And then the second week we continued with Peace.  We reviewed how Jesus is the one who brought us peace and reconciliation with God, and how He will come again to bring peace on earth as the angels sang.  We have already waited long centuries for that and may have to wait long centuries yet, but we can be assured that just as the prophecies were fulfilled the first time when Jesus was born in Bethlehem, even though some thought it would never happen, that the rest of the prophecies will yet be fulfilled.  Jesus is our Hope, and He is our Peace.

And then the third week we celebrated with Joy!  Christmas is almost here.  The time of waiting is almost at an end.  God’s word fulfilled!  What glory!  Jesus, here, among us.  The Desire of all Nations has come and He deigns to walk the land as one of us, as the poorest of us.  And Jesus came for one reason–as the angel told Joseph:  to save His people from their sins.

And so we come to the fourth week.  The theme of this week is Love.  This week we examine a love that goes two ways.  The first way is from God to us.  As it says in the verses below it was the love of God that prompted Him to think of this solution for our sin and rebellion and outright hatred of Him: to come among us and to suffer the punishment for that sin Himself.  It was love.  It was love that caused Jesus to be born in that manger. It was love that let Him walk among us and heal us and listen to us and care about us and suffer our hurts and griefs (Isaiah 53).  It was love that put Jesus on the cross.  It was love that caused Him to rise from the dead.  It was love.

And as we reflect on His great love, it is only natural that the joy we felt in week three should turn to love.  That is the second direction of love mentioned above: from us to God.  We love Him because He first loved us.  How great is that love!  And how paltry sometimes our love in return.  But this week as we reflect on Jesus’ birth, our Hope and Peace, and as we rejoice that our sins have been forgiven, and we have been reconciled to God, we do love Him.  And as is only natural, our love turns to worship.  We fall on our faces in front of One whose love is of such magnitude.  There is none greater.

Come and worship.  O come, let us adore Him, Christ the Lord.

LOVE

The fourth and last purple candle is lit.

I John 4:9-10

In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him.  In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

John 3:16

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

I John 3:16a

By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us.

Ephesians 2:4

But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved).

Colossians 1:13

He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love.

I John 3:1a

Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God!

I Peter 1:8-9

Whom having not seen you love.  Though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, receiving the end of your faith–the salvation of your souls.

I John 4:19

We love Him because He first loved us.

Psalm 99:8-9

You answered them, O LORD our God;
You were to them God-Who-Forgives,
Though You took vengeance on their deeds.
Exalt the LORD our God,
And worship at His holy hill;
For the LORD our God is holy.

(You can hear the following hymn here.)

O Come, All Ye Faithful

JOY

The pink candle is lit.

Isaiah 65:14a

Behold, my servants shall sing for joy of heart.

Psalm 100:1

Make a joyful shout to the LORD, all you lands!

Zechariah 9:9a

Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion!
Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem!
Behold, your King is coming to you.

Isaiah 12:4-6

And in that day you will say:
“Praise the LORD, call upon His name;
Declare His deeds among the peoples,
Make mention that His name is exalted.
Sing to the LORD,
For He has done excellent things;
This is known in all the earth.
Cry out and shout,
O inhabitants of Zion,
For great is the Holy One of Israel in your midst!”

Is 52:7, 9-10

How beautiful upon the mountains
Are the feet of him who brings good news,
Who proclaims peace,
Who brings glad tidings of good things,
Who proclaims salvation,
Who says to Zion,
“Your God reigns!”
Break forth into joy, sing together,
You waste places of Jerusalem!
For the LORD has comforted His people,
He has redeemed Jerusalem.
The LORD has made bare His holy arm
In the eyes of all the nations;
And all the ends of the earth shall see
The salvation of our God.

PSALM 126

When the LORD brought back the captivity of Zion,
We were like those who dream.
Then our mouth was filled with laughter,
And our tongue with singing
Then they said among the nations,
“The LORD has done great things for them.”
The LORD has done great things for us,
And we are glad.
Bring back our captivity, O LORD,
As the streams in the South.
Those who sow in tears shall reap in joy.
He who continually goes forth weeping,
Bearing seed for sowing,
Shall doubtless come again with rejoicing,
Bringing his sheaves with him.

Zephaniah 3:17

The LORD your God in your midst,
The Mighty One, will save;
He will rejoice over you with gladness,
He will quiet you with His love,
He will rejoice over you with singing.

John 15:11

These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full.

(You can listen to the carol here.)

Joy to the World

Joy to the world, the Lord is come!
Let earth receive her King;
Let every heart prepare Him room,
And Heaven and nature sing,
And Heaven and nature sing,
And Heaven, and Heaven, and nature sing.

Joy to the earth, the Savior reigns!
Let men their songs employ;
While fields and floods, rocks, hills and plains
Repeat the sounding joy,
Repeat the sounding joy,
Repeat, repeat, the sounding joy.

No more let sins and sorrows grow,
Nor thorns infest the ground;
He comes to make His blessings flow
Far as the curse is found,
Far as the curse is found,
Far as, far as, the curse is found.

He rules the world with truth and grace,
And makes the nations prove
The glories of His righteousness,
And wonders of His love,
And wonders of His love,
And wonders, wonders, of His love.

The theme of this week and Sunday of Advent is Peace.  Jesus is our peace.  He is our hope of salvation from our sins (week one) and He is the means of peace with God.  He is the means by which our sins are forgiven, taken care of, and we are reconciled to God.  And in the future, He will one day bring peace to this earth.  There will be no more sin and warring and oppression, but “the lion will lie down with the lamb.”  Even so, come Lord Jesus!

PEACE

The second purple candle is lit.

Isaiah 9:6

For unto us a Child is born,
Unto us a Son is given;
And the government will be upon His shoulder.
And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Isaiah 11:10

And in that day there shall be a Root of Jesse,
Who shall stand as a banner to the people;
For the Gentiles shall seek Him,
And His resting place shall be glorious.

Isaiah 11:4

But with righteousness He shall judge the poor,
And decide with equity for the meek of the earth;
He shall strike the earth with the rod of His mouth,
And with the breath of His lips He shall slay the wicked.

Ephesians 2: 13-14, 16

But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.  For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation.  And that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity.

Romans 5:1b

We have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.

I Thessalonians 5:23-24

May the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.  He who calls you is faithful, who will also do it.

Micah 4:1-3 (Isaiah 2:1-4)

Now it shall come to pass in the latter days
That the mountain of the LORD’s house
Shall be established on the top of the mountains,
And shall be exalted above the hills;
And peoples shall flow to it.
Many nations shall come and say,
“Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD,
To the house of the God of Jacob;
He will teach us His ways,
And we shall walk in His paths.”
For out of Zion the law shall go forth,
And the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.
He shall judge between many peoples,
And rebuke strong nations afar off;
They shall beat their swords into plowshares,
And their spears into pruning hooks;
Nation shall not lift up sword against nation,
Neither shall they learn war anymore.

Ezekiel 34:28

And they shall no longer be a prey for the nations, nor shall beasts of the land devour them; but they shall dwell safely, and no one shall make them afraid.

(You can listen to this hymn here.)

It Came Upon the Midnight Clear

It came upon the midnight clear,
That glorious song of old,
From angels bending near the earth,
To touch their harps of gold;
“Peace on the earth, good will to men,
From Heaven’s all gracious King.”
The world in solemn stillness lay,
To hear the angels sing.

Still through the cloven skies they come
With peaceful wings unfurled,
And still their heavenly music floats
O’er all the weary world;
Above its sad and lowly plains,
They bend on hovering wing,
And ever over its Babel sounds
The blessèd angels sing.

Yet with the woes of sin and strife
The world has suffered long;
Beneath the angel strain have rolled
Two thousand years of wrong;
And man, at war with man, hears not
The love-song which they bring;
O hush the noise, ye men of strife
And hear the angels sing.

And ye, beneath life’s crushing load,
Whose forms are bending low,
Who toil along the climbing way
With painful steps and slow,
Look now! for glad and golden hours
Come swiftly on the wing.
O rest beside the weary road,
And hear the angels sing!

For lo! the days are hastening on,
By prophet-bards foretold,
When with the ever circling years
Comes round the age of gold;
When peace shall over all the earth
Its ancient splendors fling,
And the whole world send back the song
Which now the angels sing.

I’ve been reading up on Advent over the last few days.  None of the churches I attended growing up celebrated Advent, so I wasn’t exposed to the custom until I joined the Navy.  Military chapels do celebrate Advent.  And I find I like the custom.  I like the idea of having a definite and ceremonial way to celebrate the anticipation of Christmas.  And it is also a way to keep oneself focused on the religious side of Christmas versus the commercialism.  Although, since Christmas is still seen primarily as a religious holiday in the Middle East, we don’t have all the commercialism.  And that is nice.

But aside from occasional decorations, we don’t have much to remind us that Christmas is approaching.  And that is why Advent is especially nice.  I decided this year that I would like to celebrate it, hence the research.  The church I attend doesn’t do Advent, and Jeremy didn’t seem interested, so I decided I’d celebrate it on my blog.

If you are not familiar with the custom, please read the wikipedia article on Advent as well as this other really good article called “The Season of Advent.” The American Bible Society website provides an Advent activity as well as Scripture readings for every day.  This one is oriented towards Catholics, but has very interesting Christmas traditions as well as Christmas food recipes.  My friend Gretchen Niesler wrote a nice post on her blog about Advent with some other ideas and resources for celebrating it in the home.

So today is the first Sunday of Advent.  Themes vary across traditions, but it seems commonest that this Sunday is called Hope.  As I haven’t ever done this before, you’ll forgive me if I “don’t do it right.”  But since traditions do vary, I felt at liberty to tweak things.

HOPE

The first purple candle is lit.

This first Sunday of Advent reminds us of our need for a Savior and the hope that became flesh in Jesus.  It reminds us of the prophecies of Jesus’ birth and the longing of the people of God for the Savior promised them as they waited for Him to come.  It reflects our own eager longing for our Savior to return, as we anticipate yet another Christmas.

Isaiah 7:14

Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign:  “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel.

Malachi 3:1-2

Behold, I send My messenger,
And he will prepare the way before Me.
And the Lord, whom you seek,
Will suddenly come to His temple,
Even the Messenger of the covenant,
In whom you delight.
Behold, He is coming,
Says the LORD of hosts.

Psalm 130: 5-8

I wait for the LORD, my soul waits,
And in His word I do hope.
My soul waits for the Lord
More than those who watch for the morning–
Yes, more than those who watch for the morning.
O Israel, hope in the LORD;
For with the LORD there is mercy,
And with Him is abundant redemption.
And He shall redeem Israel
From all his iniquities.

Matthew 1:21

And she shall bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name JESUS, for He will save His people from their sins.

Isaiah 53:6

All we like sheep have gone astray;
We have turned, every one, to his own way;
And the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.

Isaiah 53: 11b

By His knowledge My righteous Servant shall justify many,
For He shall bear their iniquities.

Matthew 18:11

For the Son of Man has come to save that which was lost.

Matthew 1:22-23

So all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying:  “Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call his name Immanuel,” which is translated, “God with us.”

(The following hymn can be heard here.)

O Come, O Come, Emmanuel

O come, O come Emmanuel,
And ransom captive Israel,
That mourns in lonely exile here,
Until the Son of God appear.

Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel!

O come, Thou Rod of Jesse, free
Thine own from Satan’s tyranny;
From depths of hell Thy people save,
And give them victory over the grave.

Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel!

O come, Thou Dayspring, come and cheer
Our spirits by Thy coming here;
Disperse the gloomy clouds of night,
And death’s dark shadows put to flight.

Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel!

O come, Thou Key of David, come,
And open wide our heav’nly home;
Make safe the way that leads on high,
And show the path that brings us nigh.

Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel!

After that we went to my command’s party, at my LPO’s house (Leading Petty Officer).  We ate turkey again and played taboo and those who wanted to played Uno and Sorry and some played Poker.

After ten hours combined partying we went home, tired but happy.

So I’m thankful first of all, that I had somewhere to go on Thanksgiving.  So many do not.  I’m thinking of my shipmates who are on ships this Thanksgiving.  Some of them are really taking it hard that they’re missing Thanksgiving.  It made me feel a little guilty for enjoying myself this day.  I wish I could do something for them, but I don’t know what.

And then I’m thankful for Jeremy.  It’s so wonderful to have him here to spend the holiday with me.  It could so easily be that he or I would be out on a ship and be separated as we have been so much.  I’m so glad I get to be with him.  I’m very thankful for him–for his love, for his caring, for his companionship, for him.

And I’m thankful that I have a family back home that is supportive and that loves me.  Thanks guys!  I love you too!

And last, but not least, I thank you, God, that you have given me so many blessings.

Thank you.

This is one of my favorite holidays of the year.  It is the day we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus.  He died, but He did not stay dead.  This is the most important belief of Christianity.  Some would disagree with me.  They would say Jesus’ death is the most important belief.  And yes, that’s important.  But without the resurrection that is nothing.  It’s just a dead man.

You see, everyone dies.  And there have been many people throughout history who died for others.  And some people have even come back to life again.  Jesus Himself raised people from the dead.  But no one did what Jesus did.  He did these three things:

1. He lived a sinless life.  He kept the whole law and never offended in one point.
2. He died for the sins of humankind.  He died a substitutionary death, experiencing God’s wrath in the place of those who deserved it.
3. He rose from the dead–a proof of God’s acceptance of his death and sacrifice and at the same time conquering man’s greatest and oldest enemy–death.

All three are important.  Jesus conquered death for me; He conquered sin; and He keeps me from having to experience the wrath of God.  And when I think of God’s holiness, I feel so dirty in comparison.  I don’t deserve to have any favor with God, and yet Jesus makes it possible.

It’s awesome when you think about it.  Jesus didn’t have anyone raise Him from the dead.  He did it Himself.  And He didn’t just have a near-death experience.  He was in the grave, stone-cold–pronounced dead–for three days.  That’s long enough for the body to start decomposing.  And if you know anything about how he died–crucifixion–you know there’s no way He could have been anything but dead.

And then three days after His burial when His followers went to mourn at the grave, He wasn’t there.  They thought somebody had stolen the body, that someone had played the cruelest kind of joke on them, but then He appeared to them and talked to them, and they could see and hear and touch Him.  He was real.  He was really alive.  It was amazing.  It had never happened before.  And it has never happened since.

By rising from the dead Jesus proved two things: that He is God and that God accepted His sacrifice.

If any of His followers doubted Jesus’ divinity, His resurrection caused them to stop doubting.  Coming back to life after being dead takes power.  And who else would have that kind of power but He who could create life in the first place?  And who can create life but God?  Jesus’ resurrection shows that He has the ultimate power–that of creating life, especially life from death.

And His resurrection shows that He does that on a spiritual scale as well.  For what is the message of the gospel but that Jesus lived a sinless life, thus earning Him favor with God, but chose to instead suffer God’s wrath on behalf of people (you and me) who could never earn that favor and who would otherwise be doomed to suffer God’s wrath?  And that He basically creates new spiritual life where before there was just deadness.  (Ephesians 2:1,5; 2 Corinthians 5:17)  God accepted His sacrifice.  And He had to come back to tell us about it.  Otherwise how would we know?  Besides, if He conquered sin (that sacrifice God accepted) but couldn’t or didn’t conquer death, what good is that really?  Don’t we fear death a whole lot more than judgment?  What good is power if it isn’t useful?  And so Jesus conquered death too.  He left no enemies undefeated.

And He offers the same power to us.  Not only can He save our souls, but He can save our lives as well.  I mean the day-to-day living of our lives.  The life of Jesus in us breathes power into our routines; He helps us fulfill our responsibilities when they would overwhelm us.  He changes us too.  His business that first Easter Sunday and every day since has been and is to create new life out of death.  He takes our brokenness, our hurts, our issues, our bad habits, our problems, our failings, our sinfulness, and redeems it.  He makes us new creatures–new, but still us.  He makes us better people.  From the inside out, not the outside in.  In Paul’s letter to the Ephesians he prays that his readers would know

what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power

which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places (Ephesians 1:19,20)

and in his letter to the Philippians Paul writes that his goal is to

…know Him [Christ] and the power of His resurrection… (Philippians 3:10)

May you know the power of Jesus’ resurrection today and every day.  May we all live in that power daily.

If you will permit, I’d like to share my favorite resurrection hymn.  I learned this hymn as a very young child.  My dad taught it to me at home.  It’s always been special to me since.

Listen to it at cyberhymnal.

Christ Arose

Low in the grave He lay, Jesus my Savior!
Waiting the coming day, Jesus my Lord!

Refrain:

Up from the grave He arose,
With a mighty triumph o’er His foes;
He arose a victor from the dark domain,
And He lives forever with His saints to reign.
He arose!  He arose!
Hallelujah!  Christ arose!

Vainly they watch His bed, Jesus my Savior!
Vainly they seal the dead, Jesus my Lord!

Refrain

Death cannot keep his prey, Jesus my Savior!
He tore the bars away, Jesus my Lord!

Refrain

I remember reading once I John 2:1,2:

My little children, these things I write to you, that you may not sin.  And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.

And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world.

Actually I was reading it in French that day, which looks like this:

Mes petits enfants, je vous écris ces choses, afin que vous ne péchiez point.  Et si quelqu’un a péché, nous avons un avocat aupréz du Père, Jésus-Christ le juste.

Il est lui-même une victime expiatoire pour nos péchés, non seulement pour les notres, mais aussi pour ceux du monde entier.

Now I knew avocat (advocate) was lawyer.  Jesus is our lawyer, representing us and pleading our case before God.  That much I understood.  But what I didn’t understand was what expiatoire meant.  So I read the same verse in English, but that didn’t help.  I didn’t know what propitiation meant either.  So I looked up expiatoire in my French-English dictionary, and it said that expiatoire meant a sacrifice or in place of.  That was interesting.  I already knew what victime was–victim.  So when it said that Jesus was a victime expiatoire, it was saying that Jesus was a sacrificial victim, a victim who died in the place of another.

And He was a victime expiatoire for nos péchés–our sins.  So He died in the place of our sins.  “And not for ours only but also for the whole world” or du monde entier–the entire world.  And yet He is our lawyer.  If life were a courtroom drama and God were the judge and we were on trial for our sins, then according to this verse Jesus, the righteous, the sinless one, died for us.  He took the death penalty for us.  And now He represents us before God.  In such a scenario only Jesus can convincingly argue for our aquittal.  If the sentence has already been served, then what need is there for any further trial?  Only Jesus’ substitutionary death (which is what propitiation means) can set us free.

So Jesus is my victime expiatoire.  He sacrificed Himself to die in my place.  Well does the Bible say (Romans 5:7,8):

For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die.

But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

People will die for their loved ones; they will die for comrades-in-arms; but I don’t know of anyone who will die for a sinner, a bad person.  But Jesus did.

In honor of today, I would like to share my favorite “cross” hymn.  The words were written by Isaac Watts and the music by Lowell Mason.  You can read more about these men or listen to the music at cyberhymnal.

When I Survey the Wondrous Cross

When I survey the wondrous cross
On which the prince of glory died,
My richest gain I count but loss,
And pour contempt on all my pride.

Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast,
Save in the death of Christ, my God;
All the vain things that charm me most–
I sacrifice them to His blood.

See, from His head, His hands, His feet,
Sorrow and love flow mingled down;
Did e’er such love and sorrow meet,
Or thorns compose so rich a crown?

Were the whole realm of nature mine,
That were a present far too small:
Love so amazing, so divine,
Demands my soul, my life, my all.

And then there were the rapiers, the “gentleman’s sword.”  This was long, very slender, and pointed.  Due to its extreme slenderness it was usually not sharpened on the sides.  It wouldn’t have done much good to sharpen it anyway as due to its cross-section it wasn’t good for cutting.  But what it was good for, excellent for, was stabbing.  And that’s how it was used.  And due to the limited medical knowledge of the time (Renaissance time) puncture wounds were harder to recover from and thus more deadly than cuts (as in “It’s a mere scratch”).  Thus this was a very deadly weapon and was the weapon of choice for duels, at least until pistols became accurate enough to be popular.

Nowadays we have even more deadly weapons.  We have guns and we have bombs and we have nuclear bombs and other weapons of mass destruction.  We could destroy the entire world if we wanted to, and in fact there’s a lot of literature been written about this very possibility.

But above and beyond all that is the power of words.  Words too can destroy.  Words too can destroy whole civilizations, whole worlds.  As an example, Hitler used the power of words to control the German people and lead them to war and the subsequent destruction of so many lives.  Political and religious leaders throughout history have motivated and controlled people, led people through their use of words.  There are three major religions of the world today based on words–”People of the Book”–Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.  Words are what has powered the spread of all three religions around the world.  Words are powerful.

But words can do more than destroy.  They can do what the weapons of warfare cannot do: words can build.  Words can be used to build civilizations.  The above mentioned religions are each responsible for amazing civilizations throughout history, from the Israel of Kings David and Solomon to the Byzantine Empire and Christian Europe to the Moors of Spain and the Ottomans, just to name a few.  And don’t forget the Zorostrians of Persia (now Iran).  They had a whole civilization based on their religion–on words.

Words can hurt or they can heal.  There’s a rhyme that is sometimes quoted to children.  It is this: “Sticks and stones may break my bones, / but words can never hurt me.”  That rhyme is a lie.  I was hurt by words as a child, and I’m sure you have been too.  I say words hurt more than sticks and stones.  Sticks and stones and other weapons can only hurt the body.  Yes, they may be able to kill, but it is only the body.  Words can touch the soul.  Let me repeat that.  Words can touch one’s very soul.  They can heal the soul or harm the soul or even destroy the soul.

That, my friends, is power, real power.  Words have the power to get down into the ”real me” of each one of us and touch our core selves.  And to know we have the power to do that to each other is both awesome and frightening.

In the Bible, Proverbs 18:21 says this:

Death and life are in the power of the tongue,

And those who love it will eat its fruit. 

Death and life, folks.  That’s powerful.  That’s sobering.  And what about the second phrase?  “Those who love it will eat its fruit”?  Do you love words?  Maybe not.  Not everyone is called to a life of using words–to speak, to write, etc.  Some people truly love words.  They love learning new vocabulary, they love reading, they love learning new languages, they love talking to others, and they love learning how to use words to express their own thoughts to others.  People like that keep blogs.  So maybe I’m really talking to myself.  But we all use words to some extent or another.  And so there’s the warning.  A promise or a warning, I’m not sure.  Maybe a little of both.  It says to me that those who love words (and I think this would include people who like to talk) will experience both the death and the life of the power of words.  Wow.  I’m all for the life part, but not so sure about the death part.  That’s why I take it as a warning: Be careful how I use words.  I can bring life to others and I can also bring death.  What I say can have permanent results, as I can touch a person’s soul–their very essence.  That’s serious.  It’s definitely something to keep in mind as I write this blog.  I hope I use this power wisely.

What about you?

Abide With Me

Abide with me: fast falls the eventide;
The darkness deepens; Lord, with me abide.
When other helpers fail and comforts flee,
Help of the helpless, O abide with me.

Swift to its close ebbs life’s little day,
Earth’s joys grow dim; its glories pass away;
Change and decay in all around I see.
O Thou who changest not, abide with me.

I need Thy presence every passing hour.
What but Thy grace can foil the tempter’s power?
Who, but Thyself, my guide and stay can be?
Through cloud and sunshine, O abide with me.

I fear no foe, with Thee at hand to bless;
Ills have no weight, and tears no bitterness.
Where is death’s sting? Where, grave, thy victory?
I triumph still, if Thou abide with me.

Hold thou Thy cross before my closing eyes;
Shine through the gloom, and point me to the skies;
Heaven’s morning breaks, and earth’s vain shadows flee:
In life, in death, O Lord, abide with me.

I’ve been reading through the book of Hebrews. It’s a very interesting book, and I’ve been getting a lot out of it. In chapter 11 is the “Hall of Faith” and I read this verse today:

And what more shall I say? For the time would fail me to tell of Gideon and Barak…. (vs 32, first part)

I looked these guys up. Their stories can be found in Judges 6 and Judges 4 respectively. So these men are supposed to be heroes and models of faith? What are their stories? I wasn’t familiar with Barak (whose name means blessing by the way–compare Mubarrak, which is Arabic and means blessing or one who is blessed), but who among us who was raised on Bible stories can ever forget Gideon and his band of 300 men?

When I read the stories today, I was trying to answer the question: “tell what struggle the person faced. How did God strengthen his faith for his task?” as per the Bible study book I’m working out of.

So this is what I noticed:

Gideon first.

The Israelites were being oppressed by a people called the Midianites. When they cried out to God he told them by way of a prophet that they had brought it on themselves through their disobedience. But the story doesn’t stop there. Next we see the Angel of the Lord meeting Gideon who was threshing wheat in a winepress in order to hide it from the Midianites. This tells me something right away. Mainly that Gideon fears the Midianites. They’re big, mean, and nasty and Gideon doesn’t want to so much as attract their attention. He wouldn’t be threshing wheat in so inconvenient a place as a winepress if he weren’t convinced Bad Things would happen if the Midianites knew what he was doing. So these weren’t people to mess around with, and Gideon was not a brave man.

So what happens next? The Angel of the Lord addresses Gideon: “The LORD is with you, you mighty man of valor!”

Wait, I thought we’d established Gideon was fearful. Definitely not bold and courageous, much less valorous. Do you think this Angel had the wrong guy?

How does Gideon respond? According to the center column reference notes in my Bible he starts by addressing him as one would respectfully address a man–Lord. He says, “If the LORD is with us, then why has all this happened to us? And where are all His miracles which our fathers told us about, saying, ‘Did not the LORD bring us up from Egypt?’ But now the LORD has forsaken us and delivered us into the hands of the Midianites.”

Good questions, Gideon. I have asked those same questions before myself. If God is with me then why does he let bad things happen to me? He can prevent them, so why doesn’t He? Gideon doesn’t think God is with him; he thinks God has forsaken Him. That God has abandoned him. That God has given up. Quit. Let the enemy win. That He doesn’t care. That His hand is against Gideon and his people. And if the Almighty’s hand is against one, then it is impossible to prevail. I know I have felt like that before.

Gideon isn’t just afraid. He’s frustrated and hopeless and maybe even angry at God. So how does the Angel respond? “Go in this might of yours, and you shall save Israel from the hand of the Midianites. Have I not sent you?”

Whoa. Heavy words. From “God is with you” to “What do you mean? God has abandoned us. He doesn’t care. Maybe He used to, but not any more” to “So you will save Israel. Have I not sent you?” Um…no…at least I’m not a good choice.

Here’s how Gideon responds. First, he recognizes he’s in the presence of deity. Only God sends people, at least for crazy missions like this. He says, “O my Lord [address to deity according to the center column reference], how can I save Israel? Indeed my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father’s house.”

You’ve got the wrong guy, God. Not only am I afraid and all that other stuff, but I’m a nobody. Not important. The youngest of the youngest. The poorest of the poor. Nobody would listen to me. I don’t have might or power or valor. None of that. You’ve got the wrong guy.

“And the LORD said to him, ‘Surely I will be with you, and you shall defeat the Midianites as one man.’”

Wow. Really? As one man? And God would be with him? You all know the story, how he defeated the Midianites with only three hundred men. It would be worth it if you haven’t done it in awhile to read the rest of the chapter and the following one and see his journey from fearfulness to courage and doubting to faith. It will be instructive.

But next Barak.

This happened during an earlier time but it’s almost the same thing. The Israelites had done evil and God “sold them into the hand” of an oppressor. This time it was Jabin king of Canaan and the general of his army, Sisera. After twenty years of this with the people crying out to God, Deborah, a prophetess and who was judging Israel at that time (the closest they had to a central, unified leader) sent for Barak. She told him, “Has not the LORD God of Israel commanded, ‘Go and deploy troops at Mount Tabor; take with you ten thousand men of the sons of Naphtali and of the sons of Zebulun; and against you I will deploy Sisera, the commander of Jabin’s army, with his chariots [he had 900 of them--of iron] and his multitude at the River Kishon; and I will deliver him into your hand’?”

So, what does God want now? For Barak to command an army of 20,000 men against one with superior numbers and superior technology and superior “firepower”? I think the “shock and awe” in this case could reasonably be expected to be on Sisera’s side, not Barak’s. And yet God tells him to do it and tells him right up front how difficult it will be. It would be reasonable for Barak to be afraid. Anyone would be. It would be reasonable to think it couldn’t be done, that Barak and his men are “cannon fodder,” will be “toast.”

So how does he respond? “If you [Deborah] will go with me, then I will go; but if you will not go with me, I will not go!”

Wow. Sounds like he’s saying, “I’m too scared to go by myself, but I know you have an “in” with God, so if you come, I’ll do it, because I’ll probably be okay then.” This guy is leading an army? Not the most inspiring of leaders, is he? I would say he’s definitely fearful.

So how does Deborah respond? “I will surely go with you; nevertheless there will be no glory for you in the journey you are taking, for the LORD will sell Sisera into the hand of a woman.”

Ouch. As far as I know it’s universal that men don’t like to be upstaged by a woman. So I’m guessing that Barak didn’t like this very much. Probably didn’t like it at all. But yet it happened just that way. Barak’s army did defeat Sisera’s, but Sisera was killed by a woman named Jael who drove a tent peg through his temples. Pretty grisly. And there was no honor for Barak. I remembered the story of the tent peg (and Deborah) but didn’t remember that Barak was the general during that time.

And the point is….

So my question is, what is the difference between Barak and Gideon? Why did one get “glory” but the other didn’t? They were both fearful men. They both were given a task to do by God that seemed huge and incredibly difficult and even impossible. God asked both of them to do something that could have gotten them killed. They both, at least at the beginning of their stories seemed to lack both courage and faith.

So what’s the difference? Why was there a “reprimand” for Barak but not for Gideon? Does God “punish” fearfulness? I would say not. Gideon was fearful, but there was no “reprimand” for him.

I thought about this and came to the conclusion that the difference lies not in the men’s emotions but in their responses. Barak responded by setting conditions, dictating terms. “I won’t go unless you, Deborah, come with me.”

I think that’s the answer. Dictating terms. God doesn’t like us to dictate terms. It wasn’t the fear or the anger or the hopelessness or the doubting. Gideon felt all those and yet God was very patient with him. God knows we are human; He knows we are weak; He knows we have emotions, powerful emotions, even “bad” emotions that can overwhelm us at times and dictate our actions. And He understands. He’s patient with us in those. He doesn’t condemn; He doesn’t reject; He accepts us and love us and works with us. But what He doesn’t tolerate is presumption, pride. Read through the Psalms and the Proverbs. There are many references throughout those two books that God hates pride and even David says presumption is great transgression. And in Peter (1 Peter 5:5) it says that God resists the proud. If all this is true perhaps Barak got off lightly. After all he still defeated the enemy army; he just didn’t kill the leader. God still used him mightily.

I thought about this presumption. This, “I’ll only obey IF…” In our world we know this is wrong, even in our dealings human with human. What parent would be happy if their child were always saying things like, “I’ll only pick up my toys IF you let me stay up half an hour later,” or “I won’t go to bed UNLESS you let me watch my favorite movie.” Such a child is definitely not submitted to his parent’s authority or leadership. And which of us would say such things to our bosses? “I refuse to [do the task you've assigned to me] UNLESS you [do X].” We might be shown the door rather quickly. For those of us in the military it would definitely be a Bad Idea to say such things. Bad Things would definitely happen. It would not be pretty.

And so who are we to do the same to God? Because I’ve said such things before, haven’t you? “I know, God, you want me to do X, but I don’t want to or I’m afraid to, so I’m not going to UNLESS….”

“I won’t obey UNLESS….” This is pride and arrogance. It is presumption. It is the attitude of “You’re not the boss of me,” that lurks in each of our souls. It is dictating terms to God. It is trying to bargain, to manipulate, to control. It is rebellion. And it is not our right. Not if God truly is sovereign and lord. If He is the boss, then we are not. It’s that simple.

So now I am left with my response. How will I respond? When God asks me to do something, especially those things that frighten me, that require faith of me, will I be like Barak and say, “No, I can’t do it. I won’t do it, no UNLESS…” or will I be like Gideon and in spite of my fears and insecurities latch onto the promise of God to be with me, knowing that no matter how frightening and daunting the task if God, the Eternal One, the Infinite One, The Lord of Hosts, is with me, then I will be all right, that nothing can hurt me?

I won’t obey UNLESS….

or

God is with me. Immanu-el. I know that somehow everything will be all right.

They were both men of faith. Both had to believe something huge from God. Both had to overcome their fears. And both were successful. But if we wish to play manipulative games with God, the outcome won’t be as satisfying. It will be less full of honor than it would have been otherwise. So it is better to trust God from the beginning, even if it is fearful, doubting trust, as Gideon’s was. God is with us, O mighty people of valor. Go in this might of yours and accomplish what God has asked of you.

How about you? Which do you choose?