Psalm 122 Deuteronomy 13-14 Mark 12
Many of us long to be able to go
to the house of the Lord like we have done in the past. The place where we have
entered into God’s presence and worshiped the Lord. We look forward to the day
when we can with joy go up to the house of the Lord. We need to think about what
we will have to offer to God when we come before God and present what we have
done while away from the house of the Lord.
David is recognizing that God’s
desire is that there be peace within those walls. Since he has been
experiencing difficulty and pain while away from Jerusalem, he still prays for
all, even his enemies, that God will be praised and glorified in the time yet
to come because faith is passed on from one generation to the next.
Moses instructs the people of
Israel on their relationships with others as they prepare to enter a land that
will bring them great blessings but also great challenges. Destroying what is
before us often leads to a question of faith and God tells them he is going to
test their trust in him. If they fail the test, they will find themselves in distracted
from and driven away from the very one that brings the great blessings into
their lives. Note that one of the responsibilities of the witness that leads to
death is to be the one whose hands are responsible for executing that justice.
They will become guilty before the Lord if they bear false witness and make
themselves guilty.
God is preparing them for the responsibility
of trusting him by doing what he tells them to and then offering back to him a sacrifice
of thanks from the first and best of that they are blessed with. I smile when
God tells them they can spend that offering on what their heart desires. As
always it is the spirit of the gift and why it is given that is most important.
As Jesus teaches his disciples,
he tells them stories that will help them understand how God is at work in the
world around them. The ability of people to have unrealistic beliefs and
expectations is nothing new. Often the stories point out the sins, lies and
misdirection of the very people that should be leading them to a deeper and
truer relationship with God. Their reaction is one of anger because they see
him as a threat to their power. However, they try and trap him he has a way of
turning their position back on them in a way that make them fearful of him and
they no longer want to confront him in public but want to do what they can to
destroy him out of the public eye because they fear the very people that should
be able to trust them.
Jesus has a way to challenging
them to reexamine what they have believed and what they are teaching. He also
points out that the ways of heaven are very different. it is about priorities.
The command is to love God with your body, mind and soul and then your neighbor
as you love yourself. He points out to the large crowds to watch who they follow.
Do they point you to God or do they point to themselves? The one the leader proclaims,
and the people puts their trust on will be the one that is responsible for
fulfilling that promise. God doesn’t judge by the amount of a sacrifice but by
how important that sacrifice is to the one that gives it.
Today each reading reminds us
that as the people of God all that we do should point other to God and not to
ourselves. Leaders will be held responsible for where they led those that follow
them. Those of us that lead the church need to evaluate with each thing we do
whose glory we are attempting to show.
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