Contemplative Bible Reading

Luke 2:8-14 (King James Version)

The most-heard sermon of all time was delivered by an 8-year-old boy voicing a cartoon in 1965. Christopher Shea spoke the words below in A Charlie Brown Christmas. That sermon has been heard by millions or hundreds of millions of persons in the sixty years since. It isn’t a long sermon. It is a profound sermon about God coming to man to set men free from sin and death.

Here is the sermon:

8 And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.

9 And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.

10 And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.

11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord.

12 And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.

13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,

14 Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

Matthew 11:20 (New Living Translation)

20 Then Jesus began to denounce the towns where he had done so many of his miracles, because they hadn’t repented of their sins and turned to God.

Folks don’t like this verse. I don’t “like” this verse and the ensuing discourse from Jesus. Jesus denounced people for not repenting and turning to God. These people had seen miracles performed by Jesus. There was no doubt. This was not trickery or hearsay or any type of trick photography or deepfake or the like.

There was no doubt and no repentance. “Good riddance to these people,” was pretty much what Jesus said.

But what about… Nope. But what about… Nope to that as well. Jesus denounced them. Jesus publicly declared their wrong actions.

Were these people dammed? No. They still could repent. Were these people hopeless? No. They still had a chance to believe and hope in Jesus. So why did Jesus… Why not? Jesus spoke the truth. Jesus truthfully described what happened. But wasn’t that sort of mean of Jesus to… “Mean” is a subjective term. The Bible says much about discipline and teaching. Jesus was disciplining and teaching.

Sometimes I don’t like what I read about Jesus. Sometimes I am just flat out wrong. Please God, help me in my unbelief.

2 Chronicles 14:12-13 (New English Translation)

12 The Lord struck down the Cushites before Asa and Judah. The Cushites fled, 13 and Asa and his army chased them as far as Gerar. The Cushites were wiped out; they were shattered before the Lord and his army. The men of Judah carried off a huge amount of plunder.

This is part of the (hi)story of Asa, King of Judah. Asa had raised an army of 580,000 men. That makes it a little larger than the United States Army of 2023. That is a large army in times when just feeding such a bunch was a great feat.

Asa faced an invading force from Ethiopia (called Cush and the Cushites in the above verses). The Ethiopian army totaled 1,000,000 (a million) men. That is a really big bunch of mouths to feed as they walk from Ethiopia up to the land of Judah.

Asa’s response? Prayer, “Help us, O Lord our God, for we rely on you and have marched on your behalf against this huge army.”

The result? Asa’s generals and men defeated… NOPE, “The Lord struck down the Cushites before Asa and Judah.”

The victory belonged to Jehovah God, the Creator. Different English translation use different words to describe the result. The translation quoted above indicates that all million of the invaders died or were rendered helpless.

In a practical matter, what do you do with all the dead bodies? In a spiritual matter, how do you praise and thank God for deliverance?

Translate to me today? How do I thank God for rescuing me, a pitiful little sinner with more problems that I can count yet having more blessings than I can count? That pretty much describes my life. Pitiful yet blessed.

Job 36:2 (New Living Translation)

Let me go on, and I will show you the truth.
For I have not finished defending God!

This is part of the back-and-forth among Job and his close friends as they discuss the plight of Job and his misery. And, let’s not forget, Job had been struck with big calamities. And, let’s not forget, Job’s friends were friends. While some of their arguments and advice were poor, they were present when Job needed someone to be present. They sat around a cold camp fire with him for a week.

Elihu is speaking now. Part of this monologue is his attempts to defend God and God’s actions toward Job.

Let’s pause a moment to consider the “defending God” part. Does God need Elihu, me, or any other well-meaning person’s defense? Uh, well, gosh, nope, not at all.

If I am defending God, I am helping God, and God needs my help because I am superior to God, and … I think we are going in the wrong direction here. This train of thought shows that perhaps I am not thinking at all.

And perhaps that is what had stricken Job and his friends as well. Disasters, like those that struck Job, jumble our emotions and cloud our thinking. None of the folks in this long conversation were emotionally stable and thinking clearly. That, more than anything else, explains to me why such bad advice and responses were going back and forth.

Fatigue wins in this weak, imperfect physical world in which we live in physical bodies. It’s just too much for us. We should nap more and talk less. I guess that is the point of this little blog post. Rest before work. Recreation, recreating with the energy given us by God, before deep discussion. We as Christians, have much to share with an unbelieving world. Let’s try to share the best of rest, not the fatigue.

2 Chronicles 25:8 (New Living Translation)

If you let them go with your troops into battle, you will be defeated by the enemy no matter how well you fight. God will overthrow you, for he has the power to help you or to trip you up.

A man of God is speaking to King Amaziah of the kingdom of Judah. Amaziah is preparing for war. He has an idea: hire extra troops from the kingdom of Israel to help him in battle. King Amaziah knows that he needs help. What better source of help is there but the cousins from Israel?

Makes sense, right? Wrong and wrong and wrong. What better source of help is there? God, of course.

Yeah, but God is busy and this is crucial and sometimes God takes more time than I have and I am sure God understands what I am doing and … Wrong and wrong and wrong.

Go to the wrong place for help and I will end up in the wrong place. Of course God has the power to help me. And the opposite of that is not God ignoring me; it is God “tripping me up.”

But would God work against me? That’s what it says here in black and white. God can trip me up just as sure as God can help me. But God is on my side, right? Right. And when I go to the wrong place, oh well. Tripped up, again.

Please God, grant me wisdom and patience.

1 Peter 1:18 (New Living Translation)

For you know that God paid a ransom to save you from the empty life you inherited from your ancestors. And it was not paid with mere gold or silver, which lose their value.

Peter is writing to God’s chosen people—they have been cleansed by the blood of Jesus Christ (see verse 1 of this chapter). Why were they cleansed by Jesus Christ? One reason was to save them from the empty life they inherited from mankind.

Empty life? I have a busy life. Empty life? I don’t know how many stories I have heard of celebrities (I hear their stories instead of the stories of “us regular folks”) who had great lives but talked of an empty feeling or a void in their life. Then these folks who had full lives by all human standards came to know Jesus Christ and the void was gone. The empty life was filled with Jesus Christ.

Mankind or the world gives us many things. Just look around at the wonderful technology we have. Look at medical science. Look at tall buildings and large luxury cruise ships.

And then look at what political figures do. Wars. Invasions. Misappropriation of resources. Waste on greed. Sigh. And look at what the rest of us do? Jealousy. Hatred. Simple cutting off someone in traffic because “they” are in “my” way. Why? Empty lives looking for something that is empty to fill the emptiness. It just doesn’t work, and lots of folks are hurt badly in these attempts.

It is no longer necessary. There is a path out of the empty life. It costs me nothing. Someone else already paid the price.

2 Chronicles 30:18-19 (New Living Translation)

18 Most of those who came from Ephraim, Manasseh, Issachar, and Zebulun had not purified themselves. But King Hezekiah prayed for them, and they were allowed to eat the Passover meal anyway, even though this was contrary to the requirements of the Law. For Hezekiah said, “May the Lord, who is good, pardon those 19 who decide to follow the Lord, the God of their ancestors, even though they are not properly cleansed for the ceremony.”

King Hezekiah wants to celebrate the Passover properly in Jerusalem. This had not been done for generations as the people had drifted away from God and followed other gods. At Hezekiah’s invitation, people came great distances. Many of these people did not fully understand the requirements of the celebration and were not purified or “properly cleansed.”

Following the requirements was important at this time. The requirements were clearly stated for those who had a copy of them and could read. Many at this time, however, didn’t have the requirements. Such was the drifting away from God. People lost touch and lost the knowledge of what to do.

King Hezekiah prays for these who were not properly cleansed in the physical sense. These people did, however, have the proper heart and mind. They had decided to follow the Lord and had shown their decisions by traveling great distances at great cost and hardship.

“Please God,” asked Hezekiah, “allow them in even though they are quite right.”

God heard the prayer, saw the hearts, and allowed them in.

Here is where we shift to today with these verses. Of course we can abuse the forgiveness and grace of God. We can utter little white lies and cheat God a little here and there. Well, we think we can, but God knows. Let’s forget those things for a moment.

God forgives. God allows us in despite us even when we are not properly cleansed. God allows us in when we are much worse than a little dirty. Praise God for forgiveness and grace.

2 Chronicles 2:6-7 (New Living Translation)

6 But who can really build him a worthy home? Not even the highest heavens can contain him! So who am I to consider building a Temple for him, except as a place to burn sacrifices to him?

7 “So send me a master craftsman who can work with gold, silver, bronze, and iron, as well as with purple, scarlet, and blue cloth. He must be a skilled engraver who can work with the craftsmen of Judah and Jerusalem who were selected by my father, David.

King Solomon is praying. Solomon has been granted wisdom from God. Solomon is, as we often read today, “the smartest person in the room,” regardless of the topic.

King Solomon is about to build the Temple in Jerusalem. This is it; this is the big one. Gotta’ get this right. What does the smartest person in the room ask God, “…send me a master craftsman who can work with…”

Huh? Surely Solomon can direct the workers to do it right. Surely Solomon doesn’t need expert help. Nope. Solomon asks God to send the right person for the right job. That is part of Solomon’s God-given wisdom. Solomon knows his limitations, what is needed, and realizes that he is not what is needed. Someone else is needed. Please God, send someone else.

This is an excellent lesson in knowing my limitations and asking God for someone else to come with me. I am a smart and caring person. There is much I can do because God has given me talents. God has also given talents to other folks. Let’s trust God to send the right person. Let’s ask God to send the right person. Admitting that I need another person is probably the more difficult thing.

Psalm 23:4 (King James Version)

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.

This is one of those well-known sentences from the 23rd Psalm or The Lord is My Shepherd. I go back to the King James Translation for the more familiar words. The poetry is timeless.

The valley of the shadow of death is ominous. Death casts a dark shadow that encloses me like the hills surrounding a valley. I am trapped by the shadow of death without hope of escape.

God, however, is with me. God defeats death through the sacrifice of His son on the cross. I am no longer surrounded or trapped by death. I am walking in the light with Jesus free from worry of what the future may bring.

Thank you God for your endless and timeless grace and mercy.

1 Chronicles 18:14 (New Living Translation)

So David reigned over all Israel and did what was just and right for all his people.

This is part of the (hi)story of King David as he began to reign over God’s people. The preceding paragraphs describe how David conquered this and that group of people and took the spoils of war, e.g., “the gold shields of Hadadezer’s officers.” Wow, enabled by God, David was something.

Then we come to the first description of David in his reign. More conquering? More spoils of war? Building great public works?

Nope. David did what was just and right for all his people.

There has to be something else, right? Nope. Just and right for all his people. And what else would we like a leader or ruler to do? I guess that sums it up. Sometimes I long for the ancient days.