Thursday 30 June

2 Kings 1:1-2:25

I will never mock a bald man again.  Henceforth the word slaphead will never part from my lips.  O Lord, I deeply repent of all my utterances regarding the follically challenged nature of Neil’s pate.  Please would you spare me from the flames.

There sure is a lot of weird stuff in this passage.  I don’t know if 2 Kings was written by the same bloke as 1 Kings but if it was, he sure seems to have ramped things up a notch or two.  Suddenly the Spirit is vividly springing up not just through the directional words of prophets but through dramatic actions of judgement and wonder.  In many ways this feels like one of those taster nibbles you get offered when you are wandering round the supermarket, given away free to try to lure you into buying the whole thing.  Or like a 10-second preview of a song that you can download on itunes.  The Age of the Spirit is showing itself ahead of time, through the lives of Elijah and Elisha.  The Age of the Spirit has not yet dawned - that will come with the death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus and with the subsequent outpouring of Pentecost but it is showing itself now to whet appetites and advocate on behalf of the Father.  To the people who are ignoring and disrespecting God at every turn the Spirit’s message is clear - there is something coming - call it the Kingdom of God if you like - and it is far stronger than this present evil age.  If you have any sense you will buy into it.  If you don’t you will suffer the consequences.  And for those of us who have bought into it.  For those of us who have the Spirit living inside of our souls?  Well, we join the cry of the Twickenham faithful, but with more poignancy and more joy than I suspect they ever can muster - “Swwiiiiiiiing loww, sweeeet chaariiiottt, coming forth to carry meeee hooooooooooome......”

Acts 20:1-38

Hahahaha.  I believe the term the ‘youth of today’ might use is LMAO.  As someone who is asked to preach every now and then, I utterly utterly love the fact that Paul, one of the greatest preachers of all time, bored someone so much that they literally dropped dead.  I honestly can’t stop chuckling about it.  I bet Luke and Timothy and Sopater (you don’t hear that name much these days do you??) must have had a fantastic time ribbing Paul about it every time he got up to speak.  It really is priceless.  But for me, even greater than my hilarity over the side-effects of Paul’s verbosity is my amazement at the fact that Paul still continued to speak for another 5 or 6 hours even after Eutychus had died.  As we see from this episode and from his leaving speech to the Ephesian church, Paul really really believed that preaching had a power unrivaled by nearly anything else.  By preaching Paul discharged his duty.  By preaching Paul helped and built up the church.  By preaching Paul safeguarded the people from the challenges to come.  By preaching Paul made himself innocent of people’s blood.  Preaching the bible is absolutely, completely and utterly crucial to life in the kingdom.  Worship is wonderful and essential, ministry is wonderful and essential, praying for healing and caring for the poor are wonderful and essential.  But church we have to get this.  We have to reclaim and never lose the absolute centrality and critically, foundational nature of preaching the word.  We need to increase our faith in preaching.  We need to awaken ourselves to the beauty and the power and the grace-imparting gloriousness of teaching the bible to each other.  It is God’s precious precious gift to us and we would do well to devour it and explore it and speak of it over and over and over again - even if it kills us to do so...

Psalm 78:40-55

It’s interesting how often the Israelites used songs to remind themselves of God’s past works for them.

Wednesday 29 June

1 Kings 22:1-53

When Paul said we should eagerly desire the gift of prophecy he seems to have been strangely silent about the Micaiah episode.  Does this count as an act of mis-selling? Do we need to refer him to the FSA?  Maybe he put it in the small print.  According to the example of Micaiah, the prophetic gifting will make you into a bearer of bad news, a national traitor, a social outcast, a prisoner and a pauper.  Now some of that is obviously specific to Micaiah’s particular situation but we can’t deny that across the whole bible there is a sense that the more you press into the Spirit, the more you get pushed in the back.  Jesus himself said “the world will hate you because of me”.  What is going on here?  Is this just a cruel trick that a sadistic God plays on his creation?  I don’t think so.  I think the Micaiah episode exposes the truth of humanity.  The Micaiah episode shows that ever since that wretched day in Eden the serpent really has been biting mankind’s heel and Adam’s offspring really has been stamping on his head.  Battle rages.  Forces are deployed against the ways of God and they don’t take kindly to being assaulted by the truth, love and power of the kingdom.  Prophets call out sin, they speak hope, they offer life.  Prophets like Micaiah show the consequences of living against God (Israel scattered on the hills) and they issue in their words the gracious invitation of God to repent and seek his face.  The serpent tries to bite them, tries to shut up their mouths, tries to silence their appeals.  But Jesus’ death has already secured the serpent’s defeat.  Jesus has stamped on his head.  As we waiting for the final unveiling of that victory we need to cling to what Jesus has done.  We need our prophets to stay true to their calling, no matter how tough, because through their voice, through the prophetic utterances of God’s people, the scattered sheep will find their shepherd.

Acts 19:14-41

It’s about now that you begin to realise quite how momentous the spread of the Jesus message has been.  In 19 chapters the few people gathered in an upper room in Jerusalem have, through their co-operation with the Spirit, brought life and hope to thousands of people from multiple nationalities in at least 18 major cities across 6 nations throughout 2 continents.  They have done it through simply speaking about the life and hope they have found in Jesus.  They have done it through simply demonstrating the power and reality of the kingdom through casting out demons and healing the sick.  They have done it through simply sharing the love and grace of the kingdom through caring for the needy and welcoming those who come to them.  But this fruit has not been harvested at a saunter.  The Jesus followers have been rioted against, stoned, chased away, insulted, imprisoned, killed and mocked.  They have made enormous sacrifices for the sake of the One they love.  They have paid a heavy, heavy price to follow His call to the nations.  But, when I look at it, I want to emulate them more than anything.  I want our church to follow in the footsteps they have created.  I want demons to know our names, I want evil deeds to be confessed and corrupt businesses to suffer.  I want there to be uproar in the city because of the disturbance of the Way.  I want these things not just because they would be exciting to be part of, although they would, but because I love this city and I love the businesses around us and I love the people who are plagued and possessed by demons.  And the only real hope for this city and these businesses and these people is the hope found in Jesus, the hope of forgiveness and life and promise in his name.

Proverbs 15:31-16:7

“Commit to the Lord whatever you do and your plans will succeed.”  What a con.  I must have committed that Euromillions ticket to the Lord at least 5 times...

Tuesday 28 June

1 Kings 20:1-21:29

It’s no wonder Ahab was so willing to give his wives to King Ben-Hada of Aram.  The poor bloke had been married to Jezebel far longer than any sane person could take and he must have been only too glad to palm her off to some jumped-up little squirt who really didn’t have a clue what was coming to him.  “Just as you say, my lord the king, I and all I have are yours” said Ahab as he tried to keep the look of utter glee from creeping across his face.  I just love this so much.  For me the passage is positively dripping with all the great things that the Old Testament offers.  Indeed 20:11 contains one of my favourite quotes of all time, but what I want to pull out today is the Aramean presumption that Yahweh’s power was confined to a particular territory - the hills - and that he could just be overcome by taking him on on home turf - the decidedly un-hilly terrain of the plains.  As thick as they may sound they were actually pretty much in tune with the prevailing wisdom of the day - that a god’s power was restricted to a certain area.  And, isn’t that heresy still making its presence felt today?  Leaving alone the whole separation of church and state isn’t it just so easy to think that while Jesus’ words are helpful for church stuff, they just don’t cut it at work?  Isn’t it just so easy to think that  the bible is great and really helpful for people who go to church but really has nothing helpful to say to those who live in the world?  Don’t we just find ourselves so quickly labeling God as the god of the hills whose power just isn’t up to aspects of life in this modern world?  When we do we could do worse than follow the example of Ben-Hadad and put sackcloth round our waists and ropes round our heads, and making our submission to our God - your servant....  Please let me live....

Acts 18:9-19:13

I never took Paul for a scaredy-pants.  I don’t suppose many of his friends did either.  But Jesus sees the innermost struggles of mankind.  He himself knows the sheer force of fear, having battled it at Gethsemane.  He knows how fear can make the foundations of the earth feel like they are disintegrating beneath your feet.  “Do not be afraid” he says.  DO NOT BE AFRAID.  This isn’t some bland platitude, a well meaning buddy saying that everything is going to be OK while you know very well disaster is coming.  No, this is the sovereign God.  This is Yahweh Elohim - the exceedingly mighty One who is and will be.  When he says do not be afraid we know that means two things - firstly, that fear is an impostor that has got way too big for its boots.  Life in the kingdom is not meant to be dictated by fear of people and fear of circumstances.  That is not how God made us to live.  Secondly, we know that our fear is controllable.  Rather than let our fear master us, we should and can master our fear.  Through the power of the Spirit we can overthrow this tyrant in our lives.  With four words Jesus issues the death sentence to one of the greatest enemies of our day.  He locks the writhing beast in the stocks and hands us the axe.  ‘Take off the head’ he commands.  Will we obey and know freedom, liberty and the exhilaration of life as God wants it or will we reach down and unlatch the stocks, welcoming fear back to bully us and abuse us?  It’s our choice.  I want to make the same choice as Paul.

Psalm 78:32-39

Yet he was merciful (v38).  I’m so, so thankful for that ‘yet’.

Monday 27 June

1 Kings 18:16-19:21

We all know that faith is spelt R-I-S-K.  We’ve heard it so many times that if we hear it again we may well smash something.  Probably the head of the person who says it to us...  So while this passage speaks into that zone, I’ll try to avoid said phrase.  Elijah’s heart must have been beating pretty fast when he watched the four large water jugs being poured on the altar.  There had been no rain for a few years, the brooks had run dry, vegetation had died, people were hunting the land high and low for some source of water, for some hope that life could keep scraping by.  And Elijah was tipping water out on the ground.  He was quite literally pouring people’s life-hope on the altar of worship.  The consequences of failure would be certain death.  Not just for him but for all the poor people whose water had been tipped into the trench.  Elijah’s heart must certainly have been beating pretty fast as he watched the four large water jugs being poured on the altar.  And he didn’t just stop at 4 jugs.  He poured another 4.  And then another 4.  Each time you can almost feel the cracked lips of the Israelites leaning forward, yearning for just a drop to ease their parched mouths, to bring their crops back to life.  Elijah trusted that God was the provider of water.  He didn’t just mentally assent to the idea that God is the creator of two parts hydrogen to one part oxygen.  He didn’t just have the song about it on his favourite playlist on itunes.  He actually staked his life, and his nations life on it.  Elijah took his faith and turned it into action.  It caused him to squander the nations most precious resource in worship of the Lord, believing that God was well able to give back far more than they could ever need or use.  I guess today, in our country, a parallel could be drawn with money.  Faith in our context might mean us squandering money on the Lord.  Faith might be trusting that God is the provider of all our resources and faith may be trusting him to provide for the future, even as we are tipping our precious resources into his trench.

Acts 17:22-18:8

Paul doesn’t mention Jesus’ name.  He doesn’t mention the cross.  He doesn’t even mention sin.  He would surely have been kicked off my university’s speaking rota for such an indifference to the core truth of the gospel.  What does he think he is doing, going all hippy liberal on the Athenians?  Celebrating an altar TO AN UNKNOWN GOD.  Strewth.  Has he gone insane??  It’s a good job I wasn’t there otherwise I think I might have found a nice big stick and whacked him with it.  But then, if Paul listened to one of my talks he may well have been slightly puzzled by my failure to mention a coming judgement, the pressing need to repent and the resurrection from the dead.  (Thinking about it, I have to thank the Lord Paul has never graced the linoleum flooring of Elliott school - if he rebuked Peter (Gal 2:14) who knows what he would have done to me!).   It’s just not very trendy these days to talk about judgement.  It all feels a bit ‘fire and brimstone’.  It’s not that trendy to talk about repentance either.  Or resurrection for that matter.  But I think we have to heed Paul and accept that these are absolutely at the core of our message as much as the promise of life and healing and joy.  We need to find new ways of describing what the Lord will do in the earth, what he requires from us now and what he will do for us in the future.  These are glorious messages speaking of the triumph of justice and goodness, of the opportunity for us to buy into them and of a reward so exquisite that this body just isn’t strong enough to hold it.  It’s an amazing thing Paul declared to the Athenians, even if he didn’t mention Jesus’ name...

Psalm 78:17-31

v 31.  Do you think sturdiest is a euphemism for greedy?

Sunday 26 June

1 Kings 16:8-18:15

Tribalism is commonly understood to be a universal human characteristic.  It is reckoned to boil down to an inherent “fear of the other”, a suspicion of anyone who does not conform to your own way of doing things.  Tribalism can be a hugely powerful force.   Many analysts have suggested that it has underwritten and empowered American foreign policy for the last 5 decades (Russia, then Al Qaeda and now China).  Whether you agree with all that or not, you surely can’t help being struck by the way that Elijah seems to completely reject tribalism.  He rejects it to such an extent that he preferred to call a disaster upon his own people and then to cast in his lot with some grubby black birds (which the law had described as detestable - Lev11:15) and then with some foreign woman in some foreign land.  I’m sure tongues wagged.  I’m sure Elijah was labelled a freak, an adulterer, a dirty miscreant and few other things that are approximately four letters long.  But, while Elijah was decidedly unpopular in his time, he was held up by Jesus as an example of the way of the kingdom.  He was a walking illustration of the Father’s heart for the other.  You see God’s tribe (and I would include us in that) is expected to use its power and influence not to reinforce its position over and against other tribes but as a resource for others to draw on.  When God set up his tribe way back in Genesis 12 he said he would bless it so it could be a blessing.  I don’t think his plan has ever changed.  But I do think we’ve lost some of the radical edge of this.  I think we could go further to lavish the miraculous provision of our God upon those who we might be inclined to hate.  Surely that was what Jesus called us to time and time again - to find those who make us feel uncomfortable, who make us feel confused, unclean or afraid and then to demonstrate to them the grace of the Father.  That is loving our enemies.  That is seeking and saving the lost.

Acts 17:1-21

Three sabbaths.  Three measly little Sundays.  I missed as many as that when we were just away on holiday.  And when I came back I must confess that I didn’t expect a huge amount to have happened.  So to see that it only took Paul that long to preach to, convert and then disciple enough Thessalonians to found a small church, well, I feel well and truly reprimanded.  My level of expectation of what the Lord can do is woeful.  I get distracted or inward-looking and lose sight of the awesomeness of the God who I serve.  But Paul and Silas didn’t do that. Paul and Silas believed that the Holy Spirit’s power flowed through them, and would do for the limited period that they inhabited this earth - until Jesus returned or they died or were killed.  So they exploited every opportunity for the gospel.  They gripped and ripped every chance to build people up in Christ, to enlarge their vision of who the Lord had called them to be, to help them step closer to the fullness of living in Jesus.  They pressed in like their lives depended on it and, I guess, in many ways they did.  They knew that they were no longer their own but that their lives had been bought at a price.  They knew that their lives were hid with God on high.  So, in the words of the apostles in Acts 15 “they risked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ”.  The Lord has got our back and his power is surging through our veins.  He could chuck upside down this church, this city, this country, even this world and he could do it in a matter of days. Will we give ourselves to him, will we believe the extent of his power and expect to see him move?  If we do, we could see thousands of people transformed, thousands of churches planted before we pass from this earth.  That is something that gets me going.  That is something to get up for in the morning.

Psalm 78:9-16

Those men of Ephraim must have been well thick.

Saturday 25 June

1 Kings 14:21-16:7

It feels like we are watching two TVs simultaneously on fast-forward.  Each of the TVs is showing one of the home nations competing in the world cup.  We turn our attention to one screen, hopeful, expectant of potential finally being realised.  But no.  As the action speeds through it becomes increasingly clear that the boys are chronically underachieving.  So we pause that TV and then swivel in our chair to check out the other team on the other screen - a new game, a new sense of hope but it’s the same old story and the same old result.  So we pause the second screen and set the action going again on the first screen one.  But game after game, screen after screen the two teams fail and fail and fail again.  It’s enough to make you want to give up all together.  Who is to blame for this continuing debacle?  Like a post-match pundit the son of Hanani steps forward and issues the verdict - the fault lies with the people.  They are the ones who are disobeying and sinning and angering the Lord.  This is all happening not because the Lord is too weak but because the Lord is too strong.  He is too strong to let rebellion and arrogance go along unpunished.  His love is too great to let his people prosper and get comfortable away from his presence.  He brings destruction to prompt people to come to him for rebuilding.  He wounds so people will turn to him for healing.  Even when life looks like it is completely bankrupt God can be found and God can be trusted.  He is strong.  He can lead us to victory if we put our trust in him.  

Acts 16:16-40

We see here what it means to say that Jesus is Lord.  That has traditionally been seen as the neatest summary of Christian confession.  But Paul and Silas show that confession is not where the journey ends.  Confessing Jesus is Lord means that every part of your life now revolves around him.  Around his desires.  Around his good news.  First up is worship.  Giving him his worth in spite of any of our circumstances.  Whether we’ve been promoted or made redundant he is still the boss of this whole joint.  Whether we’ve got engaged or been dumped he is still more dazzling and more radiant than the most gorgeous vision on this earth.  Confessing Jesus is Lord is committing to praying and singing hymns to him no matter where we are, no matter how we are.  Confessing Jesus is Lord is also about arranging our lives and responding to circumstances so that we have the best chance of sharing his great story with as many people as possible.  Paul and Silas didn’t peg it when their chains fell off.  They chose to stay so they could let the jailer into the incredible truth about Jesus.  How are we arranging our lives and responding to circumstances so we can share Jesus with people?  It might be how we use lunch breaks or where we go for coffee or how we choose to stop and speak to neighbours rather than just nodding and walking by.  It could be anything really.  Just decisions we take which prioritize getting some space to share ourselves with people rather than just rushing on to the next thing and the next thing.  And finally, confessing Jesus is Lord is about refusing to be a push-over or to be taken for granted and abused and ignored.  Confessing Jesus is Lord is committing to seeing people with inherent value and standing up for them, and yourselves when people try to treat you like dirt.  Do we really know our value to Jesus and the value of every other person to him?  If we are pressing into these 3 things - worship, organising our time so we can share Jesus with people and acting out the inherent value of humans then we should feel pretty confident that we are doing more than just making hollow declarations.  We can indeed be confident that we are being doers and not just hearers of the word.

Proverbs 15:21-30

I’ve been working on this ‘cheerful look’ that brings joy to the heart and I think I have finally cracked it. 

Friday 24 June

1 Kings 12:25-14:20

“Here are your gods, O Israel” is a phrase we’ve heard before.  It echoes Aaron’s moronic declaration while Moses was up Sinai getting the 10 commandments.  Without wanting to sound too freaky-freaky I think it is probably the common refrain of the enemy of the Kingdom.  I think Satan’s favourite ploy is to divert our worship, our virtuous desires and hopes, towards something other than the Lord.  Through the mouth of Rehoboam he appeals to the people of Israel to choose something that is convenient over and above something that is obedient.  People’s desire for convenience is used as a spanner to loosen their tightness to the Lord.  Surely God would want life to be easy for us wouldn’t he?  Surely he couldn’t expect us to trek all the way down to the south of the country just to make sacrifices to him?  It has a very similar feel to the serpent’s “Did God really say...”.  Making decisions based on what is convenient is not a great way for us to live.  It can lead us to golden calfs and asherah poles and the establishment of high places.  Jesus’ didn’t suggest to us that this would be convenient.  He said that we have to lose our lives for his sake, to carry our cross, to die to ourselves.  But we don’t do this alone.  We don’t rely on our own strength to resist the overture of this voice.  It is Christ in us who strengthens us. It is the Spirit who convicts us of sin, assures us of our forgiveness and leads us into all truth.  Here is your God, O Israel.  Here he is inside of you.  Here he is in the Word. Here he is in the church.  He is not particularly convenient but he can say a whole lot more than ‘moo’.

Acts 16:1-15

Why did Paul circumcise Timothy?  It’s a fascinating question, especially considering all that he went on and on about at the Council of Jerusalem.  My take on it is that it was all part of Paul’s absolute conviction that diversity must be retained in the church.  It would be as much of a travesty to force a jew to leave his cultural heritage as it would be to force a gentile to leave his.  Salvation depends on nothing less or nothing more than receiving the forgiveness and grace that Jesus offers through his cross and resurrection.  Jesus didn’t come to call people into a single Christian culture but into his family.  And even more than I enjoy the different personalities of my boys, God delights in the great array of colours and practices and personalities of his children.  I think we get this in the Vineyard.  I love the fact that we try not to sweat the small stuff.  I love the way we try to welcome people from all backgrounds and with a whole range of theological emphases.  We don’t compromise on the core beliefs - we won’t tolerate inflation to the Trinity as John Mumford so wonderfully puts it - but on a lot of the other things we try to listen to one another and learn from one another, being content to hold different views as we all move ever closer to Jesus.  I’m convinced that brings great pleasure to Jesus.  I’m convinced that he is urging us to do more of it.

Psalm 78:1-8

What a great thing it is that the Vineyard Kids team are doing.

Thursday 23 June

1 Kings 11:14-12:24

This is where it gets messy.  Up until this point we had pretty much a single narrative of God promising Israel a glorious future of prosperity and peace in his presence.  Now that begins to fragment.  There is no longer a single coherent entity of Israel.  We now have to deal with 10 tribes - often confusingly referred to as Israel - and one tribe (which is actually 2 tribes or maybe 3) - often referred to as Judah.  This splitting of Israel is not just a geographical matter; it has huge theological consequences.  It leaves a huge hanging question of what has happened to the hope of Abraham.  In Genesis 12:2 God said he would make Abraham into a great nation, not two great nations.  What is going on for goodness sake??  That is the question that is explored over the next 6 books (from 2 Kings until Esther) and that is spoken into by the prophets.  We, of course, have the huge comfort of knowing the answer, of knowing that the Abrahamic promise was still alive through this time, even if it wasn’t kicking.  We have the immense privilege of living after the birth of the One King who would re-unite the 12 tribes and then re-define and expand them to welcome in people of every tribe and tongue and people and nation.  But at the time of Rehoboam’s rule, while he was denigrating the size of his father’s reproductive organ (I guess having 1000 wives might do that to a man??) and promising scourging with scorpions, it must have felt pretty bleak for the poor old Israelites.  But the author of this history is keen to point out that this bleakness was not in any way an indication of the weakness or the failing of God.  In fact, it was quite the reverse.  When we find ourselves facing hard and dispiriting times, when it seems like some of the promises are failing then we can take comfort in this - God is not weak and he will pull us through.

Acts 15:22-41

From a theological perspective there is an interesting question over whether blood and the meat of strangled animals is still off-limits for us.  I personally don’t think it is.  Romans 14 & 15 show how Paul had already started moving away from these guidelines (in terms of what to do with food sacrificed to idols) within a decade or so of them being given. I suspect they were initially issued to ensure that respect was shown to the Jewish heritage of Christianity but with the passing of the years and the growing understanding of what The Way was about then this became increasingly unnecessary (from a social perspective at least).  What I love about this passage is how everything is couched in a desire to encourage others and not to burden them.  So many of us need encouragement and strengthening.  I know I do.  What a great way to approach church life and life in general for that matter - constantly looking for opportunities to build others up.  And not only looking for opportunities but also manufacturing them, even risking our lives to do so...

Psalm 77:10-20

Here’s the answer to the cliffhanger - how do we help those whose souls refuse to be comforted; encourage them to meditate on the works of the Father and to consider all of his mighty deeds.

Wednesday 22 June

1 Kings 9:10-11:13

It’s just so sad.  I know I’ve given Solomon a bit of a hard time over the last few days but that was only because he showed so much promise and had so much of God about him.  He was such a brilliant man and must have been a hugely attractive leader in the kingdom.  But like a reservoir drained to puddles and cracked ground, all Solomon’s potential eventually dissipated into nothing.  His brilliant mind somehow lost sight of the most rapturous of truths.  His eye for value somehow strayed from the most precious of treasures.  We could say it was his wives who did it.  That would be a nice way of shifting the blame.  I just don’t think it sticks though.  It was Solomon who knew he should not have married women of the Edomites or Sidonians.  It was Solomon who prayed only a chapter or two ago that “the Lord is God and there is no other”.  It was Solomon who the Lord appeared to on not just one but two occasions.  I think the seeds for Solomon’s decline (if not total downfall - who knows what the Lord chose to do with him) were sown way back in chapter 6 when he failed to consult the Lord about the construction of the temple.  Solomon incrementally shifted from doing things for the Lord to doing things to the Lord to doing things apart from the Lord.  His father David had done things with the Lord but we never saw much evidence of that with Solomon.  Solomon seemed a little to self-reliant, a little too cock-sure to truly walk humbly with his God.  I know that is always the challenge for me.  I’m pretty darn good at being cock-sure.  I can collect and display all the trappings of walking with Jesus.  But when it actually comes to getting up early in the morning and opening my bible and getting on my knees, well, somehow I find I have so many other things to do.  Jesus would you save me from the fate of Solomon.  Would you forgive my complacency and my tendency to drift.  And thank you that even if we are faithless, you are still faithful because you cannot disown yourself.

Acts 15:1-21

Poor old Peter.  He gets up and addresses the crowd so eloquently and insightfully but it is only when Paul and Barnabas speak that the miserable lot become silent.  Isn’t it just so annoying when other people seem to have the run of the crowd?  Nonetheless, Peter’s words in Acts 15 are ones that we in the “justification by faith” crowd love to come back to again and again.  And rightly so.  What glorious liberty it is to know that it is “through the grace of our Lord Jesus that we are saved”.  It is his grace, not anything of our own doing, that has flung wide the doors of the kingdom to us.  The yoke on our necks has been broken.  The obligations that were placed on us have been smashed.  We don’t need to go seeking approval.  We don’t need to go chopping off the end of our penises.  God has already shown us his acceptance.  God has already circumcised us - he has purified our hearts.  And he did it through the faith of his Son rather the swishing blade of a rabbi.  So it is no longer difficult for us to turn to God.  And it is not difficult for others to do so either.  The rule of the day is now welcome and freedom as much as God possibly permits it.  That is as radical today as it has ever been.  God is in touching distance.  And the subversive part is that it is him who is doing the touching.

Psalm 77:1-9

I meet a lot of people whose souls refuse to be comforted (v2).  Unfortunately I have to wait until tomorrow before I can read the end of the psalm and offer them any help.

Tuesday 21 June

1 Kings 8:22-9:9

And I used to think that my brother’s prayers went on a bit!  In addition to his immense wisdom and fabulous wealth Solomon also clearly had a significant amount of stamina, but I guess any of us who have heard about his 700 wives had worked that bit out already.  This prayer, aside from being a tad lengthy, is so richly studded with spiritual jewels that it will be impossible to do it any justice in this blog.  The real highlight for me is how Solomon begins and ends his prayer reveling in the covenant promise and activity of the Lord God.  God’s character and his word are always fruitful places to root and embed our prayer life.  After that, I find it incredibly striking that the missionary heart of God is so clearly displayed here (v41-43).  Often this is said to be absent in Judaism but it is there, lurking under the surface, pleading for mercy on behalf of foreigners and non-Israelites.  Powerful prayer will remember those outside the kingdom of love.  And, thirdly, I love the way Solomon is so real about what numpties we are.  He lists a range of ways in which people may sin against the Lord and no doubt we could add an argos-catalogue-sized collection of our own but he always brings it back to God’s desire and willingness to show mercy.  Liberating prayer will always acknowledge our wickedness and fickleness while rejoicing in the forgiving nature of our God.  I’d love to wax lyrical about the 22,000 cattle and 120,000 sheep and goats that Solomon sacrificed but space does not permit.  I’d love to swoon over the appearance of God to Solomon but again, I fear I can’t do that here.  But what a thing, in view of all of Solomon’s faults and all of Israel’s reckless disobedience, that God would elect to consecrate the temple that Solomon has built.  What a thing that he would choose to put his eyes and his heart in the undignified dust in the midst of his people.  Immanuel - God with us - is a incalculable privilege.  The Holy Spirit living in us is a stupidly enormous gift of grace.  Thank you so much Jesus that you have given me all that you have.

Acts 14:8-28

Wow, this one taps right into some of my biggest issues.  If it had been me, I suspect I would not have been quite so ready to rush out to the crowd and stop them sacrificing bulls in my honour.  It it had been me I suspect I may have paused for a minute, enjoying the appreciation before gently suggesting that perhaps the people were going just a little too far in their praise.  Perhaps I may have quietly set up a TomZeus twitter account, telling myself that I was meeting the people where they were at and speaking a language that they would really understand.  All of this would have been entirely for the sake of the gospel of course!  I must admit that I utterly love it when I think people respect me.  A lot of me yearns for it.  A lot of me yearns for it too much.  And a lot of me will do nearly anything it can to avoid being stoned and dragged out the city as if dead.  There is very little limit to what I would do to prevent people disrespecting me.  But the kingdom of God is a funny place and it is a funny place that cuts right into my deepest insecurities.  It doesn’t say, but it doesn’t seem like Paul was anything like as distraught about his attempted assassination as he was about his attempted deification.  I feel like I’m a million miles from Paul in this but maybe I can take some comfort in his words to the Lystrians - “we must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God”.  This journey is not mapped out as an easy one.  When we struggle we know that we are not struggling alone.  And perhaps there is also a pointer forward in what Paul told the church in Antioch when he returned to them.  What was first in his mind was not the worship he received or the beating that he took but the work that the Lord had done.  Fixing our memories and our attention and our aspirations on him, and not us, is perhaps a way to walk forward into the deeper pastures of the faith.

Proverbs 15:11-20

I feel like I’ve spent too long trying to provide people with a fattened calf when all they really needed was love.

Monday 20 June

1 Kings 7:23-8:21

The ark did not contain Abraham’s bones - the primary thing in this faith is not tradition.  The ark did not contain Moses’ staff - the primary thing in this faith is not displays of power.  The ark did not contain the balm of Gilead - the primary thing in this faith is not healing.  The ark did not contain water of cleansing - the primary thing in this faith is not purity.  The ark did not contain the ephod encrusted with the twelve jewels for the twelve tribes of Israel - the primary thing in this faith is not the people.  The ark contained two tablets of stone, the document of the covenant - the primary thing in this faith is God’s commitment to his people and his people’s commitment in return.  This faith is centered around the monumental declaration “I am the Lord your God who led you out of the land of Egypt, you shall have no other gods but me”.  Everything starts and ends with that.  That is what we need to keep coming back to on the bleary-eyed mornings and those long, slow afternoons.  When we are choosing what to read in our ‘quiet times’ or how to spend our journeys to work.  How to respond to friends in pain or to deal with our own personal issues.  We obviously no longer have the temple (we have become the temple) and we no longer have the ark but we can still approach this central tenet of our faith, we can still boldly approach the throne of grace intentionally and repeatedly, bringing requests and reverence to our loving Father who has led us out of spiritual Egypt.  As we do this, as we draw close to the Father we will experience his cloud filling our temple and us being unable to fulfill our service because of the glory of the Lord.

Acts 13:42-14:7

Much is made of Paul going on 3 “missionary journeys”.  I myself don’t like the phrase.  I think it suggests Paul set out with an itinerary and a budget, always knowing where he will be when and at what point he would return to his home in Jerusalem (or Tarsus depending on what you prioritise).  The reality is very different.  Paul and Barnabas had been sent off by the Antioch church but they just seemed to bumble around the Med, moving on to new groups of people or to new places based on when they get kicked out of the place they are in.  It’s an interesting way to do mission - stay somewhere until they try to kill you then leg it.  Paul and Barnabas just don’t seem to be that bothered about where they are.  That is a challenge to the preoccupation I’ve had in most of my life of trying to work out where exactly God wanted me to be.  Looking at this I think that may have been one huge distraction.  Maybe the focus should be doing what Paul and Barnabas did - going with the flow in terms of location but paddling hard in terms of action.  Over and over again we see Paul and Barnabas arriving somewhere and just getting down to preaching the word.  As we saw yesterday, this wasn’t necessarily in a particularly “apostolic” manner but just advocating for Jesus in every context.  I think that is what the church needs to get back to.  I think it is time for the word of the Lord to spread once again.

Psalm 75:1-10

“You are resplendent with light, more majestic than mountains rich with game.”  I long to see more of the Father’s resplendence and majesty.

Sunday 19 June

1 Kings 6:1-7:22

It’s a cutting word “however”.  A bit like the word “considering” when it is put at the end of the sentence “you did pretty well... considering...”.  So what should have proclaimed to every generation the incredible devotedness of Solomon in fact showed him to be into the Lord just that little bit less than he he was into his own sweet self.  He may well have built a beautifully temple for the Lord but he went even further in indulging his own fancy in the construction of his palace.  The last bloke who worshipped in a similarly lackadaisical manner was Cain, and the Lord didn’t look to kindly on him.  And, while we are at it, it is interesting that Solomon didn’t ask the the Lord for dimensions or specifications for the temple.  I’m sure we all remember the eye-watering tedium that was the Lord’s direction to Noah for the ark or to Moses for the other Ark.  When the Lord wanted something built he usually had something to say about how he wanted it done.  But Solomon doesn’t seem to bother with such ‘details’ - he seems to prefer the Lawrence Llewelyn-Bowen approach of wafting and sploshing his lavish taste onto someone else’s property and then watching with child-like relish as all is revealed to the unsuspecting victim.  In all this then, Solomon seems just a tad presumptuous.  So it is an incredible display of the generosity of God’s spirit and the humility of his character that he is willing to inhabit the second-best crib in the neighbourhood.  And to do so in a place that was designed to someone else’s taste.  Our God truly is unbelievably accommodating to us a human beings.  As we see the role of the temple unfold over the next 2 days we would do well to cling tight to the spirit of grace that underlies its very foundations.

Acts 13:13-41

In one way I wonder whether the apostles were as radically different to us as we sometimes think.  I think it does us all a dis-service when the apostles are suggested to have prowled street corners hailing entirely unreligious passers by, astounding them with wonders and then calling them into the life of the kingdom.  In fact Paul, Barnabas et al seemed to calmly attend places where people were already seeking God, listen politely to the proceedings and only pipe up when invited to do so.  Their bread and butter didn’t seem to be lambasting sinners in the streets as encouraging the seekers in the synagogue.  You know what, I think I could do that!  I think all of us could do that!  If we can find places where people are willing to drop their guard and declare an interest in God (or even god, or even some kind of meaning in life) then I think the vast majority of us would be entirely happy to chip in with some encouraging words about Jesus.  True, the level of confidence with which Paul spoke was probably higher than ours is likely to be but the sentiment could be the same - to advocate that Jesus brings something that you just can’t get elsewhere.  To declare our conviction that Jesus stands up to historical scrutiny.  To say that, in spite of much faithlessness, faith in this particular man can really put some jam in your doughnut.  When Paul spoke like this, people were encouraged.  When Paul spoke like this, God used him to bring hope. When we speak like this today, we will see the Lord using us, just as he did Paul, to bring encouragement and hope to the people we love.

Psalm 75:1-10

I wonder whether one of Asaph’s mates dared him to try to use the word horn as often and as ludicrously as he could within one single worship song...

Saturday June 18

1 Kings 3:16-5:18

By the Power of Greyskull!  Solomon was even wiser than Heman!! (4:31).  I knew the king was amazing but not until this point did I realise quite the extent of his prowess.  From 4:20 through to 5:12 this makes pretty exhilarating reading.  The promises to the patriarchs of numberless descendants, land, prosperity and the submission of foreign kings are all coming to pass.  And with the building of the temple, God’s continual presence will soon complete the set.  This is the kingdom of God arriving on earth - God is coming good on his word!  Let the celebrations begin!  But then, like finding a gherkin in a big-mac we find our heavenly, succulent delight being polluted by something disgustingly, hellishly foul.  Solomon conscripts Israel to slavery.  30,000 people of the promise suddenly find themselves bearing a heavy yoke of forced migration and forced labour.  That was most definitely not part of the plan.  So near, but so far.  Solomon’s reign encapsulates so much of the kingdom, it should raise our eyes to what is possible on earth under the nurturing care of the Lord.  But Solomon’s reign also encapsulates so much of our predicament, abusing and abused by others, sinning and sinned against, a heart of stone that just cannot keep doing good.  Who can save us from these bodies of death?  I think Paul says something about that in Romans ch7...

Acts 12:19b-13:12

There’s two fairly major acts of God right there - striking one man dead and another one blind.  The death of Herod Agrippa by the way is also recorded in the history books - it seems a stomach pain suddenly struck him while the crowd were giving him the big up and he died 5 days later.  I know we believe the bible to be true but it is nice every now and then to see it verified by an independent source.  I think the major thing to take out of this section is that we should expect God to interrupt life.  He can end life (Herod), adversely affect life (Elymas) and re-direct life (Barnabas and Saul).  God is not just a therapeutic object.  He isn’t just some heavenly stress-ball that we spend a bit of time engaging with and come out feeling happier.  He acts in this world and we should expect him to see him acting in our lives.  And his acting won’t just be to meet our own desires or to stop it raining when we are leaving the office.  God’s actions will be to further his purposes and to bring glory to his name and will, most likely cause us at least a bit of inconvenience.  But I guess we are up for that.  I guess that is what worship and Christianity are all about.

Psalm 74:18-23

“Do not hand over the life of your dove to wild beasts”  I know it doesn’t make sense but I think he needs to.  I think that is how Israel is going to get her redemption.

Friday 17 June

1 Kings 2:13-3:15

This reminds me of all my greatest stories at primary school.  All sorts of amazing things happened and then - lo and behold! - it was all just a dream!!  It’s a bit like Season 8 of Dallas or the entire 3 years of Sunset Beach!  Utter genius.  And yet Solomon’s “dream” actually had a monumental impact upon his actual life.  From this passage we see a clear outworking of the doctrine that was inherent right back in Genesis 1 - God is sovereign and he determines the fates of kings and paupers.  It is God who gives riches to people and it is God who causes them to be honoured.  When you think about it, it is a bit of a head-funk.  And, I guess this passage can’t help but challenge us about our dream-time desires.  I must confess that if God offered me whatever I wanted while I was asleep I would be most likely to ask for my boys to sleep through the night or for an unlimited supply of Tesco’s Finest Belgium Chocolate Chip Cookies.  And I have got the Spirit of God living inside of me.  This is surely Solomon’s finest hour, as he sits on a throne he feels greatly privileged to occupy and before a people he feels honoured to serve.  A sense of privilege and honour - the old chestnuts that will serve any worshipper well.  They are great things to ask the Lord for - them and a discerning heart.

Acts 11:19-12:19a

The angel who set Peter free was a bit of a cad wasn’t he (or she)?  He suddenly shows up in this cell, probably trying to hold his toga (or his ephod??) over the light that is shining from his chest and trying to work out which of the figures in the darkness is the one he is meant to save.  Then, once he’d identified the snoozing apostle he gives him a hefty kick in the ribs and says something to the effect of “let’s get outa here!”  Then he, the caddish angel, sprints through a few sneaky back-streets dragging the bleared-eyed apostle in his wake before evaporating like breath on a cold night.  Poor old Peter is left more disorientated than my granny on the internet.  All in all, Angel-Cad doesn’t seem likely to have perfectly followed the modus operandi given to him by the Lord.  But perhaps we shouldn’t be too hard on him.  Perhaps it was his first mission??  However, as someone who spends half of his life shuffling along in a bleared-eyed state and the other half acting like a ridiculous cad, it is extremely heartening to see chains falling off, gates swinging open and doors being answered with astonishment as the Lord works dramatically and miraculously through his less-then-brilliant servants.  Sure, it didn’t happen for James, but it really did happen for Peter, and glory be to God for the fact that He did it.  He is an amazing rescuer and a wholly trustworthy master.  If we pray and seek his face then I see no reason why we shouldn’t see similar angelic visitations bringing freedom and liberty to our friends.  And, we can take confidence in this - our old friend Angel-Cad should now be a well-seasoned expert at fulfilling his missions in the service of the saints.  

Proverbs 15:1-10

“The eyes of the Lord are everywhere”.  Now that is a much more accessible way of saying he is omniscient.

Thursday 16 June

1 Kings 1:1-2:12

In David’s charge to Solomon we hear echoes of Moses’ charge to Joshua - be strong and courageous, be strong and show yourself a man.  I don’t think this was David telling Solomon to get down the gym though.  I don’t think David pushed over to Solomon some protein drinks and and a set of chest expanders.  Being strong today (whether physically or emotionally) often seems to me to be a way of showing that you have got what it takes; that you don’t need any body else’s help.  Being strong today seems to be  a status symbol that leads to pride and a sense of superiority.  I certainly feel superior to all the people who can’t bench-press as much as I can (what do you mean 4 year olds don’t count?? What about my granny?  Surely I can feel superior to my granny, especially after I beat her 4-3 in that arm-wrestling contest?).  But the strength that David and Moses both urged upon their successors was a strength of attachment, not a strength of attribute.  The strength wasn’t so much something they should have within themselves but a strength to hold onto something outside of themselves - strength to grip and then hold fast to the glorious covenant of love with the Lord.  So as we look at this I think the mandate for us is not to focus upon our own inner-beings but to focus on his being, not to focus on our abilities but to look at his ability. Even more so as we know that we stand on the other side of Pentecost from Solomon.  We now have the law of God written on our hearts, we have the glorious Spirit residing in us, leading us into all truth and empowering us for ministry,  Being strong for us is not asking “how good am I” but to keep on declaring “how great is He”.

Acts 10:23b-11:18

“Who was I to think that I could oppose God?”  A good question indeed dear boy.  At the core of the apostle’s faith was a deep-seated, stomach-squeezing fear of the Lord.  They knew he was the main man and what he says goes.  They started out regarding the Father that way - they hadn’t even heard of a Son.  Then Jesus showed up and astounded them with his being and they realised he was the real deal too.  And now, at about this point in Acts it seems to dawn on the apostles that the Holy Spirit is the third part of the Fearful Three, the Three-in-One divine being who warrants awe and obedience and worship.  In the Vineyard I love the fact that we try to take seriously this example of fearing the Holy Spirit, of seeing what He is doing and then trying to follow suit.  As we do it, we need to hold fast always to the example of Peter; of submitting what we believe the Spirit is saying or doing to the greater assembly, of bringing it to our leaders for their confirmation or rejection.  Guidance from God is really not something that can be understood alone.  And, of course, the words of the Spirit will never go against the testimony of Jesus as recorded for us in the New Testament - but we all know that so there is no need to go on about it.  Jesus (and indeed the Old Testament) had pointed to a mission beyond the Jews but no-one had quite grasped it until this revelation from the Spirit.  If the Spirit hadn’t said it and Peter hadn’t obeyed then I would still be lost in darkness.  What an amazing thing the ministry of the Spirit is.

Psalm 74:10-17

This bit sounds a bit like Job.  I’m a bit naffed off though that it says God made both summer and winter.  Does that mean I have to enjoy cold, damp mornings waiting on the platform for the train to appear out of the darkness?

Wednesday 15 June

2 Samuel 23:8-24:25

These three mighty men must have had some stories don’t you think?  I can just imagine myself chewing on some roasted goat’s meat while sat next to them at a campfire, watching them in the flickering darkness as they each try to out-do the other with their outlandish claims of heroism and daring.  I imagine them with tremendous beards, wearing hulking animal skins across their shoulders, glints in their eyes and scars across their cheeks.  This is real boys-own stuff.  Real band-of-brothers stuff.  And yet they sat alongside Israel’s singer of songs.  They were aligned to the cause of David the tender-hearted lover of the weak.  David’s household is an extraordinary picture of the kingdom.  The dispossessed and the weak flocked to him.  The cripple had pride of place.  And yet the brutish and the audacious felt equally at home.  If ever there was a diverse bunch surely this was it.  If ever there was an illustration of how God has made all sorts of people to desire all sorts of things and yet be united in him then surely this is it.  God has a place for all.  Do we?  Are we as keen to welcome and nurture the Josheb-Basshebeths as the Mephibosheths? Our call is to empower all types to be filled with the whole fullness of Christ.

Acts 9:32-10:23a

It’s interesting that a lot of the incidental characters in Acts are described as being generous towards the poor and needy.  It seems like that was a way Luke showed that they were people who ‘got it’.  It is also interesting how miraculous acts were about as rare in the early church as expletives are in Snoop Dogg’s albums.  These sorts of insights are invaluable for setting our expectations of what normal church life should look like.  We should expect to continually come across people who always help the poor (which I think we do!! yipee) and we should also expect to continually see God doing things that are so shocking they are more likely to provoke an expletive than anything said-rapper could muster.  We should be a hub of wonder and compassion.  Jesus is the one who can make us so.

Psalm 74:1-9

Why does the editor of bible-in-a-year keep cutting these psalms like this?  It makes this section even more depressing than when I’d lost my TV remote and then discovered that the next programme on was “What Katie did next”.

Tuesday 14 June

2 Samuel 22:1-23:7

Loon alert.  Somebody seems to have gone a little bit loco in their old age - claiming to be blameless before God?  Pull the other one old boy, I’m afraid the sordid old Bathsheba thing is well out of the bag.  Someone must have tweeted about it or something and no super-injunction is going to maintain your ‘blameless’ image now.  Is that it?  Has David really lost his marbles or suffered from a bit of selective amnesia?  Well, I don’t think so.  And I believe this might be a gargantuan comfort for anyone who suffers from particularly strong pangs of guilt.  You see, when Nathan told David “the Lord has taken away your sin” (12:13) David actually believed him.  David actually believed that his adultery and murder had been taken away by God.  He believed this in spite of the fact that Bathsheba’s baby died and the kingdom was disintegrating and Absalom bonked his concubines.  David lived in the tension of believing God saw him as clean while also seeing God working out his wrath for his sin through a series of earthly consequences.  So the gargantuan comfort comes from this  - if God says he has washed us as white as snow then we are as white as snow.  If we repent God completely and utterly forgives us of our sins and we are entirely blameless in his sight.  Even when we find ourselves wading through the slurry that we have made for ourselves that should never cause us to doubt our blamelessness.  We live in between the times when we are pure but waiting to be made pure, when we are free from sin and waiting to be free from sin.  We need to hold fast to the oxymoronic status of our faith.

Acts 9:1-31

God is doing this thing.  He is doing this thing through people - that is for sure - but the thing is always his and his strong arm will achieve it.  This power-slam on Saul is a pretty neat trick.  God is going and getting his man.  Saul hasn’t submitted a CV or filled out an online enquiry form but God has already chosen him as his instrument to carry Jesus’ name before the Gentiles.  And we know how this plays out.  Paul becomes a rabid maniac for Jesus.  When God chooses someone as his instrument for something he generally knows what he is doing.  All of us are God’s chosen instruments, Ephesians 2:10 tells us that, along with a lot of other verses.  We were all called into this thing by him even if we chose it for ourselves.  He has overseen us this far and he has prepared things for us to do for him.  Will we respond as voraciously as Paul?  I, for one, want to try.  

Psalm 73:15-28

“Is is good to be near God.”  Aye.  I hear you brother.

Monday 13 June

2 Samuel 20:1-21:22

It’s a bit funny, this last section of 2 Samuel (which we look at over the next few days).  It feels a bit like sucking a gobstopper once all the flavour has drained out of it.  David no longer holds me in rapt attention - he certainly isn’t mastering Joab and, while he is preserving his position as king of Israel, you don’t get a lot of mention of God being at work.  When we do see some mention of God, it is in connection to this slightly cheek-straining episode of 7 men being sacrificed to the Gibeonites.  Altogether I sort of wish I’d spat out the gobstopper a couple of chapters back.  But that is the glorious perversity of our holy book and of our faith.  It never spins anything.  All the agonies and weaknesses and confusions of life are recognised and made plain.  Our God doesn’t need to ignore difficult bits.  He doesn’t have to pretend that the gobstopper always pings with flavour.  He is the God who sees our fallenness, who eyeballs our mediocre and insipid attempts at doing life and fires a volley of redemption and hope into the midst of it.  Our injustice or our cowardice or our laziness are not insurmountable obstacles to the glorious intentions of our God.  He can deal with all of life in all its messiness bringing all his love and all his life into all of our beings.  That is not to say that any of this fallenness is OK or in any way pleasing to God - that is the heresy that Paul strains to tackle in Romans.  And it is not to say that this painfulness of life is here to stay and that a bright future awaits - that is the heresy that Paul tackles in 2 Thessalonians.  But it is to say that nothing, not any little thing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus.  He is too great and his love is too strong to let the consequences of the Sin of Adam separate us from himself forever.

Acts 8:4-40

When you accept the word of God you should be baptised in the name of Jesus to indicate your repentance from your former way of life.  I think we have messed with baptism.  I think we’ve lost faith in baptism.  Peter and John and Philip didn’t see baptism as something to consider when you feel you understand a good deal of what you have committed to.  Peter and John and Philip saw baptism as the demonstration of your repentance that brought you into the kingdom.  Maybe it is not baptism that we have messed with but repentance.  Maybe we have lost a bit of a sense of repentance being the defining feature of entry into the kingdom.  When you have accepted the word of God and been baptised you should be filled with the Holy Spirit to empower you for living in the kingdom.  I think we have mostly got the idea of being filled with the Holy Spirit but maybe we slightly marginalise it as being just about rattling and rolling and physical healing and prophecy.  The Spirit certainly brings those things, but the primary thrust of the Spirit is empowerment for the advancement of the kingdom - living well, having good relationships, preaching the word, pushing back the works of Satan.  The manifestation of the Spirit is simultaneously supernatural and natural; great signs and miracles and people living openly in good character and with a generosity towards others.  

Proverbs 14:25-35

A heart at peace sounds good.  I don’t want no rotting bones, that is for sure.

Sunday 12 June

2 Samuel 18:19-19:43

While David does seem to have lost some perspective when it comes to politics this only seems to be because he has become increasingly convinced of the extreme value of human life.  His walk with God has caused him to treasure people more.  And treasuring people gives birth to radical displays of mercy, to Shimei son of Gera, to Mephibosheth and to Barzillai the Gileadite.  When David says to Joab “what do you and I have in common, you sons of Zeruiah” he is looking beyond their shared battle-field achievements, their commitment to the House of David, their decades-long partnership in seeking the glory of the Lord.  They have a huge number of memories in common and great track record of victory.  And yet David doesn’t care about that.  He sees it as insignificant compared to their divergence over mercy.  David sees them as being poles apart because he deeply values human life and Joab doesn’t.  Is this possibly a glimpse into the heart of God?  That he desires us to love and value people to an ever increasing extent.  That the dividing line in his kingdom is between those who will look beyond themselves to show mercy and those who won’t.  Isn’t that what the sheep and the goats in Matthew 25 is all about.  Do I show enough mercy?  If a story was written about my life would it have anecdotes about Shimeis and Mephibosheths and Barzillais?  O God would you increase the value I place on people.  Would you increase my desire to show mercy.

Acts 7:44-8:3

Stephen has gone into great depth about Moses, his call, his leading of the people out of Egypt and the establishment of the tabernacle in the desert.  And then he seems to have got a bit bored, skated over the rest of the Old Testament and jumped to “you stiff-necked people... You always resist the Holy Spirit”.  I think it is a fascinating insight into how the first century Jews still regarded Moses as their defining figure and looked back to his day for clues as to how to move forward.  And, presumably, the first century Christians did this too, although with a newly redeemed hermeneutic that always looked for the Righteous One and the Holy Spirit over an above any other human character.  We neglect the Pentateuch to our own disadvantage.

Later in the passage, what is really striking is the fact that Stephen is described as “falling asleep”.  This speaks volumes.  This little phrase declares the victory of Jesus over death.  This little phrase radically subverts everything about life.  The Sanhedrin thought that they were taking away from Stephen his ultimate treasure, they thought they were inflicting upon him the most severe punishment possible.  But they were completely unable to do more than just give him a snooze before he will wake to glory and honour and joy everlasting.  Uniformally across the early church with almost no exception is this absolute conviction that death is not the end, that this final enemy has been defeated.  Like a full burning sun rising over the expanse of the horizon, the real and living hope of resurrected life rises over the expanse of the early church.  I pray that this sun will rise over the church again today.  That we will grasp the infinite freedom that comes from knowing that Jesus has prepared a room for us; that to die is to gain.  

Psalm 73:1-14

Wow.  Asaph sounds like a really fun guy to have along to a party! (although he does lighten up a bit in the second half of the psalm on 14 June)

Saturday 11 June

2 Samuel 16:15-18:18

David didn’t write psalm 37 about Absalom - he was far too keen on the fruit of his own loins to label one an “evildoer” - but he might as well have done.  Absalom had gone big against at least 7 of the 10 commandments and his life was pretty clearly lived against the plans of God.  He prospered for a while, bringing to being Nathan’s withering prophecy against David by making whoopee with David’s hareem, but he pretty quickly ended up withering like grass in a pit in the forest.  And so the message for us would seem to be quite clear on this one - do not fret when the vain and the obnoxious and the deceptive and the arrogant are doing well and prospering.  And, perhaps more cuttingly, beware of becoming too cool for school, beware of being so well manicured and so successful that you begin to believe the hype about yourself.  Don’t be so obsessed with leaving your own legacy - your own Absolom’s Monument - that you lose sight of who God is and what he might want he own legacy to be.  If you grow your hair long to build your own reputation and renown then you need to beware of oak trees and people bearing javelins.  That’s just the way that God has made life work.

Acts 7:20-43

Stephen was a table-waiter.   His primary goal was to make sure the widows got their food quotas.  There is nothing remotely inferior about that but I just want to emphasize it because we might be tempted to assume his detailed and sophisticated knowledge of the bible was down to the regular preaching he did on Sundays - but it wasn’t.  Stephen didn’t know and love the bible because it was part of his job or of his ministry, or so that he could give a really good martyrdom speech.  He just knew and loved the bible because he knew and loved the one it was about.  I would love to see the flame of passion for the bible to be relit across the church.  I would love to see us getting as deeply engrossed in the bible as Stephen, not just the housegroup leaders but everyone from kids-workers to coffee-servers.  I would love to see us being able to quote and paraphrase the defining narratives of our faith, to be able to give an account for what we believe and are committed to.  I would love to see the church picking up the mantle of Stephen and engrossing ourselves in the words of our God.

Psalm 72:1-20

A fascinating insight into the desires David has for his descendants, and how these hopes point to Jesus.  It is amazing how David emphasises unimaginable levels of mercy as being the defining feature of this enduring king.