7/20/2023

TODAY’S SCRIPTURE READING:

“I, Jesus, have sent my angel to give you this testimony for the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David; the bright Morning Star.” The Spirit and the bride say, ‘Come!’ Let the one who hears say, ‘Come!’ Let the one who is thirsty come. Let the one who wishes take the free gift of the water of life.”

(Revelation 22.16-17)

TODAY’S REFLECTION ON GOD’S WORD:

Throughout these reflections on the “Revelation given to John” I have been diligent to focus your eye on the concept and dynamic of true worship and authentic faith. From beginning to end within this Revelation, we are presented with the struggle of good versus evil. Let us not lose sight of the fact that the struggle is not in the heavenly realm but in the realm of humankind. God does not “struggle” with evil as if it is something that tempts Him to be more or less than He is. We all have our personal struggles which impact various aspects of our lives. Jesus does not have such struggles. Even His wrestling with the sacrifice that is to be made in and of His life while praying in the Garden of Gethsemane was not a true struggle. Jesus recognized before that moment the inevitability of what was His chosen course for living in this world. John 3.16 captures the “lack of struggle in making this decision” on the part of God, regardless of how hard it may have been (as we would think of it). The very words which John records “after hours” instruction of Nicodemus concerning salvation saying “For God so loved the world that He gave [surrendered] His one and only [begotten] Son, [so] that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world [the people on earth] might be saved through Him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned. Whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light which was known by their deeds which were evil.” (John 3.16-19)

In this we see that God who loves His creation and seeks a redemptive reconciliation is compelled in authentic love to bring about that which He most earnestly desires. What is that desire, pray tell? Could it be nothing less than to sabbath with His children for all eternity? What is it that happens on the Sabbath? We know what happens and what does not happen. What does not happen is that there is no labor to sustain life on earth performed by God or humanity. Sabbath revels in a trust that all things will be provided simply by “trusting in the Lord, seeking first His Kingdom and His righteousness.” (Matthew 6.33) The declaration of God following the creation, empowerment and commissioning of humankind as the image of God being man and woman; husband and wife; co-workers and colleagues in the ministry of stewardship, fellowship and worship should be apparent and clear: “It is good and very good.” Such declaration sets this day (day six) apart from all others and sets up that Day (day seven) as distinctly different from all others. That “distinctively different” is the unity of the Spirit in worship as God and humanity pause to be “as one.” This oneness is found in Christ alone as He said, “Don’t you believe that I AM in the Father, and that the Father is in Me? The words I say to you I do not speak upon My own authority. Rather, it is the Father, living in Me, who is doing His work.” (John 14.10) And what is that work? It is the “work” of redemption, reconciliation, unification, santification and justification bound together in the stream of living water which I would suggest is the “heart of worship.”

Let’s springboard from that Edenic blessing of “good and very good.” The concept of “better than good” gives us a sense of distinction above all others and all else. In today’s presented scripture (Revelation 22.16-17), we are called to focus on another highlighting distinction: “…the bright [and] Morning Star.” Many, including myself for a short while, may wonder how both Jesus and Satan (the fallen Lucifer) can both be called “the Morning Star.” Satan is done so in Isaiah 14.12 where it says, “How you have fallen from heaven, O morning star, son of the dawn!” We know this is a reference to the consequence of Lucifer’s insurrection in Heaven against God. It is referred to in Luke 10 as well, affirming the word from Isaiah as presented by Jesus Himself. So, how can these two polar opposites bear the same name? In fact, they do not but they do share a commonality. Both “reflect” the glory, preeminnce and prominence of God. Whether as a created being, Lucifer, or as the eternal Son of God, Jesus the Christ, their purpose and intention is to bring all attention to God who is the Creator, Father and Sustainer of all life and living. Now we begin to see the differences in a different “light.” Lucifer rebelled against the place and role of “worship” servant even as a worship leader. Not settling for all glory and honor going to God and being glad in sharing in the honored place of minister of music, Lucifer succumbed, being overcome, to the lust of attention which he believed was due to him. It was not enough to be lauded with “well done, My good and faithful servant.” Jesus the Christ, however, put on the mantel of responsibility to be a servant and to lead God’s people (and all of creation which had been created through Him) in worship of the One, True and Only God and was glad for it. He was totally dedicated to it. He was willing to give up all He had and was in order to fulfill the calling of His Father. For His decision He, too, was sent down to earth to dwell among humanity. Oh, how the consequences of our decisions may be confusingly similar from a human perspective between those who do good and those who do not. But, those “similar” consequences are only earthbound. What is the fruit of those consequences makes all the difference “in the world”!

A way to look at those consequences may be observed in another “shared” title; that of a lion. In 1 Peter 5.8, Satan is characterized as “a crouching lion seeking to devour someone, anyone.” Revelation 5.5 recognizes Jesus as “the Lion of Judah” who comes “to seek and save that which is lost and redeem them to God.” (re. Luke 15) The fruit of the person of Satan is death, an eternal dying moving from the outside in. Using external circumstances, the heart and the mind (as well as the spirit/soul) of humanity is convinced that the evidence of creation actually speaks against God. In contrast, the fruit of the person of Jesus the Christ is life, an eternal living moving from the inside out. Using the fundamental truth of “God is love,” the heart and mind (as well as spirit/soul) of humanity is invited to accept that “…all things work together for good to them who love God, to them who are [the called] according to His purpose.” (Romans 8.28) Where one is “like a thief who seeks to steal, kill and destroy,” ie Satan (John 10.10); the other is like a “good shepherd, diligent woman and a faithful father who promotes foundness over lostness, life over death, hope over despair, faithfulness over judgmentalism.” (again Luke 15).

So, in the course of “worship,” both are leaders and precursors of what is yet to come: the glory of God. One, a fallen morning star and a hungry rogue lion, shows what is to come by what it is not. The other, a bright Morning Star and one who seeks to save and make new as the promised savior of the world, shaows what is to come by what it is. Why would we worship death and put human solutions above divine promises trusting in God for all things instead of one’s own endeavors, ingenuity and self-will? Why would we not worship life “in spirit and in truth” not on this or that mountain but everywhere that God’s will is promoted and embraced as “the Way, the Truth and the Life” allowing God’s grace [which we cannot earn nor deserve because of sin] to mold, shape and empower us to do what we have been created to do by the One “who knew us before we were in our mother’s womb and called us according to His purposes”? In the course of authentic worship where truth and righteousness are celebrated in and for the glory of God, we can see how the distinctions between the two grow further and further apart. God does not “send people to hell” but does all within His power to “keep the hell out of them so that they may not be in hell all the days of their lives.” The distance is not created by God who has shown His desire to be with us forever. In fact, He continues to shrink that distance through Christ until we are one “in spirit and in truth.” No, it is we, by believing in all else but God, who move ourselves further and further away from the saving grace of God and His mercy. We expand the gulf that is fixed between us by sin by chipping away at the chasm like a river cuts through the earth to form a canyon. We erode instead of strengthen. We tear down instead of build up. We send away instead of inviting in. Little wonder then, at this point, that we can read in this same Revelation “The Spirit and the bride say, ‘Come!’ And let the one who hears say, “Come!” Let the one who is thirsty come; and let the one who wishes take the free gift of the water of life.” (Revelation 22.17) In this we can hear also, if we are truly listening, Jesus saying, “Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you [sabbath] rest. Take My yoke [the cross] upon you and learn from Me, for I AM gentle and humble in heart. There you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” (Matthew 11.28-29)

TODAY’S PRAYER IN RESPONSE TO GOD’S WORD:

Father, ready us, steady us and by Your Holy Spirit which Christ has promised us strengthen us to accomplish Your will on earth as it is in Heaven. Let the glory of the Lord be upon us. May Your Face look upon us and give us peace. May our declaration of the way, the truth and the life give comfort, aide and courage to those who are still in need of a Savior. May we introduce them today to Jesus who is the Christ and in whose name we live, pray and serve. AMEN.