Contemplative Bible Reading

Job 13:1-2 (New Living Translation)

1 “Look, I have seen all this with my own eyes
and heard it with my own ears, and now I understand.
2 I know as much as you do.
You are no better than I am.

Job the afflicted is talking to his friends. Job is trying to teach his friends what is right. Job’s friends are trying to teach Job what is right. This back and forth of “I know, you don’t” goes on for pages and pages and pages.

Consider verse 2. Notice the prominent use of the words “You” and “I.” What are the persons discussing? What is “this” mentioned in verse 1? We aren’t told. Who knows best has overshadowed what is right or wrong. What we are told is that two persons are arguing over who knows more and who is better. And these two persons are standing before God while they dispute the superiority of the two of them.

And I wonder how God doesn’t just whomp the two over the head with a baseball bat.

Take verse 2 and reverse the “I” and “you.” We now have: “You know as much as I do. I am no better than you.”

Perhaps that is how I should always begin a discussion where I disagree with another person. That reframes the conversation. Please God, help me remember that when I dispute another person, we both stand before you. We don’t really know much at all let alone know more than the other.

Deuteronomy 1:16-17 (New Living Translation)

16 “At that time I instructed the judges, ‘You must hear the cases of your fellow Israelites and the foreigners living among you. Be perfectly fair in your decisions 17 and impartial in your judgments. Hear the cases of those who are poor as well as those who are rich. Don’t be afraid of anyone’s anger, for the decision you make is God’s decision. Bring me any cases that are too difficult for you, and I will handle them.’

These are instructions to those who would be judging disputes among God’s people. First, we note that there will be and have always been disputes among God’s people. We just can’t seem to live without disputing with one another.

The judges are told to be impartial regardless of the person’s standing in the community. Everyone deserves a just judgement. The judges should not fear reprisal from those who “lose” in the judgement. The decision is God’s decision.

1. The decision of the just judge is God’s. There is to be no blaming the judge. If you are not happy, blame God.
2. The judge is supposed to be just. The judge is to declare the same thing that God would.

Whoa. This second one is tough on the judge, huh? The old “What would Jesus do?” hits the judge with “How would God judge?” That is what the judge would have to ask and that is how the judge would have to judge.

Again, this is easy and this is almost impossible at the same time. The choice was up to the judge. Do God’s will. Did the judge see God’s will as a promise or a curse?

Now we come to me and to today. Do I see God’s will as a promise or a curse? Do I give the choice to God? Do I keep the choice to me and try juggling several thousand years worth of “progress” and trends and fashions and philosophies and precedents and …

Why would I choose to disregard God and take on all those other things? What is wrong with me? Please God, help me in my unbelief.

Luke 10:21 (New Living Translation)

21 At that same time Jesus was filled with the joy of the Holy Spirit, and he said, “O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, thank you for hiding these things from those who think themselves wise and clever, and for revealing them to the childlike. Yes, Father, it pleased you to do it this way.

I think I’m pretty smart. I did well in school. I did well in an intellectual profession. Good for me.

Jesus thanks God for hiding some of the great truths and lessons from those who think they are pretty smart. They consider themselves to be wise and clever.

The truths from God are revealed to the childlike—not the child-ish, but the child-like. The childlike are humble. They stand in the back of the crowd. They can’t quite see what “everyone sees and knows.” They depend on others.

The childlike depend on others. That is it. The childlike know we need help. We know we need instruction. We know we cannot do it on our own. We need God.

Thank you God for helping the childlike. Thank you for providing what we cannot. Thank you for your grace that brings us to you and all we need. And please God, help the wise and clever to know what it means to need you.

Matthew 1:20-21 (New Living Translation)

20 As he considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream. “Joseph, son of David,” the angel said, “do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife. For the child within her was conceived by the Holy Spirit. 21 And she will have a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”

This statement from the angel of the Lord is going great, until the last three words.

The people of the day are loving it, until the last three words.

The Promised Land and its people are loving it, until the last three words.

The Messiah from God will save His people! Great! We love it! We will be restored to peace, prosperity, security, national nationhood and something like that! Great, until the last three words.

Our sins? Well, sure we have sins, but… We are about to be saved from all our ills and our tormentors, right? Our sins? That’s sort of esoteric or something we can’t touch or something way out there. How about some real-life relief, huh?

Sigh. I want something tangible. I want something in the short term, today, this week. Give me a better coffee shop and a shorter commute. Give me flexible work hours and location. Give me a few more days off. Please.

Save me from my sins. That is so far away. That is so hard to grasp. I’m tired. I have a headache. Just be the God that I want You to be.

No. God is God. I am not. God understands much better than I understand. I need to grasp what it means to have my sins erased. On some days I come closer to that. Jesus came to save me from my sins. That is glorious. Please God, help me in my unbelief.

Luke 8:1-3 (New Living Translation)

1 Soon afterward Jesus began a tour of the nearby towns and villages, preaching and announcing the Good News about the Kingdom of God. He took his twelve disciples with him, 2 along with some women who had been cured of evil spirits and diseases. Among them were Mary Magdalene, from whom he had cast out seven demons; 3 Joanna, the wife of Chuza, Herod’s business manager; Susanna; and many others who were contributing from their own resources to support Jesus and his disciples.

This is one of those paragraphs that I gloss over while reading. Okay, here are the supporters who traveled with Jesus. I always wondered what they 12 apostles were doing to require so much help, but anyways, yeah yeah yeah, this person and that person, yeah yeah yeah.

Then there is Joanna. Okay, another name. Yeah yeah yeah.

Wait, Joanna was married to Chuza (odd name, but keep going) who was the business manager of Herod (Antipas). Whoa, wait, stop here. Herod wasn’t a king, but he was appointed by the Romans to rule an area of occupied Palestine. His business manager was married to a woman who traveled with the followers of Jesus of Nazareth (the Son of God).

Jesus would later appear before this Herod. That makes this all the more strange. There are several ways to discuss this. One is that Joanna was connected to an occupying army. She had it made. She had comfort with the enemy. A safe life. A hated life. She aided a foreign army. Jews didn’t like her.

She gave up a comfortable life and crossed over. The Jews hated her kind, yet accepted her.

Note,

1. Anyone can turn to God
2. The godly can accept anyone

Jesus accepted someone from Herod’s home; that shows His grace. I have more trouble with number 2; that is my problem. I don’t trust or something. I want to … well, I want to be God and decide the big things. Silly me.

Hosea 6:6 (New Living Translation)

6 I want you to show love,
not offer sacrifices.
I want you to know me
more than I want burnt offerings.

What does God want me to do? There are a few things; here are two:

1. Show love
2. Know God

Once again, these two cover the two big areas in a Christian’s life: relationship with God and relationship with one another. That just about covers it all. This is pretty simple stuff. How did we make it so complicated?

My fault, not God’s. I tend to make things more complicated and nuanced than they are. Please God, help me in my unbelief.

Jeremiah 33:15-16 (New Living Translation)

15 “In those days and at that time
I will raise up a righteous descendant from King David’s line.
He will do what is just and right throughout the land.
16 In that day Judah will be saved,
and Jerusalem will live in safety.
And this will be its name:
‘The Lord Is Our Righteousness.’

The prophet Jeremiah is passing along a message from God to the people. In the future, there will be a new ruler. The people will be saved. Great news. Economic prosperity. Peace. Well peace is promised. Economic prosperity isn’t (so much for “It’s the economy, stupid.”)

And what will the new ruler do? The new ruler will do what is just and right. The new ruler will bring justice and righteousness according to the words of God. We are big on “justice” in today’s America, but not so much on “righteousness,” but that is another book to write on another day.

This is a theme in the Bible. What matters is justice and righteousness. God tells me what is right and wrong. Follow the “right” that God tells me. Apply the “right” to others. Expect others to apply the “right” to me.

Salvation and safety will be the result. Simple? Yes. Easy? No. Common practice? Uh, definitely NO.

Still, this is how God describes life here on earth. Let us all strive towards that description. As we stumble and fall, let’s stand again and keep striving. God forgives and helps me along the way. And for that, I am grateful.

Matthew 10:18 (New Living Translation)

18 You will stand trial before governors and kings because you are my followers. But this will be your opportunity to tell the rulers and other unbelievers about me.

Jesus is talking here. Jesus is telling followers what to expect. The followers will stand before rulers and other unbelievers. What an opportunity!

But wait, many of those opportunities will be in trials where the rulers can punish the followers of Jesus.

Why does there always seem to be a “But wait” in these things? Why can’t Jesus arrange it so that I can talk to rulers and unbelievers without the chance of punishment? Why make it so difficult? Why do I have to fear punishment?

Uh, well, I don’t have to fear punishment. Fear is my response that I choose. I also choose to see the appointment with rulers as a trial or as an opportunity. Jesus is reminding me of the choices that Jesus gives me.

Why do I have to choose? Because God created me and gave me choice. And yes, I can ask, “Why did God give me choice? Why did God give me such difficult choices?” And the answer is, “Because God loves and created me with love.”

Sometimes it is hard to accept God’s love and wisdom. Please God, help me with my unbelief.

Lamentations 1:22 (New Living Translation)

22 “Look at all their evil deeds, Lord.
Punish them,
as you have punished me
for all my sins.
My groans are many,
and I am sick at heart.”

The writer here is crying in sorrow. The people sinned for generations and are suffering for their choices. “Once a queen…now a slave.” “All her friends have become her enemies.” “Tossed away like a filthy rag.” The description goes on and on.

The writer suffered along with all the people. The writer’s enemies heard about his troubles and they were happy to see what God had done.

Now the writer cries for some sense of justice or fairness or something. Pain to his enemies will ease his pain. Right? Huh? Misery loves company? Something like that.

Pain and suffering clouds logic and thought and all sense of sensibility.

Me? I live the good life. I am rich beyond measure. I don’t suffer. Surely my blessings are the result of my upright living and moral superiority and … How stupid I am.

I guess prosperity also clouds logic and thought and all sense of sensibility.

I’m a sinner. I am not better than the people who disobeyed God and were the subject of the lamentations and sorrow recorded for us. I am saved by grace, a gift from an all-giving and all-blessing God. Thank you God, and please, help me in my unbelief and my all-too-often thought that I am blessed because I am so good.

Habakkuk 2:12-13 (New Living Translation)

12 “What sorrow awaits you who build cities
with money gained through murder and corruption!
13 Has not the Lord of Heaven’s Armies promised
that the wealth of nations will turn to ashes?
They work so hard,
but all in vain!

The prophet relays the proclamation of God to the people. Ashes. Not a pretty picture, but that will be the end of the wealth of nations. Those who trust in money, especially that money gained immorally, will see all that come to nothing but ashes.

In one respect it is a shame to see the result of so much effort blow away in the wind. In another respect, why not? God blesses us with ambition and the ability to strive for something. We work. Sometimes we see gain from our work. Those too are blessings from God.

Our short life here ends. Gravity and the erosion of wind and water wins. Man’s buildings fall and decay.

And then? An eternity of bliss with God for those who choose it. Thank you God.