sermon – Page 9 – jeffersonvann

MORIAH

¹ Some time after these things God tested Abraham. He said to him, “Abraham!” “Here I am!” Abraham replied. ² God said, “Take your son — your only son, whom you love, Isaac — and go to the land of Moriah! Offer him up there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains which I will indicate to you.” ³ Early in the morning Abraham got up and saddled his donkey. He took two of his young servants with him, along with his son Isaac. When he had cut the wood for the burnt offering, he started out for the place God had spoken to him about. ⁴ On the third day Abraham caught sight of the place in the distance. ⁵ So he said to his servants, “You two stay here with the donkey while the boy and I go up there. We will worship and then return to you.” ⁶ Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and put it on his son Isaac. Then he took the fire and the knife in his hand, and the two of them walked on together. ⁷ Isaac said to his father Abraham, “My father?” “What is it, my son?” he replied. “Here is the fire and the wood,” Isaac said, “but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?” ⁸ “God will provide for himself the lamb for the burnt offering, my son,” Abraham replied. The two of them continued on together. ⁹ When they came to the place God had told him about, Abraham built the altar there and arranged the wood on it. Next he tied up his son Isaac and placed him on the altar on top of the wood.

¹⁰ Then Abraham reached out his hand, took the knife, and prepared to slaughter his son. ¹¹ But the LORD’s angel called to him from heaven, “Abraham! Abraham!” “Here I am!” he answered. ¹² “Do not harm the boy!” the angel said. “Do not do anything to him, for now I know that you fear God because you did not withhold your son, your only son, from me.” ¹³ Abraham looked up and saw behind him a ram caught in the bushes by its horns. So he went over and got the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son. ¹⁴ And Abraham called the name of that place “The LORD provides.” It is said to this day, “In the mountain of the LORD provision will be made.”

The book of Genesis tells many stories about the history of this planet. It tells the story of creation itself. It tells the story of the original rebellion of our ancestors in the Garden of Eden and their subsequent banishment from that paradise. It tells the story of how the ancient world became so corrupt and sinful that God reluctantly decided to destroy it in a flood. It tells the story of great people, too: people larger than life who shaped the reality of our existence today. Two of those people are featured in today’s text: Abraham, the father of the faithful, and Isaac, the promised son. Isaac was still a young man when the events of today’s text happened. His father was not young. Abraham was 115 years old.

I want us to look carefully at the characters that predominate in the drama our text reports. We don’t know the whole story unless we are willing to investigate what happened from the perspective of all those involved. That is one of the reasons that the Bible often tells the same story more than once. The stories of Israel’s kings are scattered throughout the six books we now call 1 & 2 Samuel, 1 & 2 Kings, and 1 & 2 Chronicles. In the New Testament, we have the life of Christ told us by four different authors: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. Each tells the story of Christ’s earthly life from their perspective, highlighting the things that made the most impact on them. They do not contradict each other, but neither do they see it necessary to parrot the others.

We don’t have different variations of the story in today’s text, but we do realize that things are happening that affect each central character differently. I want us to look at these events from the perspective – first of Isaac, then of Abraham, then of God himself and the message he has for us.

the story from Isaac’s perspective

The meaning of Isaac’s name (יִצְחָק in Hebrew) is laughter. He got his name by means of an incident in his parent’s life before he was born. The LORD told Abraham that he was going to bless Sarah by giving her a son. She had always wanted a child, but she had been barren, and she was 90 years old when God made this promise. She had already given up on the hope of ever giving birth to a son of her own. Both Abraham and Sarah immediately laughed when they heard the promise. That’s how Isaac got his name.

Sarah had long passed menopause, so she agreed to a plan to have a son by means of a surrogate mother – her handmaid, Hagar. They named this son Ishmael. יִשְׁמָעֵאל means God hears. The couple believed that their son Ishmael was how God had heard and answered their prayer. We are often convinced that when we come up with a plan and it seems to work, it must be God’s will. But Ishmael was not God’s plan. God’s plan was the miracle child – Isaac.

Isaac lived a privileged life. If he wasn’t a spoiled brat, then he had every reason to be. Isaac was heir to the covenant God had made with his father. In today’s story, he goes along with his father on a trip to the mountains. Isaac didn’t know all the details, but he knew his father wanted him along, and that was OK because he loved his father.

When they got to Mount Moriah, Abraham dismissed his servants and just he and Isaac climbed the mountain. He had told the servants that he and Isaac were going up onto the mountain to worship and that they would return when they were finished. But when they got to the summit, Isaac noticed that something was missing. He had lugged a pile of wood on his back all the way up the mountain, but he saw no lamb for the sacrifice. That itself was not a significant problem. Isaac probably figured that Abraham had already arranged for a lamb to be brought to the summit.

Maybe Isaac thought that the father was forgetting things in his old age. So, on the way up, he asked Abraham where the lamb was. Abraham just said that God will provide for himself. The verb Abraham used for “provide” is related to the proper noun “Moriah.” So, Isaac figured his father knew, so that settled it. Until they actually got to the summit. An altar was built, but there was no sacrificial lamb in sight.

Isaac was probably in shock when his father placed him on the altar and strapped him down with some ropes. This passage does not tell us that Isaac said anything. I cannot imagine him remaining silent, but perhaps he did. If Isaac did stay quiet during this ordeal, it could only be a sign for us of another promised Son who would remain silent while he was being sacrificed.

But Isaac’s story has a happy ending because God intervenes and prevents his death. A substitute is found, and Abraham’s statement is proven true. God did provide.

the story from Abraham’s perspective

Moriah is not Abraham’s first rodeo. He and God have a history. He has been tested time and time again. Sometimes, he passes the test. Sometimes, he tries to do things his way and winds up complicating things. But all the time, Abraham has been learning how to live by faith in God.

Abraham had come to a point in his life when living by faith has paid off with the fruit of faith. He had become wealthy and respected, and at long last, he was given the blessing of Isaac, who would succeed him as patriarch of his clan and would inherit the special blessings of the covenant. So, Abraham was not expecting another test at this point in his life. But the test came that day that God gave him a new command: God said, “Take your son — your only son, whom you love, Isaac — and go to the land of Moriah! Offer him up there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains which I will indicate to you.”

God said, “Go,” and Abraham went, but you can bet his mind was going in a thousand different directions as he traveled. He went over the promises that God had given him—many of those promises are specifically related to Isaac and his future. But Abraham wondered how God’s promises about Isaac could be fulfilled if Isaac died. Could the covenant be passed on through Ishmael instead? No, that can’t be it. God had explicitly named Isaac as the one who would pass on the blessing.

Abraham continued to think. A long walk is an excellent opportunity to consider, and the walk to Moriah takes three days. At some point, Abraham hit upon the idea that God must plan to raise Isaac from the dead in order to fulfill his promises about him. The book of Hebrews says, “By faith Abraham when he was tested, offered up Isaac. He had received the promises, yet he was ready to offer up his only son. God had told him, “Through Isaac, descendants will carry on your name,” and he reasoned that God could even raise him from the dead” (11:17-19). So, Abraham thought that must be how God was going to do this.

It took a lot of faith for Abraham to come to that conclusion. After all, we have the benefit of knowing all about the miracle of resurrection. We know about Elijah raising the widow’s son in Sidon (1 Kings 17). We know that Elisha did the same thing in Shunem (2 Kings 4). We know about how Jesus raised Lazarus (John 11), the widow’s son at Nain (Luke 7), and Jairus’ daughter (Matthew 9). We read about many other resurrections in the New Testament. But Abraham did not have a single story to point to. He reasoned that the God who gave us life can give it back to us after we are dead. He reasoned that the God who promises things to his people can make a way to fulfill those promises, and even death is not an obstacle to his doing that.

So, here is this old saint of God, raising his knife. He’s getting ready to put an end to the nearest and dearest thing in the world to him. But he trusts God. He does not know why God is demanding that he do such a thing. It does not fit in his theology. It goes against everything he has ever learned about God in his 115 years of getting to know him. But, if God says that his son must die on this mountain, then he is going to do it.

But in the last second, before Abraham’s knife finds itself going down in the direction of his beloved, he hears an angel’s voice. God has provided, and he has found a way to do it without Isaac’s death. From now on, when people ask Abraham about Moriah, he will tell them this story. It is the story of how God provided a substitute for the life of his son on the mountain called Moriah—a mountain with a name that means the place where he provides.

the story from God’s perspective

But the story is not over because there is another main character in these events whom we have not investigated. God himself had a reason for the things that took place on that mountain on that day. In fact, he had several reasons. He was teaching his friend that staying faithful to God will sometimes mean doing things that cannot be explained. The mission will not always be easy. The plan of God for our lives will often lead us to bitter conflict within ourselves as we wrestle with paradoxes and puzzles. But God calls us to be faithful anyway. He loves us, and wants us to trust in that love even when we feel very much unloved. He wants us to know that he is our friend, even when all the evidence suggests that he is an enemy.

Something else was going through the mind of God on that day. It was something that even Abraham did not know and would not know. The events at Moriah were a divine dress rehearsal for other events that would take place 19 centuries later. It was here, on this same mountain range, in a city called Jerusalem, that another promised son would be sacrificed. Only when this event happens will there be no last-minute deliverance by the angel’s voice. The angels will remain silent when the world’s only innocent man dies on the cross.

God knew what Abraham did not know. He knew that this would be how the human race found redemption from the slavery of sin. He knew that to demonstrate his passionate love for us, God would have to sacrifice his only Son whom he loves to a lonely and violent death – on this same mountain.

So, for us today, Abraham’s ordeal means even more than the story of an old man’s willingness to do something unthinkable because he trusts God. It is the Old Testament prediction of our loving God’s supreme sacrifice so that he could call back all believers to life again. He had no reason to do that except for his elaborate and compassionate love for his lost children.

If you ever start to feel that God must not love you because things are not working out the way you want, think of Moriah. If you ever feel that God is unfair to test you, think of Moriah. If you ever question your value in God’s sight, think of Golgotha. He loves you so much and has invested so much in you that the least you could do in return is spend your life serving him and eternity worshiping him.

EVERYTHING ALIVE

EVERYTHING ALIVE

Genesis 9:12-17 NET.

¹² And God said, “This is the guarantee of the covenant I am making with you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all subsequent generations: ¹³ I will place my rainbow in the clouds, and it will become a guarantee of the covenant between me and the earth. ¹⁴ Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, ¹⁵ then I will remember my covenant with you and with all living creatures of all kinds. Never again will the waters become a flood and destroy all living things. ¹⁶ When the rainbow is in the clouds, I will notice it and remember the perpetual covenant between God and all living creatures of all kinds that are on the earth.” ¹⁷ So God said to Noah, “This is the guarantee of the covenant that I am confirming between me and all living things that are on the earth.”

We are now on our 5^th day of the new year, which means that we are five days into our commitment to read two chapters a day in God’s holy word. I’m hoping that we all can keep to that commitment because I know that God wants to bless us with his wisdom and a closer relationship with him. The early chapters of Genesis teach us that God is holy and he wants to have a close relationship with his people. But he will not tolerate rebellion. Adam and Eve rebelled in the garden and so God banished them from it. That meant that our ancestors no longer had access to the Tree of Life. They were mortal, and our race began to die, starting with Abel, who his brother killed.

The rebellion continued among our ancestors and finally grew to such a degree that God could not tolerate it. Thus, God sent the flood to cover the planet in water and destroy all its inhabitants. But God is also merciful, and he chose one family of humans to rescue by his grace, along with the animals he chose to preserve for life after the flood. Genesis 9 describes the new covenant that God made with Noah, all humanity, and everything alive on this planet when the flood was over.

The version we are reading today uses the phrase “every living creature” to describe everything alive on the planet—humans and animals. That term is found in verses 12, 15, and 16. Verse 17 uses a synonym, “all living things.” Both terms refer to everything alive. The covenant God made was more comprehensive than we usually think. It was not made merely with Noah. It was a covenant with all the humans and animals on earth.

We should also note that the term for living creatures in verses 12, 15, and 16 reveals something that many religions (including many Christian denominations) refuse to accept. The average Hindu, Muslim, Catholic, and many others believe that the one thing that separates human beings from animals is that humans have souls, but animals do not.

One reason many Christians accept this doctrine is that many versions of Genesis 2:7 read something like the King James, which says, “And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living soul.” This reading led many to accept the concept that humans are endowed with an immortal soul and animals do not have souls.

Some modern translations correct the KJV. The NET reads, “The LORD God formed the man from the soil of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.” The reason they had to correct this is that the exact phrase that the KJV translated, “living soul,” is found elsewhere in the Bible to refer to animals. The phrase is found in today’s text three times. Every time, it refers explicitly to everything alive. The point is not that every animal has a soul. The point is that the word translated soul (Hebrew נֶפֶשׁ) means something that breathes. The verb נָפַשׁ means to breathe. A נֶפֶשׁ is a throat which breathes.

This is a very unpopular belief, but it is proven true by the Bible. The Bible nowhere says that human beings are immortal – not even a part of them. Having a soul does not make us immortal. In fact, it proves the opposite. We breathe every breath until we breathe our last breath. We are temporary creatures, just like every other living creature. Our hope in Christ is not that we will survive death but that he will return and make us alive again. We don’t have immortality naturally by being human. We hope for immortality supernaturally by means of resurrection.

Now, I’m saying all this not just because of a doctrine I espouse but because it is essential context to understand the passage we are looking at this morning. The covenant that God made, as expressed in Genesis 9, is often called the Noahic covenant. But in fact, God made the covenant not just with Noah and not even with all humanity. He made this covenant with everything alive on the planet.

This passage gives the reason for the covenant

Notice the phrase “never again” in today’s text. In verse 11, God says, “Never again will all living things be wiped out by the waters of a flood; never again will a flood destroy the earth.” In verse 15, he says, “Never again will the waters become a flood and destroy all living things.” The reason for the covenant between God and everything alive is that the act of Judgment had a profound effect on the divine judge. He regretted that he had to destroy all those lives. Even though God, by his grace, rescued one family and enough animals to repopulate the planet, he still regretted having to kill everyone else.

God is the creator of all life, and he does not approve of reckless disregard for that life. There is a doctrine called the sanctity of human life, and I agree with it. I believe abortion is wrong because it is the taking of the life of an innocent human being who has done nothing wrong to deserve the death penalty. You can choose to rename abortion and call it reproductive rights or reproductive healthcare if you want to. But it does not change what is really happening. A human life is being destroyed. It’s not a suicide; it’s a homicide. The sanctity of human life is being disregarded.

But this passage is saying something even more comprehensive. It is saying that all life is sacred, not just all human life. God regretted the fact that he had to destroy every living creature in the flood. He determined not to do that ever again. It is wrong to kill a human being and show reckless disregard for that life. It is equally wrong to kill another creature for no reason and show reckless disregard for that life. The Noahic covenant was put into effect so that human beings would show the proper respect for all God’s creatures.

This passage gives the details of that covenant.

One of the details of the Noahic covenant was a repetition of a mandate that was part of the Adamic covenant. Verse 1 says, “Then God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth.” God still wants human beings to have children and expand their dominion over the planet.

A new mandate that is part of the Noahic covenant involves a change in the relationship between humans and animals. Human beings are allowed to take the lives of animals for the purpose of sustaining their own lives. Humans are allowed to eat animals but must not do so when the animals are still alive. Verses 3-4 say, “You may eat any moving thing that lives. As I gave you the green plants, I now give you everything. But you must not eat meat with its life (that is, its blood) in it.” The word “life” in that verse is the same translated creature in 12, 15, and 16. It’s that word “soul” again. It means something breathing. Humans are not allowed to eat an animal still breathing, with its blood still coursing through its veins.

There is also a new mandate stipulated in the Noahic covenant suggested in verse 6: “Whoever sheds human blood, by other humans must his blood be shed; for in God’s image God has made humankind.” This mandate establishes human law against homicide and human government to enforce that law.

From the Noahic covenant, we know that our God holds us accountable for preserving all life—especially human life. He wants us to be agents of renewal, undoing the devastation of the flood and making this planet thrive.

This passage also gives the guarantee of the covenant.

It is a sign. The sign still exists today. Unfortunately, many are abusing this sign and using it as a symbol of pride in something they should be ashamed of. For many, the rainbow now means that human beings are free to have conjugal relations with anything they want – be it someone of the same gender or even a different species. That’s not what the sign means. The rainbow in the sky is God’s guarantee that he will never again destroy everything alive on earth by means of a universal flood. He has done that, and he will not do it again. If people commit crimes, there will be governments with authority to punish them. If people sin against God, there will be the final judgment and the lake of fire to punish that. But the rainbow is God’s promise to us that “Never again will all living things be wiped out by the waters of a flood; never again will a flood destroy the earth.” He is going to allow us to live how we want to live, and he will not intervene by retaliating against all humanity as he did in the days of Noah.

The rainbow is God’s commitment to life. It is his statement and sign of his love for us, even if we do not deserve it. We should certainly be aware that God is capable of immediate reprisal against any rebellion. We should not take the rainbow to mean that God is not capable of punishing sin. Instead, we should realize that God is giving us space and time to turn back to him—to seek him during this age of grace.

Holy Communion

In Matthew 26:28 Jesus said, “for this is my blood, the blood of the covenant, that is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.”

The signs of the new covenant that Jesus established with his followers were the bread and cup of the communion ritual. The sign of the rainbow meant that God chose not to punish the sins of humanity with immediate retribution. The signs of the new covenant show God’s grace even more drastically. The bread and cup symbolized what Jesus did for us on the cross. He did more than delay God’s retaliation against sin. He brought about God’s forgiveness of sins. When the blood of Jesus flowed from his body while he was nailed to that cross, the flowing blood took our sins with it. We now stand as recipients of a new covenant with God. When we stand before Christ as judge, all of the world’s sins will be laid before him. But our sins will be marked “paid in full” because of the substitutionary death of Christ.

The rainbow is God’s commitment to life. So are the symbols we use today to celebrate Holy Communion. They are signs of sinners forgiven and given eternal life in the age to come. Hallelujah!

A quote from The Piney Grove Pulpit #5:

“God also said “(he) will put a new spirit within (them)” (Ezekiel 36:26b). The spirit is the breath that is inside a breathing body. The Hebrews used this breath as a metaphor for the internal life. As such, good breath inside a person suggested health, vitality and a good attitude. An evil breath (not to be confused with bad breath) meant that the body was unhealthy, dying and full of hate and bitterness.

So, when God said that he was going to put a new spirit in his people, he was talking about restoring their relationship with him through forgiveness, and that would result in health and wholeness.”

{The book has 72 pages and was published on September 15th, 2024}.

FEED MY SHEEP

FEED MY SHEEP

John 21:15-17 (pastor’s translation)

¹⁵ When they had eaten breakfast, Jesus asked Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you care about me more than these?” “Yes, Lord,” he said to him, “you are aware that I have regard for you.” “Feed my lambs,” he told him. ¹⁶ He asked him a second time, “Simon, son of John, do you care about me?” “Yes, Lord,” he said, “you are aware that I have regard for you.” “Shepherd my sheep,” he told him. ¹⁷ He asked him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you have regard for me?” Peter was so grieved that he asked him the third time, “Do you have regard for me?” He said, “Lord, you are aware of everything; you are aware that I have regard for you.” “Feed my sheep,” Jesus said.

The incident that John described in today’s passage fell between our Lord’s resurrection and his ascension to heaven. Peter had decided to go fishing and had a disappointing night because they had caught nothing. But Jesus intervened and told them to throw the net on the right side of the boat. They caught so many fish that they could not haul in the net. Some of the other disciples came and assisted them in recovering the net. When they went onto the shore, Jesus instructed them to bring some of the fish they had caught. He had already started a charcoal fire. The conversation Jesus had with Jesus took place at this fireside.

This passage is about Peter’s grief.

The fact that they were at a campfire and Jesus asked essentially the same question three times got Peter’s memory going. He remembered another fireside – on the night of Jesus’ crucifixion. On that night the people had built a fire to keep warm, and Peter had approached the fire, hoping that nobody would recognize him. Sure enough, three different people had asked him if he knew this criminal – Jesus. Three times, Peter had denied knowing Jesus and being his disciple.

Our text says that Peter was so grieved that Jesus had asked him the same question three times. He was grieved that when challenged, he had chosen to deny Christ rather than admit that he had been his disciple. Peter had boasted that he would follow Jesus even if he had to die doing it. But when the time for testing came, Peter chickened out. The rooster crowed, and Peter had broken down in shame and grief. He was grieving not only because his master was being condemned. He was also grieving because he (Peter) had not lived up to his promise. He proved to be not as committed as he said he was.

Each of us who tries to live the Christian life will find ourselves in such situations. We will see that our actions do not match our testimony. As much as we love Jesus and declare our allegiance to him, we will discover times when we fail to live the life we want to live. We will be seriously disappointed with ourselves.

I’m glad that this passage is in the Bible. It tells us something about our loving Savior. It tells us that when we have failed him in the most public and shameful ways, Jesus will still be waiting at the seashore, ready to talk about it over breakfast. If we did not have this passage, we might be tempted to think that Jesus would reject us as soon as we fail to admit our loyalty to him. But this passage tells us that the one who taught us to forgive seventy times seven is going to be there for us with love and forgiveness.

This passage is about Peter’s love.

Y’all know that I do not normally use my translation when preaching. I usually use a modern translation that is available to anyone. However, I chose to use my translation because the modern translations and the ancient ones all have problems translating the passage. The difficulty is found in the fact that the passage was originally written in Greek with two different words, both of which are usually translated with the same word in English. The Greek words are ἀγαπάω and φιλέω. John is using these two words because even though both can be translated with our English word love, each has a different connotation. Each denotes a different aspect of love.

In order to show the differences between the two words being used, in my translation, I translate both words differently. I chose not to use the word love in my translation because it would not be clear which word was being used in Greek. When ἀγαπάω is used, I translate the word “care about.” When you care about someone, the focus is on what you can do for them. When φιλέω is used, I translate it as “have regard for.” When you have regard for someone, the focus is on appreciation for who they are and what they have done for you.

So, here again is my translation of the conversation:

“Jesus asked Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you care about (ἀγαπάω) me more than these?” “Yes, Lord,” he said to him, “you are aware that I have regard for (φιλέω) you.” “Feed my lambs,” he told him. ¹⁶ He asked him a second time, “Simon, son of John, do you care about (ἀγαπάω) me?” “Yes, Lord,” he said, “you are aware that I have regard for (φιλέω) you.” “Shepherd my sheep,” he told him. ¹⁷ He asked him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you have regard for (φιλέω) me?” Peter was so grieved that he asked him the third time, “Do you have regard for (φιλέω) me?” He said, “Lord, you are aware of everything; you are aware that I have regard for (φιλέω) you.”

Peter had grieved because he knew that he had dissapointed Jesus when he denied him at his crucifixion. His grief was natural because he cared about Jesus. He did not want to disappoint him again. But Jesus was teaching Peter that he didn’t want Peter to focus on his concern for Jesus. He wanted Peter to concentrate on his admiration and appreciation of Jesus because that is what he needed to be successful in his future ministry. In other words, his future ministry had to be based on the greatness of his master, not the strength of his concern for his master.

This passage is about Peter’s mission.

That is why Jesus kept telling Peter to feed and shepherd his sheep. Peter had to get his mind focused on his mission because that was to be the means by which he proved his regard for his master. The story began with Jesus asking Peter, “Do you care about me more than these?” Who were the “these”? They were the fish. Peter had decided to go fishing. Jesus first met Peter when he was out fishing. Jesus called Peter and three other fishermen to follow him, and he would make them fishers of people.

The new mission required a new metaphor. The old metaphor was good enough when the disciples’ primary ministry was evangelism. Jesus made them fishers of people because their primary responsibility was to catch people in the net—to win them to Christ. They would still be doing that, but Jesus was adding a new ministry when he told them to feed and shepherd his flock.

The new mission was to assist and lead the congregations to maturity in Christ. This would be proof of their high regard for their master. Jesus had given them a new commandment: to love one another. Now, he was giving them a new mission to nurture and protect all the sheep in the fold.

The Lord has been dealing with me on the issue of feeding the flock as well. For this coming year, he wants me to focus on getting this congregation into the word of God on a regular basis. I am introducing a new calendar for the coming year. Each day of the calendar has a reference to two chapters from the Bible. We will be beginning in Genesis and reading through the Bible, finishing with Revelation in the middle of 2026. Each month, you will get a new calendar with the month’s readings. Each Sunday, I will take my Scripture passage from that Sunday’s texts. I want us to commit to reading or listening to those two chapters every day if possible. The Sunday School lessons will also be taken from that week’s readings.

There is more to spiritual growth and maturity than just reading the Bible regularly. But one of the reasons Christians stay spiritually immature is that they do not get into the word and let it nourish them. As a congregation, we are responsible to feed the sheep in this community. I want us to get more biblically literate because it is one of the means of becoming more spiritually mature. As we are preparing to begin a new year, let us take the opportunity to establish some new patterns. One of the most critical new patterns that anyone can set is to have a regular plan for reading and studying the Bible. As you read, if you encounter a word or phrase you do not understand, write it down to discuss on Sunday. You can also email or text me with a question.

The owner of the flock wants us all to be well-fed and strong. Let’s commit to becoming a congregation that knows the Word and lives by it. God bless y’all.

A quote from Piney Grove Pulpit #3:

““Make yourself an ark of gopher wood” (Genesis 6:14).

Noah’s response was that he “built an ark to deliver his family.” He built it by faith. Nobody had built such a thing before. There was no precedent. There hadn’t been any need before. God himself had to give Noah the blueprint for the thing. Building the ark was something that was going to be very hard to do, and it was going to take a lot of effort and resources to do it.

But … and this is very important… it could be done. God sometimes calls you and me to do the impossible, but most of the time he just calls us to do the impractical, to test our resolve and commitment to him. God didn’t call Noah to build a spaceship. A boat was what was needed, and Noah could do that. Noah’s faith helped him to respond appropriately to his fear and build that boat.”

GLORY TO GOD

GLORY TO GOD

Luke 2:14 NET.

“Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among people with whom he is pleased!”

We are back in the fields with the shepherds today. We are focusing on the words that the army of angels said after the angel had given his message to the shepherds. Are you aware that you know a little Latin? Yes, you do. In fact you just sang in Latin when we were singing “Angels We Have Heard on High.” “Gloria in Excelsis Deo” is one way of translating “Glory to God in the highest” in Latin.

The English word glory sometimes means the impressive appearance of someone or something. When we see something amazing, we might call it glorious. Luke used this word when he said that the glory of the Lord shone around the shepherds.

But there is another meaning of the word. It sometimes refers to the fame, renown, praise, and honor that someone is due. The opposite of glory is shame. What the angles appear to be saying is that the greatest glory belongs to the greatest God—the God who created all things and rules all things.

You will notice that I used the word “saying” there instead of “singing.” The Christmas cards and carols are wrong. The Bible does not tell us that these angels were singing. It says that they were praising God and saying something.

It probably felt like they were singing. They were, after all, angels. Their voices probably resonated throughout the countryside. When these shepherds went into the towns and villages to share the good news that these angels told them, the villagers probably asked them what all that racket was about. I imagine those angel voices shook the mountains. When the shepherds went to tell the good news on the mountains, over the hills and everywhere, they were explaining the miraculous supernatural event that they experienced firsthand. When they told the villagers about the baby boy in the manger, they could explain that he was the one that all this noise was about.

Well, once again, I have to say that it was not exactly a silent night. It was a typically quiet night up until the army of angels showed up and started praising God and talking about his glory. Then, it became a noisy night. The angels were noisy, and they passed the noise on to the shepherds. The shepherds went to see Jesus, and then they gossipped the gospel throughout the countryside. I imagine the silence was broken that night and people would be talking about that noisy night for years afterward.

On that night God’s glory shone around the shepherds. On that night, God’s glory was celebrated by the angels, then by the shepherds, and then by all the believers who heard the message that the king had been born. I want to talk about that glory today.

God’s glory is a message.

The message is about God, who lives in the highest place. We call that place heaven. It is the realm in which God resides and the realm over which he presides. No human being had ever seen that glory. Some of the people of God had come close to seeing it. But God does not share his visible glory with the likes of us. We can only imagine what it is like to be in the visible presence of Almighty God. Some have even dared to describe what it might be like, but all the descriptions we have ever heard or read about do not approach any proximity of accuracy.

Those angels celebrated this marvelous glory of Almighty God that night. The angel Gabriel – when he was sent to share the good news with Zechariah – told him, “I am Gabriel, who stands in the presence of God, and I was sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news” (Luke 1:19). Imagine standing in the presence of God. I don’t feel worthy even to lie prostrate in the presence of God. But this mighty angel stands in the presence of his creator without shame. He is one of God’s sacred angels. He is in another category – he is not a fallen creature, like all of us human beings are.

We miserable mortal creatures have decided that we are going to launch ourselves into space to see what is up there – to reach what is out there. We can go farther than we had ever imagined, but we have never reached the highest place. We never will reach the highest place. The Bible says that no one has ascended into heaven except the one who descended from heaven — that is Jesus himself (John 3:13). I hear a lot of people talking about dying and going to heaven. It is just not so. Religion has fostered that fallacy for generations, but the Bible denies it. Our goal in life is not to get to heaven but to be ready when heaven’s king comes back to earth.

One of the reasons that the angels were celebrating that night is that God was putting into action his plan to rescue humanity, and he had chosen this angelic army to begin the process of spreading that message. God’s glory is a message. It is a message that says that the God who lives in the highest place has decided to reach down to the lowest place. It is appropriate then, that these angelic messengers pass the baton on to these lowly shepherds. It is as if God is telling us that when he decides to act to redeem his fallen creatures, he is going to make that salvation available to everyone, great and small.

When we look at humanity as a whole, we see all kinds of differences. We see racial differences. I believe that black lives matter just as much as white lives. But we can talk about black lives because people who are African Americans grow up in a different world than those who are not. I am fortunate to have some black friends, but I can never be just like them because there is a difference that cannot be explained just by referencing the color of our skin. I was born into and live in a different world.

There are also socio-economic differences among human beings. We have a lower economic class, a middle class, and an upper class. Back in the biblical days, they also had a slave class. I thank God that we no longer have a slave class in America, but we do have many who are destined to live their whole lives as subservient to others. We have a long way to go before we can imagine a world in which there are no socio-economic differences.

There are also gender differences. God created us, male and female. Those differences are obvious. Some in our society today want to blur those distinctions. Some want to recreate the world and make it have several genders. Some want to medically alter themselves so that they can pretend to be a different gender than the one they were born as. Some want to turn gender distinctions into an opportunity to tyrannize others. It gets very complicated. But the fact that we were born with a gender difference is obvious.

There are also religious differences. There are different religions, denominations, and forms of atheism and agnosticism. There are fanatical cults and lukewarm pretenders. We cannot unify everyone under one religion because religions involve belief, and none of us believe the same things as anyone else.

When we look at all these differences, we discover that very few things are true of every human being. We are a divided species. But there is one thing that unites us because it is true of all of us: We are all part of a fallen species, a sinful species, a reprobate species. The message of glory is that our God is going to change that.

God’s glory is a mission.

The good news that the angels declared that night is the announcement that God in the highest place was beginning his mission to reach down and save all of us who live in the lowest place. So, the angels compared heaven (the highest) with earth. The earth is the mission field. It is characterized by sin, corruption, violence, and warfare. But God has made it his mission to bring peace on earth. He plans to bring peace back to the earth. He is not going to eradicate all our differences. But he does plan to deal with the sin problem because it is sin in us that turns all our differences into means of exploiting and hurting one another.

So, the Christmas cards get this one right. Christmas is a message of God’s mission to bring peace on earth. God is putting his plan into operation on this night, which will eventually result in a world restored to the original peace of the pre-fall paradise.

But some even manage to get this aspect of the mission wrong. They think that God has already brought peace to earth and we celebrate that on Christmas. They think that just by being born on this planet, Jesus has already undone the effects of sin and shame brought about by the fall. So, they misread what the angels declared that night.

The angels promised peace on earth “among people with whom he is pleased.” The peace that God brings only comes to some of the people on this planet. He is coming with a mission to eradicate sin. Only those who repent of their sins and put their faith in the Savior will experience redemption. They will know peace with God at first and will eventually experience universal peace from God when Christ restores all things.

That explains why Jesus said something that appears to contradict what the angels promised. He said, “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword” (Matthew 10:34). Jesus’ mission was not to bring peace to all of us but to bring peace to some of us. Those of us who put our faith in him will experience division, persecution, violence, and martyrdom at the hands of those who do believe. The mission to bring peace to Earth will happen in stages. The peace is always conditional. Those who accept peace with God will be at war with those who reject his peace.

This explains why our Christmas traditions are filled with stories of violence and rejection as well as stories of blessing and joy. Herod rejected God’s mission of peace and went to war, trying to eliminate the newborn king. The wise men were warned not to disclose the whereabouts of the holy family to Herod but to return to their country. The other newborns in Bethlehem and the surrounding towns are violently put to death. The sacred family are forced to become political refugees and flee to Egypt and live there as immigrants.

There is one more aspect implied in the angels’ doxology that I want to point out today.

God’s glory is a man.

Before the angelic army chanted their “Gloria in Excelsis Deo,” a single angel told the shepherds not to be afraid because he was here to proclaim the good news that brings great joy. The good news was that a baby boy had just been born. What made that good news glorious was that it announced the birth of the world’s only savior. He was born in Bethlehem, the city of David, and he is Christ the Lord. God’s glory is a man.

What does the Bible say about that man? Our Declaration of Principles sums up the Bible’s description of Jesus. It says that Jesus Christ is “our Lord, the only begotten Son of God, conceived of the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary; who came into our world to seek and to save that which was lost; who died for our sins; who was raised bodily from the dead for our justification; who ascended in heaven as our High Priest and Mediator, and who will come again in the end of this age, to judge the living and the dead, and to reign forever and ever.”

The Bible also expresses who Jesus is by different titles that he holds. Moses called him the Rock. Job called him his Redeemer. Isaiah called him the Prince of Peace and Immanuel (God with Us). Jeremiah called him the Branch. God called him his Beloved Son. The angel called him the Christ – the Messiah – Anointed One. Jesus called himself the Vine, the Bread of Life, the Way, the Truth and the Life, and the “I Am,” Matthew called him the Son of Man. John called him the Word, the Alpha and Omega, the Good Shepherd, the Lion of Judah, the Bridegroom, the King of Kings, the Bright and Morning Star, and the Lamb of God. Paul called him the Chief Cornerstone. The Author of Hebrews called him the Mediator.

Each of Jesus’ titles reflects a relationship that he has with us as his followers and something about his mission. God has a glorious message and a glorious mission and they all center around this glorious man. He stands at the center of time and calls everyone to himself. Christmas comes every year, but Jesus only came as our savior once. The next time he comes, it will be to fulfill the rest of the Bible’s promises about him. He is coming in his glory because God’s full mission to bring his glory and peace to earth has not been accomplished. As we celebrate the first advent of our Lord this year, let’s keep in mind that however spectacular that event was, his second advent will be even more glorious. Let’s get ready for that.

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THE GLORY SHONE

THE GLORY SHONE

Luke 2:9 NET.

“An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were absolutely terrified.”

Two years ago, we examined the shepherd’s story, but this year, we are going to begin our Christmas series by zooming in on one incident in that story. The very first thing the shepherds saw that night was an angel. At first, it was just one angel. The text says that the glory of the Lord shone around them. It wasn’t just an angel with the glory of the Lord around him. When the angel appeared, the glory of the Lord shone around all of the shepherds.

the story begins in terror

If it was really a silent night when the angel showed up, it was because the shepherds were scared and speechless. We Christians sometimes talk about angels as if they are warm and fuzzy creatures who make everybody smile, but the picture we get in the Bible is that angels are supernatural warriors who are a force to be reckoned with. In fact, all it takes is one angel to slaughter an entire army.

The Apostle Paul wrote to the Corinthians that they should not be immoral as some of the Israelites were in the wilderness. He spoke about the time when 23,000 immoral Israelites died in a single day. Paul told the Corinthians not to “put Christ to the test, as some of them did, and were destroyed by snakes.” He told them not to “complain, as some of them did and were killed by the destroying angel” (1 Corinthians 10:8-10). All it took was one angel to destroy thousands. All it took was one angel to kill all the firstborns in Egypt not protected by the blood of the lamb.

So, when the shepherds saw the angel on that first Christmas night, they didn’t feel like singing. They did not feel warm and fuzzy. They could only feel what anyone would feel when faced with an uncontrollable danger. Lions and tigers and bears, Oh my! An angel. Oh my, Oh my!

So, first contact had all the makings of a terrorist attack. Nobody would ever imagine that two thousand years later, we would be celebrating the event with Christmas cards, gifts, and chocolates! When the prophets saw angelic beings in visions, they had so little experience with their form that they often described them by saying that they looked like fierce beasts with a head of a “this” and legs like a “that.” Part of their terror was the fact that they looked so unusual.

But, then, sometimes, they looked just like a man. The angels sent to destroy Sodom looked like ordinary men – so much so that the corrupt inhabitants of Sodom wanted to abuse them. Lot realized that they were not the simple men they looked like. Joshua encountered the Angel of the Lord and dared to ask him whose side he was on – was he for the Israelites or their enemies? The angel told him that he was the commander of the Lord’s army. At that, Joshua “bowed down with his face to the ground and asked, “What does my master want to say to his servant?”

In the Book of Daniel, an angel appeared as just the palm and fingers of a human hand writing something on a wall. King Belshazzar saw it, and the color drained from his face. The joints of his hips gave way, and his knees began knocking together. He was terrified and visibly shaken (Daniel 5). All it took was this meager demonstration of God’s power to take down the pride of the most powerful man in the empire.

Now, these men out in the fields that night were not powerful kings. They were just ordinary men. In fact, they were the lowest of the low. They were humble shepherds. As shepherds, they were probably pretty tough. They kept watch over their flocks. They were perhaps prepared if a wolf or lion came after their sheep. But they saw that angel, and they were absolutely terrified. It was not just their sheep who seemed in danger. They saw an angel. They were probably convinced that it would be the last thing they saw.

Add to that, the glory of the Lord shone all around them. It was night-time. None of these me had ever seen a flashlight, much less the glory of the Lord. It was a brilliant light, brighter than anything in their experience, and it shone all around them. Their first feeling was not the blessed assurance of their salvation. It was a desperate feeling of doom and impending destruction.

But the story ends in joy.

The angel immediately tells them not to be afraid because he is not coming to destroy them. Angels are agents sent from heaven. An angel is a messenger. The message can be bad news or good news. On this occasion, the message is good news. He said, “Do not be afraid! Listen carefully, for I proclaim to you good news that brings great joy to all the people: Today, your Savior is born in the city of David. He is Christ the Lord.This will be a sign for you: You will find a baby wrapped in strips of cloth and lying in a manger” (Luke 2:10-12).

A woman travails in labor – sometimes for hours while her anxious friends and family await the news in anticipation and trepidation. Then the news comes in just three words: “It’s a girl” or “It’s a boy.” The last message these shepherds expected to hear that night was, “It’s a boy.” But that was the angel’s message.

The wise men from another country got the message when they observed his star. That sent them on a mission to find this newborn king and honor him with gifts. Despite the Christmas mythology, they didn’t show up that night. They came later after Mary, Joseph, and Jesus had moved into a house in Bethlehem.

But that night, when the angel told the shepherds that it was a boy, they hurried to find this newborn. When the wise men saw the star, they were overjoyed. When the shepherds saw the baby, they rejoiced and spread the news. They “related what they had been told about this child and all who heard it were astonished at what the shepherds said” (Luke 2:17-18). Then, the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen; everything was just as they had been told (Luke 2:20).

The whole universe had been waiting for this good news. Paul told the Galatians that “when the appropriate time had come, God sent out his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we may be adopted as sons with full rights” (Galatians 4:4-5). Because he was born, we can be reborn. Because he lives, we have the option of living again and forever.

Today’s text suggests the question, how will you meet Jesus?

The glory of God that shone around the shepherds that night terrified them until they heard the good news. It was the Shekinah glory—the glory of God’s presence among his people. That was a one-time event, not to be repeated. But the Bible does speak of a time in the future when Jesus himself will appear in glory.

“When the Son of Man comes in his glory and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne” (Matthew 25:31). When Jesus was born, he did not look glorious. He looked like an ordinary child. The shepherds had to be told that Jesus was the savior, or they would not have gone to look for him. His birth was normal, aside from the fact that his mother was a virgin.

The angel announced his birth with glory. A whole sky full of angels joined him to celebrate that good news. Then, the shepherds went to see Jesus. Many others went to see Jesus while he walked this earth. The apostles said, “We saw his glory — the glory of the one and only, full of grace and truth, who came from the Father” (John 1:14). But they saw his glory in a vision—on the Mount of Transfiguration. Jesus came in the flesh but not in his glory.

We are still waiting for when the Son comes in his glory. My question for you – brother or sister – is how will you meet Jesus.” Will you meet him as your savior, master, and king? Will his coming terrify you or be a cause of great joy? The answer to that question will depend on your relationship with him now. When he comes, he will separate the faithful followers from the faithless pretenders. The sheep will be put on his right side, the goats on his left. The sheep will know the joy of a permanent life in his kingdom. The goats will depart from him, destined for a fire which is called the second death. It is a death from which there will be no resurrection. It is what Paul called the penalty of permanent destruction (2 Thessalonians 2:9). All of us will meet the same Jesus. For some, it will be a time of weeping and gnashing of teeth. For some, it will be a blessed reunion with our loved ones to be with the Lord forever. I cannot answer for you. I can only ask the question for you. I can answer the question for me because I have put my faith and hope in Jesus Christ, so my destiny is sure.

Is your destiny sure? If so, good. But I have one more question.

how will your neighbor meet Jesus?

Yes, that neighbor who you see on a regular basis as he comes and goes. When the shepherds got the good news, the first thing they wanted to do was go and see Jesus for themselves. Then, they did not rush back to their regular jobs and regular lives. They had to share the good news. It was too good to keep to themselves. They had the joy of meeting Jesus; then, they had the pleasure of sharing Jesus. But it was not just for their benefit. The villages around Bethlehem were filled with people who needed to know that God had not forgotten them. They needed to understand that a savior had been born.

Your neighbor needs to know that Jesus is not just a religious myth or an excuse to get together with family and pass out presents. Your neighbor needs to know the gospel. The Bible says, “Look! He is returning with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all the tribes on the earth will mourn because of him” (Revelation 1:7). Why will the tribes of the earth mourn? They will mourn because they will meet Jesus as their judge, not as their savior. He must be one or the other. He will either be their savior and welcome them to permanent life, or he will be their judge and punish them with permanent destruction.

On that first Christmas night, the shepherds were given a great privilege. They saw the baby in a manger that all heaven had rejoiced over, and that experience caused them to rejoice as well. But with that great privilege came a great responsibility. The shepherds had to get the good news out. So, as you celebrate the birth of your savior this year, use this holiday period to reach out to your friends and neighbors and make sure they are ready to meet Jesus. Because, when he comes again, it will not be as a baby in a manger. He’s coming in his glory as king of kings and Lord of Lords.