Psalm 120 Deuteronomy 7-10 Mark 10
It is time to contemplate the
impact of war. Not only of nation’s armies but of political factions, churches,
families and individuals. Peace is not the absence of war but the sense of
contentment even in the depth of the battles we all face. War is always the
result of a broken relationship. There are so many ways to punish our enemies
and yet as the song writer here reminds us when we put our trust in God there
is a peace that passes understanding.
Jesus, in the sermon on the mount,
says the peacemakers will be blessed but then immediately tells us we are just
as blessed are the persecuted, those at war, for doing what is right. Speaking
for what is right in God’s eyes will lead to persecution. Maybe the most
interesting this is that when we live the way God calls us to live, we find true
peace. When we choose to live in sin, against the ways of God, we find
ourselves in conflict, often within ourselves and with those closest to us.
God’s ways are designed as we are
to live in harmony with one another. But the only way to live in harmony is to
live as God created us and that is in obedience to his direction. Until we
decide we are going to seek out his way for our life we will live in conflict,
war.
Deuteronomy 7 through 10 is a
passage most would like to only read the parts they like. We love to read about
the blessings of God when we are obedient, and we claim those. As with most of
God’s promises this is a series of if you do here is your blessings, BUT, if
you don’t here is the cost you will pay. All these blessings I have promised
you will be taken away and you will be allowed to be treated like those that
are your enemies.
If you read carefully, you clearly
see that God is going to go before the people and the blessings they are about
to receive is not because of anything they will do but what God will do for
them. Remember that they had spied out this land and responded before with fear
because they saw they were too powerful for them to overcome. That is the
point. God will often send us to places that only by trusting him to go before
us and prepare the way will we get to experience the blessings of his power. If
we want the glory, we need to make sure we never go where we cannot succeed.
How often have you heard someone say, ‘God won’t give you more than you can
handle.’ and then suggest your faith is not what it should be. The truth is
that only when we are given more than we can handle alone is it necessary to
show that we really do believe in God and that we are not alone.
We see Moses reminding them of
the many times this has been true since the left Egypt and they will be facing
the same kind of great challenges ahead of them. It was Moses the had the task
of leading them on that journey, knew the many times they failed to trust God
even though they had seen the power of God with their own eyes, often a short
time before the challenge was presented ahead of them. He reminds them that
what the Lord requires of them is to fear the Lord our God, walk in ALL His
ways to love the Lord with all our hearts and soul, while keeping the commandments
and rules that Moses has taught them.
God is the Lord, God of the gods,
Lord of lords who is fair in his treatment of all. He will execute justice even
to the weakest and those that are from another land. Just as they had been when
they were Egypt, they were to treat the alien among them like they wish they
had been treated with in Egypt. We are called to cling to God and his ways and
to praise him in all things.
In the Good News in Mark, we find
Jesus teaching his disciples lessons that will be hard to live out because they
challenge so much of what they have been taught and what they have assumed to
be true. They want to confront Jesus about what he is teaching and doing
because it threatens what they need to be true to remain in power. Sin results in
a hardness of heart that God has recognized for what it is, disobedience to the
way of God. The problem is how hard to see and believe what God tells us to do
and how to live seems so different from what brings us pleasure, even if
temporary. Jesus calls us, and therefor us to put our faith in God, like a
little child. Children have a way of believing those in power, including God,
without question until they are hurt by misplaced trust.
It is hard to recognize the
someone we have is a gift from God when we feel like we have worked for it and
deserve it. The problem is the riches that we gather but who we think earned
them and who should be thanked for their blessings. It is easier to walk away
then realize that all we have is because God put us in the position, we are in.
It is just as easy to lose it and often quicker. Jesus then compares becoming a
part of the Kingdom of God as hard because we don’t want to submit to recognition
of the King. It is only because of the love of God we can enter into the kingdom
of God, not some future place of glory but of submitting to the power or God on
earth, as is done in heaven. It is impossible for us to do enough to enter the
kingdom, God has provided the place of entrance by submitting to Jesus and the
Holy Spirit.
Peter like us points out the cost
they have paid. Little does he know that the cost Jesus is about to pay and
they will yet be called to pay is even greater. Entrance into the kingdom of
God comes with great cost and responsibility. It means we have to put others
first and ourselves last. Jesus then tells them that they are headed to Jerusalem
and that the costs of claiming the kingdom of God will mean his life. IN Mark
it is amusing to me that the response of James and John is to ask for the
positions of power in the future as if they haven’t really been listening to
the cost he has told them it will be. The tells them they don’t’ know what they
are asking. Like us, they are only looking at the benefits of what they
envision the future kingdom is going to look like, rather than the one Jesus
has told them is coming. How often does Jesus ask if we are able to follow him
and we respond we are able without counting the cost? When we declare we are
able we better be prepared to pay the price of entrance. That is becoming a
servant to those we live in the midst of.
The chapter closes with a short
story of a blind man desiring to get his sight and like the children those
around Jesus try to keep him away. Note that Jesus asks what he wants, listens
carefully and the blesses him to what he asks for. Like many today, his life has
been changed in such a way that he wants to follow Jesus wherever he goes.
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