Regifting

The Following is a piece I wrote for our Revision service which focused on the theme of "Regifting."

Dictionary.com defines regift as the following – “to give an unwanted gift to someone else; to give as a gift something one previously received as a gift.”

If you think about it, every year in December the church goes about the business of regifting Jesus Christ.  We “reopen” the scriptures and are reminded of this account of the Virgin Mary and her fiancé, Joseph, traveling to Bethlehem for the census.  They are welcomed to town with the knowledge that there is no room in the inn and are ushered to a stable, a cliff cave, where they spend the night bringing the God child, this Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Prince of Peace into the world.  Shepherds come and behold the child and a year or so later Magi come bearing gifts.  Each year the church recounts this narrative, ”unwraps” this story, if you will, in hopes that people everywhere will be touched by the gift of God coming to Earth in the form of a child, a “Savior, which is Christ, the Lord.” 
  

But culture seems to regift this narrative the way the first part of the above definition expresses it, as an “unwanted gift” we’ve received that we need to give to someone else, but in a much more attractive, prettier package.  Culture seems to think this story of a virgin and a manger is very sweet and quaint yet views it just as that a story that doesn’t deeply change a person to be different all the time, just to be generous for a season and continue back into the same old routine after its done.  Also, culture feels the need to commercialize and propagandize this time of year that is based on this story of humble beginnings so causing many to feel Christmas has to look and feel a certain way for it to really be Christmas.  Culture says let’s regift this time of year so everyone is engrained to think from childhood more about what will be received than what God has given or what people will give.  Culture pushes us to make it about the perfect food and the perfect décor which seems to overshadow this narrative about God and Savior and humble beginnings in a manger.  Culture says “let’s put a big red bow and lots of evergreen on it to spruce up the whole thing.”  Plus the other version doesn’t profit Culture as much as Santa, Norman Rockwell, TV Christmas specials and the perfect Hallmark Ornament on the Christmas tree does.  Culture says “now doesn’t that humble narrative about baby Jesus look better after it’s been regifted to you in this nice pretty package?”

But God says “Nope, it looks perfect just the way I packaged it."

   

He says "I’m OK with your family traditions, your exchanging of presents, your parties and programs, but what matters most to Me is that you take this gift of my Son, Jesus, and accept Him.  Accept and trust my promise to you and then regift Him in the new life I have given you, in the Spirit I have given you, in the gifts and abilities I have given you, in the time and resources I have given you, so that more people would receive this gift and My Kingdom would grow on Earth as it is in Heaven.”  

You see, from God’s point of view, regifting is more like the second part of the definition “to give as a gift something one previously received as a gift.” In our minds “regifting” may have a somewhat negative connotation but for God, regifting is what Christmas is all about.  This is what Jesus coming to the Earth is all about.

This Christmas try not to worry about what culture tells you and don’t be afraid to say a resounding “yes” to regifting in the way God intended.

For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given;And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Isaiah 9:6 (NKJV)

John the "First" Baptist (Luke 1:5-25, 57-80, 3:1-20)

All of my life, with the exception of a brief time in college when I was a member of East Side Baptist Church in Evansville, I have belonged to a Baptist Church that has been labeled as "First."  This term can create a lot of misunderstanding among people.  I've even heard people think that "First Baptist Churches" are their own denomination differing from other Baptist denominations when the truth is the "First" title is more of a landmark and or historical title to denote the first established church in a given community.  As you may know,  churches using  the name "First Baptist" represent several different Baptist Denominations and Sects across our land, from American to Southern Baptist even some which are independent of any denomination.  
But when we talk about "Firsts" in regards to Baptists we need to point to John who so promoted this  spiritual cleansing ritual that "Baptist" became part of his moniker.  He, in my mind at least, is truly the "First Baptist."  This is not to say that Baptists link their heritage to him as John Smyth was the reformer who is credited for beginning the Baptist movement in 17th century Europe and then Roger Williams brought the Baptist movement to America, more specifically Rhode Island.  We will talk more about John and Baptizing in a moment but first let's look at the remarkable story of his birth.        

John's Parents, Zechariah and Elizabeth, came from the line of Aaron.  Thus, Zechariah was a priest.  Now there were so many priests at that time that they had to cast lots to determine who would serve the priestly duties.  Casting lots was a lottery of sorts, but instead of using ping pong balls they used lots which was more like flipping a coin or rolling dice.  Well, Zechariah had won the priestly lottery and was chosen to burn incense at the local temple.  This was a big deal to him and his family and was considered a great honor.  He and Elizabeth, according to Luke were obeyers of the law, a holy couple, but had likely been troubled and perplexed all their married lives because they remained barren.  For the Jewish family, they would have been viewed as cursed and likely questions would have been raised of them as to what sin was standing in the way of them being blessed with a child and more specifically a son.  So through no fault of their own, they likely carried this heavy burden with them, but had remained faithful in spite of it.  They had reached the point of being "well along in years" as the NIV states in Luke 1:7.

This is the context under which God reveals himself to Zechariah in the temple.  As Zechariah is about the business of burning the incense, likely a high point of his life, the Angel Gabriel appears and speaks to him.  He tells him that his wife would at last, give him a son, but not just any son.  Gabriel gave Zechariah the specific name of his son.  He was to be called John.  He would be full of the Holy Spirit from birth and would be given a spirit and power like that of Elijah.  Not only this, but he would be given the specific purpose of preparing the people for the long awaited Messiah.

Could you imagine Zechariah in that moment?  All of your life you were told, your a priest but their was no guarantee you would ever get the honor of administering the rituals of the temple.  You've been waiting your entire married life to be blessed with a son and had probably given up on the hope it would ever happen, yet you did your best to be faithful.  Then in one day, all that you had waited and hoped for comes to being.  Here you are, bestowed the honor of administering your priestly duty, when news of a son comes to you through an angel.  I can relate to Zechariah having questions and doubts, can't you?  If I was bestowed two of my greatest hopes and dreams in one day, I'd Know I'd be more than a little shell shocked.  Nevertheless, Gabriel silenced his doubts by silencing him as a sign that the Angel's message was real.  Nine months later John arrives and a discussion about his name is brought up at the boy's circumcision ceremony and when Zechariah confirms Elizabeth's wishes to call him John amidst questions from those present, Zechariah's voice is restored.

One of the amazing things about John the Baptist is that he began fulfilling his purpose of preparing the way for Jesus before he was born.  As we see in the story of Mary visiting Elizabeth in Luke 1, the knowledge of Elizabeth carrying John in her womb, was of great encouragement and comfort to Mary.  Knowing that God was working through her cousin as well as her would' ve surely prepared Mary and later Joseph for what they would undergo and experience as they  brought Jesus into the world and began to raise him. 

Just as John preceeded Jesus at birth, he precedes him in ministry as well.  If the Gospel is like a concert,  John is a great opening act for Jesus.  His unique and authentic lifestyle coupled with his deep passion clearly got the spiritual juices of Israel going. 

John comes into his ministry when Israel was in bad shape.  Luke's introduction to the account of John the Baptist in chapter 3 is more than just a list of leaders and rulers intended to give an awareness of when his ministry began historically.  It's a list of tyrants and oppressors of the Jewish people.  Tiberius, Pontius Pilate, Herod (Antipas), Phillip, Annas, and Caiaphas all had their reputations and a person reading Luke's account would know this.  It would likely have caused a knowledgable Jew to cringe as each name was read, one corrupter of power after another. 

The Jewish people had been without a prophet for 400 years and they were longing for a word from God. John brought it to them.  A prevailing attitude was that the Jewish people were the chosen people, descendants of Abraham, the people of Moses and King David.  Didn't they deserve deliverance from this tyranny?  But John makes it clear that God doesn't have grandchildren, only children.  No one has an automatic birthright to the kingdom of God.  John makes this clear in the satement "out of these stones, God can raise up children for Abraham" in Luke 3:8. Thus John's call to repentance and baptism.  It's important to note here that Baptism was required of those outside of the Jewish community to become a part of it.  So in his call to Jews to repent and be Baptized, John was emphasizing the need for all Jews to view this time as a new beginning, a new day, spiritually speaking. It would not be their heritage that would deliver them but their trust in God.

So much of what we see here in John's early ministry is a microcosm of Jesus' ministry.  John gets to people's hearts through his passionate words while at the same time pointing out to his followers that a heart change is tested by the actions we take.  Have we really repented if our heart change fails to bear fruit?  John begins the tree and fruit analogy which Jesus would further expand on later.  The crowd, the tax collectors, the soldiers all asked him what they should do now that thy have repented and been Baptized?  John's answer was simple, live justly, don't cheat your fellow man.  Does this not sound familiar to Jesus' teachings such as treat others in a manner you would want to be treated and love your neighbor as yourself? 

One of my favorite scriptures comes from Micah 6:8.  It's one of those scriptures that puts living the Christian life in big picture terms.  "He showed you, O man, what is good.  And what does the Lord require of you?  To ast justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God."  John and Jesus' message were no different.  God calls us to be just, to be fair with others in our actions.  Notice this is not a demand for justice but a call to live justly and we are to balance this with loving mercy, not seeking vengeance.  John is telling the people "to repent.  The direction you've been taking is wrong."  John knows their plight.  He knows the Romans are mistreating them and Herod is a corrupt and evil ruler.  He knows the Pharisees and the like have taken the law to far and are using their piety for self benefit.  But he makes it clear to the people not to do the same.  Change the world from the bottom up is the call of John and Jesus.  Don't expect others to model fairness and justice to you if you don't model it to them.

Two applications come to mind as we look at the life of John as he prepares the way for Jesus.  Do we model just living for our children in the midst of a world full of injustices?  Knowing the families of our church, I would say we do a pretty good job of that, but it is always good to check our motives and our justifications for our actions.  Do we point out injustices happening to others and defend those who can't defend themselves.  Just this morning I heard on the news about one boy beating on another mercilessly.  This incident took place right here in Columbus while a handful of others just watched it happen and one even recorded it.  No one tried to stop it.  Is this a model of acting justly, loving mercy, even seeking mercy?  I want to teach my kids to defend the defenseless, even if it means it will cost them.

The other question I want to pose is how do we prepare the way for Jesus' arrival for our children at this time of year?  We can all do a little John the Baptist work in the way we approach Christmas.  What priorities do we set at Christmas time?  Do our activities and traditions point to Christ coming into the world?  Do our attitudes reflect an anticipation of celebrating Christ's birth or do we get stressed and aggrevated at the worldly pressure of the holiday season? 

In recent years, no song has spoken to me more about Christmas than Where's the Line to See Jesus?  We stand in line for so many things this time of year, but would we stand in line to see Jesus if there was a long line to see him at the mall?  I challenge us all to be like John the Baptist this year and prepare the way for our families and our friends to see Jesus this year.  Let's take time to ponder the amazing event of his birth and those details surrounding it.  Will you be willing for the sake of the ones you love to make every path straight, fill every valley and make the mountains and hills low so that all can see God's salvation?    

Too Many Prophecies Not to be True!

Our Text this week, which is Jeremiah 33:14-16, transitions us from the Old Testament to the New Testament as we look at just one of many Prophecies in the O.T. relating to the details surrounding the Birth of Jesus Christ.  I sit here a bit frustrated with Group Publishing because I've been going by the scope and sequence in the directors guide in order to know which scriptures to study in preparation for this blog and my Sunday School lesson.  Unfortunately I've been studying the wrong lesson as they stuck a new one in not listed in the manual.  Thus, this will be a bit off the cuff but fortunately, it's a topic I'm familiar with and have much passion about.

I use to really get into apologetics.  Although, this is also the name of a Christian band only spelled differently (ApologetiX) this is not what I'm talking about.  Nor is it the study of how to best apologize to someone.  If you're familiar with the term, I am "apologetic" for my silliness involving my description of apologetics, but I thought I should clarify in case there are those unfamiliar with the term (plus I never pass on an opportunity to make a goofy joke).  Anyway, apologetics is simply theological efforts to show proof of one's faith.

One such apologetic argument involves the probability of one person fulfilling all the prophecies given in the Old Testament concerning the Messiah.  As you may know, there are many prophecies concerning the Messiah in the Old Testament.  People have used statistical analysis of probabilities to calculate various "odds," if you will, of certain events occurring.  According to the website Good News Dispatch here are the odds of certain events occurung:

• Being struck by lightning in a year - 1 in 700,000
• Being killed by lightning in a year - 1 in 2,000,000
• Becoming president - 1 in 10,000,000
• A meteorite landing on your house - 1 in 180,000,000,000,000   

Also according to Good News Dispatch, Dr. Peter Stoner applied the laws of probability to 8 of the over 300 prophecies of the Messiah found in the Old Testament and determined that the probability of those 8 prophecies being fulfilled in the life of one man were:

1 in 10,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000.  

Please don't ask me how to say this number because I have no idea other than to say it is 10 to the 28th power.  All I know is anyone wanting to argue that the Old Testament Prophets just got lucky are simply kidding themselves.  The words of the prophets were God inspired and came to fruition in the life of Jesus Christ.  Let's just say the odds are against it being otherwise.

I challenge you this Christmas season to take time to review the many O.T. prophecies as they relate to the details of the Christmas scriptures.  Share and discuss these scriptures and this evidence with your family in order to give them a deeper understanding of the significance and meaning of Christ's Birth. Below is a list of several of them for your review:

Numbers 24:17 (The Star)
Psalm 72:10, 15 (kings bringing gifts)
Isaiah 7:14 (Virgin Birth)
Isaiah 9:6 (For unto us..)
Isaiah 11:1(Stem of Jesse)
Isaiah 60:3,6 (Coming of kings with gifts)
Jeremiah 31:15 (Innocent children killed - See Matthew 2:16-18)

Jeremiah 33:14-16 (Branch of David)  
Hosea 11:1 (Jesus called out of Egypt - See Matthew 2:15)
Micah 5:2 (Bethlehem)
Malachi 3:1-2 (messenger of the covenant)

My prayer is that as this Christmas season begins that you and your family would embrace the powerful depth of the Christmas message that was not only delivered 2000+ years ago in Bethlehem but was prophesied 100s of years before it occurred and is ours for the receiving yet today.
             

When the Walls Come Tumblin' Down (Joshua 5:13-6:27)

I would guess analogies using walls have been used since the human race began building them.  I can't help but think this scripture has something to do with that.  Whether of not this is the case their is much to consider literally and figuratively as we take a look at Joshua and the Israelites at the "battle" of Jericho.  So let's look at the details of the account of this divine victory and then we will consider the walls built that God has called us to tear down and what we can learn from Joshua and the Israelites about how we go about it.

At the end of Joshua 5, we see Joshua "near Jericho."  How near he was, we don't know, but he was likely contemplating the battle to come.  Perhaps it was evening and thus he felt safe to anonymously walk near the wall of the city, perhaps thinking and praying about how they would overpower this fortress before him.  Thus it would've been natural for him to ask this warrior that meets him with his sword drawn whose side he was on.  This also explains the warrior's response of "neither."  The warrior is saying I'm not a member of either Earthly army but commander of the Lord's army.  This is not to say God was neutral in the upcoming battle.  This was more likely God's way of getting Joshua's attention to say "Snap out of it man, you're about to have a divine encounter."

Could you imagine being in Joshua's shoes and receiving these peculiar instructions.  Now, I'm no military expert but I think most would find the idea of marching around the wall of the city, playing horns and on the last day of this exercise, yelling at tue top of your lungs as a strange military strategy.  Yet, there is no mention of questioning by the people of Joshua or the Lord.  This is not the first time we have seen God give strange commands nor would it be the last.  God called Noah to build an ark.  God used Joseph's dreams to save Egypt and the tribe of Israel from famine.  As told in Exodus 17, Joshua himself had already experienced military victory because God had granted the Israelite army success only when Moses kept his staff held high and the army would falter when his arms would lower from fatigue.  Thankfully Aaron and Hur were there to hold Moses' arms up so the Israelites could have victory.  And soon after this we see God's military strategies where less is more in the story of Gideon as well as putting the Israelite army's fate in the hands of a boy with a sling against a gigantic man with a shield and spear.  All this to say, time and time again, God desires for his people to have a clear sense that victory is only possible through His power.  Trust and faith remains at the heart of God's strategy.  This was a message not only to the Israelites but to those who who inhabited the promised land.  God wants the Inhabitants of Canaan to know the hand of God is with the Israelites.  We could even compare it to the message of John the Baptist as he prepared the way of the Lord.  John declared Jesus' arrival with the words of Isaiah saying "Every valley shall be raised up and every mountain and hill made low, the rough ground shall become level, the rugged places a plain.  And the glory of the Lord will be revealed, and all mankind will see it.  For the mouth of the Lord has spoken it."  (Isaiah 40: 3-5)  Through Joshua and the Israelite army, God is making the inhabitants of the land aware of his presence. Though it might not be a mountain or a hill in this case, but every city and fortress will be made low.

It may seem a violent expression of God's presence, but none the less, an expression.  Why so much death and destruction?  Is this the same God we read of in the New testament?  Is Yahweh not  a God of peace, a God of mercy?  I do not pretend to have an answer as to why all this destruction needs to take place, but I do know this.  Our God is somehow a God of justice while still being a God of grace and mercy.  We clearly see judgement on the people of the land as much destruction takes place not only of Jericho, but other cities and places in the chapters that follow.  Yet at the same time, we see God's grace in the redemption of Rahab and her family.  We know through the story of Rahab that news of the people's coming had reached Canaan and because Rahab responded to this news through the opportunity of meeting the spies, she and her family were saved.  Perhaps there are more untold stories of redemption among the inhabitants of the Promised Land but for the sake of moving the story along Joshua did not bother to record them. 

Yet, we can also be sure that God had no intention of compromising in the area of purity.  Amy and I just saw the movie Lincoln that just recently came out.  I felt the major theme of the movie was that Lincoln was going to do whatever it took to rid the United States of slavery.  Thus, he used every political means necessary to make sure the 13th amendment that abolished slavery was passed.  He would not entertain any talk of peace with the South unless it was completely understood that slavery would be no more.  The movie expressed that though Lincoln was compromising in other areas, he was uncompromising on the issue of slavery and felt it absolutley necessary to be rid of it as the country would move forward after the Civil War.  God was no different with those who inhabited the land of Canaan, but the issue for God was who or what they worshipped.  God would not allow compromise with these people in terms of the Gods they worshipped.  He desired purity.  In other words, I believe there was so much destruction in the book of Joshua because God would rather see nations die than to allow his people Israel to be compromised by the false religions these other nations brought to the table.  Perhaps God felt fair warning had been given as news traveled of the great power of the Lord of the Israelites.  These are just one man's thoughts but to gloss over the dectruction would be too easy, and as Christians we should not be afraid to wrestle with why it happened.  I believe honest questions lead to stronger faith.  (I'll get off my soap box now)

At the heart of the story of the Battle of Jericho is this simple question:  Who are you going to trust?  Joshua and the Israelites after many struggles seem to finally be on the same page with God here.  They trusted God's crazy plan to march around the wall for seven days and on the 7th day to yell as loud as they can in order to make the wall of Jericho fall down.  I wish I had trust like that.  I wish I could trust God so much that he would knock down all the Jerichos in my life.  How 'bout you?  How deep does your trust go?  What are the Jerichos you are facing right now?  Are there walls you need to trust God to knock down in your life?  Did you build them or did someone or something else?  The bigger picture here is trusting God's plan.  We may think we are putting things in God's hands but often we have a tendency to manipulate the plan along the way or perhaps cajole it more than we should.  Parenting is a big Jericho many of us face or have faced.  How do we guide our children while trusting God in the process without manipulating?  I don't pretend to know the answers but I know the more I can put in the hands of God as days go by, the better it will be for all involved in the long run.  If anything, may Joshua and the crumbling walls of Jericho teach us that trusting in God can lead to powerful break throughs (pun intended) and mighty victories to be celebrated on God's behalf.            

      

Making the Crossover (Joshua 3-4)

We see in this passage of Joshua that the Israelites after 400 years of toil under Egypt and 40 years of wandering in the desert wilderness are preparing to cross over the Jordan River.  It has been a long wait and God wants Israel to realize how sacred and symbolic this moment is.  In Joshua 3:5 as Joshua prepares the people to move out, he tells them "Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do amazing things among you."  In other words, God wants the people to be alert, aware, in the right frame of heart, mind and soul because tomorrow is going to be a sacred, holy, unforgettable day.

Then God, through the leadership of Joshua, gives instructions for the people to follow the Ark.  He tells them that the water will stand in a heap so they can cross but to keep a distance of about 1000 yards (or 2000 cubits, length of arm from elbow to end of longest finger) from the Ark.  All of this to show reverence for God and his covenant with them.  We must understand that the Jordan was not anywhere near the size of the body of water that the Red Sea was but still for all those people to cross the Jordan river with efficiency was a necessity, especially in the face of a threatened kingdom of Jericho so close by.  That's why we see the men of tribes of Reuben, Gad and half the tribe of Manasseh crossing over in the lead, armed and prepared for war. (Joshua 4:12) The passage also tells us the Jordan was at flood level so this would have caused even more exposure for them if God had not provided safe passage on dry land. 

Imagine being one of these people in the nation of Israel.  Perhaps you are a younger man or woman with a family. You were not born when God parted the Red Sea but you've heard the stories.  Now you will see God hold back the waters as you cross the Jordan River.  Imagine millions of people crossing the Jordan on dry land.  The Israelites had no doubt become a nomadic people so their traveling efficiency would have been a sight to see.  Team work would have been a must.  I wonder if people in Jericho could see them.  If so, they would have been impressed while at the same time frightened.  They would have witnessed the water being held back, the efficiency of the way the people moved.  They would've been able to see the beautiful Ark and the dutiful priests who carried it and stood there as the water heaped upstream.  Perhaps Rahab watched from her window and knew the time had come to make haste and warn her family if she had not already done so.   

Imagine the people as they talked among one another as they set up camp on the other side.  "Joshua was right, the Lord did do amazing things among us.  This is a day I will never forget."  And God made sure they wouldn't forget either as they built a twelve stone memorial, representing their 12 tribes, using stones from the Jordan River.  This memorial, Joshua told them, was to help them remember and be able to tell their children how the water from the Jordan stopped in the presence of the Ark of the Covenant and they were able to cross over into the Promised Land because they served a mighty God.

This passage in Johshua brings me back to my college days. I was a Music Ed major in college and my major instrument was voice.  Some of the first songs I studied with my voice teacher were African American Spirituals.  My favorite spirtual was one called "Deep River."  Here are the lyrics:

Deep River.
My home is over Jordan.
Deep River, Lord,
I want to cross over into campground
Oh, don't you want to go,
To the Gospel feast;
That Promised Land,
Where all is peace?
Oh, deep River, Lord,
I want to cross over into campground.

This spiritual reflects the same theme that John a. Huffman Jr. speaks of when he says that "This sovereign God...is a God who called Israel then, and us today, to be a 'crossover people.'"  The experiences of the people of Israel's were highlighted by major points of crossing over, not just from one side of a body of water to another, but from one way of life to another.  The Israelites crossed over from being slaves of Egypt to being a sovereign nomadic people in the wilderness for 40 years.  Then in this passage they are preparing to put aside their nomadic ways and claim this promised land that God has destined them to possess. 

As I step back and look at this passage, I am struck by God's vision and the symbolism that He gives for all of us to identify with in the story of the Israelites.  I am struck by how God has made us all so different, yet so much the same.  I'm struck by how diverse people are, yet so relatable and connectable.  I say all this because it is apparent to me that the story of the Israelites is my story.  It's your story.  We are people with a promise of hope but we become enslaved, be it by Egyptians, circumstances of life, or sin.  We seek out direction, guidance, a sign from God in hopes of freedom from what has enslaved us.  God reveals to us our redemption (for us Jesus Christ, for the people of Israel a plan of release from captivity a promise of a land of their own under the leadership of Moses and Joshua).  We choose to follow and believe in God's redemption plan but along the way we may question His plan.  We may even harken back to when we were still slaves and think we were better off then, but God always reveals the next step in his time and shows us how to move forward.  He may have to trust Him to part some waters and we may have to take some steps of faith, but there is always a next step.  We may even find ourselves in the wilderness while God is preparing us, working on different things we need to resolve, trust issues we may have, but always in front of us is the vision of the Promised Land.  Many times we are called to cross over that body of water to whatever is next.  Maybe it's a new chapter in life, a new school, a new job, adjustments with someone new in our life, adjustments without someone we've relied on for many years. Maybe it's a lifestyle adjustment like retirement.  Of course, we all will face the big crossover some day from this life to the next.  Just as the Israelites, we are called to be a crossover people.  The African American slaves who sang those spirituals knew they were called to be a crossover people when they sang of their home "over Jordan."  They knew someday they would receive freedom from their slavery, be it in life or death.  That was the hope they sang of.  God invites you to keep crossing over to what's next.  "Oh don't you want to go to that Gospel feast, that Promised Land where all is peace?"  What is God preparing you for next in your life, in the life of your family, your children?  May we trust him to show us the next step and to keep in mind that God will keep his promises to us.

Speaking of "gospel feasts," may we be a people who as we celebrate around tables this upcoming holiday be a people who embrace God's story and vision for our lives as part of His great Kingdom!

Happy Thanksgiving!
   

      

Two Nations and One Land, Two Spies and One Harlot (Joshua 2)t

So Joshua has established himself as the new leader of the Israelites.  The people are preparing to cross the Jordan and begin their conquest of the promised land.  He sends out two spies to check out Jericho and other surrounding areas.  It's interesting that Joshua just sends two, for when he was called  on by Moses to spy there were twelve but only two, he and Caleb, gave a positive report regarding their ability to overtake the people occupying the promised land.  Perhaps there is nothing to this, but it is interesting nonetheless that only two spies were used.  Joshua 2:1 ends giving us the knowledge that these spies found a place to stay in the home of an innkeeper/prostitute named Rahab.

It cracks me up when young people claim the Bible is boring.  How could you read this story and say the Bible is boring?  We have two nations of people about to come to blows over land.  We have espionage.  We have prostitution.  This doesn't sound like what we think of when we talk about Bible stories.  This sounds like it's straight out of Hollywood.  The problem is we don't use our imagination enough.  This is a case where the scripture almost calls on us to make inferences and use our imaginations a bit, because it appears that a lot takes place that goes unmentioned from vs. 1 to vs. 2 of Joshua 2.

In order to make certain inferences about what happens we need to consider what we do know according to the scripture. Verse 2 tells us the king of Jericho found out the spies had found a place to stay at Rahab's Bed, Breakfast and Brothel.  But how did he find out?  Did one of his staff who frequent there over hear a conversation.  Did they see the men and somehow know they were spies?  Were they just not very good spies and they stuck out like soar thumbs?  Did God have the writers of the Bible leave these things out to move the story along or to allow us to use our imaginations so we might think on these accounts longer?  I don't know, but the fun part is if we were to make a movie of it in real life or in our minds, we can come up with whatever seems to work in order to help the story make sense.  My guess is some of the king's officials got wind of the spies through their frequenting Rahab's place.  I say this because I don't think our spies were bad spies.  It would have been a clever plan for the spies to find solace in a brothel.  Where else would be a better place to lay low than an inn/brothel on the wrong side of town where citizens likely didn't want it to be known they were frequenting there?  Again, I am just speculating but this is what makes sense to me.  Feel free to make your own speculations.   

What else do we know?  Somehow, and for some reason, the spies had found favor with Rahab.  So much so that she hid them from the authorities and lied to her king and/or whoever brought the message from the king to "bring out the men."  She devised this whole made up story about how they had just left before the city gate was about to be closed and if the men would follow them right now they may catch them.  She was not only a harlot and an inn keeper but evidently a pretty convincing actor because the men bought it and went chasing after them when in reality they were hidden under some flax on her roof. 

Why did Rahab do this for them?  We don't know for sure, but isn't it fun to speculate what is "in between" the verses of this story.  John Huffman Jr. suggests that it is likely Rahab's family were poor farmers who worked land outside of Jericho and the flax she hid the spies under was possibly even part of their crop.  Perhaps the ropes she lowered them on when they got away were the ropes they would use to bring the flax from outside the walls into the city.  Huffman also suggests she was a prostitute out of financial need, not one of the glamorous prostitutes of the Canaanite religious rituals of fertility.  (The Communicator's Commentary, Old Testament Vol. 6 - Joshua pgs. 59-60) 

I think several things were at work here all at once.  Rahab was tired of the life she was living.  As the scripture makes mention of, she had heard the stories of the Israelite nation and this powerful God of theirs that divided the Red Sea and destroyed Pharaoh's Army and she dared to believe that their might be a hope to hope in, greater than what she was experiencing.  She had been witness to the corruption that was the Canaanite kingdom of Jericho and she was on the bottom rung of it's existence.  She saw an opportunity to give her and her family a new start with a new people.  Perhaps she offered her "services" to these spies upon their arrival and they, unlike any other men she had known, simply refused, yet showed her a warmth and a respect she could not fathom.  Perhaps she was intrigued and began to suspect who they were and they entrusted her into their confidence.  Again, we don't know this for sure, but something happened in between vs 1 and vs 2 of Joshua 2 and it is sure fun to speculate.  We do know this, God got a hold of Rahab somehow and used her for the good of His Kingdom and His people.

What else do we know?  Against all odds, Rahab did a heroic thing for Israel in spite of all she had going against her.  Again, Huffman suggests she had four strikes against her in light of how she would've been viewed in that time period. (1) She was a woman.  We know society has come a long way and women are much more respected as equals today then in these Old Testament times. (2) She was a Canaanite.  A foreigner was to be kept at a distance, let alone trusted as she was by these spies of Israel.  (3) She was a harlot, a member of what many call the oldest profession, but one of darkness and sin.  (4) She was a liar.  She did not hesitate to deceive her own people for the sake of two men she hardly knew.  Yes, it was for God's people and yes, she was lying to servants of a questionable king, but still it was a lie. (The Communicator's Commentary, Old Testament Vol. 6 - Joshua pgs. 58-61) Yet, God still chose to speak to her and use her in a powerful way.  So much so that she is included in the lineage of Jesus.  After the Israelites defeated Jericho, Rahab began that new life and the Israelite, Salmon, took her as a wife.  She and Salmon were parents of Boaz, who married Ruth.  Boaz and Ruth were King David's Great Grandparents.  Yes, this is the same King David who killed Goliath.  (Check out Matthew 1:5-6).

Our God is an amazing God.  Rahab is proof we must never discount ourselves or anyone else as unusable by God.  I spent last weekend with 10 teenagers, 5 of which were 8th grade boys.  I love all of them but sometimes 8th grade boys do things that make you wonder, are they ever going to grow up?  Yet at the same time, I see God working on each one of them.  He's working on each one of our teens, each one of our children, and yes, each one of us.  We must believe if God can use a foreign, lying harlot like Rahab for the good of His Kingdom to not only help the Israelites take the city of Jericho but to also be a part of the ancestral line of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, then He can surely use you and me.    

              

Be Strong and Courageous Times Three (Joshua 1:1-11)

We move our focus this week from Moses to Joshua.  Joshua's story is an amazing one that I think sometimes can be overlooked due to the great shadow that Moses casts over Joshua.  But the power of God is displayed through Joshua and his leadership.  If you read through Joshua, you will find it is not a peaceful book, but one of military battles and the favor that God gives to the Israelites.  If you've never read completely through Joshua you might be amazed at how violent the story of the Israelites taking the promised land really is.  If there was a "Joshua's Greatest Hits" album it would certainly include at least one story and two verses.  The story we are mostly familiar with is greatly due for most to the gift of music  as most of us have probably heard "Joshua fit the Battle of Jericho and the walls came a tumblin' down."  The two well known verses are like bookends for the book itself as at the beginning, Joshua is encouraged three times by God to "Be strong and courageous."  Then at the end of the book Joshua lays before Israel a choice as to whose God will they serve.  Is it Yahweh who delivered them or the Gods of the people of the land they now inhabit?  But Joshua makes his choice clear by pronouncing "As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord."   

As the book of Joshua begins, Moses has passed on.  In Numbers 20, we see why Moses did not have the opportunity to lead the people to the Promised Land as he did not follow God's instructions exactly when the Israelites complain to him again about not having water in the wildernass.  Instead of speaking to the rock as God instructed, Moses strikes it twice in anger and water flows from it. Thus God says because of this, Moses and Aaron will not see the promised land.  Pretty harsh, but this is what happened.

Now God turns to Joshua to lead the people.  Imagine being in Joshua's shoes (or sandals perhaps) having served under Moses all these 40 years waiting for the opportunity to enter the promised land which he had seen first hand 40 years prior as one who went on a scouting expedition.  All of those who went with him on that journey except Caleb were dead because they did not trust that the Lord could deliver on his promise. (See Numbers 13 and 14)  Moses, his mentor and leader, was no longer with him because of his brief lapse in trust.  Likely Joshua had anticipated Moses to lead the people into the promised land until Moses himself commissioned Joshua in front of Eleazar, the priest, and the "entire assembly" as we see in Numbers 27:12-23.  Is it any wonder God felt the need to speak the words "Be strong and courageous" three times to Joshua.  Joshua had been given a big job amidst observing others falter over the years.

If you have ever been in the shadow of someone great and then called to follow them in leadership, there is no greater road map or outline for how to move forward than this passage in Joshua.  The first thing God does here is to help Joshua face reality.  According to the NASB, God says to Joshua "Moses My servant is dead; now therefore arise, cross the Jordan, you and all this people, to the land which I am giving to them, to the sons of Israel." (Joshua 1:2) I sense a tone as if God is saying to Joshua "your time is now.  Moses is gone and I need you to get up and time for mourning him is over.  Put the past where it belongs, behind you, and move forward.  I need you to step up.  I need you to be the leader I know you can be."

Then God unveils the Geography of the promised land to Joshua in vss. 3-4.  Then comes a series of promises and encouragement.  God promises "no man will be able to stand before you" in vs. 5.  This promise comes true in that Israel was tremendously successful in conquering those already dwelling in the promised land, with the exception of one set back at Ai, due to them not waiting on the Lord for instruction and some not following God's command to not take things under the ban when they defeated Jericho.  (See Joshua 6-7)            

Then, is the first encouragement to "be strong and courageous" followed by God promising this inheritance of land He promised to their forefathers.  Then again, God tells Joshua to "be strong and very courageous" and encourages him to follow the law that Moses had given him, to meditate on it, to not turn from it.  And with this encouragement to follow the law comes a promise, a promise of prosperity and success.  We will come back to this in a moment, but then God again emphasizes once again "Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous..."  This time he gives Joshua a reason why he can be strong and that is because God will be with Joshua wherever he goes.
     
What did Joshua do next?  He got after it.  He began the work God had prepared for him to do.  God gave Joshua a vision, a game plan for success.

What do you do when you have to follow in someone's footsteps of leadership?  First, we are called to get out of their shadow and not dwell or worry about the past because the person whose shadow we were in is not there anymore.  We see God calling Joshua in such a way as mentioned earlier.  Second, trust in the plan that has been put before you.  God called Joshua to embrace the vision of moving into the promised land and encouraged him to be strong and courageous.  Third, don't forget what you've been taught and return to those lessons daily.  "Meditate on them day and night."  Just because that mentor isn't there anymore, doesn't mean that what they taught you is gone.  Finally, just take the first step and let those who are with you know what they need to do.  This is what Joshua did in vss. 10-11.  He let them know what they needed to prepare to do.  What's the motivation, the promise?  Prosperity and success and God's presence along the way.

Now, back to this prosperity and success thing.  Let's not mistake God's picture of success with the world's picture of success.  Is a rich man successful if he hoards his wealth?  Is a land owner successful if he owns much property but doesn't use it for anything but personal gain?  Is a wise person successful if he doesn't pass on his wisdom?  I think you get the picture here.  Just as in the parable of the talents, we are expected to use what God has given us, big or small, for the purpose of growing His Kingdom.  And what makes up His kingdom is love, mercy, hope, compassion, salvation, etc..  If God makes us wealthy, he's entrusted us to be good stewards of our wealth and use it for others.  If God gives us land, what are we doing to use the land for his kingdom purposes.  If God grants us wisdom, how are we contributing to the wisdom of others?  Don't allow this lesson to be missed with the younger generation.  We worry as parents about helping our children be "successful" enough to provide for themselves after they leave home, but are we pointing them in a direction to be successful for the sake of the Kingdom of God?  This involves trust.  This involves us being and encouraging our children to "be strong and courageous."  Trust in God's bigger plan.  Teach you children, grandchildren, the younger generation to meditate on God's word day and night and he will make their way prosperous, and they will have success, success for God's kingdom.  In the midst of doing this, he promises to be with us wherever we go.

So "be strong and very courageous" and as Jesus promised he is with you always "even to the end of the age." (Matthew 28:20b)       

Building the Tabernacle...We All Have a Part to Play (Exodus 35-36)

Our passage this week is straightforward.  There is a job to be done and everyone is called to pitch in.  The place of worship, the tabernacle is to be built.  First, Moses gives everyone God's list of the materials that are needed and asks for an offereing, but in the middle of the dessert?  Where would they get such things as precious metals and stones, beautifully colored materials, the hides of sea cows or dugongs, (seriously that's what they're called, look it up, I had to) spices, oils and incense?  We must remember that the Egyptians, upon the Israelites request, gave them many things for their journey when they left Egypt (Exodus 12: 35-36).  This was at God's command that they ask the Egyptians for belongings for their journey.  It's interesting though that the text says they "plundered" the Egyptians as plundering suggests robbery by force when it appears as though the Egyptians were willfully allowing them to take what they needed.  Regardless, we see God working out his master plan as these ornaments which had decorated the empire of Egypt became the detailed beauty of the tabernacle. 

What is so interesting about this passage is what takes place in the many details of bulding the tabernacle.  The response of the people was overwhelming.  It seems after all the grumbling, complaining and missteps of the Israelites, they were suddenly becoming a well oiled, tabernacle building machine.  Moses shows his gifts as an administrator as we see a clear, laid out plan going into action.  Bezalel and Oholiab are called out as master craftsmen and teachers of their craft.  Exodus 36:1 is an inspiring verse that we could easily read over without considering.

"So Bezalel, Oholiab and every skilled person to whom the Lord has given skill and ability to know how to carry out all the work of constructing the sanctuary are to do the work just as the Lord has commanded.” 

I think a deep truth is revealed here that is highly applicable to everyday.  The key phrase here is "every skilled person to whom the Lord has given skill and ability."  I believe we see the Israelites becoming such a cooperative, industrious, organized nation  because God had given them a clear vision for a project that needed skills and abilities of everyone.  The Israelites were experiencing the opportunity to take positive pride and ownership in a project and the response was amazing.  We see the craftsmen come to a point where they have to tell Moses "We've got more than enough resources.  The people can take a break from bringing us their goods."  The people were so generous with their gifts the workers had to tell them to stop. 

The rest of Exodus is essentially dedicated to the details of the tabernacle, its furnishings and how they built them.  We see the details of the ark of the covenant, the table, the lampstand, the altars, the priestly garments, the ephod, the breastpiece and more.  The creation and munafacturing of all these things brought the Israelites together under God's leadership through Moses, unified in heart and purpose as a people. 

Isn't it amazing what happens when people find their niche.  These people went from a complaining, whining, hungry, thirsty, idol worshipping mess of a people to a creative, cooperative team.  We wonder why they wanted to go back to Egypt before, but in this display of cooperation perhaps we see part of the answer.  Atleast in Egypt they knew their lot in life and they had a role to play.  It was not the hard work that caused the Israelites to cry out to God for deliverance.  It was mistreatment, unjust expectations and the Egyptians lack of humane treatment of them that was cause for God setting them free and bringing judgement on Egypt.  Since then, these people had been wandering in the dessert not quite sure what to do with themselves, but God gives them, each of them, a purpose and a task and they flourish.  They had been working hard together in Egypt just to survive, pulling one another up when a weaker one falls.  This had given them unity and loyalty to one another as a people who suffered together.  Now they have the opportunity to experience the same but in freedom and service to their God who delivered them.  Imagining them working together to build the tabernacle in God given detail as a newly freed nation should warm our hearts and give us a picture of hope for us today.

What does this tell us about the church?  What does this tell us about ourselves and our young people?  God has a purpose and a plan for all of us and when we begin to glimpse that purpose through our experiences we begin to flourish.  We begin to feel fulfillment.  Why don't we make that a greater priority?  It should be our priority not only for those within the church body but for those we are trying to reach.  Give someone a taste of fulfillment through the eyes of Christ's design and purpose and watch their heart soften and their soul cry out "You are Lord!  You are Lord!"     

     

Misguided Worship, An Angry Father and a Need to Confess (Exodus 32)

If you're like me, I'm sure you grow weary of the same old routine.  Perhaps you grow weary of the same old church routine.  Maybe, the Israelites were growing weary of the same old faith routine in the desert.  Maybe, they were sick of manna and quail.  They didn't have the food network to offer them 500 different ways to prepare manna, so I'm sure their taste buds were a little bored with it.

My sister used to take me places when I was a kid and she would play tapes for me in her little red Chevette (not to be mistaken with Little Red Corvette).  One artist she shared with me was the late, great Keith Green.  One of his songs was So You Wanna Go Back to Egypt which is a humorous song about the Israelites being stuck in the desert and the events that transpired there.  Towards the end of the song he shares suggestions of how the Israelites might have prepared manna in various ways such as manna waffles, manna burgers, manna bagels and perhaps even bamanna bread (my favorite).  Regardless of the miraculous gift that manna was, I'm sure we could all imagine how the Israelites would take it for granted and how the miraculous could have become mundane for them. 

I can't blame them for their boredom, perhaps not even for their impatience for Moses to get back, but what possessed them to worship a Golden Calf, let alone cause Aaron to make one?  Well, bulls were associated with the worship of Baal, a local Canaanite god.  So perhaps a calf is what Aaron came up with on the spur of the moment.  Baal worship was also connected with fertility.  So when it says they "partied" or "indulged in revelry," this "worship," at least in part, was an orgy.  So it could be that they had observed some of the nearby neighborhoods' form of worship and were a bit curious about their practices.    

It's also evident how much they equated their experiences of God with the presence of Moses.  Thus, with him being gone so long, they took it as a sign of abandonment from God.  This is no different today.  How often do we desire a physical awareness of God?  A sign of his presence?  Did any of you ever pray something like this when you were a child?  "Lord, if you could just give me some sort of sign" or "If you could just get me through (fill in the blank here), I would follow you unwaveringly forever."  Perhaps we didn't use those exact words but you get the idea.

The intriguing, yet scary, picture we get in this scripture account is a peak behind the curtain, a bit of the mystery revealed of God as our Heavenly Father.  God shows his anger at his Israelite children in Exodus 32:9-10.  God appears to be angry enough to wipe out the Israelites.  This brings back another childhood memory of listening to Bill Cosby comedy albums with my family on the record player.  One of Cosby's classic lines was when he quoted what his Father would say when he was angry with his children.  "I brought you in this world, I'll take you out" was Father Cosby's warning to Bill and his brother, Russell.  NO matter how many times my dad heard that, he would always laughed at that line.  I guess he could relate.  In some ways as difficult as it may seem, a parent's misguided passion to blurt something like that out should be a sign of how great their love is for their child.  Because in reality, an expression of indifference would be truly unloving, not an expression of anger.  We as parents want our children to succeed so badly in all aspects of life that when we see them fall short, sometimes we allow our passions to get the best of us.  Our anger rises.  We use fear tactics or whatever we think it will take to get the message across to our children that we are disappointed and they need to do better.

Now consider things from God's point of view.  Obviously, from our human perspective this is not easy.  But we are made in his image and part of that image is that of parent.  He is our supernatural parent and our creator.  Being the parent of the entire human race is not a job I want to sign up for anytime soon.  Yet we ask the question in His divine nature, did God really get that angry that he considered wiping them out?  Perhaps from God's perspective this wasn't as bad a thing as we imagine.  I don't pretend to know what God was thinking but perhaps God's perspective was if He ends their time on Earth and they joined Him in heaven, at least they would understand who their God really is.  This is just conjecture, but surely we can understand from a human perspective that parenting a few is hard, let alone the entire human race.

I think what is more likely going on here is more foreshadowing of Christ.  The narrative of Humankind, from Adam and Eve through to Abraham and his descendants on into the time of Moses, through David to the time of the prophets into Christ's time and on into the present all have one thing in common: the people's need for redemption, their need for a Savior.  Was God's wrath which Moses successfully pleaded God to abstain from expressing, simply a wake up call to that need?  I believe so, not only for the Israelites of that day, but for every generation that followed.  We again see God balancing justice and mercy for the Israelites did not go unpunished as we see later in the chapter.                                         
Perhaps the purpose of God's anger was twofold.  Perhaps God's anger was a test of Moses as well.  We observe Moses, this man who has grown so much in leadership, reminding God of his promise to Abraham and his descendants.  This is the same man who not too long ago before this didn't think he could accept the call of leading the Israelites because he had a speech impediment (among other excuses).  God knew Moses had become more and more like minded with Him.  What hurt God's heart, hurt Moses' heart.  So when Moses saw what they were doing, he threw down the tablets as if to say, "What good are these?  You've already broken them."  THe made them drink the powder of the idol they had worshiped  and he called the Levites to arms.  Moses became an object lesson of God's wrath but then when all is said and done he begs God for mercy on the people and offers to take their place for their punishment.  Sound familiar?  I never cease to be amazed at how glimpses of the Gospel to come shows up throughout the Old Testament.

A negative lesson can also be learned in Aaron.  We see that Aaron is not quite there yet.  When Moses confronts him in Exodus 32:21 Aaron sounds like a child diverting the blame to someone or something else.  First he blames the people because they are so evil.  Then, he out and out lies to his brother and says "I just threw the gold into the fire and out came this calf."  I'm sure we all have come up with whoppers like this one in our day, but to read about Aaron, a grown man of 80+ years old, blaming a fire for his poor leadership of a people by encouraging them to blatantly break the 2nd commandment?  I don't care who you are, that's ridiculously funny!

We can not embrace God's grace until we can come to terms with our need for it.  In other words, we must confess, come clean and own up to our guilt.  I see it in my children.  I don't know how many times we've told Hannah to just come clean with the truth, but she will still try to pin it on her sister or she thinks the more adamantly she denies it, the more convinced we will be that she isn't really guilty.  Somehow from an early age we learn the art of diversion, misdirection, casting a shadow on others in hopes that those whom we love and admire will still think of us as completely wholesome and innocent.  But true growth in grace comes when we just come clean with others and with God.  We are flawed.  We are weak.  We are sinful, but amazingly enough, God still wants to use us.  He still used Moses.  He still used Aaron.  He still used the Israelites.  And he still wants to use us by being living examples of what his grace can do in the lives of flawed, messed up people like me and you.

More Than Just 10 Suggestions - Part 2

Last week we looked at the first 4 commandments as well as the passages leading up to them.  This week we look at the last 6 commandments.  The first 4 commandments deal with our relationship to our heavenly Father.  The last 6 deal with our relationship to one another.  Jesus expressed what is at the heart of the commandments when He was asked "which is the greatest commandment?"  First he quoted the Shema, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul and all your strength and with all your mind."  Then he said the second is like it "Love your neighbor as yourself."  Jesus goes on to say that all the laws and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.

When we think about the 10 commandments we can see the direct link to what Jesus said as the first 4 expand on "Love the Lord your God..." and the latter 6 expand on "Love your neighbor as yourself."  These words that Jesus used were not new to the Jews as they can both be found in the Pentateuch (First 5 books of the Bible, also considered the foundation of the Jewish faith).  I bring all this up to remind us that Jesus was about love and mercy, but he held the law in high esteem and viewed himself as the fulfillment of the law.  (Matthew 5:17)  I believe we must always seek balance between justice and mercy just as Christ did.

I want to skip "Honor your father and mother" and save it for last.

You shall not murder
My feeling is most of us get this one.  It's not too hard to figure out.  Although, I always try to clarify to young people that this does not mean it is wrong to kill.  The King James version can confuse us because it translates it "Thou shalt not kill" but almost all other versions use the word murder in reference to unjust or unauthorized killing.  I'll never forget when the war in Afghanistan began after 9/11 and I was in the convenient store in the Indiana State University commons.  A young man was looking at the paper and he was up in arms about the war.  He approached me with paper in hand saying something like "Can you believe this? This is awful!"  I responded by saying something along the lines of "yes, it is disappointing we are at war, but I don't think it's unjustified."  He responded by asking me if I was a student and I said "No, I'm a campus minister."  I knew what his next comment was going to be before he said it.  It was something like "Then, how can you say that?  Doesn't the Bible say 'thou shalt not kill?'"  I immediately responded by saying, some versions do but what is meant is don't commit murder or unjustified killing."

We need to be careful though.  Jesus gave his own take on the "no murder" issue.  He expands upon it in Matthew 5:21-26.  Jesus is warning us that murdering another person's character is a sin as well and we should make peace with our enemies before whatever grievance we have comes to trial.  Jesus even shows us the need for mercy when the law says the death penalty is justified.  We see this in the story of the woman caught in adultery where those who were bringing her to Jesus spoke of the law in Deuteronomy 22 where sometimes death is a justifiable punishment for adultery.  Jesus reminds them of their own sins challenging them to cast the first stone if they are without any.  The woman finds herself free of accusers and Jesus says "Neither do I condemn you" and challenges her to "Go and sin no more."  Again, there must be balance between justice and mercy.

You shall not commit adultery
For all of you who told your children to "ask Pastor Dave" what adultery means or any other difficult question you didn't want to answer, I just want to say "Thanks A Lot!"  I've seen you with your smile on your face standing back and observing as your children approach me with these delicate questions.  All kidding aside, kids are very humorous with their questions and their answers.  I recently asked a group of kids what they thought "committing adultery" means and one child said "It's when kids aren't nice to adults like they should be."  If that's the case there's a lot of committing adultery going on.(ha ha)

But seriously, has any commandment taken more abuse than this one?  I love what Dave Ramsey often says on his radio show about our culture and/or the world (whatever label you want to use here).  To paraphrase, Dave Ramsey says culture tempts us to push the envelope as far as we can ethically and then ridicules us to no end the moment we cross the line.  There is no greater example of that than committing adultery.  People are more visually stimulated today than ever.  It's everywhere.  One of the best recommendations I've heard on the subject came from Andy Stanley.  If you don't want to be tempted by it, you must flee from it.  Any time, any moment, there is even a suggestion of the chance of giving in, we must seek the discipline to flee from it.  If you like podcasts, I highly recommend Your Move with Andy Stanley.  He expands on this idea in one of his talks in his series on Guardrails.  Good stuff!        

You shall not steal 
Again, this is one of those we all probably get, but who of us didn't as a child learn the guilt of this the hard way.  We've all likely at some time in our life given into the temptation of the 5 finger discount.  Yet, there are other things we can steal that are not of a physical nature.  People steal time from their employers.  They steal someone's good name through gossip.  Many of the ideas I get for these blogs come from commentary writers like Maxie Dunnam, who wrote the volume on Exodus in the Communicators Commentary Series.  I give credit to him at least once in my blog whenever I use some of his ideas.  Otherwise, I would be stealing credit for something he thought of.  We must be cautious not to gloss over "you shall not steal" by saying "I'm no thief" and allow God to examine us and the Holy Spirit to convict us if such is the case.

You shall not bear false witness
We all know to be honest, not to lie. But I love it when someone calls another person out on a Sunday morning for lying, especially young people.  Someone tells a fib in jest and the other person's response is "don't lie, you're in church" as if lying other places is a more permissible sin than when you're in the actual church building.

An interesting thing to note is Jewish law is just as harsh on those who have testimony or evidence and don't share it as it is with those who give it falsely. (Leviticus 5:1) Our lack of words can be just as harmful as false words.  This is something that is very difficult for young people.  Fear of sticking our necks out for the sake of the truth is a value that seems to lose ground daily.  The truth is the fear is greater because the likelihood of our proverbial necks getting chopped when we stick them out is greater.  Youth often take a self defense position of if I defend someone than I will the next target.  Yet somehow the need to do so has never been more needed for those who are in need of someone to come to their aid.  Paul reminds us in I Thessalonians 5:11 to "encourage one another and build up one another."  Later in verse 14 he says to "admonish the unruly, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with everyone."  We can not live this scripture out and keep silent when the defenseless need defended.  

You shall not covet your neighbor's (anyone and anything)
In some ways this commandment is a guardrail of sorts from breaking the other commandments.  If you avoid having a burning desire for your neighbor's spouse, you won't be tempted to commit adultery or to murder your neighbor in order to be with their spouse.  If you don't get all hot and bothered about your neighbor's car or TV, you won't be tempted to steal one from him or from the store.  Nor will you be tempted to rob the bank to have the money to buy one.  Yes, I know I'm being extreme, but I hope my extreme examples help you see the point.  To covet means to desire.  The word covet itself is a neutral word.  In other words in can be used in a positive or negative way.  I often have heard people say "I covet your prayers."  This is not a bad thing.  It's a good thing.  To have a desire for someone to pray for you is a good thing to let someone know.  If someone says to me "I covet your wife," they're going to have a problem.  The bottom line is we must ask God to help us to discipline our desires and focus them for the good.  This sounds simple enough but it isn't.  At the heart of it is obedience which takes love of God and time with God in order for it to develop.

Back to #5...

Honor your father and mother
This commandment sits at the transition point between those commandments directed to God and those directed to each other.  This is no coincidence.  At the heart of the Jewish way of life is the family, not just the immediate family but the extended family.  Is there any doubt that our family experience or lack thereof is the biggest determining factor of who we become?  Our family experiences motivate us positively or negatively.  How many people do we hear say "I am where I am today because of my family?"  How many people blame their family experience for their poor decisions?  What we do and how we react in the midst of our family experiences determines a lot.  Maxie Dunnam believes this is why the Jewish people have survived through so much.  Regardless of who has oppressed them, they've clung tightly to their families.  No culture is more committed to study of their family and it's history than the Jewish people.

This commandment is the only commandment linked directly with a promise.   The NIV translates the commandment this way.  "Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you."  This seems to suggest if you honor your father and mother you will live a long life.  The NASB translation gives a little more clarity to the promise.  It says "that your days may be prolonged in the land which the Lord your God gives you."  This translation  clarifies that life can be prolonged by honoring your parents.  This makes more sense to me.  I'm sure we can all think of a Christian whose life ended before they had reached what we would consider a long life.  It could also be that this person honored their parents in a manner worthy of the 5th commandment.  This would seem contradictory to God's promise.  But I believe what God promises here is that our lives will have more of an opportunity to be prolonged in the context of honoring our parents.

We need to understand that God was speaking to the Israelites as a culture which needed to set itself apart from other cultures.  Some cultures of those days would abandon the elderly and leave them behind to die when they were no longer useful.  Sad, but true.  God is saying do not be that type of culture.  Care for your elderly with the respect they deserve.  God was saying by doing this, it will prolong your life because your kids will see how you treated your parents.  Thus they won't leave you behind when the time comes.  

In our day and age, I can think of two practical applications of how honoring our parents can prolong our lives.  For young people, honoring your parents can help them with decision making.  How many young people foolishly lose their life because of poor choices.  Perhaps they don't literally lose their life (although some have because of poor choices) but they get caught up in an unhealthy lifestyle because of bad decision making and they do lose parts of their life they can never get back.  If in the midst of choices, we teach our children to remember their parents and how much they love them, perhaps it will prolong their lives.  They will have a greater desire to honor their parents by the decisions they make.  If we can help young people to think ahead and visualize the pain a bad decision might cause, they may think more deeply before a poor decision is made.  The catch here is we as parents must be constantly showing and assuring our children of our unconditional love.

The other application here is of adult children and how they treat their elderly parents.  Do we honor them with our time and energy, with our presence?  Or do we go months and months without communicating with them?  What are we teaching our children about how we honor our parents?  The old cliche is true.  What comes around, goes around.  

The challenge is to be a Christian people who don't just view these commandments as suggestions.  We can not pass this off as less applicable because it's Old Testament teaching.  Jesus said himself he came to fulfill the law.  He even simplified it for us by giving us a bigger picture.  "Love the Lord with all you've got and Love your neighbor as yourself."  This begins with the family and extends from there.