June 17, 2024

GOD’S WORD FOR TODAY:

“During the night I had a vision, and there before me was a man mounted on a red horse. He was standing among the myrtle trees in a ravine. Behind him were red, brown and white horses.” (Zechariah 1.8)

REFLECTION ON GOD’S WORD:

As I have suggested in discussing the “red rider” who was the speaker of God’s desire to Zechariah, I see Him as the Christ, the Messiah, the Prince of Peace. We know that peace does not merely happen. Peace always comes with a cost. From Genesis we see the turmoil and chaos which existed in all of the cosmos before God engaged it. To say the least, there was no sense of order or structure or anything that resembled life. What was at hand were the building blocks of what would make a universe in all its wonder. The ultimate wonder would be the harmonious existence between God and humanity. What? Wait! You thought I might suggest that the ultimate wonder was the creation of male and female who in their existence reflected the image of God by which they were made? You think that because God blessed the end of the sixth day with “…and God saw it was very good.” The work of the sixth day exceeded all other days which God had declared “…and it was good.” And, in grasping the meaning of “good,” we can understand that what was made performed its duty and purpose flawlessly, seamlessly and in do so brought glory to God in the highest. As we humans often respond when seeing a newborn, I can hear the angels declare “Ahhhhh.” Well, except for one, Lucifer, who was already not pleased with God for his own reasons of jealousy, a lack of humility, arrogance or a sense of “You want me to do what, now?” I can almost see and hear Lucifer in some corner of heaven sticking a finger down his throat to induce vomiting. And when God created humanity in His own image and declared it “very good” it may have been so over the top that the rebellion which had been brewing was ready to burst. But it did not do so… yet.

You see, the real conflict (and we should not fear real conflict because without it nothing would happen in that required action/reaction process) happens when everything is ready for action and then is put into action. All of that “work” happened on the seventh day which God called “Shabbat,” for us- Sabbath. I saw a video clip recently of a bishop in the Catholic Church (supposedly, I did not fact check it) who made an “official” declaration nullifying the Jewish Sabbath and confirming the first day of the week as the true Sabbath…now. I actually found it more than disappointing, tragic and disgusting. I found the declaration, if it indeed happened and if not someone would even consider it as acceptable, ludicrous and so anti-God that I am the one in some corner of heaven sticking a finger down my throat to induce vomiting. Not that I would align myself with Lucifer (who was not yet named Satan at the time). The very consideration of “you want us to do what” just blew and blows my mind. I would be in rebellion. For Lucifer, it was against God. For me, it was for God. And as the Apostle Paul wrote to the Church Universal in Rome “If God is for us then it doesn’t matter who is against us.” My extension of this thought would echo “If God is for us then we best be for God…or else.”

This is not a threat by me nor by God. It becomes a matter of fact as the One who created the universe did so with purpose and function. The cause and effect of faith in action is monitored and maintained according to a design. That design has an end, a completion and a perfection toward which all creation is working. It simply does not exist. Nor does the peace that we all desire. Some interpret that peace as “freedom for self without accountability to others.” Some interpret that peace as “freedom for all with accountability to others.” Still others interpret peace as that place which is without conflict abiding by the mantra of “Why can’t we all just get along?” The answer to that question comes in the answer “Because of sin, which is the antithesis of peace.” If peace is a “good” work and sin is the antithesis of it then sin is a “bad” work not a no work. Sin doesn’t merely exist either. It is not a place of stasis. It is a place of action and activity which works contrary to the will, purpose and design of God. Faith works for God and with God. Sin works against God and for self. This is why James, the brother of Jesus, declared in his letter to the early Church “Faith without works is dead.” Faith cannot be known without seeing it in action; it doesn’t simply exist. For the great part, the work of faith is to counteract, keep in check and ultimately subdue sin. So, in the midst of creation there is the reality of actions, reactions, consequences and accountabilities. This leads me to suggest that the greatest work of creation comes on the Seventh Day, Shabbat or the Sabbath. It is when all the pieces “work” together for good.

Now you may ask, “Didn’t God say no work should be done on the Sabbath?” What God declared was that humanity should rests from all its labors to toil in the earth, steward all creation and gather the provision from God’s resource to sustain their own lives. In its place, humanity was to focus on its greatest task, challenge and calling: to be at peace with God in worship and praise. By doing this we sustain the spirit of all creation knowing that its “genesis” comes from the heart, mind and spirit of God. Keeping our eyes focused on the “beginning and the end” of all things allows us to build community in a positive way so that all are served each according to their kind. Imagine practicing getting it right one day a week for 52 weeks a year just for one year. Don’t you think we might begin to see the wisdom in it? Not just for one hour, two hours, six hours or even 18 hours but 24 hours which might actually be at 36 hours (if you consider a “genesis day” was from 6pm until 6pm so it would include one sleep period leading into another so maybe from 6pm to 6am the day after….wow, two solid rest times and maybe a nap as well???) would be a real Sabbath (whether you celebrated it on Friday/Saturday or Saturday/Sunday for those “non-sabbatarians.” The point is we might actually become more fully equated with the peace that Jesus gives by practicing the share of his peace. It requires effort and conflicts with the world’s peace and the chaos it presents.

Hmmm… all of that and I didn’t get to the second red horse rider. There’s always tomorrow. Shalom, y’all.

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

Father, before we were conceived in the womb, You had already formed us in Your love and by Your Spirit brought us into being. Each one of us is blessed with the opportunity of doing right, being good and producing the fruit of the Spirit so that others may be fed the truth of that same love so that the two will become one. It is our soul’s sincere desire to embrace the oneness You have in mind that we would know that we are Your people and that You are our God. Lead us in that discovery of the truth and the manifestation of that love for us all. In Jesus’ name, we pray. AMEN.