1 Samuel 1.1-20, Galatians 5.1-26 - Lectionary for 7/17/10

Today's readings are 1 Samuel 1.1-20 and Galatians 5.1-26.

As I look at this first chapter of 1 Samuel I see a chance for a cultural corrective.  See first of all the way Elkanah leads his family in worship, secondly the care this husband has for his wife, and thirdly the desire Hannah has for a child.

Elkanah leads his family in worship.  Year after year they go to a good deal of effort to worship, bringing the appointed offerings.  And this worship is not "merely" a duty.  It is an opportunity to rejoice before the Lord.  How many husbands today enter into worship and leadership only grudgingly if at all!  We have a tendency to leave a lot of spiritual matters to the women in our households.  What kind of message does this send to our children and our culture?  Does it suggest that we don't think worship is important enough for us?  Does it suggest that real men are uninterested in spiritual things?  Does it suggest that men aren't willing to be leaders?  All this is to say nothing against godly women who serve the Lord with gladness and labor diligently.  They should do that.  But why aren't the men plunging in as well?

Look also at the care Elkanah has for his wife.  Actually, look at the care he has for both of his wives.  They are both precious to him, but Hannah, who has no children and thus feels something is missing from her life, receives special care and concern.  She is deprived of the opportunity to rejoice in her children, so Elkanah pays her special attention, giving her reason to rejoice even without children.  How many times do we see couples making careful agreements, either written, oral, or tacitly, that each individual will protect his or her own interests?  This should not be.  The same Lord who made husband and wife one flesh, who made the married couple to be a picture of the relationship between Christ and the Church, grieves when men do not give themselves for their wives and wives do not submit joyfully to their husbands.

Finally, look at Hannah's attitude toward having a child.  She doesn't want to have a child for herself.  She wants to have a child for her God.  Her desire is to raise up someone to serve the Lord.  This is a noble desire, one that we miss out on so frequently.  We want children to suit our desires.  Actually, more often, our society seems to want to avoid children in order to suit our desires.  May the Lord give us a greater desire, that as we serve Him we may also raise up children who will serve our Lord with gladness.

--
Dave Spotts
blogging at http://capnsaltyslongvoyage.blogger.com

Judges 16.4-30, Galatians 4.12-31 - Lectionary for 7/16/10

Today's readings are Judges 16.4-30 and Galatians 4.12-31.

We conclude our journey with Samson today.  Look how Samson is worn down.  He is accustomed to having his own way, to doing things on his own terms, to seeing God deliver him no matter what his plans seem to be.  Samson has now taken a wife who is not loyal to him and wishes to bring him into captivity.  Her constant demands upon him serve to wear him down until he reveals the secret to his great strength.  Samson, though physically strong, has not developed an iron will to be dedicated to God as his Nazirite vow would indicate.  He is finally broken by his wife's demands and trusts in himself rather than in God.  

We also wear ourselves down.  We weaken ourselves as we entertain sinful thoughts.  We weaken ourselves as we think about how well we are able to do certain things.  We find ourselves trusting in ourselves and not in our Lord and Savior.  We find ourselves looking to our own inner resources rather than that external gospel given to us in Christ.  We start thinking we can take care of our own sin rather than looking to Jesus who gave himself on our behalf.  The eventual outcome can be as deadly as Samson's outcome.  We may end up trusting ourselves rather than God.

What consolation is there?  When he was a broken man with no hope left, Samson looked again to the Lord and asked that God could be glorified in what he would do.  In his final actions, he fulfilled the purpose God had formerly stated, the purpose God had in raising him up, a plan purposed before he was even born, the plan to bring harm to the unbelieving Philistines.  Likewise, we never know what our Lord will still be able to do in and through us.  We merely turn to our Lord in trust, ready to let him show himself through our actions.

--
Dave Spotts
blogging at http://capnsaltyslongvoyage.blogger.com

The Preached God by Gerhard O. Forde

Forde, Gerhard O. The Preached God: Proclamation in Word and Sacrament. Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans, 2007.

Forde's book is one of the most strikingly powerful books I've read in years.  He starts out with the very bold thesis that the God who gave us Scripture actually speaks and accomplishes his purpose through not just the written Word but also through human messengers.  Forde would consider proclamation of the Gospel to be performative speech.  By the very proclamation of salvation through Christ God accomplishes that salvation, creating faith in the hearts of the hearers.  Forde tracks this idea through multiple topics which are critical in today's society.  The volume concludes with a collection of some of Forde's sermons, evidencing this very powerful proclamation of the Gospel.  This is not an easy read.  It is not for the faint of heart.  But Forde's exposition of the supernatural work of the Spirit through the preached word is one which should inspire courage in any who handle the Scripture.

--
Dave Spotts
blogging at http://capnsaltyslongvoyage.blogger.com

Judges 15.1-16.3, Galatians 3.23-4.11 - Lectionary for 7/15/10

Today's readings are Judges 15.1-16.3 and Galatians 3.23-4.11

Is I read today's passage in Judges I shake my head.  What kind of hero is this Samson?  He continues to show himself as a self-centered, power hungry, person who whines to God when he doesn't get his own way.  

Somehow this reminds me of what we read in Genesis chapter 3 when Adam explains to God that his sin is God's fault.  If God hadn't given him that woman, he never would have sinned.  Somehow this reminds me of the fact that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us, the righteous for the unrighteous.  Yes, once again, I find that we are heroes very much like Samson.  We sin and go our own way.  God uses us despite that sin.  He puts us to work for his glory to accomplish his purpose in this world.  Meanwhile, we usually don't understand what he is doing.  We whine about it, find ourselves offended, and spend a good deal of time sulking.

May the Lord use us today despite ourselves.  May he give us grace to see his hand of provision in all that we do and to spend less time focused on ourselves and our woes than we might.

--
Dave Spotts
blogging at http://capnsaltyslongvoyage.blogger.com

The Genius of Luther's Theology by Kolb and Arand

I haven't been writing much about my extrabiblical reading lately.  I have actually been reading a lot. Here's one I read in the past six months.

Kolb, Robert and Charles P. Arand, The Genius of Luther's Theology. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2008. This text tracks some of the ground-breaking elements of Luther's theology, as he articulated anthropology in terms of being simultaneously just and sinner, at the same time emphasizing the right distinction of the Law and Gospel in all of Scripture.  It's a worthy read.  I didn't mark it up enough to pull quotes or citations from it.  Maybe another time.  It's definitely worth reading again.

--
Dave Spotts
blogging at http://capnsaltyslongvoyage.blogger.com

Judges 14.1-20, Galatians 3.1-22 - Lectionary for 7/14/10

Today's readings are Judges 14.1-20 and Galatians 3.1-22

Samson, the Nazirite from birth, grows up to be an inspiration to us all.  I'm not being sarcastic in any way here.  I know we've all seen the children's Bible story version of Samson, a huge guy with really long hair, who does super strong guy things.  But that isn't the Samson of the Bible.  In fact, as a mere point of interest, Samson probably wasn't unusually big or strong looking.  His strength came from the Lord and he amazed everyone.  He probably looked perfectly normal.  No, what he was able to do was simply because of the Lord working in and through him.

So what do we find in today's reading?  Samson is a young adult.  He seems to be pretty self-centered.  He wants to marry outside of his tribe.  In fact, he wants to marry outside of Israel.  These are definitely not allowed to Nazirites.  But what do his parents do?  In response to Samson's whining they take a wife for him from the Timnites.  Continuing with the rebellious Nazirite theme, Samson has contact with a dead body on his way home from his trip to obtain a wife.  Then this Nazirite, who is not supposed to be killing anyone, since they are not to come in contact with any dead body, manages to kill thirty men of Ashkelon so as to steal their garments and save himself the cost of paying up on the bet he loses.  

Why did I call Samson an inspiration for us all?  We're pretty good at identifying Samson's selfishness and sin. Should we be inspired to sin?  Not at all.  But notice in verse Judges 14.4 that God was planning to use Samson's situation as "an opportunity against the Philistines" (ESV).  Our Lord uses sinful people, people like Samson, people like us, to accomplish his will in this world.  He uses people who are loaded with flaws, just like us, to restrain evil.  He uses sinful people to show others their own sin.  He uses people who have received forgiveness through belief on Jesus to call other people to forgiveness and life.  Samson is an inspiration to us all.  If God can use Samson, can he use us?

--
Dave Spotts
blogging at http://capnsaltyslongvoyage.blogger.com

Judges 13.1-25, Galatians 2.1-21 - Lectionary for 7/13/10

Today's readings are Judges 13.1-25 and Galatians 2.1-21.

In our Old Testament passage today we have a common theme in Scripture.  A couple, troubled with infertility, conceives a child according to a promise of God.  Our Lord seems to take delight in showing that he is the one who bring s a deliverer.  When God is going to bring blessing through the hands of a human deliverer he shows that he can raise up that person even though the parents could not.  

If we think about it, whether God is raising up a judge of Israel, a child of Abraham through whom all the nations will be blessed, a priest like Samuel, a Messiah, or anyone else, the process is similarly miraculous.  Our Lord takes a couple of cells from different people, puts them together, and creates a complete human being, living even when still microscopic.  Our Lord has created us in such as way that conditions are perfect to raise up that offspring.  Bearing of children and, for that matter, not bearing children, is a divine act.  It is amazing when it happens and it is quite as amazing when it does not happen.

Many people today devalue children.  They consider them to be nuisances, hindrances, possibly harmful to the environment, useless mouths to feed, certainly not worth protecting like we would protect endangered species.  We live in a culture in which people have taken charge of reproduction, choosing when to have children, choosing not to have children, and often finding out when they do wish to have children that it doesn't happen as easily as they would like.  One wonders what our society would be like if we didn't purposely kill close to a million unborn children per year through abortion.  One wonders what kind of people we are destroying, or whether we would care for our children more if we really realized that every one of them is a gift from God.

Do all the children turn out perfect?  We will see more about Samson in future days.  No, they aren't perfect, any more than you and I are perfect.  But they are given to us by our Lord, who works in very unusual ways sometimes.

--
Dave Spotts
blogging at http://capnsaltyslongvoyage.blogger.com