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John 6:22-35 - Lectionary for Pentecost 11B

8/2/2018

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8/2/18
Many churches throughout the world use a Bible reading schedule called a "lectionary." It's just a fancy word meaning "selected readings." Posts like this reflect on the readings for an upcoming Sunday or other Church holiday, as found in the three-year lectionary.

In John 6 a crowd, finding Jesus, ask him when he arrived in the place they were looking for him. Yes, that’s a strange question to ask. After all, they were looking for Jesus. Looking right through their pretense, which is to care about Jesus in order to get him to make food for them, Jesus tells them to work for some sort of eternal food (v. 27).

What are the works of God? This is a common question. We all seem to have the idea that it is by our works that we will earn God’s favor. Many times, especially in hospitals and speaking with people who think they are dying, I have had this conversation. The troubled person wants to know about confidence in God. He or she always says something like, “I have tried to be a good person. I hope I’m safe.” In effect, the question is, “Have I done the works of God? Have I found that eternal food?”

My answer in those cases is also predictable. “You haven’t worked the works of God well enough to redeem yourself. The good news is that Jesus has done what you could never do. He is the one who has kept God’s will perfectly and who is able to give you the credit for that obedience.” This is what Jesus means by doing the works of God. After all, in verse 29 he says that the work of God is to believe on God the Son.

Jesus tells his followers (who here may seem more like his mob of chasers) that he has taken care of the obedience, they need to trust his obedience rather than their own.

Does this mean that it doesn’t matter how we live? It doesn’t mean that at all. God has revealed his character in Scripture. He tells us what he values and what he hates. We don’t do the works that God hates. But we realize that it is not our obedience or failure which creates eternity for us. It is Jesus’ obedience and our trust in what Jesus has done.

This is truly food for eternal life. It will never pass away. Jesus has done all we need to enter into eternity without fear. We simply trust that he has done exactly what he promised and that it will be effective. This is doing the work of God. This is the food to eternal life.

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Ephesians 4:1-16 - Lectionary for Pentecost 11B

8/1/2018

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8/1/18
Many churches throughout the world use a Bible reading schedule called a "lectionary." It's just a fancy word meaning "selected readings." Posts like this reflect on the readings for an upcoming Sunday or other Church holiday, as found in the three-year lectionary.

Our Epistle reading, from Ephesians 4, tells us to live a life worthy of the calling we have in Christ. This is a tremendous demand, easily misunderstood. What are we commanded here? After all, Christ, God the Son, is the all-powerful creator, sustainer, and redeemer of all heaven and earth. We might easily be tempted to seek some sort of royal honor, a dictatorial power, a social excellence which exceeds all our normal ambitions. Surely that would be a life worthy of Christ.

Many in our modern Western world would reject this out of hand. Those who see Christianity as an oppressor would resist, kicking and screaming. After all, who died and made you God?

That’s a legitimate concern. Maybe we need to understand what Paul meant when he said Christians should live a life worthy of our calling. He goes on to describe a Christ who ended captivity, who gave gracious gifts to people, who has made all one in him, who brings all who trust in him into unity in the fullness of the image of Christ. In short, Jesus changes his people into his image of gracious love and compassion. When we live a life worthy of that calling, we prefer others above ourselves. When we live a life worthy of that calling, we work diligently to rescue others from the sin that destroys them. When we live a life worthy of that calling, we build one another up in the truth of God.

In short, the Christian uses the power of God not for oppression, but for good, to care for those who are suffering in this fallen world. It isn’t “anything goes.” It’s “do good because Jesus has shown you good.”

What about those times when we fail? We don’t really live in a way that is worthy to be called after Christ the savior? We remember that he is also the God of all mercy and forgiveness. We throw ourselves upon his mercy and receive his grace. He has shown us his good pleasure, which is to redeem the world.  

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Exodus 16:2-15 - Lectionary for Pentecost 11B

7/31/2018

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7/31/18
Many churches throughout the world use a Bible reading schedule called a "lectionary." It's just a fancy word meaning "selected readings." Posts like this reflect on the readings for an upcoming Sunday or other Church holiday, as found in the three-year lectionary.

Our reading for this week from Exodus should rightly astonish us. The people of Israel had been enslaved in Egypt. They were complaining to God. God delivered them from Egypt and brought them into the wilderness. They then proceeded to complain against Moses and Aaron, saying that they missed the good conditions they had in Egypt. They wanted meat. They wanted bread. It seems they really didn’t want God to rescue them at all.

One of the amazing things God does in Scripture is this. He gives his people what they are asking for. Sometimes, as is the case with the bread, it is something very good for them. The manna which they were able to pick up every morning for some forty years sounds delicious! Granted, it doesn’t seem a varied menu, but that’s par for the course in antiquity. Even today in developing nations people typically have only a few menu items. Think of the Old West. Beans and cornbread for breakfast. Beans and cornbread for lunch. Beans and cornbread for supper. Do you get tired of the menu? Maybe so. Go find your interest somewhere else. And say what you might, it does make the occasional handful of raspberries a really nice treat!

In this passage God also gives the people something that would seem good for them but, in fact, was not. They had been complaining for meat. Birds count as meat. He gave them meat, so much meat that they couldn’t eat it all, so much that it would go bad on them, so much that they would be surrounded by the stench of dead birds until they moved on.

This situation gives us a commendation and a warning. First, the commendation. If we need something God knows our need and knows how to supply it. He takes care of even those who are rebellious, those who complain, those who think they know better than the Lord. But the warning? Sometimes he allows us to have our heart’s desire. What if our heart’s desire is to enter into sin and disobedience? What if our desire is to live as if the Lord isn’t in this world? Eventually he will give us that as well. Our hard-hearted complaining and rebellion can lead to God’s leaving us to deal with the consequences of sin. In the end, He says, “I did all that was needed to rescue you from sin and death, but you seem intent on taking matters into your own hands. Go ahead. Rescue yourself.” This is a terrible possibility, but one which the Scripture depicts as genuine. We ask for bondage, we ask for something that perishes and rots, and the Lord may eventually give it to us.

My prayer is that we all will heed the warning and look to the God of promise as the one who will provide all we need by his hand of grace.

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Psalm 145:10-21 - Lectionary for Pentecost 11B

7/30/2018

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7/30/18
Many churches throughout the world use a Bible reading schedule called a "lectionary." It's just a fancy word meaning "selected readings." Posts like this reflect on the readings for an upcoming Sunday or other Church holiday, as found in the three-year lectionary.

It’s hard to see God’s provision sometimes. That statement may come as a surprise, at least when written by me. After all, I work in college and university ministry. Many of the people I minister to make a lot more money than I do. Many of them have a promise of employment until retirement and a nice retirement package afterward. A lot of the students are idealistic and with good reason. They are sharp people with a bright future ahead of them.

I also work to bring relief to people in some different dollar-a-day economies. Those situations are fragile, to say the least. Any medical care at all is hard to get. It also requires cash payment in advance, and cash isn’t easy to come by. A drought, an illness, a run-in with a robber, and you are in deep trouble.

I also spend some time working with the elderly in several different assisted living and nursing homes. Some of them have outlived their resources. They may face poverty which will dog them for the rest of their lives. They lose their independence, their finances, their family, and, finally, their human dignity can be very hard to preserve.

What do we see in our Psalm for this week? Especially in verses 15-17 we see that all we have comes from the gracious hand of God. He is able to work, even in circumstances which make us tremble for fear, to care for His people. He provides for those who could never provide for themselves. Psalm 145 points us to the Lord who hears the cries of his people and has not abandoned them. He has every intention of caring for them in this life and in eternity. There’s no reason to doubt.

For all this we can thank the Lord. His kingdom lasts forever, and it is good.

If this brief meditation was helpful to you, I hope you will check out the other materials on our website at www.WittenbergCoMo.com and consider supporting us.

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    About Throwing Inkwells

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