The Coming Righteous Branch

"In those days and at that time 

I will cause a righteous Branch 

to spring up for David; 

and he shall execute 

justice and righteousness in the land." 

Jeremiah 33:15

I waited with hope in an emergency room on a Friday afternoon. The bandages for my dermatology surgery were coming loose and I felt needed attention. I checked into the emergency room and waited. I knew triage was how the system worked and that I was low on an emergency need. I waited for intake from the triage nurse, then for the room, then for the NP to examine the situation, then for the issue to be resolved, then for the discharge papers. 

I knew from the moment I entered the emergency room that I would be taken care of, but not how long it would take.

I waited with a blessed assurance.

Jeremiah waited with hope, a tenacious hope, for a righteous Branch from the line of David.

For Jeremiah, imprisoned by his own government for prophesying doom is bad enough, but it gets even worse. He's forced to serve his prison sentence in the middle of a foreign invasion. 

He speaks a tenacious word of hope, of a coming righteous Branch, to counteract all of the depressing, despairing conflicting evidence. And that is its power.

We wait with an Advent hope.  

Maybe the saving act of God isn't all that obvious to us. Maybe we can't see beyond the darkness of the violence or the despair of injustice around us. Maybe we don't experience great losses such as job, security, of home. 

God's promise through Jeremiah
says in the midst of darkness, light is about to break in. In the midst of despair, hope will erupt. After long tenacious waiting, a branch will sprout. 

God’s promises haven't happened yet, but a righteous Branch is coming.

Like Jeremiah, we need to speak these words of hope! Especially this Advent!

Between Two Kingdoms

Acadia NP trail marker

"Then Pilate entered the headquarters again,

 summoned Jesus, and asked him, 

“Are you the King of the Jews?”

John 18:33

In 1925, Pope Pius XI established a new liturgical tradition, the Feast of Christ the King.

The Pope felt that the followers of Christ were being lured away by the growing secularism of the world. They were choosing to live in the “kingdom” of the world rather than in the reign of God.

This scripture (available here) for the new liturgical tradition is the scene of Pilate before Jesus. 

The scene is tense as Pilate tries navigating between understanding his empire and Jesus's kingdom.

Look at two contrasts:

On one hand: Pilate’s authority comes from the will of Caesar and is always tenuous.

On the other: Jesus’ authority comes from doing the will of God, and is eternal.

OR

On one hand: Pilate’s rule brings terror, even in the midst of calm.

On the other: Jesus’ rule brings peace, even in the midst of terror. 

We live in a culture intensely divided by politics, social status, race, gender, and religion probably becoming more intensified. 

This seems like a good time for a checkup to see which kingdom has a greater influence on us.

John Wesley's asks:

• Am I doing all the good I can, 
• by all the means I can, 
• in all the ways I can, 
• in all the places I can, 
• at all the times I can, 
• to all the people I can, 
• as long as ever I can.

Or as Prof Lucy Hogan from Wesley Seminary asks:

• How do I live in the realm of God following the faithful servant?
• How do I reach out to the least and the lost?
• How do I seek to serve rather than be served?

As we navigate between the commercial kingdom of Christmas Shopping and Jesus' Realm of Peace, which one is having the greater influence?

The Cloak of Value

“What do you want me to do for you?”

The blind man said to him, 

“My teacher, let me see again.

Go,” said Jesus, 

“your faith has made you well.”

Mark 10:51-52 I

The Call 

Blind Bartimaeus is sitting on the side of the road, cloak spread in front of him, begging.  He's lower social status and therefore powerlessness. He hears that Jesus of Nazareth is coming. Bartimaeus begins to shout, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”

He persists, even when people around him tell him to be quiet.

Jesus calls him. 

He springs up, throwing off his cloak, representing his his only possession providing warmth, sleep at night or, spreading out, collecting money. 

Jesus asks, what do you want me to do for you?

Bartimaeus says “My teacher, let me see again.

Go,” said Jesus, 

“Your faith has your faith has made you well”

Bartimaeus' Faith.

This is a story about Bartimaeus’s faith and his absolute conviction that Jesus, the Son of God, can and will rescue him from his need. 

He is expecting transformation, to be changed.

So, he jumps up, comes to Jesus asking for mercy so to see again. 

Jesus says, "Go,” said Jesus, “your faith has healed you.”

Bartimaeus immediately regains his sight and follows Jesus.

The Healing

This story is about much more than Bartimaeus seeing again. 

It's about conviction, the expectation of transformation, and mercy. It's about persistence in asking despite the noise around us.

The healing is about times when we feel like Bartimaeus sitting beside the road in need of something to heal our brokenness. 

With persistence, we cry out to Jesus for help in complete confidence that something will be changed. Perhaps our despair will be changed to hope, our brokenness into wholeness, or our blindness into understanding.

Jesus hears us and heals the brokenness in our faith.

We can "go" and tell the story bringing the Good News of Jesus to  other people in need. 

Living A Salvation Lifestyle

Carriage Road
Acadia N.P.

"He has shown you, O mortal, what is good.

And what does the Lord require of you?

To act justly and to love mercy

and to walk humbly with your God."

Micah 6:8

My lifestyle.

My lifestyle included hiking and walking outdoors. BSA 50 milers, Hudson Falls feeder canal path, carriage roads, National Park walks and trails.

Faith Lifestyle.

I think John Wesley would describe a faith lifestyle as one of holiness of mind with acts of mercy, fasting, prayer, Bible study, and attending to the sacraments.

Micah's prophetic lifestyle.

Micah's lifestyle begins when God has an dispute with God's people and chooses Micah's prophetic voice. God calls the mountains, hills, and earth’s foundations to hear the debate.

God recites the magnificent gifts provided as a brief salvation history with God as liberator, savior, and provider.

God then says, “What exactly have I done wrong? I am constantly saving you so you always remember my righteous deeds.” 

The people have no answer. They just want to know the best sacrifice to offer.

God, what do you require?

It turns out God doesn't want a specific type of offering, but specific type of person.

God is clear about that. God wants someone who:

    does justice.

    loves mercy.

    and walks humbly with God.

Christian lifestyle. 

Through Micah, God has been clear to us. The difficult task is to live this lifestyle as God’s people. Justice may not be our default operating system. Humility is not second nature. It's more than putting an offering it the offering plate, making a donation, or working on a ministry team.

Salvation Lifestyle.

The sacrifice I want is a salvation lifestyle.

That's a lifestyle lived in the Lord's name bringing the hope of salvation.

Doing justice brings the hope of salvation to the unjustly treated.

Being merciful brings the hope of salvation to the oppressed.

This is what I require.  

God's Whirlwind Answer

"Then the Lord answered Job 

out of the whirlwind:

'Who is this that darkens counsel 

by words without knowledge?

Gird up your loins like a man, 

I will question you, 

and you shall declare to me.'" 

Job 38:1-2

I love a reading a good mystery by authors such as Martin Walker, Louise Penny, and Tana French. 

Each of their stories follow a pattern. There is a crime, a cast of characters, and a solution to the crime.

Life  can be like that.  A tragedy occurs, a cast of characters surrounds the victim offering comfort, and a resolution appears.

Sometimes, though, there doesn't seem to be a conclusion and we ask ourselves, "Where are you God?"

When Bad Things Happen to Good People is a book by rabbi Harold Kushner whose son, Aaron, who died at the age of 14 of the incurable genetic disease progeria. Rabbi Kushner asks the question most of us would ask during a tragedy, "Where are you God?"

That's what the Book of Job is about: tragedy, characters, resolution.

The mystery begins as Job, a righteous man, loses everything and endures suffering and chaos. Three friends tell him he deserves the suffering because of his sin. 

Job doesn't buy into this. 

Job, protesting to God, lists ways he's a righteous man demanding an answer from God. "What's Going on God? What have I done to deserve all this?"

God's whirlwind answer asks Job where he was during Creation when God created an order and structure in the universe. There is meaning in the order and structure.

Job realizes that, because he isn't God, he doesn't know or understand everything. First he heard, now he sees.

Sometimes a tragedy is a mystery because it's part of being human. We don't know or understand everything.

God's whirlwind answer to us is this: 

    Whatever the tragedy, I am with you. 

    When you protest, I am listening. 

    In your chaos, I am structure.

In your darkness. I am light.