a feast at the end

Good evening friends,

Today's reading gives us another angle on Isaiah's vision of God's kingdom. God acts for the poor and provides not just what everyone needs, but a giant party. Heaven is a feast for everyone. God's intention for redemption is a joyful, peaceful kingdom for everyone.

God bless,
Sam

Isaiah 25:1-10

O Lord, you are my God; I will exalt you, I will praise your name; for you have done wonderful things, plans formed of old, faithful and sure. ²For you have made the city a heap, the fortified city a ruin; the palace of aliens is a city no more, it will never be rebuilt.  ³Therefore strong peoples will glorify you; cities of ruthless nations will fear you. ⁴For you have been a refuge to the poor, a refuge to the needy in their distress, a shelter from the rainstorm and a shade from the heat. When the blast of the ruthless was like a winter rainstorm, ⁵the noise of aliens like heat in a dry place, you subdued the heat with the shade of clouds; the song of the ruthless was stilled.

⁶On this mountain the Lord of hosts will make for all peoples a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wines, of rich food filled with marrow, of well-aged wines strained clear. ⁷And he will destroy on this mountain the shroud that is cast over all peoples, the sheet that is spread over all nations; he will swallow up death forever. ⁸Then the Lord God will wipe away the tears from all faces, and the disgrace of his people he will take away from all the earth, for the Lord has spoken.

⁹It will be said on that day, Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, so that he might save us. This is the Lord for whom we have waited; let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation.     

praise in heaven

Good evening friends,

Today's passage is strange, and yet one of the more familiar passages from Revelation. John is invited to a vision of heaven to help him understand the visions he will receive about how God will conclude history. Not only is the vision of heaven striking in itself, it is also the key to understanding the book. In our world many powers claim to be in charge: politicians, bosses, other powerful people, empires, nations. That was true in John's time too, especially the Roman Empire. The truth as the heart of our faith is that it's actually God, and no one else, who sits on the throne. God is on the throne and God is love. That's worth singing praise about.

God bless,
Sam

Revelation 4:1-11

After this I looked, and there in heaven a door stood open! And the first voice, which I had heard speaking to me like a trumpet, said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this.” ²At once I was in the spirit, and there in heaven stood a throne, with one seated on the throne! ³And the one seated there looks like jasper and carnelian, and around the throne is a rainbow that looks like an emerald. 

⁴Around the throne are twenty-four thrones, and seated on the thrones are twenty-four elders, dressed in white robes, with golden crowns on their heads. ⁵Coming from the throne are flashes of lightning, and rumblings and peals of thunder, and in front of the throne burn seven flaming torches, which are the seven spirits of God; ⁶and in front of the throne there is something like a sea of glass, like crystal.

Around the throne, and on each side of the throne, are four living creatures, full of eyes in front and behind: ⁷the first living creature like a lion, the second living creature like an ox, the third living creature with a face like a human face, and the fourth living creature like a flying eagle.⁸And the four living creatures, each of them with six wings, are full of eyes all around and inside.

Day and night without ceasing they sing, “Holy, holy, holy, the Lord God the Almighty, who was and is and is to come.” ⁹And whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to the one who is seated on the throne, who lives forever and ever, ¹⁰the twenty-four elders fall before the one who is seated on the throne and worship the one who lives forever and ever; they cast their crowns before the throne, singing, ¹¹“You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created.”

judgment day

Good evening friends,
This passage is not the only thing the Bible says about the judgment day, but it is a clear and compelling reminder that how we treat our neighbors really matters to God. This passage always pulls me up short because I know there are times I care for those in need and other times I ignore them. How is God calling you to make a difference?

God bless,
Sam

Matthew 25:31-46

³¹“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory. ³²All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, ³³and he will put the sheep at his right hand and the goats at the left.

³⁴Then the king will say to those at his right hand, ‘Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; ³⁵for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, ³⁶I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.’

³⁷Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink? ³⁸And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? ³⁹And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?’ ⁴⁰And the king will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.’

⁴¹Then he will say to those at his left hand, ‘You that are accursed, depart from me into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels; ⁴²for I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, ⁴³I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not give me clothing, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’

⁴⁴Then they also will answer, ‘Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not take care of you?’ ⁴⁵Then he will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’ ⁴⁶And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

song of victory, part 2

Good afternoon sisters and brothers,
Today's reading continues the song of Deborah in praise to God after Israel's victory over Sisera and the Canaanite army. I mentioned a few days ago that Israel at this point was a fairly loose assembly of tribes rather than a solid nation. Here we see discussion in the song about which tribes came to fight and which ignored the call. We also see God's army given credit for the victory.
May your friends always stand with you in trouble.
God bless,
Sam


Judges 5:12-23
¹²“Awake, awake, Deborah! Awake, awake, utter a song! Arise, Barak, lead away your captives, O son of Abinoam. ¹³Then down marched the remnant of the noble; the people of the Lord marched down for him against the mighty. ¹⁴From Ephraim they set out into the valley, following you, Benjamin, with your kin; from Machir marched down the commanders, and from Zebulun those who bear the marshal’s staff; ¹⁵the chiefs of Issachar came with Deborah, and Issachar faithful to Barak; into the valley they rushed out at his heels.

Among the clans of Reuben there were great searchings of heart. ¹⁶Why did you tarry among the sheepfolds, to hear the piping for the flocks? Among the clans of Reuben there were great searchings of heart. ¹⁷Gilead stayed beyond the Jordan; and Dan, why did he abide with the ships? Asher sat still at the coast of the sea, settling down by his landings.

¹⁸Zebulun is a people that scorned death; Naphtali too, on the heights of the field. ¹⁹“The kings came, they fought; then fought the kings of Canaan, at Taanach, by the waters of Megiddo; they got no spoils of silver. ²⁰The stars fought from heaven, from their courses they fought against Sisera. ²¹The torrent Kishon swept them away, the onrushing torrent, the torrent Kishon. March on, my soul, with might! ²²“Then loud beat the horses’ hoofs with the galloping, galloping of his steeds. ²³“Curse Meroz, says the angel of the Lord, curse bitterly its inhabitants, because they did not come to the help of the Lord, to the help of the Lord against the mighty.

the souls of the martyrs

Good afternoon friends,
Friday we read about Jesus, the lamb of God who was slaughter, being worthy to open the seal on a scroll God was holding. As it turns out, there are seven seals (seven is a number that for Biblical writers represented completion, so several things happen in sevens). When each seal is opened something dramatic happens. In today's reading one of the seals reveals the souls of Christian martyrs waiting for Christ's return and victory over evil. Throughout Revelation we are reminded over and over again about the importance of giving testimony to Christ's lordship and love.

Revelation was written to a persecuted church, a church that didn't have any power in the typical sense of the word. The main point of the Revelation is to remind the church that they are on God's side. Even though it seems like other powers (Rome, evil, pagan rulers, etc) appear stronger, God is actually in charge and God will be victorious one day. The way God conquers is through Jesus' death (the lamb that was slaughtered), and the way Christians play their part is by testifying. This is a different way of thinking about power, but it is how God calls us to think. That's a good reminder for the church today that is worried about loosing financial, social or political power. Like our Lord, we are strong when we are weak, and faithful when we testify.

God bless,
Sam

Revelation 6:9-11, 7:9-17

⁹When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slaughtered for the word of God and for the testimony they had given; ¹⁰they cried out with a loud voice, “Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long will it be before you judge and avenge our blood on the inhabitants of the earth?” ¹¹They were each given a white robe and told to rest a little longer, until the number would be complete both of their fellow servants and of their brothers and sisters, who were soon to be killed as they themselves had been killed.

⁹After this I looked, and there was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, robed in white, with palm branches in their hands. ¹⁰They cried out in a loud voice, saying, “Salvation belongs to our God who is seated on the throne, and to the Lamb!” ¹¹And all the angels stood around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, ¹²singing, “Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen.”

¹³Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, “Who are these, robed in white, and where have they come from?” ¹⁴I said to him, “Sir, you are the one that knows.” Then he said to me, “These are they who have come out of the great ordeal; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. ¹⁵For this reason they are before the throne of God, and worship him day and night within his temple, and the one who is seated on the throne will shelter them. ¹⁶They will hunger no more, and thirst no more; the sun will not strike them, nor any scorching heat; ¹⁷for the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of the water of life, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”

new heavens and a new earth

Good morning brothers and sisters,
The book of Isaiah is actually thought to be several books, but the common theme is God's word to Jerusalem. The Prophet Isaiah himself had his ministry in the 8th century BCE, a time when Jerusalem and the kingdom was doing pretty well in some ways and teetering on the edge of destruction in others. The main idea Isaiah was sent to bring was that Judah's injustice would bring disaster and defeat. This part of the book is roughly Chapters 1-40. Second Isaiah is the second part of the book (Roughly Chapters 40-55) and speaks into the time of Judah's exile in Babylon. Since the people have seen God's judgment first hand, these words are mostly words of comfort and hope for a future in the land as God's people again. Third Isaiah, from chapters 56-66, deals with the people after they have returned to their land and have not found complete renewal. These words are words of challenge and hope that God will complete the work of salvation begun in the Exodus and continued in the liberation from Babylon.

Second and Third Isaiah are often read during Advent because of the promise of God's kingdom and renewal. Our passage from today is one of Third Isaiah's visions of the completion of God's kingdom. We see harmony, abundance, peace and joy as a result of God's closeness. This future sustains us in hard times as we seek God's justice and love in a troubled world today.

God bless and enjoy the beautiful day,
Sam


Isaiah 65:17-25

17For I am about to create new heavens and a new earth; the former things shall not be remembered or come to mind. 18But be glad and rejoice forever in what I am creating; for I am about to create Jerusalem as a joy, and its people as a delight. 19I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and delight in my people; no more shall the sound of weeping be heard in it, or the cry of distress. 20No more shall there be in it an infant that lives but a few days, or an old person who does not live out a lifetime; for one who dies at a hundred years will be considered a youth, and one who falls short of a hundred will be considered accursed.

21They shall build houses and inhabit them; they shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit. 22They shall not build and another inhabit; they shall not plant and another eat; for like the days of a tree shall the days of my people be, and my chosen shall long enjoy the work of their hands.

23They shall not labor in vain, or bear children for calamity; for they shall be offspring blessed by the LORD-and their descendants as well. 24Before they call I will answer, while they are yet speaking I will hear. 25The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, the lion shall eat straw like the ox; but the serpent-its food shall be dust! They shall not hurt or destroy on all my holy mountain, says the LORD.