Wednesday 7 September

Isaiah 14:1-16:14

Don’t be fooled; these prophecies against the nations surrounding Israel are hugely relevant for today.  Celebrity culture has always existed.  Today’s Warren Buffets and Steve Jobs and Simon Cowells and Wayne Rooneys and Richard Dawkins are just modern examples of the celebrities of the past who were discussed over drinks and copied in the cities.  The only difference is that the olden-day celebrities were nations; groups of people who lived a certain way and valued certain things.  Then, as now, people would subconsciously or consciously believe that if they were only a little bit more like a particular nation (or a particular person) then they would be happier and safer and their future would be better.  So God speaks into those longings.  God exposes the feebleness of such aspirations.  People or nations may look great now but ‘the LORD Almighty has purposed, and who can thwart him?’.  Now there is always stuff to learn from everyone and every celebrity will have good things to emulate but if they are fundamentally promoting values and actions that oppose the desires of God then sooner or later all their pomp will be brought down to the grave, they will turn into a place for owls and into a swampland; within a few years they will be very few and feeble.  The Lord wants us to know this not so we can gloat and point the finger of accusation but so that we can be protected from the mouse-trap, so that we won’t be drawn to that sweet-smelling lump of cheese that is conceit and personal ambition and the abandonment of his ways.  He doesn’t want us, or anyone else (including celebrities!), to waste ourselves on desires that will end in ruin and famine.  God is the boss.  His way will prevail.  And in his immense compassion he keeps reminding us of this all the time. 


2 Corinthians 9:6-15

The basic message here seems to be “don’t under-estimate the impact of what you give”.  Paul pulls two inter-connected but distinct things out of this.  Firstly, Paul celebrates the fact that God’s economy always returns to us what we give to others.  God can make all grace abound to us and grace is far more valuable than a bit of time or a bit of money.  So generously giving stuff away can really be a cheerful activity, because we know it is deepening our relationship with God.  This idea is so simple and yet I forget it so often.  I want to remember it more.  The second point Paul pulls out is that generosity to others overflows beyond a material transaction into a spiritual one, prompting the recipients to worship God and be thankful to you.  One act of generosity initiates a self-reinforcing cycle of goodness flowing between God’s people and God and some more of God’s people.  What a treat to have this on offer to us.  There is so many destructive cycles in the world but we can be part of, and even initiate, positive life-enhancing ones that God chucks his tuppence in on and which uplift and release and bind together and encourage.  So we shouldn’t underestimate the impact of what we can give - it really can change the world.

Psalm 106:1-15

He is good.