Thursday 31 March

Numbers 29:12-31:24

I wasn’t feeling too perky this morning as it was, now I feel emotionally assaulted.  I could just about (and I mean by a very fine margin) cope with the killing of all the Midianite men, accepting that the Midianites had pretty much declared war on Yahweh and that this was how things went in those days.  But the slaughter of the infants and the non-virginal women feels like a huge gobstopper wedged halfway down my throat.  And the gobstopper swells to a suffocating size when I realise that this killing wasn’t Moses’ idea but was a direct commandment of our God.  Surely there must be a nice simple explanation that unlocks something hidden and makes the passage seem more palatable? Surely there must be some way that I can clear my airways and begin to breathe properly again?    No, I don’t think there is.  This is our God - exacting punishment on those who oppose him - and this breathlessness is just something we have to get used to.  The biblical term for it is ‘fear of the Lord’ and we find it all over the place, in the New Testament as well as the Old.  Earlier in this book (Numbers 14:18) we read that “The Lord is slow to anger, abounding in love and forgiving sin and rebellion.  Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation”.  While in Jeremiah 31:29-31 we see the generational consequences of punishment being taken away, the reality of punishment does remain and even Paul attests that the wages of sin are death.  Our God is love, but opposition to him is still not a good idea.

Luke 8 :19-39

Jesus called people into his band of followers and, when they came, he bound himself so tightly to them that they almost became his family.  This was quite extraordinary in a culture that saw family as the source of one’s identity and the channel for one’s hope for the future.  The depth of this calling to cleave ourselves to one another, to eat together, to follow Jesus’ teaching together is a significant aspect of Jesus’ ministry.  It was also a significant aspect of the early church as we see in Acts 2.  Some people call this “table-fellowship” and I really like that term.  It’s something we try to build in housegroup as we eat together and share our lives with one another.  It is a really powerful thing and something, that if we want to truly follow Jesus, we must always be pressing into more and more.  Jesus calls us his brothers and mothers.  What a life-changing experience that is.  As we feel and know that love, let us love one another deeply.

Psalm 39:1-13

A common theme in the Psalms is the fleeting nature of human life.  It sort of puts you in your place to be compared to a mere handbreath or even a breath.  But it also puts all our anxieties and our desires in their place as well.  A house extension or fixing the car or having job security or children’s schools - big issues in life but not really in all of eternity.

Wednesday 30 March

Numbers 27:12-29:11

Moses really was amazing.  The Lord is reminding Moses that he will be punished for his sin and Moses, rather than being defensive, turns his thoughts and prayers to the people who he has let down.  Moses believes that the best possible thing for the people of Israel is to have a God-appointed leader who will be like a shepherd to them and if that can’t be him any longer then he is going to ask God to provide someone else.  The Lord responds to the desires of Moses (if Moses hadn’t asked would the Lord still have commissioned someone else??) and tells him to pass on his authority to Joshua.  This is a fascinating passage for seeing the importance of leadership and the way that it is passed, through the Spirit of God from one person to the next.  It is also deeply inspiring to see a man like Moses so deeply committed to the Lord that he will obey him even when that is giving away all that currently defines him.

Luke 8:1-18

Jesus not only cries out “he who has ears to hear, let him hear” but he also, in verse 18 ties hearing into what we receive (those who have etc).  Listening is important to Jesus.  Hearing is probably even more so.  Lots of people listened to the parable of the sower, lots of people saw Jesus taking out the lamp and putting it on a stand.  But not that many people really heard what he was saying.  Real hearing takes time and it takes effort.  We can slant an ear towards someone and listen to their words but it won’t touch our soul, it won’t take root inside of us unless we really attend to it, unless we choose to hear it.  Listening is something we do with our ears but hearing is something we do with our minds and our hearts.  Hearing is a submissive act that places our agendas and our assumptions at the feet of the one who is speaking.  Hearing is an act of worship and an act of devotion.  That is why Jesus spoke so highly of hearing and why he tied it into our destiny.  Jesus doesn’t want people to just listen to his words and watch what he is doing; he wants people to fix all their senses on him and to be willing to be defined by what he says and does.  If we approach Jesus in this way we will find ourselves continually accumulating more and more of his presence and his understanding.  He (or she) who has ears, let him (her) hear!

Psalm 38:13-22

David actually thinks the Lord will get him out of the terrible real-world situation he is in.  So David calls the Lord his saviour.  I’d not quite grasped that before, and I think it is really helpful for understanding what the gospel writers and others are likely to mean when they call Jesus “saviour”.

Tuesday 29 March

Numbers 26:12-27:11

It often seems to be the way with the bible that fairly major points just get the scantest of mentions.  Almost like a politician trying to bury bad news on a busy day, Numbers sends you well into the boredom zone with its listing out of all the clans and then slips in two major developments; that the rebellious generation has been wiped out and that Girl Power is close to the heart of the Lord.  The rebellious generation thing is significant in that it shows how the ebb and flow of history is always under the control of God and that the things that he says will happen do indeed happen.  Many people and things may claim to give you hope and security for the future but only One can come good on that promise.  Zelophehad’s daughters get such a robust backing from the Lord - “certainly give them property as an inheritance” - that you can almost hear Moses drawing breath in shock.  The Lord is keen to preserve the inheritance of his people and he will not let social assumptions about genders get in the way of his will.

Luke 7:36-50

If I was round a mates house and a hooker wandered in and started caressing my feet I suspect I would feel just a tad uncomfortable.  If she started sobbing as well then I think I would be searching for the toilet window.  That Jesus sits, relaxed and smiling while this excruciating scene is unfolding around him is an astonishing display of his own security.  Jesus just seems to have given people space to expose their true natures to him, whether they be filthy clean, bitterly broken or bitterly proud.  And then, when guts have been spilt, Jesus doesn’t just delight in the intimacy but goes about the dirty work of picking through the bile and prescribing an appropriate cure.  Jesus calls us to deep relationships with him and deep relationships with one another for the sake of our healing.  Dinner parties of embarrassing exposure and life-changing redemption should be part and parcel of our following of the Lord.  We unveil ourselves before one another just as we unveil ourselves before the Lord and, as we do so, we will hear his voice through one another and through the Spirit speaking “your sins are forgiven.... go in peace”.

Proverbs 8:12-21

Wisdom’s buddy sounds a bit dull; couldn’t they have come up with something that sounds a little more attractive than “prudence”?  And don’t you think wisdom is the biggest name-dropper you have ever come across?  Ooooh, so you hang out with kings and rulers?  You govern with princes and run the world with nobles do you?  Don’t make me laugh!  Next you will be telling me that you are fabulously wealthy and have mega-riches at your disposal...

Monday 28 March

Numbers 23:27-26:11

Phinehas was a hot-headed, spear-wielding maniac.  But he was a hot-headed, spear-wielding maniac for the Lord and his zealous execution of the copulating Zimri and Cozbi saved the lives of many of God’s people.  The form of his action is not one we should copy - I don’t think we should be popping a cap in the ass of every couple we see making out on the tube - but we should take note that the strength of his desire to see God honoured, and his willingness to put that desire into action, is highly commended by God.  Indeed, God compares Phinehas’ actions to his own while acknowledging that His spear would have been a little larger and a little more widely used.  We, or at least I, don’t really like the thought of God as a jealous executioner, as one whose anger actually leads to retributive action.  I often hear people say that this doesn’t really fit with the image of God seen in Jesus and I do sympathise with that struggle.  But, as we have seen in Matthew and Mark, Jesus did sack the temple, he did curse the fig-tree, he did verbally roast the Pharisees and he was, in fact, executed by God as a substitute for all of us.  This violent zeal for God’s honour was profoundly present in the life of Jesus even if he ended up being the victim of it as much as its proponent.  And, if we actually look at what the Israelites were doing then we too should feel a deep sense of anger about it (in the same way that we feel angry at our own sin).  They were cavorting with shrine prostitutes, spilling their semen - the bodily fluid that represented their future hope - in ritual sacrifice to Baal, the Moabite god of fertility.  If God didn’t do anything about such sickening prostitution of his people’s worship then could we call him just?  If God just stood by while his people broke their covenant with him and sold their souls and bodies to whoever offered the most pleasure then would he really be God at all?  

Luke 7:11-35

Personal transformation.  That is what Jesus points to as the evidence of his Messiahship.  He doesn’t point John the Baptist to how many followers he has or how many friends he has on Facebook.  In fact, he doesn’t mention his own popularity at all.   Jesus doesn’t mention that he has walked on water or calmed a storm.  He seems remarkably unimpressed by the dramatic wonders that we may have got obsessed with.  What Jesus does is indirectly quote the prophet Isaiah and show how it is being worked out in his life - and this is the outworking; suffering individuals not only being comforted but being set free, excluded people finding a family and deprived people being captured by hope.  I find sometimes I can get caught up in a lot of stuff in Christian life but the key thing, the one thing I always want to come back to is loving Jesus and joining with Him in his transformation of people around me.  That is the true sign of the Kingdom Come.

Psalm 38:1-12

Sometimes David is a miseryguts isn’t he?  I mean, come on! Has he not heard Jesus’ “consider it pure joy when you undergo suffering for righteousness sake...”

Sunday 27 March

Numbers 22:21-23:26

It is clear that the Lord has given Balaam the prophetic ability to hear from Him.  It is also clear that Balaam can choose what he does with this ability without it affecting the raw ability itself. There is no sign of “sin” getting in the way of Balaam hearing from the Lord - perhaps out of a desire to continue with his previous commitment, the Lord communicates to Balaam throughout his whole rebellion.  What may seem like the Lord tricking Balaam (in telling him to go with Balak’s men) I think is actually the Lord acting in astonishing grace towards one of his people.  That grace is intended to give Balaam a wonderful space to repent but he exploits it to cement his rebellion and press into things that are against the purposes of God (working for those who are attacking God’s people and trying to pronounce curses against Israel).  In the book of Revelation this fascinating man Balaam is held up as being a damaging false teacher (Rev 2:14) who people emulate at their peril.  I two big things from the life of Balaam.  Firstly, guidance is not just about seeing which “doors the Lord opens”.  Balaam asked God to open doors and God, in his mercy opened them but Balaam was committing a terrible sin when he went through them!  Guidance is about seeking God’s will and doing it, not throwing up a prayer and pressing on with what we wanted to do anyway.  Secondly, the old chestnut that character is so much more important than gifting.  Balaam really heard from God.  Presumably he could have run a heck of a ministry time!  But his heart had turned from pure devotion to the Lord and he damaged the people of God and ruined himself.  God watches everything and, while gifting may seem to trump character in the now, we know that everything, yes everything will come out in the wash.

Luke 6:37-7:10

More stuff that feels a bit beyond me - huge truths that stand like enormous oaks and that are so strong and true that whole lifetimes could be spent exploring them and nothing else.  But the big thing from today that strikes me is that all of this stuff is made to be put into practice, not just to be debated or considered.  One of the greatest tragedies I’ve seen is people sitting in theology class identifying and picking apart the finest nuances of Jesus’ teachings while their lives are falling down around them.  A Vineyard emphasis that I love is that traditionally bible study has been seen as “training” rather than “teaching”.  I think that is really smart.  Training does not exclude intellectual rigour or active enquiry - just think of all the money sports people spend on psychologists, technological researchers and the like - but rather always looks to turn these skills towards practical action.  So we mine the scriptures - absolutely we do - but we force ourselves to approach each passage looking for treasures to enhance our understanding of God and strengthen our ability to follow Jesus.  We submit ourselves to God’s word and ask the Spirit to change us through it.  That is building a strong foundation for ourselves, a foundation that is deep, and firm and of great benefit to the world around us.

Psalm 37:32-40

Some of the Psalmists promises may not seem to hold true in our world of poverty, disease, tsunami and war.  But his key phrase “wait for the LORD” not only acknowledges the tension but also beckons us to hope, to hope for a better day to come when the Lord will come good on all David’s charges.  Waiting is not something I find easy but there is life there, and there is hope... hope that will not disappoint.

Saturday 26 March

Numbers 21:4-22:20

This bronze snake was referred to by Jesus just before he dropped his Superbowl Soundbite in John 3:16.  He did well (!) in choosing this one as it is a deeply evocative picture of salvation.  The people are living in the wilderness, separated from the promised land due to their contempt for God (see the 12 spies passage from a couple of days ago) and moaning that God is rubbish because he has put them in a situation that is boring and difficult.  (They sound a little like my boys when they moan about being on the naughty step and they, just like my boys, fail to acknowledge that they are only in this less-than-perfect situation due to their own disobedience.)  They then reap the consequences of their rebellion in graphic terms with snakes coming and inflicting them with death.  It is a pretty bleak picture.  But incredible salvation breaks in through a bronze snake being lifted on a pole and people looking at it to live.  It is amazing to note that the salvation was God’s idea (he told Moses to make the snake), was incredibly easy for people to receive (who could help but look at a massive bronze snake being waved around on the end of a pole?) and was a truly miraculous act of mercy - how could looking at something counteract the poisonous effects of a snake-bite? God has always been willing to break rules and defy logic just for the sake of bringing life to his people.

Luke 6:12-36

Will you forgive me if I don’t tackle the bulk of this blessing and woes passage.  I just don’t know how I could begin to do it justice.  The Vineyard has, I believe, often suggested Jesus is talking about an Upside Down Kingdom which is a very intriguing concept and one to ponder on at some length - even Jesus had to pray about it all night beforehand!  

The bit where I feel I can start to say something is in verse 35 - ‘love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back.  Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked.’  The key themes that Jesus is pushing are 1) the ball is in your court - you can decide what your fate will be by how you choose to live. 2) Factor God into everything - in every calculation you make over what is best for you to do always remember that God is watching and that he will reward you appropriately. 3) Kindness, mercy and generosity will particularly be rewarded by God because they define who He is 4) God’s rewards are not fleeting or temporal but are changes in status and in identity - you become sons of God and he becomes your Father.  

There is so much more to say but time is short and I these four points are more than enough to keep me going for a while!  What an amazing thing we are involved in!

Psalm 37:21-31

To think that the Lord could delight in what we do....

Friday 25 March

** sorry I forgot to post this yesterday **

Numbers 19:1-21:3

They’d been in this place before and poor old Moses seems to get a little bit narky and a little bit self-obsessed and he gets himself a lifetime ban from the promised land. God tells Moses to speak to the rock but Moses decides he actually fancies whacking the rock and giving the people a bit of an earful.  I suspect Moses felt that was a bit more dramatic and would make more of a point of his exalted status and the Israelite’s stupidity.  The trouble is that that Lord doesn’t seem to like his people’s faces being rubbed in the dirt and he certainly doesn’t like people taking on His honour as their own.  The tragedy is that God had been so deeply generous to Moses and Aaron in giving them a key, affirming role in bringing water from the rocks of Meribah but, for whatever reason, Moses and Aaron lost sight of that privilege and decided instead to exploit the opportunity to vent some anger.  This is a serious proof text for anyone who wants to show the importance of character in leadership and is also a serious parameter-setter for anyone who finds themself in some form of leadership.  God’s take on leadership seems to be that it is for helping people, for bringing them forward and for giving honour to His name.  That’s an attractive picture and one that I pray all of the leaders in all of the contexts across all of this city will grow closer to day after day.

Luke 5:33-6:11

Jesus’ claim to be Lord of the Sabbath (or at least that the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath) is pretty mega.  We’ve seen in our trek through the Old Testament that Sabbath-observance is banged on about time after time as being a crucial and eternal aspect of obedience to Yahweh.  It’s no wonder that the Pharisees took exception to Jesus moseying along and completely disregarding it (at least in their view) as he was, in this act, was pretty much undermining the whole of the Jewish religion.  You could only derive one conclusion from such heretical activity - Jesus is on a crusade to explode Judaism from within and to redefine it completely around himself.  This puts Jesus either as a dangerous meglomaniac or as the author of redemption pointing out a twist in his plot that suddenly gives you new eyes for all of it.  And, praise God, that the second of these is true!  Praise God that we live post-twist, post Jesus being deployed into the story.  Suddenly the backdrop of the whole tale is clearly one of compassion and of life, of healing and of hope.  Jesus has changed everything and now we live completely obsessed with him, not, as the pharisees, discussing what we might do with Jesus but rather, as the man with the withered hand, utterly delighted at what he is doing for us.

Proverbs 8:1-11

If you think you are thick, don’t worry - listen to wisdom and she will make you smart!