Back to the Grind

I'm ba-ack! And it's time to get blogging again. Hold on to your hats. . . here we go!

Here's the question and answer from Monday:
If the disciples are quiet, what will shout out instead? (Luke 19)
Luke 19:40 40 "I tell you," he replied, "if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out."

And here's the question and answer from Tuesday:
Who is Job’s complaint directed toward? (Job 21)
Job 21:3-4 Bear with me while I speak, and after I have spoken, mock on. 4 "Is my complaint directed to man? Why should I not be impatient?

And here's the question of the day:
What does God promise to his people, his saints? (Psalm 85)

And here's the reflection of the day:
I just spent 15 minutes trying to come up with another way to rephrase a sentence. I came up empty. So, I'm just going to copy and paste it here instead:

In other words, Psalm 85, especially vv. 8-13, captures the reality that Christians already know and experience in Jesus Christ, but that exists amid the ongoing brokenness of the world and the sinfulness of persons and of our society. (J. CLINTON McCANN, JR. NIB Commentary on Psalms)

Psalm 85 is one of our Year of the Bible readings for today. (The others are from Job and I'm just not feeling up to tackling him today. So he will wait.) So, in case you don't have your Bible close at hand, here are the verses that quote is referring to:

Psalm 85:8-13
8 I will listen to what God the LORD will say; he promises peace to his people, his saints-- but let them not return to folly. 9 Surely his salvation is near those who fear him, that his glory may dwell in our land. 10 Love and faithfulness meet together; righteousness and peace kiss each other. 11 Faithfulness springs forth from the earth, and righteousness looks down from heaven. 12 The LORD will indeed give what is good, and our land will yield its harvest. 13 Righteousness goes before him and prepares the way for his steps.

Peace, love, faithfulness. . . sounds a little like the Fruit of the Spirit (Gal 5:22-23), doesn't it? Galatians goes on to tell us that "Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires" (Gal 5:25). Christians who have been crucified with Christ know what true peace, love, faithfulness are because they are righteous--they are in right relationship with God.

The way of life Psalm 85 is talking about--what it is characterized by--is how the Hebrew poets recognized a special way of life in relationship with God. Christians further define that as life in Christ. A life lived in Christ is a live full of forgiveness and hope and joy. . . life lived in "the reality that Christians already know and experience in Jesus Christ."

In this way, we know what awaits us after death. In this way, we have a foretaste of the kingdom of God. But it is only a taste because "that [reality] exists amid the ongoing brokenness of the world and the sinfulness of persons and of our society."

"Thus, as Mays points out: “The vision has an eschatological reach. It needs the coming of God himself to realize it fully (vv. 9, 13). The psalm therefore is a judgment on any easy satisfaction with life under the conditions created by human character and a summons to look for and pray for the time and life created by the character of God.” (McCann)

God is the missing piece in the puzzle. And we look forward to the time when God will end the brokenness and sinfulness of this world, replacing it with peace and righteousness. Mays, in the above quote, pushes us to resist "easy satisfaction" with a life lived according to the world's standards.

Ah, there's the rub, as Shakespeare would say. "Easy satisfaction" is so, well, easy and comfortable. And easy, don't you think? What methods do you try to avoid "easy satisfaction" in your life? How is your life being created by the character of God?

Let me know!
Allison

Good mornin'!



Here's the question and answer from yesterday:
Psalm 66:5 “Come and see what God has done, how awesome his works in man’s behalf.” If you were to invite someone to “come and see what God has done,” what would you show him or her? THIS IS AN OPINION QUESTION--NO RIGHT OR WRONG ANSWER. I HOPE YOU TOOK SOME TIME TO THINK OF "WHAT GOD HAS DONE" RECENTLY IN YOUR LIFE.

And here's the question of the day:
Who are the chiefs of Edom? (1 Chronicles 1)

And here's the reflection of the day:
Sampley, in his commentary on 2 Corinthians, makes an interesting observation about Paul's view of the nature of God.

Paul, he says, likes to describe God and God's people in terms of order and peace (see Rom 15:33; 16:20; 1 Cor 14:33; 2 Cor 13:11; Phil 4:9) [Sampley, 2 Cor, NIB Commentary]. And yet, when we get to verses 4-6 of 2 Corinthians, we actually get a pretty violent picture--wars and weapons with the divine power to demolishing strongholds. This is what Paul expects of God's believers! Ironic!

So, how can these two things fit together? Sampley's question is, "Should not the God of peace be the one who repudiates such militaristic power?"

He answers his own question by saying that Paul seems to take his cues about peacekeeping from the Romans. And the Romans had sufficient military power simply to crush opposition. To maintain peace was to annihilate opposition—by utter and overwhelming force.

Sampley says that Paul thinks of God's working the same way: “The God of peace shall soon shatter/smash/crush Satan under your feet” (Rom 16:20).

So, he concludes that "perhaps we have domesticated “peace” more than Paul has." What do you think of that? Have we domesticated peace? Does violence have a role in establishing peace? How does this theory jive with God's command to go to war in the Old Testament? How do you make sense of these verses from 2 Corinthians?

If you figure something out, let me know! Leave a comment below.
Allison