Exodus 25:1-26:37
I know what Jesus said about the widow and her coin but I still think that the guy who brought a bit of scarlet yarn would have had a terrible sinking feeling when he laid it on the altar and then saw behind him a gang of his relatives bearing an entire sea cow on their shoulders! Thinking about it, it must have been quite an undertaking to have sourced such an animal in the middle of the Desert of Sinai. And it was not just one that they needed, but enough to cover the entire outside of the tabernacle. It’s amazing how demanding God is of the Israelites considering that they are wandering in the wilderness and have only just been moaning about their poor little parched throats. He doesn’t hold back on his meticulous and extravagant plan for the sanctuary but puts it out there and challenges the people to meet his request. God never seems to lower the bar for him to dwell among his people - he demands momentous amounts, and then more on the side. But the reward for such sacrifice is so beautiful and so gratifying that it more than outweighs the cost of every single penny. After all, as Moses and Joshua show us in a few days time, it is only in the experienced presence of the Lord that true life is found.
Mark 4:30-5:20
When I was studying theology there was a lot of talk about this cushion that Jesus was sleeping on (4:38). The common theory among theologians is that Mark is the first gospel written and that Matthew and Luke then copied Mark, cutting out some of his eye-witness observational points (sleeping on a cushion and, later, in the feeding of the 5,000 the fact that the people sat down on the ‘green’ grass) and then adding their own theological slants. The theory raises some interesting points and can lead us into some valuable thinking about who the gospel writers were and what intentions they had for their works. But, what seems to me more than a little perverse is that we have here a story about a man rebuking a lake - and it listening! - and the main topic of conversation that spins out of it surrounds the item that the man had under his head when he was sleeping. Surely this is a catastrophic distraction from the head-funking revelation of power that quaked the earth from that boat. Surely this is the plight and the rebellion of mankind summed up in one neat anecdote? As people we just seem to have an innate inability to focus on the glory and power of God. We seem to set ourselves up to discuss and analyse from a distance rather than front up to the truth and eyeball it out. I’m determined, in the power of the Spirit, to buck this trend and to fixate myself on Him; the one who said to the wind “quiet, be still” and it became completely calm.
Psalm 23:1-6
There is a great little book on this psalm called “A shepherd looks at Psalm 23”. It’s written by a shepherd called W. Phillip Keller and draws out a lot of the imagery that is caught up in this incredible poem. I think the more we get to grips with the grubby reality of shepherding the more we are touched and enthused by the tangible love of God that is illuminated in this psalm.
