February 11, 2022 – “Mums the word” (Isaiah 53:1-8)

“Who would have believed what we just heard? When was the Lordʼs power revealed through him? He sprouted up like a twig before God, like a root out of parched soil; he had no stately form or majesty that might catch our attention, no special appearance that we should want to follow him. He was despised and rejected by people, one who experienced pain and was acquainted with illness; people hid their faces from him; he was despised, and we considered him insignificant. But he lifted up our illnesses, he carried our pain; even though we thought he was being punished, attacked by God, and afflicted for something he had done. He was wounded because of our rebellious deeds, crushed because of our sins; he endured punishment that made us well; because of his wounds we have been healed. All of us had wandered off like sheep; each of us had strayed off on his own path, but the Lord caused the sin of all of us to attack him. He was treated harshly and afflicted, but he did not even open his mouth. Like a lamb led to the slaughtering block, like a sheep silent before her shearers, he did not even open his mouth. He was led away after an unjust trial – but who even cared? Indeed, he was cut off from the land of the living; because of the rebellion of his own people he was wounded.” Isaiah 53:1-8

“Mums the word”

Mum is a Middle English word meaning ‘silent’ and may be derived from the mummer who acts without speaking. Note the similarity to the word “mime”, which of course in an actor who does not speak with words, but with fluid and dramatic motions.

Although Isaiah is an Old Testament prophet, this passage has been used referentially to Jesus Christ by scholars because the earliest church leaders used it in teaching inquirers about Christ. Acts 8:26-40 relates the story of the Holy Spirit directing the evangelist Philip to an Ethiopian eunuch who was reading Isaiah 53 – and the instant Philip came alongside the chariot the man had his finger on verses 7-8. When Philip asked if he understood the words, the eunuch invited him to explain them. Luke records the grand response: “Then Philip began with that very passage of Scripture and told him the good news about Jesus” (Acts 8:35).

Philip preached Jesus as the unquestionable Messiah of the passage. We can and should do the same. We cannot stay mum on Jesus any more than we can stop eating food. If we are to remain strong physically by eating food, then we need to remain spiritually strong by preaching Christ.

Let us pray,

Lord Jesus, even if we do not feel we are called to preach, help us to remember that doing loving acts in your name is doing just the same. Amen.

Pastor Dave

February 12, 2022 – “Stuck Between a Rock and a Hard Place” (Luke 22:54-62)

“Then they arrested Jesus, led him away, and brought him into the high priestʼs house. But Peter was following at a distance. When they had made a fire in the middle of the courtyard and sat down together, Peter sat down among them. Then a slave girl, seeing him as he sat in the firelight, stared at him and said, “This man was with him too!” But Peter denied it: “Woman, I donʼt know him!” Then a little later someone else saw him and said, “You are one of them too.” But Peter said, “Man, I am not!” And after about an hour still another insisted, “Certainly this man was with him, because he too is a Galilean.” But Peter said, “Man, I donʼt know what youʼre talking about!” At that moment, while he was still speaking, a rooster crowed. Then the Lord turned and looked straight at Peter, and Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how he had said to him, “Before a rooster crows today, you will deny me three times.” And he went outside and wept bitterly.” Luke 22:54-62

“Stuck Between a Rock and a Hard Place”

The origin of the idiom ‘between a rock and a hard place’ can be found in ancient Greek mythology — specifically in Homer’s Odyssey. If you have not read the Odyssey, Odysseus must pass between Charybdis, a treacherous whirlpool, and Scylla, a man-eating, cliff-dwelling monster. To say one is stuck between a rock (the cliff) and a hard place (the whirlpool) has been a way to succinctly describe being in a very difficult dilemma.

Peter found himself in such a dilemma. He was one of the top four disciples within the twelve, but he went straight to the top of those disciples who would dessert Jesus — second only to Judas. When push came to shove (is that another idiom?) Peter chose saving his own hide rather than stand up for Jesus.

We all come to those moments when we must decide — will we stand up for our faith no matter the cost to our reputations or relationships? Or will we back down because of the same cost? Peter chooses to back down — but in the end he gets redemption from Jesus through one of the resurrection appearances.

The life of the Christian can be easy and free — and it can be quite the costliest endeavor we can endure. It is our choice…

Let us pray,

Lord, your cross is the costliest gift we have ever received. Give us the faith to endure in this faith no matter the cost to our lives. Amen.

Pastor Dave