Psalm
35:3
...
Say
to my soul,
"I
am your salvation!"
This
Psalm sounds to me like the thinking I am likely to do – this bargaining back
and forth with God. Do this – and I will thank you...keep those bad guys from
harming me and I will praise you... I know I have these kinds of thoughts and
it probably doesn’t sound unreasonable; after all how would we know God was
there or that God cared for us if he didn’t intervene? But, on the other hand
it also sounds a lot like asking God to prove himself before we will trust him.
I am sure we do that with people; thinking they need to earn our trust, prove
themselves trustworthy before we will say they are. And yet, when Abraham was
called, he went to a place God would show him once he got there, and it was reckoned
to him as righteousness, and Moses would know that the Lord was with him, once
he had gotten to the mountain and had worshipped him...in these instances it
was the doing without the knowing that was faithful, and so I wonder to myself,
if this Psalm and the thoughts like it are limiting our ability to see God?
Perhaps if we had faith first without the ‘proof’ we would be blessed in
greater ways?
Let
those who delight in my righteousness
shout
for joy and be glad
and
say evermore,
"Great
is the Lord,
who
delights in the welfare of his servant!"
Then
my tongue shall tell of your righteousness
and
of your praise all the day long. (Psalm 35:27-28)
Now
we come to a reckoning for Jacob. This Genesis passage is what Jacob has feared
all this time in the land of his mother’s kin – this coming to face Esau. Here
is what Jacob prays:
And
Jacob said, "O God of my father Abraham and God of my father Isaac, O Lord
who said to me, "Return to your country and to your kindred, that I may do
you good," I am not worthy of the least of all the deeds of steadfast love
and all the faithfulness that you have shown to your servant, for with only my
staff I crossed this Jordan, and now I have become two camps. Please deliver me
from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau, for I fear him, that he may
come and attack me, the mothers with the children. But you said, "I will
surely do you good, and make your offspring as the sand of the sea, which
cannot be numbered for multitude." (Genesis 32:9-12)
I
notice how Jacob addresses God – as God of Abraham, and Isaac, and the God who
has been merciful to Jacob beyond what he has deserved. How different from
saying ‘prove yourself trustworthy.’ Jacob, in this instance has recognized God’s
blessings in his life all along and is saying he is doing what has been asked –
‘please God don’t forget me.’
This
scenario is craftily set up by Jacob...sending gifts ahead and slowly revealing
himself, so slowly in fact, we do not read about the two brothers’ meeting
today; we will have to wait until tomorrow to see what happens. The wrestling
Jacob does with God, it reminds me of the time at the beginning of Jacob’s
journey when he wrestles with God; in this case Jacob wishes to know God’s name
– some would say there is power in a name, that Jacob in effect is trying to
get the upper hand. But in the end when Jacob awakes what does he say? He says,
I have seen God face to face and have lived. Jacob struggles for God’s
blessing; this means much to him. Jacob strives with God. I think it is
different from Esau’s tossing aside his birthright for a cup of stew, and
different from whining about losing his own father’s blessing, and different
from going out to marry whomever it is that will annoy your parents the
most...yes, there is a difference in Jacob’s actions.
In
2 Chronicles today we read of the vast wealth that Solomon acquired, and then
of his death. It has been written that Solomon was the wealthiest of men of any
age. I don’t know if that is true, but we see that throughout his reign he has
spent and acquired wealth of vast quantities. Today’s reading ends with Solomon’s
death and naming Rehoboam, his son as his successor.
Acts
1
“In
the first book, O Theophilus...” The book of Acts was written by the writer of
Luke’s Gospel that we just finished. That much I know from my studies in “Disciple”
class. I also know that this name means “God-lover” what I don’t know is if
this is an actual individual, or perhaps if it is us; those who are reading
these words now? I don’t know, but it could be either or it could be both. What
I do know is this is useful for us who are reading it at this distance in
years.
This
is an eye-witness account, written by one who was there, and for us it gives
the story the veracity we need to believe all these years later.
My grandfather
used to talk about the “Great
Blizzard of ‘88” and he would tell me of the mountains of snow and of
shoveling tunnels from the house to the barn in order to feed and milk the
cows. He hadn’t actually been born, but it was the story of his own father, and
it took place in his own house and the cows might not be the same cows, but the
barn and the kitchen were the same ones – and this story was true and it was a
first-hand account, because my grandfather had it from his father, who lived
it...and to me, hearing it from my grandfather it was as if I were there to
hear it first-hand; this is what we are getting when we read this book of Acts –
we get that true eye-witness account, and we can see and hear it for ourselves.
I
will say one more thing today, and that is about the choosing of Matthias as a
replacement for Judas Iscariot. It has been said by the fathers (St. Clement of
Alexandria for instance) in the faith that this Matthias is the same Zaccheus
the tax collector. So, here we have an individual who meets Jesus on the road
to Jerusalem, and is the last miracle of healing and conversion before Jesus
dies on the cross (and the repentant thief meets him), and he is someone who
knows the salvation of the Lord and loves him for his own healing of heart that
has transformed his life; this is the one who is chosen to replace the traitor.
Today’s
readings: Psalm 35, Genesis 32, 2 Chronicles 9, Acts 1
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