Again Jesus spoke to [the Scribes and the Pharisees], saying, I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life."
There is really little more to be said, so what follows can be seen as trivia, and skipped:
The setting is important here. Jesus is saying this in the Temple, in Jerusalem, during the Festival of Booths. During that Festival, huge golden lamps were lit in the Temple court, giving great light to the entrance to Israel's chief place of worship. Jesus is saying, in essence, "You think these give light; you've not seen anything yet."
The great and glorious lamps lit only the Temple court. Jesus is the light of the world, and those who follow Jesus will never walk in darkness.
Saturday, March 1, 2008
Friday, February 29, 2008
Luke 24:17
And [Jesus] said to [the two disciples on the road to Emmaus], "What are you discussing with each other while you walk along?" They stood still, looking sad.
Just being on the journey, just being close to Jesus, does not always mean we will recognize what we perceive. These two people, as far as we can tell very good people, let the events of the past blind them to what was happening in the present, to accurate testimony of "the women," and to statements of other disciples.
Fortunately, Jesus can get past our blindness and open our eyes. Our prayer, as we walk to Jerusalem, is that our eyes will be opened as we break bread together, and our hearts will burn within us. Then we can also return, and tell others about the Risen Christ.
Jesus, be known to us in the breaking of the bread.
Just being on the journey, just being close to Jesus, does not always mean we will recognize what we perceive. These two people, as far as we can tell very good people, let the events of the past blind them to what was happening in the present, to accurate testimony of "the women," and to statements of other disciples.
Fortunately, Jesus can get past our blindness and open our eyes. Our prayer, as we walk to Jerusalem, is that our eyes will be opened as we break bread together, and our hearts will burn within us. Then we can also return, and tell others about the Risen Christ.
Jesus, be known to us in the breaking of the bread.
Thursday, February 28, 2008
Luke 11:44
Woe to you! For you are like unmarked graves, and people walk over them without realizing it.
Jesus is speaking to the Pharisees and the Scribes. It is hard, in the present day, to understand how horrifying this statement would be in Jesus' day. Contact with the dead made a person ritually unclean and unable to participate in Temple worship to God. What Jesus is telling these persons is their very actions make not only themselves unclean and unfit for worship, but also those with whom they come into contact, without these others even knowing it, and bars them all from the true worship of God. It is hardly surprising the Pharisees and the Scribes have the reaction of vvs. 53-54.
The point He is trying to make is, however, as important to us as it was to them. As we walk to Jerusalem, our inner life is just as important as our outer life, as it determines our outer actions, which can be either cleansing or corrupting to those around us.
So give for alms those things that are within; and see, everything will be clean for you. [vs. 41]
Jesus is speaking to the Pharisees and the Scribes. It is hard, in the present day, to understand how horrifying this statement would be in Jesus' day. Contact with the dead made a person ritually unclean and unable to participate in Temple worship to God. What Jesus is telling these persons is their very actions make not only themselves unclean and unfit for worship, but also those with whom they come into contact, without these others even knowing it, and bars them all from the true worship of God. It is hardly surprising the Pharisees and the Scribes have the reaction of vvs. 53-54.
The point He is trying to make is, however, as important to us as it was to them. As we walk to Jerusalem, our inner life is just as important as our outer life, as it determines our outer actions, which can be either cleansing or corrupting to those around us.
So give for alms those things that are within; and see, everything will be clean for you. [vs. 41]
The Country of the White Lake
The Kirillov Monastery
As we walk southward toward Moscow, we are passing through an area of Northwestern Russia that is dotted with small lakes. The history of this area includes the development of many monasteries. Our path takes us directly through the town of Belozersk. The description that follows is from a tour company's website.
"… Deserted refuge and heaven for countless souls who left everything behind for higher calling. This is one of the many places that gave Russia the name of a Holy Country. This is the Russian desert that blossomed with a multitude of spiritual flowers, like the ancient deserts of Egypt, Libya, Palestine or Syria. Some of its past glory can be seen even today. The might of the Kirillov Monastery, once the largest monastic settlement in Russia, the splendid glory of Dionysius’ frescoes at Ferapontovo, or the quiet beauty of one of Russia's oldest towns – small and remote Belozersk. It is a glimpse of the past, but it is the kind of past that brightens today and gives inspiration and hope for tomorrow."
http://www.iconsexplained.com/iec/03000_kirillov.htm
The Ferapontov Monastery
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Matthew 11:4-5
Jesus answered [the disciples of John the Baptizer], "Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have good news brought to them."
This is an incident important enough both Matthew and Luke [7.18-35] record it for their Communities, who were very different - Matthew's largely Jewish and Luke's largely Gentile.
What is so important?
If we focus on the individual incidents mentioned, we miss the point. These happenings are signs, pointing to something else - the authority claimed by Jesus. This is not just any authority, as there were lots of "miracle workers" in Israel at the time [as there are now], but the authority of the Messiah, as detailed in Isaiah 29, 35, and 61. Jesus is telling John the Baptizer who he is. Jesus is appealing to John to believe because of the evidence God's purposes were being realized.
As we walk to Jerusalem, Jesus is making the same appeal to us.
This is an incident important enough both Matthew and Luke [7.18-35] record it for their Communities, who were very different - Matthew's largely Jewish and Luke's largely Gentile.
What is so important?
If we focus on the individual incidents mentioned, we miss the point. These happenings are signs, pointing to something else - the authority claimed by Jesus. This is not just any authority, as there were lots of "miracle workers" in Israel at the time [as there are now], but the authority of the Messiah, as detailed in Isaiah 29, 35, and 61. Jesus is telling John the Baptizer who he is. Jesus is appealing to John to believe because of the evidence God's purposes were being realized.
As we walk to Jerusalem, Jesus is making the same appeal to us.
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Zechariah 10:12
I will make them strong in the Lord, and they shall walk in his name, says the Lord.
In this chapter, the Prophet expresses his conviction it is God who controls both history and nature, and will gather the redeemed, even though, at present, they wander like sheep without a shepherd. Jesus looked at the people of his time and saw them in the same way. God is compassionate, and the ultimate sign of that compassion is Christ. God's people will "pass through the sea of distress."
That's good news.
In this chapter, the Prophet expresses his conviction it is God who controls both history and nature, and will gather the redeemed, even though, at present, they wander like sheep without a shepherd. Jesus looked at the people of his time and saw them in the same way. God is compassionate, and the ultimate sign of that compassion is Christ. God's people will "pass through the sea of distress."
That's good news.
This Week's Meditation
John 4: 10-14
Jesus answered her, "If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, `Give me a drink,' you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water." The woman said to him, "Sir, you have no bucket, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? Are you greater than our ancestor Jacob, who gave us the well, and with his sons and his flocks drank from it?" Jesus said to her, "Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but those who drink of the water that I will give them will never be thirsty. The water that I will give will become in them a spring of water gushing up to eternal life."
************************
This week, as you walk or exercise, ask Jesus for a drink of the living water. Then, walk with Him and drink deeply.
Monday, February 25, 2008
Zephaniah 1.17
I will bring such distress upon people that they shall walk like the blind; because they have sinned against the Lord, their blood shall be poured out like dust, and their flesh like dung.
Once more, the context is important here.
At the Prophet's time, as in ours, there were persons yearning for the "Great Day of the Lord" to come, and, indeed, hatching plots to hasten its coming. The Prophet is reminding those interested in "pie in the sky by and by," rather than what is going on at present, the Day of the Lord will not be sweetness and light. In opposition to those who propose, then as now, the "Gospel of Wealth," the Prophet says neither silver or gold will save. The Prophet tells us, then as now, there is no such thing in God's Realm as a "Most Favored Nation" status.
The important things, the Prophet tells us, then, and today as we walk more toward Jerusalem, is right worship and doing justice. It is the humble of the land who will be redeemed, those who follow God's commands and seek righteousness and humility.
Once more, the context is important here.
At the Prophet's time, as in ours, there were persons yearning for the "Great Day of the Lord" to come, and, indeed, hatching plots to hasten its coming. The Prophet is reminding those interested in "pie in the sky by and by," rather than what is going on at present, the Day of the Lord will not be sweetness and light. In opposition to those who propose, then as now, the "Gospel of Wealth," the Prophet says neither silver or gold will save. The Prophet tells us, then as now, there is no such thing in God's Realm as a "Most Favored Nation" status.
The important things, the Prophet tells us, then, and today as we walk more toward Jerusalem, is right worship and doing justice. It is the humble of the land who will be redeemed, those who follow God's commands and seek righteousness and humility.
Sunday, February 24, 2008
A Walking Song for the Next Week
WALK IN THE LIGHT
“If we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin.” 1 John 1:7
Words: Bernard Barton, Devotional Verses (London: 1826).
Music: Richmond (Haweis), Thomas Haweis, Carmina Christo, 1792
Walk in the light: so shalt thou know
That fellowship of love
His Spirit only can bestow
Who reigns in light above.
Walk in the light: and sin abhorred
Shall ne’er defile again;
The blood of Jesus Christ, thy Lord,
Shall cleanse from every stain.
Walk in the light: and thou shalt find
Thy heart made truly His
Who dwells in cloudless light enshrined
In Whom no darkness is.
Walk in the light: and thou shalt own
Thy darkness passed away,
Because that light hath on thee shone
In which is perfect day.
Walk in the light: and e’en the tomb
No fearful shade shall wear;
Glory shall chase away its gloom,
For Christ has conquered there.
Walk in the light: and thine shall be
A path, though thorny, bright;
For God, by grace, shall dwell in thee,
And God Himself is light.
“If we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin.” 1 John 1:7
Words: Bernard Barton, Devotional Verses (London: 1826).
Music: Richmond (Haweis), Thomas Haweis, Carmina Christo, 1792
Walk in the light: so shalt thou know
That fellowship of love
His Spirit only can bestow
Who reigns in light above.
Walk in the light: and sin abhorred
Shall ne’er defile again;
The blood of Jesus Christ, thy Lord,
Shall cleanse from every stain.
Walk in the light: and thou shalt find
Thy heart made truly His
Who dwells in cloudless light enshrined
In Whom no darkness is.
Walk in the light: and thou shalt own
Thy darkness passed away,
Because that light hath on thee shone
In which is perfect day.
Walk in the light: and e’en the tomb
No fearful shade shall wear;
Glory shall chase away its gloom,
For Christ has conquered there.
Walk in the light: and thine shall be
A path, though thorny, bright;
For God, by grace, shall dwell in thee,
And God Himself is light.
Saturday, February 23, 2008
Micah 4.5
For all the peoples walk, each in the name of its god, but we will walk in the name of the Lord our God forever and ever.
What more needs to be said?
What more needs to be said?
Friday, February 22, 2008
Amos 3.3
Do two walk together unless they have made an appointment?
One of the stranger Bible passages, if lifted out of context. Amos is telling Israel it cannot rest on its own laurels as God's chosen people, because this status comes with great responsibility. If they cannot be a good example to the nations around them, they can always be a bad example. Vss. 3-8 tell Israel they ignore the word of God at their own peril, as God has sent it though the prophets, and, "... The Lord God has spoken; who can but prophesy?"
It is probably a good idea, as we walk to Jerusalem, if we listen for the voice of God in those around us as well.
One of the stranger Bible passages, if lifted out of context. Amos is telling Israel it cannot rest on its own laurels as God's chosen people, because this status comes with great responsibility. If they cannot be a good example to the nations around them, they can always be a bad example. Vss. 3-8 tell Israel they ignore the word of God at their own peril, as God has sent it though the prophets, and, "... The Lord God has spoken; who can but prophesy?"
It is probably a good idea, as we walk to Jerusalem, if we listen for the voice of God in those around us as well.
Thursday, February 21, 2008
Hosea 14:9
Those who are wise understand these things [that it is God who cares for us and from whom our accomplishments come, and not idols]; those who are discerning know them. For the ways of the Lord are right, and the upright walk in them, but transgressors stumble in them.
What more needs to be said?
What more needs to be said?
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Daniel 4:37
Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and extol and honor the King of heaven, for all his works are truth, and his ways are justice, and he is able to bring low those who walk in pride.
This is a fascinating story. The goal is to demonstrate how helpless is even the greatest of heathens against the God of Israel. The King, very successful, believes his victories come from himself, and not from God. To demonstrate this is not so, God both causes insanity in the King and then cures it.
This is a common theme in the Bible - the first becoming last and the last becoming first, within and without Israel. Similar realizations came to the Pharaoh in Egypt and to King Cyrus, for example, and Jesus spoke of this often.
It is a good thing to walk to Jerusalem, but we must not "walk in pride." As with the King, our accomplishments are due to the Grace of God.
This is a fascinating story. The goal is to demonstrate how helpless is even the greatest of heathens against the God of Israel. The King, very successful, believes his victories come from himself, and not from God. To demonstrate this is not so, God both causes insanity in the King and then cures it.
This is a common theme in the Bible - the first becoming last and the last becoming first, within and without Israel. Similar realizations came to the Pharaoh in Egypt and to King Cyrus, for example, and Jesus spoke of this often.
It is a good thing to walk to Jerusalem, but we must not "walk in pride." As with the King, our accomplishments are due to the Grace of God.
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Kinda Sounds and Looks Like the Kenai Peninsula
Kola River -- The Destination for Trophy Atlantic Salmon. The Kola is the largest river on the Northern Kola Peninsula emptying into the Barents Sea. No wonder the entire peninsula derives its name from it.
Jeremiah 6:16
Thus says the Lord: Stand at the crossroads, and look, and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way lies; and walk in it, and find rest for your souls. But they said, "We will not walk in it."
Ah, the humanity! One of the first words we learn to say is, "No!" Anyone who has been around a two-year-old has seen this, and, in some sense, we carry that two-year-old within us until we join the Church Triumphant. We substitute ritual for obedience. That's the bad news.
The good news is the ancient paths are there, and God sends us sentinels to point the way; all we have to do is ask, listen, when we stand at the crossorads. There will be, as we walk to Jerusalem, rest for our souls.
Ah, the humanity! One of the first words we learn to say is, "No!" Anyone who has been around a two-year-old has seen this, and, in some sense, we carry that two-year-old within us until we join the Church Triumphant. We substitute ritual for obedience. That's the bad news.
The good news is the ancient paths are there, and God sends us sentinels to point the way; all we have to do is ask, listen, when we stand at the crossorads. There will be, as we walk to Jerusalem, rest for our souls.
Monday, February 18, 2008
Keep your eyes open
Are there any geologists along on this journey?
How about rock hounds?
As we walk, let's keep our eyes open for a mineral found here on the Kola Peninsula. It's called Staurolite.
Yee Haw! We found one.
Hooray! Here's another.
This week's meditation
Genesis 12: 1-3
The Lord said to Abram, "Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you. I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed."
What was Abram’s yearning?
What is your yearning?
What is Christ Church’s yearning?
Who is the WE that we yearn to be?
Isaiah 59.9
Therefore justice is far from us, and righteousness does not reach us; we wait for light, and lo! there is darkness; and for brightness, but we walk in gloom.
We've all felt this way at times; I have, certainly. This section, 59.1-21, tells us, however, this isn't all there is. God isn't impotent and/or deaf. God's hand isn't too short to save or ear to dull to hear. We've often placed walls between us and God's salvation; I know I have. We go down blind alleys; I know I have. Yet God is always ready for us to return. Isaiah is convinced that, when there is no human helper available, God intervenes. Christians believe, of course, the ultimate intervention is Jesus. The Chapter ends as it begins, with the assurance God will come as our redeemer. God will keep covenant, even when we do not.
We've all felt this way at times; I have, certainly. This section, 59.1-21, tells us, however, this isn't all there is. God isn't impotent and/or deaf. God's hand isn't too short to save or ear to dull to hear. We've often placed walls between us and God's salvation; I know I have. We go down blind alleys; I know I have. Yet God is always ready for us to return. Isaiah is convinced that, when there is no human helper available, God intervenes. Christians believe, of course, the ultimate intervention is Jesus. The Chapter ends as it begins, with the assurance God will come as our redeemer. God will keep covenant, even when we do not.
Sunday, February 17, 2008
I guess I can sign on again! A note of gratitude.
The last several times I've tried to sign on I was told that I "wasn't allowed" ....... Hmmmmmmmm. I guess I was supposed to just be with my thoughts and not share them with the world wide net. LOL
I just want to say that I am so proud of the volunteers who have come to the last two choir rehearsals!! They are hard-working, surprising themselves and each other (and actually not me, I figured they'd be fabulous).
If I were keeping a gratitude journal, I'd have to put the 10 people who have shown up for the last two choir rehearsals at the top of my list. They just get better every week. I'm looking soooooooooooo forward to moving the congregation with these folks' ministry in the coming months.
Soli deo gloria!
I just want to say that I am so proud of the volunteers who have come to the last two choir rehearsals!! They are hard-working, surprising themselves and each other (and actually not me, I figured they'd be fabulous).
If I were keeping a gratitude journal, I'd have to put the 10 people who have shown up for the last two choir rehearsals at the top of my list. They just get better every week. I'm looking soooooooooooo forward to moving the congregation with these folks' ministry in the coming months.
Soli deo gloria!
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