Where's Jesus? Joseph reveals himself (Genesis 45)

 After all the family struggles, the revealing of past sins, and the effort expended to make a life, Joseph's brothers are shocked at the behavior of Pharaoh's second in command.  It is easy to imagine that such actions from a dignitary could be viewed as eccentric, even crazy.  But the great turning point for the family comes when Joseph recites these words,

"I am your brother Joseph, the one you sold into Egypt! An now, do not be distressed and do not be angry with yourselves for selling me here, because it was to save lives that God sent me ahead of you...God sent me ahead of you to preserve for you a remnant on earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance." (Genesis 45:4-5, 7)

Heidelberg Catechism Devotional Q23

Q.23. What are these articles?

A. I believe in God, the Father almighty,


creator of heaven and earth.

I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord,
     

who was conceived by the Holy Spirit
     

and born of the virgin Mary.
     

He suffered under Pontius Pilate,
     

was crucified, died, and was buried;
     

he descended to hell.
     

The third day he rose again from the dead.
     

He ascended to heaven
     

and is seated at the right hand of God the Father almighty.
     

From there he will come to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit,
     

the holy catholic* church,
     

the communion of saints,
     

the forgiveness of sins,
     

the resurrection of the body,
     

and the life everlasting. Amen.

Monday

Last week we began to talk about creeds.  There are many creeds in our world and many in the Christian churches.  But there are 3 creeds every church believes that set the foundation of the Christian faith.  They are the Apostles’ Creed, which we have learned today, the Nicene Creed and the Athanasian Creed.  These three creeds help us to understand what the bible teaches with regard to God, Christ The Holy Spirit and Salvation. 

Creeds are not new.  Throughout the bible we find many people who make proclamations about who God is.  We will explore some of these this week and in the coming weeks we will take a closer look at the Apostles’ Creed. If you haven’t memorized this creed yet, make it your goal to learn it by heart by the week’s end.  Read Psalm 119:66 as a way of seeing what the psalmist believed.

Thoughts on Goodness

Goodness: Again, the reader should be aware that this is the third post in a series related to the Fruit of the Spirit written by Stephen Winward.

"The holy God, who is perfect goodness, requires his people to be holy; 'You shall be holy, for I am holy' (1 Pet. 1:16).  It is in order that we may meet this requirement that he gives to us the Holy Spirit, who produces in us the goodness of Christ.  And so it is from God, from the Holy Trinity, from the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, that all human goodness is derived.  Goodness is gift, grace, fruit." (pg. 148).

Just think on that for some time.  Without the Holy Spirit, without God alive in us, we will not be able to do anything which God will ever deem "good".  It is only his actions that are good, Jesus said so when he responded to the rich young ruler - "Why do you call me good?  There is only one who is good - God." 

The girls baptism

Our daughters were baptized on Sunday.  In the reformed tradition, we believe that God's promises are for us and our children, and that baptism is a sign that he will be at work in their lives calling them into covenant relationship with him, even before they realize it.  Well enough of the theological, lets get to the personal.

As a pastor, I had the privilege of baptizing my new daughters.  Frankly, I was fairly nervous about doing it.  Our youngest is fairly shy and withdrawn and having water placed on your head in front of an entire church could be a fairly scary thing.  But her response was exhilarating.  There was no fear, but a calm peace, even a sense of excitement, and after I handed her back to Jen, she kept smiling and saying, "Momma, wa," and making the sign of the cross on her head.  She was ecstatic to be included into the family of God.  Oh that more people would exhibit the kind of euphoria at being part of God's church forever.  It truly is something to be very emotive about.

Thoughts on Kindness

Kindness: This first thing to catch my interest in this chapter of Winward's Fruit of the Spirit was a quote from Quaker Stephen Grellet,

"I expect to pas through this world but once; any good thing therefore that I can do, or any kindness that I can show to any fellow-creature, let me do it now; let me not defer or neglect it, for I shall not pass this way again."(pg. 136)

The words show a great amount of wisdom and ring a warning to us about our temporal lives.  We may not live until tomorrow to do that next act of kindness that has been put off.  We need to act now.  But what was more striking to me was how he connected Christian conversion with kindness.  Using the story of Paul and Silas in Philippi he tells us they had been beaten and the jailer had fastened them in the stocks, without any concern for their pain and suffering, but when he was converted the text tells us, 

"He took them the same hour of the night, and washed their wounds." (Acts 16:33)

Kindness is part of being a Christian and it is a radically different way of interacting with society than the non-Christian way.  The actual word used in Gal 5:22 is chrestotes and means

"goodness toward the evil and ungrateful, it is beneficience towards enemies." 

In the case of Paul, Silas and the Jailer, they were his enemies, but now his friends.  Paul and Silas showed not anger, rather they showed patience and kindness to the Jailer, he in turn, after conversion, showed kindness and love.

Thoughts on Patience

I promised more comments on Winward's Fruit of the Spirit.  Here they are.  Overall the book is excellent, a wonderful source for devotional reading and reflection on my life.  I have been reading through the 3 chapters on patience, kindness and goodness this week.  Each of them contained a wonderful nugget worth pondering.  I will post something from each chapter over the next 3 days.

Patience:  The reader should understand that the word used in this particular instance in Galatians 5:22 that has been translated patience is the Greek word makrothymia.  With that in mind read on,

"As the word makrothymia indicates, patience operates in the context of anger.  Makros means long, and thymos means anger.  Patience is the prologed restraint of anger...There is a tendency nowadays to assume that anger is always bad...Anger can be excellent; it is a characteristic of God himself.  It's true that God is 'slow to anger', but he does become angry. There is a divine impatience with evil. God doesn't always restrain his anger, and the servants of God should not always restrain theirs." (pg. 126)

After thinking on that for awhile, the author then helps the reader to distinguish between good and bad anger.  These are two kinds of anger that exist in our world. "Good anger is other-people centered; bad anger is self-centered."

My only complaint, with the chapter is the digression he takes into discussing patience in relation to waiting for things.  While I think our culture needs to hear his words, the Greek for patient waiting is a totally different and unrelated word, which the author acknowledges, but which he moves on and covers anyway.

Where's Jesus? Joseph's beg for Benjamin's Life (Genesis 44)

The Joseph stories are fascinating looks into human relationships and the emotional responses that are born out of these interactions. But even more than that, they place before us a picture of God and Christ.  This week, Joseph's brothers return after being "framed"for theft.  They return to plead for the life of their youngest brother Benjamin.  As readers and Christians, we must ask, "Where is Jesus in a story like this?"


Most often we read the story and take offense at the way Joseph treats his brothers - framing Benjamin for a crime he didn't commit, putting the brothers through extreme emotional hardship, and breathing into them the "fear of God."  But that kind of reading assumes that justice is situational.  What I mean is this:  Many westerners believe that guilt is only attributable to specific actions. One cannot be found guilty for a crime they didn't commit, even if in their past, they were guilty of a crime which hasn't come to light yet.  We would assume that prosecuting someone and calling them guilty when in fact they are innocent of that specific crime would be a perversion of justice and so we chafe at a story like this one in the Bible.  It is unjust.  It isn't fair. 

Thrilled with Butter Beans

Have you ever thought you struck it rich when you found a....butter bean in your soup bowl?  Tonight, both our Ethiopian girls were thrilled with their multi-bean soup.  They were eating away, until suddenly they stopped and gave giggles of excitement.  I looked over at each of them to see their eyes as wide as they could open and then staring at it saying "Daddieee, Daddieee."  They goggled it down, so I dug through the soup bowl found a few more and snuck them into the bowl each time they were looking away. The same response every time they looked back.

This makes me realize just how much we take for granted and how difficult it is for us to get excited in America.  It takes something really big.  But what about the little things, the clean water, the fresh fruit, the fact that we never have to go hungry, at least not most of us.  Warm houses, Clothes without holes, good healthcare.  All of these and so many more should cause of equal amounts of glee and give us plenty of reasons to thank God for his generous provisions.

Baptism and Adoption Liturgy

Mark Ruiter modified this liturgy from the CRC Grey Psalter Hymnal to relate baptism and adoption together.  We used this liturgy on April 18, 2010 to baptize Amariah Ruiter and GraceLynn and FaithAnne Roberts.  Feel free to use it or modify it.

Hear the words of Jesus:

"All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." (Matt. 28:18-20)

And the words of the apostle Paul in Galatians

²⁶You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, ²⁷for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. ²⁸There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. ²⁹If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.  (Galatians 3:26-29)

Through adoption these children have a new identity.  They are no longer orphans; they full members of the Ruiter and Roberts families.  They have all of the rights, responsibilities and benefits of the rest of their children.

Who’s your Father? (Galatians 3:26-4:7)

“Whose your father?” he asked. 

The child responded, “I am not sure.” 

“But surely you live with a man in your hut.  What’s his name?” the missionary asked. 

“His name is Masapi, but I am not sure if he is my father.” 

 Perplexed, the missionary took the child to Masapi’s hut and that evening he asked his language helper the meaning of the child’s words. 

 “Oh, no one is sure who their father is.  In our culture, you can never be sure who the father is, for you can never be sure which man was in the house, but you always know who the mother is because you can see the child come out of her. That is why children belong to the mother’s side and not the father’s.”

Heidelberg Catechism Devotional Q22

Q.22. What then must a Christian believe?

A. Everything God promises us in the gospel.  That gospel is summarized for us in the articles of our Christian faith – a creed beyond doubt, and confessed throughout the world.

Monday

Last week we explored what faith is.  Now we ask, what must we believe?  Last week we found that faith involves what God has revealed in his Word. This week we find that Everything God promises in his Word is included in our faith.  Why must we believe all that Jesus brought and taught?  Read John 5:39-40.  The answer is contained in these few words: All Scripture points to Jesus and he is the giver of life.  If we don’t believe the words of Scripture, then we are cutting off an important part of its testimony to Jesus Christ.

Baptized for the Dead? 1 Corinthians 15:29

A friend of mine from Colorado wrote this.  I would love to hear your comments and thoughts on it.  You can find more of his work at www.livinggodministries.net

When we begin to mature in our faith in Christ Jesus, our life becomes an adventure of discovery. One way we begin to discover what we now have, is by reading the Bible. When reading the Bible we often discover what our God has said and done in the past. When reading through the letters of the Apostle Paul, we occasionally discover passages that are difficult to understand. Peter recognized this challenge in his second letter, chapter 3:15,16. One of these difficult passages is found in Paul's first letter to the Corinthians, 15:29, where he wrote, "Otherwise, what will those do who are baptized for the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, why then are they baptized for them?" What is difficult, is that we recognize that a person cannot be baptized on behalf of someone else. Baptism is a personal and individual decision by those who undergo conversion. However, it appears that Paul is suggesting that we can undergo this sacrament of conversion on behalf of someone else who is already dead. How can this be without contradicting the rest of the Scriptures that specifically address personal responsibility with regards to salvation? Understanding this verse requires an understanding of the pharisaical doctrines of baptism and indwelling life. With an understanding of these doctrines, it will be easy to both understand and appreciate this statement to the church in Corinth.

Great Skit

here is a great skit on being formed into Christ, on Godly discipline, on self-worth...

Enjoy the 9 minutes here

Where's Jesus? Joseph's brothers return to Egypt (Genesis 43)

After returning to Canaan with food, Jacob and his sons enjoy their bounty until it begins to run out.  Then they are sent again to Egypt to ask for more food, they go with their youngest brother, as requested and the chapter ends with these words, "So they feasted and drank freely with him."

There are three themes which arise from today's reading.  First, the setting of the pericope:  Famine versus liberality and feasting.  Outside of the one whom the Spirit rests upon, there is no bounty in the land.  In this case, there is no bounty outside of Joseph's sphere of control; in the New Testament, there is no bountiful life outside of Christ.  Only in him can we feast and celebrate and invite our families to dine in extravagance without want.

The second theme relates to Judah's promise to care for Benjamin on the trip and to bear the consequence of failing to secure his safe return.

The Law Leads to Christ (Galatians 3:19-25)

What is Law?  Many believe that laws exist to protect us?  The law against murdering protects someone, generally speaking, from being murdered.  The same is true of theft, libel, slander, violence and such.  But that truly isn’t the purpose of laws.  Laws exist in order to punish those who transgress, or break them.  Frederick Bastiat, a French political philosopher in the 1850’s wrote, “When law and force keep a person within the bounds of justice, they impose nothing but a mere negation. They oblige him only to abstain from harming others.”  This is the purpose of law:  Keep us from harming others.  But that is a far cry from the purpose of the Christian: To Love God and to love your neighbor.  Failing to harm someone doesn’t mean that I love him or her. 

Heidelberg Catechism Devotional Q21

Q.21. What is true faith?

A. True faith is not only a knowledge and conviction that everything God reveals in his Word is true; it is also a deep-rooted assurance, created in me by the Holy Spirit through the gospel that, out of sheer grace earned for us by Christ, not only others, but I too, have had my sins forgiven, have been made forever right with God, and have been granted salvation.

Monday

This is one of my favorite questions in the catechism.  There are many ideas about faith in our world.  What is it? What is it not?  In this question we see that faith involves the mind but it also involves the heart.  God gives faith; but it is also something we experience.  Faith isn’t just otherworldly; it is real.  It is like a gold miner staking a claim to mark out his interests and intentions.  The claim is truly his and he will mine it.  Such is true faith – truly ours and we are assured of God’s love for us because of it.  Read Hebrews 11:1.

How quickly our focus can shift (personal reflections on 1 Samuel 12)

For the past few months I have been involved in a mock futures trading simulation.  It started out as a way to get the mind on something other than theology.  It was wonderful. I was reading books on economics and markets, learning new things, etc.  About 3 weeks ago, I moved from the 20 minute delayed simulator I was using to a real time simulator through a futures broker. My intent was to take what I had learned and see if in real time I could make money.  The first week was wonderful, with my $50,000 in virtual money supplied by the firm, I gained $5000.  10% for 1 week's worth of working 30 minutes a day.  Not bad wages.

Christian Parenting - Simplicity

Today will be my last post in this category, Christian Parenting, for a little while.  So I thought that Simplicity would be a great discipline to end with.  What is simplicity?  It is different for everybody but is grounded in contentment and joy.  Contentment with one's situation and Joy in one's circumstances, without both of these realities, one will never be able to embrace simplicity.  

The proverbs express wonderfully the concept of simplicity.  Let me quote, 

Prov. 30:7 “Two things I ask of you, O Lord; do not refuse me before I die: 

Prov. 30:8 Keep falsehood and lies far from me; give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread. 

Prov. 30:9 Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you and say, ‘Who is the Lord?’ Or I may become poor and steal, and so dishonor the name of my God. 

Simplicity accepts what God has given  as being sufficient for our present situation.  It seeks to let go of things but not to be impoverished.  Simplicity and poverty are not the same thing, for 

Poverty is not chosen but is imposed, while simplicity is chosen;

Poverty is the result of greed, simplicity is the antidote to greed;

Poverty enslaves, simplicity liberates.

The simple person aims to be free  from attachment to things, in order to attach to God.  However it can be abused by failing to enjoy the good things God has given, or by forcing it on others.

How can we teach our children to live simply?  By living simply ourselves but more than that by discussing with them the result of letting things control our lives, desires control our wallets and stuff control our choices.  Practically we can help children to learn to give things away when new things enter their life, etc..

Ever Wanted to Cut up your Bible?

If you have ever wanted to cut up your Bible, this just might be a site for you to visit.  Tony explores what happens when you cut up a Bible and rebind it with extra pages for notes.  Kind of like a modern day Mishnah.  I find the idea very intriguing...

Does Science undercut Belief in God?

Last night I went to a lecture by Dr. Collins of Messiah College.  The lecture was entitled "The Fine Tuning Design Argument"and it was hosted by the WWU Philosophy Dept.  Having done a bit of reading on Intelligent Design, I am somewhat familiar with contours of the argument but I always seem to forget the specifics when it comes to discussions with those who are opposed to I.D.

Where's Jesus? Joseph Brothers go to Egypt (Genesis 42)

In our story this week, Joseph is ruling Egypt under Pharaoh and the famine promised 7 years earlier has arrived. All of the Mediterranean basin is struggling under these conditions.  Even Jacob in Canaan, the one blessed by God, and his family are not immune to the conditions.  So what happens, Jacob sends his sons to Egypt in order to find sustenance.  At that time, the truth is only one man in the area has the ability to save life or condemn it and Joseph is that man.

The brothers approach him and because Joseph knows their sin he sets up a condition for helping them.  They must prove they are who they say they are:

We are all the sons of one man.  Your servants are honest men, not spies.  (Genesis 42:11) 

Then they are sent away, fretting under the conditions imposed upon them,

Completed Brand's The First American

I finished HW Brands The First American on the life of Benjamin Franklin.  What a wonderful book on a singularly amazing persona of the American Independence Movement. Brands gives a wonderful sketch of Franklin's life from childhood through his death, taken year by year.  Full of stories, wit, autobiographical input as well as other first person accounts of interactions, the book gives compelling case not only for Franklin as the most important American that lived, but also for the inevitability of the Revolutionary War.  I hope you will peruse it at your leisure.  I learned much about the man and the times which I don't recall ever having been taught in school.

Benajamin Franklin on Life

"Life is a kind of chess in which we have often points to gain, and competitors and adversaries to contend with, and in which there is a vast variety of good and evil events that are, in some degree, the effects of prudence or the want of it."
                                           from The Morals of Chess, by Benjamin Franklin

Excited over the little things

Today is Easter Sunday.  this morning my new girls came into our room after getting dressed. They were excited about their new dress.  They showed everything - the sweater, the shoes, the bow, it was all so exciting and they wanted us to see it all and to tell them that it was beautiful.  Which we did.

This little interaction got me thinking?  Why do we as people lose our excitement over the little things in life?  Why do we as Christians, lose our excitement over Christ and his gifts?  What would it be like if every believer had the kind of excitement for God and his gifts that my girls exhibited this morning?  These are just thoughts mulling through my mind.  I hope to post more of my thoughts on these later, but would love to hear your thoughts as well.

Belief or unbelief: That is the question - (Galatians 3:6-18)

William Herschel was a young boy who grew up in Hanover Germany in the mid 1700’s.  He loved music and followed his father into the military as a member of the band.  Unprepared for war, he deserted when the 7-years war began in 1756 as France invaded Germany.  He didn’t like battle and wasn’t up for it.  He fled to England, and hid for a while.  Did I mention, the penalty for desertion is death.  But eventually he became a famous astronomer, finding Uranus.  But something happened to William Herschel, George, the head of the house of Hanover, was crowned the King of England.  King George III summoned William to the royal court.  Here was one man in all of England, who knew about Herschel’s past and his desertion.  For William had deserted from his regiment of the Hanoverian guard.  As he was handed a letter, written in the King’s own hand, he read these words, “I, George, pardon you for your past offenses against our native land.”

Such is the story of Galatians.

Heidelberg Catechism Devotional

Due to Easter this week and Good Friday service, there will be no catechism devotional this week.  Look for one next week.  Sorry for any inconvenience.

Book Recommendation

The fruit which a person bears, whether good or bad, is of three main kinds. Jesus said that the words of a man are the fruit of what that person is. (Matthew 12:33-35). Jesus also taught that deeds are fruit. (Matthew 7:15-23). ...But fruit is more than words or deeds; it includes the qualities of character from which those words and deeds issue, 'for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true' (Eph. 5:9). Outstanding among the truly good qualities' of Christian character are the nine fruits of the Spirit. The include all three, words, deeds and virtues. For love, joy, peace and all the fruits of the Spirit are revealed in what we say, in what we do and in what we are. [page 16]

I just started reading Fruit of the Spirit by Stephen Winward. The preface and opening chapter are so wonderful that I am going to jump out on a limb and recommend it to you before even finishing it. The book is out of print, but there are a number of used bookstores on line with copies at very reasonable prices. Winward is a Baptist pastor from England who wrote this in the 1981. He takes a very Christocentric approach to the fruit stating that they are a character sketch of Jesus and that we need to understand Christ before we can understand the fruit he wishes to produce in us.

Wonderfuly written and extremely full of devotional thoughts, I highly recommend it.  In the opening chapter, Winward goes on to discuss how we can cooperate with the Holy Spirit so all the fruit is born in our life. He recommends 4 ways:

1. Attention - paying attention to God and directing our eyes upon Christ at all times, or returning our gaze to him when we wander.
2. Devotion - praying, reading the word and worshipping
3. Restraint - refusing and denying those impulses and desires which are not in accordance with God's word
4. Practice - doing those things which are in accordance with his word

From here he states,

For since the love of God in Christ includes all the virtues, in responding to that love he recieves all the virtues. If, let's say, I am deficient in joy then I shall not become joyful by concentrating on becoming joyful. For joy is the fruit of a relatinship from which all the other virtues likewise spring. If I lack patience I shall be sadly misguided if I focus my attention on becoming patient: it should be focused on the one source of all the graces, patience included...It is in the context of a continuing and ever-deepening response to the love of God in Christ that all the virtues develop, indirectly, naturally, spontaneously. Within those who abide in Chrsit the Spirit produces the fruit, the love which includes all the virtues. [page 27]

I hope you have found these few thoughts stimulating and that you find the book wonderfully beneficial to your walk.  I will make occasional posts as I read the other chapters and share some of his insights and mine.

William Temple on Worship

"All forms of Christian worship, all forms of Christian discipline, have this [Abide in Christ] as their object. Whatever leads to this is good; whatever hinders this is bad; whatever does not bear on this is futile."

William Temple, Readings in St. Johns Gospel, pg. 253

What is my hope? New song lyrics

A friend of mine shared these song lyrics with me yesterday.  I loved them and wanted to share them with you too:

What is my Hope?  Lyrics by Elliott Villareal (C)2010 Bellingham, WA

What is my hope? 

What is my dream?

What gets me up in the morning?

What helps me to fall asleep?

I hope when I die, I wake up and cry

because I see my Lord Jesus justify me

I hope that when I die I see Jesus justify me

because his father has adopted me

I hope that Holy Spirit sanctifies me

I hope that when I die I see Jesus justify me.

--
I love the lyrics, my only suggestion to him was that the very last line be changed to:

I know that when I die I will see Jesus justify me.

Here is a sample of the music he had vocally put it to. This is my voice.

Christian Parenting - Love casts out all fear

During the past two weeks, my newly adopted daughters have adapted marvelously, but more than that, I can see that I am changing.  For those who know me, this may come as no surprise: I can be a very difficult personality to get along with and I can fail to show love all the time.  But the word says, 

Hatred stirs up dissension, but love covers over all wrongs. (Proverbs 10:12)

Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, (1 Corinthians 13:4)

Above all, keep fervent in your love for one another, because love covers a multitude of sins. (1 Peter 4:8)

There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love. (1 John 4:18)

These passages always sound nice, but then real life makes them so difficult to live out.  Yet they are true.