June 27, 2010

Deuteronomy 32
Herr Wolhert was a great German teacher. I had him for my first semester of College German. The second semester I had Frau Wolhert. It has been 35 years since I took German. You know the old saying, “Use it or lose it.” Well, I have lost most of my German, except for one thing. Herr Wolhert taught us a folk song. To this day I can still sing the song, “Oh wie wohl ist mir am abend, mir am abend. Wenn su rue die glocken leuten, glocken leuten.” I doubt that I spelled it correctly. But I believe I still pronounce it correctly. “Oh how well I am in the evening, in the evening, When I hear the bells ringing, bells ringing.” The song is about getting off work. Even if I don’t get the words exactly right, I still have the melody imbedded in me and I remember the general meaning of the song.
Yesterday we asked, “How do we prepare someone to die?” We prepare them to live. Moses gave them a song about life. Songs are powerful tools. Moses gave us several songs. Miriam sang one in Exodus 15. This song in Deut 32 was specifically to teach the Israelites how to live. Psalm 90 also belongs to Moses. He wrote it at the end of his life. Verse 12 of Psalm 90 says, “So teach us to number our days, That we may gain a heart of wisdom.” The song in Deut 32 was given to teach the people how to live. It was given to teach us how to number our days. It was given to us to teach us to not waste our days on things that will not last.
What are the important concepts in this song that will teach us to number our days? First, God is our rock. He alone is the fount of truth and justice. He alone is our safety and refuge. We dare not go to any other for these things. Next we are to know that just as He has set boundaries for the peoples of the earth (v. 8), so He has given us a unique purpose in those boundaries. We need to find the purpose that the Lord has given us to live and learn to soar in that purpose. Next as we live in that purpose, the Lord will bless us. That blessing may be financial; it may be family; it may be spiritual; it may be emotions. We will become “fat” in that blessing. In the midst of that blessing we must always remember that it is the Lord’s blessing, not ours. We hold the blessing with a loose grip, willing to give it away whenever He asks. Otherwise, the blessing will lead us to make it a god. There is no god besides Him (v. 39). He and His glory must always remain preeminent. That is how we learn to evaluate and number our days. As we do that we will live for His glory. The song will be a powerful tool in giving our life meaning in light of His glory. We are prepared to live when we see His glory. Indeed we serve a glorious King. Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

Acts 8:26-40
Do you realize that the glory of Jesus is stamped throughout Scripture? Remember on June 1 as we looked at John 12, John identified the glory of Yahweh as the glory of Christ? Here the Holy Spirit uses Isaiah 53:7,8 to capture the heart of the Ethiopian eunuch. He knew that Someone significant was being spoken of but he just couldn't quite figure out who it was. The eunuch longed to understand of Whom the Scripture spoke. Why? Because the glory of Christ was shining through it. What did Philip speak? "Beginning from this Scripture he preached Jesus to him." As they came to water, the eunuch wanted this glorious Jesus. Apparently, Philip had mentioned baptism or the eunuch understood its significance from some Jewish teaching. But somehow this eunuch wanted the glory of Jesus and he understood it to be related to baptism--buried with Christ in baptism and risen to walk in newness of life. "What prevents me from being baptized?" he said. "You must first trust in Jesus," was Philip's reply. For someone who has seen the glory of Jesus, that's a no-brainer. The eunuch's reply was, "I believe." How about that? A Gentile from Ethiopia recognizes the glory of Jesus in the prophet Isaiah. But the hardened Jewish leaders do not. He wanted this glory to dwell in him. He received it. Whosoever will may come. That is the simple and magnificent glory of our Lord. Indeed we serve a glorious king! Speak His glory to someone today! He uses your speech to draw others to Himself.
--Pastor John