December 6, 2021 — Ephesians 1  

“For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, I do not cease to give thanks for you when I remember you in my prayers. I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you spiritual wisdom and revelation in your growing knowledge of him, – since the eyes of your heart have been enlightened – so that you may know what is the hope of his calling, what is the wealth of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the incomparable greatness of his power toward us who believe, as displayed in the exercise of his immense strength. This power he exercised in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms far above every rule and authority and power and dominion and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. And God put all things under Christʼs feet, and he gave him to the church as head over all things. Now the church is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.” Ephesians 1:15-23  

In verses 19-20 Paul writes that the power and strength which G-d exercised or “energized” is the power that G-d worked first when G-d raised Christ from the dead. What gives this statement its bite is the subtle presumption, like in John’s Gospel, that Christ’s exaltation and Lordship proceed from and are brought to completion upon his cross — upon his suffering and death. 

That word “exercise” or “energize” is typically translated as “work” or “work out” in the Greek language. The Greek word commonly was used to refer to the influencing power of a “god” in the Stoic system — in other words the power of a “god” that permeates and works itself out in the details of life. By stating that G-d’s energizing power is the very power that raised Christ from the dead, Paul proclaims that G-d’s triumph through Christ and the cross is what energizes all people and and gives them new existence born out of Christ’s suffering and death. In raising Christ, G-d did not communicate that the suffering and death of Jesus was a bad mistake made by the world that killed him. Rather, Paul proclaims, G-d validated the suffering and death of Jesus as the defining act for G-d and for the very existence of those who live “in Christ.” 

Let us pray,

Lord Jesus, your suffering and death was not in vain – for it raises the possibility of new life and life eternal for all who believe. Help me to always live “In Christ”. Amen.

Pastor Dave 

December 5, 2021 – Advent 2C

“In the fifteenth year of the reign of Emperor Tiberius, when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, and Herod was ruler of Galilee, and his brother Philip ruler of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias ruler of Abilene, during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the wilderness. He went into all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, ⁴as it is written in the book of the words of the prophet Isaiah, “The voice of one crying out in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be made low, and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways made smooth; and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.’” Luke 3:1-6

“I can’t stand my life—all the bitterness of my life—but I’m holding nothing back. Here’s what I want to say—God, don’t bring in a verdict of guilty without letting me know the charges you are bringing.” Job 10

These are the words of Job. When I find myself feeling at my worst, either due to things happening in my personal life or life in the church, I find that I turn to the words, the laments, the conversations between Job and his friends. Why? Because Job is a complete dialogue on the issue of suffering. And right now, many throughout society (and in the church) are suffering.

One of the surprises as we got older, however, is that we come to see that there is no real correlation between the amounts of wrong we commit and the amount of pain we experience. An even bigger surprise for many of the more observant is that very often there is something quite the opposite happening in our lives. We find ourselves trying to do the right thing, and getting knocked down just the same. The axiom goes like this: “No good deed goes unpunished.” In other words, we do the best we are capable of doing, and just as we are reaching out to receive our reward, we are hit from the blind side and sent reeling. This is the suffering that first bewilders—that first troubles us–and then it just outrages us. This is the kind of suffering that troubled, confused, and outraged Job, for Job was doing everything right when suddenly everything went wrong. And it is this kind of suffering to which Job gives voice when he protests to G-d. Job gives voice to his sufferings so well, so accurately and honestly, that anyone who has ever suffered—which includes every last one of us—well every last one of us can recognize his or her personal pain in the voice of Job. But Job also refuses to play the victim.

But this is where—and this is also important—this is where we take note what Job does not do—and we do not want to suggest something he does not intend. Job does not curse G-d as his wife suggests he should do. But neither does Job go on and on trying to explain suffering. He does not instruct us in how to live so that we can avoid suffering. Suffering is a mystery–and Job comes to respect the mystery. In the course of facing, questioning, and respecting suffering, Job finds himself in an even larger mystery—the mystery of God.

Of course, this is where we enter into the themes of Advent. The theme I want us to focus on is peace. Paul’s prayers often include the invocation of “Grace and Peace” toward the people he is writing. So Paul knew that peace, though so necessary in the church, he knew intuitively that peace can be elusive. Some of us know that reality—know that peace in our lives seems so elusive. When we are in the midst of suffering, or crisis, peace seems even that much more elusive. But it is in times like these where we need to be even more intentional in seeking peace, through our prayer lives, and through our connection to G-d. Advent is a time of discernment—but every day is a time for discernment. Every day is the day of the Lord—and as such we are gifted another day to do our best to proclaim Christ, born in a manger–his life given to all people as a life of teaching and preaching and proclamation–and a life of service, ending in the suffering of the cross. You see, Christ is not averse to suffering, is not immune from suffering, because Christ suffered.

Perhaps the greatest mystery in suffering is how it can bring a person into the presence of G-d in a state of prayer and worship—filling our lives with love, wonder, and praise. Suffering in and of itself is not redemptive—but suffering can do far more than we would expect. It certainly did that for Job. Even in his answer to his wife—the lord giveth, the Lord taketh away, blessed be the name of the Lord–he speaks the language of an uncharted irony–a dark and difficult kind of truth. “We take the good days from God—why not also the bad days?”

It may not resolve our suffering, but it can bring us much needed peace – all things come from the Lord.

Pastor Dave