Readings: Jeremiah 33:14-16 (NRSV, The Message); Psalm 25:1-10 (NRSV, The Message); 1 Thessalonians 3:9-13 (NRSV, The Message); Luke 21:25-36 (NRSV, The Message)

Scripture:

To you, O LORD, I lift up my soul.
O my God, in you I trust;
do not let me be put to shame;
do not let my enemies exult over me. Psalm 25:1-2

And may the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all, just as we abound in love for you. 13 And may he so strengthen your hearts in holiness that you may be blameless before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints. I Thessalonians 3:12-13

I have a bit of trouble with passages that speak of Jesus’ return. I mean, the person who wrote the Gospel of Luke has Jesus saying that he was going to return before that generation had died. That didn’t happen!

And yet, I have to believe with Jesus, with the prophets, that God will eventually make everything right. And I know that I am called to be a part of that making things right. That is why I can say -why I have to say – “To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul. O my God, in you I trust.”

Readings: Psalm 146 (NRSV, The Message); Ruth 2:1-9 (NRSV, The Message);  Romans 3:21-31 (NRSV, The Message)

Don’t put your life in the hands of experts
who know nothing of life, of salvation life. Psalm 146:3 (The Message)

Since we’ve compiled this long and sorry record as sinners (both us and them) and proved that we are utterly incapable of living the glorious lives God wills for us, God did it for us. Out of sheer generosity he put us in right standing with himself. A pure gift. He got us out of the mess we’re in and restored us to where he always wanted us to be. And he did it by means of Jesus Christ.     Romans 3:23-24 (The Message)

The Message translation opens this Romans 3 passage up a little bit for me. If you were raised in an evangelical culture like I was, portions of this passage were memorized, learned rote. Peterson’s translations may help us understand a little better Paul’s intention.

It’s not about what we do. It is not about who we are. God doesn’t play favorites. God just does it for us. Praise the Lord!

Readings: Psalm 75 (NRSV, The Message); Job 40:1-24 (NRSV, The Message);  Hebrews 6:1-12 (NRSV, The Message)

So come on, let’s leave the preschool fingerpainting exercises on Christ and get on with the grand work of art. Grow up in Christ.    Hebrews 6:1 (The Message)

OK, I’m in. Where does that come from, though? It certainly does not come from the thinking about God that is found in Psalm 75.

The readings from Job over the past few weeks makes me think that spending time in this book and relating it to our life, and being with the tough questions both raise might be a way to start on the “grand work of art.”

Readings:  Psalm 104:1-9, 24, 35b (NRSV, The Message); Job 37:1-24 (NRSV, The Message); Revelation 17:1-18 (NRSV, The Message)

What a wildly wonderful world, God!
You made it all, with Wisdom at your side,
made earth overflow with your wonderful creations.  Psalm 104:24 (The Message)

The Almighty—we cannot find him;
he is great in power and justice,
and abundant righteousness he will not violate.                        Job 37:23 (NRSV)

All verses which testify to the wonder, the awesomeness, the overwhelming mystery of God. The passage from Revelation is too bizarre for my ponderings as I write this. However these passages from Psalms and Job are beautiful. The author of Job say, we cannot see God, we cannot fathom God, but we can trust God. Ultimately, we can fear God and live in God and know we will not be let down.

Readings:  Psalm 124 (NRSV, The Message);  Esther 1:1-21 (NRSV, The Message); Acts 4:13-31 (NRSV, The Message)

Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John and realized that they were uneducated and ordinary men, they were amazed and recognized them as companions of Jesus.  Acts 4:13-31 (NRSV)

This is one of my favorite verses of the Bible. What if, when someone looked at me, they automatically recognized me as a companion of Jesus. What if Christ so radiated from me, in my every word, in my every action, that even if they didn’t know the words to use, the people with whom I come in contact knew that I had been in the presence of the Divine?

Readings: Psalm 128 (NRSV, The Message); Ecclesiastes 5:1-20 (NRSV, The Message); John 8:21-38 (NRSV, The Message)

All you who fear God, how blessed you are!
    how happily you walk on his smooth straight road!
You worked hard and deserve all you’ve got coming.
    Enjoy the blessing! Revel in the goodness!   Psalm 128:1-2 (The Message)

Readings: Psalm 73:1-20 (NRSV, The Message); Proverbs 8:32—9:6 (NRSV, The Message); Hebrews 11:29—12:2 (NRSV, The Message)

No doubt about it! God is good—
    good to good people, good to the good-hearted.
But I nearly missed it,
    missed seeing his goodness.
I was looking the other way,
    looking up to the people
At the top,
    envying the wicked who have it made,
Who have nothing to worry about,
    not a care in the whole wide world.    Psalm 73:1-5 (The Message)

Blessed the man, blessed the woman, who listens to me [wisdom],
    awake and ready for me each morning,
    alert and responsive as I start my day’s work.
When you find me, you find life, real life,
    to say nothing of God’s good pleasure.     Provers 8:34-35 (The Message)

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the sake of the joy that was set before him endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God.            Hebrews 12:1-2 (NRSV)

One thing that keeps me from being opened to God is my judgmentalism and jealousy. Like the Psalmist I often miss what God has for me because I’m looking at someone or something else and envying what they have.

Eugene Peterson renders this passage from Proverbs well. Blessed is the one who is awake and awaiting wisdom in the morning. So often for me, if it doesn’t happen then, it doesn’t happen for the day. The extra few minutes that I often would rather be spending asleep make a huge difference if I spend them in attention to what God’s wisdom has for me.

Laying aside the weight, the sin that weighs us down and trips us up, is tough. The weight sometimes clings to us without us knowing until it is too late. It is so good to be able to look to Christ who has done this before and who made it through, despite all the difficulties.