Brown's Daily Word 2-29-08

Good Morning,
Praise the Lord for this last day of February. It is one of the special days, as one of our nieces from the Maynard side of the family is getting married. One of our friends is also celebrating his 76th birthday. Some of his family are traveling from all around to surprise him on his special birthday. It is spring time in Orissa, India. The Mango trees are in full bloom along with all kinds of diverse wild spring blooming trees. The birds of spring are the harbingers of the glorious spring season. Our friends who are going to Orissa in the beginning of April will be experiencing mid-summer in Orissa. They will have two summers this year, one in Orissa and the other one is back here in the North-East of the USA.
We have had a bitterly cold February here in the North East of the USA. Praise the Lord that the power of old man winter is waning. The days are getting longer. The Sun is shining brighter and warmer. I love Daylight Savings Time.
The first words of God recorded in the Bible are: “Let there be light.” Later we find that “God is light, and in him is no darkness at all” (1 John 1:5). Darkness universally symbolizes sin and death; light corresponds to life and holiness and purity. Thus King David sings (around 1000 B.C.): “The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?” God’s “word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path” (Psalm 119:105), and "God wraps himself in a garment of light, even becoming fire and flame for the destruction of all evil. God’s light is “marvelous” (1 Peter 2:9), and heaven has no need for sun or moon, “for the glory of God gives it light” (Revelation 21:23).
Those who heard Jesus were well familiar with the frequent Biblical connection between light and God, which provides the background for John 8.12-20.
We know much detail about the Jerusalem Temple and its ceremonies from ancient Jewish writings. During the Feast of Tabernacles, one of the more popular events was the water pouring ceremony that Jesus used as an opportunity to cry out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’” (That was in chapter seven).
The events related to Jesus’ claim to be the light of the world are also connected to the Feast of Tabernacles. The Talmud (Jewish commentary on the Bible) tells of the celebration surrounding the lighting of four enormous candelabras: “The young priests filled the lamps of the large chandeliers with oil, and lighted them all, so that the place was so bright that its reflection lighted the streets of the city. Hymns and praises were chanted by the pious ones, and the Levites praised the Lord with harps, cornets, trumpets, flutes, and other instruments of harmony. They stood upon fifteen broad steps, reaching from the lower floor to the gallery, the court of the women. And they sang fifteen psalms as they ascended, and the large choir joined voices with them….”
These huge oil lamps reminded the Jews of the pillar of fire that guided Israel in their wilderness journey. Thus Jesus has presented himself as the reality to which the three most significant “wilderness images” point. In John 6, Jesus feeds thousands from a few loaves of bread to show that he is the true manna, the bread of life from heaven. In John 7, Jesus speaks during the water ceremony because he is the rock which followed Israel and gave water in the desert. And now he stands beside the massive temple lamps and claims to be the pillar of cloud and fire which guided and guarded Israel to the promised land: “I am the Light of the world.” As he often did, Jesus shapes his sermon around “external circumstances to arouse the greatest attention and fix the words in the hearts and minds of the people.” Surely the three most important aspects of God’s essence are: Life, Love, and Light.
Modern electronic navigation tools have rendered the old lighthouse system essentially obsolete, but there was a time when they were essential for the survival of shipping. Darkness or fog would leave boats as easy targets for sharp rocks and hidden reefs. The lighthouse directed the captain around the danger. Jesus offers similar guidance for us.
Of course, in order to see the light in Jesus we must first look for light. If the captain does not stare into the darkness for a lighthouse, it will not guide him. Or, as John Calvin notes: “No one will ever present themselves to Christ to be enlightened except those who have known both that this world is darkness and that they themselves are altogether blind.” Jesus: “I came into this world, that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind” (John 9.39).
The presidential candidates preach differently; they tell us to blame others for our woes rather than mourn our greed and envy. The self-help section of the bookstore wants us to be cocky and self-confident, not humble before God. The glamour magazines ask women to hunger for outward beauty and thirst for power over men. The Bible insists that true beauty is found in a gentle and quiet spirit which enables you to hope in God and submit to His Lordship and Authorship.
Light gives direction, and Jesus’ lights guides accurately in a dark world. In him and his word we see the sin and selfishness which darkens relationships and destroys lives. Jesus’ light reveals God, the spiritual realities around us, the rewards of heaven, and the means of reconciliation with the Father. Jesus lights the path in a dark world.
The desert wilderness where Israel wandered was not hospitable. During the day, the intense heat parched their throats as it boiled their skin. Night promised relief, but the darkness and cold were equally dangerous. So, God’s presence with Israel was a cooling shade by day and a warming fire by night.
Jesus protects us from the baking heat a guilty conscience. He is the cloud which absorbs the burning noonday sun. Jesus also protects from the darkness and cold of a fallen world. This is the power of Christ’s light. “I am the Light of the World.” And he continues: “Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” Following Jesus requires seeing him as he is, coming to him humbly, submitting to his cross before his crown, and seeing him lifted up. Luke 9.23: “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.”
For those who do not know Jesus, his presentation is not very convincing. The only way to know God is to be known by him. That comes by faith in Jesus.

We are planning an evening of Indian food and fellowship, tomorrow, Saturday, March 1, 2008. It will start at 4.30 p.m. Some of the best Indian cooks will be preparing the foods, including one of the Chef's from Mogul Restaurant, one of the premier Indian restaurants in our region. Those of you who live in the area, please join us. It will be worth your trip. See you there.
Join us for our TV outreach tonight at 7 p.m. on Time Warner Cable channel 4.
Plan to invite friends to join you for worship this coming Sunday.
In Christ,
Brown



"We have become so accustomed to the idea of divine love and of God's coming at Christmas that we no longer feel the shiver of fear that God's coming should arouse in us. We are indifferent to the message, taking only the pleasant and agreeable out of it and forgetting the serious aspect, that the God of the world draws near to the people of our little earth and lays claim to us. The coming of God is truly not only glad tidings, but first of all frightening news for everyone who has a conscience. "
... Dietrich Bonhoeffer, "The Coming of Jesus in Our Midst," in A Testament to Freedom: The Essential Writings of Dietrich BonnHoeffer, ed. Geoffrey B. Kelly and F. Burton Nelson, Harper San Francisco, San Francisco, Ca., 1995

"Jesus has a particular eye for the ironical and paradoxical. He gave His disciples nicknames: Peter the Rock who was big on words, but a coward when it mattered; James and John, hotheads, were 'Sons of Thunder'. He told stories about judges who gave justice only after being pestered repeatedly, businessmen who amassed riches only to die the next day, and about priests too precious to help a man who had been beaten up. He talked about people who gave stones in the place of bread, and saw the speck in the eye of another but ignored the log in their own eye. He talked about the blind leading the blind. He called the holy men of his day whitewashed walls"

"Many of His comments would have had the audience laughing incontrollably, while at the same time making a deep point. The pictures of 'blind Pharisees straining at a gnat but swallowing a camel' (Matt 23:24) is hilarious. Similarly it is reckoned that shepherds were the butt of Galilean society's jokes, and so the one about the shepherd leaving the 99 to search for just one, would have also raised a laugh."