Wilderness Wanderings

Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves. Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden. But the Lord God called to the man, "Where are you?" (Genesis 3:7-9)

Christmas was not the first time God came to his people.

They say that your character is whatever spills out when you hit a bump in the road. Or, to say it differently: you really find out what kind of person someone is when a bad thing happens to them. Do they get angry and shout? Do they swear? Do they blame other people? Do they pray? Do they forgive? Do they seek to make things better?

God's character spilled out already in Genesis 3. So did Adam and Eve's. We get a picture here of what kind of people all of us people are, and what kind of God our God is.

When sin first enters the world, Adam and Eve hide from God. A bad thing had happened to them: not only had they disobeyed God, but they realized that God could see them and find out what had happened. They were naked, vulnerable, visible. So they hid! They didn't want God to know what they had done or who they were.

But when God faced this same bad thing of Adam and Eve disobeying, he didn't get angry and shout and he didn't leave Adam and Eve either. Instead, God looked for them. He went out to call for them and to find them. God went to be with them.

A bad thing had happened between Adam & Eve and God: disobedience. Sin. A sin we continue to struggle with and that continues to make us want to hide. But God is not the kind of God to remain separate from his people. He calls to us and searches for us until he finds us. Jesus, as the good shepherd, continues to do the same. He searches for his lost sheep until he finds them so he can be with them rejoicing.

On my ornament for today, I'm drawing a picture of the Garden of Eden and writing the words "where are you?" to remind me that God is always searching for me, always seeking to restore whatever has been broken between us. What will you draw or write on your ornament? Remember, you can find the PDF of blank ornaments on our website, here.

As for a way to be the hands and feet of Jesus today, here's what I'd invite you to do: Is there a family member that you haven't talked to in a long time? An aunt, uncle, grandparent, cousin? A brother? A sister? A parent? A child? Today's the day. Pick up the phone. Send a message. Reach out.

All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: "The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel" [which means "God with us"] (Matthew 1:22-23).

Did you notice the new music? It's Advent! We thought it was time to change up Wilderness Wanderings. Advent seemed like as good a time as any. So, a couple of things that we are changing.

One, the music.

Two, you will be invited to make a simple paper ornament to hang up somewhere in your residence. We are including links to these ornaments in the notes. All you need to do is print, decorate and hang them up. You can find them on our church website under Advent Resources. (If you don't have a printer, you can probably make your own or get some from the church). Ornaments

Third, we will invite you to do something practical each day. Let me explain that.

Our Advent Theme comes from our text for today: All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: "The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel" [which means "God with us"].

To borrow a jazz expression, we are going to offer you 20 riffs on the theme 'Immanuel', the name of our congregation. This year seems like a great year to dig into that name which means, "God with us".

Some background to Matthew's text might be helpful. He refers to a passage found in Isaiah 7. Ahaz, king of Judah, was being attacked by two other kings. He was frightened. Isaiah shows up and tells Ahaz to trust God. To bolster his trust, the king needs to ask God for a sign. But Ahaz won't; he won't test God; truth be told, Ahaz doesn't have much trust in God at all. He doesn't want to ask for a sign, because he doesn't want to trust God.

Isaiah says that God will give Ahaz a sign none the less: a virgin (the Hebrew just says 'young woman') will give birth to a son and name him Immanuel. God wants Ahaz to know that he is with his people even when they cannot see it, even when they don't believe it. He is with them because that is who he is.

Matthew recognized that Isaiah's prophecy to Ahaz was being fulfilled again in Jesus. Jesus is Immanuel. This theme is woven throughout Matthew's gospel which ends with Jesus promise, "I am with you to the end of the age."

As Christians, we live by that promise. We live our Christian lives in the faith that this is true.

But here is the thing. As with forgiveness, we don't experience this much unless we also live it. As Jesus said in a parable, when we help the hungry or the thirsty or the sick or the prisoners, we discover Jesus. When we act as the hands and feet of Jesus, we discover that He is with us.

So, this Advent, we suggest that when you prepare your ornaments, you include on them how you can be the hands and feet of Jesus. Then of course, we need to go and do it.

Here is a suggestion for today: Ahaz was frightened. Isaiah was God's messenger to him, 'Don't be afraid, God is with you.' Let's find someone who afraid and remind them that God is with them

We are hoping that this will become a congregational experience. Which means you are allowed to talk to others about what you are experiencing. You could also write into us and can share your stories (anonymously if you prefer).

Remember, Jesus is Immanuel, God with us.

A special, extended Sunday Sermon edition of Wilderness Wanderings! The text is Matthew 25:14-30 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. Or, head to our website to connect with the worshiping community of Immanuel CRC: immanuelministries.ca

DIVE IN! Questions for further discussion and reflection...

1. What three things are we going to focus on this Advent?

A.

B.

C.

2. What two gifts does Romans 8:1-11 say we have already received?

3. What gift does it say is still coming?

4. How do we live in the present?

But to the wicked person, God says: "What right have you to recite my laws or take my covenant on your lips? You hate my instruction and cast my words behind you. When you see a thief, you join with him; you throw in your lot with adulterers. You use your mouth for evil and harness your tongue to deceit. You sit and testify against your brother and slander your own mother's son. When you did these things and I kept silent, you thought I was exactly like you. But I now arraign you and set my accusations before you. (Psalm 50:16-21)

I mentioned on Wednesday in another devotion on Psalm 50 that this psalm always arrests me. This section of the text is the reason why. God says: "When you did these things and I kept silent, you thought I was exactly like you." Turns out though, God isn't exactly like us humans, he's God.

God does not often enact judgement in the here and now. Much more often than God's judgement in fact, we are confronted with God's silence. And actually, that can be a much harder thing to deal with.

God's silence makes us wonder if some painful events in our lives are his judgment or just the rough and tumble realities of a broken world where evil lurks.

God's silence makes us wonder if he's really there at all. Confronted with this silent absence of God, some of us begin to collude with other Christians in sliding the scale of what's acceptable in our drinking or language or sexual activities, assuming that it's just white lies and harmless fun. There doesn't seem to be any consequences, and whose it hurting anyway? We're still good people, we try, and God knows it, and so he's probably fine with it. As iron dulls iron, we begin to collectively lower God to our level, assuming from his silence that he is exactly like us.

But perhaps more deeply, God's silence makes us wonder if he really cares or is invested in our lives after all. I think some of us begin to bend the rules for those reasons too. Maybe if we make enough noise, break enough rules, inflict enough harm we'll finally get his attention. If we're bad enough, maybe he'll turn his face toward us and finally say something.

More broadly, God's silence makes us wonder if he really cares about this world at all. Because, as Pastor Michael alluded to yesterday, it sure does seem sometimes like evil has the upper hand. We've seen adultery that rips a family apart. We've seen lies and deceit undermine a reputation or the truth itself. We see cruel and untamed language do real harm to people's lives and well-being online. Far from seeing justice done, it seems only to get worse.

God's silence leaves us with a lot of doubt about who he is and where he is. Is He really a good Father? Is he really a God of justice? Maybe he's just like us after all and is content to live with the status quo as if sins like deceit, adultery, violence, and more just aren't all that serious. Maybe all these high-flying promises about a world remade and set right in just judgement are nothing more than a fairy tale story.

This Sunday is the first Sunday of Advent—the season which kicks off a new Christian year in anticipation of Christ's first coming as a little baby in Bethlehem. The Sunday before it is known as Christ the King Sunday. It prepares us for our other Advent anticipation: our anticipation of the second coming of Christ as King to Judge and to Rule.

As a Christian community we take up these acts of remembering and anticipating so that we do not give up and lose hope that the God in whom we trust will indeed be good to his word. He sent his son as he promised. And that son, ascended as King and seated at the right hand of God, the Father Almighty, will come from there to judge the living and the dead.

You may not expect this, but I hope through this devotion that you see it: It is this promise of God's sure judgement in Christ that reminds us and confirms to us God's love. It is a confirmation that God is indeed paying attention—that he sees what is done and will set it right. It is a sign that he is invested enough in our lives to intervene and sanctify us to the best of his intentions for us. We expect that kind of thing from a parent, especially a heavenly one. And in Advent, we anticipate together the day when he will see it done.

"It is good to praise the Lord, and to make music to your name, O Most High…The righteous will flourish like a palm tree…" (Psalm 92:1,12).

Have you ever wondered when and where the Psalms were written? Each one had its own beginning; a setting in which it was composed. We don't know the beginning or setting of Psalm 92; nor its first pray-er; nor what circumstances caused it to be sung.

We do know how it was used by the people of Israel as they worshipped together. The Jewish rabbis encouraged their people to use this psalm as a song of thanksgiving and as a Sabbath psalm.

Why would the rabbis connect this psalm to thanksgiving and Sabbath? It does not seem fit at first glance. But consider the following things.

First, in the Exodus 20 version of the 10 Commandments we discover a link between Sabbath and creation. We are told to rest because God rested from creation. We are also told that it is 'a Sabbath to the Lord.' Our attention is to be Godward: to remember and believe that God is the creator.

Now, when the Bible depicts God as creator, it is more than just the initial act of creation. God's creative activity includes his continued care over His creation. Both the Heidelberg Catechism and Our World Belongs to God draw out this connection.

Psalm 92 is a call to praise God, thanksgiving is part of praise, because of His continued care over his creation; especially over His people. This care leads to victory over His enemies and to flourishing for His people. More on this in a moment.

Second, Sabbath, as I have said, is time to remember who is God. As Christians, we believe that the Triune God of the Bible, is, well, is God. But it is not always easy to remember or believe this. It is rarely easy to believe that He is effectively caring for his creation. There is still much chaos and evil in the world. That is why God commands us to rest: to remember that He is God and He will be God forever.

Third, this psalmist caught a glimpse of what is to come. At times in this life we may see the enemies of God scattered and powerless. At times, we may see God's people flourishing. But those are only glimpses. Just as often we see the opposite, the righteous floundering and the unrighteous flourishing. Not until Jesus' work of redemption is complete; not until He returns in glory will we see this fully.

Until that time, we are to keep Sabbath. Sabbath is time to look forward, to anticipate, and to pray for that day. Let us give thanks for Sabbath. Next week is Advent. This year, at Immanuel, we are going to consider some of the results of Jesus birth. But also, some things that we are still waiting for, some of the flourishing of God's people that still awaits us.

Before I finish today, a question: when is the last time you took time for Sabbath Keeping as described here? Our Christian faith doesn't just happen. It takes some effort on our part. Part of that effort is to be quiet, to rest. To consider what is true. When is the last time you made adjustments to your living because you gave God time to correct your way of life?

The Mighty One, God, the LORD, speaks and summons the earth from the rising of the sun to where it sets. From Zion, perfect in beauty, God shines forth. Our God comes and will not be silent; a fire devours before him, and around him a tempest rages. He summons the heavens above, and the earth, that he may judge his people: "Gather to me this consecrated people, who made a covenant with me by sacrifice." And the heavens proclaim his righteousness, for he is a God of justice. (Psalm 50:1-6)

Psalm 50 tends to get under my skin and arrest me every time I read it. It gives me pause, and makes me uncomfortable. In that sense, it is an apocalyptic psalm. That word "apocalypse," literally meaning "revelation." This is a Psalm that reveals the way things truly are, and in doing so, it leaves me unsettled. But before I go further, a bit of context.

Over the past few Sundays, you may have noticed that Pastor Michael and I glossed over a pretty major piece of our Matthew 25 parables. That piece being God's judgement. Not because it isn't important, it just wasn't the focus of either sermon—the Kingdom of God in the here and now was.

But that doesn't mean we can avoid the topic of judgement altogether. Indeed, across the gospel of Matthew, out of some 148 unique stories, no fewer than 60 talk about or refer to the final judgement (I haven't personally counted, but that was the tally of one of my Matthew commentators).

We don't like talking about judgement though. And I don't mean just Pastor Michael and I. None of us enjoy the topic really. We've seen the language of God's judgement used in really demeaning and weaponized ways to scare, harm, and ostracize people. And that has turned us off. We're also just really not in favour of judging people these days—unless we don't know them and we're on social media.

And yet, we simply cannot avoid the fact that our Bible and our God talk about judgement. So how do we talk about judgement well?

How do we allow the promise of God's judgment to remind us appropriately that we are not a law unto ourselves nor ourselves the judge without becoming disillusioned about the nature of our God who in Christ, will pass judgement that for some leads to a weeping and gnashing of teeth?

There are no simple answers, but perhaps the beginning of an answer is simply to behold our God. To remember that He is God and we are not.

That seems obvious, but when we judge God for his promise to bring judgement upon humanity, are we not, in fact, setting ourselves over him as those who know better?

Perhaps we need to hear again the more ancient witnesses to the justice of God.

In this passage, God is summoning his legal assembly with its witnesses in preparation for judgement. Who are the witnesses that he calls? Well first he summons the earth. As he does, we see God approaching with tempest and fire roaring before Him. The Earth, offering its deference to the coming judge. Then God summons the heavens to his court. And with the Heavens and the Earth assembled as witnesses, God lastly summons his covenant people for judgement.

It is the earth and heaven that God created first—more enduring elements of his creation. It was earth and heaven that God summoned as witnesses when he made his covenant with Israel in the desert in Deuteronomy 4 and 30. It was the heavens and earth who bore witness in the opening verses of Isaiah as God brought his charges of unfaithfulness against his covenant people before their exile to Babylon.

It was the earth that shook and the heavens which grew dark when God Himself took the place of his guilty people in death on the cross. This judgement for us who follow Christ is the decisive one.

The heavens and the earth, these ancient bodies have born faithful, unflinching witness to God's judgement and justice from first to last. And here "the heavens proclaim his righteousness for he is a God of justice."

Will we recognize the witness of the heavens and the earth that God is God and we are not? That he is just and able to judge and we are not? Our Christian humility in approaching the topic of judgement begins with just that submission of ourselves to the Triune God who alone is worthy to judge.

"Praise the Lord, all you nations; extol him, all you peoples. For great is his love toward us, and the faithfulness of the Lord endures forever. Praise the Lord" (Psalm 117)

I have a memory of Psalm 117 being our weekly memory work. This was grade one. We were so excited. So short. Then one day the preacher read it as the scripture reading. The sermon was very long for so short a psalm.

This psalm reminds us that God does not require long prayers. The issue is not the length or the words, but the intention of our hearts. For this reason, Jesus warned us about elaborate praying, thinking that we are heard for our many words (Matt. 6:7). Brief praise is enough when it expresses where we are with the Lord.

In ancient, Israel this psalm was recited towards the end of the Passover celebration. It was part of the thanksgiving; recited with a goblet of wine in the hand. When we recite, 'Praise the Lord,' we declare our intention to do so. But it is also an invitation for others to join us, in this case, all the nations.

The second verse begins with the preposition 'for'. We praise the Lord 'because'. Of course, the question is 'because why'. And the psalmist answers for us: because of the Lord's love and faithfulness towards us. These are two of God's self-descriptive words to Moses in Exod. 34:6. That's an interesting story. God is quite angry with his people for their idolatry with the golden calf. He has decided not to go with them to the promised land. But Moses challenges God on that. In response to Moses, God declares that he is abounding in love and faithfulness. He continues to lead his people.

There is a story in this psalm. The story is not given. But there is a story. The psalm offers us opportunity to fill in the story. What is our story? If we were asked to tell of God's faithfulness and love towards us, what stories would we tell?

When we think about evangelism, we often think about having to explain things about God or about the Bible or the church. That is sometimes the case. But Jesus tells us to be his witnesses: to tell stories about Him and about us. This is first.

The unique feature of this prayer is that it is focussed on the Gentiles. They too are upon God's heart. They too are to know Him. He is the Creator of all, and He will become the Redeemer of all.

The fulfilment of this promise now stands in the Great Commission. Jesus commands the apostles to make disciples out of all the nations (Matt. 28:18-20). Obedience to this command is essential for the church's life. So maybe we ought to pray this psalm more often.

God wants those from every tongue and tribe and nation before His throne. Our refusal to send missionaries or go ourselves is simply a sign of our disobedience. Only as we evangelize the world can we pray this psalm with integrity. This is a short prayer for a missionary heart.

Today's Wilderness Wandering Devotional is a follow-up to Sunday's Sermon, answering a question about it. It only comes in podcast form today though--no written version (written devotions will begin faithfully again tomorrow and for all the days to follow though!)

So: if you've never clicked the icon above to "listen in" - Today's the day to try it out! Click the icon above, then click the play button when you arrive at the Wilderness Wanderings website.

If you don't have a device that allows you to listen to the podcast version, give Pastor Anthony a call and he'll be happy to fill you in!

Remember, you can also listen in again to Sunday's Sermon on the same, Wilderness Wanderings podcast site. The Dive In question are included there with the sermon.

A special, extended Sunday Sermon edition of Wilderness Wanderings! The text is Matthew 25:14-30 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. Or, head to our website to connect with the worshiping community of Immanuel CRC: immanuelministries.ca

DIVE IN! Questions for further discussion and reflection...

1. Advent is just around the corner, the time when we focus in on our waiting for Christ's second Advent (coming), even as we celebrate his first. How do you (personally) wait for his coming?

2. What have you always thought the bags of gold, or "talents" in this parable to refer to? Any new thoughts on it after this sermon? What might that "bag of gold" refer to in your life?

3. What does faithfulness look like in this parable? What does faithfulness look like in our lives?

4. The first two servants are given rewards. What were those rewards? Are those rewards things to be desired? …do you desire them? How does this notion shape your idea of heaven?

5. What was the sin of the servant who buried the gift? Was the judgement fair? What do you learn about judgement from this parable?

6. This parable is one that Jesus speaks to believers—to insiders, not outsiders. In the end, one of his servants who calls him Lord is cast out. As Reformed Christians who claim to the "perseverance of the saints," what do you make of this? And: what encouragement might come from the knowledge that at the time of judgement we will be called on to give an account?

7. How will you actively and faithfully steward the talents God has entrusted to you this week?

To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul in you I trust, O my God (Psalm 25:1-2a)

As I have said before, the psalms of the Old Testament are the church's prayer book. At least, they should be. I don't mean that we should only use these prayers but that we should allow these psalms to teach us how to pray.

They will help us learn how to pray the Lord's Prayer which begins, "Our Father who is in heaven..." I'm convinced this prayer is Jesus summary of the Psalms.

Many psalms come out of the depths of broken, harassed or desperate hearts. They seem to explode out of the psalmist and we can feel their pathos and desperation. Others, like Psalm 25, are more deliberate; they have been brooded over and carefully put together.

This psalm has 22 verses. It is an acrostic which means that each verse begins with a successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet. This prayer is not offered "off the cuff' but through meditation comes into its present form. We often think that praying needs to be spontaneous. That is an illusion. David teaches us that a prayer which is thought out and stylistic is as spiritual and effective as spontaneous expressions of the heart.

This is a prayer that comes out of a time of trouble, thus, it is not prayed with a smile and exuberant joy. In his season of anguish, David explores for himself what it means to lift up his soul to the Lord (1). When I think of 'lifting up my soul to the Lord', I think of joyful singing of God's people in worship. But David teaches me even when I am discouraged, I need and can to lift up my soul to my God.

So, what can we learn about "lifting up our hearts to the Lord" from this prayer? Well, one this is this, we notice that significant parts of the psalm reflect on the "way of the Lord." David believes that the way of the Lord is the right way to live and therefore he wants to be taught how to live it, even in a time of despair.

There are different ways to live and he doesn't necessarily know God's way, so he wants to learn. Of course, he has the law of Moses, as we have the Bible. But many situations arise when there is no clear path. We need to learn through the Scriptures, by the teaching of the Spirit and the help of the Christian community how follow God. Trusting in God and lifting up our souls up to Him means that we desire to walk in His ways.

This of course leads David, and it should lead us, to the recognition that we have not always followed God's ways. It may even be that some of David's current problems have arisen because he did not do what is right. So, what does he do? Does he try to hide this reality? No. He confesses it and asks the Lord to forgive. Forgiveness is possible because in His love, the Lord always forgives.

Trusting in the Lord does not mean instant success. David has staked his life on doing life God's way. If he goes down in defeat, he will experience public shame. He fears that shame even though he knows that in the end God will be proven to be right.

In the long run, God will set His people secure in the land (13). Jesus makes a similar statement: "Blessed are the meek for they will inherit the earth" (Matthew 5:5). With so many other things in the Bible, we recognize this may not happen until the new heavens and the new earth.

Are we willing to hang in there with God and walk in his ways until that time?