Wilderness Wanderings

We welcome Rick Verkerk as guest to Wilderness Wanderings.

Today we will start looking that what is known as the Priestly Blessing (words often ending our worship services) and its different applications to our lives.

We start by reading From Numbers 6:22-27

The Lord said to Moses, "Tell Aaron and his sons, 'This is how you are to bless the Israelites. Say to them: "The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace." So, they will put my name on the Israelites, and I will bless them."

While wandering in the desert, to give them hope, the Lord instructed the Israelites to gather in the evening to hear the Lord's blessing. (that's right, folks — a Church service every evening!) This was a daily reminder with a threefold expression of Yahweh — The Lord — for emphasis. These three blessings represent the Godhead:

1. The Father, to "bless and keep us"
2. 2. The Son, to be "gracious to us"
3. The Holy Spirit, to "give us peace"

These communicated the Lord's desire to invest His people with His name. This is not a grammatical error, by the way. What does that mean — investing His people with His name? Having the name of the Lord rest on you, so to speak, is another way of saying, "May the Lord live among His people and meet all their needs." It is God's promise to be with us and His call for us to be a blessing wherever we go. We are to carry His name with us. We are blessed to be a blessing!

In a very simple sense, the Lord's blessing is His way of showing us that He wants nothing but the best for us. He commanded Aaron to give this blessing every evening, because He wanted it to be clear by repetition that God gives His blessing for our good. The word "bless" is not a wish or a prayer. It is a declaration of what the Lord imparts. It is binding and, once said officially, it cannot be taken back.

It is essential for us to know that God is with us all the time. You are invested with His name. There is no greater blessing. So, what is holding you back from blessing others to impact the world for Him?

Key Thought: You are invested with His name.

We welcome back Mr. Rick Verkerk as guest to Wilderness Wanderings.

This is the time of year that we celebrate the birth of Jesus, His arrival here on earth being the first step towards our redemption that occurred later in his earthly life. In addition to celebrating this, as we leave a very disruptive year behind and head into a new one, it is also a time to consider how blessed we are. So, let's examine what it means to be blessed, how we are blessed and how we bless others, using blessing to impact the world.

Let's begin by looking at Genesis 12: 1-3:

The Lord had said to Abram, "Go from your country, your people and your father's household to the land I will show you. I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you."

God has been blessing all living creatures and humans on earth since the first day of their creation. This was further affirmed when God spoke to Abram in Genesis 12:1-3, featuring seven impactful promises, four of which included blessings. These promises are reaffirmed throughout Scripture and still are in effect today and will be in the future. Just like Abram, God also affirms each of us with these promises, so He can bless us in four different ways which are:

1. God will make us into great nations and bless
2. The Lord will make our names great by using us to be a blessing to others.
3. When others bless us, they will be blessed.
4. Everyone will be blessed through us.

Now these are amazing promises! Not only for us but also what an opportunity to impact others! But to receive these blessings, we must be faithful and obedient. Abram was, and he moved to the land that God chose. He had no idea where the Lord was leading but he trusted. It is easy to see Abram's impact — he is the patriarch of the Jewish nation and all Gentiles who are his spiritual descendants. (Gal 3:8) Quite the impact! But it didn't start with Abram, it started with the Lord! It started with God's complete covering of blessings.

God's blessings are a gift for us to be able to live fully and freely no matter what comes our way. His blessings are intended to be a means of blessing as well. We are empowered to be a blessing. We have received this gift so that we can be God's blessing to others — something we need to embrace, so we can impact the world for Him. Have you ever thought about this? Blessing others will impact the world for Him.

Key Thought: You were created to be blessed, and you are blessed. You can bless others. Those who you bless will be blessed, those who bless you will also be blessed, and others will be blessed through you.

A Sunday sermon edition of Wilderness Wanderings, preached by guest Seminarian, Jennifer Heidinga! The text is Matthew 11-25-30 from the New International Version of the Bible.

DIVE IN discussion/reflection questions can be found below!

To see this sermon in the context of the worship service it comes from, find it here on YouTube. Or, head to our website to connect with the worshiping community of Immanuel CRC: immanuelministries.ca

DIVE IN QUESTIONS

1. What types of burdens did the Pharisees impose on the people?

2. What is the attitude of your heart these days? Is it closer to that of the Pharisees or the people?

3. What are some meanings for the word "yoke?" (Listen carefully! Not all meanings are what you might expect.)

4. How did a disciple learn from their teacher?

5. What was meant by "walking in the dust?"

6. In what areas do you need to "walk in the dust" next to Jesus?

Get Creative! (for kids... and kids at heart too!): What does the "rest" of Christ mean to you? (Doodle, draw a picture, craft, or write about it!)

A special, extended Sermon edition of Wilderness Wanderings! The text is Exodus 20:8-11 and Deuteronomy 5:12-15 from the New International Version of the Bible.

To see this sermon in the context of the New Year's Eve worship service it comes from, find it here on YouTube. Or, head to our website to connect with the worshiping community of Immanuel CRC: immanuelministries.ca

When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi. Then what was said through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled: "A voice is heard in Ramah, weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because they are no more." After Herod died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt and said, "Get up, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who were trying to take the child's life are dead." (Matthew 2:16-20)

The sinful violence of the Kingdom of this world, represented by Herod, spills over into the furious slaughter of innocent children. Jeremiah the prophet laments with Rachel and all the mothers of Bethlehem.

Sin, when pushed to its natural end, brings death.

Innocents are still put to death in our world today. Collateral damage of war, victims of genocide, victims of abuse even here in Canada. They are still the ones bearing the brunt of sin incarnated in our world today through the abuses of the powerful.

We may think these are issues somewhere out there in some other place in the world that doesn't impact us. After all, we may not see ourselves either as oppressor or as oppressed, as victim or as powerful.

But we don't get off the hook that easy. Through the caricature of Herod, Matthew means to make the point that this is the nature of sin that lives within all of us. This is the death that our sin brings. Sin does not only bring our own death: sin is social. It spills over into the lives of others. Our sin brings the ways of death to bear on our world and our neighbours. This is the kingdom of this world still very much at work, not just in our world, but in our own hearts.

Within us lives the kind of greed, lust, selfishness, and prideful desire to be right, have status, control, and seemingly benign privileges that would pollute the planet, tarnish relationships, perpetuate racism, and enslave people in sweatshops, human trafficking, and precarious gig work.

Remember Paul in Romans 7: "Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me."

But this is also the beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the one who would save his people from their sin. He, the true and righteous King. And His kingdom is also taking root in our hearts and in our world, bringing life.

Herod is referred to as king at the beginning of chapter 2, but not here. As the narrative progresses, the term "king" drops from Herod's name. The Magi bowing in worship before the new-born-king is the pivot. After that moment, Herod the Great is not called king again. He has been dethroned.

And so it is. The New King, King Jesus has come, and he has dethroned the powers of sin and death at work in our hearts and in our world. He has come to save us and all creation, to set us free, and to invite us more deeply into His work of lamenting and of bringing life to the places, people, and situations that most need it in this world of death. Sin is social, spilling over into the lives of others, but so is salvation. Thanks be to God.

When they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. "Get up," he said, "take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him." So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt, where he stayed until the death of Herod. And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet: "Out of Egypt I called my son."

Here goes Matthew, shattering our cute nativity scene ideas of Christmas again.

The political intrigue in this clash of kingdoms escalates the moment the Magi step out the door to return to their country by a different route. They themselves had been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod to tell him where they found the new-born king. Now Joseph also receives a dream: it's time to flee into exile. Assassins are coming.

People do not usually flee their homes or even their temporary places of shelter (as was the case for Mary & Joseph in Bethlehem) without cause, and certainly not in the middle of the night.

In our world right now, millions of people have been internally displaced, which is a benign way of saying they've been driven from their homes but not yet their country. Millions more are refugees, meaning that they've been driven from both home and country. But people do not choose this. Given the choice, people would remain at home. But when it's no longer safe, secure, or possible to raise a family due to things like famine or violence or both, people are driven to flee for something better, safer.

Jesus knows what it's like to be among them, a refugee.

I also think of Jesus' temptations by the devil. Taking Jesus to the top of the temple, Satan says "throw yourself down. For it is written: 'He will command his angels concerning you, and they will lift you up in their hands…'" Jesus replies: "It is also written: 'Do not put the Lord your God to the test.'"

It was not the Holy Family putting the Lord to any test in Matthew 2. It was not their own fault. It was Herod who was seeking to throw down God's Kingdom and King. And indeed, God did command his angels concerning his son in response. But he did not command them to miraculously create a spectacle of power by catching Jesus, Mary, and Joseph up in their hands. No. God's Kingdom would not come in the way the Devil had tempted Jesus into bringing it. It would not come by powerful, self-serving public spectacles. It would come in God's way: through quiet, humble, compassionate means.

The angel comes to Joseph not openly, but in a dream. Not to snatch away, but to warn him so that normal human Joseph might take the agency and flee. Not in the light of day where they could be seen, but in the dead of night so as to remain hidden.

God used quiet, human participation in his Kingdom plan rather than spectacular, public force. Which meant that his son would bear the stigma of being marked as a "refugee."

But even now as we serve and await the coming of our ascended Lord and King, we find that he still prefers to use quiet, human participation in his Kingdom plans. Solidarity with the weak and vulnerable, like refugees. Advocacy in seeking justice and peace where there is none.

So today, in this story of the Jesus the refugee, hear his invitation to join the quiet, humble work of the Kingdom in loving compassion for those, like Jesus, forced by no fault of their own to flee their homes and dwellings. There are a few ways to respond to that invitation today…

Hear our very own Katie's story of journeying with dear refugee friends (and see their picture), here: https://www.facebook.com/crcpublicdialogue/photos/a.1260670050612516/1260670053945849

Or, learn more about refugees, Canada's asylum system, what our church denomination is doing, and how you can participate, here: https://www2.crcna.org/PublicDialogue/issues/refugee-justice

Or, you could consider getting involved directly right now in offering to share your home with a refugee family through Open Homes Hamilton (yes, even in COVID!). Check out their work, here: https://www.iafr.ca/open-homes-hamilton.html

When he had called together all the people's chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Messiah was to be born. "In Bethlehem in Judea," they replied… Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. He sent them to Bethlehem and said, "Go and search carefully for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him." …On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route. (Matthew 2:4-5a, 7-8, 11-12).

We sentimentalise the Magi, nestling them up by the shepherds and donkeys in our nativity scenes, but ancient Israel would've been horrified to find these pagan, foreign Magi, which is really just short for Magician in the same frame as their Messiah.

In the book of Acts, being associated with Magi or Magicians (same word in the original Greek) is a uniformly bad thing—requiring repentance. But here, it is just these practitioners of horoscopes and sorcery that lean into the frame of the Christian Gospel's opening scene.

And if God invited them… well, who are we to deny anyone a chance to hear the Good News and worship the King? In Matthew 2, insiders and outsiders alike heard this good news: "The King has been born! Where? In Bethlehem, say the scriptures!"

But Herod did not come to Bethlehem when he heard this news. Nor did the religious leaders who gave this news. Only the Magi—these seekers, worshipers, and generous gift-givers. The last were becoming first, and the first, last as the Kingdom of this world and the Kingdom of our Lord began to clash and so reveal the secret allegiances and priorities of humans hearts.

The coming of Christ the King is Good News for all the world, but He is King, and so His coming is also a summons to all the world to come and bend the knee before him, submitting to him. A decision is demanded—will you bow before the King? Herod took that summons seriously and prepared for war (we'll hear more about that tomorrow). The Magi took Christ's summons seriously too—but these sorcerer-seekers, they bent the knee.

Today and every day, you and I are invited too. Invited to come and believe today that Jesus came for you: to save and transform you into His Kingdom people who find their truest freedom, identity, and purpose in submission to Him.

No one leaves Jesus the same way that they came. The Magi didn't, and we don't either. When we submit to him, we are transformed to be salt and light: followers of the great commission who go and tell and live and work out this good news in the name and presence of the King.

Even in lockdown, there are still ways to respond. Submission to Jesus in the space of prayer is certainly one. Submission of your life, livelihood, and living to him is another. Here are some ideas:

Seeking the justice and peace the Spirit is working out in and through us for the sake of the world—when was the last time your MP or MPP got a letter from you advocating for refugees, housing for those now homeless, or some other Kingdom purpose God has laid on your heart? Those letters are free to send, they're lockdown-proof, and they are a tangible way the Kingdom comes through God's Kingdom people living in democracies.

Offering back what you've received is another way: just while writing this devotion, two people have stopped by to drop off food donations for Neighbour 2 Neighbour. Neither were from our church. Do the Magi still come to surrender their gifts before the King? Perhaps they do.

The King has come, what's your response to this good news today?

We cleaned up the audio for Sunday's Sermon! Here it is. :)

The text is John 2:1-11 from the New International Version of the Bible. Dive In discussion questions are below for further reflection.

To see this sermon in the context of the worship service it comes from, find it here on YouTube (this is the new, audio-fixed version). Or, head to our website to connect with the worshiping community of Immanuel CRC: immanuelministries.ca

DIVE IN QUESTIONS

1. What three things does this sign say about God's Kingdom?

2. How does this sign relate to 2 Corinthians 5:17?

3. How does this story use the terms "my hour" and "his glory"?

4. In what two ways is Jesus superior to Moses?

5. Did you get that John is telling us about Jesus?

6. Do you believe it?

After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, "Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him." When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. (Matthew 2:1-3)

We're going to stick with the Christmas story this week in our devotions, but not the happy nativity version from Luke 2. Because the world we're sitting in right now is not the world of joyful carols, shepherds, and mangers—the world we're sitting in is the tumultuous world of Matthew's Christmas story.

These first verses of Matthew 2 follow directly from the words "she gave birth to a son. And [Joseph] gave him the name Jesus" (Matthew 1:25).

What impact did the birth of Jesus—the one who would "save his people from their sins"—have on the world? Well, it wasn't received as good news of great joy. Instead, King Herod "was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him."

Herod, for his part, was a paranoid individual anyway—always leery of someone trying to usurp his throne. Many were executed to assuage Herod's fears. He was not one to receive news of any rival passively. Indeed, he was known to be ruthless.

So when the news arrived by way of foreign dignitaries on his doorstep saying that a king had been born, Herod was disturbed. And when Herod was disturbed, everyone was disturbed, because Herod's temper was impulsive and erratic. There was no telling what he might do. Herod was a violent and abusive king whose reign brought fear.

There was one who had just been born not a prince, but already a king however—a king who would bring peace, justice, and salvation from the sins of the kingdoms of this world. A humble and defenceless king who, though he was the eternal word, could only coo and cry. And yet, this king's reign of perfect love would drive out all fear.

Two Kings. Two Kingdoms. A stark difference between them.

But as we know, the fall of Herod's kingdom before the ascendancy of the Kingdom of God would not come without much conflict and death. And not only the death of the new-born king. The cross and the struggle remain part of this world and our lives. We all groan in the sorrow and longings, awaiting a coming Easter day when our King returns to bring justice, peace, and the healing of life to the full.

Make no mistake, Jesus' Kingdom is on the ascendancy. It appeared on Christmas Day. It's coming even now. A reality to disturb any abusive power in this world, but for us who believe and count our citizenship with Christ under his crown, it is our anchor of hope.

So even while we continue to grieve and groan under lockdown with our neighbours and all creation, we pray in hope: "Come, Lord Jesus."

It's Christmas! This then is the Christmas Sermon in the series on Romans 8, "A Pregnant Creation - Working for the Good"

The text is Romans 8:31-39 from the New International Version of the Bible. There are no Dive In discussion questions!

To see this sermon in the context of the worship service it comes from, find it here on - YouTube. Or, head to our website to connect with the worshiping community of Immanuel CRC: immanuelministries.ca