Monday 1 August

1 Chronicles 11:1-12:22

“If you have come to me in peace, to help me, I am ready to have you unite with me”.  That was what David said to any old bloke who showed up at his doorstep.  And it had remarkable results.  Barely any of the 30 hail from the same tribe as each other.  Quite a few are from Israel’s expressed enemies (Moab etc). This gang surely could have featured in an ancient-time-equivalent of a United Colours of Beneton advert.  I wish the same was true of the church today.  I think a lot lies in David’s understanding of the word ‘unity’.  When he says he will unite with anyone who comes to him in peace surely he is more welcoming and more open to any sort of person that I tend to be.  But also, surely his call to them goes far further than I would normally go.  He doesn’t just say he wants to be their buddy.  He doesn’t just want to put his arm round them and sing “bind us together Lord” while watching the dying embers of a moody camp-fire.  No.  David calls them to join him in his purpose of extending his rule over the whole territory of Canaan.  The unity is one of purpose, the bond is formed around the challenging will of God.  If as a church we pursue God’s will, if we welcome anyone who comes to us and challenge them to join us in straining every sinew to do the same, then, day after day, we will see people coming to help us until we have a great army, like the army of God.

Romans 14:19-15:13

We are in the edification business.  And what does that mean?  It means one of our primary tasks is to help others in the church to overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.  Nit-picking isn’t likely to promote hope.  Nor is isolationism.  Sunday mornings and small group meetings are about us trying to find ways to encourage the people who sit next to us; about trying to build them up into a greater level of hope in Jesus.  This does not rule out rebuking and correcting.  These things can be huge imparters of hope into someone’s life if they are done in the right way and at the right time.  But it does mean that our primary currency is encouragement.  Our most common interchanges will be calling out of someone what we see God doing in them.  Our instinct will be to tell each other how Jesus is for them and can overcome any problems they find themselves in.  Our desire will be to say simple words of hope to the people around us.  In many ways it sounds naff.  In many ways it sounds mundane.  But it has a really huge impact, with eternal consequences.  We must never underestimate the power of giving each other hope.

Psalm 89:46-52

“O Lord, will you hide yourself for ever?”  That’s an interesting question.  But who was hiding in the garden of Eden?