Devotions - Nov 15 and 17, 2008

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Saturday, November 15, 2008
Devotions: 87, 90, 136; Joel 3:9-17; James 2:1-13; Lk 16:10-17

Jerusalem is a special place for God—holy, glorious, a wellspring of song and dance. Moses prayed, affirming God as the Dwelling Place of His people: ‘For You, the eternal God, a thousand years is like a watch in the night, and mortals are like grass, flourishing in the morning, fading and withering the same evening. In our seventy years—or eighty if we’re especially long-lived—we work, we struggle, and we subside. Lord, teach us to number our days and to get a heart of wisdom! Let Your steadfast love bring us satisfaction, and make us glad as many days as we have seen evil and affliction. Let Your work be manifest to us, Your glorious power to our children. Lord, establish the work of our hands! Let us give thanks to YHWH, for He is good—Creator, Deliverer, Sustainer, Savior: His steadfast love endures forever.
There is a time for every purpose under heaven. Sometimes, the prophets counsel beating swords into plowshares; but here, Joel says: ‘Stir up the warriors! Beat plowshares into swords and pruning hooks into spears. Gather in Jehoshaphat, the Valley of Decision, where God will sit in judgment. YHWH’s Day is near; the cosmos reflects the spiritual crisis of our time. YHWH roars; heaven and earth tremble; but He Is a refuge to His people. God will hallow His land and His city, and will vindicate His people.’
James admonishes: ‘No partiality in the practice of your faith! If a prosperous visitor and a poor visitor come to your assembly, treat them equally, with courtesy and kindness. If anything, God favors the poor, the powerless, the weak, the small; so don’t you sit in judgment, or pander to wealth and power. Isn’t it the rich and mighty who oppress you, who drag you into court, who blaspheme the name of your family? “Love your neighbor as yourself” is a royal rule; partiality is sin, before the law and the Lord. Judgment without mercy is the outcome for anyone who shows no mercy—but in the end, mercy triumphs over judgment.’
Jesus teaches his disciples: ‘God wants you to grow in faithfulness; whoever is faithful in small things—like worldly wealth—will be faithful in great things; and whoever is dishonest in little things will be so in great matters. You can have only one master; you can serve either God or money.’ The Pharisees, who loved money, scoffed at this [for they maintained that wealth and power proved God’s favor]. Jesus said to them, ‘You justify yourselves in public view, but God knows your inmost hearts. What is exalted among humanity is an abomination in God’s sight. From the time of Moses and the prophets until John the Baptizer was the provenance of the Law; since then, the good news of God’s kingdom is proclaimed. Every one who enters must break into the kingdom forcefully. Yet it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one dot of the Law to become void.’ And then He added: ‘Every one who divorces a spouse and marries another is committing adultery, as does a person who marries someone who has been divorced.’

Monday, November 17, 2008
Devotions: Ps 89; Hab 2:1-20; Jas 2:14-26; Lk 16:19-31

Lord, I will sing of Your steadfast love forever, and proclaim Your righteousness to everyone I know. You keep Your covenant. You are mighty and righteous, and You are kind and generous—Maker and Sustainer of all the universe. Our love and our power descend from You, our Father. You have blessed the house of David, and culminated his line in Jesus. When Your people draw near, You bless us; when we fall away, You let the consequences of our sins chasten us until we turn again. How we need You, God, today and always!
Habakkuk watches and reports what he observes: the unrighteous will fail, and the righteous will live by faith. There is no other safe way: wine is treacherous; arrogance falls; greed is never satisfied and ends in ruin. Wealth is no insulation against judgment or pain; woe to those who build their power or wealth on innocent blood or with the fruits of iniquity. In God’s sovereign time and way, the earth will be filled with the knowledge of YHWH’s glory. Violence done to the creatures will be requited by the Creator. Manufactured idols, trusts in human technology—these cannot reveal truth or provide security. YHWH is in His holy temple; let all creation keep silence and wait upon Him!
James explored the relation between faith and works [and how this nettled Martin Luther!]: true faith will be evidenced by fruitful action. Empty words of encouragement do not clothe the naked or feed the hungry. James maintains that Abraham’s faith was manifest in his obedient willingness to sacrifice Isaac at YHWH’s command. He says: faith without works is dead. Paul uses Abraham to argue that faith has priority, and works without faith are dead. The two, says James, are like spirit and body. [I think it follows that both present the same godly truth—faith and works vary together: no godly faith remains fruitless, and godly works proceed only from godly faith. The burden of scripture supports the priority of faith, evidenced by works.]
Jesus continues His commentary to the Pharisees on the relations between riches and righteousness, with the parable of the rich man and Lazarus. The former dresses and lives luxuriously, feasting every day, while Lazarus lies at his gate, starving, covered with foul sores. When the two die, angels carry Lazarus to the bosom of Abraham, while the rich man is tormented in Hades. The rich man implores Abraham for a bit of relief from his suffering; but Abraham demurs: ‘You got your goodies in mortal life, while Lazarus suffered; moreover, there is a great, fixed chasm between us, and there is no crossing from one side to the other.’ Then, the rich man pleads for mercy in the form of a warning to his surviving brothers, to keep them from falling into torment like his own. Again, Abraham does not comply: ‘They have Moses and the prophets; if they will listen to Torah and prophecy, they’ll be warned.’ The rich man continues to plead: ‘If they get the message from beyond the grave, that would bring them to repentance.’ But the patriarch replies: ‘If they ignore Moses and the prophets, they will not be convinced by someone who rises from the dead.’