Year B Proper 24 21 October 2012
Job 38: 1-7, (34-41) Psalm 104: 1-9, 24, 35c Hebrews 5: 1-10 Mark 10: 35-45
Ever been somewhat ‘ticked off’ with God and let him know all about it?
I sure hope I’m not the only one. The experience usually sees me getting so cranky and telling God that I hate everything and that everything is unfair and why won’t he fix it... probably because he hates me... etc... AND THEN... somehow things settle down and rationality returns, and then I feel really silly because I know that God knows and understands things way beyond what we can and so I then feel guilty, apologize to God, and just feel somewhat ridiculous.
Well, if you haven’t ever experienced anything like this, I’m going to be feeling pretty silly for confessing my ridiculous childish traits, but I will take heart in the fact that Job would understand my ranting.
When rationality returns to me, I remember who God is, but Job ranted so much that God needed to audibly communicate with him to remind him. He answers Job in these words:
Job 38:1-5 “Then the LORD spoke to Job out of the storm. He said “Who is this that obscures my plans with words without knowledge? Brace yourself like a man; I will question you, and you shall answer me. “Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation? Tell me, if you understand. Who marked off its dimensions? Surely you know! Who stretched a measuring line across it?”
It seems that Job needed a lesson in humility.
Do you note God’s sarcasm, when He says, “Surely you know!”? Truly, the more you get to know the Bible the more gems you find like this! Here is God being sarcastic and reminding Job about a few facts of God’s nature, in answer to Job who has been moaning about his hated life. And the bit that I love the most is that even though Job moaned, cried and was in bitter despair, he was still who God chose as the one to intercede and offer up sacrifices for others.
There are some people who are my facebook friends who are taking on the 30 day gratitude challenge. They are finding something to be grateful for each day. It’s a wonderful thing, but I suspect if Job were invited to take part he’d decline. When you are hurting, you are hurting and that is that.
Job was a man who used to offer up sacrifices on behalf of others. At the beginning of the book of Job we find that he offered up sacrifices for himself and then also for his children just in case they happened to sin. He was a man approved by God, so much so that he was appointed to suffer. His unrelenting relationship with God was a testimony to all.... even though he told God what he thought about the situation.
We discover that this relationship that Job had with God is very similar to that of the high priest. In our Hebrews’ reading we discover that the High priest would offer sacrifices for himself and also for others. The high priest was an intercessory for others and a representative for God.
Hebrews 5:1-4 “Every high priest is selected from among the people and is appointed to represent the people in matters related to God, to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins. He is able to deal gently with those who are ignorant and are going astray, since he himself is subject to weakness. This is why he has to offer sacrifices for his own sins, as well as for the sins of the people. And no one takes this honour on himself, but he receives it when called by God, just as Aaron was.”
This describes what we know about Job and the way that he interacted with others prior to his being tested. No one takes this honour on himself, but he receives it when called by God. It doesn’t say that Job was a priest, but certainly he was a leader in his community and by his actions and by the command of God to intercede for others, we can assume that he fulfilled this role in the same way that many others did, such as Abraham, even before the Levitical Priesthood was formed.
But this reading from Hebrews goes on to talk of a very special kind of priesthood; in the order of Melchizedek
Hebrews 5:8-10 “Son though he was, he learned obedience from what he suffered and, once made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him and was designated by God to be high priest in the order of Melchizedek.”
This passage tells us about Jesus being our high priest who doesn’t need to offer sacrifices for himself and then for us, but he has completed the “once and for all” sacrifice.
Throughout the Old Testament there are prophetic writings about the Messiah who would be a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek, but this character, Melchizedek appears first in the book of Genesis chapter 14. Hebrews 7:1-3 tells us more about Melchizedek, “This Melchizedek was king of Salem and priest of God Most High. He met Abraham returning from the defeat of the kings and blessed him, and Abraham gave him a tenth of everything. First, the name Melchizedek means “king of righteousness”; then also, “king of Salem” means “king of peace.” Without father or mother, without genealogy, without beginning of days or end of life, resembling the Son of God, he remains a priest forever.”
Abraham had just returned from rescuing the people of Sodom, including his nephew Lot who was living there. Suddenly this character, described as priest of God most high appears with bread and wine. Melchizedek then blesses Abraham and Abraham gives him a tenth of everything.
Hebrews tells us that Jesus did not take on himself the glory of becoming high priest, but it was appointed him by God the father, and it was a fact that came about through his suffering.
In the Gospel reading we see that there are two men, James and John, who have no idea of this concept of servant leadership.
Mark 10:37,38 “They replied, “Let one of us sit at your right and the other at your left in your glory.”
“You don’t know what you are asking,” Jesus said. “Can you drink the cup I drink or be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with?”
How awesome! Although the other disciples were pretty unhappy with James and John, this gives Jesus the perfect opportunity for lesson 101 in being an apostle.
Mark 10:41- 45“When the ten heard about this, they became indignant with James and John. Jesus called them together and said, “You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
These crazy men are those hand picked by Jesus. They didn’t understand that it is God who chooses us for special positions in his kingdom and those special positions are positions of serving others. Jesus was the greatest of all and he gave the greatest sacrifice of all. Job, a man of righteousness, was chosen to prove his faithfulness as a testimony to all including both the physical and the spiritual realm, proved to be faithful through great suffering.
There are three sides to our message for this week. Firstly, it is God who choses us.
Secondly, that being chosen by God to have a special position in the kingdom of God means serving others and this will often include trials, suffering and persecution. (But take heart because these are not random, but have a divine purpose even if we can’t see it.)
Thirdly, and what I think is most important, God does not reject us when we cry out in despair, or when we get it wrong and try to claim the position. God understands that our vision is sometimes limited and he chooses us for reasons that only he can know, but when he does none of our stuff ups will interfere with his plan.
Thursday, October 18, 2012
Thursday, October 4, 2012
Reflection for Readings 7th Oct 2012 Proper 22
Year B Proper 22 7 October 2012
Job 1:1; 2:1-10 Psalm 26 Hebrews 1: 1-4; 2: 5-12 Mark 10: 2-16
One of my favourite television shows is The Big Bang Theory. One of the characters is a Jew and on one of the episodes when someone cried out, “why is this happening to me?” He replies, “My people have been asking that question for thousands of years...”
Truly if Christianity were a man made religion we’d have an answer to the big “Why” question, but instead although there are some things we know, we are left to struggle to make sense of so many others. The word “Israel”, does not mean “chosen people”, or some other comfortable and reassuring term, although it does designate the relationship that God’s people have with Him.... The meaning of “Israel” is, “He struggles with God”.
This week we have an amazing story about a man named Job. Ever heard the old saying “must have the patience of Job”? Well that would be due to the story of this amazing character.
In the book of Job we find a glimpse into that age old question. It doesn’t give a definitive answer to “Why”, but it does give an answer for this particular case, and teaches us a whole lot along the way.
Job 2:3 “Then the LORD said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil. And he still maintains his integrity, though you incited me against him to ruin him without any reason.”
If we look at this one verse we learn a number of things. We learn that Job is blameless and upright and is a man of God. We also learn that the calamity that came upon Job was initiated by Satan and Job’s response to this suffering was a witness against Satan.
We know that even though this is an ancient book, well known by Jews, still it was common in the time of Jesus to presume that the reason for adversity was either the sin of the person involved or his parents. Due to the discourse of Jesus with his disciples we know that suffering can also be for the purpose of revealing the gory of God.... and in some ways this was also one of those cases.
Many of us have also been through our own times of adversity, and many of us are still asking that age old question.... WHY??? We don’t know and may not ever get an answer, but certainly we learn many things from Job. Firstly, that it isn’t our fault. Sometimes we certainly may find ourselves experiencing the consequences of our actions, but more often than not things that we even tend to blame ourselves for, are NOT our fault.
Job was blameless. I don’t know about you, but I don’t ever feel that I could be described as glowingly as God describes Job, and certainly none of us is perfect. We know from scripture that no human, other than Jesus is blameless, so how can God describe him that way? Do you think that God would describe you that way?
Mark 10:13-16 “ People were bringing little children to Jesus for him to place his hands on them, but the disciples rebuked them. When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” And he took the children in his arms, placed his hands on them and blessed them.”
In our Gospel we discover that the kingdom of God belongs to people who are like children. It is one of those, “ahhhh” readings, but I think we could be missing the point. Often people will say that children are blameless. Let me tell you about a young girl I know who, as a 3 year old, painted her room with poo. Afterwards she said to her doll, “Naughty girl, dolly, you mustn’t do yuckies in your togs”. She knew she was doing wrong.
What a child and those who are “such as these” understands is that someone else has more control. Yes they do know when they are doing wrong sometimes, but the bigger picture for them is that it is all going to be okay because someone else will fix it.... Someone else takes that “blame,” and that is the parent.
Job had a relationship with God. From what we read about Job he actually was pretty near perfect, but I’d like to suggest that the reason he was blameless was his continued reliance on God to “fix it”. It is a real and continuous relationship with God which renders us, “blameless”, which also means that if God is talking to Satan about you, he will also say, “Look at my servant. He/she is blameless and upright”.
Certainly not perfect, but certainly blameless and we can be assured of that because we know that Jesus took that blame.
Hebrews 1:3 “The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.”
Our reading from Hebrews tells us that Jesus provided purification for sins, but it also tells us about who Jesus is, and that he is the exact representation of God’s being. The doctrine of the trinity is never mentioned as such in the Bible, but it is certainly made very clear in many readings such as this one.
We know that Jesus was THE perfect human but yet we read something a little puzzling in this reading:
Hebrews 2:10, 11 “In bringing many sons and daughters to glory, it was fitting that God, for whom and through whom everything exists, should make the pioneer of their salvation perfect through what he suffered. Both the one who makes people holy and those who are made holy are of the same family. So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers and sisters.”
Jesus was perfect and yet he was made perfect through what he suffered. One of those scripture verses that strikes you as slightly odd at first glance. Jesus was perfect in his being, but there was a plan and purpose for his existence and part of that perfect plan involved suffering. Without the suffering Jesus would still be perfect but his plan and purpose would not be.
Jesus was an innocent man who suffered. He knows how it feels to suffer and be treated like a sinner when you are not. Can you imagine how horrible it feels to be falsely accused, falsely judged and sentenced because of something you didn’t do? This was what Jesus willingly experienced for our sake. He willingly experienced it, but if given the choice the humanity of Christ would have preferred that that “cross” be taken from him.
What Jesus took on was the consequence for someone else’s actions..... ours! It was our sin that he took with him to the cross.
Our Gospel reading talks about divorce and marriage.
Mark 10: 10-12 “When they were in the house again, the disciples asked Jesus about this. He answered, “Anyone who divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery against her. And if she divorces her husband and marries another man, she commits adultery.””
The disciples asked Jesus about this even after he had already explained it to the Pharisees... why? Did they think he’d give them a different answer? How do people, Divorced, like me, live with Jesus’ answer?
Firstly, let’s not dance around the scripture and pretty it up because Jesus sure didn’t. Moses permitted a certificate of Divorce, but that doesn’t stop sin from being sin.
We, in the 21st century get all offended by the term “sinner”, as if it belongs to the dirty old paedophile. Sinner is a person who falls short of perfection. Do you fall short of perfection? Don’t get all defensive about it, because none of us is perfect and we are all sinners.... it is almost synonymous with being human – except for Jesus.
There is another part of the Gospel reading.... it talks about God making humans male and female and for this reason a man will leave his mother and father and be united to his wife... This brings me to another subject that I and other Christians get into trouble over..... man and wife - not man and husband or woman and wife. Once again this would be called sin and I don’t think Jesus would call it any differently.... BUT.... we are all sinners.
We need desperately to be able to recognise our sin. We can not be offended by the reality of our condition. Children are a lot more able to deal with being told that they’ve done something wrong then adults, because it is a reality that they are aware of. We seem to think that once we are grown we stop doing anything wrong.... and when we do something wrong we justify it. There is no amount of justification, no matter how understandable, can make a sin not a sin. If it falls short of God’s perfection, it is sin.
But like a child, we need to have faith that there is someone bigger who can fix it for us. This doesn’t mean that we don’t worry about our sin, or that we shouldn’t strive to do better, but this means we can rest in the reassurance that we have a big and powerful parent that will, does, and has bailed us out of trouble.
In the spiritual, our sins have been completely paid for already. There is no debt left to pay, but still we do experience suffering. Suffering is a reality due to many reasons, sometimes known, but most often not known.
We do know that the life of Christ had a purpose and suffering was part of it. We also know that the life of Job had a purpose and suffering was part of it also. In all that Job experienced and although he was sorely grieved, he refused to curse God. This was a witness to Satan.... something important in the heavens was accomplished by this act.
Job 2: 9-10 “His wife said to him, “Are you still maintaining your integrity? Curse God and die!” He replied, “You are talking like a foolish woman. Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?” In all this, Job did not sin in what he said.”
I remember the words of a song by the band, The Imperials, from many years ago. I feel that this song tells us something really important and it is the same message as our readings. In particular these words: “For the chains that seem to bind you, Serve only to remind you that they drop powerless behind you, when you praise him”
We don’t know “why” bad things happen so many times, and it is natural feel so hurt, but we do know that there is a great heavenly battle won when we continue to serve God.
I think all the words of that song need to be read so I’ll paste them in for you to reflect on:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OfTQg9whI-s
Praise the Lord, by The Imperials
When you're up against a struggle
That shatters all your dreams
And your hope has been cruelly crushed
By Satan's manifesting scheme
And you feel the urge within you
To submit to earthly fears
Don't let the faith you're standing in, seem to disappear
(Chorus)
Praise the Lord
He can work with those who praise Him ,
Praise the Lord
For our God inhabits praise,
Praise the Lord
For the chains that seem to bind you
Serve only to remind you that they drop powerless behind you
When you praise him
Now satan is a liar
And he wants to make us think
That we are paupers
When he knows himself
We're children of the King
So lift up the might shield of faith
For the battle has been won
We know that Jesus Christ has risen
So the work's already done
(Chorus)
Praise the Lord
He can work with those who praise Him ,
Praise the Lord
For our God inhabits praise,
Praise the Lord
For the chains that seem to bind you
Serve only to remind you that they drop powerless behind you
When you praise him
Job 1:1; 2:1-10 Psalm 26 Hebrews 1: 1-4; 2: 5-12 Mark 10: 2-16
One of my favourite television shows is The Big Bang Theory. One of the characters is a Jew and on one of the episodes when someone cried out, “why is this happening to me?” He replies, “My people have been asking that question for thousands of years...”
Truly if Christianity were a man made religion we’d have an answer to the big “Why” question, but instead although there are some things we know, we are left to struggle to make sense of so many others. The word “Israel”, does not mean “chosen people”, or some other comfortable and reassuring term, although it does designate the relationship that God’s people have with Him.... The meaning of “Israel” is, “He struggles with God”.
This week we have an amazing story about a man named Job. Ever heard the old saying “must have the patience of Job”? Well that would be due to the story of this amazing character.
In the book of Job we find a glimpse into that age old question. It doesn’t give a definitive answer to “Why”, but it does give an answer for this particular case, and teaches us a whole lot along the way.
Job 2:3 “Then the LORD said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil. And he still maintains his integrity, though you incited me against him to ruin him without any reason.”
If we look at this one verse we learn a number of things. We learn that Job is blameless and upright and is a man of God. We also learn that the calamity that came upon Job was initiated by Satan and Job’s response to this suffering was a witness against Satan.
We know that even though this is an ancient book, well known by Jews, still it was common in the time of Jesus to presume that the reason for adversity was either the sin of the person involved or his parents. Due to the discourse of Jesus with his disciples we know that suffering can also be for the purpose of revealing the gory of God.... and in some ways this was also one of those cases.
Many of us have also been through our own times of adversity, and many of us are still asking that age old question.... WHY??? We don’t know and may not ever get an answer, but certainly we learn many things from Job. Firstly, that it isn’t our fault. Sometimes we certainly may find ourselves experiencing the consequences of our actions, but more often than not things that we even tend to blame ourselves for, are NOT our fault.
Job was blameless. I don’t know about you, but I don’t ever feel that I could be described as glowingly as God describes Job, and certainly none of us is perfect. We know from scripture that no human, other than Jesus is blameless, so how can God describe him that way? Do you think that God would describe you that way?
Mark 10:13-16 “ People were bringing little children to Jesus for him to place his hands on them, but the disciples rebuked them. When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” And he took the children in his arms, placed his hands on them and blessed them.”
In our Gospel we discover that the kingdom of God belongs to people who are like children. It is one of those, “ahhhh” readings, but I think we could be missing the point. Often people will say that children are blameless. Let me tell you about a young girl I know who, as a 3 year old, painted her room with poo. Afterwards she said to her doll, “Naughty girl, dolly, you mustn’t do yuckies in your togs”. She knew she was doing wrong.
What a child and those who are “such as these” understands is that someone else has more control. Yes they do know when they are doing wrong sometimes, but the bigger picture for them is that it is all going to be okay because someone else will fix it.... Someone else takes that “blame,” and that is the parent.
Job had a relationship with God. From what we read about Job he actually was pretty near perfect, but I’d like to suggest that the reason he was blameless was his continued reliance on God to “fix it”. It is a real and continuous relationship with God which renders us, “blameless”, which also means that if God is talking to Satan about you, he will also say, “Look at my servant. He/she is blameless and upright”.
Certainly not perfect, but certainly blameless and we can be assured of that because we know that Jesus took that blame.
Hebrews 1:3 “The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.”
Our reading from Hebrews tells us that Jesus provided purification for sins, but it also tells us about who Jesus is, and that he is the exact representation of God’s being. The doctrine of the trinity is never mentioned as such in the Bible, but it is certainly made very clear in many readings such as this one.
We know that Jesus was THE perfect human but yet we read something a little puzzling in this reading:
Hebrews 2:10, 11 “In bringing many sons and daughters to glory, it was fitting that God, for whom and through whom everything exists, should make the pioneer of their salvation perfect through what he suffered. Both the one who makes people holy and those who are made holy are of the same family. So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers and sisters.”
Jesus was perfect and yet he was made perfect through what he suffered. One of those scripture verses that strikes you as slightly odd at first glance. Jesus was perfect in his being, but there was a plan and purpose for his existence and part of that perfect plan involved suffering. Without the suffering Jesus would still be perfect but his plan and purpose would not be.
Jesus was an innocent man who suffered. He knows how it feels to suffer and be treated like a sinner when you are not. Can you imagine how horrible it feels to be falsely accused, falsely judged and sentenced because of something you didn’t do? This was what Jesus willingly experienced for our sake. He willingly experienced it, but if given the choice the humanity of Christ would have preferred that that “cross” be taken from him.
What Jesus took on was the consequence for someone else’s actions..... ours! It was our sin that he took with him to the cross.
Our Gospel reading talks about divorce and marriage.
Mark 10: 10-12 “When they were in the house again, the disciples asked Jesus about this. He answered, “Anyone who divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery against her. And if she divorces her husband and marries another man, she commits adultery.””
The disciples asked Jesus about this even after he had already explained it to the Pharisees... why? Did they think he’d give them a different answer? How do people, Divorced, like me, live with Jesus’ answer?
Firstly, let’s not dance around the scripture and pretty it up because Jesus sure didn’t. Moses permitted a certificate of Divorce, but that doesn’t stop sin from being sin.
We, in the 21st century get all offended by the term “sinner”, as if it belongs to the dirty old paedophile. Sinner is a person who falls short of perfection. Do you fall short of perfection? Don’t get all defensive about it, because none of us is perfect and we are all sinners.... it is almost synonymous with being human – except for Jesus.
There is another part of the Gospel reading.... it talks about God making humans male and female and for this reason a man will leave his mother and father and be united to his wife... This brings me to another subject that I and other Christians get into trouble over..... man and wife - not man and husband or woman and wife. Once again this would be called sin and I don’t think Jesus would call it any differently.... BUT.... we are all sinners.
We need desperately to be able to recognise our sin. We can not be offended by the reality of our condition. Children are a lot more able to deal with being told that they’ve done something wrong then adults, because it is a reality that they are aware of. We seem to think that once we are grown we stop doing anything wrong.... and when we do something wrong we justify it. There is no amount of justification, no matter how understandable, can make a sin not a sin. If it falls short of God’s perfection, it is sin.
But like a child, we need to have faith that there is someone bigger who can fix it for us. This doesn’t mean that we don’t worry about our sin, or that we shouldn’t strive to do better, but this means we can rest in the reassurance that we have a big and powerful parent that will, does, and has bailed us out of trouble.
In the spiritual, our sins have been completely paid for already. There is no debt left to pay, but still we do experience suffering. Suffering is a reality due to many reasons, sometimes known, but most often not known.
We do know that the life of Christ had a purpose and suffering was part of it. We also know that the life of Job had a purpose and suffering was part of it also. In all that Job experienced and although he was sorely grieved, he refused to curse God. This was a witness to Satan.... something important in the heavens was accomplished by this act.
Job 2: 9-10 “His wife said to him, “Are you still maintaining your integrity? Curse God and die!” He replied, “You are talking like a foolish woman. Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?” In all this, Job did not sin in what he said.”
I remember the words of a song by the band, The Imperials, from many years ago. I feel that this song tells us something really important and it is the same message as our readings. In particular these words: “For the chains that seem to bind you, Serve only to remind you that they drop powerless behind you, when you praise him”
We don’t know “why” bad things happen so many times, and it is natural feel so hurt, but we do know that there is a great heavenly battle won when we continue to serve God.
I think all the words of that song need to be read so I’ll paste them in for you to reflect on:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OfTQg9whI-s
Praise the Lord, by The Imperials
When you're up against a struggle
That shatters all your dreams
And your hope has been cruelly crushed
By Satan's manifesting scheme
And you feel the urge within you
To submit to earthly fears
Don't let the faith you're standing in, seem to disappear
(Chorus)
Praise the Lord
He can work with those who praise Him ,
Praise the Lord
For our God inhabits praise,
Praise the Lord
For the chains that seem to bind you
Serve only to remind you that they drop powerless behind you
When you praise him
Now satan is a liar
And he wants to make us think
That we are paupers
When he knows himself
We're children of the King
So lift up the might shield of faith
For the battle has been won
We know that Jesus Christ has risen
So the work's already done
(Chorus)
Praise the Lord
He can work with those who praise Him ,
Praise the Lord
For our God inhabits praise,
Praise the Lord
For the chains that seem to bind you
Serve only to remind you that they drop powerless behind you
When you praise him
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