Lessons September 22, 2013

Today I will deal with both assigned OT Texts.

During the Battle of Britain in WW#2 the people of London crawled out of the Subway Stations which were their bomb shelters each morning and looked for reassurance to see if St Paul's Cathedral was still standing for its continued survival took on mythic proportions of stability amid the devastation that was the rest of the city. So to in Jeremiah's day the people of Israel looked to the Temple in Jerusalem as symbolic of their deliverance, their standing in the world. But Jeremiah warns them in Chapter 7:

Jer 7:12 Go now to my place that was in Shiloh, where I made my name dwell at first, and see what I did to it because of the evil of my people Israel.

Jer 7:13 And now, because you have done all these things, declares the LORD, and when I spoke to you persistently you did not listen, and when I called you, you did not answer,

Jer 7:14 therefore I will do to the house that is called by my name, and in which you trust, and to the place that I gave to you and to your fathers, as I did to Shiloh.

Shiloh was the Holy Site to which Joshua first brought the Arc of the Covenant and the place where Eli presided, the Arc's resting place until the time that Solomon built the temple at Jerusalem. Today as in the time of Jeremiah it is a ruin. Jeremiah prophesies that if the people of Israel continue to behave in the manner also described in today's passage in Amos that the same fate that met the Temple at Shiloh would befall that in Jerusalem. For it is not the Temple we worship but the God whose Holy Place it represents. If we forget that and fail to honor him in our actions and deeds we make of it an Idol and the worship we perform there an act of going through the motions. In so doing we make of our worship a sham as displeasing to our God as the idol worship of the people among whom we live. Those idols include worldly wealth and power, public acclaim, luxury and comfort.

Names are a thing of power. They invoke the person or thing named.

Exo 20:7 "You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain.

In fact Jews did not speak the name of their God for fear of breaking that commandment. God's name is to be praised for all the works of his hand that he has accomplished. How do we Praise the Lord? By being the means by which his works are realized here on earth.

1Ti 2:1 First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people,

1Ti 2:2 for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way.

1Ti 2:3 This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior,

1Ti 2:4 who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.

1Ti 2:5 For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,

1Ti 2:6 who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time.

First the writer defines prayer in a general sense as supplication, intercession and thanksgiving. We prayer for our leaders that they may lead us in a manner that brings peace to our lives. In a world where a large proportion of the people were in bondage to slavery the concept of ransom had great resonance.

What to make of Luke 16? First of all we must remember that this is a parable and the meaning of most parables is not derived from a literal interpretation. The dishonest steward was complimented for his fore-thought in preparing for the day when he would be called to account for his management of the master's possessions.

So how do we prepare for the day when we will face judgement, when we will be called to account before our God? By honouring God's name and advancing his Kingdom on earth, by constant prayer and thanksgiving, by actions and deeds that serve to honour the God who is the author of our salvation.