I'm exhausted but will blog none the less. Tim and his dog are asleep downstairs and my hectic weekend has finally finished. I've learned an important youth worky lesson this weekend about making sure you know what time it is and making sure that you have time to actually get across the point of your session. So yeah, connect was a bit hit and miss. Fun though. Onto business then
Today's readings
Exodus 19:1-20:26
Mark 1:29-2:17
Psalm 22:12-21
Can you believe we're nearly half way through Exodus already? Exciting times. Today's readings starts with just a fantastic bit of visuals as God shows His glory to Israel and it seems as though they're witnessing a volcanic eruption of some sort. I love hoe God can show Himself through nature and I get that there's a scientific reason for it happening but there's also a beauty in the power of nature. Moses seems fond of mountain climbing too... I wonder if when he goes up to God and down to the people, if it is a purely physical pursuit or if it's actually a spiritual mountain Moses has to climb to communicate with God but then has to bring himself down so that he can relate to the people. I think that's quite a decent message on leadership and being a good Christian to our friends and colleagues. It's not just about knowing God and living alongside His glory but also it's about being able to communicate to people in a real and relevant way. God wants us to be following Him as close as possible but part of that following is to not seperate ourselves from the rest of humanity because God calls us to bring them to Him. It's impossible to bring something to someone if you don't go and get the thing in the first place!
We then get the Ten Commandments and this is really the first guide to living God's given the Israelites. I was talking to Rob Price during Soul Survivor about other planets and how massive the universe is and we both thought maybe God's got other civilisations elsewhere that didn't need as much help as we do. They just understood Him better and got His will better. Or they got their first set of commandments and chose to live by it. Just a thought...
I love how the Message puts the commandments in very simple terms because I think that's how God's word should sometimes be. As simple and accesible and relevant as possible. verse 13-15 don't leave room for any legal sub clauses or arguments over the meanings of the words. They're just straight up commands. And 17 seems like Moses said one thing and then quickly rattled off a list to shut up the inevitable "well what about this..." questions that would follow. God knows our brains and hearts are often looking for loopholes and so He tends to make His will pretty cut and dry.
One thing I will say now is that Old Testament Law isn't always God's law for now. The first five books in the Bible have lots of do this or don't do this but lots of those laws were for God's people at the time to ensure they survived and stayed with God. If you read something in the law books that doesn't make sense to you or seems off then come back to your truths. Is it loving, does it encourage you to promote justice? These are the fundamentals of God's way and if it contradicts them then look at the context.
I like that God again speaks to Moses about how to worship Him. He doesn't want the ceremony and the granduer because the people can't afford to be spending time building elaborate places of worship when they're fighting for their survival. Once again, God dumbs Himself down for us so that we can see Him more clearly. People complain about not finding God but He's willing to come to our level if we're willing to truly seek out His will in this world.
Into the New Testament I collapse and Mark is still going at a million miles an hour. Even Simon's mother-in-law doesn't pause for breath as Jesus quickly heals her and she straight away puts dinner on. We then have Jesus making Himself available to everybody that can find Him. One thing you might find odd is how He goes from having a whole town queuing up to see Him but then decides after the leper to stay in more out of the way places. Well apart from the fact that Jesus knew when He was going to have to attract attention to Himself, there's also the safety factor but what I think is most important is that Jesus wanted the people who REALLY needed help to find Him. He didn't go and live in a cave, He went to the nasty parts of towns that most people avoided. If that isn't a call to witness I don't know what is! But Jesus realised that He needed to be available to people that really needed Him and so would make that extra effort to find Him. Once again, Jesus is lowering His standards to make Himself accessible to all of us, no matter our background. Jesus sums it all up in our last New Testament verse today. After being penned into a house by people not just wanting Him but also wanting to catch Him out and argue against Him, Jesus proves His power on earth by helping someone who truly needed it. And then He goes to the unfashionable and the avoided to eat. So yeah, Jesus would most likely have had chavs as mates guys... And then verse 17 sums it up. Jesus is there for anyone but His work and thus our work should be targetted at those who really need it.
Finally our Psalm continues and I've got this highlighted because John pointed out to me how much David's over the top description of suffering fits in with what actually happened to Jesus. So even this Psalm points again to the ultimate example of God making Himself relevant and accessible to humanity, Jesus' death on the cross. I think we've got a theme to this day's readings!
And that's your lot for today. Yesterday's song is here and is lovely little folk ditty. Questions, criticisms and comments welcome as always
Jon
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