February 2

Genesis 34
Where is the glory in this chapter? Sometimes such awful things happen that we cannot help but think, “Where is the Mighty God of Israel?” He certainly does not seem to be active in this episode! Their little sister is raped. Their father is doing nothing about it. Hmm. . . They will take care of the problem. Why didn’t Jacob/Israel do anything? Maybe he was finally learning to wait upon his mighty God for a solution rather than plowing ahead with his own. However, years of Jacob sowing his own seed of applying his own solution have take root in his sons. They are every bit as deceitful as he once was. They take it a step further and add murder to their sin.

One of the things that strikes me concerning the veracity of the Scripture is that it never paints its heroes as morally perfect. It is interesting to me that the one who is called honorable in all this is Shechem. But how can we see the glory of Christ in sordid mess of rape, lying and murder? I think it is that the Lord can take this sordid mess a mold it in order to bring a Savior through the line of these rotten people. Indeed, as old men, these men seem to come to an understanding that when God blesses, He adds no sorrow. If the Lord can bring glory out of this mess, there is hope for me. Indeed we serve a glorious King. Speak His glory to someone today!

--Pastor john


Matthew 21:23-46

Over thirty years ago I visited my brother Eugene who lived in Karlsruhe, West Germany. He took me on a boat ride on the Rhine River. Thirty years has taken its toll on my memory. I don't remember the exact city. It think it was Speyer. We stopped to look at this gigantic Cathedral. For a country boy from Oklahoma where no massive buildings were built until after 1889, this 12th century cathedral was indeed impressive. We are not talking about steel and glass that is slapped together with modern technology. We're talking massive stones, shaped and put into place using hand tools. It was simply beautiful. The spire was taller than most buildings in Oklahoma. Most of the original buildings built immediately after the land run of '89 in OK are no longer in existence. They were often built of the native cottonwood trees, which are not known for their long-term durability. After 50 years they tend to sag and fall apart.

I understand that old buildings like the cathedral in Germany have a cornerstone from which the rest of the building gets its orientation. It is the main stone in the foundation. You want to pick the best quality for that stone. It is usually massive and perfectly shaped. By uniting two intersecting walls, a cornerstone helped align the whole building and tie it together. Jesus says that He is the stone the builders rejected. He became the chief cornerstone.

The wall of heaven and the wall of earth intersects. Ever since the fall of Adam, the human cathedral was falling. It collided with heaven's wall. The human wall was crooked and never fit. God gave some instructions to the Jewish nation concerning how to build. Imbedded within that instruction were prophecies concerning the Cornerstone. Indeed, Jesus is quoting Psalm 118:22,23.

Apart from Jesus our lives are badly splintered. They sag. Our walls are crooked and lack orientation. We have difficulty connecting and aligning with others. But when we submit to Him, He takes our feeble cottonwood structure and turns us into living stones and begins fitting us into His building. Properly yielded to Him, we come into alignment, and we become part of something greater and more beautiful than we could ever imagine. Those who do not yield are ground to powder by His massive weight. We are becoming a beautiful living building for His habitation. We won't stand for just a few hundred years, but rather, for eternity.

Not yielding to Jesus is like wanting to build a cathedral out of cottonwood. When I look at the strife going on in the world and yes even in the church, I would despair except for this, "He is the Chief Cornerstone and builder. He will accomplish a great work, and you and I are privileged to be part of the materials that He is using. When finished, we will be more beautiful than anyone can ever imagine! It will all be to His glory! Indeed we serve a glorious serving King! Speak His glory to someone today!

--Pastor john