Amen

Passage: 1 Thessalonians 5:1-24

The life of God’s people is defined by the experience of waiting. The patriarch of Israel, Abraham, waits most of his life for a son. His waiting is prompted by a promise God makes to Abraham at the beginning of their journey together:
I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you. (Genesis 12:2-3)

Abraham and his wife, Sarah, eventually have a son. But they don’t get to see the rest of God’s promise fulfilled. This is also true of the Israelites whom God rescues from slavery in Egypt. Most of them spend 40 years trekking toward the Promised Land, only to die in the wilderness. The author of Hebrews points out that none of the notable characters of the Old Testament get to witness all the good things God says he has in store for them. He says,
All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance, admitting that they were foreigners and strangers on earth. (Hebrews 11:13)

In one of his letters to the church in Thessalonica, the Apostle Paul encourages his friends to keep the faith. They are simply one generation in countless who have shaped their lives in anticipation of “the Day of the Lord” – the moment when God brings his redemption plan to complete fulfillment. Paul says the same things Jesus says to his disciples: “Watch; wait; and don’t settle. Don’t give in to the darkness of fleeting pleasure and momentary gratification. Hold out for the better thing God has in store. It will be here before you know it.”

I’m reminded of one Christmas Eve when I was a kid. My family was staying at my grandmother’s condo. I restlessly sat through an interminable evening of holiday dinner, hot chocolate and fruitcake and conversation. I finally got tucked into bed and thought I’d never go to sleep. After all, we wouldn’t open our stockings and gifts until Christmas morning. Would it ever get here? Even as I thought it my eyelids got heavy. I blinked. When I opened my eyes, I heard my mom and dad and grandma’s soft voices in the kitchen. The clink of dishes. Were they cleaning up? Then I smelled my grandma’s Christmas morning coffee cake. That’s strange – why would she be making it tonight? I got up and wandered out to the living room. There were the stockings. The table set for breakfast. It was Christmas morning. It had arrived before I knew it.

Paul and Jesus’ other apostles have their eye on the prize. They live restlessly, unwilling to settle for temporary fixes. Yet they also live with peace, knowing that their reunion with the Savior will be worth the wait. Hold out for better, says Paul. In all circumstances give thanks, because God is with you. Never stop praying. Never lose hope.

The conclusion of the Catechism addresses the conclusion of the Lord’s Prayer:
Q: What does that little word "Amen" express?
A: Amen means, “This is sure to be!” It is even more sure that God listens to my prayer, than that I really desire what I pray for.

The deepest desire of every human heart is Shalom – the restoration of all things. The Day of the Lord is the day that Christ returns and makes all things the way they were meant to be. Our longing for greater security; deeper intimacy; personal advancement; justice and peace – this is a longing for that which is broken in our world to be healed. God promises to bring ultimate healing. When we seal our prayer with the word Amen, we declare our conviction that if God said it, he’ll do it. Receive the blessing with which Paul concludes 1 Thessalonians:
May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do it! Amen.

Your Enemy

Passage: 1 Peter 5:1-11

One of my favorite episodes of The Simpsons is entitled, “Homer’s Enemy”. In this episode Homer gets a new coworker at the power plant – a young man named Frank Grimes. Frank gets his job because he’s been featured in a local news story detailing the great adversity he has overcome over the course of his life. Inspired by the story, Mr. Burns, the owner of the power plant, insists that they hire him immediately. When Frank arrives at the plant he’s appalled by Homer’s lackadaisical approach to his job (nuclear safety inspector). The more time he spends with Homer, the more Frank is incensed that someone so incompetent could get everything he wants out of life. Frank gets madder and madder; and in spite of Homer’s attempts to make friends with him, Frank at a certain point declares, “I’m not your friend. I’m your enemy!” (“What, me, the most beloved man in all of Springfield?”)

It’s easier to make enemies than it is to make friends. All someone has to do is laugh at the wrong point in a conversation. Respond a little too tersely to an email. Look at us wrong in the grocery line. Cut us off on the expressway. Instant enemy. Sometimes we discover that we, like Homer, have unwittingly become someone else’s enemy. Just by being ourselves. We’re quick to find people to blame; quick to find people to hate. And quick to find ourselves at the receiving end of the same.

The authors of the New Testament point out that when we do this we’re making a huge mistake. No person should be the focus of our hatred. And no person should be held responsible for our unhappiness. We only have one enemy. It’s not Al Qaida, or the axis of evil, or the Democrats. Or Republicans. It’s Satan and his forces. In Ephesians 6 the Apostle Paul says,
For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God…

If we aren’t careful, we become pawns of the forces of evil. How? By targeting each other. By shunning and attacking other people – people who are equally enticed and enslaved by the forces pulling at us. God’s intent is to set all of us free from the power of sin and death. To free us from fear – which causes us to see enemies where none exist – and temptation – which causes us to take without regard for the damage done to others.

In its final Lord’s Day, the Catechism identifies the fact that on our own we can’t resist the weapons of our true enemy. The fear he breeds and the temptation he wields strike us where we are weakest. So we appeal to God. He fortifies us against temptation by promising to give us what we really need. And he braces us against fear by promising to preserve our life forever. Protected by God’s armor, we remain vigilant and prepared for the enemy’s attacks. And we remain open and vulnerable to each other, recognizing in everyone a potential ally, friend, and family member in Christ.

Dependents

Passage: Hosea 2:8-23

Hosea is one of those books in which God comes across as a bit unreasonable. At the very beginning of the book, God commands his prophet, Hosea, to marry a "promiscuous woman." Why, pray tell? So that Hosea's marriage can be a living metaphor for God's relationship with his people. Hosea complies, marrying Gomer, a woman who proves to be perennially unfaithful. Hosea provides for Gomer; loves her; and takes her back every time. He even buys her back when she sells herself into slavery. "How does it feel," says God, "to be married to someone; to pour yourself out for them; to give them everything they need, only to have them reject you? Only to have them say, 'I don't need you.'" This, says God, is what my people do to me again and again.

Not so sure? To what extent do you think of yourself as independent? Self-sufficient? How often do you ask God to give you the basic necessities of life - or thank him for them? God says to us, "Whether you admit it or not, you've gotten everything from me. I've given you most of what you have without you even having asked for it first!" God says, "I've been nothing but faithful to you. And yet again and again you attribute my blessings to someone else!"

God's relationship with us is one of mercy. God in his mercy seeks us out. Buys us back. Gives us everything we need for body and soul. What does God ask in return? Gratitude. Generosity. The admission that we are what we are: dependents. Thank God that he's allowed us to depend on him, body and soul, in life and in death.

Programming

Passage: Matthew 18:1-9

In Matthew 18 Jesus adds to his long list of cryptic teachings, “Unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the Kingdom of Heaven.” That’d be great advice if nothing ever had to get done in the Kingdom of Heaven. If all anyone had to do was run around and play and have fun, and no one had to eat a properly cooked meal, or run a business, or teach anyone anything. Right?

Those of us who are engaged in the work of the Kingdom know how important it is to be educated. Have business savvy. Know how to fix stuff. Get stuff done.

Here’s the problem. Those of us who know how to get stuff done learned our skills within a broken system. We learned in an environment that taught us to be self-sufficient and hard. We carry into the Kingdom the baggage of a world that has made us cynical and selfish. As we try to engage the work and life of the Kingdom our programming keeps getting in the way. We rank ourselves according to attractiveness, success, and goodness. We impose rules about whose opinion matters and whose gifts are valuable. And before you know it, what we think is the Kingdom of Heaven turns out to be just another broken-down kingdom of our own making.

Jesus says, “If you want to be part of my Kingdom, leave your programming at the door. You don’t have to build it or run it. It was working fine before you got here. Empty your hands and your pockets; drop your bags. Then come on in.” The Kingdom is huge, but the door leading in is really small. Only big enough to let in really little people. People unencumbered by big egos and big baggage. Entering the Kingdom of Heaven is a matter of going back to the beginning. Rediscovering innocence and simplicity. Being relieved of your guile and your savvy and your shame. Starting fresh. Reprogramming.

It's a Work in Progress

Passage: Matthew 13:24-52

In this chapter Matthew throws out seven different metaphors that Jesus uses to talk about the Kingdom of Heaven. In short order, Jesus says the Kingdom is like:
• A good field suffused with weeds
• A mustard seed
• Yeast mixed into dough
• Treasure buried in a field
• A rare pearl
• A net full of fish
• A mixture of old treasures and new
Elsewhere Jesus says, “The Kingdom of heaven is near!” and, “The Day of the Lord has come!” Jesus’ words have produced great confusion about the arrival of God’s Kingdom. Is it coming? Or is it already here?

When we utter the Lord’s Prayer, we make the request, “Your Kingdom come…” This implies that the Kingdom hasn’t yet arrived. And yet Jesus’ parables suggest that the stuff of the Kingdom is already in effect. The seeds have been planted. The crop is poking its way through the ground. The yeast is working its way through the dough. The treasure is there to be found, if you just know where to look. The net is closing in around the fish.
When we look at the world, all we see is a vacant lot. A garden choked with bindweed. A table full of junk at a flea market. We can’t imagine that the fallow ground will bear fruit. That order will be restored to that neglected garden. That somewhere in that pile junk is something of immeasurable worth.

Yet this is the stuff Jesus invites us to look for. It’s already there. The Kingdom is germinating; look for the signs. The Kingdom is waiting; search for it. Jesus’ teaching about the Kingdom flies in the face of logic or intuition, which tell us, “Things are getting worse; this city is beyond repair; this world is too messed up for anyone to fix it; it’s hopeless.”

It’s not hopeless. We are citizens of a Kingdom that is under construction. We are investing in a work in progress. Jesus commands us not to write it off. Not to write off a world in which God is at work. Not to write off a person in whose heart God has planted the seeds of redemption. Jesus tells us: The Kingdom is there. And there. And there! Look for it. Dig for it. Sacrifice for it. Wait for it.

The Request Behind Every Other Request

Passage: Psalm 145

In its clause-by-clause breakdown of the Lord’s Prayer, the Heidelberg Catechism regards the phrase “Hallowed be your name” not as a statement but as a request. “What,” ask the authors of the Catechism, “does this first request mean?” When we utter the prayer, therefore, we’re not making an objective observation about who God is. We’re asking God to do something very specific in our lives and in our world. We’re asking that, above all else, God’s name would be hallowed. Revered. Recognized as holy. Glorified.

This has radical implications for whatever else we add to our prayers. If our goal, in prayer and in life, is God’s glory, then we pray and live accordingly. Our requests, for ourselves and our world, align themselves with this predominant value. Where our first inclination might be to ask, “Heal my illness,” we might instead find ourselves praying, “In sickness or health, be glorified in me.” Where we might be tempted to pray, “Let my kid’s team win this playoff,” instead we may ask, “May my child’s conduct point others to you and your greatness.” If we recognize rightly that the purpose of our lives is to reveal to heaven and earth the greatness of our Creator and Lord, our values change. Our desires change. Our wills realign according to the very will of God.

Psalm 145 is a declaration of the glory of God. In it the Psalmist states, “Great is the LORD and most worthy of praise; his greatness no one can fathom.” He goes on to describe all the great things God is and does. God is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abundant in love. God is trustworthy in his promises, and faithful. God is near to those who call on him. God provides sustenance for life. God saves those who seek refuge in him. God gives his children the desires of their hearts.
The Psalmist adds this:
All your works praise you, LORD; your faithful people extol you. They tell of the glory of your kingdom and speak of your might, so that all people may know of your mighty acts and the glorious splendor of your kingdom.

If we truly know God, we can’t help but be enthralled by God. In turn we’ll talk about God in ways that compel others to seek him out. And we’ll live our lives in such a way that those who encounter us will catch glimpses not of our glory, but the glory of our Creator. As God’s faithful people, this is our greatest ambition. Every other hope and desire falls into place beneath it. That in our every act and experience God would make himself known. In our prayers, every other request is simply a variation on this one: Hallowed be your name. In my work, hallowed be your name. In my marriage, hallowed be your name. In my health, hallowed be your name. In my rest, hallowed be your name. In every facet of my day; my performance; my life; make yourself known to me and the world around me. Hallowed be your name.

Father

Passage: Lord's Day 46

The term “Father” has so many connotations. Fathers are providers and comforters. They are protectors and authorities. They are disciplinarians.
“Father” also comes with baggage. Human fathers that were abusive or absent leave cracks in the lenses of our souls through which it’s difficult to render a pure image of what a father should be.

With all this in mind, Jesus deliberately refers to God as “Father”, and invites his disciples to do the same. “When you appeal to God”, he says, “You’re appealing to my Father. But from now on you’re also appealing to yours.” Jesus ushers humanity into a new way of thinking about “father”, and a new way of relating to God.

In his invitation Jesus identifies God as being everything that an earthly father should be - and more. God is provider: he knows what you need and is willing and able to give it. God is comforter: he receives you in your brokenness and welcomes you with open arms. God is protector: he promises that not a hair can fall from your head without his permission. God is authority: he knows his design for Creation and his design for your life; he offers guidance that is trustworthy and true. God is disciplinarian: God interrupts us when we’re on a path that will end in long-term harm and withholds those gifts that threaten to supplant him in our hearts. God is always with us and always for us.

There’s an added dimension: God is our Father in Heaven. God inhabits the space beyond time and space. His perspective is comprehensive and eternal, and his reach is unbounded. There is no limit to the knowledge, wisdom, and resources at God’s disposal. When God promises to guide you in the way everlasting and provide everything you need for body and soul, God is able to follow through like no one else. Trust Jesus’ invitation. And trust the Father into whose family you’ve been irrevocably adopted. He will never let you down.