Friday Five, 1/29/2010

This week's Friday Five was written on Wednesday, and set to post on Friday. For those calendar wizards out there, that means if anything significant happens/happened on Thursday it's getting the shaft this week. If it is super-major-significant, I'll give it a shout-out on next week's Friday Five. So, for this week:

#5 - Top prospect Grant Desme retires from baseball to enter the priesthood
Grant Desme, a top prospect outfielder for the Oakland A's, decided to end his baseball career to pursue a higher, and significantly lower paying, calling as a priest. In case you were wondering, this isn't a case of a guy trying his hand at baseball, being unsuccessful at it, and deciding to go elsewhere. Desme was the sole player in all of minor league baseball to post a 30-30 season in 2009, and he was named the MVP of the Arizona Fall League. There's a good chance that he would have been invited to Spring Training, and even an outside chance that he would have broken camp with the team and traveled back to Oakland. Desme battled some injuries early on in his minor league career that gave him plenty of time to think about his faith. As a pastor, I am always pleased to hear when people decide to pursue their calling into ministry. As a pastor who played baseball from 4th to 8th grade and dominated at church/seminary league softball, I'm a little jealous that he got to play professionally for a little while before entering the ministry.

#4 - Kelly Kulick becomes the first woman to win a PBA tournament
My initial reaction to hearing this story was, "Why do women need to be in the PBA when there is an LPBA... or something of the sort?" Now that I have started this, I realize that most people may not even know what the PBA is - it's the Professional Bowler's Association. It's like the PGA for bowlers. Anyhoo! After bowling for several years myself, I know that there is no reason why a female cannot beat a male at bowling. Yes, it is a bit of a power sport, but there is a lot of skill that is involved, and skill is not gender-biased. However, what sealed this as a top story for me is 1) she is the first woman to win a PBA event, and 2) she totally dominated her competition. The final score was 265-195. She could have thrown gutters for the last two frames and probably have won.

#3 - UK gets second #1 ranking of the decade... and then loses to South Carolina
Last week, I mentioned that Lexington, KY was probably going into some sort of hysteria because UK was going to move into the top spot in the college basketball rankings. Indeed, from what I saw on Facebook from my Lexington friends, that is what happened. On Monday, UK was announced at the new #1 in men's college basketball, and on Tuesday, they went out and stunk it up against an inferior foe in South Carolina (who was 11-8 before the game). I'm pretty sure some people in Lexington bars were ready for Calipari to get fired so Pitino could come back to UK and they could once again, rise to glory... and fall very quickly.

#2 - Arenas and Crittendon suspended for remainder of the NBA season
Apparently Gilbert Arenas and Javarias Crittendon forgot that in 1997 the NBA team in Washington, D.C. changed their name from the Bullets to the Wizards, and in doing so, decided to bring what they thought was the team mascot to the locker room. As a result, the Wizards lose two players for the season, and fall further into mediocrity.

#1 - NFC/AFC Championship Games
The Super Bowl has been decided, and I can't help but take some credit for it. Here's how it played out: Katie and I were at Wal-Mart doing some grocery shopping when the AFC game between the Colts and Jets started. We get out to the car and I found the game on the radio, score tied at 0-0. The Colts drive down the field and kick a field goal to go up 3-0. I get annoyed at the radio commercial and shut it off. I turn it back on and Feely is kicking an extra point to put the Jets up 7-3. Colts get another field goal to make it 7-6. We get home and I start taking everything in the house and putting the groceries away. I come back, and the Jets are up 17-6. Hmmm. So, I finally sit down to watch the game. Feely misses a field goal, and a couple plays later, Manning hits Collie for a 16 yard touchdown. I'm feeling pretty good about a 17-13 deficit going into the half. From that point on, Manning cuts up the Jets top-ranked defense, and the Colts stop the Jets top-ranked running game. Colts win 30-17. You're welcome.

Later that night, Katie and I go downstairs to watch television. The Saints and Vikings are tied up at 28, and the Vikings have driven down to field goal range with less than 2 minutes left. It's 3rd down, and I am thinking that the Vikings are probably going to run it to the middle of the field and kick a field goal to win it as time expires. Then I see that it's a passing play and I say to my lovely wife, "About the only chance the Saints have now is for Brett Favre to do something stupid, get intercepted and have it returned for a touchdown." As soon as I am done saying that, Favre does something stupid and the Saints intercept the ball. They don't return it for a touchdown, but they do get the ball in overtime and end up kicking a field goal to send them to the Super Bowl in Miami. Saints win 31-28. You're welcome.

A Compelling Call

The following was preached at Veedersburg and Hillsboro UMC on Sunday, January 24, 2010. The text for this week's message is Luke 4:14-21.

Today is going to be the first of a two part series on Luke 4. We are going to look at the first half of this story where Jesus arrives at his hometown and see what we can learn from what is going on here. And next week, we’ll look at the reaction to Jesus’ first sermon in the gospel of Luke. I think there are some really important things that we have to learn from this chapter of Luke. To start off, let’s get a broader view of what is going on when this part of the text.

First off, it comes at the tail end of Jesus’ temptation in the wilderness. Luke tells us that Jesus was in the wilderness for forty days and during this time, he ate nothing. This figure of 40 days is pretty significant. It would bring to mind the 40 day fasts of Moses, when he was writing the words of the covenant on the tablets in Exodus 34, and the prophet Elijah, shortly after the dramatic story of the priests of Baal at Mount Carmel in 1 Kings 19.

According to how Luke sets up his gospel, this is the beginning of Jesus’ ministry. In verses 14-15 we read that Jesus was teaching around the area surrounding Galilee. What is important to remember when it comes to the gospels is that they are not a strictly chronological account of Jesus’ life. The gospel writers orchestrate their stories in such a way that where the stories are located is important.

For example, last week we looked at how Jesus’ ministry begins in the Gospel of John. His first public act of ministry is changing the water into wine at a wedding in Cana, and we looked at the implications of that action through the lens of a first century Jewish person. In Mark, we see that Jesus’ first public act of ministry is to preach to the people that the kingdom of God was at hand. In Matthew, Jesus begins by preaching a message similar to the one found in Mark. But in Luke, Jesus’ public ministry begins in this section. We are told that Jesus teaches in the synagogues of the surrounding area, and the first bit of content that we hear is from Jesus teaching in the synagogue at Nazareth, his hometown. And the themes that we will see in this chapter of Luke are themes that we will be visiting over and over again as we continue to read through the gospel.

Before we get into the real meat of this passage, I want to stop and ask you a question. If someone were to write the story of your life, what things would be in there? What are the important things in your life that would be a natural part of your biography? Is it your family? Friends? Job? Accomplishments? Pets? Mastery of board games? What is it that is so much a part of your life that your biography would be incomplete without it? What is it that guides your life?

At the beginning of Luke’s gospel, we see something that was important to Jesus’ life, something that was probably a major part of his upbringing, and was most definitely a part of his adult life. In verse 16, Luke makes a small statement that gives us a clue as to what is important to Jesus. He writes, “And as was his (Jesus’) custom, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day…” Did you catch that? “As was his custom.” Going to the synagogue was something that Jesus did frequently; it was customary; it was a significant and regular part of his life.

Just before we get to this passage, Jesus is in the wilderness being tempted by Satan. And in the face of all these temptations, Jesus leans on Scripture. Every challenge and temptation that Satan throws down before him is met with the word of God, and more specifically, from the book of Deuteronomy. Now, where do you think Jesus learned this? He didn’t learn and memorize Scripture on accident. He learned and memorized it because he read it. He spent time in it. Yes, it certainly helps that, as the Son of God, Jesus had a hand in authoring it. But don’t forget, to paraphrase from Philippians 2, Jesus poured out himself, and he took the form of a servant in his humanity. At his baptism, we see that he was empowered by the Holy Spirit. And everything that Jesus does in his ministry is not strictly because he is the Son of God, but because he is empowered by the Holy Spirit.

In the midst of his ministry, we also see how important the power of prayer is. Jesus is constantly praying. There are places where Jesus goes off by himself just to spend time with the Father in prayer. Right before his arrest and crucifixion, what was Jesus doing? Not getting a good night’s sleep to rest up for what was to come. He was in the garden praying that God’s will be done.

So, we already know that Jesus spent a good amount of time reading, studying and memorizing the Word. And now, we see that Jesus also spent a significant amount of time worshiping in the synagogue as well. When you look at your biography, could somebody say the same about you? Could somebody recount a story about your life and begin it in the same way that Luke begins this story?

I’m a big believer that church is important, and, no, it’s not just because I like to see a full sanctuary. I believe that church is important because it gives us the foundation of faith that is so crucial to make it through a difficult day. I believe it gives us the opportunity to fellowship with people who believe in a God that is bigger than anything that we will face in this world. I believe it gives us a chance to reevaluate where we are spiritually and to grow into the person that we are called to be. Is worship customary, or do you just come when you feel like it? Worship in the synagogue was so important to Jesus that it was a habit. And it was significant enough that Luke mentions Jesus’ habit of worshiping at the synagogue.

Now, in the Jewish synagogue, there was no professional clergy. There was a president of the synagogue who would invite someone to read the Scripture and comment on it. Typically, the comments were lessons that they memorized in synagogue school, followed by corrections by the elders if the commentator managed to mess something up. On this particular day, Jesus was asked to be the one who read and commented on the Scripture.

Jesus was given the scroll of Isaiah, because they didn’t have books, they had scrolls; big difference from what we have. And another difference between Jesus’ Scriptures and ours – he didn’t have chapters and verses. Jesus isn’t thumbing through the pages looking for big numbers to help him find this passage like we usually do, he is twisting his was through a scroll to find this passage.

He stops on what we call Isaiah 61, and reads from the scroll. “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” He rolls up the scroll and sits down. At this point, everyone in the synagogue is looking at him, waiting to hear what he has to say. Put yourself in this position for a minute. Some kid that grew up here has been teaching all over the state, and he has come home. He is asked to read the Scripture and comment on it during worship at the synagogue. Everyone in the crowd is waiting to hear what he has to say.

Some, no doubt, are expecting him to recite the lesson on this passage that he learned in school. Some of his schoolmates may have even been in the crowd. Some of the people are bored out of their minds, but they are they because that’s what they are supposed to do on Sabbath. Some of the people are half asleep because they stayed up late at Bobby’s bar mitzvah the night before. Some are really excited to hear what he has to say. Some are still upset about having to sing that one song again, and aren’t really paying attention in the first place. Some are thinking about whether or not they left the fire burning back home. With all of this going on in the background, Jesus says, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”

Wait, what? That wasn’t in the lesson at synagogue school. What is he talking about? They never talked about how things were fulfilled. They talked about how they were going to be fulfilled, but Jesus here is talking about something being fulfilled right then and there. His classmates are wondering if they fell asleep on that day at school. This isn’t what Jesus is supposed to do at this point in the worship service. He’s messing it up big time. But is that what was really going on? Is Jesus just making stuff up because he forgot his synagogue school lesson? I don’t think so. I seriously doubt that Jesus is just making it up as he goes along. What Jesus is talking about is something bigger than plain memorization. It is something bigger than the lessons they learned in synagogue school. Jesus is talking about what God is doing right now, in their midst, and it is huge.

As with so much of the writing of the prophet Isaiah, this particular passage has the restoration of the people of Israel in mind. And in Isaiah there is a figure that is referred to as the Servant of the Lord, who plays a major role in this restoration. In the same way that Jesus is empowered and filled with the Holy Spirit in his ministry, the Servant of the Lord in Isaiah is anointed by the Spirit to proclaim this message. And just what is that message? It is good news to the poor, recovery of sight for the blind, liberty for the oppressed. It is the year of the Lord’s favor.

In Isaiah, the good news was that the people no longer had to live in exile. But realistically, this is much more than a simple change in governmental circumstance. The exile wasn’t just about their physical and political situations. The exile was about the spiritual state that the people of Israel found themselves in. Even after the people had been back in the land for quite some time, there was still a sense of spiritual exile, of distance from God. Political restoration had taken place, but if we read Scripture carefully, we see that spiritual restoration hadn’t taken place yet.

Originally, this Isaiah passage was understood to be solely about their physical return from Babylon. But when the people returned, they came to realize that it was about so much more. And in proclaiming the good news to the poor, Jesus is letting them know that circumstances have changed. The true fulfillment of this passage in Isaiah was taking place right before their eyes.

They are no longer in exile, but now the time of restoration is occurring. And this is a restoration that wasn’t initiated when the Persians took over Babylon and allowed the Jewish people to return to their homeland. It is restoration that was initiated by the Servant of the Lord, Jesus the Christ, the anointed one of God. In Jesus’ ministry, through his life, death and resurrection, this restoration takes place, and this passage serves as a guiding vision for what happens in Jesus’ ministry. It is his call, his mission, and his purpose. The good news is that the people were no longer in spiritual exile, but now there was a path of restoration that was being laid out before them.

The second part of the passage is the recovery of sight for the blind. You may know that Jesus healed people of their physical blindness during his ministry, but more importantly, he opened their eyes to what God was doing all around them. Again, there is more going on here than just the physical. The people were stuck in a spiritual blindness as well. They couldn’t see what God was up to, and until Jesus came along, they weren’t going to see what God was doing. Jesus opened their eyes to a whole new perspective on life. Spiritual blindness is a problem that we all face if we are not intentional about following Jesus. Jesus is the one who helps us see. Apart from him, we are truly blind.

Perhaps the most important part of the passage that Jesus turns to in Isaiah is the proclamation of liberty, or release, for the captives. And this is so important because of the word that is translated as “release”, or “liberty,” is the same word that is used in other places of the New Testament and translated as “forgiveness.” Forgiveness from our sins and freedom for the captives are not all that different from each other. In a sense, we are captives of our sin. We are trapped in them, and without Jesus, there is no freedom.

This passage also mentions the year of the Lord’s favor. It means something far more significant than we realize. In the background of this part of the text is Leviticus 25:10, which talks about a time when everything is to go back to the way it was supposed to be. In Israel, every 50 years, there was supposed to be a time when all the land was returned to its original landowners. Everybody got to start back at square one. This was really so that the people would remember that the land was not theirs to own, but it was theirs because God gave it to them. It was to be a year that was consecrated for the Lord. It was supposed to be a celebration. But there is no record of this ever actually happening in Israel. But Isaiah comes along and says that the year of the Lord’s favor is coming. And now, in the synagogue of his hometown, Jesus is saying that time is now.

When Jesus says, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing,” he is proclaiming that liberty. He is giving sight to the blind. He is proclaiming the year of the Lord’s favor. He is saying that the wait is over. Remember, in Luke’s gospel, this is the opening of Jesus’ ministry. It is the scene that sets the stage for the rest of the gospel. Next week, we’ll get into the rest of what Jesus has to say as well as the people’s reaction, but for this week, I want to ask you a question.

What is your mission statement? What is your purpose? What would sum up the direction of your life? One of the things that I hope to accomplish this year is to figure out the direction and call on us as a congregation, but I also hope and pray that you would come to know your life purpose. This is something that I can’t do for you. You have to make the commitment to open yourself up to what God is doing in your life and in the community around you. Jesus came to proclaim the good news and to set the captives free. What are you here for?

Movie Tour: The Book of Eli

I had a couple hours to steal away the other day and took advantage of them to see a movie that I knew Katie didn't want to see. As you can probably guess from the title, it was The Book of Eli.

Plot Summary
The Book of Eli takes place 30 years after "the big flash," as the characters refer to it. From the landscape, some dialog and the bleak feel of the movie, "the big flash" is a part of a nuclear war. Most of the younger people in the world cannot read as books are at a premium, and literacy is not a priority; survival is. Eli is a man who travels the road, which is a dangerous place to be; full of gangs that will kill you for any of the littlest things that you might be carrying around. Eli carries something that is beyond rare in the world - a Bible. After the big flash, people blamed religion, and all the Bibles in the world were burned, except this one, which Eli claims he found by following the instructions of a voice in his head. Eli travels to a town ruled be a man named Carnegie, who desperately desires what Eli has for very different reasons.

Review
I really liked this movie. It is a rare movie that puts such an emphasis on the importance of the Bible and does so in a very un-hokey way. On the flip side, The Book of Eli is very violent at points and the language is less than savory; however, these add to the feel of the post-apocalyptic world, rather than detract from the movie. The importance of Eli's devotional life is a crucial lesson, one that sticks out to the reader as the movie comes to a close.

Recommendation
Language and violence make this a movie with less appeal to the masses, but I still think it is a worthwhile use of your time if you are even slightly interested in it. It is probably one of the best movies of this young year, but it won't get widespread appeal because of the much-deserved R rating. It is one that I would watch again.

Best Part
The closing of the movie. The way everything comes together in the end is pretty unexpected. At one point, Eli has a choice between the life of a person and maintaining his course. And we get to see the true meaning of Scripture in the decision that he makes.

Friday Five, 1/22/2010

And here's your top 5 stories from the world of sports; at least, the world of sports as I see it, for the week of 1/15-1/21.

#5 - #1 Texas loses to #9 Kansas State, and it's no upset.
College basketball's #1 ranked team brought it's 17-0 record into Manhattan, Kansas to face the K-State Wildcats, and left with its longhorns a little shorter. But here's the thing, Kansas State reacted to the win like they expected to win. And, of course, maybe that's not so far-fetched. Kansas State was 15-2 entering the game, and had only lost one game at home this year. In fact, I haven't seen anything to verify this, but I heard that K-State was actually favored in this game. This loss by Texas left Kentucky as the sole unbeaten in college basketball, so euphoria is setting in in Lexington... at least until Calipari leaves for a better job and Kentucky ends up getting investigated and placed on sanctions.

#4 - Memphis loses its first conference game
Speaking of Calipari, the now Calipari-less Memphis Tigers lost to UTEP to snap its 64 game conference winning streak. In the game recap, it mentions that Memphis senior Pierre Henderson-Niles has never lost a conference game. Wait a minute, Memphis has a guy that stuck around for his senior season? Regardless, a 64 game conference win streak is pretty impressive, even if you do play in Conference USA, known for such college basketball powers as Rice, SMU, and Tulane... Wait, what?

#3 - Kobe v. LeBron II
Now, it's not very often that I'm going to have a lot to say about the NBA, and this is the reason. The Laker-Cavs game had been billed as Kobe v. LeBron all week. It was supposed to be the matchup of the year with two of the best players in the game today. But here's the thing: basketball is a team sport. It wasn't like Kobe and LeBron were going to go one-on-one for a full 48 minutes. There are always going to be another 8 guys on the floor. Are these two of the most exciting individuals in the game right now? Yes, but they aren't the only ones. Oh, by the way, Kobe became the youngest to 25,000 career points, LeBron dropped 37 points and the Cavs won.

#2 - Young pitchers making big news
I couldn't pick between the two stories, so I thought I'd join them into one story instead. Mariner's pitcher Felix Hernandez signed an extension to stay with the Mariners for at least another 5 seasons. The deal is reportedly worth $78 million and will keep Felix in Seattle until 2014. The Mariners, with their offseason moves, have apparently put themselves in a position to be the favorites in the AL West. And the second young pitcher making waves is the pot-smoking, Cy Young-stealing, phenom Tim Lincecum, who filed for a record $13 million in arbitration. I don't know much about the arbitration process, but I know that the player submits a figure, the team submits a figure and the arbitration wizard decides how much the player will be making next season. The Giants countered with an $8 million figure. I think Lincecum has a pretty good chance of getting his money, seeing as he has won two Cy Young awards in his young career.

#1 - NFL Playoffs
In case you didn't know, the Divisional round has happened since last week's Friday Five. The Vikings embarrassed the Cowboys, the Saints sent Kurt Warner off into the sunset, the Colts looked refreshed against the Ravens, and the Chargers managed to blow their shot at shutting up Rex Ryan and the Jets when All-Pro kicker Ned Kaeding missed three field goals and they lost by 3 at home. It does set up some good match-ups for the Conference Championship games. The NFC's top 2 teams get to decide who is really the best, and the Colts have a chance to prove that they could have easily beat the Jets had they not pulled their starters in the 3rd quarter of their Week 16 game.

Digging Deeper

The following was preached at Veedersburg and Hillsboro UMC on Sunday, January 17, 2010. The text for this week's message is John 2:1-11.

The story of the wedding at Cana is a story that most people have probably heard at some point. It’s one of those stories that we know when people just say, “wedding at Cana.” It pops into our head right away. And it is a perfect example of how important it is to be familiar with Scripture. There is so much in this story that we can easily miss simply by not spending some time in the Old Testament. Again, it’s one of the reasons I really want to encourage everyone to read through the Bible this year; to dwell in the richness of Scripture.

I have to be honest with you. I’m sure there’s a place, somewhere, for Bibles that only include the New Testament, but I don’t really like them. Is that bad of me to say? I don’t know, maybe, but stick with me for a minute. What kind of message do they convey? It may not be intentional, but they give the subtle message that the Old Testament is not important. I’ve heard churches proudly proclaim that they are “New Testament churches” as if they have it all figured out and we don’t need the Old Testament. Given the number of times that I have preached out of the Old Testament, you can already guess how I feel about these messages.

The Old Testament is foundational to the New Testament. When the New Testament authors were writing, they only knew the Old Testament as their Scriptures. Are we to suppose that because we have the collection of 27 books and letters that we call the New Testament, that we don’t need to know the other 39 books of Scripture? I would say it is quite the opposite. Because we have the New Testament, we need to know the Old Testament all the more; because so much in the New Testament is written with an Old Testament worldview in mind. We can’t forget our foundations.

There needs to be a balance between these two parts of Scripture. What is it about this particular section of John’s gospel that makes me say this? This passage, which is so familiar to so many people, is making some major claims regarding what is going on in Jesus’ ministry, but we don’t necessarily see them because we aren’t familiar with the Old Testament foundations or the cultural surroundings of this part of the text.

During this time, weddings were huge events. A typical Jewish wedding took place at night, and the wedding party would be awaiting the arrival of the groom. When the groom was spotted, there would be a great amount of shouting and excitement, and the bride would drop everything that she was doing in order to put on her wedding dress. There is a sense of anticipation and excitement when it comes to the wedding. The bride would come out to meet the groom, and they would go to his house for the ceremony.

Upon the consummation of the marriage, there would be a seven-day festival. It was a great feast and a very public event. It was a celebration. Can you imagine having a seven-day wedding reception? It’s like everything just stops because this marriage is so important to everybody. Everyone is having a great time, and it is because of the love that is being expressed between the bride and groom.

The anticipation of the bride at the arrival of the groom was shared by the Jewish people who were eagerly awaiting their Messiah during this same time period. Remember, at the time, they believed that the Messiah would be a great political and military leader that would restore Israel to the prominence it had under King David. The people of Israel were keeping an eye out for the Messiah; at least they were supposed to be. But you see, they lost sight of this. They lost sight of what was really important. They let the mundane, day to day parts of their lives overshadow what was going to be the most important and exciting event in their history.

But now, as John writes in his gospel, the Messiah, the Christ, Jesus, shows up at a wedding, and I don’t think it is a coincidence that this is where his first miracle takes place. What we see here is Jesus basically announcing his arrival to the people, but in a very subtle way. You see, what’s also important for us to realize is that weddings were symbolic of the Messianic kingdom. In Isaiah 62, when there is talk of the salvation of Jerusalem, when the focus is on the restoration of the people, the language that is used is marriage language.

As we continue in the New Testament, we see the theme of marriage and the kingdom of God getting used over and over again, especially by Jesus. In Mark 2, Jesus refers to himself as the bridegroom. In Matthew 25, we have the parable of the ten virgins who were awaiting the bridegroom. Just three chapters earlier, Jesus tells of a parable about a wedding feast. The people were not unaware of the wedding imagery when it came to the Messiah and the kingdom of God. John himself comes back to this theme in Revelation 19:9, when he talks about the marriage supper of the lamb. That would have been part of this great feast of the wedding celebration.

All of this imagery and expectation and anticipation are bound up in the fact that Jesus is coming to a wedding. It’s subtle, but it’s there. And all it takes to uncover it is an inquisitive mind, some time and some familiarity with the Bible and Bible study resources. I remember one time in college when I was helping a person write a paper on Isaiah. The one real piece of advice that I gave her is to always ask one question. “Why?” If you ask that simple question over and over again, you’ll start digging deeper and deeper into what is going on in Scripture. It does take some time, but it is not impossible.
There are a lot of good resources out there, but the best resource is the Bible itself. Because, here’s the kicker, the more you read and study the Bible, the more sense it begins to make. You can make connections that you never even thought about. Light bulbs start coming on all over the place. It just takes some time, dedication and perseverance. And this is just the beginning.

Now, I’m going to say what some of y’all are probably thinking now. Is it possible that I am looking too much into this? Is it possible that this isn’t at all what is going on in the text, and I’m making a mountain out of a molehill, as the saying goes? Because isn’t that always one of the dangers when we come to interpreting the Bible? Don’t we run the risk of taking things the wrong way and getting things mixed up? Absolutely, there is always a risk of taking things too far. But, lucky for us, the wedding isn’t the only thing that points to the kingdom of God being at hand in this passage.

Did you notice the problem that presents itself immediately in the passage? In no time at all, Jesus’ mother comes up and says, “They have no wine.” This was a major no-no in Jesus’ day. And it’s not because you can’t have fun at a wedding reception without wine. It’s not because these people were really thirsty. It is a matter of hospitality. It was the host’s responsibility to make sure that everything was taken care of and that people were not in want of anything. For them to run out of wine would have been seen as inhospitable. And so, what does Jesus do?

He tells the servants to fill these giant stone jars with water and take some of it to the master of the feast. They do just that, and the master of the feast is impressed with the quality of the wine. It is apparently later in the feast because he basically says, “Thanks for saving the best for last!” This was unusual because typically, you’d start with the good stuff and by the end of the festival, you’d expect it to be a little more watered down. The groom would have been given a boost in his hospitality points by this act, in a culture where hospitality was so important.

We could spend some time here talking about the importance of hospitality in light of this event, but I think that is another discussion for another time. Hospitality is so important for us as the church, that it warrants more discussion at a different time. What is important for the train of thought that we’ve been riding today is the wine. Why would the wine be important? Now, you see? There’s that one little question again. “Why?”

Wine is important because it helps bring to mind one of the promises of God that is found in the prophet Joel. Joel was written sometime after the exile to Babylon. The people are back in the land, but there is still a sense that they are in spiritual exile. Joel tells the people that there is still the need to return to the Lord. There is talk of the day of the Lord, the day when the kingdom of God will be brought upon the earth. And in that day, when it comes, when not if, Joel 2:24 says, “The threshing floors shall be full of grain; the vats shall overflow with wine and oil.” The connection was made by the first century that large amounts of wine would be associated with the coming of the kingdom of God.

Now, going back to John, he writes that there were 6 stone water jars, each holding about 20-30 gallons. Do some quick math on that, and we’re talking about 120-180 gallons of wine. That’s a lot of wine. At one point it was water, but now it has been changed to these large quantities of wine. It is a subtle miracle of gigantic proportions. Because who are the only people to know what happened? Jesus’ mother, his disciples and the people who served the water/wine. That’s it.

John closes this story with two statements that are important. First, he says that this is the first of Jesus’ signs where he manifested his glory. What is a sign? Well, as we read through John’s gospel it becomes clear that a sign is not a neat trick to amuse people. A sign is not a miracle that Jesus does just for the sake amazing people. A sign is something that points to something larger than itself. Often it gives you direction, or it lets you know some important information.

Jesus’ miracles are signs because they point to something far beyond their surface meaning. In this case, turning the water into wine at a wedding feast is symbolic of the arrival of the kingdom of God. Jesus is ushering in the Messianic era, and the people don’t even realize what is going on. Truthfully, at first glance, we don’t necessarily know what is going on either. But who does? His disciples, and that’s the second important statement that John makes.

John writes that Jesus’ disciples believe in him. It sounds so simple, but it is the proper response to what happened in this passage. They make the connections; they saw all that happened. They knew that something major was going on. It’s clear through reading the gospels that they still had a long way to go to fully understand what was going on, but they made the first step, and I think that is so important for us to remember.

You see, when it comes to reading the Bible in 2010, we’re going to start seeing things that we haven’t necessarily seen before. We may not fully understand what is going on when we read them, but if we press on and continue to dwell richly in the word of God, things will start to come together. It is a process. It will be a long process, and it may take several months of doing it before things really start clicking for you. But isn’t that worth it? Isn’t it worth the time investment to be able to read and understand God’s word better than you did a year ago? I think it is, or else I wouldn’t have challenged you to do it in the first place.

There are several things that we can learn from this passage, but I think what I want to emphasize is the fact that there’s always a little bit more that we can learn. The disciples believe in Jesus after this event, but then spend a good amount of time trying to understand their belief. They spend three years with Jesus and even then, it is not until they see his resurrected body that they really start to understand. It is a time investment to read through the Bible in a year, but I can promise you that it will be worth it in the end.

So where it is in your life that Jesus is turning water into wine? Where is it in your life that God is working in some awesome ways, but you miss out? Are you like the disciples, who see what Jesus is doing and put your trust in him? Or are you like the master of the banquet? Do you taste the goodness of what God is doing, but fail to see the fullness of it? You see, the master of the banquet just knew that this was the best wine of the celebration. He didn’t know why it was so good, and he didn’t see the incredible implications of Jesus’ first miracle. Because he didn’t go any further. He didn’t dig deep enough. Dig deep this year. Read the word of God and let it affect you in some serious ways.

Friday Five

The Friday Five is, hopefully, going to be a weekly edition, we I take a brief look at the top 5 sports stories of the week. I'm attempting to be more disciplined about my blogging, and hopefully, this will help be write more often.... or I'll stop inside of two months. One or the other....

Anyway! This week's Friday Five:

#5 - Favre/Cowboys press conference bantering.
Brett Favre continues to endear himself to the nation by saying stupid things. In a press conference earlier this week, he said that it would be a "shock" if they are not spending next week preparing for the NFC Championship Game. But would it really? The Cowboys are playing very well right now, and the same cannot be said for the Vikings down the stretch. Cowboys safety Gerald Sensabaugh said in reply, "We have to beat ourselves. The way we're playing right now, I don't think we can be beat."

On the one hand, it's nice to see players having so much confidence in their team's ability to win the game. One the other hand, this is the reason why there is a phrase "bulletin board material." Playing for the NFC championship is going to be motivation enough to have every body jacked up to play a great game. Is there really any need to be cocky and arrogant about it? Not really. This will probably be a good game, but that's it. It's the Divisional Round guys. Keep it to yourselves.

#4 - Blake Griffin, NBA #1 overall pick, injuries knee and will not play this season for the Clippers.
The Clippers continued their fall from mediocrity just a few years after making the playoffs. They ended up with the #1 overall pick and selected Blake Griffin, the Oklahoma big man. However, Griffin injured his knee after landing awkwardly from a dunk in the final preseason game. He had be rehabbing the injury, but the increased workload ended up requiring surgery that will end his season. The good news is that he still retains his rookie status... I'm not sure why that's good news, but there had to be something to put there.

Griffin becomes the second #1 pick in the last few years to injure himself and miss his rookie season. Indianapolis product Greg Oden left after one year at Ohio State when he was drafted by the Portland Trail Blazers, and ended up missing his rookie season due to injury. This brings up the question of whether or not teams should be looking at drafting big with their high draft picks. Big guys have a lot of weight on their frame, and a larger chance of being injured. Is it worth the risk? It's hard to put a blanket statement out there, but in the last couple of years, it hasn't looked like too good of an idea.

#3 - Pete Carroll returns to the NFL to coach the Seahawks.
Apparently this wasn't too much of a surprise, which surprises me. I didn't think that Carroll wanted to work in the NFL again, and after building a legacy at USC, I thought for certain that he would retire from there. And I was wrong. Apparently the Seahawks opportunity was the one that he was waiting for. Not only is he going to be the coach, but he is going to be the executive vice president of the team as well. They are giving him free reign to do what he sees fit to build a dynasty in the Pacific Northwest.

One thing is for sure. Pete is going to the best division to make the biggest impact possible. Let's face it, Arizona has been pretty good for the last couple of years, but neither the Rams nor the 49ers have put up too much of a fight in the division for quite some time. It's basically been Arizona or Seattle for the last several years. To win in the playoffs, you have to get to the playoffs, and with the news that this might be Kurt Warner's last go-around, Seattle is in a great position to build a dynasty.

#2 - Lane Kiffin bolts the University of Tennessee for the University of Southern California.
I already wrote about the reaction in Tennessee to this news. Basically, Lane Kiffin decided to take his dream job, replacing Pete Carroll at USC. This kind of stuff happens all the time. Coaches leave for bigger programs. Let's face it, USC is a much bigger program than Tennessee. The people in Tennessee need to handle themselves better about it, because they are just going to turn around and hire another team's coach, effectively doing exactly what they are complaining about.

All that being said, why Kiffin? What in the world has he done to prove himself on the big stage? His record as coach of the Raiders wasn't very good. It's hard to gauge his impact on Tennessee because he really wasn't there long enough. What happens when Kiffin falls flat on his face at USC because he doesn't have the experience to handle a big-time program? I'll tell you: he'll get fired and wind up as a coach or coordinator in the NFL again. It's only a matter of time.

#1 - Mark McGwire admits steroid use.
And, finally, I don't think this being at #1 on my list is any surprise. Mark McGwire released a statement this week admitting to steroid use during his career, even including the '98 season when he hit a record (at that time) 70 home runs. Big Mac was interviewed by Bob Costas on Monday night so that he could tell his side of the story. Basically, he was injured so much, he thought that they would help him get back on the field. He truly believes in his ability to hit the ball and to hit it a long way.

It was sad, but not terribly shocking when I heard this news. I have always been a fan of McGwire, even before he was on the Cardinals. What gets me now is all the people who think they were justified in withholding HOF votes because they suspected him of using PED's, and now they are saying that they definitely won't vote for him because he confirmed their suspicions. It raises all sorts of questions about what is the HOF - should it represent the best of the era, regardless of what that era looked like, or should it represent the best all time? It's exceedingly difficult to justify the latter because we simply don't know. Players who were the best in the Dead Ball Era may not have made it onto the field in different era. Players get better through the years, and we have to take the best from their time in the game.

Movie Tour, DVD-style: Public Enemies

Here's another movie that came out this summer that I didn't get around to seeing until recently.

Plot Summary
Public Enemies follows the stories of John Dillinger, 1930's gangster, and Melvin Purvis, the FBI agent in charge of bringing down Dillinger, Pretty Boy Floyd and Baby Face Nelson who were major players in the crime sprees of the '30's.

Review
This was a good movie. It is a shame that it got lost in all the blockbusters that came out this summer. Depp and Bale play the lead characters very well, and their stories come together in an incredible way. Dillinger is almost portrayed as a local hero, and even when he does the bank robberies, there is an emphasis on the fact that he's not there to rob the people, just the bank. It does have some violence, which is not unexpected in a gangster movie, but it is not entirely over the top. I don't remember the language being all that bad either.

Recommendation
It's worth the purchase. It's not one that I'm going to want to watch all the time, but I think I'll probably watch it every few months just to let it soak in a little more.

Best Part
The final scene prior to Dillinger's death (that's not a spoiler, if you don't know that Dillinger gets shot, then you don't know this era of history... and you've never watched High Fidelity). He is watching a movie that, in some sense, echoes what is going on in his life, and he realizes that there is only one way that this thing is going to end. You can see it in his eyes that he accepts, no, embraces this fate.

Movie Tour, DVD-style: Julie and Julia

Another one of the movies that we didn't get out to see this summer, but were so certain that we'd like it that we went ahead and bought it. And it didn't disappoint.

Plot Summary
Julie and Julia follows the story of two women: Julia Child cooking professional and Julie Powell blogger. Julie is a writer who can't seem to write and is stuck in a 9-5 job that consumes her energy. She decides that what she is going to do is cook her way through Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking in a year, and blog about it as she embarks on the journey. Meanwhile, there are flashbacks to Julia Child's attempts to find something to do with her time, which then leads her to write and publish the book while she is overseas with her husband in the U.S. Ambassador's office.

Review
I thought they did a very good job of blending the two stories together. It is a bit of a "chick flick," if you will, but the focus is on food, which I like immensely. Seriously though, the stories fit together very well, and it is an inspiring story on the power of perseverance in the face of all obstacles, even the ones that we put in our own way.

Recommendation
It is worth a purchase, even at full price. It is a good movie to sit down and watch, maybe after dinner, instead of before.

Best Part
The food. I've never been so interested in working on a movie set before watching all the magnificent food that was made on this one. I'm drooling just thinking about it.

The College Football Coaching Roller Coaster

One of the big sports topics of the day is Tennessee coach Lane Kiffin jumping ship to become the head coach at the University of Southern California. The good people of the Volunteer State were less than pleased with this announcement, as you can imagine. Kiffin was hired as the UT coach just 14 months ago, and the fans believed he would lead them back to national prominence. Instead, they gathered in front of the Athletic Department, set mattresses on fire and tried to prevent Kiffin from leaving. Yeah, because he'll want to stay in Knoxville if they physically force him to do so. And the name-calling, wife-bashing antics that have also occurred in the past 24 hours? All that is going to do is make him miss Tennessee even less.

I turned on Around the Horn on ESPN this evening, and one of the journalists on the show was talking about how this is so terrible that college football is set up in such a way that coach's leave for greener pastures all the time. But is it really so one-sided? Coaches get fired by schools all the time, and nobody is talking about how terrible this is. The truth is college football is all about what is best for "me," whether the "me" is the coach, player or program. Coaches leave, programs fire coaches, and players leave for other schools or the NFL all the time. It just a part of how it goes. Tennessee is going to go out and hire another coach. They will probably hire a coach from another school, and the fans won't have a problem with it. Get over it. That's just how it is.

Finally! A Twilight Movie I'll Watch!

I came across this video in one of the blogs that I follow. I'm super pumped for this movie!

Reaction to McMess

If you haven't heard by now, Mark McGwire former slugger for the Oakland A's and St. Louis Cardinals admitted on Monday to using steroids during his playing career. I tried to catch the interview with Bob Costas on MLB.com as it was happening, but, as usual, life got in the way, and I didn't get to catch all of it. However, it is still available on their website here.

In listening to all the sports chatter that I could throughout Tuesday and reading through some of the reactions that are out there, a lot of thoughts have popped into my mind. I tried very hard not to write anything about this on Monday night, though I certainly wanted to. I opened up my blog three or four times before I finally started working out my thoughts, and even now I'm still a little cluttered in my mind.

The Statement
You can read the entire statement for yourself here, so this is just a few of the highlights. The major reason Mac used these substances is for health purposes. During the mid-90s, 7 stints on the DL caused him to miss 228 games, Mac used steroids to help him recover from injuries and to help him feel normal once again. He expressed gratitude for the drug testing program in today's game, saying that he was glad they have cracked down on illegal substances.

The Interview
The interview with Costas was very good. I feel like Mac represented himself well. He showed true remorse for these actions. He was showing a lot of emotion, even coming close to breaking down more than once. The interview covered his use of illegal substances, his appearance before Congress, calling the Maris family, talking with LaRussa and his father about his use, and the Hall of Fame.

The Fallout
Let's be honest here. Nobody is really surprised by this admission. McGwire has long been suspected of steroid use, and now it has simply been confirmed. In watching the interview, reading the statement and listening to/reading commentators, the response had been wide and varied. Here are some of my initial thoughts to what I have heard/read today:
  1. It is understandable why Mac used. I'm not condoning steroid use in any sense. It is wrong, simply put. Mike Golic made a great point on Mike and Mike in the Morning on ESPN Radio. The steroids help with a quicker recovery. For a guy who missed so many games and felt like he was constantly letting down his teammates, it is understandable why he would have taken steroids.
  2. Arrogance and confidence frequently get confused, and often it is due to the perspective of the person making the distinction. Mac was very adamant that he took low dosages and most of his home runs can be attributed to his bat speed, hand-eye coordination and natural ability. Many have called him arrogant and have said that he was just lying to himself. But isn't he just confident in his ability to hit the ball? Wouldn't you expect a professional slugger to be confident in his ability to hit the ball a long way? Could the steroids have helped him hit the ball a little further? Yeah, sure, they could have. But how many of Mac's home runs just barely cleared the fence? So, he hit the ball 450 feet instead of 415. Either way, it's still a home run.
  3. I'm tired of sports writers making themselves out to be the moral gatekeepers of baseball. There are a lot of reactions from BBWAA ballot writers (here and here and here) on whether or not they would vote for McGwire. Many are saying that they did not because it was uncertain, and now they will not because of his admission (in spite of the fact that several writers were calling for him to come forth with the truth, and then they would make their judgments on him). What this does is set a major precedence for future players. If any player has been accused, or admitted, PED use, then he should not be elected into the Hall of Fame. Who would this list include? Barry Bonds, Sammy Sosa, Alex Rodriguez, Roger Clemens, Manny Ramirez. None of these players should be allowed into the Hall of Fame if McGwire is not.
  4. Timing. One of the major questions that Greeny asked this morning was, "Why now?" McGwire hasn't been legally culpable for these acts since 2006. The statute of limitations is up, and he has not been in danger of criminal prosecution for several years. Why didn't he come out with this several years ago. I think the real answer to this is that it wasn't like he was waiting for the legal ramifications to be up before coming forward. Watching the interview, it is clear that he kept this to himself. He didn't even tell his parents, children or Tony LaRussa (who he refers to as a "second dad") until the day of/before releasing the statement. It was because of the shame that he never came forward before now. But with Spring Training a month away and his new job as the hitting coach for the Cardinals, it is important for him to get this stuff out of the way so it doesn't cause a distraction for the team. He was never in this position before.
  5. Dumbest Statement on the Issue: "Without McGwire paving the way with home run seasons of 52, 58, 70, 65 from 1996 to 1999 (after consecutive nine-homer seasons in 1993 and '94), perhaps Henry Aaron is still the home run champion" - Howard Bryant. Why is this statement so stupid? It is a misrepresentation. Bryant makes it sound like he was a puny guy who could only manage 9 home runs in each of those seasons, and then blew up to hit 50+. Why did McGwire only hit 9 HR's those seasons? Because in '93 he played in 27 games, and in '94 he played 47 games. I seriously doubt that he would have hit more HR's than games played in those seasons. This is a guy who hit 49 HR's in his first season in the league. There is no doubt that he had power. Nobody was surprised that he was a power hitter.
  6. Cheating in Baseball: There is cheating in baseball. Period. Sometimes, players get caught, sometimes they don't. Why are people so focused on PED use, and not other forms of cheating? Many player have used banned amphetamines and have even admitted it (such as Hall of Famer Mike Schmidt). There's no uproar about getting Schmidt out of the Hall. A spitball is an illegal pitch in baseball, but Gaylord Perry is in the Hall, in spite of his admission to using the pitch throughout his career. Stealing signs has been a part of the game as long as there have been signs, and yet, base stealers do it all the time. It's not illegal, but it certainly is frowned upon in the game. Do you want to kick out Lou Brock or Rickey Henderson for potentially stealing signs (I'm not saying that they have, I'm just making the point)? Is your argument that they are illegal and therefore, the players shouldn't be allowed in the Hall? Okay, well, I guess we should take away the eligibility of players who have been busted with DUI's, or marijuana and cocaine use.
Okay, I know that this has been a lot. There's a lot going on here. So, have I changed my position on McGwire? Do I think his admission of guilt should keep him out of the Hall? No, I haven't changed my opinion, and no, I don't think he should be kept out of the Hall. It's not like McGwire was the only person in baseball history to have used banned substances. It's not like he was the only person during the '90s to have used. The bottom line is, as unfortunate as the term is, the '90s will always be known as the Steroid Era. Several players, good and bad, used illegal substances during this time, and it wasn't until baseball really cracked down on it that the game became much cleaner. In baseball, don't we elect the best players of their era to be in the Hall of Fame? Don't we try to get the top players of their day a plague in Cooperstown? McGwire was no doubt one of the most feared and talented players of his time. He was head and shoulders above many players that played around the same time. Yes, in spite of his transgressions, McGwire belongs in the Hall of Fame.

Movie Tour, DVD-style: Paul Blart Mall Cop

I've been trying to catch up on some of the movies that I missed over the summer, and expanding my reviews to some DVDs as well. I have a couple that will be rolling out over the next few days that I want to review, but first of all, I'd like to start with Kevin James in Paul Blart Mall Cop

Plot Summary
Paul Blart (just say the name, it's funny enough) is an overweight security guard (or officer, there's some debate in the industry, maybe you've heard about it) at a local mall, who ends up getting in way over his head when the mall is taken over by a group of thugs on Black Friday, the busiest day of the year. In spite of what everyone thinks about him, and in spite of how he appears, Paul Blart is not a man to be taken lightly.

Review
I loved this movie for one reason: Kevin James is a master of physical comedy. He is absolutely hilarious throughout the entire movie. There's a lot of feel-good, hokey stuff in the movie, but that didn't bother me too much because Kevin James is awesome. In all fairness, there is a time or two when it seems like the plot severely slows, but you can get past that just to see Kevin James rolling around the floor of the mall.

Recommendation
If you find it in the $5 bin at Wal-Mart, but it. In fact, I'd even say that it's worth buying at $10. It's not a deep movie, it's not a movie that will make you think or stir your emotions, but it will make you laugh.

Best Part
Kevin James. I've said it already, but I'll say it again. He is a modern-day master of physical comedy. He's like Chris Farley without all the screaming. He is, simply put, hilarious, and I'll watch just about anything that he puts out there.

Movie Tour: It's Complicated

Katie and I were getting a little stir crazy after several days of not leaving the house due to the snow, so we took Saturday afternoon and crossed the time zone to see a movie in Danville. I picked Avatar for our last movie, so it was her turn, and I'll let you guess what she picked.

Plot Summary
The story revolves around two people who have been divorced for ten years. One of their children graduates from college, and after an evening of dinner, conversation, dancing, and a whole lot of alcohol, they end up sleeping together, even though Jake (the ex-husband) is currently married to the woman for whom he left Jane (the ex-wife). This begins an affair between the two, and life begins to become very complicated for the former spouses.

Review
My parents went to see this a week or so ago, and they both thought that it was pretty funny. Because of that, I was looking forward to seeing it. And, all in all, it didn't disappoint. I found myself laughing quite a bit. In fact, there were a couple of times that the entire theater was laughing and I missed a line or two. However, that being said, I would say that there are a lot of objectionable parts to the movie. It's definitely not one for the kids.

Afterwards, I told Katie that it was kind of a mix between Golden Girls (and if you want to know how I feel about Golden Girls... well, just don't ask...) and American Pie, but a lot more high-brow humor than the latter. It was a lot more raunchy than I expected, even though there really isn't any nudity (save for one scene which was pretty funny). I don't remember the language being all that bad, apart from all the sex related dialog.

Recommendation
This is kind of hard. There were a lot of parts that really were funny. There were also a lot of parts that were quite uncomfortable. I don't really talk about sex with my parents, and this movie is basically about people my parents' age having sex. It is definitely not for the less mature audience (which, of course, is why it is rated R in the first place!). I would say wait for it to come to your local Redbox. That way, you can see it, but you don't run the risk of being seen watching it in public (that last part is a joke, insert laughter now..... I'll wait..... okay, done? Good, moving on.)

Best Part
There's really two parts of this movie that are really great. First, John Krasinski (aka Jim from The Office) is hilarious throughout. He plays the same type of guy in almost all his parts, but he is so good in those parts and pretty funny. Second, there is a scene when Jake sneaks into Jane's room while she is in the bathroom, takes off all his clothes and lays in the bed waiting for her to come out of the bathroom. The laptop is strategically placed, but unbeknown to Jake, Jane is talking to a friend that she just started dating (Adam, played by Steve Martin) via webcam. Needless to say, I won't be able to look at Jack Donaghy the same way again (30 Rock reference for those not in the loop on one of television's funniest shows).

Loved and Redeemed

The following was preached at Veedersburg and Hillsboro UMC on Sunday, January 10, 2010. The text for this week's message is Isaiah 43:1-7.

Do you ever stop to think about what God really thinks about us? I mean, what He really thinks? Not the feel-good stuff that we want to hear, or “Jesus loves me this I know,” or anything of that sort, but what He really thinks. Take a look at your life. You know your faults; you know the dark things that you keep hidden from everyone else; you know the secrets that you have that would embarrass you to no end. What do you think God thinks about you in light of all this stuff? Those are some tough questions to deal with this early in the morning, but we have to face the truth at some point.

We hear it all the time, “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, so that whoever believes in him will not perish but have eternal life,” but do we get it? Do we understand that kind of love? Can we really believe that this is how God feels about us? I think this passage in Isaiah does a fantastic job of clueing us into the fact that this really is how God feels about His people, in spite of all our failures and misgivings.

Isaiah 43 begins by reminding us of who God is, and who we are. God is the one who created us. God, the Creator, the one who caused all things to be merely by speaking it into existence, created us. And what’s even cooler than that, if we read through the creation story again. Man isn’t spoken into existence; God forms man. Genesis 2 tells us that God formed man from the dust of the ground and breathed life into him. Humanity wasn’t spoken into existence like the rest of creation. God formed humanity.

And we hear echoes of that here in Isaiah. It says, “But now thus says the Lord, he who created you, O Jacob; he who formed you, O Israel…” (v. 1). The parallel phrases here (he who created you, O Jacob; he who formed you, O Israel…) are used to emphasize God’s position as creator of the Israelites. There is no doubt who is in charge when we come to this passage. But we also are reminded of our importance as created beings. Humanity was important enough that God formed it with His own hands. That is a crucial, but subtle, reminder to begin with in today’s reading.

What is also crucial about his passage is how it starts. “But now” clues us in to the importance of the surrounding context. Another one of the reasons that I think it is going to be important for us to read through the Bible this year is because we start seeing things in their original context, and often this sheds a whole new light on things for us. There is very little about Scripture that lends itself to pop spirituality if we really dig into the context. Often what we can take at a very superficial level is enriched by the things going on all around the passage that we often leave out. If we don’t have even a basic familiarity with Scripture, we lose the richness that dwells deep within.

You see, in Isaiah 42, starting in verse 18, we see that Israel has really messed up. I mean, they are total failures in God’s eyes. They are referred to as blind, deaf, a people who have been plundered, a people without a rescuer. What is worse is that they are in this position because God himself put them in it. They failed to be obedient to God, and they did not walk in the ways of the covenant that was established with him. They sinned against the Lord, and as a result, as Isaiah 42:25 says, “He (God) poured out on him (Israel) the heat of his anger and the might of battle.”

In the ancient world, when one nation conquered another, it was believed that it was because the gods of the conquering nation were stronger. But what Isaiah says here goes totally against that way of thinking. When Israel was sent into exile, it wasn’t because the Babylonian gods were stronger than Yahweh, it was because the people of Israel failed to uphold their covenant. It was because they failed to be obedient to God. It was because they chased after idols and turned their backs on God. “But now…”

But now, Israel was being restored. Isaiah, who wrote long before the people of Israel were ever even conquered by the Babylonians, has a vision of restoration. And this restoration isn’t because of anything in particular that the Israelites had done, but it was because God, the Creator, the one through whom all things come to being, it was because of Him that they were being restored.

“But now…” In spite of all the things that they have done, in spite of their failures, their faults and their sins, they are being restored. Notice, it says, “are being restored,” not “are restoring themselves.” There’s a difference. God is the one who does the restoration. There’s always a “but now” moment in our lives; it’s a moment when we realize that our life does not have to be what it has always been.

I’ve mentioned before that one of my favorite TV shows is Scrubs. They show is a little different now because it is focusing on med students more so than the doctors. But in an episode that I watched this week, they illustrate this point so well. One of the students is a guy who flamed out of med school years before, but now he is back in and is doing things differently this time around. He is picked to give the speech at the white coat ceremony, but he initially turns it down because he saw himself becoming what he was before, and he didn’t like it. And this theme arises in the episode that we can’t let the past dictate the future.

See, there really are spiritual insights just waiting to be uncovered in the most unexpected places. Because isn’t that what this passage is about? Isn’t this passage about not letting the past dictate the future? Isaiah begins the passage with “but now,” and that is a reminder that, yes, Israel messed up big time in the past, but that doesn’t mean that God has totally given up on them. I could almost stop there, but there’s more just waiting for us in this passage.

Twice the people are told to “fear not.” The first time, it says, “fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, and you are mine” (verse 1). God is not only reminding them of His position as creator, but he is reminding them of His position as their redeemer. And it isn’t the first time that God has redeemed His people.

In Exodus, we read of the first, and most important, act of redemption in the Old Testament. The people have been slaves in Egypt for 400 years. They cry out to God, and God sends Moses. The people are set free. No longer are they slaves in a foreign land, but now they begin a journey that ends with them traveling for decades until they finally enter the land that was promised to their forefather Abraham. In Judges, we read time and time again about how the people fall away from God, only to have Him raise up a great leader that runs off the oppressors. It is a cycle that we see several times in that book. God is in the business of redemption.

And here’s the thing. God doesn’t do the redeeming because the people are worthy of it. He doesn’t redeem them because they’ve been following Him and are still being oppressed in spite of their obedience. In fact, it is quite the opposite. They are redeemed in spite of the fact that they have gone astray; in spite of the fact that they have failed to be obedient; and in spite of the fact that they are full of sin. Why does God do this? He tells us in verse 4.

“Because you are precious in my eyes, and honored, and I love you…” (Isa 43:4). Because they are precious, honored and loved. They are worth something to God, even though they don’t act like it. Even though all they seem to do is mess up and live their lives in sin, they are worth something to God, and He loves them. God’s love makes them worthy of redemption.

In verse 5, we see the second “fear not” statement. This time it says, “Fear not, for I am with you…” God is not absent. God is not some distant being that just reached down, set things in motion and is coming back to check up on it. The world is not a Ronco rotisserie oven as far as God is concerned. There’s not “set it and forget it” here. “Fear not, for I am with you” God says. God is active and involved in the world.

It doesn’t say that God is only with them temporarily. It doesn’t say that God is only with them when they are obedient. It doesn’t say that God is only with them as long as there isn’t anything better for Him to do. It says that God is with them. And when God is with you, there is no need to fear. Yes, the people will be defeated and exiled. Yes, the people will be separated from their homeland for quite some time. But that doesn’t mean that God wasn’t with them. And it doesn’t mean that God didn’t care about them.

So, what does all this mean? Why should we care about this particular passage? Isn’t this just something that God said to the people of Israel thousands of years ago? Why should it matter to us? Because you have messed up; because you have failed to be obedient to God; because your life sometimes looks like a pile of garbage that you don’t think God wants to even approach. Because sometimes, you think that God couldn’t love you because of the sin that’s in your life. Honestly, we aren’t all that different from the Israelites.

Sure, we don’t openly chase after the false gods of the Canaanites. Or do we? Do we have idols in our lives? Do we have things in our lives that take precedence over God? Do we spend our time and energy chasing after things that aren’t God? Do we focus more on our jobs, our sports teams, and our pursuit of money, position and power than we focus on God? An idol is anything that draws our worship from God. An idol is anything that takes our focus off of God. We have idols in our lives, whether we recognize them or not. There are things that constantly pull us away from God. And some of them don’t have to try all that hard.

We are in need of redemption. We are in need of redemption because we get distracted. We can’t always see God. We can’t always know what God is doing. Consequently, we often forget about Him. We often forget to give praise to God for the blessings in our lives. We often forget to spend time listening for His voice. We often forget to spend time in His word. We have sin in our lives, and no matter how much good we try to do, we cannot get rid of it. It’s not like we have a ledger sheet where if we do enough good things, then we don’t have to worry about the sin that’s in our lives. That’s not how it works. We are in need of redemption, and there is nothing that we can do to earn it. “But now…”

But now, God reminds us of who He is. God reminds us that He is our creator, the one who knew us before we were in the womb. God reminds us that we need not fear because, out of His love, He has redeemed us, and, out of His love, He is with us.

Do you feel like you’ve stopped following God? Do you feel like there’s too much junk in your life for God to want anything to do with you? Do you feel like the sins that fester inside of you keep you from being loved by God? Do you know other people who feel this way? Read this passage again. Read it again when you aren’t feeling up to par. Read it again, when you think you’ve gone too far and have completely separated yourself from God. Read it again if you think that God can’t possibly care about you because of what you’ve done. In spite of all Israel has done, God was with them. And back to the question I opened with, what does God think of you? In spite of all that you have done, God is with you, and He loves you, and He has redeemed you through His Son Jesus Christ.

Bible in a Year: Cliff Notes, Week 1

For my Bible in a Year reading, I'm trying to keep brief notes on all the chapters of the reading. I thought I'd try a Cliff Notes version of my read through. Some of it is commentary, some of it is just what happens in those particular chapters. While my previous post is more of a general update, this one is more specific.

Week 1 covers January 1 through January 7, or Genesis 1-24

January 1: Genesis 1-3
The opening chapters of Genesis cover creation and the Fall. After each stage of creation, God declares it to be good. In 1:31, as God observes creation as a whole, it is declared to be “very good.” Creation is declared to be “very good” by God.

Genesis 2 gives another account of the creation, but the focus this time is on the specific creation of humanity. While Adam doesn’t have much of a role in the opening chapter, here, in Gen 2, he is involved in naming creation. It is when Adam doesn’t have a companion that something is finally declared “not good” by God. What is not good is the fact that Adam is alone. We are not meant to be alone, but we are meant to be in relationship with other people.

Genesis 3 recounts the Fall. The man and the woman are told to not eat from one tree, and yet, that is the thing that gets them in trouble. It begins by the serpent taking God’s words and twisting them, beginning to confuse the woman. Notice her response as well, “…neither shall you touch it.” She added on to the command of God. It left a wider opening for the serpent to sneak through. There is also a “passing of the blame,” the man blames the woman (and God to some extent), and the woman turns around and blames the serpent. The all end up getting punished and the world has never been the same.

January 2: Genesis 4-7
The story of Cain and Abel. Why does God regard Abel’s offering more than Cain’s? It doesn’t really say. My guess is that God is an omnivore and likes the smell of a good steak. Seriously though, it doesn’t really say. Quite frankly, that’s not important. What is important is the fact that Cain’s response is what led him to commit murder. The question, “Am I my brother’s keeper?” is one that we have to deal with all the time. Cain is left to wonder the earth, but notice that he doesn’t do that. He ends up settling in the land of Nod. We are left with Cain’s descendants and the story of Lamech, which goes to show the depravity that has followed Cain’s line.

Genesis 5 stands in contrast to Cain’s line, by examining the line of Seth down to Noah. Genesis begins with a statement on the depravity of the earth in the time of Noah. Noah was the only righteous man on the earth at the time. Humanity grieves God so much that God sends a flood to destroy it

January 3: Genesis 8-11
Genesis 8 concludes the story of the flood. Here it begins to subside, and when it is done, Noah builds an ark and offered burnt offerings to the Lord. Noah and his family are given the command found in the beginning of Genesis to “be fruitful and multiply.” In Genesis 9, Noah gets drunk and passes out. One of Noah’s sons sees him naked. He apparently says something to his brothers, who cover up their father without looking at him. It is unclear as to why Noah curses his son, but he does. There seems to be a lot of reporting of events, but not a lot of commentary on them. In Genesis 10, we get another geneaology from Noah’s sons.

Genesis 11 recounts the story of the tower of Babel. It is not so bad that the people were communicating with one another, but that they tried to join together and build something that would put them on a level with God.

January 4: Genesis 12-15
We begin the story of the Israelites in Genesis 12 with the call of Abram to leave his hometown based on the promise that God will make him into a great nation. Abram’s relative Lot also comes along. They travel through the region and end up going through to Egypt. In Genesis 13, Abram and Lot realize that they have a whole lot of livestock and they are crowding one another. Abram allows Lot to take part of the land that they had so there would not be any problems.
Genesis 14 recounts a battle between some small nations in which Lot was taken captive. Abram led the charge to get him back. Melchizedek, the king of Salem, blessed Abram. It is also said that he (Melchizedek) is a priest of God Most High. Genesis 15 begins with a covenant between God and Abram. They split the animals in half and God passes through them in the form of a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch. Essentially saying, “If I break this covenant, may the same be done to me.”

January 5: Genesis 16-18
Abram is promised a son, and his wife Sarai gets the idea to have Abram lay with her servant Hagar to have a child. Hagar becomes pregnant and Sarai becomes jealous and treats her very harshly. So much so that she runs off, but is convinced by a messenger of God to go back. Genesis 17 recounts the establishment of the covenant of circumcision. Circumcision is a means to mark those who are a part of God’s covenant people. Their names are also changes from Abram to Abraham, and Sarai to Sarah.

At the end of Genesis 17, Abraham is promised that within a year, Sarah would give birth to a son. Sarah doesn’t believe it, and God calls her out on her disbelief. Abraham and God then look over Sodom and discuss its impending destruction.

January 6: Genesis 19-21
The story of Lot in Sodom is mildly troubling as well. Lot offers his daughters in the place of the men who come to visit him. But, once again, Scripture is reporting what happened, not necessarily condoning it. Sodom and Gomorrah are destroyed. Lot is warned not to look back, and his wife does and turns into a pillar of salt. Why does this happen? There really is no explanation.

Abraham and Abimelech are discussed in Genesis 20. It is a flashback to what happened when they first went to Egypt and Sarah is told to say that she is his sister, not his wife. Why does Abraham do this? Is it because of a lack of faith? Does he not trust God to take care of him, even if things may get a little dicey?

Isaac is born in Genesis 21, and Sarah wants to get rid of Hagar and Ishmael. They nearly die in the desert, but are protected by God. God tells Abraham to go ahead and listen to Sarah regarding Hagar and Ishmael because Isaac was the one through whom the line will continue. Genesis 21 closes with a treaty between Abraham and Abimelech.

January 7: Genesis 22-24
Today’s reading begins with the story of the sacrifice of Isaac. It is perhaps one of the most intense stories in all of Scripture. Abraham had waited so long to have a child with Sarah, and they finally did, and now, God was asking him to sacrifice his son. This story is a precursor to what happens in Jesus when God does sacrifice His one and only Son. Abraham’s words, “the Lord will provide the Lamb,” are so crucial to this story. Many debate the morality of God in this story, but I think it’s important to remember that God is God, and God does provide. This was a time when child sacrifice was not uncommon, and for God to intervene and stop the sacrifice makes a huge statement on the practice.

Genesis 23 has to do with Sarah’s death and the purchase of some land from the Hittites. This is the first piece of land that Abraham actually owns in the Promised Land. It reminds us of the promise that God has made to Abraham.

In Genesis 24, Isaac is given a wife. Abraham did not want him to marry one of the women in Canaan, so he sent a servant to his homeland to find a woman for Isaac to marry. The servant finds Rebekah, who was Abraham’s niece. She came back to be Isaac’s wife.

The Bible in a Year

I've challenged my churches to read through the Bible in a year in 2010. It's not going to be an easy task. It is going to take perseverance and dedication. Realistically, it's not that hard. It's rarely more than 3 chapters a day. The hardest part is persevering through Leviticus, some of Exodus and the genealogies in Numbers and 1 Chronicles. I want to update from time to time where I have been reading and what has come up during my readings. Hopefully, I can be disciplined about writing, as well as reading through the Bible this year.

I looked at several different reading plans, but finally settled on a canonical reading plan that goes straight through from Genesis to Revelation. Why did I do this? I felt like some reading plans that had multiple readings from various parts of the Bible would not be cohesive enough. It's hard to follow the story of Genesis if you're reading a chapter of it a day alongside chapters of Matthew, Isaiah and the Psalms. I think that by jumping around you do get some variety, but you don't necessarily get the flow of the narrative. And, when there are only 3 chapters to read from the same book, it doesn't seem as daunting as three or four readings from different books. It's mainly psychological, I know, but whatever helps.

The awesome thing about technology these days is the fact that you can read the Bible almost anywhere. I downloaded the mobile version of YouVersion to my Blackberry, and can follow my reading plan from my phone. It also tracks my progress and lets me tweet my readings after I finish them. It's been pretty handy so far.

Today, I finished Day 9 of the readings. So, to this point, I have read Genesis 1-29. This part of Scripture covers a lot of ground. The first 11 chapters focus on creation, the fall, the flood and the Tower of Babel. Once we hit Genesis 12, we get into the story of Abraham and his offspring. Perhaps what has stood out to me the most so far is the fact that Scripture does a lot of reporting, but not a lot of commentary on the events that took place. There are things that Abraham, Noah, and Jacob have done that we would think are just terrible. By reporting them, Scripture isn't necessarily condoning it, but giving us a window into what happened in a different time. And perhaps, in spite of all their shortcomings, the fact that God still chooses to bless the line of Abraham should give us pause to reflect on what it is that God can do for us, in spite of all our shortcomings.

2009 Fantasy Football MVP's

I thought it would be fun to do a rundown of the final numbers for the players on my fantasy football teams. I started with the ESPN leagues, and was going to do the Yahoo! league, but for two reasons, I didn't. 1) I didn't really care about the Yahoo! league, and 2) They started using decimal points in their scores, and I didn't want to mess with it. Don't judge me.

First, the awards and criteria:
1) Super Sub - the player with the most average points with only 1 or 2 starts
2) Best Week - the player with the highest single week score of the season
3) 1st Team - played at least 5 games and averaged 10 points/game
4) Weekly MVP - the high scorer of the week
5) Overall MVP - the highest scorer of the season


ESPN League Bricksquad: Veedersburg Killer Wombats MVP's
1) Super Sub - K Rob Bironas, 2 starts, 12 points on average

2) Best Week - RB Adrian Peterson, Week 1, 37 points

3) 1st Team: QB Philip Rivers (14 starts, 17.07 points), RB Adrian Peterson (16 starts, 17.67 points), RB Joseph Addai (13 starts, 12.76 points), WR Reggie Wayne (14 starts, 12.28 points), D/ST Bears (5 starts, 12.6 points)

4) Weekly MVP - QB Philip Rivers 6, QB Ben Roethlisberger 3, RB Adrian Peterson 3, WR Hines Ward 2, WR Reggie Wayne 2, RB Joseph Addai 1, D/ST Bears 1

5) Overall MVP - RB Adrian Peterson, 265 points


ESPN League Swish's Pals - Hillsboro Rabid Monkeys
1) Super Sub - RB Jerome Harrison, 2 starts 19 points on average

2) Best Week - QB Drew Brees, Week 1, 48 points

3) 1st Team: QB Drew Brees (14 starts, 23.20 points), RB Ray Rice (16 starts, 14.25 points), RB Pierre Thomas (12 starts, 11.16 points), RB Knowshon Moreno (8 starts, 12 points), WR Roddy White (13 starts, 11.2 points), WR Sidney Rice (10 starts, 11.9 points), D/ST Ravens (9 starts, 11.22 points)

4) Weekly MVP - QB Drew Brees 9, RB Pierre Thomas 2, D/ST Ravens 2, WR White 2, WR Rice 1, RB Rice 1, D/ST Seahawks 1

5) Overall MVP - QB Drew Brees, 348 points

Since the Hillsboro Rabid Monkeys is a keeper league, I'll be looking at this kind of stuff to help me out in deciding who to keep. It's a good bet that Drew Brees and Ray Rice will be on my team next season, but the real question is, "Who else?" That will be answered next season!

Batman Demotivational

A little something that I came across on verydemotivational.com in tribute to the Dark Knight.





Fantasy Football 2009, Championship Edition

While the Yahoo! League ended in disappointment with a 4th place finish, the ESPN leagues finished up this week with far different results.

Team 1: ESPN League Bricksquad - Veedersburg Killer Wombats
QB - Ben Roethlisberger
RB - A. Peterson, Justin Forsett, B. Westbrook
WR - Austin Collie, Antonio Bryant
TE - John Carlson
D/ST - Bears
K - D. Carpenter

High scorer: Ben Roethlisberger, 19 points
Low scorer: Austin Collie, 1 point
Result: Veedersburg Killer Wombats 67, VA Bengals 76
Overall Result: Veedersburg Killer Wombats 141, VA Bengals 129
Commentary: Champion!!!! I have never won a fantasy football championship before this year, and I've been playing since 2003. I typically come close, but have never pulled it out before!

Team 2: ESPN League Swish's Pals - Hillsboro Rabid Monkeys
QB - Alex Smith
RB - R. Rice, J. Harrison, K. Moreno
WR - R. White, S. Rice
TE - J. Finley
D/ST - 49ers
K - D. Carpenter

High scorer: Sidney Rice, 23 points
Low scorer: Dan Carpenter, 6 points
Result: Hillsboro Rabid Monkeys 128, TBAR Heels 51
Overall Result: Hillsboro Rabid Monkeys 257, TBAR Heels 146
Commentary: That's right, a two-time champion!!!! In all honesty, this was the league I cared about this most this year because it is a league with several of my friends. I really thought I was going to lose this match-up. My friend Tony had the highest scoring team this season, and I really thought that he'd destroy me in this round, as you can see, it was quite the opposite. I almost could've sat my entire team and still pulled out a victory. This is a keeper league, so the fun is just starting. I need to decide which three to keep for next season's shot at a repeat!

And just for fun....

Contrasting Responses

The following was preached at Veedersburg and Hillsboro UMC on Sunday, January 3, 2010. The text for this week's message is Matthew 2:1-12.

Today is a very special Sunday in the life of the church. It is the Sunday when we remember the “wise men from the east” who come to worship Jesus. This is probably one of the most well known, and yet, least understood passages in all of Scripture. It’s least understood in the sense that we don’t necessarily know exactly what the story says, we just take the details for granted. We all know the story, or at least some version of it. I think this is one reason why it is so important for people to read through their Bibles this year.

Okay, pop quiz. Let’s see which story we know better. Rudolph is a what? (Reindeer) What color was Rudolph’s nose? (Red). Where did Rudolph live? (North Pole) Rudolph, Hermey the elf and Yukon Cornelius the prospector, go to what island? (The Island of Misfits Toys). Okay, good. Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer has been around since the mid-60’s, and I’m sure that many people here have seen it numerous times. We know that story. It sticks with us because we watch it nearly every Christmas.

Now, the wise men came from what direction? (east) Who is the first person that they go to see when they get to Jerusalem? (Herod) They are directed to go to what town by the chief priests and scribes? (Bethlehem) How many wise men were at the manger Okay, that last one was a bit of a trick question. Many may have thought that the right answer is “we don’t know,” and it’s true, we really don’t know how many of these men traveled from the east because the actual number is never given. We have assumed through the years that there were three wise men because of the gifts – gold, frankincense and myrrh. But the truth is, Scripture doesn’t tell us how many were there. However, that’s not why it is a trick question.

It is a trick question because none of the wise men were at the manger. It takes us really reading the story to figure this out. There are two major clues that tell us that the wise men were not only not a part of the birth narrative, but that they didn’t even arrive until nearly two years after Jesus’ birth. Notice that Herod gets from the wise men the approximate time when the star first appeared, which is about when Jesus was born. He then tells them to come let him know when they find the child, so he can worship him as well. But when Herod realizes that they aren’t coming back, he has all the male children two years old and under killed. Do you really think Herod would have waited two years for the wise men to come back? We’ll talk about Herod a little more in a minute, but there is absolutely no way that he would have waited that long.

The second major clue that tells us the wise men weren’t at the manger is in verse 11. Let me read it again, it says, “And going into the house they saw the child…” Jesus wasn’t considered a baby at this point in Matthew’s narrative; he is a child. And they aren’t in the stable; they are in a house. And yet, there isn’t a nativity set out there that doesn’t have three wise men in it. It’s an important part of the story, but let’s make sure we get the story correct. Again, that’s a major reason why I want to challenge you to read through the Bible this year. You will begin to see things that you haven’t seen before and you will begin to understand things that you didn’t understand before. All because you took the time to read the book.

Now, I want to dig a little deeper into this story because there is always something that we can learn from even the most familiar of stories if we take a little bit of time to look at it a new way, or from a different perspective. What I’d like to do is take a look at the differences in the response of Herod and the Jewish leaders and the response that we see from the wise men. What should we expect, and what do we actually get? To begin, how about a little bit of background.

We know that the wise men are from the east. The word magoi was once used to refer specifically to priests and experts in the mysteries of Persia and Babylon. By the time the first century rolled around, this same term was used for people who engaged in a wide range of practices – astrology, dream interpretation, the study of sacred writings, the pursuit of wisdom, and magic. We can tell that these wise men were certainly men who studied the stars (because you don’t see the stars unless you look at them, and you don’t notice an unusual occurrence of a star unless you are familiar with them), and we can also assume that they may be familiar with some of the ancient writings of the people of Israel. Now, why would we assume that? Because of what they say in verse 2.

When say that they saw his star when it rose, it is possible that they are referencing the final oracle of the pagan prophet Balaam, which can be found in Numbers 24. It says, “a star shall come out of Jacob, and a scepter shall rise out of Israel; it shall crush the forehead of Moab and break down all the sons of Sheth. Edom shall be dispossessed; Seir also, his enemies, shall be dispossessed.” (Num 24:17-18). More on Edom in a bit, but I do want to point out that Seir is an alternative name for Edom.

It appears as though these wise men are familiar with either the writings of the people of Israel, which they would have received while the Israelites were in exile in Babylon (500 years before these events took place), or that they were familiar with the oracles of the prophet Balaam directly. Either way, they were not strangers to this particular oracle. As people who watched the skies, something like a star rising out of the west would have also been significant enough to catch their attention. And it must have been something because if they came via the established trade route from Babylon, it would have been an 800-mile journey.

The other main party in this story is Herod and the Jewish leadership in Jerusalem. First off, a few words about Herod. Herod was actually not Jewish. He was an Idumean, which was the Greek term for Edomite. Now, Edom was a nation that was on the southern border of Judah. Its descendents were from Esau, Jacob’s brother. The strife between these two brothers, which you’ll read about over the next week or so if you’re following the reading plan, starts to come back into focus here, even if it is in just a subtle way. Herod, a descendent of Esau, is being told that the king of the Jews, the descendents of Jacob, was born.

Herod was not known for treating threats to his thrown with kindness. Herod was placed as king of Judea by the Roman Emperor, which explains why he was king in Judea in spite of the fact that he wasn’t Jewish. Herod ruled firmly and ruthlessly. In order to keep his power, he murdered his own wife, several sons and other various relatives. He may have been called Herod the Great, but there wasn’t much about him that was great. He was known as a master builder. He oversaw numerous projects in the region, and he even restored the Temple. But let’s not forget, it wasn’t out of devotion to God that he did these things. He did them because they served his purposed in some way.

When Herod gets word from these wise men that the king of the Jews was born, he would have been listening very intently. Remember the oracle of Balaam that brought the wise men to the area? The one that said a star and scepter, items that represent kingship, would rise out of Israel and Jacob; the one that said Edom would be displaced? Well, guess who was sitting on the throne at the time – an Edomite. Herod hears that this oracle is coming to pass, and he is starting to get a little worried about his power. He wants to know where this threat to his reign is located because he wants to take care of it.

Did you notice Herod’s initial reaction? He was troubled, and all of Jerusalem with him; it says it right there in verse 3. Those in power, those who stood to lose the most, those who did not want things to change because they liked the way things were, were troubled. And you almost can’t blame Herod for being troubled. I mean, he’s not Jewish. He is king of the area because Rome made him king. But “all of Jerusalem”? They should have been rejoicing.

According to their understanding at the time, this meant that the Messiah was coming; this meant that Israel would return to its glory days; this meant that things were looking up for the Jewish people! But they were troubled. Because things were going good for them; because things were going their way; because they were the ones that were in charge. And that wouldn’t be the case once the Messiah came.

This hits a little too close to home sometimes, doesn’t it? There are times in our lives when we like the way things are going. We would prefer to just “keep on keepin’ on.” The status quo has worked for us for this long, so what’s the big deal? God wants to do something incredible in your life, but that means it is going to take some significant changes, and maybe even some significant sacrifices. What are you going to say? “Nah. I’m good. I like the way things are going right now; there’s no sense in messing that up.”

How many of us settle for mediocrity when God has something in store for us that is far better than anything we could have ever imagined? God was bringing things together that would bring about a huge change in the way the world looked. But they were troubled. We shouldn’t see people being troubled when good news is being proclaimed.

We should be seeing the people rejoice. The birth of the Son of God should have been news that was welcomed with open arms and cheerful hearts by the people of Israel. We should have seen the people traveling hundreds of miles, giving all they could, praising and worshiping God. But it’s not the Jewish people we see doing that; it’s the pagan wise men. These men who have no vested interest in the matter; these men who don’t even worship the God who is at work in the world; these men who are not direct descendents of Jacob; they are the ones who worship the Son of God.

I love what verse 10 says, and it stands in amazing contrast to the response of the Jewish leaders. It says, “When they saw the star [the star that had brought them all this way and finally brought them to the house of Mary and Joseph]; when they saw the star, they rejoiced.” Wait, that’s not all it said. “When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly.” There, there’s better. No, wait, there’s more. “When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy.” They rejoiced exceedingly with great joy.

How many went to a New Year’s party last week? How many people saw 2009 off and welcomed 2010 in with a bang. I’m not going to ask you if you went crazy or anything like that, so stop worrying, but would you say that you rejoiced exceedingly with great joy? What about when the Cubs actually won a playoff series in 2003, or for those who like a real team, when the Cardinals won the Series in 2006? Did you rejoice exceedingly with great joy? Or when the Colts won the Super Bowl? Did you rejoice exceedingly with great joy? Do you do that every single time you stop and think about what it is that God has done for you? Do you do that when you stop to think about what God could do in our community with just a handful of people willing to reach out in His love?

These pagan kings worshiped the Son of God. They may not have worshiped the God of the Israelites; they probably worshiped their own gods, but they knew that there was something significant going on in this little boy. They knew that the world was going to be changed. They didn’t know how, but they knew something was up. They brought valuable gifts, gifts of incredible value, and the worshiped the Son of God.

Here’s another thing to think about as we look at this story too. What happens afterwards? We are told that the wise men were warned in a dream not to go back to Herod. They were more open to what God was telling them to do. We think that God only talks to those who are in some kind of special relationship with Him. But, I think, the only ones who hear God are those who are open to listening. The wise men were more open to the promptings of God. They heard God speak to them because they were willing. Herod’s response? Not so much.

We didn’t read about it today, but we have talked about it a little this week and a couple weeks ago. Herod realizes that they aren’t coming back and slaughters an entire town’s children. I think we could say that Herod was just as closed off as ever to what God was doing. And see, that’s our choice. Now, we may not go to the extremes of killing a bunch of toddlers, but we can be just as closed off to what God is doing. We can be just as destructive in trying to get things to go our own way. What God was doing was so huge that it was going to upset the established order. We can decide to let it happen and praise God in the midst of the confusion, or we can fight it. Who are you going to be like when God decides it is time to do something drastic your life? Are you going to fight it, or are you going to embrace it?