In God We Trust

Psalm 69     Deuteronomy 31-34    Mark 14    Matthew 26    Luke 22     John 13-18

Holy Thursday is a time to remember when Jesus gathered his closest disciples around him to celebrate the Passover, pray together and prepare them to be scattered. It is a time of final instruction. The song of David today is one the Jesus may have sung as he prepared for that time with the disciples knowing what he and they faced in the next few days.

It is a reflection on the battle between the expectation of people and God and when we lead toward God many will reject and attempt to destroy us for taking them there. David pores out his heart to God much like Jesus did before his arrest in the garden where he was praying. The challenge is always deciding who we will trust and follow when life is on the line. Today we are reminded that both David and Jesus made the decision to make part of their prayer by, ‘Your will be done O Lord, not mine.’ May that be our prayer today!

God gives Moses his final words for the people of Israel and puts a song in his heart to teach the people to remind them of the blessings that lay before them in the promised land. He starts by reminding them that it is God that is going before them and will defeat their enemies. They are to be strong and courageous and put their trust in God even when the enemies look so much stronger than they are. They are to gather together once every four years and read together the whole law that each generation will have it written on their hearts and minds.

God also tells Moses that the people are already showing that they will quickly turn away from him and break the covenant he has made with them. The result will be that God’s anger will burn against them and many challenges and evil will become a part of their life when they do.

When Moses commissions Joshua as the new leader of the people to lead them into the promised land he gives him God’s law written and to be placed in the ark of the covenant to be there for the people. It will also be a witness against them when they claim they don’t know the laws.

Moses calls all the people before him and shares the song the Lord put on his heart for them to remind them that each of their tribes has a place in God’s plan for them. It is also a reminder that vengeance is the Lord’s and retribution must and will come from him. They are also told the Lord will always seek their return and the chance for blessings instead of curses. There is no other God, and he brings to life and puts to death each one. There is no one that can deliver you from the hand of God. Moses warns them these are not idle words, and they need to take them to heart.

God has allowed Moses to come to the edge of the promised land and allows him to look over that land of promise but not enter it. Moses blesses the people then goes to the top of the mountain to meet with God face to face and there he dies and is buried by God. No one knows the place of his burial.

The people of Israel weep and morn for Moses for 30 days and then prepare to follow Joshua into the land the God has promised them.

As I read the story of Jesus, his disciples and the Passover in each of the Gospels I see again a leader that is preparing his followers for what is before them. They don’t want to hear what he is telling them, and one declares he will never let it happen. As happens many times God has a different plan than any of them would have chosen. It involves learning about being a servant leader, celebrating what God has already done that brought them to that place, praying for the will of God to be done even though the path ahead will be difficult, submitting to authority, running and hiding and finally for some to see themselves in Jesus words.

Jesus sets an example for us by trusting God completely, seeking his will rather than his own, submitting to both God and his disciples and showing them what it means to love one another by example. This story is where the expected story they wanted, and thought was going to be starts to diverge from reality of what God had in mind. They fight against it because they don’t understand how God could want this to happen or use it for good.

In each of today’s readings we find the story of being in a difficult situation that each would not have chosen given a choice. In each case they give instructions on how their followers are to live in the future without them. They are to trust in God even when they can’t see how what is happening can possibly be God’s will and for our good. It is a lesson for us to reflect on as we think about that last evening with his disciples. Are we preparing those put in our care to trust God?