8 April 2012

Psalm148, 149, 150; Exod. 12:1-14; John 1:1-18

While the Israelites have a meal of roast lamb the Spirit of God will pass through the land of Egypt and kill the first born of every family and also of the livestock of Egypt and on all the gods of Egypt the Lord executed judgment.  This was not only a physical judgment it was also a spiritual one on the gods, the fight is never with flesh and blood alone.  The Israelites were also instructed to eat in haste, prepared for flight.  They were to have a short window to get out of Egypt and they needed to be prepared to go as quickly as possible.  This feast, however, would be repeated forever as they entered the land and settled there and then there would be time to linger, to remember this night.  This was the first feast to be commanded of them, it would be the centerpiece of their calendar, the day the Lord delivered them out of Egypt and out of bondage.  Freedom!

The fallen nature of mankind is clear in that Jesus came to His own and not only did they not receive Him, they put Him to death.  The ones who had the Word killed the Word, they chose their own interpretation for God’s interpretation.  This opened the door to become children of God to all who believe in Him.  The Passover for all has occurred and in the resurrection of Jesus we know of God’s love for His Son and through that love, to those who believe in Him.  Is “belief” enough or is there the need to act on that belief?  The Israelites had to be obedient to the command of God regarding the Passover meal in order to receive the blessing.  If they didn’t follow God’s instructions to the letter they would be judged.  Does that mean it is works salvation?  No, it means that we are called to obedience, we are called to a life of faith, following the commandments of God.  If I told you that there was going to be a tornado today that would destroy your house at 3 PM and you should be elsewhere would it be your faith or your actions that saved you?  We take action based on our faith.  Faith comes first but action based on faith matters as well.  Today is a day for believing in the resurrection to life eternal, let it also be a day for acting like you’ll live forever.

Hail thee, festival day!
Blessed day to be hallowed forever;
Day when our Lord was raised,
Breaking the kingdom of death.

Do we really want community?

Everyone says they want community and don't want isolation and loneliness but do we really? 

Hardly anyone would say that isolation and loneliness were things they crave.  I might want a bit of isolation but the reality is that we weren't made for complete isolation.  I read this article last week and wasn't surprised how difficult silence is for us.  Back in the 4th century there were people who decided that they couldn't handle God and people all at the same time so they took to the desert to hide from the world to get close to God.  That is certainly a strange response to the incarnation, God choosing to get close to people by becoming one of us and, in John's words, dwelling among us. 

People and community are difficult.  It is harder to live out faith in community in many ways.  People drive us crazy and can make life far more difficult than it needs to be.  No one knows that any better than God.  Before He created people everything was literally perfect and then we messed up His perfection.  Rather than giving up on people though we see God again and again trying to have community with us.  He promised a people they would be a great nation, they would have their own land, the best land they could imagine, if they would agree to certain not onerous terms and conditions which Jesus says amount to loving Him and loving your neighbor.  Is there anyone that thinks those two things wouldn't make for a better society?  They couldn't do it though, no matter how much He did for them or how much He pleaded with them to turn back. 

Then, He came and lived among us doing miraculous works of healing, raising the dead, forgiving sins, etc.  Our response was to crucify Him.  The crazy thing is that He knew in advance it would hurt and it would be terrible but He chose it anyway and in doing so He chose to expand the circle of those who He wanted in His community to include the whole world who would then also be able to make His life miserable but He did it because He loves the world. 

All it takes to get into God's circle, in fact become His children, is to believe in His Son and that His sacrifice was sufficient to reconcile us to Him.  That transaction doesn't make us perfect though, in fact it means that God will experience more pain because we will continue to disobey Him, fail to love Him and fail to love one another, but He chooses to continue to expand His community with those who will disappoint Him. 

When we choose community rather than isolation, we expose ourselves to the same thing.  The other side of the coin is that we expose others to us, the kind of people who disappoint others, love imperfectly, and even betray people who love us.