“Earth wobbles and lurches; huge mountains shake like leaves,
Quake like aspen leaves because of his rage. His nostrils flare, bellowing smoke; his mouth spits fire. Tongues of fire dart in and out; he lowers the sky. He steps down; under his feet an abyss opens up. He’s riding a winged creature, swift on wind-wings. Now he’s wrapped himself in a trench coat of black-cloud darkness.
But his cloud-brightness bursts through, spraying hailstones and fireballs. Then God thundered out of heaven; the High God gave a great shout,     spraying hailstones and fireballs. God shoots his arrows—pandemonium! He hurls his lightening—a rout! The secret sources of ocean are exposed, the hidden depths of earth lie uncovered. The moment you roar in protest, let loose your hurricane anger.” (Psalm 18:7-15, The Message)

“That sounds pretty much like a hurricane to me. (Psalm 18) And perhaps something more. Whatever else the ancient Israelites believed about their God, he was not a tame God. He was not the cool, detached God of ancient Epicureanism or modern Deism. But nor was he simply the personification of those forces of nature. He uses them, riding on the wind. At other times he tells the winds to be quiet. He remains sovereign over the elements. He is, after all, their creator. The first century Jews told stories not only about their national history, but about their God. They celebrated his power, singing psalms like the one quoted. Jerusalem, as ever, stood at the point where the tectonic plates of the world crashed together.” (“The Hurricane”, Simply Jesus,  N. T. Wright, p. 40)

I have lived through several hurricanes. I have never survived a true, clashing of tectonic plates we call an earthquake. We get small, seemingly benign earthquakes in this part of Pennsylvania – nothing like they experience in Japan, in California, or even in Mexico. Hurricanes and earthquakes both have power. One uses the wind and water to cause destruction. The other moves the whole earth, the actual crust of the earth moves, lifting and shaking the ground under our feet. Both have power – both can change our perspective on the world.

Looking at many of the images that have come to us from places that have been devastated by hurricanes or earthquakes, the devastation can be total and complete. Nothing, not levies, not boundary islands, not even seismic detectors can predict, prevent, nor prevail over such disasters. But Jesus could, or so the bible tells us so. He could calm the storms on the sea – he could walk on water – he could raise the dead. His power over death, disease, and destruction was overwhelming. And his power, like that of hurricanes and earthquakes, should change our perspective on faith, and life, and the world. As we hear Jesus say in Matthew 17: “…you’re not yet taking God seriously,” said Jesus. “The simple truth is that if you had a mere kernel of faith, a poppy seed, say, you would tell this mountain, ‘Move!’ and it would move. There is nothing you wouldn’t be able to tackle.”

My friends, every day we need to rejoice in the Power of the Holy Spirit.

Pastor Dave

“God had promised to come back, to return to his people in power and glory, to establish his kingdom on earth as in heaven. The Jewish people always hoped that this would simply underwrite their national aspirations; he was, after all, their God. They wanted a divine hurricane simply to reinforce their already overheated high-pressure system. But the prophets, up to and including John the Baptist, had always warned that God’s coming in power and in person would be entirely on his own terms, with his own purpose – and that his own people would be as much under judgment as anyone, if their aspirations didn’t coincide with G0d’s. Jesus believed, as he came to Jerusalem he was embodying, incarnating, the return of Israel’s God to his people in power and glory.” (“The Hurricane”, Simply Jesus,  N. T. Wright, p. 38)

It is clear, at least I think, that the one the Israelites hoped would come to rule Israel (according to their national hopes) and the world was not your typical King. The one to come back was G-d – not a human ruler who claimed the title of G-d – like Caesar. If Jesus was the one, the incarnation of G-d, then establishing power was going to look differently. There was not going to be a formal “proper revolution”. It would be a different kind of power – a different kind of glory. And the zealots and others hoping for a “King of the Revolution” would not understand what Jesus stood for.

There are a lot of people today who do not understand what Jesus actually stood for – even those who come to church every Sunday. Some will say he was a good “moral” teacher, others will say that he was a prophet. And still others will say that he was just a fraud. Some think Jesus came just for them and their churches – others believe Jesus came for everyone. Who was Jesus and what did he stand for? We will be talking more about this in my devotions. But one thing you can be sure of: Jesus came so that we all can and will have new life, that we will live as new creations, and will live in the hope of the resurrection, now.

Pastor Dave