Thursday 29 September

Zephaniah 1:1-3:20

I don’t know what happened to Zephaniah after 3:8 but I kinda like it.  Up until that point he had sounded a little too similar to Nahum for my liking but suddenly after it a spine-tingling symphony of hope and promise begins to reverberate and sparkle.  The crescendo finally breaks on the glorious verse 3:17 which is probably the most famous extract from this prophet.  3:17 strokes and swaddles us with the deeply soothing image of God quieting us like a mother cooing over her baby and singing over us with a joyous chorus of great delight.  That is quite something.  It echoes the satisfied declaration of Yahweh about his creation - “it is good” - and yet it goes beyond it, adding the textures of nurture and relationship and comfort and delight.  That really is how God feels about the church.  It really is how he feels about us.  It is staggering.  Thanks to Jesus the Mighty One now sees us as perfect.  Because Jesus took our punishment (all the stuff of chapters 1 & 2) the Lord has purified our lips and he has gathered us and brought us home and he is singing over us in love.  It is the most exhilarating thing in life to hear the melodies of His voice.

Philippians 1:1-26

For me it is triple-choc muffin or caramel slice.  For Paul it is death or living in prison.  All of us have our little dilemmas about what we would prefer more.  But whereas I get a little grumpy if I feel I’ve made the wrong choice Paul just seems incessantly joyful no matter which way it goes.  He is so filled with joy that he doesn’t even care that people are preaching Jesus just to cause him trouble - “what does it matter?” he asks.  Is that a cracking attitude or what?  I’d love to see more of that joy-filled laid-backness in the church.  Not a laid-backness about seeing the kingdom advancing - Paul was always praying for that, he was longing for that, he was rejoicing in that and eagerly expecting that - but a laid-backness about what troubles or stresses come our way.  “So I’m in prison today - big whoop, at least it means the guards get to hear about Jesus”.  “So I’m in hospital for a few days, well that’s a great chance to get to testify to some other patients”. “So things are a bit quiet at work at the moment - what a wonderful opportunity to spend some more time in prayer”.  “So a bloke is giving me a really hard time - I’m chilled out about it - it gives me a chance to show grace and to learn to forgive”.  This kind of laid-backness can only be fostered in Jesus, it can only be found through embracing his perspective on death.  Jesus rose from the dead and we are going to do the same.  What else can really matter after that?  The only thing to get worked up about is sharing this joy that can be found in Jesus.  Everything else is small-fry.

Proverbs 23:29-24:4

Through wisdom and understanding a house is established.  Love on its own is not enough to make your household strong.