Thursday 24 March

Numbers 16:36-18:32

This covenant of salt thing is quite interesting, especially considering that Jesus calls us the salt (and light) of the world.  I’m undecided as to whether or not Jesus could have been referring to this slightly obscure passage in Numbers as I have never heard anyone make the link but, there is something in it that I think has a bit of a kick.  This covenant of salt was between the Lord and Aaron’s family and confirmed that all gifts that were set apart for the Lord would be made available as gifts to Aaron and his sons and daughters (I’m not sure what Aaron’s wife did wrong but that, I suspect, is a different story).  God’s incredibly generous principle is therefore established that holy offerings to him should be given as a regular share to the Aaronites.  Now, I suspect you will say I am going too far but you could say that Jesus’ declaration that his followers are the salt of the earth is an assertion that his followers are the embodiment of holy offerings to God and that he is giving them as a regular share to all the people of the world (Jesus always extended promises to Israel to the whole of humanity).  I actually think that is quite cool.  Whether or not you think Jesus was referencing this particular covenant, you have got to admit that it is pretty cool that God was so willing to give away all that he had to the people that he had made.

Luke 5:17-32

What did Jesus mean when he said “Your sins are forgiven” to the paralysed man?  I guess you could say that the man’s paralysis must have been caused by his sin and therefore the root to his healing was to receive forgiveness.  You could say that... but I would have to disagree with you.  I think that we often have far too narrow an understanding of sin, thinking it is constrained to failures in personal morality such as greed or lust.  When Jesus talks about sin here, and later when he says that he is calling “sinners to repentance”, I think that he has a hefty, broad understanding of sin in mind.  When Jesus talks about sin I think he means the whole smorgasbord of pain, idolatry and suffering that epitomised life in exile from God.  I think that when Jesus talks about calling sinners to repentance he is not talking just about them no longer coveting their neighbour’s ass but rather he is talking about them walking out of exile and into the newly-available promised land, into the Kingdom of God.  This is important as it sets the tone for how we should be calling sinners to repentance.  This call is not a nitpicking, slightly irritating moan at people not to commit acts of sin but rather is a beckoning, a welcoming of lost, distraught and wounded people into the kingdom of God where they can find hope, intimacy, healing and holiness.  It is a remarkable call and one that will fill people with awe and praise of God.

Psalm 37:10-20

The more I read the old testament, and the psalms in particular, the more I realise that Jesus was like a 1st century Jewish Hip-hop artist sampling everyone else’s work and blending it together into a new, banging, totally whack tune.  The meek will inherit the land wiki-wiki-wawa

Wednesday 23 March

Numbers 15:1-16:35

The interesting thing about Korah is that he wasn’t going off to worship another god, he wasn’t grumbling about wanting to go back to Egypt and he wasn’t even trying to lead people away from holy living and yet God still buried alive both him and his household.  What is going on here?  It comes back to that word “contempt”.  Korah seemed like he was pushing a very virtuous thing - he was saying things like “the whole community is holy, every one of them” - but, in fact, he was refusing to accept that God had ordained Moses and Aaron as leaders of the community, and God saw that as an arrogant rejection of His plan for Israel.  I get worried about the sneakiness of contempt as it can so easily dress itself up in good intentions when in fact, it is us humans thinking we know better than God.  I suffer from contempt a lot, thinking my own plans are so good that I don’t need to work out what God’s are.  And, something that I think may sound more provocative than I want it to, when I read some current stuff about deconstructing the ‘institution’ of the church or having ‘leaderless churches’ I worry that I might be hearing a faint echo of Korah’s voice.   Perhaps the best antidote to contempt is to think on John the Baptists incredible refrain “He must increase, I must decrease”.  The more we seek humility and the more we submit ourselves to whatever yoke the Lord would give us, the more I suspect we will see contempt disappearing into the ground beneath us just like the tents and possessions of Korah.

Luke 4:38-5:16

Verses 43 and 44 are useful for getting a summary of what Jesus was about.  In Jesus’ own words, his role was to preach the good news about the Kingdom of God. And, in Luke’s word, he did this in the synagogues of Judea.  There seems to be a common refrain at the moment that Jesus spent all his time on the streets freely giving away food, speaking kind words to people, healing them and casting out their demons.  There is truth in that.  But, that is not how Jesus described his activity and it is not how Luke described it.  Jesus said his main thing was preaching the kingdom of God - something that we in the Vineyard we have interpreted as proclamation and demonstration - and Luke said he did it in the religious establishments of the day.  Ultimately, as Paul says in Romans, the deposit we have been given by Jesus is one of words, words backed up with power, but words nonetheless.  Jesus was sent to tell and to show, not just to do nice things but also to call people to respond to Jesus.  And, as Acts and all the epistles attest, Jesus’ call was to do this proclamation and demonstration in such a way that affirms and builds up the local church.  He has called us to be rooted in a community and to call others to come and join it.  Jesus said he would build his church and he is doing that today all over the world.  It’s a privilege and a joy to be able to join with him in that activity.

Psalm 37:1-9

It seems David’s gardening skills were about as good as mine.  So much so that all his green plants soon died away.  Amen to that brother, Amen and Amen.

Tuesday 22 March

Numbers 13:26-14:45

It’s a juicy passage this one.  We get the depth of the rebellion of Israel right smack bang alongside the power and the intensity of God.  The major errors that Israel make are called out by God as being contempt and presumption.  Contempt is a strong word but I guess a spade is a spade and when people think they know better than God, they are indeed holding him in contempt.  Presumption is another strong word but it does seem to be an accurate description of why people would think that their fate rests in their own hands.  Perhaps this is a more vivid description of what lies behind that rather bland word “sin” - contempt and presumption.  Combined, they give God too little credit for all that he has done in the past and give ourselves too much credit for what we can do in the future.  I begin to ask myself how Israel could be so stupid just a year or so after seeing the 10 plagues of Egypt, the parting of the Red Sea and the pillar of cloud and fire but then I think of myself and I realise it is really not that hard to believe that the people became more focussed on themselves than on God.

But then the good news - even in Moses’ day - the Lord is strong, the Lord is slow to anger, the Lord forgives sins, the Lord has great love for his people, the Lord will listen to prayers of forgiveness and intercession and the Lord will work out his purposes for his people despite all the stuff that they bring.  Now I find that really encouraging, and we haven’t even got onto Jesus yet.

Luke 4:14-37

The sermon on the mount gets a good press and quite rightly; it is a brilliant piece of work.  But, I think that if we really want to understand what Jesus was about and what he thought he was doing on earth then this Nazareth sermon is the very best place for us to start.  For one thing, this sermon gives us a very credible explanation for why people wanted Jesus dead.  I’ve  been thinking about that a bit recently - how many people do I know who people genuinely want to kill?  How many people do I know who have said something so explosive that people have picked them up and tried to chuck them off a cliff?  I can’t think of anyone... except Jesus.  And this is not the bless-everyone-without-expecting-anything-back-in-return Jesus who is often spoken about in charismatic circles.  Who would want to kill him?  No, this is the Jesus who so radically and personally attacked the Jewish parochial worldview that he made people feel so completely lost and angry.  By quoting Isaiah like he does here, Jesus cuts off the crucial final sentence that predicts destruction of the enemies of Israel, thereby declaring that God’s blessing is for all of the world, not just for a chosen few  And then by referencing the widow of Zarephath (a non-Jew) and Naaman (a non-Jew) it is like Jesus is grabbing that teaching and screwing it into the brains of all of his listeners.  They don’t like it! It hurts them!  Jesus is completely undermining their identity and forcing them to take on a new identity that looks on others as partners and co-heirs of God.  This fundamental message of Jesus - of God’s favour being for all the world - but be grasped and owned and acted upon by his church.  We must look beyond our walls and invite the scum and the downtrodden and the pathetic to come on in.

Psalm 36:1-12

The creativity of this psalm is so astonishing and so energising.  I long to see more of this divine creativity springing from the church today.

Monday 21 March

Numbers 11:4-13:25

Oh dear.  If the Lord had asked me, I would have suggested he left this particular bit out of the bible.  I would have said that it doesn’t reflect well on any of the parties involved, particularly him.  Indeed, when it says that God became exceedingly angry I just can’t stop thinking of an evil Mr Kipling.  To see the Lord then say he wants to shove so much meat down the Israelites gullets that it starts coming out of their nostrils and then to see him inflict Miriam with leprosy, well.... it’s quite a shock.  If it had been one of my boys acting like that, I probably would have packed him off to bed for an early night and told him he better behave a bit more kindly tomorrow.  So, what is going on here?  Well, I’ve obviously only told part of the story and the stuff about the prophets does a lot to give a sense of the Lord’s commitment to his people and his yearning to see them walk into the hope he has for them.  But, while this shiny-happy stuff is great and must be attended to, I just don’t think we can ignore the more challenging actions of God as being irrelevant.  To suggest that there is a split in God from Old Testament to New Testament is a heresy for which I personally would tie you to a burning stake (if it wasn’t for that blasted EU human rights law).  No, this is ferocious and responsive being is our God and, despite all the collar-loosening it requires, I am pleased that he is not a bland and placid nodding-dog of a being.  I have to get into my head that God is more expansive and more expressive than any image of him that I may choose to capture in my head.  He should make me feel uncomfortable at times because he is too big for my brain to comprehend.  He should stretch me and press me because his emotions are far too weighty for my meagre heart to capture.  But, throughout all of this difficult grappling, it is an unsurpassing joy that this untamable and uncontrollable God should choose to relate to those of us who are in Christ as a person relates to his friend.

Luke 3:23-4:13

In housegroup last week it was asked why God ever bothered with the whole Jewish thing if he was always planning to bring salvation through Jesus - why didn’t he just start with Christ?  This passage, especially sat alongside the Numbers passage, speaks into that conundrum.  We see first of all in the genealogy a clear desire to tie Jesus into King David and Abraham (and to Noah and to Adam).  Luke is making it clear - Jesus is a continuation of the promises to all the big players of Jewish history.  Then, in the temptation narrative, we begin to see Jesus being put in the position that Israel was put in 1000 years previously but, with Jesus fulfilling the promise of God where Israel failed.  Jesus goes into the desert as Israel went into the desert.  Jesus is in the desert for 40 days as Israel was in the desert for 40 years.  Jesus is hungry as Israel was hungry but whereas Israel rebelled and cried out for quail, Jesus puts his desire for God above his desire for grub.  Jesus is led to a place where he is to see the land that he will inherit (the whole world) just as Israel were led to a place (The Desert of Paran) where they could see the land they would inherit (Canaan) but, where the Israelites faultered, Jesus refused to waver and held tight to God as the means of receiving his inheritance.  Jesus was given the blessing and protection of God just as Israel were given the blessing and protection of God but whereas Israel turned that into something for their own benefit and their own exaltation Jesus refused to test God, staying true to God’s desire to give his blessing such that all the nations of the world be blessed.  Effectively Jesus takes on the role God gave to Israel and fulfills everything that his forebearers flunked.  So it is not a case of Jesus being a new plan for salvation of the world but rather He is the fulfillment of the old plan.  Jesus did not come to overthrow the law but to fulfill it.  He is the hope for the nations that Abraham, David, Elijah and many many others all spoke about.  To live in relationship with Jesus is a huge and precious privilege that many millions of devout and holy people longed for but did not receive.

Proverbs 7:21-27

There can be absolutely no doubt about the bible’s advise on how to raise children - tell them what is important, then tell them again and then tell them again.  For a parent like me, that is incredibly useful direction.

Sunday 20 March

Numbers 9:15-11:3

It is such a captivating and inspiring image of God’s desire to draw near to his people.  Could anyone ever have dared to consider such a possibility as God clinging to little particles of dust and moisture and revealing himself as a cloud to guide his people?  I suspect it may have been slightly frustrating for the Levites when they had spent all day putting the tabernacle together only for the cloud to up and leave the moment they sit down for their evening meal but, that would have been a small factor compared to the incredible reassurance and delight of having the command of the Lord so clearly manifested.  I have occasionally thought that life would be much simpler if I had lived in those days but, of course that is to deny the overwhelming great gift of the Spirit of God living in me and empowering me rather than just directing me from afar.  No, we are far, far better off now, with the Spirit that gives life and that says “this is the way, walk in it”.  The immense appeal of this cloud though is the immense appeal of intimacy with God, of seeing God and of knowing his will.  And, on that, the message of the Book is consistent from start to finish - we serve a God who loves to disclose his will to his people.  If we approach Him with due fear and careful attention God will only be too pleased to reveal to us his desires.

Luke 3:1-22

I don’t remember hearing a sermon on John the Baptiser other than to focus on what he said about Jesus.  But what he preached as his own message is actually really helpful for understanding the fundamentals of the message of the Christ.  Luke tells us that John’s message boiled down to one thing - a message of repentance.  This repentance, as Luke goes on to explain, is firmly rooted in the conviction that being a child of Abraham is not enough for salvation - God is opening this whole thing up to all mankind, so if you want in on it, sort yourself out and start living right.  We see unleashed in John’s declaration of repentance, therefore, the two mega-themes of the “good news”. Firstly, this thing will be defined by right living - generosity, integrity and being baptized in the holy spirit. Secondly, there will be an unstoppable commitment to benefit the whole of the globe - through God’s miraculous action and signified by baptism.  Appetites having been awakened and minds alerted, John slides to the back of the narrative to leave Jesus front and centre; the Son who is deeply loved by God, the one who will baptize in the Spirit, the one who will bring right living and mission to the attention of the world.

Psalm 35:19-28

I like the way that David, even though he is struggling, has not become intraspective but is praying for those who sympathise with him - for his people, as much as for himself.

Saturday 19 March

Numbers 7:66-9:14

Those imposters in Mexico may have tried to claim it as their own but the truth is layed out here in black and white - the so-called-Mexican wave was, in fact, the “Levitical wave” that Aaron instigated way back at the dedication of the tabernacle.  How else could Aaron have presented the Levites as a wave offering if not through the sea-like raising of their arms one after the other?  I even suspect that these enrobed, hairless priests would have whooped and hollered as they celebrated their dedication to I AM WHO I AM in much the same way that the football fans cheered in support of their own national team.  This setting-apart of the priests is not only critical for understanding the mechanics of Old Testament worship - so the subsequent books should make better sense - but is also, as we have said before, a powerful indicator of the character of our God.  God is not content to watch from the sidelines and cheer us on.  He wants people to give him specific, constant and particular attention, to continually recognise his importance and to order their lives and their community around the worship of him.  And, as we do that, we see again here the remarkable paradox that people and things and time that are set apart for him, that are given to him, he then gifts back to his people.  The Levites were God’s own and the gives them as gifts to Aaron and his sons.  That is why we can celebrate when we set things apart to God (by wave offering or otherwise); not only are we pleasing the heart of God but also we are freeing up gifts to be given to our fellow believers.

Luke 2:41-52

Here’s a question to ponder on; as Jesus sat there in the temple at the age of 12 did he already know that he was going to come back and sack it 20 years later?  And, more than that, did he already know that this passover festival was going to be given a dynamic new twist through the shedding of his own blood?  At what point, if any, did Jesus go from muddling through life, seeing in part, doing his best to discover the rest, to being a fully-clued up, all seeing, all knowing master of his surroundings?  I think there is room for debate in this issue but consider this - Jesus was both causing amazement with his understanding and sitting and asking questions to the temple teachers.  Jesus was both certain of who his Father was and was obedient to Mary and Joseph.  Wherever you land on the first question (and I think it is an important one to think through) you can’t get away from the fact that any inkling about his identity that Jesus did have led him not to arrogance but to humility.  It is extraordinary that God would be asking questions to seek to learn from his people and that he would submit himself to following the instruction of first-time parents.  Luke, draws us into these early years of Jesus as no other gospel-writer does.  And, in doing so, he lifts the lid on the awe-inspiring way in which Jesus grew in wisdom and stature.  As we look, surely we can’t help but find Jesus growing in our favours and our affections?  How could he have trodden the tricky path of life quite so well?  How I wish I could be more like him in each and every way.

Psalm 33:11-18

For all that I’ve bleated on about David verbally ravaging his enemies in these psalms, for all I’ve baulked at how David has called down all kinds of hellish calamities on his opponents, it is interesting to see that David was, in practice, so committed to his enemies good that he would mourn, fast and weep for them.  Suddenly I don’t feel so smug about the more restrained nature of my prayers...

Friday 18 March

Numbers 7:1-65

Flipping heck.  Was it really necessary to list out one by one the gifts of each of the twelve leaders when each and every one brought exactly the same thing!!  Surely the writer could have just summarised it all in one paragraph by listing the gifts and then listing the names of the leaders?  Obviously the writer was a complete dufus.  Either that or he was trying to make a very particular point about the value of each tribe’s contribution and the way that the Lord deeply values each and every act of sacrifice that is made to him.  Worship, it seems, means so much to God that he is perfectly willing to bore us senseless in telling us about it.  When we gather on a Sunday morning to sing songs to Jesus I don’t think Jesus just hears one of each song.  I think he hears 300, one from each of our mouths, and I believe that he delights in each and every one.  When we lay out chairs for housegroup, put out someone’s rubbish, take time to talk with a shop assistant or cheerfully greet a traffic warden we are (or, rather, we can choose to be) committing acts of worship to God. Slow, steady, slightly unremarkable alongside everything else that everyone else is doing but deeply pleasing to God nonetheless.  He is the God who watches us, and he values each and every thing we do for him.

Luke 2:21-40

Luke’s gospel, as I should have said at the start of it, is, as you know, part 1 in Doctor Luke’s 2-part epic of Luke and Acts.  It is amazing that we see here at the start of the series Luke flagging up major themes that will run through the rest of the account.  Firstly, Luke majors on the importance of the Holy Spirit.  Secondly, he speaks of Jesus being the Light to the Gentiles.  God’s Holy Spirit is getting grimy in the detail of this story, revealing His intentions to Simeon and even prompting him to go into the temple courts so that he would come across the young Jewish couple who were consecrating their young son to the Lord.  While the Spirit blasts into centre-frame at the start of Luke at the festival of Pentecost, Luke is at pains here to point out that even before that time, the Holy Spirit was working hard to draw people into the plans of the Father.  If we are to see all that the Lord has for us in this life, we would do well to become close friends with the Holy Spirit.  

And these thoroughly Jewish people, set in the most Jewish of contexts are, at the start of this remarkable story, already preempting the work of God that is to come - salvation and redemption are in the air, and it is not to be constrained to one particular people group.  This work of God is already seen to be a light that just has to spread, not just to Jerusalem, but from there to the world.  Again, we would do well to pick up on Luke’s urgings and regard ourselves as people called into the spreading of this light. As we go along we will see how this will happen.  For now, the establishment of the understanding is enough to start forming an evangelistic desire within us.

Psalm 35:1-10

We have seen the like of this before but it is still useful to note the benefit, and the biblical mandate, for venting in prayer the frustrations we feel in relationships.  I believe this is a thoroughly healthy method of coping with the tensions and strains of life.  After all, if we are to truly forgive others we must first identify and ‘own’ our anger over their sin.  That way we truly invite God’s presence into the situation and beckon him to deal with us and our life as they truly are, not as we might like them to be.