Monday of Trinity IV - Devotion in semi-Exile

Lection for Monday after Trinity IV 
Joshua 24:1-31      Acts 13:1-12

Someone was extolling the virtue of the fact that we all see God differently. I must admit, there is some truth to this…we may see “GOD” differently. But, while we all may “see” God differently, is this a good thing? Is it acceptable to God? If this is true, then there is no reason for evangelism because everything is acceptable to God. If this is true, then we can all teach whatever we want because God doesn’t care.

There are some who would have us believe that those statements above are indeed true, and some who make these claims, also claim to be Christians.

There are two extremely different ways to look at the Holy Scriptures. First, there are those who teach that the Bible is not the final authority, that today’s culture must speak with authority and then we must use our reason to decide the proper relationship between cultural norms and Scripture. To this sort of thinking, Jesus responds with some authority.  Jesus, in the Sermon on the Mount, says: “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished.  Anyone who breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.  For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.  (Matt. 5:17-20)

I would ask you to consider another approach when you consider the question, “What is the Bible?”

Is it a book about real people?  Yes, it most definitely is about real, historical people. Is the goal of the Scriptures to teach us about these people? Is the purpose of God’s Word to tell us how to live moral lives and interact with other people in a God-pleasing way? Indeed, these things are part of the reason that God had His holy prophets and apostles record His Word.

But there is a greater purpose to the recorded word of God.  Jesus say, “You search the Scriptures, because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is these that bear witness to me.”  (John 5:39)

What wonderful people do I learn about in the Bible?  Adam and Eve?  Disobedience to God’s Word is punished by getting kicked out of the garden. More importantly God gives the glorious promise of an offspring who will crush Satan’s head, defeating the power of sin, death, and Satan. That account is all about God’s Christ.

There is the wonderful example of Abraham?  Ooops! I almost forgot, he distrusted God’s promise to make him a great nation, told his wife to lie to heads of nation-states, not once, but twice.  Of course, God’s promises of a Messiah is given to Abraham when He provides the Lamb for sacrifice (not the ram caught in the thicket) to redeem Isaac from death by sacrifice. Again, it is all about Christ. 

Wonderful people in the Bible we should learn from?  Yes, the person and work of Jesus Christ, our Redeemer from sin and death.

I learn on a daily basis that I am a poor miserable sinner.  Each day I see the sins of others, each of us.  I see broken lives and families.  I see people looking to the examples of other people, who are themselves sinners, as ways to learn how to live better lives.

I suggest dear friends that this is a trivial pursuit that can end only in hopelessness.  I encourage you instead to look to Christ, God’s only begotten Son.  He lived the life we are unable to live, in innocence and purity.  In Him was purchased your forgiveness and mine.  When we gather to hear His Word and to receive His life-giving body and blood in the sacrament, that forgiveness is given to us - faith is strengthened - Christ comes to grant us salvation and hope - and through His Spirit, we live a new life of love toward God and our fellow man.

You and I live each and every day in broken relationships, even in relationships with our family and closest friends, sin has spoiled those relationship.  We live in fear of being hurt or hurting others.  There is new life and freedom from fear only in Christ.  He is our life, health, and salvation. 

In the Scripture, we see each man’s need for a Savior - and God Himself providing it. I see in myself a need for a Savior - God provides it in Christ.  I live in this confidence, I am a forgiven and redeemed child of God and Christ’s Spirit lives in me.

I beg you dear friends, do not live your lives looking at people in this world, as if you emulate them you will attain your ultimate self-actualization.  Instead, look to Christ.  In Christ, God chose you to be His own dear child, even in your failures and faults.  In Christ, God builds you up as His child so that you can be a blessing to others.  In Christ, God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life.  Live your lives in Christ, in the hopes and promises that He gives and secures.

Let us pray:    Almighty God, whom to know is everlasting life, grant us perfectly to know Your Son, Jesus Christ, to be the way, the truth, and the life - the centrality of the Scriptures - that following His steps and trusting solely in Him, we may steadfastly walk in the way that leads to eternal life; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen,