Godgrown

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  Mark 10:24 am on January 24, 2011 Permalink | Reply  

  Piles of Money 

  Isaiah 60 is all about the economic development of Jerusalem as they begin to return from exile.  The promises of vast, global wealth are almost unbelievable for a pitiful, beaten nation who doesn’t even have a wall of protection built around its perimeter…and at least for the rest of Biblical history, there was never any major comeback for the Jews; they were more or less passed from one roaring empire to the next.

  So what’s with all the predictions on incredible influence and wealth? Did God “over promise and under deliver?”

  There are hints of this prophecy fulfilled; specifically when Jesus was born in Bethlehem. (Matthew 2:11) Somehow I don’t think that the exiled Jews of the 5th Century BCE were satisfied with this interpretation – they wanted piles of money! They wanted the honor and recognition of the nations!  ”The flocks of Kedar!  The rams of Nebaioth!  The camels!  Where are my camels?!”

  I wonder if this is how Christians understand their relationship with God.  They sense that there is a pile of blessings, maybe even actual money, waiting on the other side of a “right relationship with God.”  They think that if they love God hard enough, if they believe the right things, if they just do it all right, then they’ll have life right where they want it.

  Trouble is, life is never quiet as we want it – but its right where God has it. He has sprinkled the fulfillment of his promises to bring blessings to his people from the far corners of the earth – he does it in the birth of Jesus; secretly, and its just enough money to keep a family of three out of the cold and filthy stables and enough to get them down to Egypt, where they can safely escape disaster.

  THAT is the blessing of God…the wealth of heaven.

  Yes, wealth seen in the light of God’s nature is not something that we can put in a bank account, but something that gives us another chance to dive deeper into him – knowing that we may not have enough to survive on our own, but plenty to keep following…for one more day.

  But why would God make all these promises of very specific assets that exiles would gain from as they returned to the holy land of Jerusalem?  I think its important to remember that each of us come to God for personal, selfish reasons.  God knows this, he loves you for it – and he wants you to know that the things you care about are important to him too – even if he sees how short-sighted they are.

  So he’ll help you get out of debt if that is something you see as important – and then he’ll remind you that you’ll always be in debt to him.  He’ll help you with as much worldly wealth as he’s called you to…then he’ll call on you to give it all back to him…

  In other words, our tangible gifts are only whispers of the real gifts he hopes to give us. The question is, can we let go of the tangibles in order to receive what truly matters…?

  
   

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  Mark 10:07 am on January 22, 2011 Permalink | Reply  

  Bad Gifts 

  Have you ever gotten a gift for someone that, when the gift was given, both of you knew that it was something you hoped to use yourself?  This happens just about every year at Christmas.  I give Katrina kitchenware, hoping against hope that I receive the benefits of that gift time and time again.  Yeah, she asked for it – but somewhere deep down that gift was really all about me, not her.

  Why give someone a gift they aren’t asking for?  You waste time and money, and feel slighted, forgotten.  No bueno.  What about God?  If you give a gift to God that he’s not interested in, are you really giving that gift to him, or are you giving it to another god, a cleverly disguised version of yourself that you’ve constructed in your mind?

  The Jews remain in a fragile place in their geo-political situation halfway through the 5th Century BCE.  Several thousand Jews have returned to Jerusalem, and under the watch of the benevolent dictator-king Cyrus, they are rebuilding the walls of the city.  In other words, they are exposed – vulnerable to attack.  In order to finish the work quickly, they are beating and oppressing each other for fear of not getting it done before a hungry empire comes to swallow them up.  And they are using religious means too – they have instituted a nation-wide fast to keep God on their side…but God sees right through their “gift.”

  Yahweh’s wishlist may have included fasting…but not this brand.  You got this fast at the wrong store.  He’s interested in a fast that leads to right living, the kind that promotes one’s fellow human beings, and does not oppress them.

  58:5 You humble yourselves

  by going through the motions of penance,

  bowing your heads

  like reeds bending in the wind.

  You dress in burlap

  and cover yourselves with ashes.

  Is this what you call fasting?

  Do you really think this will please the Lord?

  6 “No, this is the kind of fasting I want:

  Free those who are wrongly imprisoned;

  lighten the burden of those who work for you.

  Let the oppressed go free,

  and remove the chains that bind people.”

  Outwardly, the Jews are eager to please Yahweh with signs and commitments, but in daily life they exploit all their workers.  God wants your fast to include breaking the chains of injustice, to share the food you are not eating with those who have no food, provide shelter to the homeless…  The Jews wanted their wall built, and they were dealing fiercely with themselves to see it accomplished ASAP.

  Some might think God was unduly interested in high and lofty morals in a time when these folks were in dire straits.  Maybe once they were safe behind their city walls they could get on to practicing decency and transcendence and all that mushy stuff.

  But God sees it another way.

  Treat your neighbor right, shelter the homeless, feed the hungry… and you’ve just enlisted a larger and more loyal workforce!  Instead of beating fear into people, invite them to join you on a mission to rebuild the broken walls of a society that caved in on itself.  The old way of violence and oppression didn’t do much for your city’s walls, that’s what brought them to the ground.  God is trying to set the tone for a God-centered people…this is what is on God’s wishlist – and believe me; its something he knows we’d benefit from too.

  

  Mark W, and Acid 9 are discussing. Toggle Comments

   
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    Acid 9 4:07 am on January 24, 2011 Permalink

    I was once told that the word “fast” in this text (IS 58) is the hebrew word “tsum”. This literally means “to cover one’s mouth”. That could mean abstaining from food. But could also mean to shut up and listen…and in the case of IS 58…shut up so you can hear the plight of the poor.

    Never knew if that word study was true. But listening to others is definitely serving.

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    Mark W 3:38 pm on January 24, 2011 Permalink

    The Hebrew word “tsum” yields some interesting word study results. The concept of “self-limitation” (whether its food gorging your pie hole, or words coming out…) it seems that we have a fixation in our culture with consumption and expression – and we downplay the importance of their inverses.

    May God shut us up and keep us hungry! Think of the “other side” we are typically blind to in our rage to consume and spew out expression…

    Thanks for the comment Acid9. Never thought about (tsum) as a “shutting the mouth to listen” – but to throw another Hebrew word study in, I was learning the other day that there is no difference between “hearing” and “obedience” in the word “listen” (shema). If you don’t respond to what you’ve heard, you obviously didn’t hear it in the first place!

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  Mark 5:18 pm on January 19, 2011 Permalink | Reply  

  Paying for Empty Calories 

  The food Katrina makes is so delicious, she should start a food blog, complete with photos and recipes. (Katrina, consider this your official public request! ) Last night during our house church’s gathering we gathered around the table and shared in a meal together.  Katrina made a lentil soup for the potluck, along with homemade bread straight from our oven.  Check it OUT!

  

  Wow.

  Now that’s WONDER bread.

  Bread that tasty reminds me of Isaiah 55.

  55:2 Why spend your money on food that does not give you strength?

  Why pay for food that does you no good?

  Listen to me, and you will eat what is good.

  You will enjoy the finest food.

  Putting your energy in anything other than listening to God brings you nothing but empty calories.

  

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    Katrina 12:56 am on January 20, 2011 Permalink

    Thanks for the compliment, Mark