Contemplative Bible Reading

1 Kings 12:28-29 (New International Version 2010)

²⁸ After seeking advice, the king made two golden calves. He said to the people, “It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem. Here are your gods, Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt.” ²⁹ One he set up in Bethel, and the other in Dan. ³⁰ And this thing became a sin; the people came to worship the one at Bethel and went as far as Dan to worship the other.

Something a little different from this blog. Today’s verses come right after those of yesterday’s post.

A little reminder, Jeroboam is king of Israel. Well, he was king of the Northern Ten tribes of Israel. These tribes had split from the southern two tribes when Solomon died and left his son Rehoboam as king of all the tribes. Rehoboam didn’t last long as king of all the tribes. I contend that he lasted only three days.

Jeroboam had a little problem: God’s people were required to go to Jerusalem to worship at the temple. Jeroboam takes a different angle in these verses to convince the people to stay with him in his kingdom.

Jeroboam turned worship into convenience.

No need to make the long journey to worship. You can worship close to home instead.

Today, we aren’t required to worship God in a certain place like Jerusalem. I believe that we worship where we are everyday of the week. Worship is how we live every day.

I could think of more convenient ways to worship God. For example, if I only worshiped God one hour on Sunday morning, that would be more convenient. Another example, if I only worshiped God when in an official “church” building, that would be more convenient. Another example, if I only worshiped God when I was with other Christians, that would be more convenient. I could go on with more examples. I can think of these examples because unfortunately I have lived them.

I guess things haven’t changed much in the centuries since Jeroboam.

1 Kings 12:26-27 (New International Version 2010)

²⁶ Jeroboam thought to himself, “The kingdom will now likely revert to the house of David. ²⁷ If these people go up to offer sacrifices at the temple of the LORD in Jerusalem, they will again give their allegiance to their lord, Rehoboam king of Judah. They will kill me and return to King Rehoboam.”

Jeroboam is king of Israel. Well, he was king of the Northern Ten tribes of Israel. These tribes had split from the southern two tribes when Solomon died and left his son Rehoboam as king of all the tribes. Rehoboam didn’t last long as king of all the tribes. I contend that he lasted only three days.

Jeroboam had a little problem: God’s people were required to go to Jerusalem to worship at the temple. The temple was in Rehoboam’s kingdom. If the people worshiped God as God required, they might go back to Rehoboam’s kingdom and leave Jeroboam without a kingdom, without power, without any satisfaction for his political ego.

Jeroboam turned worship into politics.

To be in my political party, you have to worship God my way.

I guess things haven’t changed that much over the centuries between Jeroboam and us. I still hear,

You can’t be a Christian and vote for so-and-so.

Matthew 19:29 (New International Version 2010)

And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life.

This is one passage that mentions eternal life. There are many others. Christians through the ages have looked forward to the promise of eternal life, to never die, to never suffer the precursor of death.

Let’s try to take a different view of eternal life. Let’s view it from the standpoint of chemistry, physics, astronomy – the natural sciences. Life here on earth is a comfortable life in the right climate. This stems from our abundance of water, oxygen, and energy. The main source of energy is our sun. We don’t think of it much given our life span of less than a hundred years, but one day our sun will have consumed all its energy and will go dark. Life here on earth will become quite uncomfortable.

I don’t have to worry about the discomfort of life on earth with a dark sun. I will die long before that happens. Unless, that is, I have eternal life.

And then there are all the other stars in the sky. They are much like our sun providing energy to the universe. They too will one day have consumed all their energy and will go dark. When all the stars in the universe go dark, the universe will be a cold, dark, uncomfortable place.

I do not want eternal life. It would be horrible, it would be unimaginably horrible to live after our sun and the other stars go dark.

That is the curse of eternal life under the natural sciences – a cold, dark, horrible existence.

Now we bring God into view. We can’t explain God and God’s power with the natural sciences, i.e., God is super-natural. Where we spend eternity is a topic of debate – a topic for some other day. For now, I believe that Revelations means what it says in that a new heaven will come down and rest on a renewed earth, and that is where Christians will spend eternity with God. Eternity on this earth, but not the eternity explained by the natural sciences where the sun and eventually all the stars go dark and we have a horrible existence.

No, eternity with God will be different. God will change time and space and the consumption of energy by the stars. God will remove the curse of eternal life. Thank you, God.

Job 21:22-26 (New International Version 2010)

²² “Can anyone teach knowledge to God,
since he judges even the highest?
²³ One person dies in full vigor,
completely secure and at ease,
²⁴ well nourished in body,
bones rich with marrow.
²⁵ Another dies in bitterness of soul,
never having enjoyed anything good.
²⁶ Side by side they lie in the dust,
and worms cover them both.

Here Job is lamenting his condition. Sometimes I wonder if his physical condition was better or worse than the tongue lashing dealt him by his friends, but back to the verses above.

Job discusses the condition of our physical bodies after death. Some people die fulfilled while others die bitter. Regardless of their emotional state at death, their physical condition after death is the same:

Side by side they lie in the dust,
and worms cover them both.

Not much of an endorsement for cosmetic surgery. What’s the use? We all lie in the dust with worms covering us.

I am struggling to draw a conclusion from this. Perhaps that is the conclusion. There is no need to conclude anything as one day my body will lie in the dust with worms on me. I draw great hope, however, that my soul will not suffer such a fate. I draw great hope in that I have a soul, and that this life is only a precursor to another one. Christ acted and gave me a way to spend eternity in a right relationship with the Lord. I won’t be worrying about the worms that will turn my body into more dust for the next fellow’s body.

Luke 13:10-16 (New International Version 2010)

¹⁰ On a Sabbath Jesus was teaching in one of the synagogues, ¹¹ and a woman was there who had been crippled by a spirit for eighteen years. She was bent over and could not straighten up at all. ¹² When Jesus saw her, he called her forward and said to her, “Woman, you are set free from your infirmity.” ¹³ Then he put his hands on her, and immediately she straightened up and praised God.

¹⁴ Indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, the synagogue leader said to the people, “There are six days for work. So come and be healed on those days, not on the Sabbath.”

¹⁵ The Lord answered him, “You hypocrites! Doesn’t each of you on the Sabbath untie your ox or donkey from the stall and lead it out to give it water? ¹⁶ Then should not this woman, a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has kept bound for eighteen long years, be set free on the Sabbath day from what bound her?”

¹⁷ When he said this, all his opponents were humiliated, but the people were delighted with all the wonderful things he was doing.

This is a (hi)story of Jesus healing a woman near a synagogue (I don’t think women were allowed in the synagogue, but that is another discussion for another day). Most of the time when I read these verses I am thinking about the “crime” of healing or working on the Sabbath, i.e., the day of rest. This reading, however, pointed me to something else.

When Jesus healed her of her being “bent over and could not straighten up” (sounds like arthritis to me) He did not say, “you are healed.” Instead, Jesus said, “you are set free.”

Are infirmities some type of imprisonment or enslavement? This woman was “crippled by a spirit.” Was an evil spirit dwelling about her and causing her stoop? When Jesus healed her, was he chasing away the evil spirit? Then I wonder, are all infirmities a manifestation of an evil spirit?

I suppose these questions have been discussed for a few centuries without conclusion.

I could be reading too much into this. Maybe she was set free from the physical trials that came with the infirmity just as I am freed from the aches and pains of the flu. Either way, Jesus saw she was in need and He aided her. I suppose that is what I am to do every day as well – aid as I can to those I meet who have needs. God, help me to do so.

Matthew 16:5-12 (New International Version 2010)

⁵ When they went across the lake, the disciples forgot to take bread. ⁶ “Be careful,” Jesus said to them. “Be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”

⁷ They discussed this among themselves and said, “It is because we didn’t bring any bread.”

⁸ Aware of their discussion, Jesus asked, “You of little faith, why are you talking among yourselves about having no bread? ⁹ Do you still not understand? Don’t you remember the five loaves for the five thousand, and how many basketfuls you gathered? ¹⁰ Or the seven loaves for the four thousand, and how many basketfuls you gathered? ¹¹ How is it you don’t understand that I was not talking to you about bread? But be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” ¹² Then they understood that he was not telling them to guard against the yeast used in bread, but against the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.

Those darn figures of speech. They can be awfully confusing, especially when we are already a bit perplexed about what is happening. I think the above verses are one example of this thought.

The disciples had just fed thousands of people with little food. I would be a bit off at this point. I mean, did we just… You mean you didn’t have a lot of food either… then how did… I would be perplexed and I think they were perplexed. And after all of that

the disciples forgot to take bread

Who was in charge of logistics? How could they forget to bring food with them? Gosh.

And now Jesus starts talking about yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees. Jesus uses the word “yeast,” but is not talking about physical yeast and bread and food. The disciples, however, are thinking about physical yeast and bread and food. The coincidence of the word yeast with all this thought about physical yeast leads to a predicable confusion and a lesson from Jesus.

Silly disciples. How could they misunderstand a simple figure of speech? The answer is also simple. They misunderstood in the same way that we misunderstand figures of speech today. They were human; we are human, and we all have failings. And this brings to mind a figure of speech:

we are in violent agreement

I have often seen people arguing with the utmost intensity. All the while, they were agreeing with one another, but they were so perplexed and focusing on a “yeast” word here or there that they weren’t listening to what the other person was saying. Instead, they were deciding on what they would say next.

Those darn figures of speech. They plague us today. Please watch for them, listen for them, and listen to the other person with greatest concentration.

Deuteronomy 32:28-29 (New English Translation)

28 They are a nation devoid of wisdom,

and there is no understanding among them.

29 I wish that they were wise and could understand this,

and that they could comprehend what will happen to them.”

God’s people are about to enter the Promised Land. Moses will not enter with them. Instead, Joshua will lead. In his final address to the people, Moses sings a song. The verses above are a part of this song.

Moses merely wishes that the people were wise. He wishes that they would understand the difference between right and wrong and the consequences of their actions.

I guess the more things change, the more people stay the same. I can’t think of a time in man’s history where we didn’t stray out into areas where wisdom did not lead. The results were predictable. If you walk out into the street without looking both ways, you may be run over by an ox cart or an SUV. Somehow we still can’t understand this.

When we disregard God’s advice to love one another, and to be kind, gentle, forgiving, and on and on, we only hurt ourselves. It is as if we are trying to kick through a brick wall barefoot. It isn’t wise.

God, grant me wisdom this and every day.

Revelation 11:19 (New International Version 2010)

¹⁹ Then God’s temple in heaven was opened, and within his temple was seen the ark of his covenant. And there came flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder, an earthquake and a severe hailstorm.

Here it is, the lost ark of the covenant. It will be in God’s temple in heaven.

I wonder why it took me so long to notice this one. Such is the human condition.

Matthew 11:4 (New International Version 2010)

Jesus replied, “Go back and report to John what you hear and see:

Some followers of John the Baptizer have come to Jesus. They want to know who he is. He tells them these simple directions.

I guess things can become much more complicated if I make them much more complicated. I don’t have to do that. I can simply tell people what I hear and see. Here are some things I have recently seen and heard in my Christian experience:

people smile at one another

people hug one another when they meet

people cry in each other’s arms when tragedy enters their lives

people go out of their way to eat a meal with other people

people stop their busy lives and sit and listen to another person for an hour without judging

people extend a hand to social outcasts

people feed people who have no food and no money

people give a car seat to a mother who has no money yet has a new baby

I could go on.

I’ve also seen and heard things that aren’t uplifting. I have heard people say hateful things about one another and burn holes through one another with a hateful stare. Such is the human condition. And such makes the prior list even more precious because it shows how we can forgive one another and keep living as Christians.

While recently reading through the New Testament, I read the same greeting over and over. The words “grace and peace” over and over. Here are some examples:

Galatians  Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ,

Ephesians Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Philippians Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ

Colossians Grace and peace to you from God our Father

1 Thessalonians Grace and peace to you

2 Thessalonians Grace and peace to you from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ

1 Timothy Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord

2 Timothy Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord

Titus Grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior

Philemon Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ

1 Peter Grace and peace be yours in abundance

2 Peter Grace and peace be yours in abundance

2 John Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and from Jesus Christ

Jude Mercy, peace and love be yours in abundance

Today, we say “hello, how are you” and “how ya doing” and even “howdy.” There is “Merry Christmas” in December.

I don’t recall the last time someone came up to me and said, “grace and peace.”

This just seems odd, especially for  Bible-reading group of people.