and servants of the word, 

I too decided, after investigating everything carefully from the very first, to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, so that you may know the truth concerning the things about which you have been instructed (Lk 1:1-4).

 His sources are both written like Mark and maybe “Q”; as well as eyewitness accounts like Mary, Peter, James and John. All that work just for Theophilus? Maybe Luke “investigated everything carefully,” for all of us who, like Theophilus, can’t help but wonder, “Can it really be true?”

Love Papa

 

Ordinary Days #37: Gathering

Gather at the place

   the Lord chooses. (Deuteronomy 14:23)

Dear Priscilla, 

That’s how the ancient people of God gathered for Thanksgiving: “You shall gather at the place the Lord chooses to eat of your grain and drink of your wine and eat of your flock.” It appears, this year, the Lord has chosen that old beat-up beach house in Mission Beach for our Thanksgiving gathering.

I’m so excited you and Abby are going to make the journey. It looks like the whole family—uncles and aunts and cousins, all sixteen of us will gather together for Thanksgiving.

There is something magical about your first Thanksgiving home from college. I remember gazing in amazement at your mother when she came home from college for Thanksgiving. I can’t find a word to describe it; maybe, “sublime.” Not the best word, but the best I can come up with. You left home for Baylor as the teenage daughter of your parents; but, now you come back as your own person.

If Papa tears up, don’t make fun. It has to do with “sublime.” Instead of making fun, let’s have fun. For example, ask me anything about what you have learned and see if I know the answer (excluding computer science). If you stump me, I’ll owe you an ice cream cone, okay?

Love Papa

 

Ordinary Days #36: Stranded

 Like cold water to a thirsty soul,

   so is good news from a far country.

   (Proverbs 25:25)

 

Dear Priscilla, 

Grammy and I woke up to “Anna where are you?” We continued to follow the texting through the night until Abby’s text from Austin popped up: “I have her! Package secured.” Thank you Abby for scooping up Anna and taking her to your home in San Marcos.

We still haven’t pieced together the story, other than Anna was supposed to fly from Waco to Dallas to home; but, somehow found herself stranded, in the middle of the night, at AUS. That’s when we heard “Good news from a far country.” “I have her!” Abby text.

Nothing is a sure thing. Bad news always lurks. All the fun of your Baylor weekend could have ended otherwise. That’s why Grammy and Papa always pray for journey mercies and rejoice when we hear “good news from a far country” (Pr 25:25).

Love Papa & Grammy

 

Ordinary Days #35: Chalkboard

Thy word is a light

   unto my path. (Psalm 119:105)

 

Dear Priscilla,

Look what Auntie Jen wrote on the family chalkboard:

 

I guess I did say that; but, I would not have said it had not the Apostle said it first: “Workouts are useful, but a disciplined life in God is far more so” (First Timothy 4:8).  Maybe that’s how God’s Word becomes “a lamp to our feet and a light to our path” (Ps 119:105). Of course, the Apostle wouldn’t be the Apostle without Jesus who is the Light of the World and who is Himself the Way. “May the Angel of our Lord go before you and cause your way to prosper!” (Gn 24)

Love, Papa

 

Ordinary Days #34: Game Day

Workouts are useful,

    but a disciplined life in God

    is far more so. (First Timothy 4:8)

 

Dear Priscilla,

Seems I write on game day, like today’s home game against the West Virginia Mountaineers. You have turned me into a Baylor Bears fan. I see it will be nationally televised. I’ll be watching.

It is not only big game day, but cousins’ day: Owen and Anna flying all the way to Waco just to be with you. Grammy and I were just with Owen and family watching Adam play football, and Elizabeth play volleyball (your sport), and Owen play varsity basketball. At the same time Anna celebrated her Senior Day in water polo. As much as I love all that sports stuff, the Apostle reminds us that there is something even more important: To live a life disciplined by our faith and trust in God. That is the real game of life.

Owen’s top priority is to go to a school where he can play ball. Remind him, for me, that there are other reasons to choose a college. You might be forging a trail to Baylor. Your cousins are all cued up: Anna next year and then Owen the following, then Sarah and Joshua, and then Elizabeth. Counting you, that makes six grandchildren in a row making their matriculating decisions. It is a big decision; don’t you think? 

Love, Papa

Ordinary Days #33: Wisdom

Have you considered

    Job’s integrity? (Job 2:3)

Dear Priscilla,

I see you study Job next week. It’s all in Job. Pay attention to Satan’s second round; and, in particular what God says about Job and about Himself: “The Lord said to Satan, ‘Have you considered my servant Job? …He still persists in his integrity, although you incited me against him, to destroy him for no reason.’" (Jb 2:3). Can it be true that Satan incited God to destroy Job “for no reason”? Your BASB chicken’s out. What do you think?

The Book of Job has the courage to raise all sorts of troublesome questions. It is a theologian’s nightmare. His friends seem to say what is theologically correct while Job seems to say what is suspect at best. But, in the end, God says, his friends were wrong and Job had it right (42:7). Maybe the thing that is right about Job is that he speaks with integrity. After all, that was the wager.

Love, Papa

Ordinary Days #32: Life

 I came to give you life. (John 10:10)

Dear Priscilla, 

Today you “run the lines” on national television. I’ll miss it. While you are running the lines, I’ll be doing the eulogy message for Julianna Gladys. I don’t know if you remember her. She was our hairdresser—a wonder of God’s saving grace. She died “full of years,” as the Bible says, but still, we long for more—for eternity.

Don’t let our sorrow diminish your day. Run with joy—the sheer joy of being alive on God’s beautiful green earth. Julianna loved life. I have a feeling if one doesn’t love this earth, fallen as it is, they might not be happy with the “new heaven and earth” God is preparing for us. So, have fun. I’ll record it, and see if I can spot you.

Love, Papa

 

Ordinary Days #31: Required Course

Scripture speaks

   of me. (John 5:39) 

Dear Priscilla,

Thank you for sending me your “Christian Scriptures” syllabus. It’s good—very good. You can tell it is a well thought out introductory course—required course. I had to write a few “syllabi” of my own. It’s not easy. Pay attention to those synopsis prompts—they are very helpful.

The syllabus refuses to parrot popular education jargon like “Learning Outcomes,” and sticks to its classical calling: “The procedures and presentations of the course will conform to the philosophy, spirit, and requirements of Baylor University and its Department of Religion.” That’s good. It means the professor is not on his own; but, nurtured and disciplined by his peers and the vision of the university. You can tell the syllabus is the product of the university, and in particular, the Department of Religion.

At first, I thought the title “Christian Scriptures” a bit odd. Our intro classes were “Introduction to the Old Testament” and “Introduction to the New Testament.” But, after reading the syllabus and thinking about it; I like it. When we break up “old” and “new” sometimes we forget that the O.T. is Christian scripture. The first generations of Christians spoke of Jesus before the N.T. found its way into the Sacred Text—before the N.T. became the N.T. Israel’s scriptures reveal the God of the Gospel. The stories of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob become our stories too. We have been adopted into the family of Abraham. We call Abraham our father too. That, of course, goes for Sarah and Rebecca and Rachel as well. What we call the O.T. was and is, of itself, “able to instruct for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus” (2Tm 3:15).  For Christians, Jesus is the inner logic of scripture.

Although this course is called an “introductory course;” the truth is, all courses are introductory. We never get the whole of it. The university introduces you to a whole new world of thoughtful thought that will be with you for the rest of your life, even into eternity. Our Creator and Redeemer and Sustainer is so big that it will take all of eternity to learn of Him.

Love, Papa

 

Ordinary Days #30: Fun

 Rejoice in your youth. (Ecclesiastes 11:9)

Dear Priscilla,

You “run the lines” Saturday, September 25 against 14^th ranked Iowa State. That’s perfect. Your mom and dad and sister Abby will be there. The game is so big it will be nationally televised; so, Grammy and I will be glued to the screen to see if we can spot you “running the lines.”

There’s much buzz about Owen flying out to attend your game against West Virginia. I’m told it’s a miracle story having to do with how it is that he will be dorming with your friend whose roommate just happens to be, by surprise, Owen’s friend. What are the odds? A computer scientist, like yourself, should be able to calculate that. Or, maybe it’s, like God things, incalculable. Be good to your cousin. Have fun.

Love, Papa

 

Ordinary Days #29: Chapel

The place God chooses

    as a dwelling for His name.  (Deuteronomy 26:2)

Dear Priscilla,

How was chapel? So, you are required only two semesters of chapel. I suppose that’s the way it has to be in a big school of over 14,000 students. A chapel of over 14,000 isn’t a chapel. There were less than 300 students at Papa’s college. So, we were required to attend chapel every day of every semester. I fussed some; but looking back on it, that’s when I learned great hymns like For All the Saints, and Jesus What a Friend for Sinners accompanied by a grand pipe organ.

The first universities were formed by the Church—monasteries in particular. Monks collected, preserved and taught the ancient texts of antiquity. As one of the best of them taught, “Faith seeks understanding” (Anselm, 12^th cent.). That means, authentic faith in God causes us to seek knowledge and understanding of all God’s creation.

Chapel is the place God has chosen as a dwelling place for his name: “I AM WHO I AM” and “I WILL DO WHAT I WILL DO” (Ex 3:15). That’s the Divine Name God gave to Moses out of the burning bush. The name gets summed up as YaHWeH, the great I AM who IS and DOES. The name is so precious you best not just blurt it out. It’s THE NAME we must never use in vain (3^rd commandment). So, just in case we misuse the name, we use the word “Lord” when we speak the unspeakable name. That is the first confession of the church: “Jesus is Lord” (Ro 10:9). It requires the Holy Spirit’s prompting to actually say it: “No one can say ‘Jesus is Lord’ except by the Holy Spirit” (1Cor 12:3). Someday, “every knee will bow, …and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father (Phil 2:10-11).

In chapel we listen again to God’s Word—the Gospel; and we speak, sing, and praise His name: Lord our God, Father, Son, and Spirit; One God, forever blessed. And then, in the classroom we ponder the wonder of God’s doings. Chapel and classroom are meant for each other. Real universities have a chapel. Even Stanford has a chapel—a beautiful chapel as you might guess.                                                                                                    

Love, Papa

 

Ordinary Days #28: University

 How manifold

   are thy works! (Psalm 104:24)

 Dear Priscilla,

So your Calculus class didn’t seem too bad, but your Computer Science class and lab scared you some. You’ll get it. It’s the kind of knowledge that will give you great vocational opportunities. That’s good. But, beyond these technological skills, the university requires you take classes from the “unified core curriculum.” These are traditional liberal arts courses like your classes in English Literature, Religious Studies, and Cultural Anthropology. Such courses develop personal skills—what Dietrich Bonhoeffer called “the polyphony of life.” 

“Polyphony,” as you know, being a musician yourself, speaks of songs or instrumentals that have multiple parts that weave together to form one song as in a fugue. It’s boring just to be a one note person. There is more to you than a single predictable note. It’s what the Bible calls “manifold;” meaning all sorts of various and interesting parts that make up the whole of God’s universe. There’s nothing boring about God.

      -God’s manifold creation (Ps 104:24).

      -God’s manifold mercies (Neh 9:19).

      -God’s manifold wisdom (Eph 3:10).

      -God’s manifold grace (1Pt 4:10).

“University” like “manifold,” speaks of the numerous, varied and distinct parts of study from calculus to literature that make up God’s universe. That means all of your varied studies find their place amidst God’s manifold creation.

 Am I rambling? I’m encouraging you to engage in all your varied classes. If you just learned computer science you would miss the universal in the university. The purpose of attending the university is to learn more than a trade. You are attending university to learn of the manifold wonders of God’s Creation. Such learning has a way of forming you into a wise and beautiful person.

Love, Papa

 

Ordinary Days #27: Calculus

Who determined

   creation’s measurements?  (Job 38:5)

Priscilla, 

Today you start your first class: “Calculus,” you tell me. The fun and games of orientation are over. The time has come to sit in the classroom and learn and learn and learn. Your Aunt Jen can tell you the story of how I made her take calculus her first semester. She’s still mad at me about that. She might have some tips for you.

“Out of the whirlwind,” God begins his confrontation with Job by asking, “Where were you when I determined creation’s measurements and stretched out its boundaries? …When the morning stars sang together and the heavenly host shouted for joy?” (Jb 38:1-7). I’m told Isaac Newton invented calculus as a way for measuring God’s creation. Yet, Newton knew better than anyone, that God’s creation remains immeasurable—“incalculable.”

I suppose we learn calculus because we bare the Image of God. Like Him, us humans like to calculate things—things like computer architecture. Isn’t that your major—Computer Science? Of course, God is always bigger than our calculation. God remains always and forever the Incalculable One.

Love, Papa

Ordinary Days #26: McLane Stadium

 Athletes compete

   to win the prize. (1Cor 9:24)

Dear Priscilla,

The hand-off is complete. Mom and Dad are heading home without you. They sent me a picture of you at the door of your dorm: “Ruth Collins Hall”—your new home. They tell me it’s part of the old campus, a big old six story brick building.

I woke up in the middle of the night wondering how far away you were from McLane Stadium where you run the lines and cheer on the Baylor Bears Football team. I managed a Baylor Campus Map download. It looks like the stadium is on the other side of the river, maybe about a mile or less walk from your dorm?

That caused me to download the football schedule. I see your first game is against Texas State—your sister’s school. You can’t walk to that one. It’s an away game. Your first home game is against Texas Southern on September 11. You’ll have to tell me all about your walk across campus and about “running the lines” and what it’s like to go to a big time college football game.

Why should such trivial things as college football keep me up all night? Maybe it’s because I never experienced such a thing, and am a bit envious of my friends who wear their Cal or Stanford sweatshirts on game day. On game day, I just pretend like I went to Cal; whereas, you really are going to a big time football college. You’ll be able to wear your colors for real.

The Apostle Paul admired those athletes who competed in the Isthmian games, just down the road form his church in Corinth—like walking to McLane Stadium. “The runners all compete to win the prize,” the Apostle noticed, and encourages us to notice. “Athletes exercise self-control in all things to receive a perishable wreath. … So I dare not run aimlessly less the gospel I proclaim be discredited” (1Cor 9:24-27). We do not have to win anything to be a Christian—we are saved by God’s grace as is. But once we enter the Kingdom of God; a certain gracious competition is in order. You are an athlete. You’ve learned to compete gracefully and with grace—beautiful.

Love Papa

Ordinary Days #25: Journey Mercies

 May God send his Angel

   before you. (Genesis 24:7)

Priscilla is on her way to Baylor University in Waco, TX. She’s driving her car down Interstate 25 for some 13hrs filled to the brim with her stuff, while Brandon follows behind. Rachel flies down tonight so Mom and Dad can be with her tomorrow morning for that hand-off into a new world. I’ve been on both ends of the hand-off—as a professor welcoming freshmen students with their parents checking me out and wondering about the whole thing. And, as a parent dropping off our children as they began their college adventure. There’s something precious about the hand-off that causes me to tear-up.

 

Ordinary Days #24: Sunrises

May the Lord rejoice

    in his creation. (Psalm 104:31)

Jen’s been sending me pictures of her Cancun sunrises—a reminder of how we shared Majahua sunrises a few years back—always the first ones up. Her picture was accompanied only by this: “Psalm 104.” So I read it. It’s a hymn to God’s good and plentiful creation. Following six stanzas praising the wonders of God’s creation it ends the seventh and last stanza praying that God too will be pleased with his creation. Can God still rejoice in his creation?

Ordinary Days #23: Flight into the heavens

Nothing that humans propose to do

   will now be impossible for them. (Genesis 11:6)

I just watched Jeff Bezos’ flight into space from his east Texas ranch. What to make of it? With a critical eye, one might ask, what does this 200 billion dollar man’s Disneyland Ride have to do with societal struggles below? On the other hand, there is something, at least for me, wonderfully human in his flight above—a man with a dream; and, the freedom to live it out.

Ordinary Days #22: One more philanthropic thought

Show courtesy to all people. (Titus 3:2)

The philanthropy of Julius towards Paul, and the philanthropy of the Islanders to all those shipwrecked on their island, and then God’s own philanthropy extended towards us even “when we were foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, despicable, hating one another” (Tit 3:3); parlays us who have experienced God’s philanthropy to become philanthropic ourselves: “to be ready for every good work, to speak evil of no one, to avoid quarreling, to be gentle, and to show every courtesy to all people” (Tit 3:1-2).

In short, believers who have experienced God’s philanthropy, should themselves excel in philanthropy. As the Apostle, who experienced the philanthropy of a Roman commander, and of Islanders, and of God; put it: “Those who have come to believe in God may be careful to devote themselves to good works; these things are excellent and profitable to all people” (Tit 3:8-9).

 

Ordinary Days #21: The philanthropy of God

When the loving kindness (philanthrōpia)

    of God our Savior appeared,

    he rescued us. (Titus 3:4-5)

Philanthropy appears twice in the Ship voyage from Jerusalem/Caesarea to Malta/Puteoli. It appears once at the beginning when “Julius treated Paul kindly (philanthrōpos) giving him leave to be with his friends and to be cared for” (Ac 27:3); and then again, at the end when washed up on shore and “the natives showed kindness (philanthrōpia), and welcomed all of them” (Ac 28:2). Nothing more is said of Julius save that he was the Roman military commander in charge of the prisoners on ship and that, for some reason, he took a liking to Paul. As for the Islanders, nothing is said of their faith or lack of faith—just humans who showed remarkable kindness through three winter months to all 276 survivors of the ship wreck.

Philanthropy will make one more appearance in the Bible: “When the loving kindness (philanthrōpia) of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of any works of righteousness that we had done, but according to his mercy, through the water of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit” (Titus 3). Something of a surprise, isn’t it? No use of agape here. Just this most human of love words. That God—Father, Son, and Spirit; is a philanthropist. He likes humans—hard to believe. Maybe God still sees, in spite of our sin and our shame, something of Himself in us—something of God’s own Image remains in us.

 

Ordinary Days #20: Rescued

 The islanders showed us

    unusual kindness. (Acts 28:2)

It happened to us that first full day on the Island. When we returned to our third floor condo following an afternoon of frolicking about in the ocean and the pool; we found ourselves locked out. It dawned on us slowly. Eventually we sorted it out. There were two lanyards: one for the condo and the other for the mail box. In our excited state we grabbed the wrong lanyard. We could get into the mail box, but not the “Penthouse,” as they called the third floor; not because it is much different from floors one and two, but because it is the top floor.

An hour or so into it, we concluded there simply was no way back into our 3^rd story penthouse. There were layers of complication—like we had left our phones (except for Joanna) and credit cards and car keys and stuff in the condo thinking only of sand and sea. Maybe that’s the price we had to pay for pretending like we were penthouse kind of people. It’s as if those in the know said, “You don’t belong here!” There is truth enough to that. We weren’t exactly supposed to be there. By surprise, we found ourselves penthouse dwellers for a week; and, not even 24hrs into it, we messed up, locked out due to our exuberant foolishness.

But, “the islanders showed us unusual kindness (philanthrōpia).”  One of the Islanders scooted up a precarious three story ladder, provided by the Kona Fire Department, to our lanai from which he was free to enter since, providentially, we left the lanai doors open. Our Island rescuers could not have been more kind. They could have made fun and washed their hands of us. But instead, they showed us penthouse pretenders, simple human kindness.

It reminded me some of the Apostle’s rescue. Adrift on “planks and pieces of the ship’s wreckage,” all 276 passengers, including the Apostle Paul and Dr. Luke, were washed up onto the shore of a small island about 80 miles south Sicily called Malta. Today, the shore where the islanders “showed unusual kindness (philanthrōpia),” is called “The Bay of Saint Paul.” As Luke narrates the voyage from Jerusalem/Caesarea to Malta, there is some irony between the simple human kindness (philanthrōpia, from which we get our word “philanthropy”) of these Malta islanders, and the Roman arrogance (hubris 27:10&21 from which we get our word “hubris”) of the ship’s command that resulted in wreckage. Something like us penthouse vacationers being salvaged by the islanders’ simple human kindness.

Ordinary Days #19: The Watery Part of the World.

 Yonder is the sea, great and wide,

   creeping things innumerable are there,

   living things both small and great.

Even Leviathan that You formed

   to frolic about in it. (Psalm 104:25-26)

The SoCal Heath family invited us to join them last week on the Island of Hawaii. We landed late, too dark to see Hawaii, but you could feel her. Something about the air and the smells that stirred us so much, that we took the roof off our Jeep to take it all in.

Our top down Jeep ride was all fun and games until we ran into a bit of a rain storm along Queen Ka’ahumanu Highway on our way to some vague destination on ‘Anaeho’omalu Bay. Somehow, in the darkness, we arrived; and, made our way to our third floor condo. When we awoke in the morning, we realized we had landed in a special place with the sea always in view—mesmerizing. There are those cool breezes and flowery aromas; but most of all, it is “the sea great and wide” that draws us to these “watery parts of the world” (Moby Dick).

We were eager, first thing, even before breakfast, to make our way down from the lanai and get into those Hawaiian waters to view “the innumerable creeping things both large and small;” and, like Leviathan, “rollick about in the waters.” All the more blessed when done with our children and our children’s children. They are even more beautiful than the Islands.

Ordinary Days #18: Fourth of July

I was born

   a citizen of Rome. (Ac 21:28)

The Roman Commander is impressed: “This man is a Roman citizen”—a citizenship which got the Apostle Paul out of difficulties and freed him to go about the Empire proclaiming the Gospel and planting churches along the way. On the Fourth of July we celebrate our American citizenship and recall its founding Document—the Declaration of Independents signed by 56 delegates in 1776: “With a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence;” and they “pledged to each other their Lives, their Fortunes and their sacred Honor.”

Recently, organizations like the 1619 Project tell a different story. Nicole Hannah-Jones, in her 1619 lead article “The Idea of America,” says of our “Declaration of Independence”:

The United States is a nation founded on both an ideal and a lie. Our Declaration of Independence, signed on July 4, 1776, proclaims that ‘‘all men are created equal’’ and ‘‘endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights.’’ But the white men who drafted those words did not believe them to be true for the hundreds of thousands of black people in their midst. ‘‘Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness’’ did not apply to fully one-fifth of the country. Yet despite being violently denied the freedom and justice promised to all, black Americans believed fervently in the American creed. Through centuries of black resistance and protest, we have helped the country live up to its founding ideals.

Nevertheless, these flawed men managed to put forth our founding ideals. Ideals which Hannah-Jones tells us “black Americans believed fervently,” and “through the centuries of black resistance and protests,” have “helped the country live up to its founding ideals.” There is truth in that. Great ideals are always bigger than ourselves—making hypocrites of us all. Our founders where not unaware of this tension. It is a tension that will lead to “a great civil war,” as Lincoln tells it, “testing whether that nation… conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all people are created… can endure.” So far, we have endured “to form a more perfect union.” “This terrible war” brought us the 13^th, 14^th, and 15^th Amendments “to secure the blessing of liberty” for all our citizens. 

In spite of the fact that this is not the Kingdom that awaits us; we do well to celebrate and be grateful. Like the Apostle, most of us were just born into it. Our American citizenship comes to us as a gift.

Ordinary Days #17: Another Mountain

I have come

   to fulfill the Law. (Sermon on the Mount)

Jesus gathers his recently called disciples on a mountain slope above the Galilean Sea and there proclaims the way of the Kingdom. It’s not a different Word from the Word spoken on Mount Sinai, but rather the fulfillment of Sinai—the God of Sinai made flesh and speaking “not as the scribes, but rather as One having authority” (Mt 7:29). Moses spoke of this day when he said, “God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own people” (Dt 18:15).

Jesus calls those gathered at the Mount, “blessed… the salt of the earth…and the light of the world.” He assures those gathered that he will not abolish the Law; but rather “fulfill the Law.” He points to the center and intent of Torah concerning how we behave towards one another: “Whatever you wish that others would do to you, do so to them; for this is the law and the prophets” (Mt 7:12). Or, as he would tell it later to a thoughtful enquirer: “’You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.' The second is this, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets" (Mt 22:38-40).

There are ragged edges to the Law—like too much violence, for one thing. But the center holds. And, as for those ragged edges; somehow, Jesus absorbed the violence and vindictiveness on Calvary and set us free to enter the center of Torah where the heart of God dwells.

 

Ordinary Days #16: Divorce

You shall not side with the majority

   so as to pervert justice. (Exodus 23:2) 

The Disciples of Jesus complained about Jesus’ teaching on divorce: “If those are the terms of marriage, we’re stuck” (Mt 19:10). It remains true to this day. It’s a minority point of view. It may go back to the minority report of “Jonathan son of Asahel and Jahzeiah son of Tikvah who opposed this, and Meshullam and Shabbethai the Levites who supported them” (Ezra 10:15). The “this” that they opposed was the religious zeal of the majority insisting on mass divorce of all those married to a foreign women. After the zealous majority had their way; the book of Ezra ends with these words: “And so all those who had married foreign women, sent them away with their children.”

Jonathan and Jahzeiah, along with a few priests who supported them, didn’t feel right about the whole thing. There was something unjust about it. Does Torah teach that one must divorce his wife if she is a foreigner? Was it really what God desirers? Torah tells how “Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Cushite woman whom he had married (for he had indeed married a Cushite woman)” (Nu 12:1). The parenthetical lets us know that it was really true. Zipporah was a foreign woman. To the surprise of the pious; God sides, in a big way, with Moses and Zipporah.

Maybe Jonathan and Jahzeiah retold the story of Ruth and how it is that David’s great-grandma was a Moabites. Perhaps that is why the prophet Malachi, a contemporary of Ezra, blurts out “God hates divorce.” Centuries later, the Apostle Paul will follow along the same lines as the minority: “If any believer has a wife who is an unbeliever, and she consents to live with him, he should not divorce her. And if any woman has a husband who is an unbeliever, and he consents to live with her, she should not divorce him.  For the unbelieving husband is made holy through his wife, and the unbelieving wife is made holy through her husband. Otherwise, your children would be unclean, but as it is, they are holy” (1Cor 7:12-14). Christ and the Apostles, and thus the church, side with the minority report. Paul reasons the holiness of the believer is not threated; but rather, overcomes whatever unholiness the unbeliever may bring—“your children are holy.” Isn’t that something?

I shouldn’t dismiss the Apostle’s next few verses: "But if one separates..." Divorce happens. But it must never be for pious reasons. Divorce is always tragic. God hates it.

 

Ordinary Days #15: Jesus and the Law

“Is it lawful…” (Matthew 19:3)

Jesus seemed to always get in trouble with the law; or, with lawyerly types. Here’s a complicated example (Mt 19:3-9):

Some Pharisees came to Jesus, and to test him they asked, "Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any cause?" Jesus answered, "Have you not read that the one who made them at the beginning 'made them male and female,' and said, 'For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh'? So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate." The Pharisees said to him, "Why then did Moses command us to give a certificate of dismissal and to divorce her?" Jesus responded. "It was because you were so hard-hearted that Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so. And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for unchastity, and marries another commits adultery."

It is a lawyerly argument concerning one of Moses’ supposals: “Suppose a man enters into marriage with a woman, but she does not please him because he finds something indecent about her, and so he writes her a certificate of divorce, puts it in her hand, and sends her out of his house” (Dt 24:1). What does “something indecent” mean? The Pharisees figured it meant most anything that offended her husband, such as going outdoors with her hair down. If a Pharisee had gone through several such divorces, you had to figure he was a very righteous man since these serial wives failed to live up to his righteous standards. 

Jesus puts an end to the pretense. They had figured out a legal way to commit adultery while claiming to be righteous. Jesus does some lawyerly work himself. They called it a “command”—they were simply following God’s command. Jesus points out that it says nothing about a “command;” but rather a supposal—something Moses allowed “because you were so hard-hearted.” Then Jesus puts Moses’ supposal into the big Torah story: “From the beginning…” Jesus adds what preachers say, after the kiss, at every wedding ceremony: “Those whom God has joined together, let no one separate.” We got it from Jesus.

Ordinary Days #14: Torah

Tell them what happened

   at the Mountain. (Deuteronomy 4:11)

Deuteronomy tells the story of what happened just “beyond the Jordon when Moses undertook to expound the law” (Dt 1:5) to the next generation and for all generations to come. How are we to teach the Ten Commandments to our children and our children’s children?

According to Moses, we are not supposed to go one, two, three up to ten. In fact, the Bible never gives us our one, two, threes. It leaves the numbering up to us. So before we get to the numbering, Moses instructs those entering the Promise Land to (Dt 4:9-13)…

Make sure you tell your children and your children's children, how you once stood before the Lord your God at The Mountain. …And how you approached and stood at the foot of the mountain while the mountain was blazing up to the very heavens, shrouded in dark clouds. Tell them how the Lord spoke to you out of the fire. You heard the sound of words but saw no form; there was only a voice. And then tell them how God declared to you his covenant, which he charged you to observe, that is, the Ten Commandments; and how he wrote them on two stone tablets.

There is more, another 40 verses or so before we get to the Ten Commandments. We have to tell about how God loves us and how he has called us to himself to be his people. Then we can talk about the stone tablets engraved on the Mountain by the finger of God.

Law is not Law, Torah is not Torah, without the story of how God called into being the heavens and the earth; and, how he called to himself Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. And, how, as Moses would have us tell it: “We went down into Egypt few in number, and there became a great nation, mighty and populous. When the Egyptians treated us harshly and afflicted us, by imposing hard labor on us, we cried to the Lord, the God of our ancestors; the Lord heard our voice and saw our affliction, our toil, and our oppression. The Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, with a terrifying display of power, and with signs and wonders; and he brought us into this place” (Dt 26:5-9). God’s merciful salvation precedes Sinai.

Israel, like all humans, will prove a fickle and contentious covenant partner. But though “we are faithless, God remains faithful—for he cannot deny himself” (2Tm 2:13). Eventually, God himself will become man “born of a woman, born under the law, in order to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as children” (Ga 4:4-5). Israel’s Messiah becomes God’s true covenant partner bringing salvation to all who gather at another mountain—Mount Calvary.

 

Ordinary Days #13: Worthy of a song

I will sing

   of your word. (Psalm 119:172)

Our word “alphabet” comes from the first two letters of the Hebrew alphabet: alef & bet—see how that works? Our alphabet today comes to us from ancient Hebrew and Aramaic people. Maybe that’s why the Hebrew Bible likes to play with its alphabet: Psalms 25, 34, 37, 111, 112, 119, 145; plus, the whole book of Lamentations and the famous ode to a capable woman that concludes the book of Proverbs. The final stanza of our acrostic Psalm praising Torah from alef to tav (from a to z) eight times over, invites us to sing a line or two.

I’ve taught Psalm 119 as a technical achievement with its eight times over alphabetic acrostic and how each eight verse stanza manages to include eight different synonyms for Torah. I didn’t say it out loud, but I’ve thought this technical achievement overshadowed its content turning it into something mechanical, even tedious. However, reading the Psalm over and over these last few mornings, I see the Psalmist as something more than a gifted language technician. Within this technical achievement the Psalmist remains a Psalmist, expressing sorrow and affliction (laments); and, praying for God’s deliverance: “Though I have gone astray like a lost sheep; seek me out…” (vs 176—last verse).

In the end, the Psalmist asks us to sing of God’s promises (vs 172). I noticed no one has put the Psalm to a tune like “The Deer of the Dawn” (Ps 9), or “The Doe of the Morning” (Ps 22), or “Lilies” (Pss 45 & 69), or “Lilies of the Covenant” (Pss 60 & 80), or “A Dove on Distant Oaks” (Ps 56). I don’t suppose there is one tune that could contain all 176 verses. It would take a cantata; or maybe, an opera. But, I do recall a tune we used to sing from Psalm 119: “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path” (vs 105). Somehow, we always knew we were singing about Jesus, “the Light of the world” (Jn 8:12). The Light that shines even in our darkest days.

Ordinary Days #12: Law concerning Endemic Disease

Thy commandment

   is exceedingly broad. (Psalm 119:96)

The commands and statutes, ordinance and decrees, expand to cover things like communicable disease—something like covid: “When someone has a swelling or a blister or a shiny spot on the skin that might signal a serious disease, bring him to the priest. The priest will examine the sore… and if it is serious and infectious… the priest will quarantine the person for seven days” (Lev 13:2-4). Further priestly instructions are given for different kinds of diseases requiring various forms of quarantine. That is the sort of thing you find in the book of Leviticus. It is a handbook for the priesthood—the Levites.

Jesus honored such priestly statutes concerning communicable diseases. When he touched and healed a leprous man; Jesus said to him, “Go and show yourself to the priest, and offer for your cleansing what Moses commanded, as a testimony to them" (Mk 1:40-45).

Ordinary Days #11: Law concerning the Oppressed.

 May your ordinances

   bring help. (Psalm 119:175)

The Ten Words spoken from the mountain and preserved in the Ark of the Covenant, require ordinary everyday laws covering the “But ifs…;” like, “But if someone steals an ox or a sheep, and slaughters it or sells it, the thief shall pay five oxen for an ox, and four sheep for a sheep. The thief shall make restitution” (Ex 22:1). It is assumed God’s people will fall short of the Ten Commandments written on stone tablets. They will need ordinary laws and decrees, statutes and ordinances, for ordinary life.

One of those ordinances concerns how they treat the oppressed: “You shall not wrong or oppress a resident alien, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt. You shall not abuse any widow or orphan. If you do abuse them, when they cry out to me, I will surely heed their cry” (Ex 22:21-23),

That must be why James tells us “to care for orphans and widows in their distress” (Ja 1:27), It was the first task of the church requiring the office of deacons to care for the widows and to make sure the Greek cultured widows were being cared for just as well as the Hebrew speaking widows “because the Greek-speaking widows were being neglected in the daily distribution of food” (Ac 6). Seven deacons where chosen to make sure both cultures within the church—Hebrew and Greek, were treated equally.

 

Ordinary Days #10: Civil Law

Your decrees

   are my delight. (Psalm 119:24)

One of God’s decrees is that each tribe (maybe we could say city, county or state) “shall appoint judges and officials in all our towns …and they shall render just decisions. You must not distort justice; you must not show partiality; and you must not accept bribes, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and subverts the cause of those who are in the right. Justice, and only justice, you shall pursue, so that you may live and occupy the land that the Lord your God is giving you” (Dt 16:18-20).

That’s pretty close to the motto engraved on the west façade of our Supreme Court building: “Equal Justice Under Law.” Even God’s chosen people living in God’s Promised Land, require “judges and officials in all their towns.” It’s God’s idea; it is his decree for our good. Maybe that’s why the Apostle encourages us to “be subject to the governing authorities; for there is no authority except from God, and those authorities that exist have been instituted by God” (Ro 13:1).

 

Ordinary Days #9: Ordinary Laws.

Open my eyes, that I may behold,

   wondrous things out of Thy Torah. (Psalm 119:18)

One does not naturally behold the beauty of Torah. It requires help from the Lord. Psalm 119 praises God’s Law (torah) every which way and in all its forms: precepts, statutes, ordinances, etc. The Psalmist believes, with the help of the Lord, we can see the wonders of even these ordinary “precepts and statutes”. Maybe it is because Sarah and Anna are visiting the Supreme Court today that I’m prompted to ponder with the Psalmist “wondrous things out of Thy Law.”

After the giving of  the Ten Commandants given on the mountain, when Moses went up and the rescued people of God stood below at the foot of the mountain and heard God’s Ten Words—words to be written in stone and housed in the Ark of the Covenant; there follows all sorts of ordinary laws. The Ten written on stone tablets will always need some “But ifs.” We might call these ordinary, everyday, getting along laws.

For example, one of the ten, “Thou shalt not murder” (Ex 20:13); is followed in the next chapter with: “But if one murders with intent—if it is premeditated murder, then the murderer is to be killed; but if, there was no intent to kill, something of an accident, then the guilty party is not to be executed, but rather he is free to flee to a place of refuge”—something like Cain. Or again, what if one gets in a fight with another, and the other is wounded but not killed, what then? Well, “then the one who caused the injury must pay for the loss of time and provide for his complete recovery” (Ex 21:18-19). I’m not sure God got tangled up in all these ordinary laws. They are not placed in the Ark of the Covenant like the stone tablets. Luther suggests Moses and God worked them out along the way. These are laws for people who mess-up, like us. They are meant to keep a fallen community together—to keep us civilized.

These ordinary laws extend to those different from us, even our enemies: “When you come upon your enemy's ox or donkey going astray, you shall bring it back. When you see the donkey of one who hates you lying under its burden and you would hold back from setting it free, you must help to set it free” (Ex 23:4-5). Maybe something like this was on Jesus’ mind when he tells us to “love our enemies.”

Ordinary Days #8: The Supreme Court.

I have put my hope

   in your laws. (Psalm 119:43)

Psalm 119 came to mind as I heard of our Supreme Court’s decision to protect the religious liberty of Catholic Social Services. The surprise was that it was a nine to zero decision—unanimous. Our often divided court was undivided in its interpretation and judgment of the first amendment: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof…” That’s the deal. No state church like England or Germany—the kind of religious tyranny from which our forbearers fled. Instead, the state puts into law the promise of religious freedom to worship as we choose.

Some years ago, when Sam and Liz Walker led us on our first Washington D.C. pilgrimage, we lingered in the Supreme Court Building. There was much to see. I was taken by its simple and elegant beauty. This little temple of the Constitution sits in the shadow of the capital—that mammoth, maybe even pretentious, building that houses our legislature. The Supreme Court's diminutive dignity reminded me how the Holy Spirit tends to be the shy member of the Trinity; yet, without God the Spirit, God wouldn’t be God. 

So it is with our three branches of our government. Without this little guardian and interpreter of our Constitution, America wouldn’t be America.

Ordinary Days #7: Journey Worthwhile

A Holy Kiss! (Romans 16:16)

The “holy kiss” made the struggles of flight all worthwhile:

 

Ordinary Days #6: Airport Mayhem

 When you were young…

   you could go wherever you wish;

But when you grow old…

   someone else will take you. (John 21:18)

We’re back from our flights to Denver and back. The “and back” part turned into one of those airport nightmares—a five hour delay, getting us home somewhere around 2:00am. Rachel got us to the Denver airport and Jen and Sarah picked us up at OAK somewhere around 1:30am.

It is this getting to the airport; or, more precisely, getting us to the proper gate, that changed both in our going and coming. In our going, our pilot friend offered not only to drop us off at the curb, but to help us through the mayhem and get us to our gate. At first we insisted that would not be necessary, but the closer we got to airport pandemonium; our “No thank you, that’s very gracious of you.” turned to “Yes please, that’s wonderful.” On the flight back, Rachel parked in “short term parking” and saw us through to the TSA and waved good-by, not knowing of the mayhem that awaited us on the other side—that’s the five hour delay part of the journey.

When I awoke this morning at the usual hour (makes no difference what time I get to bed, the getting up remains fixed), I thought of Jesus telling Peter about when he gets old “someone else will take you.” We needed someone else to take us and see us through.

 

Ordinary Days #5: For our college bound granddaughter.

We fly away. (Psalm 90:10)

It’s not the big “fly away” that awaits us; but, even the little “fly away” provided by Southwest Airlines, is something of a wonder. We fly to Denver in the morning. I’m a bundle of nerves. One does not fly for the fun of it. We fly because there’s something special at the other end. In this case, it’s a celebration for our granddaughter who just graduated from High School and is on her way to Baylor University—what a smart, bright, believing wonder of a young woman. She’s worth flying away for.

It was said of Solomon the Wise that, “He composed three thousand proverbs, and his songs numbered a thousand and five. He would speak of trees, from the cedar that is in the Lebanon to the hyssop that grows in the wall; he would speak of animals, and birds, and reptiles, and fish.” And that, “People came from all the nations to hear the wisdom of Solomon; they came from all the kings of the earth who had heard of his wisdom” (1K 4:31-34). 

That’s why she is off to Baylor—to learn the arts and sciences. Like Solomon’s first university that teaches Israel’s great poetry and songs (the arts); and studies the wonders of the natural world like “the cedars of Lebanon…” (botany and physics), and all sorts of “animals…” (biology, even entomology as in “Go to the ant and study her ways” Pr 6); and learns some of those 3,000 proverbs (psychology, philosophy and sociology). Because God created all things, all things are worthy of our study—it has to do with making one wise.

Ordinary Days #4: For my sister…

Happy are those who are blameless,

   …seeking God with all their heart (Psalm 119:&1&2)

I have wandered away.

   …seek me out, O Lord. (Psalm 119:176)

The longest Psalm ends with the Psalmist, who started out so sure of himself, wandering away; and now, at the end, praying that God will stick with him and seek him out “like a lost sheep.” One hundred and seventy six verses in praise of Torah, ending up with a plea for something more—for grace.

The Psalm is a technical marvel—an alphabetical acrostic eight times over. That’s how we get to 176 verses: 22 letters times 8 poetic lines for each letter from alef to tav, like our “A” to “Z” (no vowels in Hebrew so take out our five vowels from our 27 and you get 22) comes out to 176—a marvel. 

There are other technical achievements, like how the eight lines of poetry manage to use eight synonyms for God’s Torah: laws, decrees, precepts, statues, commandments, ordinances, word and promise. Yet, in the end, the greatest marvel is that God, out of his freedom—his love and his grace, seeks out those who have gone astray.

Ordinary Days #3: “Good”?

  No one is good—except

   God alone. (Mark 10:18)

Jesus taught us that. When he was addressed as “Good Teacher,” Jesus replied, “Why do you call me good? No one is good—except God alone.” It’s one of those Jesus sayings that messes with our notion of who Jesus is. Shouldn’t Jesus say, “No one is good, only Me”? But, that wouldn’t be Jesus, would it?

C.S. Lewis calls our goodness, “a complex goodness.” This side of Glory, there is never unadulterated “good.” Whenever we do good, like give someone a cup of cold water in Jesus name, chances are we have our thumb in it and little bit of human debris trickles down into the cup. I’m thinking of the good people gathered in that group hug on the front porch yesterday morning, and the Psalm “Whenever good people gather, I give thanks to God.” It wasn’t the hug of the innocent, but it was the hug of good people.

 

Ordinary Days #2: Psalm 111

Whenever good people gather,

   I give thanks to God. (Psalm 111:1)

The girls/women departed with our traditional, on the front porch, group hug. I pray they make it to SFO in time—traffic and all. Funny how, in just a few days’ time, strangers can become beloved. Being friends of Abby’s gave the two strangers a big head start. Abby wanted them to know her grandparents and she wanted us to know she had good friends. Funny how friends of the ones we love become beloved to us.

Ordinary Days: Psalm 104

God takes the side of

   the needy! (Psalm 104:31) 

This morning I read Psalm 104. Not my favorite Psalm—too vindictive and vengeful. But, it ends, like most such Psalms, in a good place. Maybe the whole congregation is allowed such prayers because it is a prayer for God to make wrongs right. As the Apostle reminds us “vengeance is God’s business, not ours” (Ro 12:19).

Good Friday and Easter Morning, Ascension and Pentecost does not free us from the hurts and struggles of ordinary life. Glory awaits the “last trumpet sound.” Between now and then the Holy Spirit sustains us while Jesus above roots for us along the way. That’s why the Psalms still work for us. We pray as ones who are in need. Psalms are the prayers of needy people. 

When I came in, Linda reminded me that our dear friend down the street, was in surgery—needy surgery on his back. Something like mine only way more so. So we prayed for our friend, for his surgery: “Please Lord, bring him home well!”

Pentecost Sunday: A New Reality

God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts;

    so walk in the Spirit (Galatians 4:6 & 5:16).

On Pentecost Sunday, 50 days after Easter, the church celebrates how God poured out the Holy Spirit “on everyone: …sons and daughters …young and old …men and women” (Ac 2:17-18).  On this side of Calvary, things are different: “You are led by the Spirit now, not by the Law’s rules and regulations” (Ga 5:18).

It’s scary to walk without religious railings—like the first time you ride your bicycle without training wheels. It was too scary for the Galatian believers. They put the training wheels back on. “Shouldn’t we,” reasoned the Galatian believers, “follow dietary laws, and special days, and for goodness sakes, get circumcised?” No, says the Apostle, for if all that religious rigmarole worked, then “Christ died for nothing” (Ga 2:21). Pentecost encourages us to take off our training wheels and enjoy our new Spirit filled life in Christ.

What would it look like “to walk in the Spirit”? Well, “the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace…” Or, as Eugen Peterson puts it in The Message: The Spirit “brings gifts into our lives, much the same way that fruit appears in an orchard—things like affection for others, exuberance about life, serenity. We develop a willingness to stick with things, a sense of compassion in the heart, and a conviction that a basic holiness permeates things and people. We find ourselves involved in loyal commitments, not needing to force our way through life” (Ga 5:22-26). It’s like that. 

The days and weeks and months after Pentecost Sunday are called Ordinary Days. Pentecost launches us into ordinary life which turns out to be quite extraordinary. Abby joined me around the fire pit this morning. She brought with her, from Texas, two delightful girl/women friends for a jaunt through Napa Valley, Lake Tahoe, Yosemite and grammy’s and papa’s house. We talked about how things went, what’s up, and read Psalm 85 about how “The Lord will give what is good.” It’s “good to walk in the Spirit.”

6th week of Eastertide: Sarah our Mother

 We are children of Sarah,

   the free woman. (Galatians 4:31)

I pretty much had it down that, by faith, we are children of Abraham (Ga 3). But, this morning, reading the Epistle to the Galatians in Eugene Peterson’s The Message, it struck me that we are also “children of Sarah, the free woman” (Ga 4)—Abraham the father of faith; and Sarah, the mother of freedom.

It has to do with Pentecost and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit that sets us free from religious scruples. Sarah is our example of what the Holy Spirit brings—a life lived in freedom. Funny how we can’t think of Abraham without Sarah or Isaac without Rebecca or Jacob without Rachel; or, faith without the Holy Spirit. The Bible never tires of telling us of the beauty and grace of these matriarchs. So too, there’s something beautiful and graceful about life in the Spirit.

5th week of Eastertide: Ascension Thursday.

Christ who descended,

   also ascended far above all the heavens,

   that he might fill the whole universe. (Ephesians 4:10)

Pentecost is just around the corner—50 days after Easter. But, before we get to Pentecost we will need Ascension Thursday—40 days after Easter. That’s when we celebrate how our resurrected Lord returns to his heavenly throne bringing gifts (Eph 4:7-16) to be poured out ten days later on the Day of Pentecost. That is why we can’t get to Pentecost without Ascension. As Jesus told his disciples: “It is necessary that I go away so that I can send you the Holy Spirit”—our unseen Champion (Jn 16:7).

When Christ ascends. he retains his humanity; so that we speak of the Son of God as “The Human Christ Jesus” (1Tm 2:5). As the hymn goes: “Though returning to His throne, Still He calls mankind His own, Alleluia!” (Charles Wesley, 1739).

Our Ascended Lord’s Heavenly Work:

      -Jesus ascends to send us the Holy Spirit (Ac 2:33): Jesus is exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out the gifts of the Spirit upon us. The Holy Spirit keeps Jesus close to us even when he has left this earth and returned to his native heaven. The church receives the gifts of the Spirit so that our absent Christ remains present and known in the world through his church.

      -Jesus ascends to prepare a place for us (Jn 14:2-4): I go to prepare a place for you. In my Father's house there are many dwelling places. Then, I will come again and will take you to myself, so that where I am, there you may be also. Jesus was a carpenter. He knows how to build things. Heaven will need plenty of housing for the “great multitude that no one can count, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages…” (Rv 7:9).

      -Jesus ascends to root for us (Rm 8:34): Jesus is at the right hand of God, sticking up for us. Good thing. Otherwise, we would be toast.