All Things Seen & Unseen

I was at a college graduation recently expecting it to be the normal thing although happy for the students I knew and their joy at finally reaching their goal of finishing their courses. However, as often happens, the Lord arrested my attention with his Word. One of the speakers given the task to bring greetings from an American University, talked about Psalm 121 and what a blessing this psalm had been to him. He indicated that the question in verse 1, "I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from where does my help come?" is best understood as a reflection of the pagan worship that took place on the "high places" as in Jeremiah (3.23, "Surely the [idolatrous] commotion on the hills and mountains is a deception; surely in the LORD our God is the salvation of Israel" http://www.ridgewaymethodist.org.uk/pdf/Psalm121Sermon.pdf ). Other commentators also believe it could relate to Jerusalem or Mt Zion in which case the psalmist is saying as he travels t...

I for one don't! And I'm sure if i had been in the temple when Jesus drove the money-changers out of the temple in Jn 2, I imagine I might have resisted strongly the change that his actions presaged. For he was not just upset about the money transactions; his zeal related to his understanding that he had come to bring in a new order of things, a dominant theme throughout the gospel of John. We grasp this notion when we listen carefully to the discussion about the temple and his body after his actions above. We see that this temple in Jerusalem is no longer to be the place of sacrifice but his body is to be the final sacrifice ushering in true worship (Jn 4) through his resurrection.

In Victoria, Australia we have just come through a horrific time of bushfires driven by high winds in 46 degree heat. Over 200 people have been killed by the fiery blazes with some towns being destroyed completely. For some people, such suffering raises the question of ‘Where is God?’ The questioners raise this question as if the mere presence of such tragedies shatter any belief in the existence of a loving God. Surely, that can’t be so because such events have been happening since recorded history and yet belief in God has continued. I’ve heard it suggested that at the Fall into apostasy by man, everything falls under the judgment of God but God freely maintains his creation in the face of its fall away from his Rule (even though the effects of man’s apostasy are revealed throughout the creation daily). The bushfires, some of which were deliberately caused by firebugs, others caused by lightning strikes, evidence the consequences of man’s fall into sin. We might question, 'Wher...

Heard in church today the bewitching song based on Psalm 139 and felt myself struck dumb by the line: and with love everlasting you besiege me I sat and couldn't get the image of the besieging love of God out of my head. As great powerful armies besieged cities in ancient times, so the love of God in Christ, lays siege to our hearts, encompassing them round and about.

My uncle R was a clever man. Although, starting his working life at 14 road-making with his father, he worked out how to build a lawn-mower from scratch. That is, he made each part of the mower!! Nor did his abilities stop as he got older as shown in the fact that he built two computers before the time one could buy such things for a reasonable price at a local shop. Another major thing that left an impression were the words of his son who mentioned that he was only in the position he was today -- an oceanographer -- because of the encouragement of his father. This generous son confessed that his father was probably a lot brighter than he was but had not had the opportunities that he, the son, had had. A son-in-law at the funeral spoke of my uncle in terms of G-s; I don't remember all of them but some were gentle, generous, genius and godly. The last challenged me because I had seen this old man of 94 only a week before his death and felt, despite all his obvious inabilities at...

Seeing the Sadducees had been silenced on their question about death and resurrection, the Pharisees sent a lawyer to test Jesus concerning what was 'the great commandment' (Matthew 22.35, AV). Jesus replied by quoting the Shema (Deut 6.4). Love the Lord your God from the heart, the inner core of your being. To this commandment, Jesus added a commandment that is 'like the first': 'love your neighbour as yourself'. In the latter, Jesus was quoting Leviticus 19.18 which, one source translated as 'You are not to take-vengeance, you are not to retain-anger against the sons of your kinspeople—but be-loving to your neighbor (as one) like yourself, I am YHWH [the LORD]!' The gloss in brackets (so), which I have seen elsewhere, puts a different complexion on usual interpretations of the verse because it takes away our selfish fixation about self-love. I doubt the verse has anything to do with loving ourselves as such although it is sometimes ...

I'm often struck by the avoidance of the unpopular and awkward in bible texts by preachers and speakers. I'm sure I do it too! Recently i heard presentations on this passage above and noted how the acceptance and non-acceptance of the invitation was lost sight of and the text got turned into a social gospel apologia! 'Do good works and you will get into the feast'!! Of course, the background is Jesus' struggle with the chief priests and the Pharisees (21.45f) who perceived that Jesus' parables were about them but who couldn't arrest him because they feared the people. They are the ones who are initially invited to the marriage feast of the King's son. The point is, they refuse to come showing their disdain of the king by even killing his servants. And the king angrily destroys both them and their city. Since those who were originally invited refuse to come, the king invites all, both good and bad, as many as can be found. and of course, they respond to t...