He Will Fight

As Pharaoh approached, the Israelites looked up, and there were the Egyptians, marching after them. They were terrified and cried out to the Lord. They said to Moses, “Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us to the desert to die? What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt? Didn’t we say to you in Egypt, ‘Leave us alone; let us serve the Egyptians’? It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the desert!”

Moses answered the people, “Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again. The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still” (Ex 14:10-14). 

This Lent I'm struck by some parallels between Jesus facing the cross in the Garden of Gethsemane and the Israelites facing the Red Sea:  both faced an overwhelming challenge.  God did part the Red Sea;  what about the many situations where believers have asked for justice on big issues and small issues and God did not seem to come through? I can relate to the Israelites. When I am in the trenches of trying to make a grade, launch a project or love someone well, how do I know that the Lord will fight for me as I work?

Knowing that his betrayer was coming Jesus said “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me” (Matt. 26:24). A friend of mine once said, “Yet Jesus did not have his prayer answered with immediate justice in this life” and continued, “The question that Jesus poses for us is this ‘Will we continue to trust our heavenly Father if he does not answer our prayers immediately, but instead asks us to follow Christ by enduring injustice in this life?’” Will we put one foot in front of the other trusting “the fight” in his hands?

When confronted with a seemingly impossible task the Israelites fell into self-pity with their prayer, “What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt?” But they are assured, “Do not be afraid. Stand firm...the Lord will fight for you” and then they walked through a dry seabed between walls of water - a tremendous act of courage and trust; it was a risk.  Similarly, we are called to take action that is risky. In more than one season Rom 8:28 has provided me with the assurance to take the next step: “We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him” (Rom 8:28a).

I opened with, “How do I know that He will fight for justice?” When it looks like we are losing and when it looks like God is losing and when it looks like all hope is lost, what can we do?

What is your next step? Ponder this truth as you take it:  He did fight for me. He fought for my soul, my purity, my future - and He won. Historically, the most wicked evil that the world has ever known, the killing of the Son of God, was turned on its head through resurrection.  I don’t know how He will resurrect this particular situation for justice, but He is the Lord of history and He died for me, so He knows how to do this and He will do this.

As we set out into the knowns and the unknowns of life this summer we will make plans; some will succeed and others not. When the latter happens we believe that there is always a deeper provision, and a deeper justice at work behind the scenes. He has a relentless commitment to work things out (Rom 8:28). At the cross he did work things out. Know that in the present leg of your journey: “The Lord will fight.”

40 Days of Lent: Day 33

Luke 17:  5-6 -  Cam F. and Mark dV

The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!”   He replied, “If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it will obey you/

Faith is a funny thing. It is hearing and pursuing what we cannot see, but know is real.  

On this Lenten journey I have been reflecting on my faith. In my usual prayers I ask God for good grades, good health and that God might bless food to my body. From this passage I have been challenged to ask God for 

something else:  more faith. The disciples did this and Christ honored it.

Jesus saw the potential for things to occur that they never would have imagined possible. This small group took Jesus’ teaching on faith and started a movement that shaped the world we know today in significant ways,   ways that they never would have perceived at the time. 

If we have faith like a mustard seed, we can tell a tree to be uprooted and planted into the sea. Today, as an entire community let us ask God for more faith - who knows what could happen?

40 Days of Lent: Day 32

Luke 18:1 - Mark dV

“Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up.”

As human beings we find it difficult to persevere in prayer. To encourage us to pray, Jesus seeks to remind us of whom we are praying to by drawing a comparison:

Judge - needs to be worn down. (v5)                            God - does not need to be worn down.(v8) 

Judge - no interest in listening (v.4)                                God - eagerly listens. (v7)

Judge: puts it off, (7b)                                                   God: seeks justice quickly. (v8)

What’s on your heart right now?  (This is an invitation to pray.)

40 Days of Lent: Day 31

Luke 16: 7-10 -- Mark dV

“Suppose one of you has a servant plowing or looking after the sheep. Will he say to the servant when he comes in from the field, ‘Come along now and sit down to eat’? Won’t he rather say, ‘prepare my supper, get yourself ready and wait on me while I eat and drink; after that you may eat and drink’? Will he thank the servant because he did what he was told to do? So you also, when you have done everything you were told to do, should say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only 

done our duty.’"

Do Jesus' words here feel harsh to you?  

A posture of service is better than a posture of entitlement. The servant is hungry, but he must serve. The servant is called to follow Jesus who “humbled himself by becoming obedient to death...therefore God exalted him to the highest place”. 

Our God is holy. When we do work for him we are unworthy servants, doing holy work. Our duty is our privilege. Our hearts do not say,  “My work is hard - where’s my congratulations?”, but “My work is holy - I am an unworthy servant for a bigger cause”.  

Today, please know that your work for Redeemer is holy and ultimately for a bigger cause.

40 Days of Lent: Day 30

Luke 17: 5-6 -- Mark dV

The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!”   He replied, “If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it will obey you.

I have always struggled to relate to this passage; why would I want to uproot a tree and plant it into the sea? This is not normal now, but neither was it then. Trees don’t do this.

Jesus said with “faith as small as small as a mustard seed” the abnormal was possible. Can I have a baby faith and expect the seemingly absurd to happen? Yes. I have come to the conclusion that Christianity is less about the size of a personal faith, and more about the size of a personal God (without discounting the necessity of the former). This may sound cliche, but it’s what I need to know when I am praying for what is seemingly absurd: faith is less about me and my capacity and more about Him and his capacity.

Contemplating the cross at lent reminds me of His capacity.

40 Days of Lent: Day 29

Day 29 - Luke 16:  13-15 - SH

“No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.”

The Pharisees, who loved money, heard all this and were sneering at Jesus. He said to them,“You are the ones who justify yourselves in the eyes of others, but God knows your hearts. What people value highly is detestable in God’s sight."

When I was in my late 20s, I went to visit a man from our church who was close to death.  At one point he whispered, "thanks for coming to say good-bye, even though doing this makes you terribly nervous."  He saw through me, and his honesty made me smile.

There's no sense in beating around the bush on the way to death.  Jesus lays it out here in stark black and white:  "folks, you've got to choose. You can't put God in your back pocket as an insurance policy while pursuing other things like money."

"Lord Jesus, as I follow you to the cross, search my heart and grant me courage and grace to put to death the things that hinder my following you."  

40 Days of Lent: Day 28

Day 28 - Luke 16:  16-17 -- Robb P

 “The Law and the Prophets were proclaimed until John. Since that time, the good news of the kingdom of God is being preached, and everyone is forcing their way into it.  It is easier for heaven and earth to disappear than for the least stroke of a pen to drop out of the Law."

How does this make sense -  the good news (gospel) takes over from the law and prophets, but not the smallest stroke drops from the law?

In fact, the teachings of Jesus are more demanding that the Law, not less. It is not merely what we do, but it also involves why we do what we do and who we are. The good news of the Kingdom transcends rather than replaces the Law. 

As the LORD prophesied through Jeremiah, "This is the covenant I will make with the people of Israel after that time,” declares the Lord. “I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people."

Consider. How do we treat people? Who or what do we actually serve? What or whom do we love? What are our priorities?